Before long, Feng Yunshu keenly heard a chaotic sound of footsteps getting closer and closer, coming in this direction.
It was time.
Feng Yunshu got up, walked to the courtyard gate, pushed it open, and bent down to pretend to tidy up.
"Three, two, one..."
Feng Yunshu counted silently in her heart. At the last second, the first madam came striding over aggressively with several servants and maids. After a while, Feng Manshu also rushed angrily towards Yunshu Courtyard with her maid Baojuan.
"Feng Yunshu, what on earth are you up to this time?!"
The first madam and Feng Manshu bumped into each other at the entrance of Yunshu Courtyard. The mother - daughter pair glanced at each other and saw the anger on each other's faces.
"Mother! The elaborate makeup I did this morning was all ruined as soon as I stepped out of the door!"
"What? You were also hit by that strange wind?"
"Mother, I heard from the servants in the mansion that Feng Yunshu is here again. What on earth is going on? Didn't she just come back to visit the family?"
"I heard her say that the Prince Helan treated her extremely badly. He even gave her a letter of divorce and drove her back."
Feng Manshu was extremely surprised. "Mother, is what you said true?! Feng Yunshu was divorced?"
"She said it herself. Moreover, she showed the bruises on her arm, saying that it was done by the Prince Helan. The bruises looked quite real, but I don't know how much of what she said is true."
The more Feng Manshu listened, the happier she became. She couldn't help laughing. "In my opinion, this is probably true! Mother, didn't you say that she has been a bad - luck star since birth? I knew it. How could she deserve the favor of the Prince Helan? It turns out that it was all an act."
The mother - daughter pair chatted as they quickly reached the courtyard gate. Looking up, they saw Feng Yunshu and her maid Ziyuan bending over, tidying up things very diligently. The courtyard was full of dust.
"Yunshu, come out here."
The first madam stood at the courtyard gate, too disgusted by the mess inside to step in.
Hearing the voice, Feng Yunshu turned around, patted the dust on her hands, walked out, and pretended to greet the two in front of her with a smile. "First madam, Manshu, why are you both here? My humble courtyard can't really entertain you."
As she spoke, Feng Yunshu pretended to casually pat the "dust" on her body.
Just as the first madam was about to speak, suddenly a strong stench of fox wafted over. It made her and Feng Manshu beside her feel dizzy on the spot. They almost fainted.
"Ugh..."
The first madam covered her nose and mouth and retched. She quickly took a few small steps back. Feng Manshu beside her was no better.
"What's this strange smell?"
Feng Manshu glared at Feng Yunshu angrily. "Why do you smell so strongly of fox? It's so disgusting! You've polluted the entire environment of the prime minister's mansion!"
Feng Yunshu blinked and looked at the two innocently. "Fox smell? There's none. I've never had a fox smell. Why can't I smell it? Manshu, are you sure you're not smelling things wrong?"
"Feng Yunshu, what on earth are you up to?! Were those dust and bugs just now your doing?!" The first madam forced herself to endure the churning in her stomach and asked Feng Yunshu with a dark face.
"First madam, you saw it just now. This courtyard is such a mess. How can anyone live here?"
Feng Yunshu looked very aggrieved and pouted. "In order to move in earlier, I had to clean it myself. But the dust is really too thick. Just now, a gust of wind blew. Did it blow into your courtyard?"
"Yes, what are you doing? All the elaborate makeup I did this morning was ruined by you!"
"Ah, this..."
Feng Yunshu still looked completely unaware. "I really don't know about this. I was so focused on cleaning just now. Judging from the situation, it will probably take a few more hours to barely finish cleaning. I can't control where the dust goes, right? First madam?"
As she spoke, Feng Yunshu patted the dust on her body again. "Oh, this dust is really thick..."
With this pat, a strong stench of fox instantly filled the air. Not only were the first madam and Feng Manshu affected, but all the other servants and maids around also smelled the stench. Their faces turned green, and they held their breath hard, not daring to make any nose - covering gestures.
"Enough, enough!"
The first madam was furious. She glanced at the dilapidated courtyard behind Feng Yunshu, then gritted her teeth and said hatefully, "Chunlai, take the eldest miss down immediately to wash up and change into clean clothes. Steward Wang, find a few quick - handed people to clean this courtyard."
"Oh," Feng Yunshu pretended to be surprised and smiled. "First madam is so kind. You even specially sent people to clean my courtyard. I'm really embarrassed."
"Feng Yunshu, stop pretending. Do you think I can't see that you're being sarcastic?"
Feng Manshu couldn't stand Feng Yunshu's smug look and couldn't help but say, "You stink so much. No wonder the Prince Helan got angry with you and divorced you! Any man, even a beggar on the street, would probably not be able to tolerate a slovenly bad - luck star like you!"
Hearing this, Feng Yunshu didn't get angry but instead smiled and took a few steps forward. Feng Manshu stepped back again and again, choked by the smell. "Don't come near me. It stinks!"
"Don't worry about me so much, second sister. Take this time to worry about your own marriage. Sister thinks you're not young anymore. Are you determined to be an old spinster?"
"Feng Yunshu, you—"
Feng Yunshu glanced at Feng Manshu's gritted - teeth expression, smiled imperceptibly, and then looked at Chunlai. "Chunlai, take this miss to wash up properly. Look at all this dust on me... There's really a lot."
In the first round of the battle of wits, Feng Yunshu won completely, achieving a perfect start.
Watching Feng Yunshu's back as she walked away contentedly, Feng Manshu was almost going crazy!
"Mother, she has really changed! Look how arrogant and domineering she is now! Didn't she just get divorced by the Prince Helan? How dare a discarded woman be so arrogant in front of you, mother!"
"Manshu, how did mother teach you? You should learn to deal with things calmly when they happen. Your noisy shouting is really unseemly."
The first madam frowned. "She's just a clown, just spouting a few words and using some petty tricks. Your mother will surely teach her a lesson and show her that the older generation has more experience."
As she spoke, the first madam turned to look at Dongqu beside her. Her eyes narrowed slightly, showing a dangerous glint.
"Dongqu, are you sure it was Feng Yunshu you saw last time?"
Dongqu quickly nodded. "Yes, first madam... The eldest miss was wearing this very dress that day. This servant saw it clearly! At that time, she was holding a little fox with a flame - shaped pattern on its forehead..."
"Good. She really has some nerve. I heard that the spiritual fox the envoy from the Yuan Kingdom presented to the emperor is missing. Coincidentally, there's a fox beside her, and very few people in the imperial city of our Dan Kingdom raise foxes..."
Feng Manshu quickly chimed in. "Mother, so the fox beside Feng Yunshu is probably the spiritual fox that the emperor has ordered to search for everywhere?!"
The first madam slowly nodded. "Yes, that's right."
Feng Manshu gasped. "She really has a lot of nerve. Isn't she afraid of losing her head? This is a royal possession. If the emperor finds out, she'll lose her head!"