Chapter 268 Little Peach Cleverly Explores Under the Peony Blossom
She genuinely wanted to live a good life with Xiaoran in the future.
She knew that Xiao Ran was studying and practicing martial arts, but she never dreamed of becoming a scholar's wife.
She would be willing to spend her whole life in Jishui Village, supporting her husband and raising her children, living a simple life of farming and weaving.
Ahead, Xiao Ran continued driving silently, though her eyes showed a slight hint of emotion.
He stared at the winding official road ahead, but his mind was uncontrollably filled with images of her delicate features when he first met her, the despair in her eyes when she was being bullied, and the chilling feeling he had when he learned the truth...
Finally, the carriage stopped in a back alley of the charming street.
Xiao Tao silently got out of the car; she had already composed herself.
Just as she was about to walk toward that familiar little black door, a very soft voice came from behind her.
"...Take care on your journey."
If it weren't so quiet around her, she probably wouldn't have been able to hear what was being said.
Before she could react, the carriage wheels rolled over the stone road, and Xiao Ran had already driven the carriage away.
Xiao Tao suddenly raised her head, looking at his back in disbelief, tears welling up in her eyes.
This time, even if it's a den of dragons and tigers, or the abyss of hell ahead, she has the courage to face it.
Once the carriage was completely out of sight, she took a deep breath and knocked on the door knocker.
The one who opened the door was still the two tigers, the cunning servants.
When he saw Xiao Tao, he was taken aback at first, then his face showed a mixture of surprise and disdain:
"Oh? It's you? Didn't you climb up the social ladder? Why are you back here again?"
Xiao Tao lowered her eyelashes, concealing the emotions in her eyes, and whispered, "Brother Hu, I...I want to see Mom."
Erhu chuckled and sized her up: "Seeing Mom? What, you're not used to living in the general store? Or were you kicked out after being played with?"
Xiao Tao bit her lower lip, not refuting, but repeating, "Please ask Brother Hu to inform my mother that I have something important to tell her..."
Erhu glanced at Xiaotao suspiciously, said "Wait," and turned to go inside to report.
Before long, Xiao Tao was taken to her mother's room, which was filled with the strong smell of cosmetics and incense.
Mother was sitting in front of her dressing table, having her hair combed by a maid. She glanced in the bronze mirror and saw Xiao Tao enter. Without turning around, she spoke slowly, her voice carrying a hint of languor and coldness:
"Oh, look at you dressed up today, you really do look like a respectable woman. Have you forgotten you were once a whore after only a few days as a respectable lady? Don't forget, I still have something on you!"
Xiao Tao knelt down with a "plop," her voice choked with sobs, carrying just the right amount of fear and grievance:
"Mommy! Xiaotao... Xiaotao is too scared..."
Mom lazily rubbed her temples, clearly still half asleep: "So, how's the matter I asked you to inquire about?"
Xiao Tao sniffed and, following her prepared story, gave a half-truth, half-lies:
"Jiang Ling seems kind, but she's actually extremely suspicious! She bought me and kept me under her watchful eye, only letting me do menial tasks and rarely letting me get close. She's also very secretive about Sister Hongxiu's affairs. I tried several times to subtly inquire, but she always brushed me off with a few words..."
The mother frowned, seemingly deep in thought: "Oh? She didn't reveal anything at all?"
"It wasn't a complete loss," Xiao Tao said, raising her head with a hint of self-satisfaction in her eyes.
"Although she didn't say it outright, I observed her secretly. Every time she talked about Hongxiu, she would subconsciously mention Fang Shijie. Once, I vaguely heard her whispering with Xiao Ran in the shop, mentioning words like 'Fang Shijie,' 'capital,' and 'trouble,' and her expression was very serious. I then vaguely felt that Sister Hongxiu's disappearance might be related to Fang Shijie?"
Her mother stared at her, her gaze shifting, as if weighing the truthfulness of her words.
Xiao Tao's heart jumped into her throat, but she dared not show it on her face.
After a long pause, Mom finally let out a cold snort, "Useless thing! All these days, and you haven't found out a single useful piece of information! Don't try to play tricks on me. I remember perfectly well how you schemed against Zhao Xiaoran and how you climbed up to Jiang Ling. You'd better do my job properly, or else..."
Xiao Tao trembled, her face drained of color, and she quickly kowtowed, her voice trembling with tears: "Mother, please understand! This servant dares not! This servant is utterly loyal to Mother and has no other intentions! This servant will do everything in my power to serve Mother!"
She lowered her head very low, adopting a humble and submissive posture.
Seeing her like this, the suspicion in her mother's eyes lessened slightly, and she waved her hand: "I knew you wouldn't dare. Get up, and remember what you said today. If you have any news in the future, report it to me immediately."
"Yes, yes! Thank you, Mom!" Xiao Tao felt like she had been granted a pardon. She kowtowed again before shakily standing up.
"Alright, go downstairs." Mom picked up the eyebrow pencil again and stopped looking at her.
A young maid led Xiao Tao out of the room.
Walking down to the corridor, Xiao Tao clutched her stomach, a look of pain on her face, and whispered to the maid:
"Dear sister, I...I think I ate something bad this morning. My stomach hurts terribly. Could I go to the toilet before I come out?"
The young maid frowned, clearly somewhat unwilling.
Xiao Tao immediately took out the package of meat wrapped in oil paper from her bosom and quickly stuffed it into the hands of the maid:
"Good sister, please do me a favor. This is... this is some butcher I brought back from the grocery store. It tastes amazing, please try it. I just couldn't resist, I'd be too ashamed to live without it!"
The maid squeezed the oil paper package, smelled the faint aroma of meat, and then reluctantly agreed.
"Alright, I'll take you there."
Xiao Tao pretended to need to relieve herself and walked very fast, soon arriving at the door of the outhouse in the backyard.
The little maidservant kept following them.
Seeing this, Xiaotao lowered her voice again, pretending to be considerate of her:
"Sister, while everyone is still asleep, hurry up and find a quiet spot to eat this meat. Otherwise, when they wake up, they'll come looking for you to share it."
The maidservant thought this made sense. It was still morning, and the business under the peony flowers was all for the evening. The young lady and her maidservant were still asleep.
Furthermore, if her mother found out that she was accepting bribes in secret, she would probably get a beating and a scolding.
The maid finally nodded, but still cautioned, "Then hurry up! Don't let anyone see us and gossip."
"Oh, thank you, sister!" Xiaotao replied repeatedly, then added thoughtfully.
"Sister, please eat somewhere further away, not around here, the food doesn't taste good..."
The maidservant thought this made sense, so she carefully put the butcher away and went to the corridor to enjoy the meal alone.
Seeing the little maid's figure disappear at the corner of the corridor, Xiao Tao went into the outhouse and immediately climbed over the wall from the back.
Hongxiu's maid, Xiaoqiu, was locked in the woodshed.
She spent more than half a year under the peony flowers, and knew exactly where everything was.
While everyone was asleep and she didn't encounter anyone along the way, she quickly made her way to the woodshed.
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