Lingzhi hoped that Young Master would die outside, hoped that he would die because of Young Lady’s torment.
That way, no one would know that she was not pregnant.
Lingzhi placed her hand against her abdomen.
Then she would find a chance to slip and fall and say she lost the child. Then she would forever be Young Master’s only beloved woman.
Old Lady and Lady would definitely treat her well, just like they treated Concubine Yuan and Concubine Su.
The doctor had said that Young Master could not live for more than a few months. And now he was being sent out, without Old Lady Fang and Lady Fang.
If at death’s door Young Master will tell Young Lady the truth because of his conscience, so what?
Old Lady and Lady would not believe what Young Lady said, especially if she said she never had a child to begin with.
She looked at her surroundings.
The Fang Family was affluent; the servant girls dressed and lived well, but it could not compare to how the matriarch lived.
She turned her head back, looking at the smiling Concubine Yuan.
The concubines dressed and ate much better then the servant girls.
She would live like that in the future; she wanted that so desperately.
This was Heaven’s good fortune.
Miss Jun looked at the illustrated scroll spread out before her. It was a map of Yangcheng.
Fang Family was definitely not ordinary to possess such a meticulous map.
Miss Jun sighed internally. She had only seen such a detailed map with her master, other than inside the imperial palace.
Yes, Master was a doctor, but he still had a map.
It would be more accurate to say that he made a map.
Not only could he make maps, but he was well-read on astronomy and geography. He never explicitly showed this to her, let alone taught her, but she gleaned it from her daily interactions with him.
She was not interested. She followed her master only to study medicine, and more specifically, she just wanted to learn how to cure Father.
She didn’t know where Master was from. She asked once, but he had avoided it. She hadn’t asked a second time.
They were said to be master and disciple, but their relationship was not all that close.
Besides taking care of Master’s body in the end, she was not truly a responsible and diligent disciple.
Because at that time, all she wanted with all of her heart was for her father to be cured.
But now although she didn’t want to cure her Father, her heart was consumed with a bigger goal.
Miss Jun straightened up behind the table.
But just because her heart had direction, it didn’t mean she couldn’t do anything else.
She definitely had to cherish the new life Old Heavenly Father had given her.
Master had much knowledge stored in his brain. When he left, it was unknown to everyone, except for one book he left behind.
He would, from time to time, write and draw a bit, but wouldn’t let her see it. Miss Jun was not someone who liked to snoop around, probably because of her pride as a princess of the imperial family.
Even when Master was buried and she took back all of his belongings to the capital, she did not open it.
When Father and Mother died, great changes came to her status. Those things came with her from the imperial palace to Prince Huai’s mansion, and she buried them next to the rocker in the lotus pond, just like she was burying away her former life.
She needed to get it back.
That was not her former life. That was her master’s life. She could not let it remain buried.
She had to go the capital.
The idea she had buried in her heart and forgotten came unbidden, unsettling her heart and balance.
"Liu’er!" she shouted loudly.
Just a heartbeat later, she could hear the sounds of frantic footsteps. Liu’er barged in.
"Young Miss?" she asked anxiously.
Miss Jun wasn’t really in danger of falling down; she had a hand on the table.
"What is today’s date?" she asked.
Young Miss found her to ask her this? Young Miss forgot today’s date?
It seems like the Fang Family had made Young Miss angry.
"Young Miss, it’s April 18," Liu’er said gently.
April.
They said that Elder Sister and Lu Yunqi’s marriage was in June.
There were still two months.
Could she make it to the capital in two months time?
Miss Jun fell silent.
"Young Miss, drink some tea," said Liu’er carefully, handing her some tea.
Miss Jun accepted the drink, her gaze returning to the scroll.
"Young Miss what is this?" Liu’er’s curiosity was piqued.
"This is the location of the Fang Family’s manors," Miss Jun said. She pointed at a marking on the map. "There is one here, and here… where do you think is good?"
Liu’er evaluated each one by one. Miss Jun’s mood calmed down, but she had no interest in looking at this.
"I’ll decide tomorrow," she said.
"Yes, there’s no need to be hasty," said Liu’er.
Miss Jun rolled up the scroll. She couldn’t let just anyone see this, lest someone report them to the official’s office.
But Old Lady Fang must’ve had this for years, and she also easily gave it to her to look. In all likelihood, there was nothing criminal about it.
The Fang Family was a merchant family. Unless the government office went against them first, there were no such thing as crime to them.
Miss Jun mused to herself as she walked to the bookshelf. She put the scroll on the shelf. Because she was absent-minded, she knocked into a small box. It felt to the ground with a crack, and the letters within fell out.
"I’m coming, I’m coming." Liu’er squatted to pick them up.
Miss Jun lowered her head to look and recognized it was Jun Zhenzhen’s personal effects.
Jun Zhenzhen did not bring many things with her. The letters in the box were also her father’s Jun Yingwen’s. They looked like deeds.
Jun Zhenzhen never paid much heed to these daily affairs, and Miss Jun cared even less.
After marrying Fang Chengyu, she had moved this box to this bookshelf, and had never opened it.
Miss Jun looked over them again. The yellowness of the paper indicated their age. She looked away, then violently snapped around again.
"Wait a moment," she called out.
Liu’er had already put back the letters into the box and was about to cover them.
"Give them here," Miss Jun said.
Liu’er didn’t really understand, but she passed them over.
Miss Jun looked over those three papers, then finally pinched the middle one.
"This is the Jun Family’s?" she asked, her eyes twinkling.
Liu’er gave her a look and nodded.
"Yes, Young Miss, did you forget? This is our family’s," she smiled.
Miss Jun said ‘oh’, then traced over the words on the paper again, then handed it to Liu’er.
"Keep this one," she said.
Liu’er put it away again, and Miss Jun grabbed a scroll from the bookshelf.
"I will go over to Old Lady," she said.
Didn’t Old Lady just leave?
"Young Miss, what are you going to do?" Liu’er couldn’t help but ask.
Miss Jun turned around and waved at her with the hand holding the scroll.
"I am going to choose a manor," she said.
.........
Perhaps it was because Miss Jun was itching to get with Fang Chengyu to birth her own child, or because Old Lady Fang and her daughter-in-law were fearful that Miss Jun would go back on her words, but three days after everyone learned of the decision, Miss Jun set off.
Preparations had started last night until the morning.
Fang Yunxiu looked at Old Lady and Lady Fang personally escorting Miss Jun and Fang Chengyu. She couldn’t help but anxiously watch them from behind.
Fang Yuxiu suddenly appeared.
"And Jinxiu?" Fang Yunxiu sighed and frowned, looking behind Fang Yuxiu.
Fang Yuxiu waved her hand.
"She’s not coming," she said.
Fang Yunxiu frowned.
"What is she doing? She said she was going to find Grandmother but she didn’t. She sat in the garden for half a day, and today Little Brother is leaving; she is the most worried one, so how could she not send him off?" she said.
Fang Yuxiu smiled.
"Don’t worry, Third Sister has her intentions," she said. "We should go quick. Anyways, Miss Jun doesn’t care if she comes or not."
She pulled Fang Yunxiu along.
Over here, the people who were coming to see them off hadn’t come. But somewhere else, there was someone who felt that he should not have been brought there.
"Why do you want me to be the escort?" Lei Zhonglian crouched next to the carriage and spoke in a muffled voice.
Manager Gao was standing next to him, smiling at the approaching Old Lady Fang and entourage.
"Don’t you look after carriages?" he asked randomly, focused on the approaching group.
Lei Zhonglian prodded Manager Gao with his whip.
"Is watching a carriage and escorting it the same thing?" he asked.
Manager Gao lowered his head and looked at him.
"It’s the same," he said cooly. "Haven’t you escorted carriages before?"
A slight change in Lei Zhonglian’s face. A sour feeling filled his eyes and he lowered his head.
Having a profession, an important position like escorting carriages.
He had forgotten that he was once an important person. He was not a person who sat in the bright sun in the back of the De Sheng Chang; someone who watched carriages was even less than a watchdog.