Chapter 631 The Grand Secretary's Mansion Has Been Stolen Again
Back in Shen Wantang's courtyard, Qin Xin relayed Sanshui's assessment: "Miss, you guessed right! Sanshui said he saw Madam go to Master's room twice last night!"
Shen Wantang nodded, somewhat surprised that Sanshui had opened up to Qinxin so quickly, even telling her this.
"No wonder my father was poisoned so severely. It must be that our good lady poisoned him the first time, but then felt the amount wasn't enough, so she went back and added a second dose. I just don't know what she wanted to do with so much poison on my father. Surely she didn't really intend to kill him?"
Qin Xin was taken aback: "This—it shouldn't be that bad, right? If the master is gone, wouldn't the madam be left a widow?"
"It's really not that bad. Putting aside the question of whether she should remain a widow, my eldest and second brothers have already been observing mourning for three years because of our grandfather's passing, which has delayed their marriages. If they observe mourning for another three years, their marriages will likely become a major problem. Qi Xiangru wouldn't be so stupid as to harm her own sons just to prevent me from marrying into the Duke's family."
"Why did the lady suddenly poison the master?"
"It's not clear yet, but I have a feeling that she's targeting me, so there's no need to worry, she'll move on to the next step soon."
Qin Xin nodded, and then brought up San Shui's matter: "Miss, San Shui said he wants to be your maid, and asked me to speak to you on his behalf. Do you think you should accept him?"
Shen Wantang was taken aback: "It's not that it's impossible. I do need manpower, especially people who can run errands outside. Sanshui is quite quick-witted."
Qin Xin, however, had some concerns: "Miss, it's a good thing that Sanshui wants to come to you, but if he can betray the master today, he might betray you in the future if there are enough benefits! Moreover, if he doesn't betray the master but comes to you, will he tell the master everything about you in the future, pretending to work for you but actually working for the master?"
Shen Wantang smiled and said, "You've thought things through quite thoroughly. However, I have plenty of ways to verify whether Sanshui is truly loyal or just pretending. As for betraying me, he probably wouldn't dare, nor would he be willing."
I can understand your reluctance to let go?
Shen Wantang saw through her doubts at a glance and explained with a smile: "The money and other benefits I gave him are something he could never get from anyone else. As far as I know, Sanshui is a money-loving man and he is very good at weighing the pros and cons. Otherwise, he wouldn't have pretended to be deaf and dumb and kept quiet even though he knew that Qi Xiangru had poisoned my father."
"The better someone is at weighing the pros and cons, the easier they are to manipulate, because they have desires and weaknesses. The most dangerous type is the stubborn person who is unyielding and cannot be bribed with money. They will not work wholeheartedly if you ask them to."
Qin Xin understood: "So, you want to take Sanshui over? What if the master doesn't agree?"
Shen Wantang smiled leisurely: "How could he refuse such a good opportunity to plant spies around me? Not only would he agree, he would also send me a few more people!"
"Then—this servant must tell Sanshui, have you agreed to have him?"
"Don't say it yet. I need to think about it. If he is sensible, he will definitely behave well in the days to come. If he is not sensible, then there is no need to keep him. I will ask my father for another servant."
Qin Xin nodded repeatedly and couldn't help but say, "Miss is so reliable! I was so eager to tell Sanshui just now. You don't know how envious he is of us who get five taels of silver a month! He's been staring at me longingly, constantly pledging his loyalty to you and asking me to put in a good word for him!"
That's a young lady for you; she's incredibly composed!
Even though they had already decided to go to Sanshui, they weren't in a hurry to bring the person over, leaving themselves enough room for change.
She couldn't help but touch her chin, feeling that she should learn from the young lady that she shouldn't be so hasty in her actions and should learn to leave herself a way out.
She discovered that since following the young lady, she had been growing in intelligence every day, learning new things daily, and maturing much faster than when she was in the Prince's mansion! She was truly grateful to the young master for sending her to such a wonderful mistress.
Unfortunately, she knew how to cherish it, but Huayi didn't. She didn't know how Huayi fared after being bought by Liu Nanshi. She had heard that Liu Nanshi liked to torment her maids!
Shen Wantang, however, recalled her previous life.
In fact, in his previous life, Shen Guannian also had a servant who secretly pledged allegiance to him, but it wasn't Sanshui, it was Santu.
Because Dujuan and Santu were close, no matter what happened in the Shen family, Santu would always secretly send her a message.
As long as the information was useful, Shen Wantang would have Du Juan give him money. As the number of times she gave him money increased, San Tu gradually became devoted to her and became more and more capable of passing on useful information.
Therefore, in this life, Shen Wantang still hopes that Santu will stay in the Shen family and that Dujuan will be responsible for contacting him so that she can keep track of the Shen family's movements at any time.
Sanshui, on the other hand, is quick-witted and good at dealing with people. She could indeed be taken away as a maid, since she does need a man to run errands for her outside.
Three days passed, and the Shen residence remained calm and peaceful.
Because Shen Guannian confined both Qi Shi and Shen Mingxuan to their quarters, the two became much more obedient.
In order to be able to go out, Madam Qi even wrote letters to her sons and had the servants deliver them to the academy, managing to bring back both of her sons who were studying diligently outside.
Only after her sons pleaded on her behalf did Shen Guannian lift her confinement.
"Madam really knows no bounds!"
Qin Xin couldn't help but mutter, "Other mothers are afraid of interfering with their sons' studies, so they try not to disturb them if they can. But our Madam is different. For such a trivial matter, she even called the eldest and second young masters back from the academy. And the teachers at the academy let them go? Won't they fall behind in their studies?"
Shen Wantang knew the reason: "My eldest and second brothers are not good at studying, far inferior to Father. Perhaps they would be happy to take a few days off after returning from the academy! The teachers naturally know their level, so it doesn't matter if they study a few more days or a few less days. If it were a talented student, even if he was a bit unruly, the teachers would not let him go."
“Miss, now Madam can cause trouble again. Do you think she’s in such a hurry to leave because she wants to harm you? Otherwise, I really can’t think of any reason why she’s in such a hurry.”
"Maybe!"
Shen Wantang calmly replied, "You can go to Sanshui and inquire again, or tell him to keep an eye on Qi Xiangru."
"yes!"
As Qin Xin spoke, she remembered something else: "Oh, by the way, Miss, I heard that the Grand Secretary's mansion has been robbed again!"
Shen Wantang was stunned: "Stolen again? How many times has this happened?"
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