The news that Chang Yuncheng had bestowed an entire room upon the head maid, Da Yatou, quickly circulated.
Qi Yue remained unaware, as this tidings was intercepted by A’ru by the time it reached her via Quezhi.
“Quezhi.” A’ru set down the needlework in her hands.
“I can’t go there; the Young Mistress must be the one to go. As long as the Young Mistress goes…” Quezhi urgently pleaded.
“We are not going,” A’ru cut her off, looking at her directly. “If you want to go, you can go, but whatever happens there will be your own affair. I guarantee I won’t speak a single good word on your behalf.”
Quezhi froze. This was the first time she had heard A’ru speak to her in such a manner.
Hadn't this head maid beside the Young Mistress always stood quietly and timidly behind her mistress?
The words were spoken plainly, harshly, without any softening. It was rumored that the Old Marchioness back then was just like this—delivering sharp, scathing remarks, which was why the maids she raised were the same. Oh, right, wasn't A’ru also one of the maids raised by the Old Marchioness?
Quezhi’s expression grew awkward, quickly replaced by a flash of shame and annoyance. I didn’t even say much…
“I specifically came to tell you this major news for the Young Mistress’s sake,” she bit her lip and said.
A’ru smiled as she looked at her.
“For the Young Mistress’s sake?” she inquired.
Quezhi stared at her. Why had this girl suddenly started tearing people’s faces off? Wasn't she only capable of smiling or crying before?
“Yes, it’s for myself too. Didn't the Young Mistress say we are grasshoppers on the same rope? Looking out for myself naturally means looking out for the Young Mistress too,” she said excitedly. “You don't care. As long as you are with the Young Mistress, no matter how difficult it gets, no one will dare touch you. But us? Last time the Young Mistress was suddenly cast out, we maids suffered terribly. Now that the Young Mistress has finally returned, it hasn't even been a few days, and something like this happens over there. What if the Young Mistress…”
“If you are worried about that, I can tell you, rest assured,” A’ru interrupted, her tone calm. “The Young Mistress will be absolutely fine, and you will be fine too.”
“But, if the Heir drops a new favorite, then the Young Mistress…” Quezhi frowned anxiously.
“I said, it’s fine. Even if the Heir dislikes the Young Mistress, she is still the Young Mistress,” A’ru interrupted again, standing up. “The Young Mistress’s current standing does not rely on the Heir.”
“Ah?” Quezhi stared blankly at A’ru. If the Young Mistress didn't rely on the Heir, then what was she? Even if she had the Marquis’s favor, a daughter-in-law was still a daughter-in-law; how could the father-in-law interfere in his son’s chambers? Furthermore, could he manage it for a lifetime? The Young Mistress was meant to spend her life with the Heir!
“That’s enough, Quezhi. Life is good now; you should live it well,” A’ru walked a few steps away, then looked back at her. “You know it. Once you are accustomed to good days, returning to bad ones is not a pleasant experience.”
Quezhi watched A’ru walk away, stunned. Every single word she spoke lacked any apparent tone of warning, yet every syllable, every inflection, sounded like a comprehensive admonition.
“So fierce... she was just pretending to be a quail before,” Quezhi muttered to herself after coming back to her senses.
On the Young Mistress’s side, there was calm, not the furious uproar everyone had expected.
“She has changed her tune this time,” Concubine Zhou said to A’jin, gently raking the ashes in the charcoal brazier. “When no one took her seriously, she was so boisterous. Now that everyone in the manor is practically eager to elevate her, she has become docile. To take such a blatant slap to the face, and she didn't even let out a single grunt.”
A’jin found the comment slightly unsettling.
“The Young Mistress has probably understood things,” she quickly suggested. “It’s best to go along with the Heir in everything; that way, everyone remains harmonious. There’s no need to strain the atmosphere over a mere maid. Besides, given the Heir’s temperament, one must follow him, not resist him.”
Concubine Zhou smiled and continued to poke the fire.
“Do you think the Young Mistress truly knows medicine?” she changed the subject.
“It shouldn't be fake. She was carried in half-dead and carried out alive. When the Prefectural Governor’s family arrived, they were miserable; when they left, they were overjoyed. She must have cured them,” A’jin replied, clasping her hands in prayer. “I truly never expected the Young Mistress to possess medical skills. Back then, when the Old Marchioness said she saved her life, none of us believed it.”
“Is it true or not? Maybe she and that doctor staged the whole thing?” Concubine Zhou remained doubtful, holding the fire tongs motionless for a long moment. “It was that doctor who cured her; she was just putting on a show.”
A’jin looked at Concubine Zhou, unsure how to respond.
“Mistress, I feel that something like this is hard to fake,” she said. “If she could fake it once, how could she fake it every time someone else comes?”
“Then we’ll just find that doctor again,” Concubine Zhou replied.
A’jin managed an awkward smile.
Concubine Zhou glanced at her, then laughed as well, picking up the fire tongs again.
“It’s settled then. Our Young Mistress has made a name for herself now; no one in the manor will dare look down on her again,” she chuckled.
“This is good; everyone’s lives will finally be easier,” A’jin nodded, smiling back.
Concubine Zhou smiled and nodded in agreement.
“Yes, everyone’s lives are easier,” she murmured, lifting a piece of glowing charcoal. “But the Madam’s life will not be easy.”
A’jin couldn't help but sigh softly.
“Actually, if the Madam also liked the Young Mistress, that would be ideal,” she mumbled.
Concubine Zhou glanced at her, lowered her gaze, a faint smile touching her lips.
Suddenly, a clamor arose from outside the outer room.
“Mistress, it’s bad, Mistress, it’s bad!” a maid rushed in, shouting breathlessly.
“What is all this shouting about?” A’jin stepped forward to scold her.
The young maid’s face turned pale with fright, trembling.
“What is it?” Concubine Zhou asked slowly, without showing any anger or ordering the girl to be struck, which caused A’jin to breathe a sigh of relief. It seemed the Young Mistress’s high-profile return pleased the Mistress greatly, improving her temper.
“…The Heir has ordered a search of Sister A’jin’s room,” the girl stammered out.
A’jin didn't quite understand.
“What?” she asked.
“Why are they searching a room?” Concubine Zhou inquired from inside. “What do they take this household for?”
“I don’t know,” the young maid whispered, her voice trembling. “Those people didn't say…”
Concubine Zhou stood up. A’jin quickly intervened.
“It’s nothing, Mistress, please rest; don’t concern yourself,” she said, waving the maid away.
“I will go ask the Marquis. What is the meaning of this?” Concubine Zhou said, her expression darkening. “Searching my maid’s room is no different than searching mine directly.”
A’jin quickly blocked her way.
“Mistress, please don’t be angry; it’s not a major issue. I suspect it’s about those maids who burned to death,” she whispered.
Concubine Zhou looked slightly surprised.
“It wasn’t that the candle fell over and started the fire; what business is it of anyone else? If they don't punish the nannies on watch, why all this fuss?” she frowned.
“It’s not that,” A’jin shook her head, helping her sit down. “It seems someone set the fire…”
Concubine Zhou looked astonished, then stood up again.
“Arson?” She covered her mouth with a handkerchief, her face a mask of terror. “How could such a thing happen?”
A’jin hastily helped her sit down and personally poured her tea to calm her nerves.
“So, the Heir is investigating,” she explained.
Concubine Zhou took a sip of tea, her complexion slightly improving.
“But why search your room? What does it have to do with us?” she continued, holding A’jin’s hand, her face etched with worry, anger, and dissatisfaction.
“It’s nothing, they probably have to search everyone’s rooms. There’s nothing in my room anyway, let them search,” A’jin said with a faint smile, carefully tending to the charcoal brazier and covering it.
Concubine Zhou watched A’jin’s busy figure before her, her expression complex as she slowly closed her eyes.
In contrast to the quietude surrounding Qi Yue, and Concubine Zhou’s speculation, Xie Shi’s quarters were filled with joy.
“Madam, are you feeling more at ease now?” Mama Su presented the ginseng tea with a warm smile.
Xie Shi smiled faintly.
“It’s just that the girl isn’t considered very beautiful…” she frowned slightly again.
“Beautiful or not, as long as she captures the Heir’s heart, that is what matters. What good is beauty?” Mama Su chuckled. “She is still living outside, after all.”
Xie Shi never tired of hearing those words.
“So, Madam, don’t dwell on it. The Heir protected her so fiercely a few days ago, it was ultimately for the face of our Marquis’s estate,” Mama Su explained, sitting on a small stool and gently massaging Xie Shi’s legs. “She made such grand, arrogant claims. If anything goes wrong, we will be the ones cleaning up the mess. Even you, Madam, would lose face when meeting the Prefectural Governor’s wife again. The Heir was acting for you.”
Xie Shi sighed and leaned back against the bolster, smiling.
“This woman causes trouble for Cheng-er every moment,” she said. “Since I cannot get rid of her, then I must simply find Cheng-er a more satisfactory woman to take.”
“And she must be of a decent background,” Mama Su quickly added. “We must take a noble concubine—no, several noble concubines.”
What Mama Su said made Xie Shi laugh aloud.
“It’s hard to find girls from good families willing to become concubines,” she sighed.
“Not necessarily. With you here, the Heir, and the Marquis…” Mama Su smiled faintly. “It can be arranged. As long as the new principal wife is more beautiful, who would dare claim to outrank her even if she is only a concubine?”
Xie Shi felt comforted and nodded.
“Do you remember that girl from the family of the Grand Consort of Huai’an mentioned last time…” Mama Su recalled something else.
Xie Shi sat up straight, about to reply, when a maid’s report came from outside the door.
“Madam, the Young Mistress has arrived.”
Xie Shi’s good mood vanished instantly.
“What does she want?” she snapped. “I won’t see her.”
The maid outside fell silent.
“Mother, are you busy?” Qi Yue’s voice drifted in.
Xie Shi instantly sat up, furious.
Has the world turned upside down? Are those servants outside courting death? How dare they let this woman in directly! Because she healed an illness and saved a person, have all these servants gone mad? Do they still have any regard for her as the Marchioness!
Qi Yue had already stepped inside, followed by A’ru.
“Mother,” she called out, performing a curtsy.
Mama Su quickly bowed to her.
Xie Shi remained seated, offering a brief, dismissive sound, not even lifting her eyelids. This was the second time they had faced each other like this since Qi Yue demanded control of the household accounts.