Although she couldn't figure out the situation, for someone as sensitive as Qin, she would use the most complicated thinking to analyze even the simplest things. She had no intention of taking care of other things, so she asked Yunying to stay and watch, and hurriedly took Madam Cao and Yunyan back to the room.
After the door was closed, she sat on the chair and frowned as she said, "Fourth girl definitely did it on purpose."
Nanny Cao also felt that Zhao Lanzhi did it on purpose, but she didn't know whether she did it on purpose to see the Marquis or to see Xie Nanfeng.
If it was the former, it was just to please the Marquis and compete for favor with his brothers and sisters. If it was the latter, it would be a big deal.
Qin had the same idea as Madam Cao and sneered, "I underestimated her. She is afraid that I will marry her too low, so she wants to find a way out for herself!"
"That's right!" Yun Yan curled her lips and said, "It's natural for a girl to want to marry a good son-in-law, but Miss Four doesn't even look at what kind of family the General's Mansion is. She's a daughter raised by a concubine, and she dares to flirt with him so shamelessly. If this gets out, won't everyone laugh at her
Qin said angrily: "No matter how well she plans, the decision is mine. I will never marry Sheng Qingluan again in my life, even if she is a concubine's daughter!"
Madam Cao said, "In that case, Madam, please don't be angry. As the saying goes, girls grow up and cannot be kept. Since the fourth young lady wants to get married, Madam, you might as well find a suitable marriage for her and send her out as soon as possible, so that she won't lose control of herself and do something that will bring disgrace to the family, and then implicate the other girls."
"Yes, yes, you are right. I can't let her bring trouble to Ya'er and Shu'er." Qin said, and then complained, "I really don't know who these three children of mine look like. None of them are willing to get close to their biological father. I see that the Marquis cares more about those illegitimate children than the three siblings, and they are all muddle-headed and stupid."
Your child will naturally follow you. Nanny Cao said this in her heart, but she comforted her: "Aren't all illegitimate children like that? The more they know they are humble, the more they want to flatter and please. The eldest and second young ladies are legitimate daughters, and they will marry into a noble family in the future to bring honor to the family. The Marquis knows this and will never compare those illegitimate children with them."
Qin felt better, but she was still unwilling to give up, so she asked Yunyan to find the eldest and second young ladies and tell them to get closer to the Marquis in the future.
After Zhao Lanya and Zhao Lanshu came over, they heard their mother's explanation of the reason and learned that Zhao Lanzhi was having dinner with her father and Xie Nanfeng in her nephew's yard. They all showed the most common contempt that legitimate daughters showed for illegitimate daughters.
"Is this what made mother so anxious and angry?" Zhao Lanshu said, "To me, my father ignored her status as a girl and asked her to accompany Xie Nanfeng for dinner. It's just like asking a singing girl to accompany him for drinks. It shows that my father doesn't regard her as a human being at all."
"Don't talk nonsense." Qin scolded, "You are so young, what do you know? You are just talking nonsense."
Zhao Lanya said: "Although my sister exaggerated a bit, it is absolutely true that father does not value her. If my sister and I were there, father would have asked us to leave early."
What the two children said didn't make sense at first, but upon closer inspection, it made some sense. Qin's anger came and went quickly, and she pulled her two daughters aside to instruct them about the moon worship ceremony in the evening, telling them to dress up well and not be outdone by the sisters from the East and West Mansions, as the elders would definitely ask them to recite poems and compose couplets, so they had to prepare well in advance and strive to make a splash.
As they were talking, a little maid came in to report that the steward from the Minister of Personnel's family had delivered a Mid-Autumn Festival gift and had a message to convey to the lady in person, so she asked the lady to go out and meet him.
Qin lived in the inner house for a long time, but she always paid attention to the developments in the court. She heard the Marquis say several times that the newly appointed Minister of Personnel, An Yizi, was an honest and impartial official who never liked to make friends with officials and was a very difficult person to get along with.
Although Marquis Dingyuan holds a title, the two are of equal rank in terms of official positions. The Ministry of Personnel is in charge of the appointment and dismissal of officials, and An Yizi is several levels higher than the Marquis, so there is no need for him to deliberately curry favor with him. Therefore, in the few months since he took office, I haven't heard that he has any friendship with the Marquis. Today, he suddenly came to deliver a Mid-Autumn Festival gift. I wonder what his intention is
Qin hurriedly tidied her clothes and took people to see the manager.
The steward was in his forties, of medium build, and not good-looking, but his manners were very elegant and decent, and he was calm and composed. As expected of a steward of the Shangshu family, he looked very confident. In comparison, the chief steward Chang Fu standing next to him seemed less indifferent and more worldly.
Qin was a person who liked to compare with others. She would only be happy if she was better than others in every way, including her servants.
Therefore, when she saw Chang Fu being outshined by the other man's steward, her first words were to whisper to Madam Cao: "Look at the other man's steward, and then look at your husband."
Matron Cao smiled bitterly and thought, wasn't it you who promoted him personally? It was also your idea to let me marry him. Now that I'm old, you think he's not good enough.
However, she had served Qin for many years and knew that she always spoke without thinking, so she did not take these words to heart.
Chang Fu stepped forward to greet Qin and introduced the two of them.
The steward of the Minister of Personnel's household knelt down and greeted Qin: "My humble servant An Youju greets Madam, Madam, may you be blessed with good health!"
Qin felt that other stewards' names sounded better than her own, so she raised her hand with a smile on her face and said, "Steward An, please don't be so polite, please get up quickly!"
"Thank you, Madam!" An Youju stood up and bowed. "My madam asked me to tell you that she should have come to thank you in person a long time ago. Firstly, she was injured while giving birth on the way to the capital. Secondly, she just settled in the capital and has many worldly affairs. She really can't get away. I hope Madam will forgive me."
Qin became more and more puzzled after listening. She didn't know the Shangshu's wife at all, so it was okay for her to suddenly send someone to deliver a gift, but why did she speak so sincerely and politely
Also, if she heard correctly, An Youju said "thank you" instead of "greet", could it be that the Marquis secretly helped An Yizi with something
An Youju was very good at observing people's expressions. Seeing Qin's bewildered face, he took the initiative to explain, "It's like this, madam. My wife had a miscarriage on the way to Beijing. She gave birth in the inn at night and almost lost both her life. Fortunately, your little girl gave her a wonderful prescription, so both mother and daughter are safe."
"Oh? Oh." Qin was stunned at first, then she acted as if she had suddenly realized something. "So this is what the steward was talking about. It's just a small matter. I dare not trouble your wife to worry about it. It's her good fortune that the girl can help. Please tell your wife not to be too polite. I'll go and chat with her someday when I'm free."
"Yes, I will definitely convey the madam's words." An Youju bowed, exchanged a few more polite words with Qin, and then took his leave.
After he left, Qin returned to her bewildered look and asked Aunt Cao, "When did he say that this happened? How come I don't know about it?"
As the mistress of the Marquis's mansion, she was very unhappy that a little maid in her mansion saved the life of the wife of the Minister of Personnel, but she didn't even hear a word about it.
Furthermore, the Shangshu’s wife had a difficult delivery on the way, and the maids in the mansion were all in the capital. How could they run to save her life in the middle of the night
"Check to see if any girls have asked for leave to go home to visit their families in the past few months." She turned around and instructed Yunyan.
Yun Yan agreed and turned to leave, but was stopped by Madam Cao, who signaled with her eyes that everyone should go back to their rooms.
Back in the room, Qin asked, "Madam, do you know who it is?"
Madam Cao said, "Madam, have you forgotten that when Minister An took up his post, it was just when Fourth Auntie was coming back from the farm. They both came from the south, taking the same official road. On the way back, the bridge collapsed, and she stayed at the inn for the night, and she almost..."
When Madam Cao pointed out that it was enough, Qin immediately thought of how she had sent someone to assassinate the Fourth Aunt on the way, but that person didn't see clearly and mistakenly killed Mrs. Liu for the Fourth Aunt.
When he came back to report, he said that he did not dare to act rashly because the Minister of Personnel was also staying there.
"You mean, the Fourth Aunt saved the Shangshu's wife?" Qin asked.
Madam Cao said, "The steward said it was a little girl. I thought that the only one who followed the Fourth Aunt at that time was Xiu'er..."
"Her again, why her again?" Whenever Qin heard this name now, she would subconsciously want to get angry, but this name seemed to be a curse, drilling into her ears every day. She had just heard that the Marquis wanted Xiu'er to cook in the young master's courtyard, and now she had saved the life of the Shangshu's wife. Is she a cook or a doctor? It's really weird!
Qin was not only angry at Xiu'er's omnipresence, but also because she herself was becoming increasingly powerless to control Xiu'er. Originally, she couldn't touch her easily because of Xie Nanfeng and the old lady's protection. Now, she had transformed herself into a great benefactor of the Minister of Personnel's family and could not be touched even more.
Was she going to have to watch a little girl run rampant in the mansion and be unable to do anything about it
This is too frustrating.
"Madam, please don't be angry. This may not be a bad thing." Madam Cao said, "No matter how great the contribution of Xiu'er is, she is still a servant of our mansion. The favor that the Shangshu Mansion is thinking of is also the favor of our mansion. I think they will not really be grateful to a little girl. Maybe they are taking this opportunity to get closer to the Marquis' Mansion!"
Qin Shi thought it made sense, and after thinking for a moment, she said, "In that case, we should prepare a generous gift and ask Chang Fu to take Xiu'er to the Shangshu Mansion to return the gift."
"Madam, you are absolutely right," replied Madam Cao.
Qin ordered Yunyan to go to the young master to call Xiu'er, and she went to personally select the return gift for the Shangshu Mansion, thinking that if the Marquis knew about this, he would definitely be happy.
Yunyan arrived at the young master's courtyard and saw Marquis Dingyuan and the fourth young lady sitting in the corridor chatting. The servants in the courtyard were busy coming and going. No one seemed restrained because the marquis was here. Laughter and joyful chatter accompanied by the aroma of meat wafting from the small kitchen, it was just like an ordinary family celebrating a festival.
Yun Yan was stunned and stood at the door, not daring to go in.
Xiao Xizi recognized her and greeted her cheerfully: "Hey, isn't this Sister Yunyan? What brings you here?"
Hearing him speak, Marquis Dingyuan and Zhao Lanzhi both looked towards the door. Seeing that it was Yunyan, Zhao Lanzhi was startled and stood up hurriedly, like a servant seeing her master.
She was afraid that Yunyan would go back and tell the lady, and the lady would definitely be unhappy if she knew that she had a close conversation with the Marquis.
Dingyuan Hou could understand her feelings to some extent, and asked Yunyan with narrowed eyes, "What are you doing here?"
Yun Yan hurriedly stepped forward, bowed, and explained her purpose.
When Marquis Dingyuan heard that Xiu'er was the savior of the Shangshu's wife, he was also surprised. He asked Hualou to call out Xiu'er who was busy in the kitchen so that he could ask her in person.
Xie Nanjia was not surprised. He calmly reported the details of what happened that night to Marquis Dingyuan, and then said in a nonchalant tone: "I thought they had forgotten my great kindness, but it turns out they haven't forgotten!"
Dingyuan Hou laughed loudly: "Well, well, well, well, you are so good..."
He was worried that he had no way to make friends with An Yizi, but he didn't expect that Xiu'er had paved the way for him a few months ago. It was really a Mid-Autumn Festival gift for him.
"Go quickly. When you get to the Shangshu Mansion, tell him and his wife my greetings. You are very smart, so I don't need to teach you what to say."
Because Xie Nanfeng was still in the inner room helping to coax the children, Xie Nanjia really didn't want to leave them for a moment. Then she thought, there will be plenty of opportunities to see her brother in the future, but the chance to make friends with the Shangshu's wife doesn't come every day, so she might as well go for it!
Of course, she didn't go there for Qin or Marquis Dingyuan, she went there for her son.
She followed Yunyan to see Qin first, and listened to a lot of instructions from Qin. As it was almost noon, she got on the carriage driven by the chief steward Chang Fu and went to the Shangshu Mansion.
(End of this chapter)