Chapter 197 The Chipped off Screen
Qin Yuru would not have done this if she had known about the matter. In her last life, she had allowed Ning Caixian to marry into the family because she had no other choice. As for how Ning Caixian, together with Qin Yuru, framed her because she wanted to gain something from it and had no other alternatives, Qin Yuru had decided to endure it and let it go since this was insignicant compared to winning Madam of Duke Xing’s favor. Anyway, Ning Caixian was going to marry into Duke Yong’s Mansion no matter what happened.
Madam Di was aware of this matter. Given that Madam Di was out to get her, she would naturally make use of any resource she could lay hold of. Since Ning Caixian was harboring ill intentions against Qin Yuru, there was not stopping Madam Di making use of her!
Since Nanny Zhou was capable of hinting to the cousin that she was the reason Di Yan and her could not be together, Ning Caixian would definitely try to tackle her by entering the mansion to find out more information about Qin Wanru and to secretly harm her. Qing Xue, the chess piece placed in the mansion earlier on was indeed useful!
Although Qin Wanru was still young, the people who were serving her, be it Yujie or Qing Yue, were always loyal to her. The only person who was close to her, but was feeble-minded was Dong Xiuer!
“Miss, what do we do with Dong Xiuer?” Something seemed to have come to Yujie’s mind as she continued, “Madame Dong had always been true and faithful to Miss, and Dong Xiuer is her only daughter!”
Qin Wanru bowed her had as a cold look appeared in her eyes!
When the horse carriage arrived at Ningyuan Army General’s Mansion and entered the side gate to reach the parking place, Qin Wanru alighted from the horse carriage and accompanied by Yujie, she headed towards Old Grandma’s Xinning Pavilion.
Before she left the mansion, she had instructed Qing Yue to inform the Old Grandma of her leave. Now that she had returned from the trip and it was only right that she informed the Old Grandma. Coincidentally, she had something to enquire the Old Grandma about!
Before she arrived at Xinning Pavilion, she spotted many screens being placed outside the gates of the pavilion. They were of different shapes and sizes but were all around the same height. This made her stop in her tracks.
A group of girl servants was busily cleaning the screens. One girl servant, having good eyes spotted Qin Wanru and hurried over to inform Nanny Duan, who emerged shortly and came up to Qin Wanru.
“What’s happening here with so many screens?” Qin Wanru asked, staring at the screens in puzzlement. She did not recall seeing so many screens in the mansion.
“Madam Di had borrowed them from Duke Yong’s Mansion because we will be holding a banquet in our mansion, but our main hall was not big enough to host the banquet. The general and Old Grandma had discussed over the matter and decided to hold the banquet in the courtyard. The weather had been favorable lately. It’s a good idea to have the banquet held in the courtyard. Not only was the fragrance from the osmanthus flowers in the courtyard wonderful, the courtyard is also a very scenic spot in the mansion!”
Nanny Duan wiped her perspiration and continued, “However, the occasional breezes can be chilly. The screens are meant to block the wind as well as to cordon out the area which is the more scenic.”
“Had all these been moved from Duke Yong’s Mansion?” asked Qin Wanru, although she did ask for the reason why these were not sent to Shui Ruolan’s courtyard. She knew that since they were from Duke Yong’s Mansion, they would not go through Shui Ruolan, but sent them directly here. On one hand, it was so that Old Grandma would recognize the power of Duke Yong’s Mansion. On the other hand, it was to make clear Duke Yong’s stand. It was meant to kill two birds with one stone.
“All of these went sent from Duke Yong’s Mansion. However, just now…” Nanny Duan said helplessly as she pointed towards one screen by the corner and continued, “Just now, the corner of that screen collides into something! By then, it would be too embarra.s.sing to return this screen with a chipped off corner.”
“It’s been damaged? Who did it? Was it the people from Duke Yong’s Mansion or the people from our mansion?” a stunned expression flashed across Qin Wanru’s face as she asked methodically.
“I have no idea. It was rather chaotic. After the movers sent the screens over, all the movements and cleaning up meant there were many people in the courtyard going in and out. We can’t really figure out who did it. Regardless, given that this happened in our mansion, we have to consult Madam Di as to what we should do!”
Nanny Duan sighed. The person Old Grandma dreaded to see most would be Madam Di. However, the people in Duke Yong’s Mansion would not be pleased if it were any other person other than Madam Di who would inform them even though this was not a big deal.
Qing Wanru kept quiet as she walked toward the broken screen.
This was an eight-fold screen and a beautiful picture of the four seasons was painted on it. The scene of each season was painted on two folds of the screen. It was very beautiful indeed. In the picture, there were beautiful, smiling people among the flowers, who half-covered their white-washed faces.
This screen was considered the one with the best quality. It was no wonder that Old Grandma was troubled over the damage.
Moreover, Madam Di was half-grounded at this moment. Old Grandma would not want her to go to Duke Yong’s Mansion. Given her character, she might well create another wave of trouble if she went.
The chipped off portion was actually at the right most edge of the frame. The tallest corner of it had been chipped off. Though the chipped-off corner was placed in that position, the damage was conspicuous.
This screen was obviously destroyed. Which family among the aristocratic families would use a broken screen to humiliate herself?
As Qin Wanru reached out her hand to go over the surface of the screen, she squinted and in a heartbeat, she asked, “Who was the one that sent the screens today?”
“It’s Duke Yong’s son!” said Nanny Duan.
“Where is he now?” asked Qin Wanru.
“When he came, he went to pay respects to Madam Di. I’m not sure if he is with Madam Di or First Miss!” Nanny Duan said after pondering for a while. Not only had she been so busy in the courtyard, Di Yan was also a frequent visitor, therefore Nanny Duan did not bother question Di Yan’s whereabouts.
“I’m going to go speak to Childe Di. If need be, I’ll go ask for forgiveness from Countess Yong!” said Qin Wanru casually.
Taken aback by Qin Wanru’s comment, Nanny Duan immediately tried to stop her, saying, “Second Miss, I believe it’ll be wiser to let Old Grandma handle the matter!”
Nanny Duan was obviously aware of Madam Di’s evil intentions towards Qin Wanru, as well as the fact that the entire Duke Yong’s Mansion did not like Qin Wanru. If she allowed Qin Wanru to go to Duke Yong’s Mansion to seek forgiveness, Countess Yong would, without a doubt, take the opportunity to humiliate Second Miss!
“Not to worry, Nanny Duan. Not only am I the young mistress of Qin’s Mansion, but also the young mistress of Ningyuan Army General’s Mansion!” Qin Wanru purposely mentioned her status and smiled as she rea.s.sured Nanny Duan.
Nanny Duan was out of words for a moment. She knew Qin Wanru was trying to put the emphasis on the status of “Ningyuan Army General”. Not only was the Qin’s Mansion still Qin’s Mansion, it was also Ningyuan Army General’s Mansion. Though not comparable to Duke Yong’s Mansion as yet, no one would ever know what would happen in the future. At the very least, no one would dare to offend the emperor’s trusted subject.
“But Second Miss, Duke Yong’s Mansion was not a regular mansion!” Nanny Duan reminded Qin Wanru, unable to feel at ease.
It was not because she looked down on Qin Wanru. In fact, having seen the many things that happened, Nanny Duan no longer treated Second Miss as a childish little kid.
Nevertheless, the fact that Duke Yong’s Mansion was Madam Di’s mother’s household, while no other households dared offend Ningyuan Army General’s Mansion, this was not true for Duke Yong’s Mansion.
“I don’t think it’s a problem, Nanny Duan. Moreover, I may not go directly to Duke Yong’s Mansion after all. I’ll go speak to Di Yan first regarding this issue,” said Qin Wanru, smiling, as she tried to rea.s.sure Nanny Duan.
The screens were supposed to be very st.u.r.dy. She had never encountered such a thing as a screen being chipped off at its corner.
While it was possible that mishandling could result in the screen being warped or scratched. However, it was rather unlikely that an accident could cause the screen to be chipped at its corner.
It was not difficult to see through the intention of the people in Duke Yong’s Mansion. Anyway, she was just about to make a trip to Duke Yong’s Mansion to see that frail-looking Cousin Ning Caixian, who appeared there once in a while.
At first, Qin Wanru had wanted to ask Old Grandma some matters concerning Duke Yong’s Mansion to see if there was any chance she could meet with Ning Caixian. She surprised that the opportunity just came to her.
She tried to camouflage the coldness in her eyes with gentleness as she smiled at Nanny Duan.
“Alright, if you don’t manage to settle it, then Second Miss, you should report this to Old Grandma before deciding what to do!” Nanny Duan reminded Qin Wanru while she finally agreed with her despite feeling a little worried still.
“Rest a.s.sured, Nanny Duan!” Qin Wanru nodded in response. For the last time, she studied the corner of the screen which broke off, then with a relaxed expression on her face, she turned and headed towards Zhifang Pavilion.
Since she had decided to go ahead, she had to make herself presentable by cleaning and dressing herself up anew.
Back in Zhifang Pavilion, Qin Wanru had Nanny Yu and Qing Yue find out more information from Di Yan while she prepared herself.
She let down her thick fringe to cover her delicate eyebrows, pulled her hair up into two loops and put in place by inserting four to five hairpins. Finally, her hair was adorned with pearls and jade ornaments so much so that her head alone looked like a beautiful b.u.t.terfly.
She picked a dress which was the color of the waterlily. She had a growth spurt recently so she had outgrown all the dresses which she tailored not long ago. Just a few days ago, Old Grandma had instructed her to choose a few sets of her clothes to wear. However, the dress she wore now was both too short at the hem and at the sleeves.
The moment her face was partially covered by her fringe, immediately she looked oily and filthy. Together with the clothes she was wearing, not only did she look inconsipicuous, it showed that she did not groom herself. Was it really a good idea to dress up like this, given that the Qins were an upstart family?
“Miss, this… you don’t look like yourself!” Yujie said, staring at Qin Wanru.
She was especially uncomfortable with her mistress concealing her beauty.
“This is great!” Qin Wanru straightened her sleeves. She thought finally she was looking more like an eleven-year-old girl. With her clothes looking too small on her, it made her looked like she was entering into adolescence, yet the other adornment she had still made her look like a child.
Not only did she look like a child, but one who was ignorant and sloppy.
Her appearance definitely did not evoke a likable feeling!
Moreover with the b.u.t.terfly-like hairpins, her head looked like a pot of flowers which was offensive to the eyes!
Yujie had the feeling that whoever saw her, be it a male or a female, would be repulsed by her looks. People would definitely conclude that her mistress was either weird or worse, she did not have any dress sense and made herself look like a silly imbecile!
However, Qin Wanru was totally satisfied with how she looked. As she spied the foolish looking self in the mirror, a smile crept up on her face!
Great, she looked absolutely repulsive!
“Miss, I’ve found Childe Di. I…” As the curtain to her room was lifted, Qing Yue’s voice echoed from the door. However, she was shocked to see Qin Wanru dressed up in this way, so much so that she froze in place!