Thirteenth Lady's Comback: Her Everyday Life as a Bystander-Chapter 290 - 2: Encountering the Strange Fragrance Again (Part 2)

Chapter 290: Chapter 2: Encountering the Strange Fragrance Again (Part 2)

The young girls followed Susu’s gaze and naturally saw that white-flowered inverted golden bell, all puzzled, wondering what it had to do with this flower?

"There’s a mysterious fragrance in this world called Awakening. Its name suggests it’s an incense for refreshing the mind. But few people know that when this incense encounters the pollen scent of the Golden Bell, it becomes a poisonous fragrance, taking on a new name, Chaotic Heart. Those who breathe it become irritable, restless, and lose their sanity. If exposed long enough, it disrupts the mind, driving one to madness."

Five young maids shivered with cold sweat upon hearing this.

"But we haven’t experienced anything like the master has."

Susu sighed, "The Golden Bell is just a catalyst. Only when you stay in an environment with the Golden Bells long enough, absorbing its pollen fragrance, does the scent drive you mad. Besides cleaning the house, you hardly enter the inner room; even if affected, at most, it’s just a faster heartbeat, a hot head."

"Master, what backing does Miss Yue have to dare harm you so openly? You must know if anything happened to you, she would be the first suspect."

Shuimo and Linglong reacted the fastest, yet they were still confused.

"Her greatest backing is our lack of evidence, and there shouldn’t be any evidence."

With a cold laugh, Susu continued, "But that’s what she thought. Although Awakening incense is rare and precious, few know about Chaotic Heart. However, few doesn’t mean none, and I just happen to know about it."

Thanks to Aunt Su and her diligent memorization of incense formulas, Thirteenth Lady could identify another secret fragrance beyond Mist Dream.

Last time, it saved Yang Liu and her unborn child; this time, it saved me, even indirectly saving Hong Sheng.

As apart from myself, Hong Sheng stayed in the bedroom the longest.

This pot of white-flowered inverted golden bell was a gift given when we moved in; Susu found it cute and moved it into the room.

This flower’s pot is suited for guests’ rooms, flower stands, and desk decoration; inserting in clean water also makes it viewable.

At this moment, Susu’s curiosity about Aunt Su’s background reached its peak, but recalling the advice her brother gave on behalf of Aunt Su the other day when they reunited, she suppressed her curiosity again.

Chaotic Heart, such an aptly named fragrance, its strong scent draws attention, subtly disturbing one’s composure, initially only causing them to magnify and vent their emotions.

But one remains sober, merely thinking their emotional control is lacking, and calmness returns in less than a quarter-hour, often more so than before.

However, in traditional Chinese medicine, joy, anger, sorrow, thinking, and fear correspond to the heart, liver, lungs, spleen, and kidneys. Once any emotion manifests, the poison follows and enters through the corresponding vital organ.

"Thus, Chaotic Heart has another name, ’Immortal’s Drunkenness.’ Unless one cultivates to the legendary state of unfeeling, even immortals would succumb to this potent fragrance."

The five young maids felt their worldviews renewed, opening the door to a new world. But, dear mother, the new world is too dangerous; we just want to stay on Earth.

They found it hard to imagine the master becoming like that: irritable, restless, even manic like a madman.

No, it’s too terrifying!

An abrupt "snap" sounded in the room, startling everyone, to find it was Linlang stomping furiously on the already shattered Hundred Petal Upside-down Golden Bell lying on the ground.

"The master will be fine, and whoever wants to harm the master, I’ll make her be buried with them!"

Even Susu was taken aback by the ferocity and bloodlust that erupted from the ten-year-old girl at that moment.

Now Susu believes what Hong Sheng said, that this naive little girl secretly sneaked to the border battlefield after her father died, ambushing Tartar soldiers without batting an eye.

By the time she encountered Hong Sheng’s ambush squad, she’d already killed ten Tartar men. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Hong Sheng said this girl was a natural assassin. She naturally blends into her surroundings, and only someone with keen senses, like Susu, would notice her presence.

Yet Linlang was very disturbed by her talent.

Since childhood, she lacked a sense of security, so she subconsciously wanted to hide herself away, and her family gave her even less attention.

Only the master never forgot her no matter when; she relished in being noticed and cared for unintentionally.

Susu patted Linlang’s hand tenderly, "Little girl, you scared your little friends. Besides, I’m fine, didn’t I mention? No one notices the poisoning from fragrant incense, it feels like temporary emotional outburst. I did inhale a part when unaware, but later I just pretended to be angry, so the fragrance didn’t dissipate further—hence just a headache, that’s all."

"Most importantly, for every poison there’s an antidote; perhaps some diseases are incurable, but poison always has a resolution. I will handle this myself, and the time for your help has come."

By noon, whether it was Yue Baiyou gathering news or the rough servants cleaning in the yard, they all noticed the five young maids in front of Susu were cheerful.

Fen Dai hopped off to the kitchen to fetch lunch for the master, got scolded by her mom for being undignified.

Usually, Fen Dai would never obediently take scolding and would’ve slipped away by now.

Today, she pretended not to hear, whispered with her sister Hong Dou, and chatted about going shopping on their day off, what to buy for mom, dad, and sister...

Lin Sheng had just scolded his daughter but now looked proud, making other kitchen maids envious.

"What fortune did the girl stumble upon? Share it with us."

Fen Dai, always straightforward and lively, liked hearing flattery.

She lifted her head proudly, "Even if I got rich, it would be thanks to the master’s reward. The master is generous, granting rewards when we’re good; if moms do well, the master sees it too."

She seemed unable to resist flaunting a bit, gesturing towards Yue Baiyou’s small courtyard.

"Also owe thanks to that one! Today she angered the master furiously; we nearly got implicated. Luckily, we still hold some place in front of the master. After calming down, she just said we were aggrieved, and lo, rewarded us."

Everyone’s eyes widened at Fen Dai’s left arm, adorned with a yellow, lustrous bracelet of double dragons playing with a pearl.

Gold itself wasn’t notable, but the craftsmanship was exquisite. Embedding a South Pearl the size of a lotus seed, it truly sparked envy.

Fen Dai flicked the pearl playfully, revealing it could move, "This is southern craftsmanship; even the Capital’s Great Gold Building can’t weave one like this. The bracelet uses only three qian of gold, its threads as fine as hair. That’s besides the point; this pearl is a genuine South Pearl, needing a thousand to find one like this."

Seeing envious eyes around, Fen Dai glanced sideways at the kitchen door’s fabric corner exposed, sarcastically saying, "The master has plenty of treasures to spare; for those they favor, gold mountains are worth giving; for those disliked, nothing even if thrown away. One cannot beg the master for anything if unworthy."

Whatever envy filled the servants in the household, Yue Baiyou fuming after Xiang’er relayed these words felt immensely angry!

Unbeknownst to her, while Fen Dai spread resentment, the other four maids and Susu weren’t idle either.

Shuimo went to see her father Zhao Youshen to deliver something to Mr. Hong.

Linlang looked for her brother Chang Sheng, pondering if any orphans they knew might want to earn some money.

Qi Qiao sought her mother Wei Rong, questioning if the skirt for Mrs. Qin was ready for delivery today.

And Linglong and Susu together flipped through a gift list. Since arriving at Hami, many gifts were received: which family had sent that inverted golden bell...