When Cheng Zhiye came to find Zhao Jingyu, Zhao Jingyu was frowning at the secret report brought by Wei Jun about Xiu'er and Hualou's ancestors.
The secret report said that Hualou's ancestral home was in Runing Prefecture, and her ancestors were all farmers. When she was eight years old, her hometown was hit by a famine, and her family sold her to a human trafficker. After several twists and turns, she was sold by the human trafficker to the house of the Duke of Zhenguo as a maid.
The eldest daughter-in-law of the Duke Zhenguo's family and the wife of General Wu'an are sisters. The general's wife brought her daughter to visit the Duke's Mansion. At that time, Miss Xie Nanjia somehow fell in love with the Hualou and asked her aunt to give it to her.
From then on, Hualou became Xie Nanjia's personal maid until Xie Nanjia married into Dingyuan Marquis's Mansion and she followed her as a dowry.
As for Xiu'er, her life story was even simpler. Her ancestral home was in Shanxi. When she was eight years old, the Yellow River flooded and her hometown was submerged. She followed her parents to flee from famine. Her father died of malaria on the way. Her mother and she ended up at Hongou Manor. The steward was unwilling to take them in. Fortunately, she met Mr. Zhao Er who went to the manor to escape the summer heat. She was able to settle down at the manor and lived there for seven years, never leaving.
"This is impossible, absolutely impossible." Zhao Jingyu didn't believe that his reasoning was wrong, and threw the secret report back to Wei Jun, "Who wants to look at these superficial things? Dig deeper."
Wei Jun said, "Hua Lou's background has indeed been confirmed in Runing Prefecture. Although her parents are gone, her clansmen are still here, and their stories are consistent. As for Xiu'er, her hometown was completely submerged by the flood that year, and only a few people escaped. Even the local government office was destroyed in the flood, so there is no way to verify it."
"It's even more suspicious if there's no way to verify it." Zhao Jingyu said, "The flood that year must have been very large. Anyone who wants to hide their true identity can say that they fled from there. Anyway, there's no way to verify it."
"Second Young Master is absolutely right. Do you want to continue investigating?" Wei Jun asked.
Zhao Jingyu glared at him and said, "You are stupid. How can you investigate if there is no way to verify it? Are you going to tie up Xiu'er's mother and torture her?"
"So you won't investigate anymore?" Wei Jun asked again.
Zhao Jingyu said calmly: "Of course we have to investigate, but we have to use a different method."
"What method?" Wei Jun asked again.
Zhao Jingyu opened his folding fan with a swish, showing a charming smile, and raised his eyebrows slightly and said: "Sir, I plan to use the beauty trap."
Wei Jun: “…”
"Who are you trying to lure with your beauty?" Cheng Zhiye walked in with a big red rose on his temple. "Our handsome and charming Mr. Zhao is actually trying to lure with his beauty. Who is so hard to get?"
Zhao Jingyu frowned and said, "It's none of your business. Why are you here again?"
Cheng Zhiye sat down opposite him and poured himself a cup of tea: "You have been staying at home all day recently and didn't ask me to drink. I wondered if you had a mistress hidden in your house, so I came here to take a look."
Zhao Jingyu said, "Now I see it, no, get out of here, don't delay my work."
Cheng Zhiye didn't leave, and casually took the rose from his temples and handed it to Wei Jun: "Go, help me give this flower to Yiyun, and tell her that I brought it back from the palace for her."
Wei Jun took the flowers, walked out and closed the door.
Zhao Jingyu rolled her eyes at Cheng Zhiye in disgust: "How shameless of you! When I went to your house, I never thought about your maid."
Cheng Zhiye said shamelessly: "That's because you don't like my girls, but I like your girls."
"Get out!" Zhao Jingyu pretended to throw the tea at him.
Cheng Zhiye quickly covered his face with his sleeves: "No, no, no, I put on powder specially for entering the palace, don't ruin my makeup."
"Eh~" Zhao Jingyu dragged out a long tone to express contempt, put down the teacup and asked, "Why did you enter the palace again?"
"I went there to accompany my grandmother." Cheng Zhiye said.
The grandmother of the Cheng family was a close friend of the current empress dowager, and she would go to the palace to talk to the empress dowager every once in a while.
"Oh." Zhao Jingyu leaned back in his chair lazily. "You go there so often, be careful not to be noticed by any princess. Being a consort is not fun."
Cheng Zhiye laughed, and wanted to say something obscene but didn't. He said seriously, "The master asked you to go to Fanyin Temple to meet him tomorrow."
"I knew you were up to no good." Zhao Jingyu was immediately unhappy. She stood up, walked to the window, and lay down on the chaise longue: "I'm sick and can't go."
Cheng Zhiye asked, "Do you want the Marquis to bring the imperial physician to see you?"
Zhao Jingyu didn't say anything for a long time. After a while, he sighed and said, "I'll go. Anyway, I haven't played chess with the old monk for a long time. The fan pendants he lost to me last time were all given away by me. I'll go and win two more tomorrow."
Cheng Zhiye's eyes widened immediately, and he jumped in front of him: "Who did you give it to? You wouldn't give it to me even if I asked for it. Do you think that pendant was bought from a stall in front of the temple? It was blessed by the Nalanda Temple in India."
Zhao Jingyu chuckled: "You believe what the old monk said."
Cheng Zhiye said: "I don't care who you sent it to. I won't allow you to treat others better than me."
"..." Zhao Jingyu felt a chill, "I'm giving it to my nephew as a hundred-day gift. Otherwise, you can also call me uncle, and I'll give you the rest I win."
"Go to hell." Cheng Zhiye pushed him and said, "You are quite nice to your nephew."
Zhao Jingyu thought of the cute little baby and couldn't help but smile: "I was nice to him, but he bit me."
Seeing his smiling face, Cheng Zhiye joked, "Do you also want to get married and have a baby?"
Zhao Jingyu stopped laughing and said, "Get lost!"
This time Cheng Zhiye really got out.
After he left, Wei Jun came in. Zhao Jingyu said, "My teacher asked me to meet him at Fanyin Temple tomorrow. Please prepare and bring all my homework. Bring everything with you. Don't let him nag you when you come back because you're missing something."
"Yes." Wei Jun bowed and replied.
***
Xie Nanjia took some time to visit the young master's yard.
The weather was cool, so the family took the children to the yard to bask in the sun.
This child is a person who can't sit still. He will make a fuss as soon as he is put down, and he won't be happy until someone carries him around the yard.
The girls were tortured by him so much that they had no choice but to call Feng Lun to hold him.
Feng Lun is tall and strong. When you lift him up high and spin him around, he laughs loudly, and the giggles can be heard from far away.
The wet nurse and the nanny were afraid that Feng Lun would make a mistake, so they kept shouting "be careful, be careful" in fear.
Xie Nanjia didn't rush in, but leaned against the gate and watched, her heart filled with joy.
At this moment, all the suffering and pain were far away from her, and the only thing in her eyes was the little person smiling in the sunshine.
"Sister Xiu'er, you're here?" Xiao Xizi saw her first and ran to greet her happily.
Everybody looked towards her.
Feng Lun smiled at her and went to greet her with the child in his arms: "Why are you here at this time?"
Xie Nanjia naturally took the child from his hands and kissed the child on the face: "I have nothing to do after lunch, so I came to see you. How are you? Are you used to it here?"
"I'll get used to it." Xiao Xizi rushed to say, "It's thousands of times better than before. The food is good, the accommodation is good, and the sisters and nannies in the yard are good. It's like falling into a blessed nest."
Everybody was amused by him.
Xie Nanjia said: "Isn't it that you think that enjoying happiness is so simple? Serve the young master well, and there will be greater blessings waiting for you in the future."
"Why?" Xiao Xizi asked puzzledly.
Xie Nanjia said, "You are the closest people to the young master. As long as nothing goes wrong, you will always be by his side. When he grows up and becomes the head of the family, will he still treat you badly?"
She deliberately spoke very loudly so that others could hear it and give them hope to take care of the young master wholeheartedly.
She had said this to Feng Lun in private. Feng Lun was just an unnamed guard beside the Marquis. If he wanted to make a name for himself, it would take an unknown amount of time. It would be better for him to come to the young master's side, as it would be more promising. Although the young master was still young now, the situation would be very different in a few years.
After thinking it over, Feng Lun felt that what she said made sense, so he agreed.
Xie Nanjia waited for his consent before recommending him to the old lady. She admired him but also had to respect his wishes and not force him.
While she was talking, the child started to play with her hair again, babbling and having a lot of fun.
Everyone was surprised and wondered why the young master was so close to Xiu'er, as if they had known each other for several lifetimes.
Xiu'er was really good to the young master. She didn't even cry out in pain when he pulled all her hair out. She smiled as if she had received a reward.
No wonder the old lady trusts her so much, she is really like a real mother.
After playing for a while, the child felt hungry and whined for milk.
Xie Nanjia handed him to the wet nurse, who carried him into the house to feed him.
Xie Nanjia couldn't stay long, so he said goodbye to everyone and left.
Hualou sent her out and finally had the chance to ask her why she helped him.
Xie Nanjia said, "I'm not helping you, I'm helping myself. The fact that that person couldn't be found that day was a hidden danger. I wanted to find a way to get you out so that you wouldn't reveal anything if you stayed there. Now that you're the young master's housekeeper, and you have the young master to rely on, no one else will suspect you anymore."
"Just for this?" Hualou was a little unconvinced.
"What else do you think there is?" Xie Nanjia said with a smile, "You and I are not related at all, what other reason do I have to help you?"
Hualou asked again: "Since you are afraid of something happening, why don't you come and serve the young master yourself?"
Xie Nanjia smiled and pinched her chin: "Because I'm smarter than you. If something goes wrong, I'll be able to handle it better than you. You're too stupid."
"..." Hualou was stunned on the spot. It was not until Xie Nanjia walked away that she came to her senses, wiped the corners of her eyes with her sleeve, and turned back to the yard.
In the past, the young lady also liked to pinch her chin and always teased her, saying that she had a pointed chin and would marry a husband who became a high-ranking official.
Since the young lady left, no one has pinched her since then, and this Xiu'er is the first one.
She suddenly missed the young lady very much.
When Xie Nanjia returned to the kitchen, Jiu'er was looking for her everywhere. She said that the maidservant beside Aunt Liu came to tell her to go over because Aunt Liu wanted to see her.
"Which Aunt Liu?" Xie Nanjia couldn't remember for a moment.
Jiu'er reminded her: "It was Luliu, the maid of the Crown Prince's wife."
"Oh?" Xie Nanjia was stunned at first, then smiled with an ambiguous tone, "What does she want me to do?"
"No, I just told you to go quickly." Jiu'er said, "This concubine Liu has just been favored and is very arrogant. When the cousin was here, I didn't dare to provoke her. You should go quickly, otherwise she will get impatient and lose her temper."
"Ha!" Xie Nanjia sneered, "Who the hell is she? If she asks me to go, I have to go. I'm not serving her. If she wants to see me, she can just come and see me herself. Asking me to see her is shameless!"
(End of this chapter)