Xie Qinglan had told her about the selection of maids beforehand. Three of them were arranged by him, and five of the remaining seven were Zhang's spies.
Ye Chaoxi didn't ask him how he arranged it. If Xie Qinglan really didn't have some tricks up his sleeve, he would have been devoured to the bone in the Marquis's mansion long ago.
She asked each person their name and what they were good at, and finally kept two maids named Juying and Cuiyu.
Juying is skilled in cooking, while Cuiyu is quite adept at dressing up.
Seeing that Ye Chaoxi had chosen these two maids, Granny Kong's expression turned somewhat unpleasant. "Why don't you choose another one? These two don't seem very clever."
"No need, these two suit my taste, two are enough."
Granny Kong could only leave with the rest of the people.
With a new maidservant, Ye Chaoxi took her to Yuzhen Tower that very day to return the jade pendant she had previously ordered.
She had no intention of giving money to Xie Changyu and his mother.
Instead, they went to the Linlang Pavilion opposite the Yuzhen Tower and had a new jade pendant made for Xie Qinglan.
After coming out, she instructed Juying and Cuiyu, "Don't tell the young master about the jade pendant. It's a birthday gift I prepared for him."
Juying nodded calmly in response.
Cuiyu, being quite lively, immediately suggested, "Madam, in my opinion, the young master has never lacked for food or clothing since childhood, and has seen countless fine jades. The ones we order from Linlang Pavilion may not be as good as the ones he collected in the past."
"How about we try a different approach? Instead of sending these common items, why not carve a jade piece yourself, or embroider a sachet? That would certainly be very meaningful to the young master!"
Ye Chaoxi felt that what she said made sense.
She wanted to make Xie Qinglan's first birthday celebration unforgettable.
However, carving objects takes too long, and as for embroidering sachets... for some reason, Ye Chaoxi felt that she couldn't do it, and the embroidered thing would definitely be a mess.
"Let me think... Are there any open hot spring resorts near the capital? The weather is getting colder, and soaking in a hot spring is good for the body. We can go there with the Crown Prince to relax for a couple of days."
"The only hot spring pools in the capital are in the palace; the rest are in the mountains outside the city, and they are mostly privately owned by high-ranking officials and nobles. There aren't many open estates. As for where they are, we, who have lived in the capital for so long, don't know," Juying replied.
“Juying and I don’t know much about these things, but I can go back and ask Zhuo Qing. He should know where the hot spring resort is. Don’t worry, Madam, I won’t let him tell the young master in advance!” Cuiyu raised her hand to assure him.
Ye Chaoxi nodded and entrusted this important task to Cuiyu.
Time flies, and it's already September 28th.
Located in the far north, Beijing gets cold quickly. Even in the golden autumn of September, the city is already experiencing a sudden chill in the wind, with fallen petals covered in frost.
Cuiyu had already inquired with Zhuo Qing that the hot spring resorts on the outskirts of the capital were indeed not open to the public. There were only some small, scattered wild springs, which were unwanted and unmanaged. Whether they were comfortable or not was unknown, and safety could not be guaranteed.
After Cuiyu inquired with Zhuo Qing, Zhuo Qing began to keep an eye out for it. Coincidentally, a family urgently needed money and wanted to sell one of their hot spring estates. Upon hearing the news, Zhuo Qing rushed over to ask Ye Chaoxi if she wanted to buy it.
The estate wasn't large, but it had a large hot spring pool and two smaller ones inside. The houses were also well-furnished. Ye Chaoxi thought the price was reasonable, so he bought it for 1,500 taels of silver.
Zhuo Qing kept his mouth shut. Although it concerned the young master, he thought it would be good for him to go out and relax, rather than staying cooped up in the mansion every day.
In recent years, the Crown Prince's life has been rather dull, and he has spent most of his time alone. Since his leg injury two months ago, he has not left Tinglan Garden except for the time he went to pick up the Crown Prince's wife.
So they cooperated with Ye Chaoxi to keep it from Xie Qinglan.
Afterwards, Ye Chaoxi took Cuiyu and Juying to Linlang Pavilion to retrieve the finished jade pendant.
The jade was personally selected by Ye Chaoxi. Although its color and material were not top-notch, it was still a rare gem, with a warm luster and a gentle touch. A lifelike Qilin mythical beast was meticulously carved on it, symbolizing good fortune and peace.
Ye Chaoxi was very satisfied.
When they returned to Tinglan Garden, it was still early. Cuiyu chattered excitedly with Ye Chaoxi about what to bring to the hot spring resort. As they approached the courtyard gate, they saw a pair of mistress and servant standing there in the distance, and their cheerful voices abruptly stopped.
Ye Chaoxi followed her gaze and saw Zhang Wanshu and her maid standing at the entrance of the courtyard, seemingly waiting for someone.
Some time ago, upon hearing the news of Xie Qinglan's serious illness, Zhang Wanshu came almost every day to visit her. After being refused several times, she didn't come for several days, and Ye Chaoxi thought she had given up. Unexpectedly, she's quite persistent; does she want to see Xie Qinglan again?
As the group approached, Zhang Wanshu, who was waiting at the gate, smiled gently and took two quick steps forward, saying, "My cousin-in-law is finally back."
"You've come to visit Xie Qinglan?"
Zhang Wanshu said, "I didn't come here today to see my cousin, the Crown Prince. He must not want me to see him in such a sorry state, which is why he has repeatedly refused my visits. I kept disobeying him and trying to get closer to him, but I was afraid he would be unhappy."
Ye Chaoxi, “…” The familiar aroma of freshly brewed, hot tea.
"So, who are you today...?"
“Tomorrow is my cousin’s birthday, and I’ve come today to give him a birthday gift.” Zhang Wanshu hesitated before taking out a dark green sachet from her sleeve. It was embroidered with auspicious cloud patterns, and the words “Qinglan” were embroidered on one corner of the sachet.
"This is a sachet that I embroidered myself. It contains calming spices. I would like to ask you to pass it on to my cousin, the Crown Prince."
Zhang Wanshu looked at Ye Chaoxi expectantly, a hint of provocation hidden deep in her eyes.
Cuiyu and Juying, who were standing next to Ye Chaoxi, both looked like they had swallowed a fly, while Ye Chaoxi was the calmest.
Ye Chaoxi took it and looked at it. The auspicious clouds embroidered on it were finely stitched and the patterns were delicate, showing that the person who made the sachet was very good at needlework and put a lot of effort into it.
She glanced at Zhang Wanshu with amusement and said bluntly, "You want to be Xie Qinglan's concubine?"
Zhang Wanshu's face stiffened.
She had admired Xie Qinglan for many years and did want to marry him, but definitely not as a concubine! Ye Shi, who appeared out of nowhere, what right did she have to be the principal wife?
"Sister-in-law, you've misunderstood. I didn't mean that," Zhang Wanshu quickly explained.
"Then why did you embroider this sachet? Don't you know what it means for a woman to give a man a sachet? You call me your cousin-in-law, and as the saying goes, an elder sister-in-law is like a mother. I need to give you some pointers to prevent you from going astray." Ye Chaoxi spoke to the younger generation with the tone of an elder, earnestly educating them.
As the eldest sister-in-law, I am your mother, and Xie Qinglan is your father! Don't have any improper thoughts about people you shouldn't be thinking about!
Zhang Wanshu's original intention was to sow discord between Ye Chaoxi and Xie Qinglan, to make her cause trouble in front of Xie Qinglan and make him dislike Ye Chaoxi.
Unexpectedly, Ye was like a ball of cotton; a punch to her had no effect whatsoever, but instead made Ye herself furious.
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