“You are no match for her!” Qi Rongzhi handed her teacup to Qin Yuru for drinking wine, filled both her cup and Qin Yuru’s cup, and then said sadly.
“Bitch! Since she won’t let me go, I won’t let her go either. Only one of us can survive!” Qin Yuru picked up the wine cup, tossed it off, and said viciously.
“She’s going to come out of the Yuhui Nunnery, and you won’t be able to see her after that even if you want to. I heard that the consort selection for several princes is going to be held. She, who is of high status, is very likely to stand out in the selection. When the time comes, she will be a princess, while you, the Young Madam of Duke Yong’s Mansion, will be obviously inferior to her and have to kneel in front of her and bow to her.”
Qi Rongzhi took a sip of wine and said.
“I won’t let that happen! I won’t have the chance to see her after that, but I got the chance now, right? Since she is still in the Yuhui Nunnery, I have plenty of opportunities!” Qin Yuru said in a sharp voice.
“In fact, you are right. I tell you…” Qi Rongzhi pulled her chair towards Qin Yuru and said in a low voice.
Qin Yuru also leaned over and then began to nod with a vicious smile slowly showing up on her gloomy face…
After Shao Yanru left, Shao Wanru’s life became much more peaceful. She didn’t have to worry that Shao Yanru would suddenly make trouble and restored her life in seclusion.
She basically didn’t show up in front of others. As the last batch of the officers of the Ministry of Justice left, the Yuhui Nunnery went back to what it had been before and even attracted a little more pilgrims. Plenty of people were curious about the place where the late emperor’s concubines were locked up, and some of them took the opportunity to sneak into the back mountain of the Yuhui Nunnery with the excuse of offering incense to the Buddha.
Although the nuns of the Yuhui Nunnery prohibited these pilgrims from going to the back mountain, some people still sneaked to the edge of the high wall and tried to look inside. Fortunately, with some nuns guarding the side door, no one could sneak in.
After all, the nuns were not the members of the Ministry of Justice and could only try to persuade them to leave. If they really did something against the rules, the nuns could do nothing about it. Moreover, the maple forest on the back mountain open to the public recently offered an opportunity for many visitors to sneak to the high wall with the excuse of enjoying the view. The nuns in the Yuhui Nunnery could do nothing but turn a blind eye to it.
Fortunately, most of the pilgrims were civilized. After being persuaded to leave or stealing a glance and finding nothing unusual, they were no longer curious and would not go there next time.
In fact, except for the high wall, there was nothing worth seeing. They couldn’t get into the area behind the high wall. The only side door of the high wall was guarded by several strong nuns, and no one was allowed to approach it.
Under such circumstances, someone came to visit Shao Wanru, which really made her feel strange.
“Second Miss!” The old maid stepped forward, bowed to Shao Wanru, and addressed her as before.
“Who sent you here?” After looking the old maid up and down and recognizing that she was a servant of the General’s Mansion, Shao Wanru involuntarily put down the altar in her hand and asked in astonishment.
In the past three years, she got some news of the Qin’s Mansion on the mountain occasionally, but not much. Apart from the news of Shui Ruolan giving birth to a child reported by someone sent by the Qin’s Mansion, other news was found out by Shao Wanru. The Qin’s Mansion had never sent someone to report something else.
She was wondering what they sent the old maid here this time for!
“Second Miss, Old Grandma is seriously sick.” The old maid wiped her slightly red eyes and said.
“Grandma is sick? How did it happen?” Shao Wanru asked in surprise.
“It’s probably because she feels sad or she gets old. I have no idea. Many doctors couldn’t cure her for the time being and only said that she’s seriously sick. That’s the reason why Madam thought of you and hoped that you could go down the mountain to treat Old Grandma!” The old maid said.
“When should I go?” Shao Wanru nodded and asked.
“It would be best if you could go now.”
Shao Wanru looked out of the window and found that it was already afternoon. If she went to the Qin’s Mansion to treat her grandma, she definitely could not come back today. But in that case, where should she spend the night?
She should live in her mansion after going down the mountain. But she went back in a hurry and didn’t have a room prepared for her in Duke Xing’s Mansion. It was inappropriate for her to live in a guest room after returning to her mansion!
“Miss, it’s inappropriate for you to go down the mountain. Let’s ask Old Grandma to come up the mountain later!” Yujie advised.
“But Old Madam is seriously sick…” The old maid said hesitantly and uneasily.
“When we were in Jiangzhou, Old Grandma went to the Jingxin Monastery every time she got seriously sick. Besides, Mingqiu Nun is on the mountain now!” Yujie ignored the old maid and reminded Shao Wanru.
Although Shao Wanru knew some medical skills, she certainly couldn’t compare with Mingqiu Nun. Moreover, no one knew Old Grandma’s condition better than Mingqiu Nun!
“Go back now. Ask Old Madam to come up the mountain today if it’s still early, or ask her to come tomorrow if it’s too late!” Shao Wanru said. She found Yujie’s suggestion quite good after thinking for a while.
“Yes, Second Miss, I’m going back now!” The old maid looked at Yujie and Shao Wanru, seemed to be reluctant, but had to agree.
“Yujie, walk her out!” Shao Wanru gave an order in a soft voice.
Yujie nodded and walked the old maid out. Walking into the yard, the old maid looked at Qing’er, who was sweeping the floor, pointed to Qing’er with a smile, and said after rolling her eyes, “Yujie, as the personal maid of the Second Miss, you don’t have to walk me out of the courtyard. The little maid can walk me out!”
“Uh…” Yujie said hesitantly.
“Yujie, you’d better go back to serve the Second Miss. If you walk me out and the Second Miss needs something, do you want an inferior maid to serve her?” The old maid advised.
“Well, Qing’er, come here and walk this nanny out!” The old maid made sense, so Yujie agreed with a nod after thinking for a while.
“Okay!” Qing’er replied. She put down the broom in her hand and ran over cheerfully. At first glance, the old maid could tell that she was a little maid, who was not very smart and much less dignified than Yujie.
The old maid was very satisfied. After saying goodbye to Yujie, she walked out behind Qing’er.
“You are Qing’er, right?” As soon as they left the courtyard, the old maid took a few steps forward with a smile, walked side by side with Qing’er, and greeted her with a smile.
“Yes, I’m Qing’er. Which mansion do you come from? What do you come here for?” Qing’er asked curiously. She was in the yard just now, so she did not know where the old maid came from.
When the old maid came, she opened the door. After that, Yujie happened to be standing in the corridor. At the sight of Yujie, the old maid called “Yujie” loudly and then was led into the room to meet Shao Wanru.
“I’m here to meet the Second Miss because Old Madam is sick…” The old maid said with a sad face.
“Second Miss? My master is the Fifth Miss.” Qing’er interrupted the old maid and corrected her.
“I know that the Second Miss is now the Fifth Miss of Duke Xing’s Mansion, but she has been the Second Miss before. I…” The old maid hurriedly explained.
However, she was interrupted by Qing’er, who looked serious, “She used to be the Second Miss. But now everyone calls my master the Fifth Miss. Otherwise, it will be confusing!”
“I know, but I…”
“You should call my master the Fifth Miss. Otherwise, both Duke Xing’s Mansion and Great Elder Princess’s Mansion will get angry and probably want to find out who still addresses my master as before!” Qing’er interrupted the old maid rudely again and seemed to be angry, “If you refuse to address my master in the right way, I won’t walk you out!”
After saying that, Qing’er stopped as if refusing to walk her out.
“Fine, fine, fine, I was wrong. She’s the Fifth Miss, the Fifth Miss!” The old maid hurriedly changed the way of addressing Shao Wanru.
Now Qing’er showed a satisfied look, continued walking, and said, “You are the former servant of my master, so you are from the Qin’s Mansion? I heard that Madam and Old Madam of the Qin’s Mansion are very kind to my master. I’m wondering you were sent by Madam or Old Madam?”
Qing’er was just a young girl, who got angry and cooled down easily. Hearing the old maid correct herself, she showed a complacent smile, which made the old maid beside her secretly despise her, “She’s such a little girl that she argued with me for the way of addressing her master.”
Nevertheless, it was easy to fool such a person and more convenient to get the information she wanted from such a person. Compared with Yujie, who was shrewd, Qing’er was much better.
“I was sent by Madam Shui. Old Madam is sick. Madam Shui remembered that the Second… Fifth Miss has treated Old Madam before, so she specially instructed me to ask the Fifth Miss to go down the mountain. But the Fifth Miss was reluctant!” The old maid said with a sigh and her face darkening, “Old Madam is sick, and she insists on asking Old Madam to come up the mountain, but…”
“Is Old Madam the former grandma of my master?” Qing’er opened her eyes wide and asked curiously because Shao Wanru’s being recognized as a Miss of Duke Xing’s Mansion was a legend known to plenty of people in the capital city.
The most important reason was that Shao Wanru was actually very noble and was related to the Great Elder Princess.
Although Qing’er was a little maid, she knew this sensational matter.
“Yes, our Old Madam is the former grandma of the Second… Fifth Miss. She has raised the Fifth Miss since the Fifth Miss was a child and has been sincerely kind to the Fifth Miss. However, why is it so difficult for her, who is sick now, to meet the Fifth Miss!” The old maid said with emotion. As she said, her eyes turned red and she wiped her eyes with her sleeve.
Qing’er rolled her eyes and said sincerely with a nod, “My master is now the Fifth Miss of Duke Xing’s Mansion, which attaches great importance to rules and doesn’t allow any mistakes. Now she has been observing mourning for the Heir and the Infanta, so she can’t meet anyone at will.”
“But our Old Madam is seriously sick!” The old maid said, thinking the maid quite queer and watching her consider her words reasonable, dumbfounded.
Was the maid’s brain made of stone? The maid didn’t even know what she was talking about.
“Anyway, she has been sick for a few days, so she doesn’t have to meet my master today. Just ask her to come up the mountain tomorrow. She’ll be fine after my master asks the nun in the nunnery to treat her!” Qing’er said, still looking careless and not understand the situation.
“In fact, I noticed it just now that the Second… Fifth Miss wanted to go down the mountain to see Old Madam. Old Madam is old and her sickness could be serious!” The old maid said, thinking that she didn’t have to be so tactful. In front of such an obtuse maid, if her words were too tactful, she would waste her words on the maid!