Everyone present, except Mozi, had been following Qiu Sanniang since childhood and could not help but notice the sudden change in tone. Three pairs of eyes looked back and forth between Mozi and Qiu Sanniang, unsure what was happening.

  The white lotus is wrinkled with worry. What's wrong? Earlier, the girl smiled and let Mozi bear a debt of 300 taels without reason, but now she's angry, what's the reason? From where she stands, she can't see Mozi's eyes, so naturally she can't read his mind.

  "Miss..." wanted to persuade, but didn't know where to start, so she pushed Mu Zi, "Mu Zi, hurry up and apologize to Miss." Right or wrong, for a maid like her, it's not necessary to investigate deeply, her humble status destined her to bow her head first.

  Meizi didn't lower her head, but her eyes dimmed slightly. "Miss, I'm not angry, just surprised. As a second-rate maid, I don't excel in anything. Did Fourth Madam mistake me for someone else?"

  "You're wrong if you think that's wrong, I think it's quite good." Chu San Niang's cold voice was laced with sarcasm.

  "Girl, where is this good?" Green Chrysanthemum blurted out, "Rather be the head of a cow than the tail of a phoenix. Isn't that what you always tell us?"

  "Not bad, I taught you three this way, but not with her." Jiang San Niang's finger pointed upwards, aiming at Mo Zi's direction. "Who among you has a heart as clever as hers? Who can compare to her intelligence? If you want to marry into a rich family and be a concubine, I won't stop you."

  "Miss, don't say that. What does being clever and having a kind heart have to do with anything? Mozi won't think of marrying someone to be a concubine." Baihe spoke on behalf of Mozi.

  "Everyone has their own aspirations, I won't force you." Jiang Sanniang picked up her chopsticks again and began eating slowly.

  "Mozi, you're finally speaking up!" Lüju was so anxious that she stomped her foot.

  "When a concubine..." Mozi pursed her lips, facing the trouble-making Qiu San Niang, even if her heart was burning with anger, she couldn't lose her composure, "It's fine."

  White lotus and green chrysanthemum in pairs startling sounds.

  "Mei Zi, you stay behind, and the three of you go eat." Qiu San Niang glanced over with a slanted gaze.

  "Miss?" Green Chrysanthemum was not very pleased. Her mind had not yet figured things out, how could she have an appetite for food?

  "If you don't go now, I won't give you anything to eat tonight." Qiu Sanniang glared at him with her almond-shaped eyes.

  Bai He knew that Qiu San Niang was not joking at this time, and hurriedly pulled one hand with the other, looking at Mo Zi again, wanting to speak but stopping, and finally retreated reluctantly.

  For two incense sticks' time, Qiu Sanniang also didn't speak, slowly and carefully savoring each mouthful of her late dinner.

  Mozi saw that she had almost finished eating, so he brought over a bowl of clear water for her to rinse her mouth and handed her a white cotton handkerchief. Isn't there a saying that habits are scary things? She had been a maid for more than half a year, and many tasks had become second nature to her. Even though she seemed stiff with Qiu San Niang at the moment, what needed to be done still had to be done.

  Qiu Sanniang finished her meal and got up, entering the inner room. She lazily slid into a red wooden armchair and flipped through a book with a rustling sound.

  Meizi followed in, wanting to say that lying down right after eating makes one fat, but she opened her mouth and then closed it again. Why bother with such trivial matters?

  Deep purple.

  "Yes, miss."

  "If I had known you had such thoughts, I would have taken care of it for you. Concubine... is she good?" Qiu San Niang smiled faintly. She was beautiful, and her smile was extremely beautiful, just like a pure white pear blossom, completely opposite to her true nature.

  "The girl spoke first." To speak of the heart's eye, Mozi was not only more than Baihe and Lüjiao, but also more than Qiurou by a few. Just like designing a warship, if all aspects are not considered thoroughly, how can one win over the opponent?

  Qiu Sanniang was clever, but she was also too proud and looked down on the struggles of women in the back house, so she acted arbitrarily. Mozi, on the other hand, had to be careful and cautious everywhere, opening one eye after another, seeking survival in the cracks of a world without relatives.

  "I said it's fine, you just say it's fine. Then I say let's send you away, and you'll obediently follow Fourth Granny?" Chou San Niang flipped through the pages of a book, but wasn't actually looking at them.

  "Miss wants to hear me tell the truth?" Mozi lowered his eyelids, and his smile was also gentle.

  Qiu San Niang hummed and said, "Speak up, who can shut your mouth?"

  "The girl hasn't even agreed to Fourth Granny's words yet, isn't saying these things meaningless?" Zi replied.

  Qiu San Niang slowly said "oh", her tone changed twice, and asked back, "Since you guessed it, why did you stare at me with such a fierce gaze just now?" Such piercing eyes, so sharp, actually made her think of competing with him.

  "Just now, Mozi hadn't guessed yet. Thought the girl really obeyed Fourth Granny, scared to a cold sweat, trembling with fear. Thinking of being sent away at that moment, truly panicked. Later thinking again, the girl isn't such an untrustworthy person, so followed along with what she said."

  "It's rare for you to be afraid, now I feel at ease. Usually seeing that nothing can stir you up, I've been thinking of forcing you to change your expression someday. As for the second half of the sentence, it was said incorrectly. Whether or not to believe it, I'm too lazy to think about it. The sages' books all say that only petty people and women are difficult to raise. A word of trust, what's the point of being cautious? It's actually the silver ticket that Fourth Madam took out that dazzled me, making me want to take it in." Thus began Jiang San Niang's account of events.

  "How much silver is Fourth Granny willing to spend?" Not only did she exchange four maidservants for her, but also had to give money to Qiu San Niang. Mo Zi thought to herself, it seems that as a maid, she was quite successful.

  "A thousand taels." Qiu San Niang said with a soft and melodious voice, as gentle as the fragrance of orchids, "Half for your dowry, half for me."

  "Five hundred taels for dowry?" Mozi couldn't help but laugh, "Buying a house is really not cheap."

  Qiu San Niang laughed so hard that her flowers shook, "Do you think it's all like this? When Ai Lian was given to the fourth house by Madam, my sister-in-law only gave a set of hair accessories and twenty taels of silver, and didn't even host a banquet. So I said, Jiang Shi has sharp eyes, she must be aware that it won't be easy to get someone this time, so she wants to use silver to bribe the little ghost. One thousand taels is probably Jiang Shi's private silver, Madam would never take it out no matter what."

  "How could Madam have agreed?" After that night, she should have hated herself to the bone.

  "You don't understand this. No matter how cruel she is, she can't bear to treat her own beloved son and daughter-in-law badly. Besides, taking you in is better than bringing someone from outside. In the end, they just see you as a servant girl. As long as they have your contract, what can you do?"

  "Indentured servant?" As expected, "This time I can properly ask the young lady if she's been sold."

  "They want to buy, can I sell or not, depends on you." Qiu San Niang threw the book onto the desk and asked in a tone that could kill someone with boredom, "Mo Zi Niang, do you want to take the lead or fall behind?"

  "What does Miss think?" asked Mozi Xuejiu, turning the question back on her.

  "I thought that since you didn't have the self-awareness to be a proper maid, you shouldn't belittle yourself either. Among the four people around me, only you work for me in a contractual manner. I trust you because of your adherence to principles. Loyalty, I don't demand from you. But if you can't bring me benefits, what's the point of keeping you? And if I couldn't provide what you need, it seems I wouldn't be able to keep you either. Bai He and Lü Qi treat you like a sister, but they don't know that our relationship is one of mutual benefit. Mo Zi, listen well: my attitude towards you won't be the same as towards Bai He or Lü Qi. When all else fails, you'll be the first person I let go of. So, don't be too confident or reckless around me." Jiǔ Niáng said.

  Although what Qiu Sanniang said seemed unrelated to Mozi's question, Mozi understood it clearly. He also explicitly expressed his own meaning, "I am willing to follow the young lady out of her parents' home."

  That's exactly what Qiu San Niang means. She is not a white lotus green chrysanthemum, and she can't play the guessing game with Qiu San Niang. If you want something, you have to say it directly. Whether Qiu San Niang agrees or not depends on how much benefit she can bring to herself.

  The relationship between this young lady and her maid is just as Qiu San Niang said: crystal clear, each taking what they need.

  Isn't it good?