Chapter 683 One Step Faster
Yujie, who was standing behind Shao Wanru, glared at Qi Tianyu angrily and said, “Forgive you? Your Excellency, you must be joking. My Miss has been framed by you all this time. She has almost been utterly discredited several times. Is that forgivable?”
She disliked Qi Tianyu and Qi Rongzhi very much. They were not good people.
“Yujie!” Shao Wanru scolded Yujie in a low voice.
Although Yujie was not convinced, she still shut her mouth angrily and stared at Qi Tianyu with vigilance, for fear that he would do something bad again.
In Yujie’s heart, Qi Tianyu was a cunning, fierce wolf. Who knew when he would show his fangs?
Qi Tianyu didn’t seem to hear Yujie’s abusive words. He looked at Shao Wanru with a bitter smile and asked softly, “Fifth Miss, is that what you think of me?”
The girl in front of him was no longer the lovely, childish little girl three years ago. Shao Wanru, who had grown up, had already left Qin Yuru far behind. If she were still in Jiangzhou, she would be the most beautiful woman there. Even when she was in the capital, compared with the First Miss of Duke Xing, who was claimed to be the most beautiful, everyone would think that she was the real top beauty.
Shao Yanru was a little worse than her!
“Does it make a difference whether I think so or not? Your Excellency, did you come here today to frame me again? I made it clear to you a long time ago that you’d better stay away from me, First Young Master of the Qi Family,” Shao Wanru said expressionlessly.
There was a trace of anger on Qi Tianyu’s face. It could be seen that he had suppressed his anger for a while before he said slowly, “Please save Rongzhi, Fifth Miss!”
“Your Excellency, you’re really interesting. What does Miss Qi’s matter have to do with me? Did I ask her to find her origin or did I lock her up? What does the matter of Duke Xing’s Mansion have to do with me? In what name shall I stand up for Miss Qi? And what is the reason for that? When you were in Jiangzhou, you could be regarded as a talent. I didn’t expect you to grow naive after coming to the capital!” Shao Wanru sneered, showing no mercy.
Yujie stared at Qi Tianyu with hostility.
Qi Tianyu’s face turned red, livid, and then pale. Then he flushed with anger. “You… you and Rongzhi have grown up together. Besides, you’re a member of Duke Xing’s Mansion too. Now that something has happened to Rongzhi, I think it’s reasonable for you to help her and say something for her.”
“Help Qi Rongzhi? Why? She tried to hurt me again and again, and you two used to spare no effort to kill me! Your Excellency, if I requite evil with good, what should I requite good with?”
The smile on Shao Wanru’s face became colder and colder. She glanced at Qi Tianyu’s face with contempt in her glittering eyes and said, “Your Excellency, you are not the only smart person in this world. I hope this is the last time. Otherwise, even if you are an official now, I will never spare you!”
After finis.h.i.+ng her words, Shao Wanru turned back and directly left Qi Tianyu in the yard.
Walking behind Shao Wanru, Yujie glared at Qi Tianyu with a little anger and entered the room with a snort.
The curtain fell, blocking the sights inside and outside the room.
Qi Tianyu was livid with anger. If he hadn’t stayed in the capital for three years and tempered himself for a while in the official circle, he would not have been able to control himself.
He glared at the curtain with a cold look in his eyes.
Seeing that the situation was not good, the servant hurriedly reminded him, “Young Master Qi, let’s go back!”
As a servant of Qin’s Mansion, he naturally had to take the benefits of Qin’s Mansion into consideration and couldn’t let Young Master Qi really quarrel with the Fifth Miss in Qin’s Mansion. He saw the att.i.tudes of the two just now clearly. It was clear that they were like fire and water, and it was impossible for them to compromise.
Although the servant was in the capital, he had learned part of the story of Young Master Qi, the First Miss, and the Second Miss in Jiangzhou from the servants from Jiangzhou.
The servant felt strange. Why did this Young Master Qi think that the current Fifth Miss Shao would forgive and help him? Considering what they had done to Fifth Miss Shao at that time, he should be glad that she did not hit him at this point. How dare he even want Fifth Miss Shao to help him! It was impossible given the grievances between them!
Qi Tianyu glared at the curtain with hatred. After a long while, he turned around and said, “Let’s go!”
After that, he headed out, followed by the servant in a hurry.
“Miss, he’s gone!” Inside the curtain, Yujie had been paying attention to Qi Tianyu in the yard. Although she knew that he would not lose his mind, it was understandable if this former First Young Master of the Qi Family really made a mistake after being provoked by her Miss. Therefore, she had to be careful.
Shao Wanru sat at the table leisurely and said with a contented smile, “It was just an act. He would leave naturally!” She looked completely different from her angry self in the yard.
“Why did he… come here?” Yujie asked in confusion. She went back to the window and opened it for her.
“It must have a deeper meaning. He always pesters me like this, as if he wants to get something from me. I don’t have a good impression of him. He knows it, but he still pesters me. He must have ulterior motives!”
“He wants to get something from you?” In fact, Yujie did not figure out what Qi Tianyu wanted, but there was one thing she was sure of. He must be thinking the same as her Miss. “Before you found your origin and returned to the family, he had pestered you, and it has always been the case. Isn’t he aiming at Duke Xing’s Mansion?”
Yujie’s voice died away, and she seemed to be talking to herself.
“Maybe he has guessed my ident.i.ty long ago!” Shao Wanru said with a deep look in her eyes.
It seemed that only she, as the person involved, did not know much about it. The others knew a lot. No wonder she died so miserably in her last life.
Many people knew about it, but she didn’t. She had been blinded.
But this time, she got ahead of everyone else. In this case, she could be one step faster…
Nanny Zhou sneaked out of the yard and avoided the two old maids guarding at the door. In fact, the two old maids saw her, but she bought them with silver. So the two old maids just turned a blind eye to it.
No matter what Madam Di had done, there were people from Duke Yong’s Mansion who visited her from time to time. For this reason, people in the mansion didn’t dare to be utterly rude to her. Moreover, on Lunar New Year and other festivals, the general would send gifts to her. Even if Madam Di couldn’t get out, no one dared to really offend her when they thought of the First Miss―Princess of Duke Yong.
They tried their best to pretend that they could not see it. After all, it benefited all!
Qing Xue watched Nanny Zhou leave. She watched her go to a remote courtyard and say a few words to an ordinary old maid. Nanny Zhou slipped something to the old maid and left.
Qing Xue was no longer a servant of Madam Di. After she was released from confinement with Madam Di, she was demoted. She was now a second-cla.s.s servant girl.
However, the lower status was much better compared with being tortured to death and being locked up with Madam Di. When she came out of the yard with her small package, Qing Xue felt that she had come back to life again. The days when she served Madam Di were the darkest days for her.
She knew what she was going to do next, so she kept watch over this place after nightfall. She saw Nanny Zhou go out, and then she followed her. After that, she saw Nanny Zhou send something to an ordinary old maid.
She didn’t know this old maid!
Nanny Zhou sneaked back again. Qing Xue thought for a while but did not go back. She fixed her eyes on the old maid. She saw the old maid smile and go to the backyard door with a parcel after packing up everything.
In fact, it was still early at this time. Even if there were servants who wanted to go back, it was not an appropriate time!
When the old maid guarding at the back door saw the old maid walking over, she greeted her with a smile. The two seemed to be very familiar with each other. After making some harmless jokes, the old maid took her parcel and went out.
Then the old maid guarding the door closed the back door again. It seemed that she was going to lock the door and leave.
Qing Xue was very anxious. She looked around and did not see anyone else. She thought about it and went back. After arriving at the next intersection, she turned back and ran to the back door.
When she arrived at the back door, she almost couldn’t catch her breath. Holding the small tree by the door, she gasped loudly and wiped the sweat on her face away with one hand.
“You are…” The old maid at the back door looked her up and down but did not recognize her for a while.
Qing Xue was not important when she followed Shao Wanru. She was basically in the yard and rarely sent out. After that, she followed Madam Di and was locked up soon. There were not many people in the mansion who knew her. It was normal that the old maid at the back door did not recognize her.
“Just now… the one just now…” Qing Xue said while gasping. Because she was so anxious that she couldn’t even say a complete sentence. She could only keep gasping.
“It was Nanny Zhou just now. What’s wrong?” Seeing that she was gasping for breath, the old maid guarding the door hurried to complete the sentence for her. It seemed that she couldn’t catch her breath and couldn’t even finish her words!
“Yes… it’s… it’s Nanny Zhou… she… she went out…” Qing Xue coughed, as if she was choked.
“Take your time. Say it slowly. Didn’t Nanny Zhou go out especially? What’s there to make a fuss? In the past, she always went out at this time. What’s wrong?” The old maid who guarded the door really felt that Qing Xue had worked so hard. It was no big deal, but she couldn’t even manage to gasp out her words.
Qing Xue shook her hand hard, indicating that she didn’t mean that. Then she said, “Nanny Zhou… go out… parcel…”
“What’s wrong with the parcel? Did she take it wrong? No, that’s the one she used to take with her!” The old maid guarding the door became more and more confused. She looked at Qing Xue with a puzzled face and did not understand what Qing Xue meant!
Qing Xue seemed to have recovered and said a complete sentence, “She… she didn’t take it wrong?”
“Of course she didn’t. That’s what I have seen in the past. It is a parcel with red flowers on a blue background and is easy to recognize.” The old maid looked Qing Xue up and down. Until now, she still could not recognize which courtyard Qing Xue belonged to.
“I made a mistake. I thought it was a new… parcel from the kitchen!” Qing Xue smiled embarra.s.sedly and wiped her sweat. Then she bowed to the old maid who guarded the door and said, “Nanny, sorry to disturb you!”
“It doesn’t matter. Nanny Zhou is the family of the gardener in our mansion. When the gardener has something else to do, she will come and help us for a few days. She will come early in the morning. After finis.h.i.+ng her work, she will go back. She is a smart person and won’t do anything wrong!” The old maid who guarded the door had a good impression of Qing Xue’s politeness, so she especially said a few more words to her.