When Xie Nanjia looked at him, she knew that he was going to say something nonsense again, and as expected, he started talking nonsense again.
"Can't you be more serious?" Xie Nanjia advised him seriously, "Actually, you are a good person, good-looking and smart. If you can focus on the right path, you may achieve great success in the future!"
Zhao Jingyu looked at her with a half-smile: "Don't you understand? For a bastard like me, my right path is to eat, drink and have fun all my life. What great achievement can be more carefree than what I have now?"
"This is the path that others have assigned to you, not your own path." Xie Nanjia could not agree with his reckless attitude. "Just getting by is one kind of life, and achieving success is another kind of life. The reason you think this way now is that you don't have the courage to break free from the cage that others have set for you. When you really achieve something, you will find that the freedom gained through your own efforts is a million times happier than the happiness given by others."
Zhao Jingyu fell silent and walked slowly along the cobblestone flower path.
Xie Nanjia thought that he had listened to the advice and was thinking on his own, so he did not disturb him and just followed him quietly.
Xie Nanjia thought that if she could really persuade him to come to his senses and work hard, with his qualifications, he would definitely achieve something. She no longer expected that Zhao Jingping, a loser, would be able to provide any help to her son in the future, so she had to place her only hope on this uncle.
So she felt that even for her son's sake, she had to try her best to bring Zhao Jingyu back onto the right path.
As a result, just as she had the idea, Zhao Jingyu suddenly stopped and said, "So you like men who are ambitious. If I start to be ambitious from now on, will you like me?"
Xie Nanjia: “…”
She tried her best to persuade him to make progress, but he only had romantic feelings in his heart. He was really a rotten wood that cannot be carved!
She wanted to just leave, but then she changed her mind and thought, don't be angry, just treat him like a child, coax him, encourage him, be patient with him, all for her son.
So she smiled and said, "Who doesn't like an ambitious man? If you ask a thousand girls this question, they will all give the same answer. But you haven't even taken the first step yet, and you're already thinking about romance. How can you succeed like this?"
Zhao Jingyu secretly laughed at her seriousness and said jokingly, "The wedding night is the time to get your name on the list of successful candidates. People in the past always put the wedding night before the list of successful candidates. Why can't I? Isn't it a kind of motivation to work hard just to spend the wedding night with the one you love?"
"You..." Xie Nanjia couldn't argue with him, so she didn't say anything more to him and turned away angrily.
Zhao Jingyu laughed behind her, and his laughter startled the birds that were roosting at night.
When Xie Nanjia returned to the yard, the fourth young lady had already gone to bed with the help of Su He. Xie Nanjia went in and said a few words to her. Then he and Su He lowered the curtains, blew out the lights, and quietly retreated.
Su He also told Xie Nanjia what to pay attention to when she accompanied the fourth young lady to school tomorrow, and then she went to bed.
Xie Nanjia couldn't sleep for the time being, so she went to the small kitchen to prepare a midnight snack for Ding Yuanhou.
She sat in front of the stove, looking at the dancing flames inside, wondering how to help Fourth Aunt break the house arrest.
After the midnight snack was ready, she had a plan in mind and went to the front yard with the lunch box.
The servants and guards in the front yard were very familiar with her and let her into Marquis Dingyuan's study without asking any questions.
After dealing with the affairs in the backyard, Marquis Dingyuan returned to deal with official business. Although he was no longer guarding the border, he was still the Minister of War. He worked diligently from dawn to dusk every day and never took his status as a marquis seriously.
Others said that he was afraid that his achievements would overshadow his master, so he tried his best to pretend to be treading on thin ice in order to reassure the emperor.
As to whether it is true or not, only he and the emperor know best.
Xie Nanjia came in, and the subtle footsteps were still keenly caught by Dingyuan Hou. He closed the official document, stood up and stretched, and laughed: "Xiu'er girl, what delicious food did you make today?"
Xie Nanjia placed the food box on the table and bowed, "Hello, Lord. Today I made the dendrobium and duck soup and lotus seed crisps. Both are excellent for clearing heat. Lord, please try them and see if you like them."
Dingyuan Hou laughed and said, "How do you know I'm angry?"
Xie Nanjia said, "Just now, when the Marquis got angry in the Madam's courtyard, I saw it."
Dingyuan Hou casually picked up a piece of lotus seed cake and put it into his mouth, "That's not what I call being angry. You haven't seen me when I'm really angry."
"Although I haven't seen it, I have heard that people in the palace say that the Marquis's anger shakes the whole country." Xie Nanjia stepped forward and took the lotus seed cake from his hand, saying, "Marquis, you haven't washed your hands yet."
Dingyuan Hou deliberately put on a stern face and said, "Since you know that my anger can shake the whole country, do you still dare to snatch food from the tiger's mouth?"
Xie Nanjia said: "I feel that the Marquis is well-versed in both civil and military affairs and has no need to study anymore."
"Hmm?" Marquis Dingyuan looked down at the ink on his hands and laughed, "Good girl!"
The servant brought in warm water for washing hands. Marquis Dingyuan washed his hands and sat in front of the table to enjoy his delicious food.
Xie Nanjia was serving him by his side, and had to wait until he finished eating before she could leave with her lunch box.
Dingyuan Hou asked casually, "I heard that you went to the fourth girl's yard. Are you used to it there?"
"It's a habit." Xie Nanjia replied, "The Fourth Miss is a kind and amiable master, and she treats us servants very well."
"Being too kind is not a good thing." Dingyuan Hou said, "I think she is not as generous as you."
"My Lord, you are too kind. This is not generosity, but rusticity. The Fourth Miss is a rich lady, so she should be gentle and graceful."
"You are quite good at talking." Dingyuan Hou said with a smile, "I can't understand why Manluo would be willing to send a girl like you who is so clever and sensible to the kitchen?"
Xie Nanjia was trying to bring up the topic of the Fourth Concubine, but she didn't expect the Marquis to bring it up first, so she replied, "It's not the Fourth Concubine's fault. When I first entered the mansion, I was even more vulgar than I am now. I didn't know how to behave when I saw the master, and I even talked back to her wantonly. The Fourth Concubine herself lived in fear, so naturally she didn't dare to keep me by her side."
Upon hearing this, Marquis Dingyuan looked her up and down attentively. In his opinion, this girl who always said that he was vulgar was not vulgar at all. Instead, she had a kind of wisdom and insight, and she was calm and composed in knowing when to advance and retreat. Her words and deeds were far more dignified than those of his daughters.
If he had not had someone secretly investigate her background, he would almost suspect that she was a noble lady from a prominent family who had fallen into poverty.
"It's rare that you can understand the master's difficulties. Now that you are following the fourth girl, you should serve her and help her conscientiously. You will have a good life in the future." He said.
"I will follow the Marquis's instructions." Xie Nanjia bowed and opened her mouth, as if she wanted to say something but stopped herself.
Dingyuan Hou asked, "What are you afraid to say?"
Xie Nanjia knelt on the ground and said, "I got into trouble today."
"What disaster?" asked Marquis Dingyuan.
Xie Nanjia then told the story of how he broke into Qingfeng Courtyard despite the guards' obstruction, but he omitted the transaction with the Fourth Aunt and only said that he missed the Fourth Aunt and wanted to go in to see her.
Marquis Dingyuan had no idea that the Fourth Aunt was under house arrest. He had been busy with official duties recently and had hardly been to the backyard, let alone had no time to get close to his woman.
He was well aware that Qin always liked to suppress concubines and illegitimate daughters. However, when it came to suppressing illegitimate daughters, he could still protect them in the name of his father. If he interfered too much in suppressing concubines, he would inevitably be accused of favoring concubines over his wife.
"How is Fourth Aunt?" he asked.
Xie Nanjia told the truth: "Otherwise, everything is fine, except that my food and drink have been severely deducted. I have become thinner than before. I wanted to tell the Marquis, but she stopped me, saying that the Marquis is busy with official duties and cannot be disturbed, just like when we were at the farm."
"What happened on the farm?" asked Marquis Dingyuan.
Xie Nanjia said, "On the farm, a woman blew poisonous smoke into Fourth Aunt's room in the middle of the night, and almost killed someone. I said to tell the Marquis to let someone know, but Fourth Aunt wouldn't allow it, saying that you have too many things to worry about, and it's not good to bother you with such a small matter. The steward who came to report the news was secretly called by me."
Marquis Dingyuan had never known about this. When she first came back from the manor, Fourth Aunt was going to tell the Marquis, but after listening to Xie Nanjia, she said nothing. Later, when she regained the Marquis' favor, she forgot about the matter. Now, Xie Nanjia just happened to use it to arouse the Marquis' sympathy.
"Yeah." Dingyuan Hou had a calm expression on his face. "I'm done eating. You can pack up and go back!"
"Yes." Xie Nanjia packed up the lunch box and bowed to leave.
The next day, the news spread throughout the courtyard that the Fourth Aunt had been summoned by the Marquis to serve him in bed last night, and was personally sent back by the Marquis's servant Daqing in the early morning. Daqing drove away the guards outside the door and conveyed the Marquis' order to release the Fourth Aunt from house arrest.
Needless to say, Qin and several other concubines were jealous. The fourth concubine sent someone to secretly deliver a thank-you gift to Xie Nanjia that very night. From then on, she and Xie Nanjia were in a master-servant relationship on the surface, but secretly she obeyed Xie Nanjia's orders and became another helper of Xie Nanjia in the Marquis' Mansion.
Xie Nanjia has the leverage over her, so there is no need to worry that she will burn her bridges again like she did before.
Although Qin had a vague guess that it was Xie Nanjia who helped the Fourth Aunt, she had no evidence and could not do anything to her.
Xie Nanjia was still as calm as usual. She accompanied the Fourth Miss to school every day and quietly helped her deal with the overt and covert provocations from the other sisters. In a short period of time, she gained the Fourth Miss' unreserved trust.
Zhao Jingyu knew everything about Xie Nanjia's actions, and said to Wei Jun with emotion: "Just wait and see. If she gives her some more time, I'm afraid that everyone in the mansion, except for the people in the Madam's courtyard, will be taken in by her."
Wei Jun felt that the Second Young Master's use of the word "under his command" was a bit exaggerated. In his opinion, Xiu'er was at best accumulating some good relationships in the mansion so that she would not be too isolated and helpless. As for her ambitions, at least it was not visible at the moment.
So far, her only unusual behavior is that she cares too much about the young master, as if he were her own son.
(End of this chapter)