Chapter Twenty-Four: Private Heart

  The main hall of Qingxiangyuan is located in the east warm pavilion.

  Madam Zhu held a bowl of rock sugar swallow's nest, but only stirred it slowly with a silver spoon, as if listening absent-mindedly to Su Mu and Hu Jiao's words. However, Zheng Mama standing beside her knew that the old lady was actually listening extremely carefully. It took two quarters of an hour for Su Mu and Hu Jiao to finish telling the events of the morning in detail.

  "It's good that something like this can be handled so well the first time it happens." Madam Zhu nodded lightly, then looked at Su Mu and Hu Jiao again, and asked faintly, "You just said that Hong Luo Xian Fang and the others have all gone out?"

  Pepper was usually cheerful and carefree, but now she was kneeling in front of her with a nervous heart, afraid that something was wrong with what she had just said, or that she had made a mistake about Miss's affairs. When the old lady asked about Hong Luo, she suddenly became stunned. It was Su Mu who was more alert on the side, and he quickly kowtowed and said: "Old lady, after dinner, Hong Luo sister went out with Qin Fang sister, saying that Miss had ordered them to go on an errand. Qin Fang sister seemed to be going to inquire about the usual practice of making spring shirts, Hong Luo sister was going to the accounting room to ask about the old custom of giving money to several old families during the New Year's festival, and Yun'er sister was given a holiday by Miss to go home and take a look.

  Madam Zhu looked at Zheng's mother and saw her nod slightly, knowing that these words were not empty. Her expression slightly cleared: "I said so, the three big ones in the house are nowhere to be seen, leaving only you few small ones to take care of things. Since today is your turn to follow Miss to Shuijing Hall, it will still be you from now on. Be more alert and pay attention to Miss, she's young, if someone tries to deceive or bully her, she might endure it, but you are not allowed to hide anything, do you understand?"

  "Yes, I understand."

  Two maidservants bowed their heads in unison, and only then did Madam Zhu order Green Orchid to take them away. Once the curtain was lowered, she no longer maintained her dignified posture, leaning back against the head of the kang's backrest. Zheng Mama hastily adjusted the pillow to her right arm, before sitting down beside her along the edge of the kang.

  "Old lady, it seems Miss Three is a sensible person."

  "She's indeed a clever one, able to see through the thoughts of Siyi and Wuwu in such a short time." Zhu Shi smiled coldly, her eyebrows revealing a hint of anger. "Siyi is trying to show off while also fearing that things will get out of hand and provoke her mother, she must be having a hard time right now. As for Wuwu, I really underestimated her... after all, she's the daughter of that woman!"

  Zhu's expression suddenly changed, and she covered her mouth to cough twice. Zheng Mama hastily poured hot tea for her to drink, and after a few words of comfort, she didn't dare continue the conversation. She quickly changed the subject to the morning's trip to the Jin Wang Fu: "Don't worry, old lady, the princess has been paying attention, and also entrusted the eunuchs in the palace to carefully inquire about it. It is said that the emperor looked displeased, but only said that the second master was not making an effort and had disappointed the family's reputation, and was not truly filial to you either. As for the rest, nothing else was said. Judging from this, our plan seems to be 70% accurate."

  "I used to think it was easy too, but now that I think about it, the commander-in-chief of the Brocade Guard surnamed Yang always makes me feel uneasy."

  "Zhu said, thinking of that face, for a moment feeling a bit nervous, calming down and shaking his head: "In short, this matter cannot be taken lightly. You let people keep an eye on the woman in the third house. As for the second house, no matter what they do, you don't need to pay attention, the second wife is just that kind of person."

  "Yes." Zheng's mother replied respectfully, seeing Zhu's face showing fatigue, she couldn't help but hesitate, thinking back and forth, still not daring to hide it, so she said in a low voice, "The princess said that in the past few days since Duke Wei returned, the gate of the Duke's mansion was like a market, the emperor summoned him several times, and the rewards were more than other meritorious officials. Also, because the daughter of the family who had initially engaged to the son of Duke Wei died due to the epidemic, now the matchmakers have been coming in droves, but only Madame Wei is being vague about it, so there are many speculations outside. The princess heard from various sources that..."

  "What is it? Is that woman still thinking of using her own daughter to climb up to be the wife of the Crown Prince?"

  Although Zhu's face was full of displeasure, Zheng's mother hesitated for a moment and nodded slightly: "This is indeed what people say."

  "She's delusional, thinking she's some kind of noble and precious person, but in reality, she's just a concubine! And now she really thinks she can drag our family onto the same boat as Wei Guogong!"

  Zhu finally couldn't bear it anymore, and suddenly sat up straight, her face turning green with rage. Taking a deep breath, she clenched her fists tightly, only then did she manage to calm down, but the fire in her heart only grew stronger. The sister of Duke Weiguo had been promoted to Imperial Noble Consort, and she also had a son, Prince Ru, who was still young, but according to the ancestral rules set by the founding emperor, the eldest son would inherit the throne. After many years, countless scholars had repeatedly advocated for the abolition of the rule that only the eldest son could inherit the throne, and finally managed to elevate the status of the crown prince above that of the other princes. However, the rule that the eldest son must be the heir still remained in place. Otherwise, with the foolishness of Crown Prince Zhou, the position of Crown Prince would have been settled long ago!

  Moreover, the Jin Wangfei unexpectedly had no children after several years of marriage! Now, the Jin King has taken in two more wives, not to mention the rumors that he wants to select a noble lady as his secondary wife. If it really happens as those people wish, and the secondary wife is appointed and gives birth to a son, wouldn't the Jin Wangfei become a mere decoration? This kind of thing isn't unprecedented; in the past, the Taizu Emperor's crown prince had also selected two daughters of noble families, one as his main wife and the other as his secondary wife. In the end, the east wind prevailed over the west wind!

  Zheng's mother had already stood up, seeing Zhu Shi suddenly grasping the pillow beside her tightly. She didn't know what was going on in the old lady's heart and could only secretly sigh. Thinking back to this morning when the water mirror hall was in a mess after Chu Si's family made a big fuss, those few servant women who didn't know where to go quickly came to her place to strike the wooden clock, swearing that they absolutely weren't going out to look for other households' business, all of them were called up by Tian Qi. She shook her head even more.

  If it weren't for the old lady's deep resentment towards Old Master Hou's debauchery during his time as a garrison commander, she wouldn't have extended her hatred to those old family servants who attended to her, letting Second Mistress cut their salaries without even caring about their lives.

  Mrs. Zheng, who was lost in thought, suddenly felt her hand being grabbed by someone and immediately came back to her senses. Seeing that it was Mrs. Zhu staring at her, she hurriedly bowed slightly: "What instructions does the old lady have?"

  "Tomorrow, you go to the Jin Wang Fu again and ask about the second wife's situation. Is it just catching wind or not? Tell Qing Er that this is not the time for reserve! If it's true, we can prepare early on. Rather than letting another family take precedence, why not our own... Our family is an old noble one from last year, although we can't say that everyone will respond to our call, but I still have some older sisters around. Even at home, I can still live for over a decade, and in general, I can still hold my own, no need to worry about being controlled!"

  Zheng's mother's heart skipped a beat, just as she was about to say something, when suddenly the voice of Qing'e came from outside: "Old lady, Third Miss has arrived."

  The two masters and servants who were discussing in the house immediately stopped talking, and Zheng's mother hurriedly served Zhu Shi to sit down. Before long, the door curtain was lifted high, and Chen Lan entered the house. Behind him, apart from Su Mu Hu Jiao, who should have been met halfway, there was a maidservant with an unfamiliar face, looking not very young, and her appearance was not particularly beautiful.

  Chen Lan gave a slight bow to Zhu Shi and then took a closer look at her, noticing that her complexion wasn't quite right. She must have found out something. Connecting the dots with the encounter with Su Mu and Hu Jiao earlier, she had some suspicions. After Zheng Mama helped her sit down next to Zhu Shi on the kang, she explained the situation from that morning, finally saying: "Old Madam, please understand, these old family members were all part of the entourage when Old Master went to war, they may not have any merits but they do have hardships. If we let them suffer and struggle, it will tarnish our family's reputation, and perhaps someone will even spread rumors about you. That's why I took the initiative to make a promise to them."

  A sentence "Arrange your own" made Zhu's face change color. She originally thought that those few families had been silent for many years, but now they suddenly had the nerve to be so mysterious. The more she thought about it, the more reasonable it seemed. At first, there was still a hint of fatigue on her face, but immediately replaced with an expression of praise, and she praised Chen Lan a few more times.

  She glossed over the matter of her own accord, and Chen Lan again picked up a few things from that morning to talk about. She knew that Old Lady must know everything, but she still didn't hide anything, even saying what she thought when doing things. In the end, it was still about the matter of Chu Si's family.

  "I asked Green Sprout sister, most of the good and bad things at home have been fulfilled, but to comfort them, we still need some actual ones. I think, Fourth Brother is not young anymore, although he's studying in school, our family is a martial one, it's not necessary to be proficient in archery and horse riding, but we should practice martial arts. That Chu Four household said their young son has been practicing martial arts since childhood, why not invite him over to be Fourth Brother and Third Brother's sparring partner? We can also select two or three people from other households. These are all old family servants, they were able to fight on the battlefield at critical moments in the past, now although the world is peaceful, they can still be used, it's better than being provoked into trouble by others."

  Zhu listened and listened, and unknowingly sized up Chen Lan, seeing that she spoke extremely calmly, and when she mentioned stirring up trouble, her eyes didn't even blink, which made Zhu somewhat hesitant. Putting aside these people was her own selfishness, but at present, the most taboo thing in the family was not to stop, and since Chen Ying of the third house was a military general, Zhu also had to consider the consequences of those old family members being taken away. After hesitating again and again, she finally nodded slightly.

  "It's up to you."

  Although it was just a simple three words, Chen Lan was overjoyed. After all, there were very few people she could trust now, and she didn't have much confidence in Chen Yan's character. She deeply hoped to find some honest and reliable people around him. Although the fourth son of the Chu family was a bit foolish, he seemed to be not too cunning, and his son might be trustworthy. Even if he wasn't trustworthy, it didn't matter; she couldn't just give up because of this reason.

  After the serious talk, the grandmother and grandson naturally started chatting. Zheng's mother chimed in with a few words, as if she had just noticed the maid standing next to Su Mu Huai, and asked with a smile: "Third Miss, doesn't this maid look unfamiliar?"

  "Yes, today I was watching the snow outside the door when she came up to deliver tea. I thought she looked clever, so I pointed at her and had her follow me, and even gave her a new name - Rui Xue." Chen Lan smiled casually and continued, "At that time, Hong Luo Jie Jie and Qin Fang were both out on errands, Yun Er was also on leave, and I originally thought there was still Su Mu Hu Jiao, so I agreed to let her come. Who knew they all snuck out to play? The courtyard was empty, not a single maid in sight. So I brought her here, now Jin Xiu Ge has only one mom left guarding it."

  Zhu knew that someone must have instructed Su Mu Huo not to mention the incident at Lianxiangyuan, so Chen Lan thought they had gone out to play. As for the reason why Hongluo and three others were absent, she was also clear about it. However, when she heard that other maids were missing, she furrowed her brow immediately. Then, she said indifferently: "As long as you like, a maid is nothing. I'll just fill in the vacancy of a third-class maid for her tomorrow."

  Rui Xue was originally nervous, but upon hearing this, she suddenly felt relieved and hastily went forward to kowtow. After finishing the ceremony and standing aside, she heard Zhu Shi say to Chen Lan that since the maid of Jinxiu Pavilion was so lazy, it was time to replace her with a few others, only then did she take a deep breath in reverse.

  If she hadn't gone to slack off like everyone else, but instead came forward and handed over a cup of hot tea, saying a few words of encouragement, then among the people who would be replaced tomorrow, she would definitely be one of them!

  PS: The click ranking is dropping down quickly, there's no hope for the recommendation ranking, 55555... No need to use pink PK votes, just hoping for clicks and collections...