Song Ce stared blankly at the calm young girl in front of him as if in a dream. The chief steward of Dingyuan Marquis's Mansion was a job that many people dreamed of and would rack their brains to get, but she brought it to him so easily and even humbly asked for his opinion.
"Xiu'er, I, what virtue do I have..." He was so panicked that he didn't know where to put his hands. "I can barely manage a manor, but how can I manage such a big mansion?"
"Of course you can. Zhuangzi is much bigger than the Marquis' Mansion." Xie Nanjia joked with a smile, and walked up to him and whispered to him, "Others may not know your ability, but I know it in my heart. It was all thanks to you that I was able to follow Fourth Aunt to the capital. You came to send lotus roots during the Mid-Autumn Festival. I said I would get you into the Marquis' Mansion to be a steward. Now, my promise has come true. You don't have to look back, just do it."
When she said this, Song Ce vaguely remembered the brief meeting with her during the Mid-Autumn Festival. At that time, he thought the girl was just talking nonsense, but he didn't expect that she was serious and realized it just a few months later.
He had long known that this girl was no simple person. Now it seemed that she was more than just no simple person, she was simply too powerful.
Song Ce suppressed the shock in his heart and nodded solemnly: "Okay, I'll listen to you, I'll listen to you."
Xiu'er's mother didn't have a strong opinion. Since Song Ce was willing to stay, she naturally wanted to follow her husband. Besides, if she stayed, she could see her daughter from time to time. This temptation was too great for her.
Since both of them agreed to stay, Xie Nanjia felt relieved. After giving them some instructions, he asked someone to drive them to Dingyuan Marquis Mansion.
After seeing the two off, Xie Nanjia went back to the front with Sheng Qingyun.
Sheng Qingyun still felt a little sad, and asked Xie Nanjia if in her heart, her adoptive mother was closer to her than her biological mother, otherwise why would she arrange such a good job for them.
Xie Nanjia understood her feelings, and intimately took her arm and acted coquettishly, explaining, "Mother, you think too much. The reason why I made this arrangement is not entirely because of my affection for my adoptive mother, but for cousin Nanjia's child. The child has lost his mother, and his father is unreliable. I want to train him a few useful people within my ability, so that his future path can be smoother."
"In that case, it's mother who has wronged you." Sheng Qingyun felt relieved after hearing her explanation. He pulled her hand up and patted it. "You can think so much about your nephew, which shows that you are a kind and good child. Your cousin Nan Jia had a miserable life. She died before she even had the chance to see her child. In the future, we should help her take care of the child so that she can rest in peace in heaven."
Xie Nanjia nodded with mixed feelings, leaning against her aunt with gratitude, and secretly vowed that for the rest of her life, she would be filial to her cousin's parents and protect the Duke's Mansion.
"Speaking of your cousin Nan Jia, I think of your poor aunt. Let's take some time these two days to go to the general's mansion and visit your aunt!" Sheng Qingyun said again.
Xie Nanjia naturally wanted it very much and agreed happily.
Sheng Qingyun added: "There is just one thing. You are now an adopted daughter, so we have to bring your sister with us when we go to avoid people making random guesses."
The title of sister made Xie Nanjia stunned for a moment, and then she realized that it was Princess Jinping.
Judging from the attitude of the aunt, although she already knew that Princess Jinping was a fake, she did not seem to reject or neglect her because of this, and she still cared about her as much as before.
When people get along for a long time, their feelings for each other will naturally deepen. Xie Nanjia can understand this, but there is one thing that makes her feel strange. Could it be that her aunt has never thought that Princess Jinping might be one of the masterminds in the matter of recognizing the wrong child
Xiu'er's mother said that someone gave her ex-husband money to steal the child, which means that the disappearance of cousin Jinping was a conspiracy from the beginning.
Is it possible that the mastermind behind the scenes discovered that the Duke's Mansion had not given up the search for so many years, and was afraid that his crime would be exposed one day if it continued like this, so he took great pains to select a girl with phoenix eyes to pretend to be Jinping's cousin, and then deliberately spread the news to the Duke's Mansion through the distant cousin of Second Madam Zheng.
If this is true, the mastermind must be hiding in the Duke's Mansion, so that he can always grasp the developments in the mansion, understand everyone's thoughts, and lead everyone by the nose step by step.
Oh my god!
Xie Nanjia thought about it carefully and instantly got goosebumps all over her body. Assuming that her guess was correct, then the current Princess Jinping definitely knew the truth and was willing to cooperate with the mastermind to deceive the Duke's Mansion for the sake of profit.
What a good acting skill it must have been to successfully deceive everyone and capture the hearts of everyone in the mansion in a short period of time, making her uncle and aunt love her so much that they did not think the worst of her even though they knew she was a fake, and instead let her marry into the East Palace and enjoy the highest honor.
Of course, it is possible that she was overthinking the above. Although her aunt-in-law was a bit straightforward, her uncle-in-law was the Duke of Zhenguo, so he should have thought of these things. What's more, there were the old Duke and the old lady, who were not so easy to deceive.
Thinking of this, Xie Nanjia carefully recalled the words and deeds of Jinping County Master, and felt that apart from her excessive enthusiasm, everything else was normal. Last time at Jinxiufang, she even threw a tantrum over a piece of clothing, and was no different from a spoiled young lady from an ordinary family.
I hope I'm just overthinking it.
"You haven't spoken for a long time. What are you thinking about?" Sheng Qingyun interrupted her thoughts.
Xie Nanjia came back to her senses and smiled slightly: "I'm not thinking about anything, I'm just a little tired."
"Are you tired?" Sheng Qingyun said, "Then go back and rest quickly. I didn't have time to ask you because of the commotion earlier. Your sister wants you to live with her in Furong Courtyard. I'm afraid you won't feel comfortable living with others when you first arrive. I also asked someone to clean up Tianxiangju, which is adjacent to Furong Courtyard. I wonder which one you like?"
Xie Nanjia thought for a moment and said, "I really don't like living with others, so I'll just live in Tianxiangju. It's close anyway, and my sister can come visit me anytime."
When she was a child, she often stayed in the Duke's Mansion for a short time, and each time she stayed in Tianxiangju. Later, Sheng Qingyun thought that there were no other young ladies in the mansion, so she simply used Tianxiangju as her own room and never let anyone else live there.
Seeing that she chose Tianxiangju, Sheng Qingyun couldn't help but recall the past. While telling her about the past, he took her to Tianxiangju to rest.
When Princess Jinping heard that she had moved into Tianxiangju, she rushed over to help her put her things away. She held Sheng Qingyun's hand and said coquettishly, "Mother, my sister must dislike me and don't want to live with me."
Sheng Qingyun comforted her softly, "It's not like that. Your sister just came back and is a little restrained. When you two get familiar with each other after a few days, she might even stick to you and sleep with you. You'd better not find her annoying then."
Princess Jinping laughed and said, "I wish my sister would stick to me!"
Xie Nanjia observed her silently, trying to find some abnormality on her face, but unfortunately she saw nothing.
The mother and her two daughters talked for a while, and then Sheng Qingyun took Princess Jinping away, telling Xie Nanjia to have a good rest and sending someone to call her for dinner.
Two maids came forward to help Xie Nanjia undress and waited for her to lie down, then they quietly retreated and stood guard in the corridor.
Xie Nanjia wasn't too sleepy, so he just lay there with his eyes open, thinking about his problems.
The first person she thought of was her son. In the past, when she was in the Marquis' Mansion, she didn't see her son every day. But today, for some reason, although she had only been away for half a day, she felt like she had been separated from her son for several years.
This feeling was very uncomfortable. She thought that she should let Zhao Jingyu propose marriage as soon as possible. It would be best if the proposal was made this year and the marriage was held next year. This way, she could go back earlier to take care of her son.
Thinking of this, she couldn't help but want to laugh. There were probably not many girls who were as eager to get married as she was. If Zhao Jingyu knew about this, he would definitely laugh at her again.
It's strange to say, she was obviously very resistant to being with Zhao Jingyu before, but she didn't know when that feeling disappeared automatically. Now, not only is she no longer resistant, but she is more dependent on Zhao Jingyu, and has even decided to bet her future on him.
It's really inexplicable.
After thinking it over, she found a not-so-clever excuse for herself. She needed an ally, and Zhao Jingyu had no conflict of interest with her and his actions were not restricted, so he was a good fit for her. Another point was that Zhao Jingyu had people in his hands, and each of them was very capable, which just made up for her lack of manpower.
But then again, she is now considered a daughter of the Duke's Mansion, and it's time for her to cultivate some confidants of her own.
As she thought about this and that, she gradually felt sleepy, so she closed her eyes and fell asleep.
She didn't know how long she slept, but she woke up in a daze. She saw that it was already dark outside the window. Thinking it was almost time for dinner, she got up from the bed and looked for clothes to wear.
The clothes she had taken off earlier were hanging on the clothes rail. She took a look at them and suddenly remembered that she had a maid now and should ask the maid to come in and serve her.
Just as he was about to raise his voice to call for help, he heard a faint chattering in the corridor. A voice said, "We are so unlucky to be assigned to serve a fake lady. I don't know what's wrong with the lady. She has obviously found her own daughter, but she still insists on getting a maid to pass as her daughter. She wants a daughter so much, and there are so many maids in our house that she can't take one in, but she went to someone else's house to take one in. I really don't know what she is thinking."
"Hush, keep your voice down!" Another voice stopped her, "I think you are the one who is crazy. You dare to talk nonsense about the master. If the young lady hears it, we will all be dead."
"She is not a lady at all. To put it bluntly, she is just a servant like us." The previous voice said disdainfully, "A proper lady would never sleep in the broad daylight like her. I'm afraid she has never slept on such a soft bed. Who knows how long she will sleep. I'm afraid she will hear it."
"I really don't understand why you are dissatisfied. Princess Jinping has no objection, so how can it bother you?"
"How do you know the county lady has no objection? It's not easy for the county lady to say it in front of the lady. After all, she has only been back home for a short time and her foundation is not stable."
"Why is she unstable? The county lady is the future crown princess. She is magnanimous, so she doesn't care. Unlike you!"
"Dadu, haha, that's because you are short-sighted. Just wait and see, she is not an easy person to deal with."
The two of them were talking to each other, and neither of them noticed that the person in the room had woken up.
Xie Nanjia was not in a hurry to call them. She put on her clothes and sat silently in front of the dressing table. She combed her hair while continuing to listen to their conversation. When everything was ready, she walked slowly to the door, opened it and walked out.
The two maids in the corridor heard the door open and immediately fell silent. They hurried over to ask, "Miss Xiu'er, are you awake?"
"Yeah." Xie Nanjia responded casually.
One of the maids saw that Xie Nanjia was already dressed, her eyes rolled around a few times, and she asked cautiously, "When did the young lady wake up?"
"It's been a while." Xie Nanjia yawned. "I've never slept on such a soft bed. If I wasn't thirsty, I would have slept for who knows how long!"
The two of them looked very pale, and they knelt on the ground together, saying repeatedly: "Miss, please forgive me, Miss, please forgive me..."
"Forgive me for nothing. I'm just a servant like you." Xie Nanjia said calmly.
The two girls were so frightened that they turned pale and kowtowed repeatedly begging for mercy.
Xie Nanjia remained calm: "What's the point of kowtowing? Why don't you tell me why Jinping County Lady is so unreliable?"
(End of this chapter)