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But when Qin Sang carefully observed his figure on the island that day, she had a strong feeling that he was the familiar person she had just met recently. But now, looking at Xie Xiao, his temperament was completely different.
If it's not so well hidden, then it really is just a resemblance?
She raised the wine glass to her nose and smelled it, then smiled and said, "Back in my hometown, I tried to make cherry wine, but I failed every time. Uncle, you make such good wine. Could you teach me sometime?"
"It's not difficult at all. Just come when I brew wine another day."
Qin Sang naturally smiled and agreed. The two drank a few cups of wine, chatted for a while about the local customs and culture of Qin Sang's hometown, and lamented the hardships of people's lives. Then Qin Sang got up to say goodbye and went to the flower hall to see Qin Baoyun.
The sky was clear and the air was fresh. Outside the flower hall, everything was colorful and the trees were lush. Qin Baoyun had been waiting there for a while.
Seeing her come out, he hurriedly asked her about yesterday's events. Qin Sang recounted everything she had seen and heard yesterday, including how she got to Worry-Free Island and what she had heard, seen, and heard along the way. He asked her to investigate and see where Worry-Free Island might be located.
He then inquired about the manpower preparations.
Qin Baoyun said that she was selecting people, and Qin Sang was naturally not in a hurry for a day or two. She simply took out a box of gold ingots and silver notes that she had prepared and handed them over.
"Besides manpower, I also need a small courtyard. Now that we are in the Prime Minister's residence, many things are inconvenient. If something changes in the future, it will be more convenient to have a place to settle down. After you find a courtyard, you can move in there. It will also be easier to allocate manpower in the future."
She was a guest in the Prime Minister's residence, and guests have no autonomy and are subject to others' control in every way, so she was not at ease.
"In addition, I have already taken a liking to a few shops, and I would like to trouble Uncle Qin to help me rent them. I have my own arrangements."
Qin Baoyun took the box, and Qin Sang smiled, "Uncle Qin, you've worked so hard. With so many things to do, you must be overwhelmed. I was thinking of having Lingding come and help you soon." Then she turned to Lingding and instructed, "Buying a house, renting a shop, buying servants—Uncle Qin might not be able to think of everything on his own. I need a secure villa, and I also need talented people who can help me with my business. You two help me choose some first, and then I'll go and see them myself... What do you say?"
She noticed that Lingding's eyes were slightly red, so she asked this question.
Lingding lowered her eyes, concealing the surprise on her face, and then smiled and said, "I never thought that besides being a wife and mother, I could do so many important things."
Qin Sang asked curiously, "Why do you think I would disregard past grievances and bring you to the capital? Didn't you already know the answer?"
Lingding composed himself solemnly and nodded respectfully: "Yes, I will certainly not fail the young lady's trust."
Qin Sang: "Yes, as for the many miscellaneous matters within the Prime Minister's residence, Ying'er will take care of them, so you don't need to worry about them. If that's not enough, I will train two more people, so don't worry."
After giving her instructions, Qin Sang let Lingding go with Qin Baoyun, and then slowly strolled back to her own courtyard.
But seeing the gardener busy weeding, fertilizing, turning the soil, and pruning the flowers, he couldn't help but lean against the railing and ask, "Uncle, why don't you remove that clump of thatch too? Thatch fluff flies everywhere, what will happen if it grows all over the yard next year?"
The gardener was carefully pruning a camellia branch when he heard this. He turned around and chuckled, "Miss, you don't know, although thatch is tough and easy to grow, its leaves and seeds are among the best of all weeds. The Prime Minister said that if a courtyard is to be beautiful, it cannot be pruned too rigidly and delicately. If you only pursue cleanliness and high-quality items, you will lose its wild charm."
As Qin Sang listened, she thought to herself that Xie Zhongxu was indeed a person who had climbed up from humble beginnings, and his way of doing things was indeed quite unique and Zen-like.
However, people like him are few and far between. People tend to see things in black and white, and if he wants to maintain a balance between the two, he has to be constantly vigilant and remove those ugly weeds in time. If he is even slightly negligent, the weeds will devour this large patch of famous flowers and plants, causing great losses.
It's not easy.
She watched silently for a while, then strolled back to her small courtyard.
In the short time that followed, Liu Mama had been replaced by a new teaching nanny. This nanny seemed much more pleasing to the eye, but she appeared to have a rather bad temper. When Liu Mama spoke to her in a low voice, she would occasionally respond with a few "uh-huhs".
As Qin Sang entered the courtyard, just as Granny Liu was about to give instructions, Qin Sang walked past the two of them and said calmly, "Come in. You can learn whatever you want to be taught. It would be best to make a schedule and plan, and we will follow the schedule."
Granny Liu was taken aback, but the other new nanny nodded and followed her inside.
***
The new headmistress's surname was Liang. She looked to be in her early fifties. She had fair skin and a neat face, but her face was a bit grumpy. Her eyes were kind, but a bit cold, and she didn't seem to have any scheming in them.
She seemed very familiar with the teaching content. When Qin Sang asked for the rules, she gave him the rules, and Qin Sang then asked Ying'er to write them down.
Nothing much went wrong after that, and they started learning how to walk and greet people.
In the morning, I learned to walk, and in the afternoon, I learned flower arranging.
Flower arranging was fun, and Qin Sang didn't find it boring. But then Xie Wu came again, and she didn't have to learn flower arranging; she was doing needlework.
Because the work was so tedious, when she heard that Qin Sang had started learning etiquette, she ordered her things to be brought over so that they could keep each other company.
Qin Sang didn't know what was so special about herself that made this young lady so fond of her. But the connection between people is sometimes subtle; a single glance can tell whether someone is kindred spirits.
She and Xie Lin were not the same kind of people, and Xie Wu and Xie Lin were not the same kind of people either. They couldn't get along. As the saying goes, "If you don't see eye to eye, there's no point in talking to each other."
For several days, Qin Sang spent her days studying rules and regulations and her evenings planning her career, making each day fulfilling. Xie Sui'an didn't visit even once during this time; the two hadn't seen each other since the day they left Worry-Free Island.
So she couldn't help but ask tactfully. Xie Wu hesitated for a moment, but still stammered out the answer.
"That day you two came back together, each in a carriage, but you were both completely drunk... There were already rumors circulating in the manor, you know what I mean? Second Aunt heard about it too, so naturally she had some concerns. Now, I don't know what Grandfather is planning. He originally said he would bring back a girl for Father to take into the ancestral hall as an adopted daughter, but now he's putting it off. Second Aunt is currently arranging a marriage for Sui'an, so she naturally doesn't want outsiders to have any leverage over him. Therefore, she sent someone to watch over him and prevent him from coming to see you."
Qin Sang was practicing walking, with a ceramic bowl balanced on her head, and said with a stiff neck, "Ever since I met him, he has been arranging marriages. Second Madam, whose daughter have you taken a fancy to now?"
"It's that Xiahou Yuan from the Marquis of Du Nan's family. My second aunt and Lady Xiahou have been childhood friends, and they're very close. They've had the intention of arranging a marriage for many years, and now that they've both reached marriageable age, they've been talking about it." Xie Wu embroidered, but laughed as she spoke. "But as far as I know, Xiahou Yuan's beloved isn't our second young master. Like most young ladies in the capital, her dream man is Bai Yiqing from Princess Yuanzhao's family. Tell me, what's the point of the two families talking so enthusiastically when neither of them is interested?"
Qin Sang then said, "It is indeed meaningless. However, you were born into this kind of family, and you are children of the game of interests, with no choice in the matter." She then took the opportunity to inquire, "What kind of person is Princess Yuanzhao? Is she close to the current emperor?"
Xie Wu stopped sewing and looked up at Qin Sang, who was still struggling with the question from earlier: "A family like ours? Do you think that now that you've entered my family, you can live a life of your own? Just you wait and see. With your talent and looks, as long as you go out and socialize once, many families will come to give you gifts and visit you afterwards."
Qin Sang walked back with the ceramic bowl on her head: "In wealthy families, character comes first, and since we're not here to seduce the king, looks aren't that important, are they?"
"But those naive young men are naturally drawn to beautiful women, aren't they? If they saw you and knew that you were now a distinguished guest of the Prime Minister's residence, and that you were clinging to your grandfather's connections, the number of people coming to propose marriage would surely break down the threshold!"
Qin Sang thought about it and still felt it was an exaggeration, so she said, "There are so many daughters in the Prime Minister's residence, it's not necessarily true that they will treat me specially."
Seeing her disbelief, Xie Wu refused to argue further: "Just wait and see. In a few days, it will be Princess Yuanzhao's birthday banquet. Almost all the wealthy and powerful families in the capital, as well as the imperial nobles, will be there. Even the princes will come to celebrate their aunt's birthday. Didn't you just ask me about the relationship between the princess and the current emperor? It's excellent! They are siblings from the same mother and have been close since childhood. The current emperor has always been protective of her. Princess Yuanzhao can do whatever she wants, and he has also done his best to help her marry whomever she desires. After the emperor ascended the throne, he even bestowed a title and a mansion upon the princess. She can be said to be one of the most prominent princes in the capital today."
"Yes, that's right, you're really lucky."
After Xie Wu talked for a long time, Qin Sang responded with just "You're so lucky," leaving Xie Wu both amused and exasperated: "So you believe in fate?"
"Believe it or not?" The main duty of the Fate Master is to write down fates. Everyone's fate is predetermined, and it is only possible to change it if there are immortals or demons interfering with the fate chart.
Xie Wu's tone suddenly turned somewhat melancholy, and he sighed softly, "I don't know either. I want to believe it, but my grandfather often said that man can conquer nature, that people cannot succumb to the status quo, and that they must find a better and more suitable path for themselves. I believe my grandfather."
Qin Sang then recalled the news she had heard before and asked her, "Actually, sister, you're also of marriageable age, so why... is there still no news?"
Xie Wu pierced the fabric with a slender silver needle and pulled it out, leaving fine marks on the black silk with yellow silk threads. He then pierced it again and pulled it out, stitch by stitch, which was a great test of one's patience.
Xie Wu used to be restless; she would never have sat here for half a day just to make a pattern stitch by stitch.
But ever since that person's whole family had that accident, in order to calm down, she finally picked up a needle and started learning embroidery.
Embroidery can calm her restless and anxious heart, allowing her to quietly reminisce about someone or something without being nagged.
She smiled and said, "It will be soon. Look at this painting of a hundred longevity characters, it is meant to be presented to Princess Yuanzhao on her birthday."
Xie Wu and Qin Sang spent many days together.
The new nanny didn't make things difficult for Qin Sang, and she studied quite diligently. However, every evening she had to listen to Qin Baoyun and Lingding report to her on the progress of preparing the villa and recruiting staff, and she would then offer some suggestions and make some requests.
These days, Qin Baoyun went to check on that teahouse again, but the teahouse was small to begin with, and now it was closed and nowhere to be found. They then tried to locate Wuyou Island on the map. Based on the time she set off for Wuyou Island, the time she stayed on the island, and the time she returned to the mansion, Wuyou Island must be built in a body of water somewhere in Kyoto, not too far from Kyoto.
She had suspected it was Jinming Pond, but Qin Baoyun had investigated and found that the few small islands on Jinming Pond belonged to the royal family and were managed by the inner court. Who, unless it was the emperor himself, would have the power to deceive the inner court and commit such a capital crime under the emperor's nose?
Qin Sang pointed to the few small black dots on the picture with her pen, thinking to herself that that might not be the case.
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