Su Chenghai and Qin Yunuan were left in the room alone after Concubine Chang went back. Qin Yunuan seemed to have something private to say, so she asked Maner and Tong to stop serving tea and wait outside. Nurse Liao also went out in a hurry after putting down a stem-dish with Glutinous Rice Balls on the table.
Qin Yunuan smiled warmly and pointed to the five-colored Glutinous Rice Balls in the plate. “Do you still remember this dessert, cousin? It was our favorite in the childhood. We had even fought over it. Have a try and see whether it is as delicious as before.”
Su Chenghai made a big grin sincerely, “It really was a long time ago. I could not remember clearly.”
Qin Yunuan didn’t say anything. She just stretched out her fair hand and picked one into the small porcelain plate for Su Chenghai. “Have a try.” She smiled.
As Su Chenghai was enjoying the dessert, Qin Yunuan continued speaking, “Cousin, Yunuan has to thank you again for helping me out today.”
Su Chenghai swallowed the sweet Glutinous Rice Ball and looked up with a smile. “You have thanked me twice.”
“You deserve that,” Qin Yunuan said, “Actually, the real Boss Yuan had already left the Royal City and there was no contract of those stealthy things between him and Nanny Qiao. It was you who sent someone in disguise and handed the accounts to father. Were it not for your bluffing, Concubine Chang might have been in trouble because of my plan.” Concubine Chang and Concubine Liu would not be able to clear themselves if there was no such letter, as the account books were all “burnt in fire” at the same time.
“That’s all your idea.” Tilting his head slightly, Su Chenghai laid down his chopsticks and looked at Qin Yunuan with an admiring gaze, like she was a work of art made by top-class white porcelain. “You had realized the evil intentions of Dou Qing’e from just a red wedding dress from Yesan and you entrusted me to inquire about Boss Chen in secret. While biding your time, you pushed the whole thing over until you had figured out her whole plan. That’s what people say, the wolf has a winning game when the shepherds quarrel,” Su Chenghai smiled admiringly, “Dou Qing’e thought she regained the power by her own plotting, but she did not know you were also a big helper.”
“That’s right,” Qin Yunuan didn’t expect that Su Chenghai had seen through her plan so thoroughly. “If she set her mind on worshiping the Buddha and stopped causing troubles, I might not do things in this way. It might be too late when she finally realized that the power that she had regained was just the start of another nightmare.”
Suddenly, Qin Yunuan felt disheartened. The plots, the conspiracy and the calculations were things that she tried to avoid in the previous life. She used to think that it was good to live a safe and happy life. However, until she was burnt to death in the marriage sedan, she finally realized that those things were inevitable for someone who was born in such a family. Now, she was full of tricks and schemes. She had become….
“Am I a horrible person? Do I look like a wicked woman?” Qin Yunuan asked Su Chenghai tentatively.
“No,” Su Chenghai had felt the caution of Qin Yunuan from her careful words. She had a different charm when she acted like this. “I admire the way you are.”
Qin Yunuan did not have a chance to take a break until the noon. Maner and nurse Liao guarded the door to make sure that their exhausted Third Miss would not be disturbed by anyone. But she did not have a good rest. In less than six hours, she had repeatedly dreamt of the big fire in her previous life. When the Hai Tang Courtyard was on fire, she concluded that the charcoal was mixed with something bad from the strong smell of white phosphorus. Nurse Liao simply thought that she was more sensitive than others. But that was not the case. She was familiar with the smell of burning wood and white phosphorus. Because it was the smell of death for her which had been branded in her memory.
At the same time, she also remembered that in her previous life, an arm with a black tattoo of Kylin had reached out into the fire, trying to save her. She never expected to encounter the owner of that arm again. For her, the greatest happiness was to be safe and sound.
It was already the middle of the day when Qin Yunuan woke up in a daze. Maner came in with hot water when she was about to get up.
“You sweat a lot, Third Miss,” Maner said worryingly, as she twisted the wet towel, “Did you have a bad dream?”
Qin Yunuan shook her head. There was no way of telling Maner that she had dreamed about the scene before her death in the previous life. Taking a sip of water, she looked up and said, “Did you get any information about the thing I had entrusted you to inquire?”
Surely enough, Maner did not forget that Third Miss had asked her to inquire about the relationship between General Leng and young master Su Chenghai, but….
“It’s easy to enquire General Leng’s whereabouts. Seemingly, he was busy investigating about Grand Prince’s assassination by the assassins from East Qin. There’s nothing strange about him. But about young master Su Chenghai….” Maner lowered her voice, “A sister from his room had mentioned by chance that he did not rest there every night. Besides, he got some bottles of ointment in his room, so I guess he might have gotten hurt.”
“That’s enough.” Qin Yunuan wiped her sweaty forehead with a wet towel. As expected, Leng Changxi was a cautious person and it was hard to make any deep inquiry. Besides, Su Chenghai had helped her again and again. At least, it proved that he had no bad intention towards them. What she could do from now on was to act according to circumstances.
A moment later, nurse Liao came in to report what she had learned under Qin Yunuan’s instruction. It could tell from her worrying face that the result was not good.
“As instructed, I found the good friend of Concubine Yang whose name is Chungu at the embroidery shop, and I had requested her to ask about the cooperation intentions of shop owners with Third Miss. She replied today that many shops loved your embroideries but were scared by your requirement. The only one who was still interested required to speak to you face to face.”
Face to face?
In the previous life, Qin Yunuan only sold embroideries in private in order to buy some stationeries for Baochuan. But she got bigger plans this time. Her idea of making money by running business was strengthened especially after she saw Su Chenghai making big profits simply by selling the goods transferred from East Qin. With enough money, she could still live a good life with Baochuan even if she was defeated by Dou Qing’e and got kicked out of the family in the future.
Qin Yunuan planned to take charge of the embroidery patterns and styles, while the shop was supposed to offer the capital and follow-up funds. Unfortunately, it was a ridiculous idea in other people’s eyes to share 30 percent of the profits simply by designing some colorful patterns. That was like getting something for nothing for them. As a result, nurse Liao had spent a lot of time on asking around and finally found someone who was interested. But meeting in person was not an easy thing for Qin Yunuan.
“Third Miss, why don’t we just give up,” Mother Liao said anxiously, “Madam was back in power yesterday. She must have been keeping a close watch on you right now. If we get caught by her, I’m afraid that she may make an issue of this thing and the situation could get out of control.”
“No,” Qin Yunuan made up her mind, “Our potential partner may doubt our sincerity if we do not come. I already have a plan for the meeting.”
By noon of the next day, a plain cyan carriage drove slowly out from the back door of the mansion of Grand Commandant. Covered with a thick curtain, it could not be recognized from the outside. Without maids and nannies following behind, the carriage drove off the Qingshui Alley quietly and went straight to the prosperous East Street.
Driving in a hurry, the coachman and people inside the carriage did not notice that they were followed by two nimble men, who made an eye contact and rushed back to the Cui Xuan courtyard to report after the carriage left the alley.
“Third Miss, here it is.” The coachman was Huang Dashi, who was the son of nurse Liao. He was trustworthy.
Qin Yunuan stepped down from the carriage. She looked more elegant in the light-yellow long dress, and even though her face was covered with a veil, her refined bearing had attracted the attention of passengers. Looking at the gilded signboard, Qin Yunuan was sure it was the right place, the First Boite of the Royal City.
“Our miss came from afar and got some rashes for climate sickness. Arrange a quiet booth for us and do not let other people disturb our miss.” Huang Dashi asked the waiter to find a private room for Qin Yunuan deftly.
The waiter served a cup of tea for Qin Yunuan quickly. There was sympathy in his eyes. Maybe he was wondering if the rashes would leave scars on this elegant lady’s face.
Qin Yunuan ordered two dishes of appetizers. At the same time, Huang Dashi was on duty at the door dutifully. A beam of sunlight shined into the room pleasantly, casting a short shadow on the ground. As the shadow extended for about one centimeter, someone knocked the door.
“Third Miss, it’s me.” That was Chungu’s voice, “Boss Shen has arrived.”
With a creak, the door was pushed open. Chungu, the good friend of Concubine Yang, came in first. She was in her forties, looking a little plump. Her hair was shiny, which meant that her life was not bad. From the thin soles of her shoes, it could tell that she had to run errands frequently. Nurse Liao said that Chungu had been pulling strings, doing matchmakings or working as an assistant after the chilblain on her hands got worse and she could no longer do needlework. It seemed that they had come to the right person.
The so-called Boss Shen seemed to be in his early twenties. He had good looks, with bright eyes and white teeth. The sword-shaped eyebrows on his stunning face would make people feel refreshed at first glance. His crimson clothing was very eye-catching. Qin Yunuan had never seen anyone who looked so dashing in crimson.
“This is Boss Shen, who comes from the regions south of the River. This time, he comes to the Royal City in order to make a business expansion,” Chungu introduced him with a smile.
