“Sister, don’t you find any problem?” Qin Baochuan asked back. He knew that Qin Yunuan was not an ordinary lady. He always recognized her wisdom as well as her effort to protect him.
Qin Yunuan stared at Qin Baochuan for long. For the first time, she felt that she could treat him as a grown-up, “Say your thought first.”
She was encouraging him to think.
Qin Baochuan frowned, “I just found it weird. The attack happened only half a tea break’s time after we left the Qin Mansion, and the place was near the mansion. However, the Qin Family didn’t send anyone to look around. What’s more, the eaves where those assassins ambushed were at the back room of the Qin Family, how could they feel nothing at all?”
Qin Yunuan already thought of that. This was why Leng Changxi suddenly avoided talking about it and said he knew nothing. If the Qin Family was involved in the case, it would become more complicated.
Qin Zhi, Qin Linfeng, Qin Yunzhuang, Concubine Liu as well as Dou Meishuang who newly came, who was behind the case among those people?
“Third Young Madam, we have arrived,” Maner outside reminded Qin Yunuan that she arrived at Prince Ning’s Mansion. The cart driver had already moved wooden stairs here.
When Qin Yunuan was leading Qin Baochuan, some gatekeepers came to greet them, bowing and scraping.
“Wow, hello, Third Young Madam! You returned so soon after visiting your parents’ home.”
Qin Yunuan nodded with a kind smile and asked, “Is Old Madam at home?”
It was said that recently the Old Madam of Prince Ning’s Mansion often entered the palace to visit Queen Mother. It was really odd. Although they were biological sisters, they seemed unfamiliar with each other. However, if you saw them as strangers, they still gathered to chat from time to time.
The gatekeeper kept bowing and continued, “Old Madam just came back from the Royal Palace. She seemed happy. Third Young Madam, are you going to greet her?”
Qin Yunuan led Qin Baochuan. Although all issues in the Prince Ning’s Mansion were under the charge of Princess Ning, respect for seniority was still of the most importance. Now Qin Yunuan returned to the mansion taking Qin Baochuan, the first person they needed to visit was absolutely the Old Madam of the Prince Ning’s Mansion.
Apart from coming to the Old Madam’s yard to serve her tea on the first day after Qin Yunuan’s marriage, this was the first time for her to step in the Old Madam’s Lotus Fragrance Courtyard. Despite the simple name, it was suitable for the scenery. It was August now. The lotuses here were in full bloom. They swayed slowly with the wind, sending fragrance far away, just like goddesses in fine gauze dancing in the pool. Those lotuses were rare breeds unavailable to any other place. Just because Old Madam favored their fragrance much, Prince Ning found them and transplanted them here for her in particular.
When Qin Yunuan led Baochuan to bypass Chuihua Gate, they happened to see that Old Madam was lying on the cane chair in the small gazebo. Her loose eyelids were half-closed. Her senior personal servant girl was fanning her carefully with a cattail leaf fan. Even at such a silent time, Old Madam still seemed solemn and inviolable.
It was the hottest time at present. The cicadas in the tree were chirping loudly, adding noise to the hot afternoon.
“Third Young Madam comes,” the servant girl guarding at the gate, Zhichan, saw Qin Yunuan coming from far away, curtseyed a little and smiled, “Old Madam was still resting. Third Young Madam, if you have something to fetch her, you can return in advance. When Old Madam is awake, I will come to inform you, so you won’t need to wait in the sun and harm your own body.”
Qin Yunuan looked inside. The Old Madam was sleeping soundly. She wouldn’t be awake in a short time. Qin Yunuan then glanced at Qin Baochuan, who was already sweating heavily in the sun.
“It doesn’t matter,” Qin Yunuan smiled, “There is a long way between my yard and Lotus Fragrance Courtyard. If you come to inform me, it will take a long time. Keeping Old Madam waiting is not good, so I will stand here to wait for her.”
Qin Yunuan spoke in a determined and gentle manner. Zhichan had learned a lot about dealing with others and reading their faces after serving Old Madam for many years. With a look to Qin Yunuan, there was a light shining in her eyes, but it was hidden immediately. She used the chance of receiving the incense burner sent by a small servant girl to step in the gazebo. Pretending to burn the incense that could calm the nerve, she whispered to Old Madam, “Third Young Madam said that she was going to wait by the gate.”
There was no sound for a while.
The summer wind came with water vapor. After a long time, the Old Madam who, was supposed to fall asleep, whispered, “Well, keep her waiting. I want to see how long she can wait for her brother.”
The sun was burning. Let alone Qin Yunuan, a lady who stayed at home every day, even those farmers in the manors in the suburbs of the Royal City didn’t dare to stay under the blazing sun for quite a long time in such weather. Although there was a wind coming to the small gazebo near a lotus pond, the sun at noon dissipating heat crazily cause the temperature to rise. Soon, Qin Baochuan’s face turned pale, and his hands turned from hot to cold from time to time.
“Baochuan?” Qin Yunuan lowered her voice to call Qin Baochuan gently. In fact, she herself felt uncomfortable with oppression in the chest, “Are you not feeling well? You return to my yard following Maner now. I will be back later.”
“No,” Qin Baochuan perked up perversely, “Sister, I want to wait with you. Although I am not as powerful as my brother-in-law and I cannot protect you when you are in danger, I would like to shoulder the responsibility together with you.”
“Silly boy,” Qin Yunuan touched Qin Baochuan’s head, tucked his wet hair on his forehead back, and wipe away his sweat on the forehead with her handkerchief.
Time passed, and even the incense in the incense burner was about to burn out. When Qin Yunuan felt that she was near to faint, Zhichan finally lifted the curtain, came out, and curtseyed to Qin Yunuan, “Third Young Madam, Old Madam has woken up. She asked you to come in and talk to her.”
Though there was sweat all over her back and forehead, Qin Yunuan kept her good manner. She nodded to Zhichan, kept her spine straight, and appeared graceful and elegant in her behavior. Those details made Zhichan, who had seen a great deal, praise her secretly. Third Young Madam was undoubtedly an unusual lady coming from a prominent family.
Seeing Qin Yunuan leading Qin Baochuan to come near, Old Madam showed a kind smile which could not be told whether it was sincere or not, “When people get old, they will feel sleepy easily. Once I sleep, it’s hard to predict the time I wake up. Have you waited for long?”
“Not long,” Qin Yunuan lowered her head and smiled gently.
Old Madam sneered. She had already conferred the title of nobility as the first-grade of rank Madam Dexian when she was married to Prince Ning’s Mansion. What’s more, the mansion of Duke Jingguo was always proud. Although there were not many people in the mansion with no son to inherit the title, Queen Mother and Princess Ning both came from it. This made people coming from that mansion extremely proud. Therefore, Old Madam in the Prince Ning’s Mansion was afraid of nothing. Not only were her words sharp, but her action was also quick.
“Were you thinking just now that with your effort to get the title of the fifth-grade of rank Infanta, it was impossible for you to wait here. If you had been replaced by another person, she would have been lifted the curtain and wake me up. Without a request to bother me, who is willing to suffer wrong?” Old Madam lowered her head, said coldly, and drank the Biluochun Tea at a suitable temperature.
Qin Yunuan was in a daze at first, but later her mind was clear. What Old Madam said was indeed the thought most women would have.
“I never have such thought,” Qin Yunuan didn’t debate, but only replied one sentence with her head low.
Old Madam raised her eyebrows slowly, seeming to doubt the answer.
Qin Yunuan curtseyed and continued, “It’s because I knew at the beginning that you were pretending to sleep. You thought it was an exam for me. Actually, I also wanted to see how long I worthed for you to spend time examining me in your heart. While I was waiting, the shadow of the pillar gazebo moved the length of about one finger, so two hours passed. I was surprised to see that I worthed for two hours in your heart. Thank you very much for your praise.”
Those words revealed Qin Yunuan’s wisdom clearly. Others said that the secret of the harmony between Old Madam and Princess Ning in the Prince Ning’s Mansion was that Princess Ning was so kind and simple that she wouldn’t outshine Old Madam. The rule that there was no need for two clever people to come together could also be applied in the battle in the backyard.
However, clever people always wanted bosom friends. For those women who broke the limitation of the time and held power in most time of their life like Old Madam and Queen Mother, they had a strong desire for a person like them from the bottom of their hearts. By catching the characteristic, Qin Yunuan attracted Old Madam’s attention successfully.
Old Madam frowned slightly. It seemed that the daughter of a concubine was more complex than what she had learned. In the past, when she heard the cries by Dou, she thought that the daughter of a concubine only knew vicious, nasty, and dirty means. Last time when she met her in the mansion of Grand Commandant, she realized Qin Yunuan’s scheme, which was not honorable but effective. Today, Qin Yunuan waited for such a long time in the burning sun and said her aim with a single comment. It seemed that there was more to dig on the daughter of a concubine.
“Do you know that those who are smart sometimes will make a fool of themselves?” Old Madam squinted at Qin Yunuan, who was somehow like her when she was young, looking brave, calm, capable of dealing with everything.
Qin Yunuan smiled, “What I only know is that one should fight for her own fate. Since the chirping of cicada was so noisy here and Old Madam, you always like silence, how can you fall asleep? If you want to give me an exam, I will take it willingly. As long as you let me in the past, admitting that I’ve passed your exam, I’ve got what I want.”
There was an unconscious smile at the corner of Old Madam’s lip. However, her whole face was still cold. She glanced at Qin Baochuan, “Is he your brother in the Qin Family?”
Hearing that, Qin Baochuan immediately stepped forward and curtseyed, “Baochuan meets Old Madam.” His voice was clear and vigorous.
However, Old Madam turned her head suddenly and said with a blank face, “He cannot stay at Prince Ning’s Mansion.”
