Chapter Fifty-Four Reward Money

  "Useless! Everything was prepared for you, and yet you brought so many people with you. You can't even bring back a single ancestral hall. What's the point of having you?" A person standing in the dimly lit study room with their back to the window rebuked someone behind them.

  The person behind him knelt down in terror, constantly confessing his guilt: "Master, I'm to blame, I'm useless, please spare me this time!" As he spoke, he kept knocking his head against the ground, as if it didn't hurt.

  After a while, the man with his hands behind him said calmly: "Alright, you've been following me for so many years, I still know your abilities. Tell me, what's going on?"

  Is that all it takes to forgive him? The man who had been kneeling slowly stood up, and the light shone on him, revealing that he was Mazzi, the one who had robbed the Ye family's ancestral hall.

  Ma Zi recounted everything that had happened in the ancestral hall. The man with his hands behind his back listened, paced around the study for a while, then raised his head and stared at Ma Zi: "Did that little girl really say she was good friends with the county magistrate's daughter?"

  "Oh dear, sir, how dare I deceive you? That little girl said so herself, and many people heard it at the time. Otherwise, I'd risk my life to get that ancestral hall back for you!" Ma Zi hastened to show his loyalty.

  That man smiled ambiguously, "This is really teasing people. I tried every means to get along with County Magistrate Zhou, but there was no way. This little girl is even better than me."

  Ma Zi was shocked by his words and carefully tried to please him, saying: "Sir, why don't we catch that little girl and see if what she said is true?" They were familiar with kidnapping and extortion, so Ma Zi suggested this without any psychological burden.

  "Fool!" scolded the old man, "If that girl is telling the truth, and she really is a good friend of the county magistrate's daughter, haven't we offended County Magistrate Zhou?"

  "Little fool, little fool, you're coming up with a bad idea!" Ma Zi said, still gently slapping his own face, afraid that his bad idea would annoy Grandpa.

  The old man stretched out his hand to stop Mazzi from slapping the girl's face and said, "You send someone to Yushu Village to investigate this little girl's background."

  Ma Zi retreated in obedience.

  The next morning, Qizhen went to the mountain early and picked some wild fruits that the Zhou family wanted. She sent them over and also made an appointment with Old Man Ye to meet up at a certain place and head to Songshan Temple together.

  As soon as Zhen'er left the village, she felt a bit strange. There were always two people following her from behind. When she walked faster, they also quickened their pace; when she slowed down, those people followed slowly too. Although today was a market day and many rural households came to the market, those two people didn't look like country folk at all. To say who they resembled... yes, they looked like Ye Shixian, the second son of the Ye family. They seemed somewhat sly and weren't decent people at first glance.

  But what could a little girl like her have that would attract people to follow her? Was it a kidnapping attempt? But that didn't seem right either, as there were many places along the way where they could have easily taken her away, yet they hadn't made a move, only following her at a distance, as if their sole purpose was just to follow her.

  Looking from afar at the two people following her, Zhen'er felt a little frightened in her heart, but she was also secretly relieved. Fortunately, Hu Zi had followed Ye Lao Yezi together today, otherwise she would have been even more worried.

  I don't know if it was the last time the villagers went to block Ye's door and scared Hu Zi, but since then he has been even more attached to Zhen Er. Wherever Zhen Er goes, he wants to follow, otherwise he will be unhappy. Zhen Er feels sorry for him and knows that he lacks a sense of security, so she takes him with her wherever she goes. Today is the day Ye Laoye also wants to go to Songshan Temple, and she persuaded Hu Zi to go with Laoye, but they walked slowly.

  As they approached the county town, the city gate was already in sight, and there were still guards wearing military uniforms under the city gate. Zhen Er's heart felt more at ease.

  He went to the northern district, where all the residents were either of high social status or wealthy families. The county magistrate's mansion was also located in this district.

  She knocked on the back door, and the gatekeeper, who was the one that Wang Er had instructed yesterday, saw that it was Zhen Er, welcomed her in, and instructed another woman to keep watch at the door. She personally accompanied Zhen Er to the courtyard of Mistress Zhizhou.

  Zhen'er walked through the back corner gate, from there to Zhou's courtyard, she had to cross half of the mansion. Zhen'er quietly followed the old woman with her head down and eyes lowered, neither looking around nor asking questions. She had been in such a household before and knew that large families didn't like people who talked too much or were not in their place. She also didn't want to get herself into trouble, so it was better to keep a low profile.

  Wan'er accompanied her own young mistress to pay respects to the madam, and as they walked in the garden, they happened to see the gatekeeper's wife bringing Zhen'er this way. Her family's young mistress was clever and saw that she glanced over there a few times, so she guessed something.

  "Is that the fruit seller you were talking about?" Seeing Nian'er nod in agreement, Miss Zhou continued: "Looks like someone who knows the rules."

  Although these words were meant to praise Zhen'er, Wan'er was also delighted to hear them, and Miss's praise of Zhen'er also proved that her own judgment was good.

  Although the gatekeeper didn't recognize her own young mistress, she was very familiar with the senior maid, Xiang'er, who attended to the mistress. From a distance, she saw Xiang'er respectfully serving someone wearing silk underskirts and a shanxi hairstyle adorned with pearls, jade, and precious hairpins, exuding an air of nobility that left no doubt this was indeed her own young mistress.

  As she approached, the old woman made a respectful bow, and Zhen'er habitually followed with a standard courtesy, kneeling halfway before realizing that she was no longer the little maid who couldn't eat or dress warmly in the Qi manor, always living in fear. If she continued to act so properly, it would arouse suspicion.

  When she got up, Zhen'er pretended that the weight of the fruit on her back was unbearable, and she almost fell over, causing Miss Zhou and a group of maids to burst out laughing.

  Miss Zhou's wet nurse, Xia, was initially suspicious of Zhen'er being able to perform the standard etiquette, but when she saw Zhen'er almost falling over, she secretly felt at ease, thinking that she was just a country girl who had learned some clever tricks from her mistress, and was still a bit timid, getting scared when seeing important people.

  Zhen'er had no idea that her unintentional mistake would make Miss Zhou like her and find a guarantee for her future life.

  Zhen'er accidentally shook out two flowers from the basket on her back, and upon seeing them, Miss Zhou's interest was piqued. She pointed at them and asked, "What kind of flowers are these?" Pan'er, being attentive, picked them up and handed them to their own young mistress.

  Two flowers, one blue and one red, each has its own beauty, very nice to look at.

  Zhen'er originally had a humble and obedient appearance, but after hearing the question, she thought that at her age, she was being too proper and didn't fit the image of a country girl. She lifted her head with an innocent expression and said: "Those are Eight Immortals flowers, I picked them on the mountain today, aren't they beautiful? I thought Miss would be pretty and would definitely like these kinds of flowers, so I picked two for Miss."

  "Eight Immortals Flower?" Miss Zhou looked at it and smiled: "This name is quite interesting."

  Summer also followed the road: "This flower's flower cluster is brocade, looking at it doesn't look like eight flowers? The name is quite appropriate."

  "What's the origin of this name?" Miss Zhou asked Jing'er, but before she could answer, she smiled and said, "How would a little girl like you know these things?"

  "I know." Zhen'er exclaimed hastily, her face slightly red with excitement, her small hands still clenched into fists, as if Miss Zhou's skepticism had struck a blow to her.

  "Don't be unreasonable!" Meng'er scolded. After finishing, she took a look at her own young lady, fearing that her own young lady would get angry and also get involved.

  Qī Zhēnér's face turned red, but she also had a good sense of timing and stopped making noise. She just stared at Miss Zhou with wide eyes.

  Miss Zhou's smile at the corner of her mouth didn't change, nor did she scold Meng'er. She lowered her eyes to look at the flower in her hand and said, "Tell me about its origins."

  Zhen'er responded with a sound, as if she had finally gotten confirmation, and said happily: "These flowers were scattered by He Xiangu before the Eight Immortals crossed the sea. She saw that the scenery here was beautiful and picturesque, so she sprinkled down some immortal flower seeds to add to the beauty of the brocade. The next year, eight-colored flowers bloomed all over the mountains and peaks, so people called them the 'Eight Immortals Flowers'."

  Zhen'er finished speaking and raised her head high, as if waiting for praise.

  Miss Zhou couldn't help but laugh at her appearance and said to Xia Mama: "This little girl is really cute."

  Summer aunt also had a smile in her eyes.

  Qizhen also saw the smile in their eyes, and her heart was secretly delighted. Yesterday, she borrowed Miss Zhou's name, after all, she was her own benefactor, and there was still some guilt in her heart. Today, when she saw these flowers, she thought of Xiang'er's words, that Miss loved beautiful things, so she wanted to send two flowers to express her gratitude. But borrowing Miss Zhou's name, no matter what, there was still some unease in her heart, fearing that one day this would be exposed, and then she would be in trouble.

  Miss Zhou asked the question, not intending to let her answer, but she seized the opportunity. Anyway, it's good that Miss Zhou can leave an impression, and now it seems that the effect is better than she thought.

  "The country girl is like this, she's used to being rough and doesn't understand etiquette. Miss, just laugh it off and that's all, but etiquette can't be neglected." Xia Ayi reminded her. She was the miss's nanny, playing a role in educating her, if the miss did something wrong, others wouldn't dare say anything, but she could remind her.

  After waiting for the child to collect the fruit and pay the silver, Qi Zhen'er happily left the Zhou residence. She didn't think that her previous words would actually earn her a reward of two taels of silver, plus today's earnings from selling fruit, making it a total of 230 wen in one day, which was quite a big harvest.

  After going out, Zhen'er looked around carefully and didn't see the two people's figures anymore, feeling relieved. It seems that her guess was correct, that person might really be sent by Ma Zi, just to see if what she said yesterday was true.

  At the same time as feeling relieved, Zhen'er couldn't help but feel fortunate that she had agreed to send fruit to the mansion with Wang'er yesterday, otherwise she wouldn't have been able to leave the house for several days, and maybe there would be more trouble later.

  It was already late when I left Zhou's house. Summer days start early, and today is another sunny day. The sun is shining brightly now. Zhen'er took a look at the sky and didn't dare to delay, so she hurriedly ran towards the outskirts of the city.

  I remember learning geography before, and when I heard about eating watermelon around a stove, I thought it was very novel and interesting. But only when we were actually "in the stove" eating watermelon did I realize how painful it is... Seeking rain in the midst of it all...

  Thanks to Ziyuan Zhao Yilin for the PK votes, thanks to ek0113 for the peace symbol~~~ We will continue to work hard.