Seeing the little maid running in the direction of the Listening-to-the-Wind Courtyard, Xie Fengran nodded and said to Lanfang, "She's a smart one. Let Liu Yi take her under her wing."
Lanfang nodded and then asked, "Miss, are you really going to let the Second Miss come back?" Just thinking about Xie Yunxi's return made her feel uneasy. After all, the young miss had suffered a lot at her hands before.
Moreover, the Marquis always took the side of the Second Miss. No matter what the young miss said, it was always wrong. Even they, the servants, thought the Marquis was biased, yet he still considered himself a fair - minded patriarch!
"Lanfang, remember, your young miss has never really cared about her. If she behaves herself, I won't make things difficult for her. I have more important things to do!"
"Miss..." Lanfang suddenly felt that there was something different about her young miss. In the past, although the young miss didn't care much about the Second Miss, she definitely didn't want to conflict with her either.
What exactly was different now?
Seeing Lanfang's dull look, Xie Fengran sneered, "Before, I tolerated her for Mother's sake and because I didn't know what Grandmother had in mind. Now that I understand, why should I keep indulging her?"
Now, in the eyes of both Grandmother and Father, obviously she, the legitimate daughter, carried more weight. Mother no longer needed her to endure to gain a foothold in the Marquis Mansion. Why should she continue to be patient?
Looking at the pride that flashed across her young miss's eyebrows, Lanfang also felt more confident.
In the past, the young miss, a legitimate daughter of the mansion, was bullied by a concubine - born daughter, and there was no place to seek justice.
"However, Miss, what important things do you still have to do?"
Xie Fengran glanced at Lanfang and suddenly said, "The important thing, of course, is that the kitchen has made those cool pastries again. I want to eat them!"
"... I'll go back and tell them to bring some!"
The mistress and the maid chatted and laughed as they returned to the Listening - to - the - Wind Courtyard, not knowing that a big "surprise" was waiting for her!
"Miss, you're back."
As soon as Xie Fengran entered the room, Hexiang greeted her, helped her take off her outer robe, and then let her wash her hands.
Xie Fengran knocked on the table twice and asked, "Where's Chenghui?"
"The young master played for a whole morning and was a bit tired. Sister Liu Yi coaxed him to sleep!"
"..." Xie Fengran once again firmly decided to find a wet - nurse as soon as possible. If it went on like this, all her maids would be used to take care of the child!
Xie Fengran sat down on the chair and reached for the teacup. Instead, she touched a box. It wasn't hers. Curiously, she asked, "What's this?"
Hexiang was arranging the flowers. Hearing this, she said, "Oh, that was brought back by Zhuqing. She said it was the hush money from the County King!"
"Hush money?"
Xie Fengran looked surprised. She moved the box over and opened it. What came into view was a pure and smooth white.
Two hairpins and a hairpin stick, all made of white jade, without a single flaw or crack. It was obvious that they must be extremely valuable!
"啪!" Xie Fengran's hand trembled, and the box lid snapped shut. Her heart skipped a beat, and she quickly opened it to take a look.
Please don't let there be even the slightest scratch. Otherwise, even if she sold herself, she couldn't afford to compensate!
Fortunately, this wooden box was made of some rare material. It was also a precious item, and the things inside were not damaged at all.
Xie Fengran carefully closed the box and moved it to the far end of the table. She instructed Hexiang, "Go and find Zhuqing!"
This girl dared to accept anything!
Zhuqing was in the small kitchen watching Granny Fan cook delicious food. When she heard Xie Fengran calling her, she rushed over in a hurry.
"Miss, you called me."
Zhuqing was naturally innocent. These days, seeing that Xie Fengran was kind, she didn't restrain herself much, and her personality had become more lively than before.
Seeing her like this, Xie Fengran also felt a bit of a headache. She pointed to the box and asked, "Who gave this to you?"
"It was Miss Lingqing beside the County King. She said she was entrusted by the County King to deliver the hush money!"
"She gave it and you just took it?"
Zhuqing opened her eyes wide and nodded. "Didn't the young miss accept the County King's hush money yesterday? I thought it was the same!"
"..." Xie Fengran was at a loss for words. She suddenly felt that the conversation couldn't continue. But she wanted to know if it was intentional or accidental for Zhuqing to be called out. "Who told you to go to the porter's lodge to pick up something?"
"The porter came to say that someone was looking for me. When I went out, I saw Miss Lingqing waiting there with the things."
Hearing this, Xie Fengran understood.
"Qin Junxing!" Xie Fengran gritted her teeth and said.
He even knew the personalities of the maids around her. It was simply...
Xie Fengran angrily wrote a letter, put it in the box, and gave it to Zhuqing. "Go to the Listening - to - the - Wind Teahouse and give it to that Manager Cheng. If he doesn't accept it, tell him that their master has squandered his money again!"
Zhuqing was a bit confused but repeated it. Seeing that Xie Fengran had no objections, she left the mansion to do the errand.
However, in just the time it took to burn a stick of incense, Zhuqing came back. Not only didn't she return the box, but she also carried a food box in her hand.
Before Xie Fengran could say anything, Zhuqing directly said, "I went to return the things. When I got to the door, I met Miss Lingqing again. She gave me a food box and said that it was the hush money from the County King. She also said that if you didn't accept the things, the County King would send hush money to your mansion three times a day until it was worth the things in this box."
"She also said that the secret you know is related to the County King's life and death. It's not a loss for the County King to use these things as hush money!"
At first, hearing this, Xie Fengran was furious. This didn't show the slightest bit of asking someone to keep a secret. It was a blatant threat.
Coincidentally, she was not afraid of threats the most.
But when she heard the last sentence, Xie Fengran was stunned for a moment. Rarely, she didn't get angry but just stared blankly!
"Miss, Miss!"
"Alright, just put the box there for now!" She would return it herself another day!
On the other side, Lingqing had completed her mission and went back to report to Qin Junxing.
Lingqing was not as timid as Qingye. She directly told Qin Junxing how she had delivered the gifts to Xie Fengran.
After listening, Qin Junxing was surprisingly silent.
His two bodyguards were really considerate. One had directly damaged someone's carriage in order to pick up a person, and the other had tricked the young miss's maid and threatened her in his name!
And they were so self - assured!
Seeing that Qin Junxing didn't say a word, Lingqing directly said, "My lord, I've delivered the things, and Miss Xie has accepted them." In other words, the rest had nothing to do with her.
"Good, all of you are really good!"
Qin Junxing didn't need to think to know that Xie Fengran must be scolding him in her heart.
The things these two did would ultimately make him take the blame. They were really good at setting up their master!
Lingqing disagreed, "My lord, you said it was hush money. Since it's a trick, why can't we servants learn from it?"