Chapter 762 The Pledge of Allegiance That One Had to Take
“What’s wrong? Won’t you do so?” Shao Yanru raised her eyes and looked down at her.
Shao Yanru looked kind as if this subst.i.tuted task was not a big deal. Since she couldn’t complete the task about Prince Zhou, she had to finish the work of keeping an eye on Shao Wanru.
Her fingers trembled but Han Dan did not dare to hesitate anymore. “Yes, I will keep an eye on Fifth Miss Shao. If there is anything unusual, I will definitely report it to First Miss!”
This was her pledge of allegiance. She had to do so and didn’t dare to refuse it.
Now she had already known the secret of First Miss Shao. If she didn’t help First Miss Shao, it would be easier for First Miss Shao to kill a little palace maid than to deal with Fifth Miss Shao.
“Not only something unusual but also common things should be paid more attention to. My Fifth Sister has a lot of thoughts and perhaps she will do something wrong, so I need to pay more attention to her, lest her behaviors affect the whole Duke Xing’s Mansion!” Shao Yanru said slowly.
Han Dan nodded in a panic. Then Shao Yanru gave her a few more words of warnings and asked her to leave first.
Shuqi led Han Dan out and opened the door. Seeing that there was no one outside, she asked Han Dan to go back, and then closed the door to return to the inner room.
Shao Yanru was sitting still with cold eyes under the lamp in the inner room.
“Miss…”
“Pick another clever little eunuch. Ask him to secretly do some errands first, and then let him work for us!” Shao Yanru interrupted her.
She was still short-handed. Only one palace maid was not enough, so she had to find more people. Besides, she didn’t quite trust a little palace maid.
“Miss, do you mean to select a few more?” Shuqi asked.
“No need to select a few. Just one little eunuch will be ok!” Shao Yanru shook her head. She dared not to openly use the people in the palace, because it would be easy to be noticed if she used too many people. If someone found out that she, as a beauty, had bribed the eunuchs and palace maids in the palace, she would definitely get in big trouble.
“Yes, Miss. I understand. How about the little eunuch who delivers the food? He looks smart and quick in action.” Since she had not seen any little eunuch being alone before, Shuqi asked after thinking for a while.
“OK, just him! You can observe him carefully for a few more days!” Shao Yanru nodded. At present, this little eunuch was indeed the most suitable one. There were four rooms in the row, but now only the innermost room and the outermost one were occupied. So just one little eunuch came to deliver meals to her and Shao Wanru. If this little eunuch could work for her, he would do more than monitoring.
“Just him. Be careful and give him more money!” Shao Yanru made up her mind again, and her eyes were filled with viciousness in the candlelight…
“Do you mean that my eldest sister asked you to keep an eye on me?” Shao Wanru smiled slightly, and her watery eyes silently swept over Han Dan’s face. Her question was extremely casual and she did not show the dignified look that Shao Yanru always had on her face, but her eyes with deep coldness seemingly could penetrate people’s hearts.
Even though she was smiling, there was no glimmer of a smile at the bottom of her eyes.
This kind of smile made Han Dan feel that she had just made the right choice to come here now. If this Fifth Miss Shao found that Han Dan was monitoring her, Han Dan would definitely lose her life.
After w.a.n.g Yuxin’s affair, she didn’t dare to disobey Fifth Miss Shao, because Fifth Miss Shao had something on her. No matter what she did now, she had to think about it. As long as Fifth Miss Shao came out to say that Han Dan had testified to deal with First Miss Shao, she would definitely lose her life.
First Miss Shao would not stand for her.
She had also thought that she could sneak a peek behind Fifth Miss Shao and then report it to First Miss Shao. Later, after thinking twice about it, she still did not dare to fool the two of them at the same time.
Just at a glance, one could tell that First Miss Shao was not easy to deceive. Both Fifth Miss Shao and her servant girl were very smart. She would definitely be detected by them as long as she appeared around them. Last time, she had just wanted to stall for more time, but Fifth Miss Shao had noticed her and then she had had to tell the truth.
After thinking it over last night, Han Dan came to see Fifth Miss Shao with two dark circles around her eyes today. She felt that it was better to tell the truth. At least, since she told the truth last time, she had been living well, and Fifth Miss Shao had not used that evidence to deal with her.
She also regretted why she had felt it was right to listen to Fifth Miss Shao’s words at first. She could not only please Fifth Miss Shao, but also keep First Miss Shao in the palace. If First Miss Shao really stayed in the palace because of this and became her master, it would be great!
As a palace maid, if she wanted to find a master, it would be best that the master could stay in the palace. Otherwise, no matter how good the master was, she would have nothing to do with her. It was because of this that she had been forced by Fifth Miss Shao’s servant girl to give evidence. But now, this matter became a giant mountain pressing on her head.
Now, it was after lunch. Shao Wanru took Yujie to walk around casually to help digestion. She had been learning the etiquette and rules for the whole morning. Even though she had learned it before, she still felt a little tired.
When she walked to this yard, Han Dan rushed out from the shadow and knelt in front of her.
“Yes, First Miss asked me to keep an eye on you. She said that I must report to her first if anything happens. She wants to know everything, including both something special and matters that need to be dealt with every day,” Han Dan lowered her head and said.
“She wants to know everything? My elder sister really cares about me. Can you tell me the reason?” Shao Wanru’s voice sounded a little joyful, as if she were really happy.
Han Dan stammered, “She… she said that… she was afraid that Fifth Miss would do something bad, which would… affect the whole Duke Xing’s Mansion!”
“Something bad?” Shao Wanru tried to understand these words and smiled more leisurely. “Get up!”
Shuqi came over to help Han Dan up and patted the dust on her sleeves with a handkerchief.
“You could keep an eye on me!” Shao Wanru said.
Han Dan’s heart skipped a beat. She raised her head in a hurry and felt her mouth and tongue dry. She didn’t know what to say. She only felt that Fifth Miss Shao’s cold eyes were as beautiful as the water. But she could not guess what was under the water.
“You can keep an eye on me and tell Big Sister where I have gone. But if you go to report, you must report what I say!” Shao Wanru continued to say.
“Yes, I know!” At this time, Han Dan did not dare to argue.
“I have nothing to do in the past two days. You can say that I sometimes walk around after lunch or go to the painting room to have a look. For the rest of the time, I stay in the room and I haven’t been in touch with anyone. As for two days after…” Shao Wanru looked up at Han Dan’s beautiful little face. “As for two days later, I will tell you what to report!”
“I understand!” Han Dan’s heartbeat was very fast. She lowered her head again and felt uneasy. She always felt that there was something special about it.
“It’s best if you can understand. My Big Sister wants to compete for Prince Yue’s Mansion. But now Prince Yue treats her like ordinary people. Big Sister would never admit her failure. If she can’t enter Prince Yue’s Mansion, it’s possible… for her to stay in the palace. With her appearance, it’s very easy for her to gain a position in the palace!”
Shao Wanru’s voice was as soft as flowing water. Han Dan felt overjoyed after hearing her words.
“Plop!” She knelt down again, kowtowed to Shao Wanru for three times, and said in a trembling voice, “Thank you for your help, Fifth Miss!”
The master she wanted was never from Prince Yue’s Mansion or other princes’ mansions. She wanted to rely on the master of the palace. However, as a little palace maid, she couldn’t get close to the favored n.o.ble Lady. But if she gained the trust of the n.o.ble Lady before the lady was favored, it was the best.
She did not expect First Miss Shao to marry any prince. It was best for her to stay in the palace and marry the Emperor. This was also the best way she thought of.
Fifth Miss Shao was indeed smarter than First Miss Shao, and it was easier for her to see through what she was thinking. This also indicated that Fifth Miss Shao agreed to her. How could she not be excited?
“Get up. Don’t kneel. If someone asks you why you kneel and kowtow, you should say that you accidentally b.u.mped into me, and I scold you!” Shao Wanru looked around. There was no one around in the corridor. However, there were many people in the palace, and no one knew if anyone else had seen it.
“Thank you, Miss. I know!” Han Dan felt that this Fifth Miss Shao was so clever that she was almost not like a human. She had already thought of what Han Dan had and had not thought. Han Dan didn’t dare to disobey her. It was right to come to work for Fifth Miss Shao today.
Otherwise, with Fifth Miss Shao’s means, Han Dan might not even know how she died.
“Do you have the key of the room next to mine?” Shao Wanru asked.
“I… I don’t have it, but I know who has it!” At this time, Han Dan was convinced by Shao Wanru. After asking, she immediately answered. She was afraid that Shao Wanru didn’t believe her, so she deliberately said, “Fifth Miss, I will try my best to get the key of the room you want.”
“The room beside my eldest sister’s. It originally belonged to my third sister,” Shao Wanru raised her delicate lips and said.
“Yes, I’ll try to get the key of Third Miss Shao’s room!” Han Dan nodded repeatedly. After that, she bowed to Shao Wanru and turned to leave. This was the first time that Fifth Miss Shao had asked her to do something. How could she not try her best to do it?
“You’d better get the key of my fourth sister’s room too!” Shao Wanru said lazily. She narrowed her eyes and looked at the sun in the sky. It was another good day. Since she entered the palace, the weather had been good these days. There was no wind in the corridor, and the sun shone on her body, which made her feel warm.
“Fifth Miss, why do you want the keys of the two rooms?” Han Dan asked in confusion. She understood why she wanted the key of Third Miss Shao’s room, but she didn’t understand why she needed the one of Fourth Miss Shao’s room.
“You don’t have to ask more. Just prepare the two keys. You will definitely need them!” Shao Wanru said meaningfully.
Seeing that Shao Wanru didn’t intend to explain, Han Dan came back with many doubts. The more she thought about it, the more she didn’t understand why she wanted the keys of the two rooms. However, she was frightened and tempted by Shao Wanru. At this time, she didn’t dare to disobey her. Standing at the intersection, she thought about it and then went to find the Nanny in charge.
Stealing two keys was the same as stealing one key. She had to take them first. Since Fifth Miss Shao had said so, she must have her reasons…