After finishing the letter to Su Xingze, Su Rong felt as if she had nearly lost half her life, even more exhausting than a brawl.
As she was leaving, Nanny Wang looked at the tired Su Rong who lay sprawled on the bed, seemingly wiped out from just writing a letter, as if she had moved bricks all day. She sighed and asked, "Miss Su, a dagger is a weapon. When did you start playing with such a thing? If Madam were to find out..."
"Don't tell her, then she won't know, right?" Su Rong sat up, making a pleading gesture. "I'm just using it for self-defense, to scare people off. Otherwise, I am... well, unarmed. I'll be at a disadvantage in a fight."
"With your skills, you'd never be at a disadvantage. Normal men usually carry three to five guards with them, and even under such circumstances, you still managed to beat them up so badly. Do you think that your words are convincing?" Nanny Wang looked at her skeptically.
Su Rong pointed to her own forehead, "But I was wounded too."
She pulled out the dagger she'd honed to a bright shine. "With this thing, if I flash it around, most cowards, those lustful but timid wimps. do you think they would dare to mess with me?"
Nanny Wang nodded, "That seems fair, but you need to be more careful with how you use it. We shouldn't stab anyone with it. Even though the master is the Governor, he still obeys the law."
"I know," Su Rong nodded, hinting for her to leave quickly, "I won't misuse it."
Nanny Wang wanted to say more, but it was clear that her little lady has run out of patience, so she left speechless.
After Yuewan sent Nanny Wang out and closed the door, she sat beside Su Rong. "Miss, you don't have any silver to buy a dagger. This dagger looks expensive, where did you get it?"
"I saved someone some days ago, it's his gratitude."
"Who?"
"Some young master from a noble family! He didn't look like a local, he seemed more like a Capital City person."
"Someone from the Capital City? What's his name? How did you save him?"
"I didn't ask. He was being pursued to be killed. I was coincidentally net fishing behind Chenghuang Temple outside the town. Seeing how pitiful he was being pursued, I caught his pursuers with my net. Conveniently, he turned back and killed those two pursuers with one sword each."
Yuewan gasped, covering her mouth, "Killed...killed?"
Su Rong nodded, "Yes, killed."
"Where...where are those killed people?"
"They were thrown into the river and carried away by the water."
Yuewan looked scared, "That man is so violent, didn't...didn't he kill you, Miss?"
"I saved his life, why would he kill me?" Su Rong looked puzzled, "He asked me what reward I wanted, I saw this dagger on his waist and thought it was nice, so I asked for it."
"That, that's a murderer's loot, how can...how can we take it? What happened if the Government Office found the body and traced it back to you, Miss?" Yuewan somehow felt that the lady might have got herself into trouble again, witnessing a crime scene made the trouble seem even bigger this time.
But Su Rong didn't seem to care, "There are so many unsolved murder cases each year, my father's study alone has a thick pile of papers on such cases. The bodies thrown in the river behind Chenghuang Temple will easily get carried away into the vast area surrounding Songlin River after a hundred miles, which may reach several surrounding counties. They will then be filed and become yet another unsolved case."
Yuewan: "..."
Having a lady like this, she felt that staying alive by her side every day was a challenge.
She asked: "And, and what about that man?"
"He left."
Yuewan asked, "Did he leave Jiangning?"
"I don't know." Su Rong amused herself with the dagger. "Wherever he likes to go, all I care is that the dagger is now mine. "
Yuewan felt exhausted.
Nanny Wang took the letter to the lady of the house. The lady looked at the letter, which was rambling and nonsensical, like it was just filling up the space. She even mentioned a few lines about their dog, Dahuang, and second dog Ahua. Reading the letter gave her a headache, "What is she even writing! Can't she write about herself?"
About how her father mysteriously took off to enjoy himself under the pretext of official duties. How her mother recently had terrible mood swings and easily grew angry. How her eldest sister was worried about becoming an old maid and not being able to get married. How her second sister, who is two months younger than the eldest, was eager to get married. How her third sister was stingy and wouldn't give her a sharp hairpin. How her fourth sister dodged her just because she had borrowed two taels of silver, and not retuned it yet. How her fifth sister was secretly reading "Mandarin Duck Tales". How her sixth sister's maid was attracted to a servant in the residence. How the fat cat she kept was getting fatter and she couldn't even lift it up anymore. How Ahua, the scrappy dog, had the best sense of smell and always would come wagging its tail whenever she brought back roast chicken. Even when she had fed it chicken bones, it would still bark outside her courtyard at night and prevent her from sleeping well, etc.