Chapter 220 Marrying Qin Yuru
“What happened?” Madam Di was shocked. She could no longer pay attention to Nanny Zhou and she rushed out of the house.
“Madam, someone is proposing marriage to the First Miss!” The girl servant rushed and kneeled in front of Madam Di, her face pale.
“Who is it?” Madam Di held onto the servant and hastily asked.
“I don’t know. It was chaotic. Even the general was alarmed and brought the man into the study. Many gathered outside the mansion, gossiping about the affair between the First Miss and that man. That man claimed he had exchanged gifts with the First Miss. When he was at the entrance, he even took out a hair clasp from our mansion!”
The servant girl gasped and held her collar up. Her face was a bit pale as she was out of breath.
“Yuru’s hair clasp?” As Madam Di let go of the servant, her leg wobbled before she stabilized herself again.
“Yes, it is said that the First Miss sent it out privately, and he had long fallen in love with the First Miss. He came today to propose marriage. Madam, think of a solution fast. What do we do now!” The servant girl could finally gasp for air to speak more clearly now.
Madam Di’s face turned pale. Everything seemed to swirl in front of her and she could see nothing!
Nanny Zhou’s voice pulled her back to her senses. She shook her head and regained her composure. “Madam, Madam!”
“Let’s go to study!” Madam Di gritted her teeth as she calmed down. She immediately strode outside. Who was this man trying to frame Qin Yuru? She would never believe that Qin Yuru was having an affair with some other man.
Qin Yuru agreed to marry Di Yan. She was satisfied with the marriage, and thus, she would not do such a thing.
The incident of the plate with a crack replayed in her mind. She could not help thinking this was another trap by Countess Yong. Or to be more specific, the trap by Countess Yong and that woman. She had heard from Nanny Zhou that Countess Yong’s niece had an ambiguous relations.h.i.+p with Di Yan. There was more than just the relations.h.i.+p of cousins between them.
With the previous evidence, it was easy to make the following speculations.
Previously, it would have been impossible for Madam Di to suspect Countess Yong. But after the incident, she felt that Countess Yong had something to do with it.
She could not hide the hatred in her eyes. Once she found the evidence, she would not spare Madam s.h.i.+.
After Qin Huaiyong left in a hurry, Qin Yuru and others had no choice but to leave Qin Wanru’s Zhifang Pavilion.
After everyone was gone, Qin Wanru asked Yujie and Qing Yue to clean the house once again.
Qing Yue got the plate from the central kitchen. There was no second plate like this. Though the plate was from the kitchen, no one knew where Meiyan got it. The supervisor claimed to not have seen such a plate before.
There were similar plates. Although not exactly the same, the patterns were identical. It would be hard to identify once broken.
As for the brocade, it was not the two received from Rui’an Great Elder Princess. There were so many cloths at that time, and Qin Wanru did not believe that Qin Yuru could memorize them in one glance.
She walked to the window and examined the pastries that had been kept. Qin Wanru used a silver needle and picked up some bits. She sniffed it and pa.s.sed to Yujie who was beside her.
Yujie took it and sniffed it carefully. “Miss, this pastry is very fragrant. It is different from ordinary pastries. There was a fragrant incense inside which attracts cats and dogs. When I was in Jingxin Monastery, a nun told me about it. A cat broke the sacrifices when a family was lighting incense!”
Yujie knew much more about medicine and gave Qin Wanru a critical answer.
Qin Wanru had expected that reply. She smiled and sat in the chair. “Was the cat sent by Countess Yong?”
“It should have been. I sent some people to get information, and it was said that Countess Yong had raised a few cats. This one seemed to be young and was probably meant for Madam!”
Qin Wan calmly asked, “Who is raising the cat now?”
“An old maid of Madam. She seemed to have raised a cat at home, so Madam let her do the job. Madam did not like the cat and refused to get close to it.” Yujie explained in detail.
“Is there a powder that can be used in the cat, that will not show its effect till the specific timing!” Qin Wanru half closed her eyes and lowered her voice.
“Well, I guess there is!” Yu Jie said after pondering.
“Write down what you need. When you go out for purchasing, take turns, and mix them in with the usual herbs that you bought. We will buy the crucial herb when we go out by ourselves!” Almost instantaneously, Qin Wanru had an idea.
“Yes, I will write it down immediately!” Yujie left after that reply.
Nanny Yu rushed in and shouted, “Second Miss, bad news. A man is at the door claiming that he had a relations.h.i.+p with the First Miss. He proposed to marry the First Miss!”
“When?” Qin Wanru raised her eyebrows. What a coincidence that the man came now.
She just planted the seed of doubt in Madam Di’s heart and now there was the fertile soil for it to grow.
“Yes, he was making a commotion just now. I happened to go out and see it. People gathered around our mansion, gossiping about us.” Nanny Yu frowned. She was not worried about Qin Yuru but was afraid that this matter would affect Qin Wanru.
Qin Wanru stood up and sat in front of the dressing table. “Qing Yue, help me dress up. Father will call me later.”
Qing Yue followed her instructions and took off her hair clasp, then rearranged her hair.
“Why? Isn’t this the First Miss’s matter, how is it related to Second Miss?” Nanny Yu asked anxiously while looking at Qin Wanru’s reflection in the mirror.
“It is not related to me. However, the hair clasp belongs to our mansion, and Madam Di will implicate me for sure!” Qin Wanru steadily explained.
“Madam Di wants to push the onto blame to you again?” Nanny Yu was shocked, and her expression changed. After two laps in the room, she stopped. “Miss, what should we do now? We can’t just wait for death!”
Back in Jiangzhou, Madam Di’s vicious plan still shocked Nanny Yu to this day. Now that she heard Madam Di was doing things again, she panicked.
“Don’t worry, Nanny. I will be fine. How’s w.a.n.g Feng doing in his inquiry?” Qin Wanru spoke calmly. Looking at her reflection in the mirror, the corner of her mouth raised up and she smiled.
Her calm att.i.tude seemed to console Nanny Yu, who calmed down as well. She took a deep breath and said, “We found Madam Shui’s husband’s family, and they were in the capital city. They had yet to make any moves. Perhaps they were waiting for the right opportunity to strike.”
“Who let them enter the capital?”
“Madam’s servants. Back in Jiangzhou, she had informed those people. When we reached the capital, they set off,” Nanny Yu reported. She rushed out just now for this matter, and her son told her there had been some progress.
Qin Wanru had no doubts about Madam Di’s people bringing in Shui Ruolan’s husband’s family. This was why w.a.n.g Feng could find the two people quickly. He could check on people that came from Jiangzhou recently, and it wouldn’t be many. Then, he just needed to keep an eye on Madam Di’s people, and he would get the answer.
“Who are the people that came?”
“I heard that it was Madam Shui’s ex-husband’s younger brother and his wife. After her husband died, along with their mother, they mistreated Madam Shui. When Madam Dowager found out about it, she brought Madam Shui back.” Nanny Yu was an old woman in the mansion, so she knew about Shui Ruolan.
Speaking of Shui Ruolan, she had a tough life. It was a marriage set up by Shui Ruolan’s biological mother. After her mother died, the other party refused to acknowledge the marriage. However, because of Qin Huaiyong’s ident.i.ty, they reluctantly agreed to the marriage.
However, they did not expect that half a year after the marriage, Shui Ruolan’s husband would die. After that, she had a tough time in that family. The family spread the rumor that she was a jinx. That then provoked Madam Dowager, who brought Shui Ruolan back to Qin’s Mansion.
“Didn’t that family say that Mother was free to re-marry? How dare they show up now!” Qin Wanru sneered.
“They probably wanted to get some money. They are just unscrupulous people. Previously, they said that Madam Shui could do whatever she wanted as long as she returned. Now that they reappeared, they just wanted to get some money from her. Besides the young master who died, the family is shameless!”
Nanny Yu snapped.
At that time, she was accompanied by several people to welcome Shui Ruolan. She almost quarreled with that family when she saw Shui Ruolan, who was bony.
It was only half a year, and the lady lost her shape because of the torture. Anyone would feel sympathetic. Nanny Yu had never seen anyone more unscrupulous than that family.
“Let w.a.n.g Feng keep an eye on them. If they make any moves, come and report to me. There should be no moves for now, as Madam doesn’t have much time!” Qin Wanru half-closed her eyes, and her b.u.t.terfly-like long eyelashes flashed twice. Then she commanded her slowly.
Recently, Madam Di had too many things to handle. Initially, Mother and herself were her enemies. After what happened today, they were no longer the only people that Madam Di hated. And she was not someone that would swallow her hatred.
“Second Miss, the general has asked you to go to the study!” The sound of a servant girl suddenly came from the door!
Qin Wanru wondered, and there it was!