Chapter 66: Harder than prying open a clam shell.

Why did Li Yue'er fall into her arms so clumsily when she got off the carriage today?

Qu Rong frowned and hugged her tightly, thinking that it was because there was snow on the carriage shaft that caused her to slip and fall. So she just hugged her and gently comforted her without blaming her.

Whether intentionally or unintentionally, as the two embraced, Teng Huang just happened to set off pink fireworks into the sky.

Li Yue'er looked up and felt as if stars were mixed with snowflakes scattered on the ground.

Fearing that one wouldn't be clearly visible, they added a yellow one to the gamboge.

Qu Rong released Li Yue'er, turned around and scolded, "...Why don't you treat it like fireworks, set off a whole carriage of them, and have a good time?"

Teng Huang, feeling guilty, pouted and hid behind Li Yue'er. When he saw the mistress looking over, he quickly moved to hide behind Dan Sha and whispered in his defense, "I was afraid that Xue Tian and the others wouldn't be able to see clearly."

The reason why smoke bombs resembling fireworks are called smoke bombs is because of their unique and eye-catching function of conveying messages. If several are set off in a row, people who do not know the nature of Gamaki will only feel that something has changed.

Seeing the mistress's cold face, and fearing that Teng Huang would be punished for playing around, Dan Sha stepped forward and quietly reminded her, "Mistress, the old lady's people have arrived."

The old lady was naturally accompanied by more than just Wu Mama. At this moment, Chen Mama came over and greeted the mistress, saying, "Mistress, the old lady has not eaten or drunk anything all day and has been waiting for you for a long time. I hope you will understand that she is old and go to pay her respects first."

Qu Rong said, "Mom, lead the way."

Dansha handed the box to a maid to hold, then followed the mistress, signaling with her eyes for Teng Huang to calm down.

Teng Huang puffed out his cheeks, tugged at his fingers, and looked pitifully at Li Yue'er, "I'm just a little happy to have survived a disaster... Do you think the mistress will punish me by making me go to the study to do accounts?"

During this time, she spent her days playing wildly with Meng Xiaoxiao at the manor, which really made her too wild. Now that she was used to being idle, how could she possibly want to go near the study full of account books?

Garcinia preferred to copy Buddhist scriptures at the temple.

Li Yue'er smiled and patted her head, and Teng Huang whimpered and leaned into her arms.

Li Yue'er blinked, her gaze shifting from the front. She gently patted Teng Huang's shoulder, gesturing for her to look ahead.

Gambogi, "?"

Teng Huang looked up and saw the mistress standing not far away with Dan Sha, both of them looking over with expressionless faces.

Even from a distance, she could feel the chill emanating from her.

Teng Huang shuddered in fright and immediately got up from Li Yue'er's arms. He forced a smile at his mistress, but whispered through gritted teeth, "I'm afraid I'm doomed."

The mistress already felt that she was too wild and couldn't concentrate on her work. Now that she saw her leaning against Miss Yue'er's arms, she wouldn't cut her hair and send her to a nunnery to calm her mind, would she?

Dansha also frightened her with a blank face, even at a time like this, she didn't help persuade the mistress.

Once the mistress had turned and walked away with the cinnabar, Teng Huang finally slumped his shoulders and breathed a sigh of relief.

Li Yue'er thought she would behave herself, but Teng Huang turned around and became curious about the contents of her box, touching her chin and tilting her head to look at it.

Clearly, before she entered the house, Fujiki had often been punished by the mistress for his unruly nature.

Compared to the calm and collected cinnabar, gamboge is sometimes like a free-range kitten. Although it is too lively and enthusiastic, it is the most relaxing to be around.

Li Yue'er wanted to show off, but she didn't want to make it too obvious, so she pretended to be reserved and said, "Open it and take a look."

Only after obtaining Li Yue'er's permission did Teng Huang reach out to touch the box.

When the lid was lifted, the golden abacus inside shone brightly and preciously against the pure white backdrop of the snow-covered landscape.

Gambo's mouth dropped open, and he exclaimed in an exaggerated "Wow!" "Such dazzling golden light, am I seeing the sun?!"

That's right!

This is exactly the reaction Li Yue'er wanted!

She put her hands behind her back, her fingers curled up shyly, and looked at Teng Huang with bright eyes.

Watanabe ran his hands back and forth across his waist before carefully touching the golden abacus. "It even has the character 'moon' written on it! Who is it for? It's so hard to guess~"

Li Yue'er was so satisfied that her eyes curved into crescent shapes. She ran over to the gamboge and admired it with her again. "Try turning it, every bead is so flexible!"

Gambo's fingertips gently flicked it.

The two of them, in perfect unison, tilted their heads to listen to the sound of the gold pieces colliding, then exchanged a glance, flicked the metal again, and switched to their other ears.

If it weren't for the fact that Li Yue'er has a younger sister by blood, just seeing their synchronized movements, anyone would think that Teng Huang is Li Yue'er's sister.

The two women held hands and jumped up on the spot. Without the mistress holding them back, they finally showed their excitement and exhilaration. "Gold! This is gold!"

Let alone ordinary families who rarely see gold all year round, even small households rarely have gold ingots, let alone use such heavy gold to make an abacus.

Gambo said, "If this were silver, ingots upon ingots, it would fill the entire bed."

Li Yue'er nodded emphatically, saying, "It was given to me by the mistress. She said it was a New Year's gift from me because I was learning accounting from Sister Su, and she wanted me to keep it for future use."

Gamboge: "That's too extravagant."

Is it because wooden abacuses are hard to handle that only gold ones can be used?

She took Li Yue'er's fingers in her hands, looked down at her fair and pink fingertips, and nodded in affirmation, "Such delicate hands should be used with such an abacus. The mistress truly knows how to cherish beauty."

Li Yue'er: "...Okay, you get it."

Although the mistress might not have meant it that way, no matter what the mistress thought, Teng Huang could always steer the conversation back to that point, so Li Yue'er felt that there was no point in explaining, and simply didn't explain.

Garcinia took out a handkerchief and wiped the spot where he had touched himself, leaving his fingertips' marks. "I'll bite it gently."

Li Yue'er loved playing with Teng Huang because she couldn't fully express her excitement about receiving the golden abacus in front of the mistress. In the mistress's eyes, the golden abacus was no different from the bronze abacus, but in Li Yue'er's eyes, the difference was enormous!

The two returned to Songlan Hall hand in hand, discussing where to hide the golden abacus.

Li Yue'er even opened the wardrobe to show Teng Huang where she hid her treasures.

Garcinia knelt down, lifting her dress, pondered for a moment, and then concluded, "The mistress really likes you."

Li Yue'er, "?"

Gambo said, "I already told you to hide vulgar things in her closet. What's the difference between that and telling you to get into her bed without taking off your clothes?"

Dansha and the mistress knew better than anyone how much the mistress loved cleanliness. For her to be so tolerant of Yue'er meant she truly cherished Yue'er. Otherwise, why would the mistress allow herself to be treated so unfairly by the concubines who served her?

If she dared to put anything in the mistress's fragrant wardrobe, the moment she put it in, everything, including herself, would be packed up and thrown into the nunnery.

Li Yue'er: "A long time ago, I went to bed wearing my outer clothes..."

Teng Huang turned to look at her, his eyes wide open, "You didn't even tell me about this! I told you that Dan Sha and I sleep in the same room at night!"

How come she tells Yue'er everything like a funnel, yet Yue'er keeps her secrets about her relationship with the mistress?

"That's different," Li Yue'er said, looking at Teng Huang.

When Teng Huang talked about these things, he was completely clueless, which is why he felt embarrassed to tell her.

It was really inappropriate for her to tell the Fifth Ear about her affair with the mistress.

Li Yue'er's cheeks flushed, and her ears turned slightly red as she argued, "The mistress was also fierce to me back then. She wouldn't let me wear my outer clothes to bed, and she wouldn't allow me to wear my outer clothes to hug her after she had bathed."

Teng Huang stared at her quietly, pointed to the wardrobe, and said with exasperation, "But in the end, you still slept with me, and you put your things in there too."

That seems to be true.

Even though she was wearing her outer garment, the mistress still slept with her.

Li Yue'er blushed, her eyes were moist, and she nodded gently, her voice sweet, "I think I just found out that she seems to have feelings for me."

She spoke haltingly, and she herself wasn't entirely sure, but she just sensed it.

However, without the mistress's personal confirmation, Li Yue'er lacked confidence when boasting to others and dared not make any definitive statements.

But the mistress's mouth is harder to get her to say than to pry open an oyster shell.

Li Yue'er compromised.

Let's take it one step at a time.

With his elbows on his knees and his hands supporting his chin, Teng Huang slowly shook his head upon hearing this, "She's already given you ten catties of gold, and you're still wondering if she even has feelings for you."

Li Yue'er, "..."

Rattan looked up at the roof beam, then glanced at Moon Girl's "private treasury," and tears of envy welled up in her eyes.

If someone gave her so much gold, she wouldn't care whether they cared about her or not; as long as the gold was given to her, that was enough.

Li Yue'er put the golden abacus inside and closed the cabinet door. "Let's go, let's go take a look at Shouhe Hall too."

Gunghime was a bit timid.

Li Yue'er straightened her back and said, "Don't worry, I'll whisper in your ear for you."

Teng Huang then happily followed Li Yue'er toward Shouhe Hall.

Compared to the relaxed atmosphere of Songlan Hall, the atmosphere in Shouhe Hall was noticeably more somber.

The old lady noticed immediately that Wu's mother was not there. "She went to pick you up. You're back now, so where is Wu's mother?"

Aunt Wu.

Qu Rong seemed to recall something, then, holding her teacup, said, "Grandmother, don't worry, she will come back no matter what."

old lady,"……"

After Qu Rong said that, the old lady was clearly even more worried.

What does it mean to come back no matter what? Did Mother Wu go out vertically and come back horizontally?

The old lady's expression changed immediately, just like when she heard that Qu Ming was missing.

But it was Aunt Wu who had been with her since she was a young girl, before she got married. After she got married and had children, and even after losing her son, Aunt Wu had always been by her side through all the big and small things in her life.

In other words, in her heart, Wu's mother was even more important than the old man who died young; she was practically family.

The old woman threw her cane to the ground on the spot, shouting, "Go and find that person for me!"

From the moment the old lady's expression changed, Qu Rong glanced at her and saw that the old lady was angry with her because of Wu Mama's safety, so she lowered her eyes.

She thought the old lady only cared about Qu Ming, her grandson, but it turns out it could also be Aunt Wu. In any case, it wouldn't be her.

The mistress held her teacup, her expression unchanged, showing no intention of replying.

Dansha then stepped forward to speak on behalf of the mistress, "Don't worry, old lady, Wu Mama will not be in any danger. The mistress has arranged things very properly and will not put Wu Mama at risk."

Just then, Wu Mama, who returned half an hour later, arrived at the house in her carriage.

The maidservant hurried over to report to the old lady. Upon learning that Mama Wu had returned unharmed, the old lady gave Qu Rong a cold look, took the cane handed to her by the maidservant, and decided to let the matter drop for the time being.

She gestured for Chen's mother to bring back Qu Ming's letter and hand it to Qu Rong, saying, "Take a look at what he wrote."

When Qu Rong unfolded the letter, the old lady sneered, "I don't know what kind of spell you cast on him, but he's even wary of his own grandmother, afraid that I'll find out what he wrote in the letter."

The fact that Qu Ming was closer to Qu Rong than to her made the old lady extremely unhappy, and her gaze toward Qu Rong became increasingly disgusted.

It was her mother's arrival that disrupted the Qu family's lives!

If it weren't for her mother seducing Zheng Qianxi, how could Zheng Qianxi have developed such ambition, let alone led her son south, only to die tragically on the road, and now even caused her to be separated from her grandson.

The old lady never liked Qu Rong and her mother, and after the Qu family's troubles, she felt even more resentful.

Qu Rong pretended not to hear the old lady's sarcastic remarks, and simply opened the letter that had already been opened, saying calmly, "If you want someone to use this letter to kill Qu Ming, you don't need to go through all this trouble to decipher it. I can just go to the Zheng family and tell them."

She said indifferently, "Zheng Er is happy to make this trip for you."

The old lady's face instantly darkened, and she snapped, "Shut up! You're the only one who wants him to be bad, aren't you? Now that I've bowed my head, you should be happy, right? You must be laughing in your sleep."

So that's what it was about.

Qu Rong nodded, her tone gentle, "You know what, it's true. I was so excited just thinking about it last night that I couldn't sleep all night."

As for what she was thinking last night, Qu Rong didn't say anything, leaving it up to the old lady to guess which way she wanted to go.

old lady,"……"

The old lady was so angry that she pounded her chest.

Qu Rong was like a piece of dry, tasteless fruit; it looked bland and was even more choking to put in your mouth.

If she could, the old lady would want to seal Qu Rong's mouth shut.

Unfortunately, she had to rely on Qu Rong to find out the contents of the letter.

Qu Rong lowered her eyes to read the letter, her lips slightly pursed.

The old lady carefully observed her face, then leaned closer. "What did Ming'er say in the letter?"

Qu Ming wrote a lot in the letter, but Qu Rong didn't want to tell the old lady. She only picked out some things that were in her favor. "Qu Ming said that he had found clues about Zheng Er hiring someone to kill someone, and that two important witnesses were already on their way to Chenhe County and should arrive in the next few days."

With today's robbers and the witnesses Qu Ming brought, she's not far from taking over the Zheng family's business.

Qu Rong's target was never Zheng Er himself, nor was her aim to avenge anyone. She had no eyes for Zheng Er, only for the Zheng family, that lucrative prize.

Zheng Er craved the Qu family's food, and she craved the Zheng family's food too.

Qu Rong folded the letter and handed it to the old lady, saying, "Please keep this as a memento?"

The old lady had intended to accept it, but Qu Rong's words were considered unlucky, and people of her age were very superstitious about such things. She withdrew her hand and said irritably:

“What use is this for me? There’s not a single scribble on it that I can understand. When Qu Ming comes back, I’ll give him a good beating.”

Qu Rong said, "Then you can wait there."

It's best for the old lady not to write letters.

Qu Rong handed the letter to Dan Sha, intending to take it back and read it carefully again, and then ponder the things Qu Ming mentioned in the letter.

As Qu Rong got up to leave, she ran into Wu's mother, who came in with snot and tears streaming down her face.

Meeting Wu's mother's resentful eyes, Qu Rong smiled slightly, "I'm sorry to have frightened Wu's mother."

More than just frightened, Wu's mother was terrified. She really didn't want to greet Qu Rong, so she pretended not to see Qu Rong and entered the main hall crying, wailing loudly, "Old lady, I almost didn't get to see you again!"

Qu Rong could roughly guess what would happen next without even listening to it.

From today onwards, Li Yue'er should no longer be allowed to come to Shouhetang to learn housekeeping, lest the old lady and Wu Mama vent their resentment towards her on Li Yue'er.

Although it's not good to openly bully Li Yue'er, they'll definitely make things difficult for her behind her back.

Qu Rong was thinking when she looked up and saw Li Yue'er outside the round gate of Shouhe Hall, and Teng Huang hopping over like a little rabbit behind her.

Qu Rong narrowed her eyes slightly, "..."

Just now, Fujiwara acted like a mouse before a cat when he saw her, but now he's acting arrogant again?

Garcinia gave the mistress a gift, saying, "The mistress is so generous. She used ten catties of gold just to express her love to Miss Yue'er. It almost blinded me."

Qu Rong, "..."

Qu Rong looked at Li Yue'er.

Li Yue'er looked up at the sky.

...She meant to whisper sweet nothings in the mistress's ear, to persuade her not to be angry with Teng Huang. But if Teng Huang went out of his way to provoke the mistress, then even if she whispered something inappropriate, she wouldn't be able to calm the mistress's anger!

After all, the mistress of the house is very "thin-skinned" and doesn't like others talking about her private affairs.

Teng Huang snorted and looked at Dan Sha, "You even kept this from me. It's a shame we slept in the same bed. You can sleep by yourself tonight. I'll go and share a bed with Xiao Xiao."

cinnabar,"……"

The most trusted people by the mistress's side were her and Dansha. If this matter didn't go through her, then it must have been handled by Dansha.

That damned Dan Sha! He really kept it a secret from her, not revealing a single word to her.

Dansha explained softly, "The mistress said you're getting close to Miss Yue'er, and she's afraid you'll tell others if you're happy about it."

...That's actually possible," Fujiki began to ponder, rubbing his chin.

Garcinia: "Then it's not your fault. We'll sleep together tonight."

Dansha lowered her eyes, her ears turning red silently. She wanted to remind Teng Huang not to bring this up, as the mistress and Yue'er would overthink it if they heard it. But when she met Teng Huang's open and honest gaze, she felt there was no need to remind him.

Teng Huang intimately linked arms with Dan Sha, his fingers pinching the tender flesh on the inside of her upper arm like crab claws, a threatening gesture in his eyes, "What else are you hiding from me?"

cinnabar,"……"

How should I begin? Should I start with the Ming family's ancestral home, or with their lifelong bond?

Cinnabar didn't lie to Garcinia, and since these things couldn't be said, she kept quiet.

Teng Huang slapped Dan Sha in anger, but ultimately couldn't bring himself to pinch her.

Gambo: “Then let me tell you, the mistress’s jade thumb ring from last time, right? She only wore it once, and I never saw her wear it again after that. At that time, I asked her why she stopped wearing it, and the mistress said that a rat had taken it away.”

Qu Rong, "...I heard it."

With his hands on his hips, Garcinia continued, "Ha, guess what? I found a 'mouse nest' in the mistress's wardrobe today."

Qu Rong looked at Li Yue'er.

Li Yue'er had already silently walked back. Sensing the mistress's gaze on her, she quickened her pace with small, quick steps.

Better to die than for this humble monk, Teng Huang!

Qu Rong, "..."

Qu Rong turned her head and glared at Teng Huang.

Gambo hid behind Dansha, saying, "The mistress is glaring at me."

Dansha looked at the mistress and said, "It's alright. She glared at you, and then she glared at me too."

Gamboge, "..."

Qu Rong was too lazy to pay attention to the two of them anymore, and stepped forward to chase after the "troublemaker" Li Yue'er.

She's finished today.

————————

Fujiki: Are the two of them having lunch?

Cinnabar: Should eat better

Moon: ...[melted]