Meanwhile, Xu Rong and Bai Fu leisurely returned to the mansion.
"Go see if your brother has returned yet, and bring him to see me."
Bai Fu hesitated for a moment: "My brother is from the outer courtyard. It might be inconvenient if people find out. If you have anything to say, please tell me to pass it on."
Xu Rong raised an eyebrow: "Who cares about me now?"
Bai Fu: "Uh..."
No. Madam Xu was completely focused on her son. Xu Rong wouldn't even bother to see the servants in the manor, let alone bring in a man from outside.
She obediently turned and left.
A short while later, they brought back a young man who had changed his clothes.
Xu Rong had already lured everyone away from the courtyard. Bai Fu felt guilty and was still a bit hesitant. The young man, on the other hand, was tall and slender and quite open. He knelt down on the blue bricks in the main room and said, "This humble one is Bai Quan, greetings to the young lady."
Xu Rong, sitting at the head of the table, greeted him warmly, "No need for formalities, stand up and speak."
Bai Quan stood up.
Xu Rong finally got a good look at his face. He looked a bit like Bai Fu, but the similar eyebrows and eyes were lighter on his face, making him look ordinary and clean. As Bai Fu often said, her brother was indeed very "honest" just by looking at his face.
"You did a great job on this task today," Xu Rong praised him first.
Bai Quan's gaze swept across her face and then quickly darted away. He lowered his head and replied, "I spend my days loafing around in the outer courtyard. I don't have much ability. It's an honor for me that you, Miss, would take a liking to me and use me."
The saying "listen to the underlying meaning" is quite interesting.
Xu Rong's heart stirred.
She has very few people she can rely on.
"In the end, it was your merit that I should reward you. If you don't want to waste your days in the outer courtyard, what job do you want? You might as well tell me, and I'll speak to your wife on your behalf."
—It is a reward, not a prize.
Bai Quan's heart skipped a beat. He licked his lips and smiled, "Then I'll be bold and say it: if you need my help again, Miss, there are still similar matters like today's. I'd be happy to oblige."
Xu Rong understood: He kept calling him a petty person, but he was not a servant at all. No matter what tasks were assigned to him in the mansion, they were all restricting him and using his talent as firewood.
Bai Fu was a little anxious and couldn't help but glare at her brother. She hoped that her brother would be well. It was a rare opportunity, whether it was working as a gatekeeper or following the young marquis in the future, it was a good place. Why didn't he say so?
Bai Quan met her gaze and winked playfully in response. In front of Xu Rong, Bai Fu couldn't say anything and couldn't do anything about it, so she could only lower her head and sulk.
At the crucial moment when the brother and sister were exchanging glances, Xu Rong had already made up his mind.
"I do have something to discuss, but this time it won't be in the capital; it will be quite far. I wonder if you'd be willing?"
Bai Quan's eyes instantly returned to normal: "I only have one sister who follows you, Miss. I have no other ties. I can go anywhere, from north to south, as long as you give the order."
Xu Rong nodded: "Okay, wait here for a moment."
She got up and beckoned Bai Fu to walk to the inner bedroom.
Bai Fu followed her blankly, watching as she went inside and emptied all the various jewelry from the five-tiered dressing table, piling it into a small, dazzling mountain of jewels on the rosewood tabletop. "Miss, what are you doing?"
Xu Rong called to her without turning his head: "Find a sturdy cloth."
"oh oh."
The wrapping cloth was found quickly.
Xu Rong picked and chose, starting to put the jewelry on top, and called to Bai Fu: "I don't remember very well, can you help me pick out the jewelry that I don't use much these days?"
Bai Fu hesitated before reaching out her hand: "Miss, why are you picking them out?"
"Take it to your brother."
Bai Fu had just picked up a gold hairpin when it instantly fell back to her feet: "Ah?!"
"Hurry up, your brother is waiting. If you're not picky, I'll do it myself."
Xu Rong herself couldn't distinguish between what was commonly used and what wasn't, so she just picked out the larger pieces with more gemstones and the ones that looked valuable and put them into her bundle. As she put them in, Bai Fu was sweating profusely as she tried to snatch them away: "Miss, this won't do, this necklace is for the set of ruby headdresses, it'll be incomplete if you don't have the whole set—this won't do either, this is for the big festival, and that one, that one won't do either—sigh, Miss, don't do it, let me do it!"
To prevent her daughter from giving away all the family's possessions, Bai Fu had no choice but to admit defeat and step forward to do it herself.
"Girl, isn't that enough?"
Xu Rong felt it wasn't enough: "Add some more."
Bai Fu only needs to add two more items.
After a few back-and-forths between the master and servant, Xu Rong was finally satisfied. Her eyes darted around and she saw the jade bracelet that Madam Xiao had given her that day. She picked it up and put it in as well. Bai Fu tried to stop her, but Xu Rong said, "Do I really care that much for something she gave me?"
Bai Fu shut up. She didn't like Madam Xiao either, so let her take it.
The final bundle wasn't large, but it was quite heavy. Bai Fu carried it out, feeling a little apprehensive.
She helped the girl get all these good things out of the house; she doesn't know if she's considered a thief within her own family...
Bai Quan stood in the center of the main room, in the same spot and posture, without moving an inch.
Xu Rong sat back down at the head of the table, straightened his clothes, and looked up at him, saying, "I have some things I don't need that I entrust to you. Go to Jiangnan, whether it's Nanjing or Suzhou, find a quiet place in the city center with many people, and buy me a house. If the money I give you isn't enough, you can figure it out yourself. If you have extra, you can use it for something else, and I won't ask."
Bai Fu, her head spinning, gaped in shock: "..."
Bai Quan's eyes lit up: "Does a young lady trust a villain like me?"
Xu Rong smiled: "That's up to you, not me."
The young woman at the head of the table was slender, with delicate features and a fair complexion. She was the epitome of a frail young lady, yet the smile that played on her lips was steady and precise, revealing a composure born from years of experience.
Bai Quan withdrew his gaze and bowed deeply: "I will certainly not fail the young lady's trust."
**
Bai Fu, carrying her bundle, followed Bai Quan towards the outer courtyard.
Bai Quan laughed at her: "Aren't you going to give it to me? Isn't it heavy for you to carry it? You're more clingy than a young lady."
"What do you mean by 'ba jia'?" Bai Fu pouted. She didn't know where her brother had learned this rural dialect from, but she roughly understood what it meant. "I don't know what you're thinking. One moment you're so smart that I can't believe it, and the next you're so stupid. Why did you go to Jiangnan to buy property? I can't trust you with such a large sum of money."
"You silly girl, the eldest daughter is more than ten times smarter than you, how dare you call her stupid." Bai Quan tapped her head with his finger. "When the eldest daughter is doing something, she has already taken four or five steps forward, and you are still going around in circles."
Bai Fu said, "Huh?"
Bai Quan then tapped her again, saying, "You're lucky to be a fool. You've followed the current young lady, and no matter how chaotic things get in the manor, she'll always be able to protect you."
"What's all the commotion in the manor?" Bai Fu retorted. "If you take care of the errands for the young lady, the Marquis will be back soon, and the young lady won't have to marry that Xiao Erlang. In the future, Madam can find another suitable husband for the young lady, and life will be much better."
"Good?" Bai Quan chuckled, his hands behind his back. "That's good. With our matriarch and our young marquis, there's plenty of fun to come."
Bai Fu was speechless. She wanted to retort, but after thinking about what Madam Xu and Xu Huazhang had done, she had nothing to say.
“The Marquis left too early.” Bai Quan’s expression became more serious. “If the eldest daughter could have stayed for two more years, she could have taught the young marquis how to support the family business. But the madam is a person who can’t distinguish right from wrong and is manipulated by outsiders, which has chilled the eldest daughter’s heart.”
Bai Quan stopped and gestured around the room, saying, "Little sister, look at these carved railings and painted beams, so grand, isn't it? They'll fall into ruin very quickly. Who knows if they'll end up with the surname Xu, Zhang, or Wang?"
Bai Fu stood there for a moment, then a gust of wind blew by, and she shivered as she clutched her bundle: "Brother, what you said is too creepy."
Bai Quan pointed to her bosom: "Otherwise, why did the eldest young lady ask you to prepare this?" He softened his tone, "Don't be afraid, and don't overthink it. Just continue to serve by the eldest young lady's side as usual. This escape route we've prepared belongs to the eldest young lady, and also to us siblings. Don't worry, your brother will do his best."
Bai Fu bit her lip, unsure of what to say. After hesitating for a while, she whispered, "Brother, I feel that the young lady has changed a bit..."
"Did it change after you hit your head?"
Bai Fu looked up in surprise: "Brother, you know too."
"I don't know." Bai Quan shook his head. "I don't want to know either. There are plenty of strange people and events in the world. So what if there's one more case involving the eldest daughter? All I know is that if the eldest daughter hadn't changed, your brother would still be dozing off in the outer courtyard, feeding the mosquitoes."
A restless ambition flickered in his otherwise indifferent eyes. He reached out and snatched the bundle from Bai Fu's arms, saying, "Alright, I'm going to get down to business. Your brain isn't very sharp, so don't overthink things. Just listen to the young lady; you can't go wrong."
He turned around, straightened his back, and strode away.
"..."
Bai Fu watched his retreating figure disappear into the distance, and helplessly turned back empty-handed.
She and Bai Quan parted not far from the second gate. After walking only a few steps, a servant came running up and called out to her, "Sister, please wait here and pass on a message!"
Bai Fu turned her head in surprise: "What did you say?"
The servant caught up, wiping the sweat from his brow, and said, "It's Master Luo, whom we used to visit often, coming to see you, Madam. He says he has some life-or-death matter to ask you. Oh dear, he looked so anxious! If it weren't for the brothers stopping him, he would have barged in. He even pinched a mark off my arm. Sister, you won't believe me—"
A maid of Bai Fu's rank wasn't someone the outer courtyard servants could easily meet, so this servant was incredibly talkative. He claimed to be delivering a message, but in reality, he was trying to curry favor. Bai Fu frowned and looked away: "I understand. You go out and wait. I'll pass it on to Madam."
She quickened her pace and walked back inside. But not towards the main courtyard; instead, she went to report to Xu Rong first.
She had just schemed against someone's son when his father showed up at her door. Bai Fu felt uneasy and needed to get some instructions from her daughter.
Xu Rong was in the bedroom putting the jewelry she had dumped out back in, admiring it as she went. Hearing this, she looked up, intrigued: "You came so quickly."
Bai Fu asked anxiously, "Miss, are you alright? What if Master Luo finds out—"
"If he knew, he'd be kneeling dead in front of the Duke of England's mansion by now," Xu Rong interrupted her. "He still has time to come to our house to beg for mercy?"
Bai Fu was enlightened by his words: "What you said is right. At most, he knows that Master Luo has been captured by Young Master Zhang, but he doesn't know what Master Luo has done, and he has no way of knowing about our affairs."
She made up her mind; her brother was right, she should listen to the young lady in everything. "Young lady, I'll go tell Madam now."
Xu Rong put down the beaded string in her hand: "I'll go with you."
Just when I was worried about not having a chance to visit the Duke of England's mansion to see the excitement, a ready-made ladder was delivered to my door.
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