Before the visitor could say anything more, Qiao'er glared at him and said, "What are you standing there for? Didn't you hear Madam say she wasn't feeling well? What, do you want Madam to come over while she's sick?"
Qiao'er was Qin Sheng's dowry maid. She had a fiery personality, and many servants in the mansion were afraid of her.
The man repeatedly said he dared not, and slunk away.
Qin Sheng didn't care. She didn't want to care at all what others thought of her or how they viewed her.
The Pingyin Marquis's mansion was very large. Once she returned to her own courtyard and closed the gate, the hustle and bustle of the front yard was completely irrelevant to her.
After having some dinner and taking a bath, Qin Sheng went to bed early.
For some reason, Qin Sheng felt very tired, but even though she was lying in bed, she couldn't fall asleep.
I closed my eyes, and the scenes before my death flashed through my mind again.
Looking back now, Qin Sheng knows that Yin Wenxiao and Ye Shi's embezzlement of military funds and rations, involvement in bribery during the imperial examinations, and accepting bribes to help officials transferred to other departments in the court—each of these acts, taken individually, would be capital offenses.
Later, seeing that things were about to get out of control, the family of four took their valuables and fled for their lives.
Unaware of the situation, Qin Sheng was left behind to serve as their scapegoat.
The fire started in the middle of the night.
Yin Wenxiao and Ye Jiaoniang were vicious; the fire they set was intended to burn the entire Yin mansion to ashes.
Qin Sheng lay on the bed and subconsciously raised her hand to touch her arm.
She still remembers what it felt like when the fire swept in, burning her clothes and searing her flesh.
Qin Sheng didn't fall asleep until late at night.
The sun was already high in the sky when Qin Sheng slowly got out of bed.
Since marrying into the Pingyin Marquis's family, Qin Sheng has always maintained a very regular schedule, getting up every day before dawn.
But she didn't get up on time today.
The two maids, Qiao'er and Fei Cui, didn't come in to greet the Madam, assuming it was because the Earl had taken a new concubine and the Madam was in a bad mood.
The courtyard of Concubine Ye was not far away. It was clearly intentional on their part. Early in the morning, the maids in Concubine Ye's courtyard spread the word that the master and concubine had asked for water four times last night.
Qiao'er's face turned red with anger upon hearing this.
Fearing that she might not be able to keep her secrets and would talk nonsense in front of the madam, Emerald wouldn't let her into the room, and instead brought in breakfast herself.
Qin Sheng had already washed up and changed her clothes by herself.
"Madam, breakfast is here." Emerald smiled as she placed the breakfast on the table: a bowl of white fungus and bird's nest porridge, two plates of pastries, and a bowl of flower juice and honey syrup.
Qin Sheng only fell asleep in the middle of the night, and had only slept for about three hours.
She raised her hand and touched her face, feeling that her complexion must not be very good.
After Qin Sheng had breakfast, stewards from the manor began to come to her to report on matters concerning the manor.
By the time they finished dealing with these stewards, more than half an hour had passed.
Qin Sheng was drinking tea when Qiao'er came in from outside, her little face puffed up with anger.
“Madam,” Qiao’er curtsied, then said angrily, “The Lord sent someone over to say that Aunt Ye is not feeling well today and will not be coming to pay her respects to you.”
"..."
Qin Sheng didn't react much when she heard this.
These are all things that happened in her past life, but the difference is that her state of mind was different in her past life than it is now.
Now, Qin Sheng felt very calm.
She said, "If you're not going to come, then don't come. Since Aunt Ye isn't feeling well, why don't you go find a doctor to take a look at her?"
"What?"
Qiao'er's eyes widened, and she said angrily, "Is Madam confused? That's just an excuse, and Madam actually believed it!"
The little girl almost blurted it out.
What's wrong with her? She called for water four times last night. No wonder that Aunt Ye won't be able to get up to pay her respects to the Madam today!
However, Sister Jade said that she should not tell Madam about this, lest Madam be unhappy if she found out.
Qin Sheng shook his head and smiled, "Go ahead."
"..."
Qiao'er was still angry, but Fei Cui pulled her out, afraid that the girl would say something outrageous and not know how to keep her mouth shut.
Qin Sheng didn't take it to heart.
In his previous life, it was the same. Yin Wenxiao was afraid that she would make things difficult for Ye Jiaoniang during the greetings, so he tried every means to prevent Ye Jiaoniang from coming.
The reason she sent Qiao'er to fetch a doctor was merely to put on a show.
Even if the doctor is brought back, Yin Wenxiao will not let him take Ye Jiaoniang's pulse.
For five consecutive days, Yin Wenxiao stayed in Ye Jiaoniang's courtyard. Qin Sheng naturally heard about this and said that the Earl and Aunt Ye would call for water two or three times every night.
The sixth day.
In the morning, Qin Sheng went to the front yard first. A batch of fine fabrics from the south would be delivered to the manor today, and Madam needed to go and check them herself.
On the way back from the front yard, Qin Sheng noticed something was wrong.
Although the servants she encountered along the way were still respectful to her, there seemed to be something wrong with the way they looked at her.
When they returned to the courtyard, Qiao'er was arguing with a second-class maid. The maid, Caiyue, said something that made Qiao'er's face turn red with anger.
"What's all the noise about?" Qin Sheng walked over.
"Madam..." Qiao'er sniffed when she saw Madam, and glared at Caiyue as if to warn her not to talk too much in front of Madam.
Qin Sheng looked at Caiyue and said, "Why are you glaring at Caiyue? Caiyue, you tell us what's going on?"
"I……"
Caiyue stammered, then gritted her teeth and said, "It's all because of the people from Mingyue Pavilion! The manor is about to make winter clothes for the masters. According to the rules, as the principal wife, you get five sets of new clothes each season, while the concubines get three. But today, when I went to submit the order to the head chef at Jinshige, I ran into Qiu Kui, the maidservant of Concubine Ye from Mingyue Pavilion. Qiu Kui actually told the head chef at Jinshige that Concubine Ye also needs five sets of winter clothes!"
"I was furious and argued with her for a bit, but Qiu Kui suddenly shouted that it was the Lord's order, and that the money for Aunt Ye's clothes came from his private treasury, not from public funds!"
Qiao'er, her eyes also red, said, "That brat Qiu Kui clearly did it on purpose. Now the whole manor knows that the Earl dotes on Concubine Ye to the extreme..."
"..."
So that's what it was about.
Qin Sheng recalled the looks the servants had given her on her way back, and immediately understood.
She said, "These are just trivial matters, why are you arguing like this?"
It was probably because she didn't go to the front yard that night that Yin Wenxiao felt embarrassed and got angry, so he deliberately did it to show her. Ha, interesting.
The servants in the mansion are all adept at changing their tune depending on the situation. Seeing how favored Concubine Ye has become so soon after entering the mansion, many of them have already gone to curry favor with her.
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