The old madam woke up, but she exclusively asked for Qin Yunuan. Qin Yunuan was shocked for a moment, but the servant girl who came to summon her had already gestured an invitation.
“Third young madam, please.” The servant girl guarding the door lifted the door curtain and let Qin Yunuan in. Qin Yunuan paid extra attention and noticed that the old madam’s servant girls had all been changed to the fit ones who had been trained with martial arts.
“Greetings, old madam. Are you feeling better now?” Qin Yunuan bowed towards the old madam, who was lying on the bed, through a couple of draperies. She could blurrily see the old madam leaning towards the pillow with an arm supporting her head, looking tired. The old madam raised her hand and gestured to make all the servants leave, and suddenly said loudly, “It has caused such a scene out there, yet you could still stay calm. Within the younger generation of the Prince’s Mansion, you’re the only one whom I could see the young me in.”
Qin Yunuan nodded. Before she was able to speak, the old madam continued, “The servant girl responsible for my medication has died, right?”
“Yes.” Qin Yunuan nodded.
“This is the rule of my Hexiang courtyard. Whoever betrays me will end up this way.” The old madam got up slowly, lifted the draperies and walked towards Qin Yunuan, “You should learn about it. It’s time for you to clear the people in your courtyard.”
The old madam had just lifted the second drapery, and she was now facing Qin Yunuan directly. To Qin Yunuan’s surprise, the old madam didn’t look poisoned at all, with her rosy cheeks and high spirits.
Qin Yunuan suddenly understood that the one in charge of everything was no one else but the old madam. The woman in her sixties, the one in charge of the Prince’s mansion, was the true winner of the incident. As for the servant girl’s death, it seemed like part of the old madam’s plan judging from her tone.
The old madam looked at Qin Yunuan with her wise eyes. She knew that Qin Yunuan had figured it out already, yet she just pointed her wrinkly index finger at Qin Yunuan’s chest, and said slowly, “I ask you to come so that I can tell you that don’t judge people from their appearance or their deeds, look at their hearts.”
When Qin Yunuan left the old madam’s room, the old madam told her servant girls that she was tired today and wouldn’t see anyone else. Prince Ning and Princess Ning naturally asked Qin Yunuan about every detail of the old madam. Qin Yunuan cleverly avoided the fact that the old madam was perfectly fine. Prince Ning heard most of the story, then sighed and ordered the servants to keep watch on nanny Li closely.
Then the crowd dispersed. The second master and second madam returned to the west mansion, while the rest of them went back to their own yards.
Qin Yunuan happened to see Leng Suxin passing by when she walked along the corridor on her way back. She wanted to greet Leng Suxin, but her icy glance stopped Qin Yunuan from doing so.
“This fourth lady is so weird,” Maner couldn’t stop herself saying that. “Normally, she doesn’t seem easy going at all. However, she spoke for you at the most crucial moment.”
“Look at their hearts.”
For some reason, Qin Yunuan thought of the words the old madam said to her.
“It seems that I’ve made quite some enemies today,” Qin Yunuan frowned, “The second madam of the west mansion, Consort Tang, sister-in-law Ruan Ruyi, and my newly-wed second sister Qin Yuwan. They seem totally unrelated, but their words are all pretty harsh. I have to admit that sometimes rumors are terrifying.” As she finished speaking, something crossed her mind. She asked, “By the way, what’s the name of the servant girl who brought the drug pot today?”
“Third young madam, the young servant girl’s name is Xi’er. She’s been following nurse Liao and helping her. She’s about fourteen years old.” Maner replied.
“She seems useful to me.” Qin Yunuan nodded. “Teach her carefully. I urgently need some loyal servants now.”
Maner nodded in acknowledgment, and she held Qin Yunuan’s arm and made a turn towards a bamboo grove. It was a fast way back to their yard with fewer people but more trees and insects. Normally Qin Yunuan won’t take this way, but she was in a rush today.
Just as they approached the bamboo grove, they heard someone whispering. It was a woman’s voice in a sobbing tone, mixed with helpless pleading.
“Young master, you can’t do this anymore. You said that you would marry me as a concubine. It’s been two months, and my belly is growing bigger. I can’t hide it anymore. Please, young master, please.”
A young master making a servant girl pregnant? This wasn’t rare in the prestigious families. Qin Yunuan frowned. She wanted to leave quietly, without paying much attention to this sort of affairs, but she saw the crying face of the servant girl when she took a glance.
Wasn’t that Haitang? The pretty servant girl who had been longing to become a concubine by seducing men.
Now that she got what wanted, it seemed that the man didn’t care about her at all from his answer.
“Do you really think that I can marry you under these circumstances? I can’t even guarantee my own situation now, don’t push me. As for the child, it’s nothing with a pack of red flowers.”
“Young master, you can’t do this. It’s your child.”
“I didn’t drive you out of the mansion only because it’s my child.” The voice was so cold that it felt strange, which made it hard to tell which young master this was. “Just go away, don’t ever let me see you again.”
Then, the sound of rapid footsteps approached from far to near. Qin Yunuan was startled, and she immediately backed off for a few steps and hid among the bamboos. Unfortunately, the bamboos blocked her sight, and she didn’t see who the man was.
However, there were not many “young masters” in the mansion. Apart from Leng Changxi, there’s the grand young master Leng Changxuan, the second young master Leng Chang’an and Leng Qiguang from the West mansion. That “young master” Haitang referred to must be one of them.
The sound of Haitang crying came from the other side of the bamboo grove. Qin Yunuan had no intention to stay any longer and was about to leave via a side path. However, she saw a familiar figure by the corner door of the bamboo grove garden. The green figure flashed by quickly, but Qin Yunuan saw her clearly. It was Qingzhu who served Princess Ning.
When she returned to the yard, Leng Changxi had finished the chores and returned to their room. Seeing Qin Yunuan entering the room, he carefully handed a warm lotus soup to her, “Try it. I made it.”
“You made it?” Qin Yunuan was shocked. She didn’t know that Leng Changxi could do this.
“Yup.” Leng Changxi nodded seriously, “I monitored the cook in the kitchen while he was making it.” Seeing Qin Yunuan’s smile, Leng Changxi thought for a moment and added, “I’ve added two spoons of sugar.”
For a man like Leng Changxi who had never cooked before, adding some sugar was equivalent to cooking. Qin Yunuan took over the lotus soup and smelled the fragrance of lotus immediately. She smiled warmly, “Thank you for your effort, honey.”
She had just taken a sip when nurse Liao hurried in from outside. She shut the door and lowered her voice, “Third young master, third young madam. Something happened by the bamboo grove garden.”
“Don’t rush. Just tell me about it slowly.” Qin Yunuan handed nurse Liao a cup of tea.
Nurse Liao wasn’t in a mood of drinking tea. She regulated her breath and said, “The prince had imprisoned nanny Li so that he could investigate the drug pot thoroughly, but nanny Li was drowned in the little pond of the bamboo grove garden. There was only one person in the garden at that time. It was the servant girl named Haitang, who was given to Miss Xie by third young madam. Now there are rumors that Haitang was arranged by third young madam to keep watch on Miss Xie. They also said that this time Haitang is killing nanny Li for third young madam so that there’s no evidence.”
Qin Yunuan frowned. She knew that she was a target of someone. Besides, the drug pots of hers and the old madam were both drugged, yet the old madam was poisoned, but she was not. It would cause suspicion indeed, and those people could make up stories about it.
“Where did the rumors started?” Leng Changxi asked calmly.
Nurse Liao thought a while and said, “I heard it from a nanny in the east court. She also said that Miss Xie was tortured by Haitang and Baihe that she couldn’t sleep or eat peacefully. Now Miss Xie is complaining to the prince and the princess.”
“Huh, complain?” Qin Yunuan said in disdain, “Even the old madam agreed to have Haitang and Baihe serve Xie Ruying. Now that Xie Ruying still dares to complain about it, it’s total disobedience to the old madam.”
Nurse Liao seemed very worried, “Third young madam, now that the rumors and the news hadn’t been wide-spread yet. Should we take some actions to make plans in advance?”
Qin Yunuan thought about it quickly and smiled clearly, “No. We don’t need to do anything this time.” Thinking of what she saw in the bamboo grove garden, and later on, she saw Qingzhu’s figure. Luck was on her side.
Qin Yunuan finished the lotus soup and lightly wiped her mouth, “We just need to take a good rest and watch the drama tomorrow.”
It was a dreamless night. Qin Yunuan slept well in Leng Changxi’s arms. The two slept while cuddling each other, and it was utterly sweet. Meanwhile, on the other side of the Prince’s mansion, a woman wearing a butterfly embroidery robe was lying on the bed tiringly in the dim candlelight. In front of her was white fume from the incense and a woman kneeling towards her, lowering her head loyally.
“What you mean is, you’re discovered?” The woman on the bed said lazily, with an extremely vicious tone.
“I’m useless. Haitang from the east courtyard saw me when I leave. However, I had already blamed nanny Li’s death on her.” While speaking, the woman who was kneeling on the ground raised her head. It was no one but Qingzhu who Qin Yunuan saw in the bamboo grove.
The woman on the bed stood up and walked out of the cold and dense darkness. Half of her face was lit by the candlelight, which seemed even more creepy. At this moment, Princess Ning was as horrible as a demon from hell.
“Changxi is my son, mine alone. I don’t allow other women to share him with me.” Princess Ning’s glance became hollow and weird, “Qin Yunuan, I won’t let you die in peace.”
