Chapter 647 Discover a Small Note in Her Meal
“Repair them by ourselves? What should we do?” Qu Le blinked and asked in confusion.
Meanwhile, Nanny Zheng, who was beside her, seemed to be lost in thought!
“Nanny Zheng, does Qi Rongzhi still live in the mansion?” Shao Wanru changed the topic, looked at Nanny Zheng, who remained silent, and asked.
Nanny Yu had argued with others in Duke Xing’s Mansion with the a.s.sistance of Nanny Zheng, who was sent by Great Elder Princess’s Mansion secretly. She got little attention from others in Duke Xing’s Mansion, so it was easier for her to do something.
The small gift box given by the Empress Dowager was secretly handed to Yujie by Nanny Zheng in secret, and then Yujie put it on the old maid when they pulled and pushed each other.
“Miss Qi is still in the mansion, but she has been grounded!” Nanny Zheng said. Since she came to the mansion, she seemed to be busy with helping Nanny Yu handle some trivial matter, but she actually took the opportunity to look into something as Shao Wanru told her.
“Miss Qi has been locked up since the carriage crash happening to you. She’s not allowed to go back to the Qi’s Mansion, but is allowed to send letters, most of which was for her eldest brother!” Nanny Zheng said in detail.
“Even if the First Young Master Qi has powerful connections, he can’t save the First Miss Qi this time!” Nanny Yu curled her lip and said.
“Didn’t she leave Duke Xing’s Mansion before? Why did she come back?” Shao Wanru frowned slightly and asked after thinking for a while. Qi Rongzhi had intended to meet her before but certainly came with someone else.
“It is said that she was brought back. She did leave and go back to the Qi’s Mansion. However, she was brought back later by the First Young Master Qi, who said that since Miss Qi was a Miss of Duke Xing’s Mansion, she couldn’t leave at will. After that, he left!”
Nanny Zheng had made a thorough investigation. Hearing Shao Wanru’s question, she answered casually.
Qi Rongzhi was brought back by Qi Tianyu? After the carriage crash, Duke Xing’s Mansion was equivalent to a wolf den to Qi Rongzhi. How could Qi Tianyu bring her back?
It seemed that Qi Tianyu brought Qi Rongzhi back because he was threatened or someone promised him great benefits. As Shao Wanru thought, she lifted the corners of her lips slightly. Since Qi Rongzhi was still in Duke Xing’s Mansion, she could use some help from Qi Rongzhi and didn’t have to think of some other way.
“How is Duke Xing’s Mansion going to deal with her?”
Neither Madam of Duke Xing nor Shao Yanru was a kind-hearted person, so it was impossible for them to watch Qi Rongzhi tarnish Shao Yanru’s reputation without doing anything. Grounding Qi Rongzhi didn’t sound like the punishment Shao Yanru and Madam of Duke Xing would be satisfied with.
“I heard that she is going to marry Childe w.a.n.g!” Nanny Zheng thought for a moment and said, “Other servants said that he’s Duke Xing’s nephew, but I have never met him before!”
Childe w.a.n.g? w.a.n.g Shengxue? Shao Wanru involuntarily thought that w.a.n.g Shengxue seemed like a ghost reluctant to leave Duke Xing’s Mansion and seemed to be related to everything about Duke Xing’s Mansion!
Nevertheless, w.a.n.g Shengxue was quite a good match for Qi Rongzhi, who knew well about what he had done. Qi Rongzhi probably would rather get killed than marry him!
Someone like Qi Rongzhi would definitely try everything to make a scene out of it. However, she was now locked up peacefully without making any scene, which indicated that things were not as they seemed. Could it be that Qi Rongzhi knew that Qi Tianyu had a plan to prevent w.a.n.g Shengxue from marrying her, so she was willing to be grounded in Duke Xing’s Mansion without making trouble?
As Shao Wanru thought of this, she immediately figured out the connections among many things!
“Does Childe w.a.n.g still live in the mansion?” Shao Wanru asked.
“He doesn’t live in the mansion, but only occasionally comes to visit Miss w.a.n.g, who still lives in the mansion and said to be in poor health. Although she can still take some food, she can only lie in bed and is unlikely to recover. Most of the time her brother only came to have a look at her and then went to please Madam of Duke Xing, Old Madam, and other masters in the mansion!”
Although Nanny Zheng had never met Childe w.a.n.g, she heard a lot of things about him. Everyone in the mansion looked down upon Childe w.a.n.g. Even the maids and old maids gave a scornful look when speaking of him and thought him a born loser.
If it weren’t for the kins.h.i.+p between him and their master, the servants wouldn’t have taken a glance at him.
“Did he send some gifts to the mansion?” Shao Wanru, who noticed a point Nanny Zheng neglected, asked with a slight smile.
“Yes, the gifts are all sent to please the masters in the mansion, especially Madam of Duke Xing, while none of them was sent to his sister!” Nanny Zheng answered after thinking for a while.
With a sparkle in her eyes as dark as ink-colored glaze, Shao Wanru lifted the corners of her tender lips. There should be someone making trouble in the mansion. Since there was no such a person now, she could find one for them. When the one made a scene, the “worn” ornaments in her room could be exposed in public.
Madam of Duke Xing and Shao Yanru were sure that she had to take it, but she didn’t want to…
Although Qi Rongzhi was grounded, she didn’t live a difficult life and was served proper meals. Her everyday food and clothing were not the same as before, but they were actually not much worse for her, who had always been neglected and inferior in Duke Xing’s Mansion.
The kitchen even specially sent someone to serve her decent meals because she was locked up. After all, when her eldest brother brought her back to Duke Xing’s Mansion that day, he specially talked with the Eldest Young Master of Duke Xing’s Mansion.
Her eldest brother’s words still rang in her ears. He told her to stay in Duke Xing’s Mansion for another period of time, and he would take her back to the Qi’s Mansion when people gradually forgot what had happened. After that, her marriage would have nothing to do with Duke Xing’s Mansion. But it was inconvenient for her to leave Duke Xing’s Mansion now.
This was not a good thing for Duke Xing’s Mansion and her. From her perspective, people would think her ungrateful if she left when Duke Xing’s Mansion got stuck in the rumor related to her. From the perspective of Duke Xing’s Mansion, it would be too merciless to drive her away after the incident without finding out the truth.
Or they should handle it after a period of time even if they couldn’t find out the truth.
Qi Rongzhi had always been obedient to Qi Tianyu. Since her elder brother said so, of course, she chose to go back to Duke Xing’s Mansion. In order to marry into the prince’s mansion and seek a bright future, she certainly could not make trouble at this time and had to get it through even if her everyday food and clothing were not so good.
Moreover, Duke Xing’s Mansion didn’t treat her lightly in everyday food and clothing on the surface!
Today she was served steamed buns and a few simple dishes. Although they were not so good and Qi Rongzhi found them difficult to swallow, they were fresh anyway. What was more, her eldest brother had promised to secretly give some money to someone working in the kitchen so that they wouldn’t treat Qi Rongzhi in meals shabbily.
Chewing a steamed bun feebly, Qi Rongzhi asked, “Is Shao Wanru back?”
Although she couldn’t go out, there were plenty of servants talking about it, and even the two old maids guarding the door were among them. She couldn’t ignore it even if she wanted to!
“Yes, they… they said so!” Chunyi answered in a low voice. When she was in Jiangzhou, she could be considered a respected princ.i.p.al maid, but now she became increasingly timid.
“She is so lucky that she survived!” Qi Rongzhi curled her lip and said coldly with disdain, “If I had known that she’s so lucky, I would have worked with Qin Yuru to torture her to death when we were in Jiangzhou. In that case, all of the following things wouldn’t happen!”
Chunyi didn’t dare to answer and cautiously handed Qi Rongzhi a handkerchief. Qi Rongzhi wiped her hands with the handkerchief and bit her hand hard as if she were biting Shao Wanru she was so jealous of. How could Shao Wanru become the granddaughter of Rui’an Great Elder Princess luckily?
Why wasn’t she as lucky as Shao Wanru? Thinking of the days when Shao Wanru and she were in Jiangzhou and the gap between Shao Wanru and her at the moment, Qi Rongzhi felt both great jealousy and hatred.
Shao Wanru, who she could tread underfoot and humiliate as much as she wanted, now lived a better life than she did. It made her feel extremely uncomfortable as if she were bitten by thousands of caterpillars, and wish she could tread Shao Wanru underfoot again and torture her as before.
“I heard that the Empress Dowager sent a lot of gifts to Shao Wanru today. Why is she so lucky? She didn’t fall to death on the mountain path before and managed to survive by clinging to the tree. Now she survived again in the a.s.sa.s.sination and even saved Prince Chen. I’m wondering if she’s fortunate or unfortunate.” Qi Rongzhi raised the corners of her mouth and said viciously with a sneer.
Now she had nothing to do every day, and she was not willing to practice calligraphy and paint quietly. So she, who was terribly bored, was even more vicious and mean when speaking of Shao Wanru. Although she had restrained herself a little before because of her hard life in Duke Xing’s Mansion, she had no scruples at this moment with only her two personal maids around.
She said whatever she wanted while exposing her mean and vicious character!
Chunyi and Chunxi lowered their heads, acted like two blocks of wood, and didn’t dare to talk nonsense with her. After being punished by Qi Tianyu, they didn’t dare to go along with Qi Rongzhi at will!
Seeing that the two maids remained silent, Qi Rongzhi glared at them with displeasure. She knew that they acted on instructions from her eldest brother and now she could only rely on her eldest brother, so she did not dare to disobey her eldest brother’s order. She could only vent her spleen on her maid by reaching out to pinch the back of Chunxi’s hand hard. The great pain made Chunxi’s face changed dramatically, but she did not dare to cry out in pain and could only kneel on the ground and beg for mercy!
Loosening her grip of Chunxi’s hand, Qi Rongzhi chewed the steamed bun hard, as if intending to bite off all Shao Wanru’s luck. Suddenly she felt something between her teeth and reached out to pull out a folded note through her teeth. Qi Rongzhi was stunned and unfolded it hurriedly, disregarding the crumbs of the steamed bun on it.
When she saw the words on it clearly, she was annoyed at the moment and even forgot her fear of Madam of Duke Xing. She pounded the table hard, suddenly stood up, and said, “Go to invite Madam of Duke Xing here and ask her what she means by doing that!”