Chapter Seventy-two Cherry Falls

  I don't know why, but Coral and the others all looked like they had something in their eyes, with Jade even turning her head to secretly wipe away tears.

  Lu Qiao suddenly remembered what he saw in the morning when Fourth Master gave money to Xiao Liu Zi.

  But at this time, who can make a sound...

  Her expression was uncertain for a while before she said in a low voice: "I'll go and talk to Fourth Master about it."

  "Fourth Master, if you want to take responsibility for Di Jin, then when Di Jin is pulled out, you should take responsibility..."

  She hesitated for a moment and finally followed Shanhu back home.

  I got into bed but couldn't sleep, tossing and turning.

  She and Coral were in the same room, being disturbed by her and couldn't fall asleep, yawning: "Just stop thinking about it, go to sleep! This thing is over anyway."

  Coral said so, Lu Qiao became more anxious. She got up and put on her clothes, taking advantage of the moonlight to go to the outer room to pour a cup of water, standing in front of the table sipping it slowly.

  After a while, Luo Qiao felt a bit cool on her body and was about to turn around and go back into the house when she saw Ai Xi rubbing her eyes as she walked in.

  "Oh no!" She didn't see clearly for a moment and was startled.

  "It's me, Luo Qiao."

  "It's actually Luo Qiao Jie." Yu Mei Shu let out a breath of air, "You get up and have some tea too!"

  She murmured a vague "uh-huh" as she watched Jade pour tea with delicate hands and feet, thinking that she was usually so careful and reserved in her words, and suddenly asked: "Jade, do you think it's really Di Jin who ate the cherry?"

  Pearl shell faintly thoughtful.

  Perhaps it's also because of doubts in my heart like Luo Qiao, perhaps it's because people become weak in the darkness...

  She said in a low voice: "Every day, Fourth Master comes to pay respects to the mistress with embroidered silk, I don't dare say anything else, but stealing cherries shouldn't be possible... Moreover, putting unfinished cherries like that in the cabinet... I remember the plate for cherries was a sweet white porcelain..."

  It's as if I've met a kindred spirit.

  Luo Qiao told Dai Mao about what she saw in the morning, "I heard that Fourth Master and Di Jin are close. Do you think he bought this to please Di Jin?"

  "Then isn't that a miscarriage of justice for Di Jin?" Bi Xi felt more and more that something was fishy about this matter.

  "I want to go and talk to Fourth Master..." Luo Qiao refused to give up, wanting to get Yu Nian's support.

  "Or I'll go with sister together?"

  Luo Qiao made up his mind as soon as he heard it.

  Fortunately, they both lived in the same courtyard, so the two of them went to knock on Luo Zhensheng's window.

  "Who?" someone immediately warned.

  The voice was very low and the reaction was quick. It's clear that the people in the house hadn't slept at all.

  "Fourth Master, I'm Luo Qiao." Luo Qiao stood by the windowsill and said in a low voice, "I have something to discuss with you!"

  "What, what's going on?" Luo Zhensheng's voice stuttered, "Whatever it is, let's talk about it tomorrow!"

  Luo Qiao and Dai Mao exchanged a glance.

  "This spring is quite cold, I'm afraid the ground will not be able to withstand it. Fourth Master should think of a way to send some thin quilts to keep the ground warm!"

  "I understand." Luo Zhensheng replied somewhat despondently and then fell silent.

  Luo Qiao stood there, feeling the piercing chill of the late spring deep night.

  The next morning, Wu Niang and Shiyi Niang went together to pay their respects to Madame Wang.

  Since Wu Niang's marriage was settled, her heart seemed to have also settled down. Compared to the past, she was much more familiar with Shiyi Niang.

  The two entered the house, and Mrs. You was sitting on the kang drinking tea, being waited on by Mother Xu.

  Although this scene is no different from usual, for some reason, Eleventh Young Mistress felt that the Madam's expression today had a few hints of fatigue.

  Seeing Wu Niang and Shi Yi Niang, Da Tai Tai's expression was bland: "You've arrived!"

  "Mother!" The two of them bent their knees and paid respects to the madam.

  "Sit down!" The old lady nodded, "Have you had breakfast?"

  "We've eaten." The two of them replied in unison, sitting on the small bench at the edge of the big mistress's kang.

  The Fifth Daughter replied: "Did Mother sleep well last night?"

  The big wife coldly looked at Wu Niang with a glance.

  The girl was inexplicably angry and didn't know what she had said wrong.

  Just as I was feeling anxious, Brother Huan came.

  The old lady immediately melted like ice and snow, waited for Brother Wang to ask about her well-being, then immediately hugged him onto the kang: "What did you eat this morning?"

  "Grandma, cherries are delicious."

  Everyone was stunned.

  Dà* nǎi jiù xiǎo xīn yǐ yǐ de wèn Xiāng gē: "Zǔ mǔ ěr fáng lǐ de yīng táo, shì nǐ chī le?"

  Translation:

  Big sister carefully asked Xiang Ge: "The cherry in grandma's ear room, did you eat it?"

  The little brother looked at his mother's expression and quickly hid in the big wife's arms: "Grandma's cherries are delicious, mom's are also delicious..."

  The mother's face suddenly turned ugly: "Mom, I don't know...I didn't think of it...After going back, I will surely teach him a good lesson."

  "Alright, alright, it's not a big deal." The old lady smiled and gazed at her grandson who was clinging to her, "Cherries are delicious and look good too, adults love them, let alone a child."

  "Mother, a gentleman has things he will and won't do." The big nanny's face looked very unpleasant, "He wants to eat something, just say it straightforwardly, who wouldn't give it to him? But instead, he sneaks into your room..."

  The lady was somewhat displeased upon hearing this.

  "Big-breasted woman looked on, hastily collecting her words, gazing at the wet nurse of the young master: 'How did you bring up this child? There's still a sweet white porcelain plate on the table!'"

  The milkmaid stammered: "I, I don't know."

  Brother Wang heard and wanted to get off the kang.

  The maid beside him hastily helped him down from the kang.

  He ran "tap tap tap" to a small side table, pulled out the drawer, and took out a sweet white ceramic plate: "You can't find it!"

  So angry that her whole body is trembling, yet she can't say anything.

  The big wife just smiled and said: "Our brother is still clever."

  He took out a few cherries from the drawer: "I left them for you to eat, brother." He was still smiling with his mouth closed, looking very pleased.

  The old lady's eyes immediately turned red as soon as she heard it, and she got up to hug her brother: "Good boy, you're really a good boy." Before she could finish speaking, tears had already fallen.

  The fifth daughter and eleventh daughter were completely bewildered, unsure what was going on or which act this was!

  "Then you see, Dijin she..."

  When Tai Nai mentioned Di Jin's name, Wu Niang couldn't help but look surprised.

  The big wife smiled coldly: "Let's ask Old Mother Hang where that cherry came from."

  The cherry blossoms are on the market ahead of time, and a catty of them costs two taels of silver. Ordinary families can't afford to buy them at this time. It must be Luo Zhensheng. No wonder he wanted to borrow money from me yesterday? No wonder Di Jin was locked up and didn't dare make a sound? He bought things back but didn't offer them to his parents first, instead giving them to the maidservant...

  Daiyu immediately understood Madame Wang's meaning, nodded her head, and was just about to instruct the servant girl when a young maid came in to report: "Madame Wang, Nanny Zhang has arrived!"

  "Let her in!" The mistress's words had barely fallen when Mother Zhang had already taken three steps and walked in.

  She saw Wu Niang and Shi Yi Niang, she was slightly stunned, and her expression had a few moments of hesitation.

  The mistress saw clearly and ordered Wu Niang and Shi Yi Niang: "You two go back to the house and rest!"

  The Fifth Daughter and the Eleventh Daughter left at his call.

  Hang's mother whispered in her ear: "Di Jin seems to be pregnant..."

  The big wife's face changed greatly and she whispered a few words in Mrs. Big's ear.

  The lady sneered coldly: "Unexpectedly, our Fourth Master has such skills! Does he know himself?"

  "Mother Hang said in a low voice: 'Di Jin said she didn't know...'"

  "Then tell our Fourth Master!" The old lady's eyes were full of severity.

  The elder brother looked frightened and shouted "grandma" in a somewhat fearful tone.

  The big wife smiled and patted the head of her son, calmly saying to the servant: "Go find a dentist!"

  Dai Na stared at her mother-in-law, her face full of shock.

  The fifth daughter came out of the big wife's house, hastily told the eleventh daughter a sentence "I'll go see my fourth brother", and then took Ziwei and Ziyun to Luo Zhensheng's place.

  The eleventh girl gave amber a wink and then went back into the house with Dong Qing.

  Before long, Amber returned.

  Her face still showed shock: "It was said that yesterday, the Yongping Marquis's residence sent over some cherries. The mistress left a plate for the master in the ear chamber, but when the master returned, they were gone. In the end, several cherries were found in the cabinet of the floor mat. The mistress thought it was the floor mat who had stolen and eaten them, so she locked her up in the woodshed."

  Eleventh girl let out a sigh of relief: "Fortunately, Brother Xiang himself said it, otherwise it would be a dead end! However, where did the cherry blossoms on the ground come from... Cherry blossoms have just been listed in the past two days and should be very expensive?"

  Amber's expression was a bit strange: "It was bought by Fourth Master!"

  The eleventh daughter wanted to speak but stopped herself.

  She had long heard that Luo Zhensheng was exceptionally fond of Di Jin...

  "Madam is furious," said Amber. "She's told Big Nai to find a buyer for the embroidered silk, and sell it!"

  The eleventh girl was very surprised, but after thinking about it, she felt that although it was unexpected, it was also reasonable.

  In the heart of the big madam, men are not good, probably all suffered from those women's seduction, all those women who do not have a face to climb high branches. Thinking about being sent back to her mother's house by Big Sister Tao. It was just talking to Big Master for a few words, but was shouted and beaten. From this, we can glimpse the mentality of the big madam.

  She couldn't help but let out a long sigh.

  Dong Qing's eyes welled up with tears: "A person as honest and cautious as Di Jin..."

  "What's the use of being honest and cautious!" Amber seemed to be deeply moved, speaking presumptuously in front of Eleven for the first time. "Fourth Master has always been fond of his maids, and they often chatter endlessly around him. Di Jin is a senior maid, sometimes she says a thing or two, Fourth Master still protects those little ones... Who knows what's going on behind this? Moreover, last night Di Jin was locked in the woodshed, if Fourth Master really wanted to protect Di Jin, he would have pleaded with the old lady long ago. Why did it take an entire evening for him to remain silent?"

  Eleventh Girl was taken aback.

  I didn't expect Amber to say something like this... but it makes a lot of sense!

  Dong Qing listened and shook his head: "Fourth Master is also helpless! He himself is a clay Bodhisattva crossing the river, unable to protect himself..."

  Amber didn't want to argue with Dong Qing, and hesitated to speak.

  Dong Qing said in a low voice, "It's a pity that Di Jin is old, and good families have heard that she was sold from our house. I'm afraid they won't want her..." The implication being that Di Jin has been sold, and probably won't be sold to a good place.

  The atmosphere in the room became increasingly depressed.

  The eleventh girl smiled and said, "You don't have to worry too much. Fifth sister has always been able to talk her way out of things in front of mother, let alone Di Jin who is not a frivolous person. Maybe mother's anger will dissipate and this matter will pass."

  Her words had hardly fallen when a mournful cry was heard in the distance.

  Everyone's expression changed slightly, and they vaguely felt that it was the voice of Di Jin.

  But the sound soon stopped, and the surroundings returned to their original quietness.

  For some reason, everyone's heart skipped a beat.

  For a moment, the room was as quiet as water.

  Raising her head again, Dong Qing's face was already covered in tears.