Chapter 79

After drinking a steaming bowl of ginger soup, Gu Qiancheng felt much better. After taking a hot bath, he was full of energy, and there was no sign that he had been busy all night...

At this moment, the kitchen was in an uproar.

Lady Gu waited and waited, but the servant did not bring the bird's nest soup. She then asked someone to find out what was going on.

Upon hearing the answer, Lady Gu was furious!

Although she was in the prayer hall for penance, she was still the lady of the Gu household. She had asked the kitchen to cook bird's nest soup, but they dared to abandon her task and attend to Gu Qiancheng's needs instead!

This was intolerable. Lady Gu immediately ordered her maidservant to find the kitchen manager. She wanted to ask how the kitchen was run.

All the maidservants who used to serve Lady Gu well had been sold by the old master. Now, there were only a few young maidservants. These young maidservants, being inexperienced, went to the kitchen with a haughty attitude, which infuriated the kitchen manager.

The kitchen manager was a person of the second lady. She relied on the second lady for survival and was not afraid of Lady Gu. She immediately gave the half-cooked bird's nest soup to the young maidservant in a sarcastic manner.

"If the first lady wants to eat the bird's nest soup, she can eat it. If not, forget it." The kitchen manager threw the soup and went about her business, not caring at all.

Lady Gu had already fallen out of favor. The two new beauties in the Duke's chambers were in favor, and the Duke had forgotten about Lady Gu. There was no way for Lady Gu to regain her position.

Most importantly, Lady Gu was in penance. Even if she offended them, they were not afraid.

The young maidservant's face turned red with anger, and she trembled all over. When she returned, she exaggerated the kitchen staff's rudeness, saying how terrible they were and how they only saw the young miss and ignored Lady Gu, showing no respect at all...

Lady Gu could not tolerate this. She threw the bowl on the spot, spilling the bird's nest soup all over the floor.

Looking at the uncooked bird's nest soup, Lady Gu was even angrier: "They look down on me just because I've been away for two months. They no longer see me in their eyes."

Lady Gu pushed aside the old woman guarding her and rushed out...

"Quick, quick, go and report to the old lady." The old woman, although strong, did not dare to stop Lady Gu, fearing she might hurt her.

At this moment, Lady Gu did not care about such things. Although she was in the prayer hall, she was well aware of everything outside. This included how Gu Qiancheng had caused Qianxue to lose her position as a concubine, and of course, how Gu Chengzhi was punished by the old master because of Gu Qiancheng.

This anger had been pent up in Lady Gu's heart. If she did not vent it, she would go mad.

Lady Gu, accompanied by her maidservants, stormed into the kitchen...

"Everyone, come out! I want to see how busy the kitchen staff are, that they can't even make me a bowl of bird's nest soup." The five of them stood outside the kitchen, clearly looking for trouble.

"Madam..." The kitchen staff were shocked and stopped what they were doing, thinking it was not good.

Some clever people immediately signaled for someone to inform the second lady or the old lady.

"Chunxiang, who cooked the bird's nest soup?" Lady Gu, who was used to being domineering in the back courtyard, had never been humiliated before. She did not think about being cautious and only wanted to retaliate.

"Her..." The maidservant beside Lady Gu stepped forward and pointed to a cook dressed in blue coarse cloth.

The cook in blue, upon hearing this, trembled and knelt before Lady Gu, begging for forgiveness: "Madam, please forgive me. I did not know it was for you. I was wrong. Please be merciful and forgive me this once."

How could the cook not know that the bird's nest soup was for Lady Gu? She just did not take Lady Gu seriously. Of course, she did not expect Lady Gu to come to the kitchen over such a small matter.

Now she was in trouble.

"You didn't know it was for me?" Lady Gu sneered, her already pale face looking even more sinister.

Two months in the small prayer hall had not made Lady Gu more gentle; instead, it had increased her hatred, and all of this was related to Gu Qiancheng.

"I really didn't know, please forgive me, Madam." The cook in blue kept bowing her head, and although there was no sound, a bruise appeared on her forehead.

But Lady Gu was not satisfied. She could not do anything to Gu Qiancheng, but could she not do anything to a cook?

"Chunxiang, slap her." Lady Gu ordered and stood aside to watch, while the others did not dare to step forward.

The kitchen manager did not expect that Lady Gu would come to the kitchen over such a small matter. She hid in the crowd, not daring to show herself, for fear of being hit...

"Yes, Madam." Chunxiang, emboldened by Lady Gu's authority, slapped the cook in blue, causing her face to turn to the side, with a clear handprint. But it was not enough...

"Hold her down." Lady Gu ordered two maidservants to hold the cook in blue to prevent her from running away.

"Madam, I know I was wrong. Please, Madam, forgive me." The cook in blue was panicked, her face pale, and she kept begging for mercy: "I did not mean to be disrespectful. The young miss needed ginger soup, as she was cold, and I did not dare to delay."

But her explanation only made Lady Gu angrier: "Cold? She really thinks she's a delicate young miss. Hit her, hit her hard!"

"Slap, slap, slap..." Chunxiang slapped the cook in blue dozens of times, her face swelling, and blood trickling from the corner of her mouth.

"Madam, spare me..." The cook in blue, tears streaming down her face, begged for mercy, and the others also pleaded for her, but Lady Gu did not listen. Seeing that Chunxiang was slowing down, she sneered and said, "Change, Chuncao, you do it."

Chunxiang stepped back, and another maidservant stepped forward...

"Madam, spare me, spare me." The others in the kitchen could not bear to watch and came forward, trying to shield the cook in blue.

When a rabbit dies, the fox mourns. They were also servants, and this was not the first time the kitchen had done such a thing, but they had never encountered someone like Lady Gu who came to beat someone up.

Lady Gu sneered, "Whoever dares to stop me will be sold immediately!"

This was the power of the lady of the house. All the servants' indentures were in Lady Gu's hands. Even if the second lady or the third lady were in charge, the servants' indentures were still tightly held by Lady Gu.

Of course, this did not mean she could sell the servants at will. If she really wanted to sell them, she would have to get the old lady and the Duke's approval. But this was enough to threaten the kitchen servants.

The kitchen staff stood still, not daring to move, only looking at the cook in blue with sympathy...

The servants' obedience pleased Lady Gu.

She had forced her way out of the small prayer hall today. She would definitely be scolded by the old master when she returned. If she did not get her revenge, she would be at a loss.

"Hit her, hit her hard, until these dogs learn their lesson." Lady Gu ordered arrogantly, and Chuncao's hand paused in mid-air...

She was also a "dog servant" in Lady Gu's mouth.

"What? Do you need me to teach you how to hit?" Lady Gu urged, and Chuncao's face changed as she hurriedly begged for forgiveness. But just as she raised her hand again to hit, Gu Qiancheng arrived...

"Stop!"

Gu Qiancheng's voice was not loud, but it was enough for everyone to hear. They looked in the direction of the voice and saw Gu Qiancheng, surrounded by four senior maidservants and eight junior maidservants...

The presence and grandeur were at least ten times stronger than Lady Gu, who was accompanied by four junior maidservants!