Chapter 638 Confirmation

It's impossible to talk to her alone; once Qin Nanyan gets close to Zhou Shi, she will immediately notice something unusual.

Zhou's face was unnaturally ashen, and the maid had applied too much rouge, making her appear excessively white. Under the light of the oil lamp, it turned a deathly pale color, which looked quite eerie.

“Miss, please don’t make things difficult for this old servant. Madam has just fallen asleep. You can just take a look from afar. This is also what the old lady wanted.”

The old woman brought up Old Madam Qin, and she broke out in a cold sweat, constantly on guard against Qin Nanyan going crazy and rushing forward, otherwise things would get out of hand and it would be difficult to handle.

"All right."

After calming down for a moment, Qin Nanyan agreed.

The maid opened the bed curtains, and Qin Nanyan stood three meters away to take a look. After a short while, the bed curtains were lowered again.

Do you think she's stupid? If she were alive, even if she were asleep, she would be breathing, her chest rising and falling, but her mother wasn't.

Qin Nanyan confirmed her guess and asked the old woman, "Actually, I came to see my mother because I wanted a gold-inlaid jade hairpin."

Mother is gone, and the culprits are all the members of the Qin family. This debt cannot be forgotten, and Qin Nanyan has already come up with a plan.

"hairpin?"

The old woman vaguely remembered that Zhou had such a hairpin. After Zhou died, the servants randomly divided up the jewelry that Zhou usually wore. As for the remaining dowry and other items, Old Madam Qin made a list and did not intend to give them to Qin Nanyan.

Marrying their granddaughter off was just a transaction, and the Qin family wasn't prepared to lose money in order to appease Lin Shusheng.

"The hairpin has very little gold trim; it's made of worthless broken jade."

The gold-inlaid jade hairpin was originally a warm and lustrous jade hairpin, which was part of Zhou's dowry.

When Qin Nanyan was one year old, she participated in a traditional Chinese first birthday celebration by choosing a jade hairpin. However, she wasn't very strong at the time, and when she picked it up, she threw it on the ground, breaking the hairpin into several pieces.

Zhou felt that the jade hairpin had sentimental value and couldn't bear to throw it away, so she asked a craftsman in the capital to join it together with gold. Over the years, she would occasionally wear it.

Qin Nanyan wanted that hairpin not just as a memento.

The people in the manor didn't know that the hairpin was a token used by Zhou Shi to deposit a portion of her silver in Wantong Money Shop, and Qin Nanyan didn't want it to benefit the Qin family.

"This jade hairpin is very important to me. If you don't find it for me, then..."

"Then let's wake up Mother Zhou and ask her," Qin Nanyan said. Before she could finish speaking, the old woman immediately agreed.

She glanced at the maids and servants and noticed one of them looked panicked. Guessing that the maid had taken it, she quickly called the person out.

The old lady Qin turned a blind eye to the division of Zhou's jewelry, but if Qin Nanyan made a scene, she would inevitably be charged with theft. The maid was terrified.

"In that case, please don't disturb my mother's rest."

After Qin Nanyan received the hairpin, she turned around and returned to her own courtyard. The old woman immediately reported back to Old Madam Qin.

"Did she discover something?"

Meanwhile, Old Mrs. Qin was anxiously waiting for news. No one expected that Qin Nanyan would suddenly cause trouble after a few days of peace, catching her completely off guard.

At this moment, she had a very bad feeling, worried that the marriage would be ruined.

"No, you can rest assured that this old servant is handling things properly. Miss has no suspicions whatsoever, after all, she saw that Madam was sleeping."

The old woman assured her repeatedly that Qin Nanyan should be able to guess that Zhou Shi was already gone. If the little girl knew the truth, she would definitely try to kill herself and wouldn't be so calm.

Has anything unusual happened around her lately?

Old Madam Qin instructed the servants to keep a close eye on Qin Nanyan and not to cause any trouble at the most crucial moment. She stressed that the last two or three days were critical.

Today's events served as a reminder to Old Madam Qin. She instructed her servants to search Zhou's place for some items and send them to Qin Nanyan in the next few days, creating the illusion of a mother's concern for her daughter.

No, not at all.

The old woman thought for a moment. The young lady was under house arrest, and the only people who came were Lin Shusheng and Lin Yuesha. The rest were the servants who were guarding the mansion.

"You mean, Miss Lin instigated the young lady's unusual behavior?"

The old woman was somewhat uncertain whether Qin Nanyan would have a relationship with Lin Yuesha after marrying into the Lin family.

"No, I heard that Lin Yuesha has been busy trying to please the old lady of the Lin family. She's a money-grubber. Would she do anything without getting something in return?"

She's just a country girl who finally got recognized as part of the Lin family and considers the Lin family incredibly important. Would someone like that try to instigate her? They probably don't have the brains for that.

"What you say makes sense, ma'am."

The old woman flattered and agreed, and then heard Old Madam Qin say, "That girl Yue'e is quite cunning. I'm afraid she might harbor resentment after her mother's death, so don't let her come to the mansion recently."

What truly made Old Mrs. Qin resent Lin Yue'e was that she was ruthless and efficient at a young age, and she also had a lot of money.

Regardless of the old woman's reply, Qin Nanyan hurried back to the house to find Yuli. At present, the only people she could use in the mansion were Yuli and a rough old woman who worked in the kitchen and was from the Zhou family.

Back then, the Zhou family was worried about Zhou Shi after she married into the family, so they arranged for a spy to be planted, but they haven't really used him over the years.

"Who did this? How dare you lay a hand on my maid? Don't you want to live?"

Qin Nanyan saw that Yu Li's face was red and covered with messy handprints, and she immediately became furious. "You are nothing but servants, just dogs. Did you think you could rest easy just because you have Grandmother? Now look at me, you are the ones who have value to me."

Qin Nanyan sneered, "Once I marry into the Lin family, you'll be useless. Will the old lady listen to me then? I'll have her sell you all off!"

Qin Nanyan made a threatening remark, saying that Old Madam Qin would go against the wife of a high-ranking official.

"Miss, I was wrong."

The servants who were looking after Qin Nanyan had indeed become somewhat arrogant, relying on the old lady's support. However, after being scolded by Qin Nanyan, they immediately came to their senses.

Yes, they are all bound slaves, and if they want to be resold, it's just a matter of the master's word.

"So it's okay to be wrong?"

Qin Nanyan pointed at Yu Li's face, her voice icy, "You probably don't know, but I've always been a vengeful person."

"Miss, I know I was wrong. Everything was done according to the old lady's orders. I was just following orders!"

Immediately, a quick-thinking person stepped forward and slapped himself hard across the face. The slap was swift and precise, showing no mercy.

Seeing this, the others immediately followed suit, hoping that the young lady would show leniency. They didn't want to do this either, but they couldn't afford to offend the old lady.

"Keep fighting until I tell you to stop."

Qin Nanyan waved her hand, calling them a bunch of snobbish opportunists who fawn over the powerful and belittle the weak.

"Miss, you..."

Yu Li was moved. She had been following her young lady for many years. Her young lady had always been sharp-tongued but kind-hearted. Sometimes she would pretend, but she would expose herself because she wasn't smart enough. Ever since the Qin family did such a disgusting thing and the madam hanged herself, her young lady had grown up overnight.