Chapter 70: Too Full to Eat

In the next few days, Jiang Rui didn't dare to come over again. Zhu'er looked depressed and was absent-minded at work.

One day at noon, when everyone else was taking a nap, Zhuer sneaked out.

Qing'er followed her quietly and saw her going to Jiang Rui's yard.

The school is closed today and Jiang Rui is at home.

He was taking a nap after lunch. I don’t know what he was dreaming about, but he was grinning and looked very complacent.

Just when he was dreaming of something happy, he heard someone calling him, interrupting his sweet dream. Jiang Rui opened his eyes impatiently and was about to vent his anger on the other person, but the servant told him that the second lady had sent someone to find him and had something to tell him.

Zhu'er waited at the door, looking anxious and expectant. When she came here, she had expected to see Shunfu, but she didn't expect him to be a stranger. So she made up a lie and pretended to be Jiang Lan, the second young lady, to come and look for him.

When Jiang Rui came out of the house, he was still yawning. When he saw Zhu'er standing at the door with her head down, he was startled and no longer sleepy at all.

He immediately glanced around, fearing that he had been discovered, and immediately sent the servant away. Then he brought Zhu'er into the house. When closing the door, he glanced around furtively again, and only closed the door after making sure that no one saw him.

"Who asked you to come?!" Jiang Rui's face turned red as soon as he closed the door, his eyes widened as if he wanted to eat Zhu'er alive.

Zhu'er cried in grievance, looking as delicate as a pear blossom in the rain. Jiang Rui became even more impatient and told her to stop crying. He also warned her that if she dared to tell anyone about what happened between them, he would kick her and her mother out of the house!

Zhu'er cried and scolded him for being heartless. It was obviously he who provoked her first. He had promised her everything before, saying that when his mother's anger subsided, he would plead for her and let her serve in his yard. He would take her as a concubine in the future and would never treat her unfairly. But now he turned his back on her.

If it weren't for him, she wouldn't have been kicked out of the house. If it weren't for her mother's desperate pleas, she would have been beaten to death by the Madam...

Zhu'er felt more and more aggrieved as she spoke, and her tears fell like beads from a broken string.

Jiang Rui was afraid that she would make a fuss and attract people, so he pretended to comfort her and appeased her. Then he thought of a good idea and coaxed Zhu'er with sweet words, asking her to be his spy, keep an eye on Jiang Lan's every move, and inform him at any time if anything happened.

Zhu'er didn't want to agree at first, after all, Jiang Lan had treated her well these days, but she couldn't resist Jiang Rui's coaxing and finally agreed.

After returning, Zhu'er heard someone calling her as soon as she entered the yard. She trembled with fear. Qing'er waved at her. Zhu'er lowered her head guiltily and walked over to ask, "Sister, do you have any instructions?" Qing'er said, "The young lady is looking for you."

After entering the house, Zhu'er felt even more guilty and lowered her head even lower. When she saw her mother was also there, she felt even more uneasy.

When Aunt Liu was called over by Gui'er, she thought Jiang Lan wanted to ask about her childhood again. When she came over, Jiang Lan didn't ask anything and asked her to wait. She felt that something was going to go wrong. Now when she saw Qing'er bringing Zhu'er in, her feeling became even stronger.

"Qing'er should have told you the rules of my courtyard before," Jiang Lan's calm voice made the mother and daughter even more uneasy. "The most important thing is loyalty."

After hearing the last sentence, Zhu'er was so flustered that her face turned pale. Aunt Liu grabbed Zhu'er and hit her, scolding her angrily, "You stupid girl, I taught you to work harder, are you being lazy again? Why don't you apologize to the young lady!"

Zhu'er quickly knelt down and admitted her mistake to Jiang Lan. Aunt Liu pleaded for her again, asking Jiang Lan to forgive her and spare her this time since it was her first offense.

"Auntie is a smart person, why pretend to be confused?" Jiang Lan said calmly with a smile on her face.

Aunt Liu quickly weighed the pros and cons in her mind, and immediately apologized to Jiang Lan, telling her that Zhu'er had served Zhang before, but she did not mention that Zhu'er was driven away. She only said that she did not serve there because of poor health, and she was afraid that Jiang Lan would no longer need her after knowing this.

"Don't worry, Miss. The girl is fine now and won't be delayed in her work~"

Gui'er couldn't stand the other party's nonsense any longer, so she asked Zhu'er directly, "Where have you been?"

Zhu'er hesitated and dared not answer.

Just as Aunt Liu was about to speak, Qing'er said, "I saw you quietly leave the house earlier. I was worried, so I followed you to check on her." At this point, Qing'er looked at Aunt Liu and said with a smile, "Aunt, where do you think she went?"

Aunt Liu was shocked and knew that the truth could not be concealed any longer. She grabbed Zhu'er and beat her hard several times. This time she was really disappointed in her and kept scolding her.

Zhu'er didn't dare to say anything back and just kept crying.

Qing'er tried to mediate and asked Aunt Liu to stop scolding her. Then she asked Zhu'er why she had secretly gone to Jiang Rui's residence. Zhu'er didn't dare to answer and was scolded by Aunt Liu again.

Aunt Liu wasn't sure how much Jiang Lan knew, so she decided to tell it herself. Besides, they were not born of the same mother, so Jiang Lan might not necessarily favor Jiang Rui.

Before, when Zhu'er was serving Zhang, she was entangled by Jiang Rui. Later, Zhang found out about their affair. Jiang Rui insisted that it was Zhu'er who seduced him. Zhang was so angry that she wanted to beat Zhu'er to death. It was Aunt Liu who came and begged for mercy that saved Zhu'er's life.

But he still received twenty beatings, saw doctors and took medicine, and it took a full month before he recovered.

After learning that "the lady had returned to her hometown to recuperate", Aunt Liu planned to let Zhu'er come back to serve the second young lady Jiang Lan. Before Zhu'er came, Aunt Liu repeatedly warned her not to let anyone know about her and Jiang Rui, and not to look for Jiang Rui again.

As a result, Zhu Er not only went to look for him, but was also caught in the act. Aunt Liu was so angry that she didn't want to acknowledge her as her daughter. But after all, she was a piece of flesh and blood that fell from her body. She had never let her suffer the slightest hardship since she was a child. She raised her like a flower and was waiting to see her marry in glory. In the end, she was abused by that bastard Jiang Rui, and afterward she turned her back on her and bit her...

The more Aunt Liu thought about it, the angrier she became, so she just told the story.

"Miss, do you still remember what you asked me before?" Aunt Liu looked at Qing'er and Gui'er. Jiang Lan asked them to take Zhu'er away first. After the three of them left, Aunt Liu told Jiang Lan about something that the servants in the mansion had discussed privately that year.

Jiang Lan did not fall into the water accidentally, but was pushed in by someone. The person who pushed her in was the third lady Jiang Yao, the subject of the servants' private discussions.

I heard that someone saw it at the time and then spread it privately.

Afterwards, Zhang strictly forbade anyone in the mansion to talk about the matter again, which made it seem even more obvious that she was trying to cover up the truth. However, no one dared to report it to Jiang Cheng unless they wanted to.

......

Jiang Lan asked Aunt Liu to take Zhu'er back first. If anyone told others about her in the future, she would prepare a dowry for Zhu'er. After all, the mansion would be sorry for her. If Zhu'er still wanted to wait for Jiang Rui, she would make arrangements after Jiang Rui married a wife.

Whether to choose the former or the latter, she asked the mother and daughter to think carefully about it after they returned home.

After Aunt Liu took Zhu'er away, Gui'er told Jiang Lan something angrily.

Jiang Rui wants Zhu'er to be a spy to monitor Jiang Lan's every move.

After the three of them came out, Qing'er casually asked what Jiang Rui had said to her. Zhu'er looked guilty and hesitated, but after being threatened by Gui'er in a stern voice, Zhu'er told him.

"It's a pity that the young lady has been so nice to her these days, not saying a single harsh word to her and even sending her clothes and daily necessities. Yet she still wants to be a spy for the Fourth Young Master. She's really blinded by greed!" Gui'er said angrily.

Qing'er joked, "If the Fourth Young Master wanted you to be a spy, you'd be exposed the moment you opened your mouth."

"Who wants to be his spy?" Gui'er was even more furious. Qing'er apologized to her, and Gui'er couldn't keep a cold face anymore. She asked in confusion, "Why would the Fourth Master want someone to monitor the young lady? It doesn't bother him in any way."

Jiang Lan said calmly, "He's just too idle."

"You're just bored because you're full." Gui'er added, and Qing'er covered her mouth and smiled.

After Jiang Lan asked the two to go down, she looked out the window in a daze, thinking about what Aunt Liu had told her.

If her eldest brother hadn't found her in time and rescued her, she might have become a wandering ghost. She doesn't know if she would have the chance to start over again...

Over the years, her food, clothing and other expenses were all picked up from Jiang Yao's leftovers. She had not thought about these things carefully before, but now that she thought about them one by one, a feeling of grievance surged in her heart. She knew that Zhang was just an outsider, and there was nothing worth being sad about if she treated her badly.

But her father had never paid attention to these things. If her father had paid more attention, he would have found some clues and would not have allowed Zhang to drug her so unscrupulously. But on second thought, with her father's temperament, even if he really found something wrong, he would choose to turn a blind eye for the sake of his face and reputation. As long as no scandal was caused and superficial harmony was maintained, it would be enough.

If her mother were still alive, she would definitely treat her like a flower, just like Aunt Liu did, and wouldn't let her suffer even a little bit...

Jiang Lan's nose felt sore, and she buried her head in her arms, letting the grievances from the bottom of her heart vent out. From now on, she would no longer feel sad about this...

Suddenly she felt someone pecked her head, just like a golden crow pecking away the haze that shrouded her head. Jiang Lan felt her heart lighten, and the grievance she felt became light... and became insignificant.

Yuanbao brought her another gift, a pair of earrings that matched the orchid hairpin on her head. They looked pretty good together.

Here, Jiang Rui was still happily thinking that with Zhu'er as his spy, it would be easy to get hold of something against Jiang Lan, but he didn't know that the person had already been taken back.

Two days later, seeing that Zhu'er still hadn't come to report the situation to him, Jiang Rui went over there himself. He didn't go in, but instead hid furtively at the gate of the yard and peeked inside, but he didn't see Zhu'er.

Seeing Lu'er, a little maid, watering flowers in the yard, he made some noise to attract Lu'er's attention. When she looked towards the door, he waved to her to come over.

After Lu'er came over, Jiang Rui asked obliquely, "Why are you alone? Where are the others?" Lu'er replied, "Sister Qing'er and Sister Gui'er are in the room serving the young lady, and Cui'er and Xiaohong have gone to fetch water." He asked again, "Isn't there a new maid?" Lu'er replied, "She's not feeling well and has gone home to recuperate."

Jiang Rui was stunned when he heard this. He wanted to ask Lu'er about the inside story, but he heard the girls playing and someone coming over. He told Lu'er not to tell Jiang Lan that he had been there, and then he slipped away.

When Cui'er and Xiaohong came over carrying a small bucket with a stick, Lu'er had already entered the house and reported to Jiang Lan that Jiang Rui had come.

After returning, Jiang Rui asked a servant to go to the small kitchen to inquire.

Then the servant was hit by Aunt Liu with a rolling pin and ran back in panic, covering his head as if he was running for his life.

Seeing that Zhu'er was no longer a spy, Jiang Rui turned his attention to Lu'er. He felt that this little girl Lu'er looked silly and simple, and was easy to deceive. He could win her over by just buying her some good things and coaxing her.

So the next day he asked someone to send a box of rouge to Lu'er. Lu'er accepted the thing and turned around to report the matter to Jiang Lan.

After Jiang Rui used the same trick to lure Lu'er out again, he used the same words on her that he had used to coax Zhu'er before. Lu'er still looked silly after listening to him and didn't respond at all. He felt like he was playing the lute to a cow and was extremely bored.

So his plan to subdue Lu'er was aborted.