Demoting my wife to a concubine? After being reborn, I turned around and married into the imperial f

The girl who was cursing was actually Gu Songrong, who was wearing a light orange ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress).

At this moment, she was holding Lu Ruoying's arm, her face arrogant, pointing and gesturing at the shop assistants of Wanyao Pavilion.

"What's going on?" Chu Xunzhen's voice rang out.

The waiter's eyes lit up with excitement when he saw Chu Xunzhen: "Boss, you've arrived!"

Gu Songrong's expression hardened when she saw Chu Xunzhen.

Chu Xunzhen scoffed, "So it's Miss Gu. Why are you hurling insults at my Wan Yao Pavilion, disrupting other customers' medicine purchases? Is this the Gu family's upbringing?"

Lu Ruoying looked over, her face icy, and said, "Ninth Princess Consort, how dare you, the manager of the Ten Thousand Medicines Pavilion, slander my daughter-in-law? What nonsense about a calamity descended from heaven! My daughter-in-law is a renowned benevolent bodhisattva. How could she be a calamity?"

Chu Xunzhen looked at the shopkeeper not far away and asked, "What happened?"

"Master, I just returned from outside and chatted with the medicine boy about the rumors circulating outside. Who knew that these two distinguished guests thought we were talking about them? This Miss Gu even asked us to give her the health-preserving bracelet she ordered first. But there are many other customers who ordered health-preserving bracelets before her. We naturally deliver the goods to the customers in order. But Miss Gu disagrees and insists on receiving the bracelet she ordered today."

Upon hearing this, Chu Xunzhen took the notebook and crossed out Gu Songrong's name.

"Tenfold compensation. All orders from the Marquis of Chongding and the Marquis of Zhongyi are cancelled. Compensation will be tenfold."

Upon hearing this, the crowd erupted in uproar.

Gu Songrong never expected that Chu Xunzhen would not order the shopkeeper to apologize to them and give her the bracelet she had ordered, but instead simply refuse to accept her order.

How could she possibly accept this?

But when she heard Chu Xunzhen mention ten times the compensation, she was stunned again.

She couldn't believe that such a person really existed in this world.

Gu Songrong couldn't help but laugh.

"Fine, I won't accept your offer. Jishetang is already researching health-preserving bracelets. I don't necessarily need to buy from you."

Gu Songrong had just finished speaking when suddenly, she felt a sharp pain in her cheek and was almost knocked away.

"Chu Xunzhen, how dare you..."

Gu Songrong's words came to an abrupt end.

She stared in disbelief at the person who had raised their hand.

Gu Songrong's voice trembled with tears as she stared wide-eyed, covering her face: "Mother, it's you? Why did you hit me?"

Lu Ruoying was so angry that she trembled all over.

To think that Lu Ruoying, with her illustrious reputation, would give birth to such a fool.

"Wan Yao Ge delivers goods to your door according to the order of placement, but you've been being unreasonable, insisting on picking up the health-preserving bracelet today first. Now, why don't you apologize to the Princess?"

Gu Songrong was stunned.

Is this still her mother?

"No! What have I done wrong? Ninth Princess, my brother is now the commander of the Five Cities Garrison and the Marquis of Loyalty. If you want peace and quiet, you'd better hand over the bracelet I want first."

"Snapped!"

Gu Songrong received another slap on the face.

Lu Ruoying clasped her hands in a fist and said to Chu Xunzhen, "I apologize for my rudeness, Your Highness. This daughter of mine has been spoiled by me and has offended Your Highness. I beg Your Highness to rescind your order and continue to accept orders from my Chongding Marquis's residence."

"No, I am not worthy of such an honor."

With that, Chu Xunzhen went directly into the inner hall.

Lu Ruoying turned pale and angrily dragged Gu Songrong out.

"Mother, why are you on Chu Xunzhen's side? Why did you hit me?" Gu Songrong asked angrily as soon as they reached the street.

Lu Ruoying looked annoyed and pulled Gu Songrong into the restaurant across the street.

The two then stepped into the private room on the second floor.

The next instant, Lu Ruoying's face turned cold, and she roared, "Kneel down!"

Gu Songrong turned pale with fright and knelt down with a thud.

"Today, when I came to Wanyao Pavilion, I asked the shopkeeper if I could pick up the bracelet ahead of schedule, not to use my power to bully people and argue with them. Now, you haven't received the bracelet that will help your brother's health, and Chu Xunzhen has even refused the order from the Marquis's mansion. Do you know what this means?"

"Mother, I know, but how could the shopkeeper and the waiter say that Sister-in-law Wanrou is a jinx? I couldn't help it!"

"Did you know that in the entire capital, only Wan Yao Ge (万药阁) sells health-preserving bracelets? Do you know what it means that Wan Yao Ge rejected our order?"

Upon hearing this, Gu Songrong was stunned, but still stubbornly insisted, "Isn't there the Third Prince's Jishetang? The Third Prince even asked me to buy medicine there last time. He gives me a 20% discount whenever I go."

Lu Ruoying was furious. Pointing at Gu Songrong, she said, "The health-preserving bracelets and incense sticks from Wanyao Pavilion are used by the Emperor and Empress themselves. Almost every aristocratic family in the capital has ordered health-preserving bracelets from Wanyao Pavilion. But Jishetang is still researching them. Even if they succeed, it will be too late. Do you know how devastating it would be for the Gu family's reputation if this got out? At that time, I'm afraid all the aristocratic families in the capital would ostracize us."

Gu Songrong was frightened.

She understood.

If they were attending a banquet, all the women would be wearing health-preserving bracelets from Wan Yao Ge, but the Gu family wouldn't be. Just thinking about it, it's easy to imagine that the Gu family would become the target of exclusion and ridicule from other aristocratic families.

Gu Songrong was filled with regret and fear, and cried out, "Mother, what should we do?"

Lu Ruoying shook her head and said, "There is no room for maneuver now. I cannot possibly go and beg Chu Xunzhen myself. Let's go back immediately and order the health-preserving bracelets from Jishetang."

"Yes, Mother."

Lu Ruoying and Gu Songrong left in a hurry.

Chu Xunzhen had no interest in knowing about their conversation.

At this moment, she was concentrating on grinding the chopped Chinese herbs into powder.

With her skillful hands, she made one hundred Chinese medicine pills in less than half an hour.

This time, she also made some incense tablets.

She also specially selected some older medicinal herbs, crushed them into powder, put them into a cloth bag, and then stuffed them into an empty sachet she had prepared in advance.

"Shopkeeper, this is Wan Yao Ge's new product this month: a sachet for dispelling cold and refreshing the mind. Inside this sachet are herbs for dispelling cold, as well as agarwood and benzoin."

The shopkeeper took the sachet, took a gentle sniff, and felt refreshed and invigorated.

"Your Highness, how much silver does each of these sachets cost?" the shopkeeper asked Chu Xunzhen.

Chu Xunzhen smiled leisurely: "Fifty taels of silver for each sachet. If the same household orders three items at the same time, one sachet of the same style will be given as a gift."

"Yes, Your Highness."

Chu Xunzhen said to the shopkeeper, "Liu Xiangning is my close friend. I'll send her the three bracelets from the Liu family today, along with two sachets. You can ask Chunxi for the money for the other sachet later."

The shopkeeper felt a pang of envy and immediately agreed respectfully.

Chu Xunzhen said to the shopkeeper, "You've worked hard these past few days. I heard you have a daughter. Keep up the good work, and I'll grant you three health-preserving bracelets for free every year."

Upon hearing this, the shopkeeper was filled with excitement and shouted, "Thank you so much, boss! I will definitely run the business well!"

Chu Xunzhen added, "If you don't want the bracelet, you can withdraw the same amount of silver every year."

"It has to be a bracelet. The bracelet from this shop is genuine and effective. I still prefer bracelets."

Chu Xunzhen laughed when he heard this.

Suddenly, a commotion arose outside the Wan Yao Tang.

"What a pitiful girl!"

"What happened?"

"Good heavens, whose daughter is this? How will she ever get married?"

Hearing the discussions in the main hall, Chu Xunzhen and the shopkeeper immediately went out from the back hall.

She immediately spotted a woman with a black cloth covering her head, disheveled clothes, and covered in blood being carried into the inner hall.

The female doctors led her into a side room and closed the door.

Chu Xunzhen was worried and went to help, but when she saw the face of the woman lying on the bed, her expression changed drastically.

"Why is it her?"

Chu Xunzhen stared wide-eyed at the woman on the bed.

This woman was none other than Chen Lianxin, whom she had met just a few days ago.

She hurried forward and took her pulse.

After a long while, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The primordial yin is still there.

Chen Lianxin did indeed exploit Nangong Yue's three children more than she cared for them.

But her father saved the life of the Third Prince, and her mother, Nangong Qing, was in a wheelchair because she shielded Nangong Yue from an ambush.

Chu Xunzhen had learned that if it weren't for Chen Lianxin's treatment of Nangong Yue over the years, Nangong Yue wouldn't have been able to survive until now.

Moreover, as a woman, Chu Xunzhen truly did not want to see Chen Lianxin, who was also a woman, suffer such humiliation.

The female doctor bandaged Chen Lianxin's external wounds and then gave her acupuncture. After a long while, Chen Lianxin woke up.

She sat bolt upright in bed, exclaiming, "Mother!"

Chen Lianxin opened her eyes and saw the female doctor.

She looked around and finally saw her blood-stained whip on the table.

She gripped the long whip tightly, tucked it into her waistband, and walked towards the door.

Seeing Chen Lianxin's actions, the female doctor exclaimed, "Miss Chen, where are you going? The needles haven't been removed yet."

Chen Lianxin's lips were parched, and she staggered as she ran outside, crying, "Mother! My mother..."

Chu Xunzhen, who was fiddling with herbs in the next room, heard the commotion and came over. He immediately saw Chen Lianxin stumbling towards the outside.

"Miss Chen, where are you going?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Lianxin suddenly turned her head.

With a thud, she knelt on the ground, her eyes pleading as she looked at Chu Xunzhen: "Sister-in-law, save my mother. I'm sorry, sister-in-law. Lianxin knows she was wrong. Please, please save my mother. I'll do anything you ask if you can get her out."

Seeing Chen Lianxin with tears streaming down her face, her expression one of sorrow and vulnerability, Chu Xunzhen was extremely surprised.

In her memory, Chen Lianxin was flamboyant and arrogant; she had never felt so helpless before.

"What happened? Come over here and tell me."

Chu Xunzhen led her to the next room.

Chen Lianxin knelt on the ground, angrily saying, "It was Nangong You! He took Mother away and made her a test subject for medicine. Now Mother has become the Third Prince's medicine man. Cousin-in-law, please, save my mother!"

Upon hearing this, Chu Xunzhen asked in surprise, "You can offer your ten-thousand-year-old snow lotus to Nangong You in exchange for your mother's release."

Chen Lianxin gave a bitter smile: "The Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Lotus has been taken by the Third Prince. Cousin, please help me. If you can rescue my mother, Lianxin is willing to be your slave, your servant."

Chu Xunzhen remained silent.

After a long pause, she looked at Chen Lianxin seriously and asked, "Is this true?"

Chen Lianxin nodded.

Chu Xun, seeking true love, went to prepare a contract of indenture.

A moment later, Chunxi walked in from outside and handed Chen Lianxin a contract of indenture.

Chu Xunzhen said to Chen Lianxin, "This is a master-servant contract. Once you sign it, you will be my, Chu Xunzhen's, maid. I can sell or kill you at will. Are you willing to sign it?"