Chapter 19 Eavesdropping: This is the real eldest daughter of the Yu family!

*

Located in the same East Courtyard, Ruian Residence is not far from Liufang Xiaozhu.

When the master and servant arrived, Magpie was urging Yu Liuzhu to try on the jewelry that Shen Linlang had sent. The jewelry was in an exquisite box, and it was all newly made, excellent in both style and material.

Yu Liuzhu showed little interest in these ornaments, fiddling with them as if lost in thought.

"Young lady, don't you like these things?" Magpie was a little puzzled, feeling that she hadn't been acting quite well these past few days.

She picked up a hairpin inlaid with rubies and put it down again, but ultimately did not try it on.

When she heard Xia Chan relaying Shen Qinglu's message from outside, her beautiful brows furrowed.

"What are they doing here?" Magpie sensed her dislike for Shen Qinglu and naturally didn't give Shen Qinglu a friendly look either.

But since everyone's already here, it's not appropriate to keep them outside.

As soon as Xia Chan entered, she presented the untouched bundle and conveyed Shen Qinglu's message: "The eldest young lady gave two sets of clothes to the cousin earlier, and the cousin remembers the eldest young lady's kindness. Coincidentally, the eldest aunt made this set of clothes for the cousin, which is also red, so the cousin thought of returning the eldest young lady's favor."

In the past, Yu Liuzhu would never have accepted it, but now she remembered how kind Yu Qingxue had been to her in her previous life. After hesitating for a moment, she said, "My cousin is very kind."

Magpie was somewhat surprised that she didn't refuse, but she still accepted the gift as she was told. When she turned her head, she saw Shen Qinglu staring at the box of jewelry. Her expression changed slightly, and she quickly closed the box and put it away.

Shen Qing stood there blankly, seemingly unable to discern the deeper meaning behind her actions.

She busied herself with her work, opened the bundle, and frowned after just one glance.

The fabric of the dress was nice, but the style was really outdated, looking like it was from several years ago. Because it was rushed to completion, apart from a few small embroidered details on the collar and cuffs, there were no other embellishments. And, she didn't know what kind of incense had been used; the smell was rather strange. She leaned closer to smell it, and her brows furrowed even more.

She wouldn't even like clothes like that, let alone Yu Liuzhu.

Yu Liuzhu said, "Let's leave it for now, I'll try it when I have time."

Shen Qinglu already knew the full appearance of the clothes and thought to herself that if there was anything wrong, she shouldn't be able to tell in a short time.

The hot potato has been handed over; she can simply observe how things unfold.

The incident occurred in the middle of the night. It was said that the magpie had developed a fever and rash at night. An elderly woman immediately determined that it was chickenpox, which alarmed many people.

Not long after the doctor arrived, Magpie was sent to the estate, along with several maids who lived in the same room.

"Fortunately, it was discovered in time, so it shouldn't have spread." Shen Linlang told Xie about this when she came to pay her respects early in the morning. She looked lingering fear and a little relieved. "Fortunately, Tang'er has had smallpox before, so she's not afraid."

Shen Qinglu sat obediently to the side, looking like she understood but not quite. "When I delivered the clothes to my cousin Tang'er yesterday, the magpie was perfectly fine. How did it get sick?"

"What clothes?" Shen Linlang asked hurriedly.

"Red clothes," Shen Qinglu replied, seemingly unrelated to the question.

Xie turned to look at Xia Chan, who quickly recounted what had happened.

"The young lady remembered the eldest young lady's favor and rushed to deliver it to her without even opening the bundle."

"You're a thoughtful child," Shen Linlang said with admiration, her gaze towards Shen Qinglu filled with even more pity.

For some reason, Xie felt a sudden jolt in her heart.

Just then, Yu Liuzhu arrived.

Shen Qinglu looked disappointed and asked her, "Why aren't you wearing the clothes I gave you?"

Yu Liuzhu replied, "Mother Qin just took the clothes away, saying she wanted to help alter them."

"I can wear your clothes, so why don't my clothes fit you?" Shen Qinglu's face fell, and she looked like she was about to cry. "Don't you like them?"

She looked like a child who was eager to share something but wasn't liked by her friends.

Yu Liuzhu felt increasingly uncomfortable looking at it, and could only explain, "I haven't tried it yet, so I don't know if it's suitable. Qin Mama said she wanted to change it, so I let her take it away."

Upon hearing this, Xie's heart pounded even harder.

Once Shen Linlang and Yu Liuzhu and her daughter left, she had Shen Qinglu practice calligraphy, while she herself went out with Granny Li.

They obviously didn't see that behind the open window stood the person who should have been practicing calligraphy.

Profound, calm, and with a hidden edge, like a sword about to be drawn, whistling as it prepares to kill.

This is how Xia Chan feels about Shen Qinglu at this moment.

"Girl, are you sad?"

Shen Qinglu twitched the corners of her mouth, her dark pupils revealing undisguised sarcasm.

*

When the tightly closed door was pushed open from the outside, a cool breeze rushed in, scattering the embers still glowing in the brazier. The clothes inside the brazier were almost completely burned away, the remaining red embers standing out starkly like flames.

"Mother, why...why are you here?" Yu Qingxue looked up and met Xie Shi's gloomy face, and her expression changed as well. She gestured for Qin Mama to leave.

"What are you burning?" Xie asked as she approached.

Yu Qingxue lowered her eyes, feigning sadness, and said, "It was an old piece of clothing that I hadn't worn for many years. I never expected it to be bitten by insects. I was heartbroken to see it, so I burned it, out of sight, out of mind."

Instead of asking further questions, Xie brought up an incident from many years ago.

“Back then, our family was struggling financially, and we had to be extremely careful with every penny. Your older brother was in school and had to go out every day. In the freezing cold, he probably wouldn’t have made it through without a new cotton-padded coat. I gritted my teeth and managed to scrape together the money to buy him a decent new coat.”

One day, it snowed heavily, and your older brother braved the wind and snow to return home, his clothes soaked through. To make sure he could wear them to school the next day, I hung them on the brazier to dry them that night. But while I went out to get some charcoal, the clothes fell into the brazier and burned a large hole in them.

As she said this, she stared intently at Yu Qingxue, her eyes filled with disappointment.

Yu Qingxue bit her lip, neither looking at her nor speaking.

After a long while, she let out a soft sigh.

“You’ve always been competitive and ambitious since you were little, never giving in to your older brother in anything. You can’t be short of anything you eat or use, and if you feel you’ve been taken advantage of, you’ll definitely get your revenge.”

"Mother, what exactly are you trying to say? I know nothing about what happened back then."

Xie grew increasingly disappointed, and that disappointment turned into deep sorrow.

She was widowed at a young age; her son was nine and her daughter was four when her husband passed away.

Her daughter was young and would cry and shout for her father day and night. She felt sorry for her daughter who was so young and had lost her father's protection, so she couldn't help but favor her even more. However, her son was the pillar of the family, the hope and support for her and her daughter, so on the surface, things in the house could only be given to her son first.

"I wash all your clothes. How could I not guess that your nightgown was covered in dust?"

"Mother, I don't remember any of these things. Why are you telling me this?" Yu Qingxue clenched her fists. In fact, she hadn't forgotten anything at all and remembered everything clearly.

She remembers that because she didn't have any decent new clothes, she hardly went out all winter, which made her the subject of ridicule from several of her peers in the neighborhood.

And no one can help her with those embarrassing situations!

The fire in the brazier continued to burn, gradually consuming the remaining red glow.

The whole room was filled with a strange, unpleasant smell.

Madam Xie sighed, "Qingxue, even if Ali isn't your biological daughter, she's still your niece, you..."

"Mother, look at me. I am your own daughter. My life is ruined. If you don't believe me and don't help me, I have no choice but to die."

After saying that, Yu Qingxue tried to ram her head into the corner of the table.

Madam Xie grabbed her and pulled her away, her eyes filled with pain and struggle. "Are you trying to tear my heart apart by doing this? Qingxue, I will keep my promise to you. After Tang'er's marriage is settled, I will go and apologize to your elder brother and sister-in-law."

"Mother!" she cried out, throwing herself into Xie's arms.

The mother and daughter embraced and wept bitterly, filling the room with sorrow.

After an unknown amount of time, Madam Xie emerged, wiping away her tears, with Granny Li following closely behind. Meanwhile, Qin Mama, upon hearing a loud commotion inside, rushed into the room as quickly as possible.

Outside the Jingxin Courtyard, it grew increasingly quiet.

No one saw Shen Qinglu and Xia Chan come out from behind the house and disappear outside the courtyard gate in no time.

The master and servant walked a long way until they stopped when the artificial hill and tall trees provided cover.

“Miss…” Xia Chan exclaimed in astonishment, clearly still reeling from the secret she had overheard under the window.

Shen Qinglu looked at her calmly, "You must have heard everything, right?"

She nodded subconsciously.

"Xia Chan, you must help me."

"Miss, this servant..."

Shen Qinglu took her hand, her dark eyes like a huge black net, leaving her nowhere to escape. "Helping me is also helping you. There are many things that the Yu family's cousin can't do. Only the Yu family's true eldest daughter can help you find your sister."

She was as if she were under a spell, shocked and moved. Looking at the beautiful young woman in front of her, one sentence kept echoing in her mind: This is the real eldest daughter of the Yu family!