Chapter 206 Who Schemed Against WhomQin Wanru smiled. She picked up the cup at hand and took a sip, “Are you accusing me?” The misty steam pa.s.sed through her thick and curled eyelashes, giving her face an unreal charm.
Her delicate little face used to exude a childlike beauty. Because she was still a child, that beauty had more to do with being adorable. People could imagine how beautiful she would grow up to be, but they will not have much hostility to her at the time because her beauty was still that of a child.
However, Qin Wanru looked unreal behind the steam, as if she suddenly changed from childlike to ethereal and beautiful.
Behind the curtain of steam, she seemed to have grown up in an instant. There was a charm in her vulnerability. But her cold beauty made even Qing Xue tremble with fear!
“Qing Xue, you became a slave at an early age, but you did not enter the Ningyuan Army General’s Mansion. Instead, you were raised in a manor where you were supervised by older women. You are smart and good looking. Therefore, you were bought to Qin’s Mansion a second time, and became my girl servant. Unfortunately, Qu Le came in at the same time as you, and she happened to know you when she was a child and knew that you had already been in Qin’s Mansion!”
Qin Wanru looked at Qing Xue with s.h.i.+ning eyes.
“Second… Second Miss …”
Qin Wanru continued in a low voice, “Of course, you were bought to deal with me. If you were beside me, you will at least know some of my actions, and because you’re clever, you’ll not do what Qing Cui did before. Of course, to begin with, Mrs. Di left you in the manor not to deal with me, but to train you to become my elder sister’s personal girl servant.”
Her soft voice was very pleasant to listen to, but it sounded like the monastic drum and bell in Qing Xue’s ears. She was shocked and dumbfounded.
Very few people knew about this. Even Qu Le was not very clear about it. It was even more impossible to know her past ever since she arrived in the capital city.
But Qin Wanru told the whole story so clearly, as if she had witnessed it herself.
Qin Wanru smile even more gently, her beautiful eyes blinking and head leaning to one side, making her look very childlike, “You thought since my elder sister will soon be the daughter-in-law of Duke Yongkang, things won’t go well with me in every aspect because I have always been suppressed. So you panicked and volunteered to deal with Dong Xiuer yourself! ”
Qing Xue’s turned white as snow, even paler than when she was led to Madam Dowager. She became really desperate. How could she be more hopeless when every actions of hers had all along been witnessed by the one she deceived? And she had been complacent with her cleverness.
She thought that she had deceived the Second Miss.
The Madam thought that she had deceived the Second Miss!
But in fact, it was they who’d been deceived!
“Do you know what your life will be if I sent you to the Administrative Office? As a girl servant, you dared to have an affair with a ruffian, and you also secretly plotted against your own young madam, you will be sent to the army after your face is tattooed. There are plenty of people who would like to help me because my father has just become the Ningyuan Army General. ”
Qin Wanru’s eye were narrowed as she uttered the words.
Every word was like a sword piercing deep into Qing Xue’s heart. Hearing them, Qing Xue couldn’t help herself. She broke down and fell on the ground crying, “Second Miss, Second Miss, I will confess. I will tell you everything as long as you don’t send me to the Administrative Office!”
Nanny Duan finished her questioning as quickly as Qin Wanru. After the interrogations, Qin Wanru took Qing Xue away while the ruffian was put into prison. Although the whole thing was only about the girl servant, it might also affect the reputation of her young madam!
When Madam Di came back, so did Countess Yong.
Madam Di led her to visit Madam Dowager. Today, Countess Yong came to Qin’s Mansion for the marriage of Qin Yuru and Di Yan. The two families decided to get them engaged immediately. Countess Yong had brought Di Yan’s resume to exchange it for Qin Ruyu’s. After the exchange between the two families, the official ceremony will be held.
Madam Dowager felt she had no say in Qin Yuru’s marriage. So she agreed with every decision Countess Yong and Madam Di made. Madam Di had the final say in everything.
Qin Huaiyong also suggested to Madam Dowager that it was imperative for the two families to be united in marriage. Since Qin Wanru’s parents agreed, Madam Dowager was certainly not in a position to show her disapproval.
Now that Madam Di and Countess Yong had talked to Madam Dowager, it’s considered that the most senior in the household has been informed. They then returned to Yulan Pavilion.
Although Madam Dowager was informed of the whole thing, the ladies still had the details to iron out.
No one knew what Di Yan and Countess Yong talked about in the house. When Countess Yong left, all they knew was that the marriage was in the near future.
Di Yan even moved into Qin’s Mansion the next day. He was poor at studies so he decided to throw himself into military affairs. On the one hand, he lived in because there were very few descendants in the mansion. On the other hand, Di Yan might be a military officer in the future, so he could learn some basic knowledge about it from Qin Huaiyong.
However, those were only excuses. In fact, Duke Yong’s Mansion sent Di Yan to Qin’s Mansion temporarily to put him under the supervision of Madam Di in case he involved himself with Ning Caixian.
Madam Dowager in Duke Yong’s Mansion suggested it. She hated Ning Caixian and had never been nice to her when the latter lived in the mansion. She always took a fancy to her granddaughter Qin Yuru.
Countess Yong did not agree to it at first, but Ning Caixian’s reputation was greatly damaged after the previous incident. It was said that now people in the whole capital city were talking about Ning’s Mansion. It was not only about Ning Caixian, but also her sister Ning Xueqing, who was said to have an affair with a gentleman of Duke Xing’s Mansion. The gossips made them out to be disreputable girls.
People would often just let it go when they didn’t know something. But the more they talked about the sisters, the more they believed the girls to be s.l.u.ts.
A daughter of an aristocratic family should have moral integrity even if she was humiliated. How could she be so disrespectful to the discipline and pander to a man who was already engaged, even throwing herself at him? It was not clear whether they had an affair from what others said. Everyone who heard such a thing would feel disgusted.
Only some rascals felt it very romantic and were envious of Di Yan. They only thought it was better to have seven or eight sweet cousins such as them.
Aristocratic families who used to have contact with Ning’s Mansion spurned them one after another. They also told their daughters to avoid the Ning sisters in case they were affected by their bad reputation.
The Ning sisters couldn’t be more despised in the capital city at that time.
They couldn’t marry people in higher social positions under such circ.u.mstances; even ordinary decent families wouldn’t have them.
The next few days were quite peaceful. The Ning sisters were so beaten down that they had no strength to fight back. They had to go about with their tails between their legs. There were many onlookers in front of Ning’s Mansion every day, the door never opened for them. Only their father’s carriage pa.s.sed through occasionally.
Di Yan also seemed to be well-disciplined these days, staying at home almost every day. He would chat with Madam Di, accompany Qin Yuru or occasionally ask Qin Huaiyong questions about military matters. He even stayed in the study in his yard, reading books at ease.
It was as if what happened out there had nothing to do with him.
Both Madam Di and Qin Yuru were very pleased with him. Qin Yuru became kind again, but now her favorite activity was to visit Madam Dowager with Di Yan so that she could meet Qin Wanru on the way or in Madam Dowager’s house. She was very proud of herself!
She would soon be the wife of Duke Yongkang’s son. As for Qin Wanru… Her mother said she was just a b.i.t.c.h and she would not let her have a good end!
This day, someone came to Qin Wanru when she was still at Dowager’s Xinning Pavilion. So Qing Xue hurried out to look for her young madam, but she was stopped not far from the courtyard.
A smiling woman and stepped out from behind a tree. She stopped Qing Xue, took out a letter from her bosom and handed it to her. “Miss Qing Xue, someone has a letter for you.”
Qing Xue took it and asked casually, “Whose is it?” She opened the letter at once and started to read it.
The old woman answered, “She looked old and told me she was your aunt. And she made a special trip to see you when she heard that you’re working in Ningyuan Army General’s Mansion. She wrote you this letter for fear I didn’t explain it clearly.”
It was not a long letter. After reading it, Qing Xue folded it again and asked, “Where is she?”
The old woman said, “She’s in the back garden. Miss Qing Xue, if you go now, you should be able to meet her!”
Qing Xue said, “Thank you very much!”
The old woman waved her hand and left with a smile on her face, “Miss Qing Xue, you’re welcome!” People are glad to help a princ.i.p.al maid of the mansion such as Qing Xue when they can in hopes of the maids saying something to their madams or masters in their favor. No harm for the maids to become familiar with their appearance either.
Qing Xue didn’t go immediately. She opened the letter to read it once more. Then her expression changed. She thought about it and then turned back to Zhifang Pavilion. She left again saying a few words to Qu Le.
Qu Le followed her out of the courtyard. Then they separated at the gate. One went to look for Qin Wanru and the other went to the back gate to meet that “aunt”!
She did have an “aunt” before, and Madam Di helped her get in touch with this person to get Dong Xiuer to send the hair clasp. Dong Xiuer was too shy to let her girl servant do it in front of her. She would know since she had paid close attention to her.
This “aunt” also helped spread the news about what had happened the day the hair clasp was taken out.
As for the rest, Qing Xue was not clear about it. She was only told to listen to that “aunt” and tell her how Second Miss got along with Childe Di, how beautiful the Second Miss was and how much Childe Di cared about her…
Of course, these things happened before the hair clasp incident. Since the hair clasp was sent out, the “aunt” had never been here again. But today, she actually came, as predicted by Second Miss…