"Don't worry, Brother Chen, since you've said so, I'll definitely find that girl a good place!"
Although he felt something was off, Fu Shouan readily agreed, knowing that Shen Suqing rarely needed a favor.
Anyway, when the time comes, we'll take her back and instruct our subordinates to make arrangements for her, so that the girl can go to some high-class family and become a first-class personal maid to a kind-hearted noble lady.
Easy work, low pay, and no contract required.
Seeing that Fu Shouan agreed, Shen Suqing finally felt a little more at ease, which had been causing him inexplicable unease for the past few days.
He walked to the table with the scroll in his hand, then suddenly remembered something and stopped.
What's all this commotion and noise on the long street today?
Upon hearing this, Fu Shouan was first taken aback, then immediately burst into laughter, unable to hide his molars, and slapped the armrest of the chair so hard that he almost passed out.
"Oh dear, the Zhan family, the great general of the cavalry! The only daughter of the Zhan family has run away from home, and General Zhan and his wife are frantic with worry. They have been searching for two days and have even made a scene at the palace."
"They've made a scene at the palace?"
"It's strange, really. The Emperor and Empress clearly disliked the Zhan family so much, but when they heard that the young lady of the Zhan family had gone missing, they were so anxious that they ran away as if it were their own child. Now the whole capital is under martial law and being searched."
At this point, Fu Shouan sighed and clicked his tongue in amazement.
"It is said that Princess Caixia was so anxious that she cried and insisted on dragging His Highness the Crown Prince out of the palace to look for him personally."
Although it was outrageous, it had nothing to do with Shen Suqing, so he didn't ask any further questions.
After the two finished discussing official business, and while Shen Suqing was still staying to organize documents, Fu Shouan thought that since they had already come all this way, they might as well go to the side courtyard to take the person back today.
He was really itching to see what kind of pitiful little thing his usually rigid and pedantic brother Shen had picked up.
Upon entering the side courtyard, one is greeted by a slender, frail figure standing against the wind.
She wore a blue dress and white blouse, and was petite and graceful.
Oh, what a delicate little girl!
Fu Shouan became interested.
He rubbed his face, trying to force a warm and kind smile onto his fierce face, which was marinated in the brutality and bloodshed of the Dali Temple.
Before he could even greet him, the person behind the figure slowly turned around.
The girl's hair was half-draped in a mess, her sunken cheeks were tinged with ashen gray, and her face was as pale as a ghost. Her expressionless face had half-closed eyes that looked like a dead fish that had been pickled in salt for half a year.
Hollow, pitch black, without a trace of light.
She wildly rolled up her sleeves, boldly stomped one leg on the stone bench beside her, and casually chewed a half-dried weed between her chapped lips.
Before Fu Shouan, whose expression was gradually becoming puzzled, could react, Zhan Xinjia raised one eyebrow in a lewd manner and looked him up and down with a flirtatious and playful gaze.
The moment he opened his mouth, he exuded the air of a thug or hooligans.
Hey bro, got any jobs coming up?
His deliberately lowered, rough voice had a deep, resonant ending and a lingering charm.
His tone was like a rusty woodcutter's knife, weathered by the years, that had slaughtered a hundred pigs and chopped a thousand pieces of firewood, scraping back and forth across Fu Shou'an's chest, leaving crumbs falling everywhere.
Fu Shouan: "..."
No, buddy.
What happened to your timidity and kindness?!
Did he come in the wrong way, or did Brother Shen actually pick up another bandit in the house?!
Fu Shouan's expression froze, his face disheveled in the wind, and he stood there blankly.
Even if someone's brain were overloaded, they still wouldn't understand what was going on.
Remembering the boast he had made, he hesitated for a moment, but still mustered the courage to ask.
"Does the little girl have any special skills?"
Skills like embroidery, cuisine, and medicine are highly sought after, regardless of expertise. Even a rudimentary understanding of these skills is enough to attract demand, as young ladies of marriageable age are in dire need of capable personal maids.
Even though this girl looks like... the kind of thug who would harass respectable women on the street, he has to give Brother Shen face since he rarely asks for help.
To his surprise, the girl twitched the corner of her mouth, spat out the blade of grass in her mouth, and gave him a provocative smile.
"I like to steal things."
Fu Shouan: "..."
Fu Shouan, the Chief Justice of the Court of Judicial Review: Is this something that can be said?
Zhan Xinjia: "Whoever hires me is in for a world of trouble. I'll get my supplies right here in the mansion, and I'll even dig up your ancestral graves on the back hill and steal the tombstones out to resell overnight."
Before Fu Shou'an could even process what she had just said, the little girl spat into her palm, rubbed her hands together vigorously, winked at him with her left eye, and slowly revealed a strange, enigmatic, and meaningful smile...
"Oh, right, I'm also naturally restless and like to seduce the young masters in the manor."
"..."
——
When Fu Shouan returned to the main hall, his steps were unsteady and his expression was dazed.
Shen Suqing was puzzled when she saw his appearance, but then she thought that perhaps Brother Fu had also learned about the little girl's homelessness, high fever and amnesia after being caught in the rain, and was feeling sorry for her.
Shen Suqing immediately understood.
He sighed and put down the book in his hand.
"How is she? Isn't she a nice little girl to get along with? I wonder whose family abandoned her. She's quite pitiful."
"...Brother Shen, at least Zhengmo Shuo is honest."
Fu Shou'an hesitated, looking troubled.
That girl clearly exudes an aura that says "keep away, strangers!" and "get lost, acquaintances!"
He would believe it if you told him she had killed people and had a hundred or so murders on her record!
But the words stuck in his throat; he was too embarrassed to talk about a little girl behind her back.
In the end, Fu Shouan could only click his tongue.
"Next time, definitely next time."
"Brother Fu?"
"Haha, my dad's about to give birth, I need to go back and take care of him during his postpartum period, I'm off, I'm off!"
Before the bewildered Shen Suqing could even speak to stop him, Fu Shouan had already given a few awkward laughs, waved his hand high, and hurriedly left as if being chased by a dog.
Watching Fu Shouan's figure disappear, Shen Suqing, whose expression became increasingly confused, stood under the corridor for a while. Not long after, a light blue skirt suddenly appeared outside the courtyard gate.
The little girl peeked out furtively.
When she met Shen Suqing's gaze, she seemed to be startled.
The little girl walked in dejectedly, biting her lower lip in embarrassment, her eyelashes lowered to cover her dark pupils, her expression one of inferiority and sadness.
Like a little fox that has gotten into trouble.
"I'm so sorry, Master Shen, I'm so useless... Did I mess things up?"
She'd already said all that, making it seem like she'd burst into tears if he said anything harsh, so how could Shen Suqing dare ask what had actually happened...
Zhan Xinjia walked forward with her head down, looking anxious and as if she had done something wrong.
Seeing that Shen Suqing remained silent, she tentatively tugged at the young man's wide, drooping sleeve with her slender fingers, gently shaking it a few times as if to coax him, and timidly spoke.
"Young Master Shen, are you... going to kick me out? But when you picked me up, you took off my coat, and we were alone together... I even slept in your room."
I didn't mean to force you to take responsibility!! *sobs* I'm just so scared… scared that people will call me indecent and throw rotten eggs and cabbage leaves at me.”
At this point, the little girl looked up with teary eyes and burst into tears.
"What if some bad guys grab me and throw me into the pond? Waaaaah..."
Shen Suqing had a terrible headache and wanted to rub his forehead.
He pinched the bridge of his nose with his finger, unsure where to begin his explanation.
Although what she said was true, it was a last resort.
The situation was urgent, and he couldn't let the little girl, who already had a high fever, keep wearing wet clothes. Besides, he didn't have any maids or nannies in his household.
As for the room, the guest rooms in the side courtyard had not yet been prepared, and he was worried that the patient would be infected by dampness and mold if he slept there, so he could only temporarily place him in his own bedroom.
She can explain everything, but she doesn't seem like someone who's willing to listen.
Zhan Xinjia secretly glanced at Shen Suqing's unpredictable expression, thinking that she shouldn't push this handsome and kind young man too far, lest she cross his bottom line.
Thinking of this, she wiped away her tears with her sleeve and, in an extremely "understanding" manner, spoke weakly again.
"How about you hire me, Master Shen, and I'll be your personal maid? Look, look, it must be very tiring for one person to clean such a big courtyard all by myself, and there are so many flowers and plants to take care of."
The little girl's eyebrows drooped, her peach blossom eyes were wide and clear, and there were still glistening tears on her eyelashes, making her look pitiful.
"Please, please, I eat very little and don't want a high monthly fee. I'll leave as soon as I regain my memory and will never bother or pester Lord Shen! Lord Shen, please take me in for now, consider it an act of kindness."
Shen Suqing took a deep breath, paused for a moment, and finally only refuted one sentence with a firm tone.
“You ate just as much as you should.”
"..."
Those seventeen or eighteen bowls are still piled up in the kitchen!
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