Qin Sheng then called out to the maid, "Wait."
The young maidservant was somewhat frightened and stopped trembling as she bowed: "Madam..."
Qin Sheng glanced at the contents of the tray. The small bowls were covered with lids and looked like soup or something similar.
"What are these things?" Qin Sheng asked.
"Replying to Madam, it's red date and black chicken soup, and...and milk, which the old lady instructed to send to Aunt Ye."
"..."
Qin Sheng was even more puzzled. The old lady clearly wished Ye Jiaoniang dead that day, which was quite unusual.
We arrived at the Pine and Willow Courtyard.
Today, Madam Yin was wearing a brand new brown Shu brocade jacket, which was quite eye-catching. She was also carrying a delicate little hand warmer.
"They're here."
Madam Yin asked Qin Sheng to sit down and then called for Granny Shi to serve her tea before speaking, "You've come at the right time. Have all the preparations for the new concubine's arrival been made?"
Qin Sheng nodded: "It's all arranged. There's a small courtyard next to Mingyue Pavilion, so we'll arrange it there."
Madam Yin was satisfied. "Besides the place to live, we must not be stingy with all the food, clothing and daily necessities. We must arrange everything that needs to be arranged."
"yes."
Madam Yin added, "There have been a lot of messy things going on in the mansion lately, so there's no need to prepare any banquet. Just let the family have a good time and bring them in to stay."
Then he gave Qin Sheng some more instructions.
"What about Aunt Ye's side---"
Before leaving, Qin Sheng suddenly brought up Ye Jiaoniang, "Madam, what do you think? Should we just keep her confined to Mingyue Pavilion indefinitely, or...?"
Madam Yin waved her hand: "Jiaoniang, I have my own arrangements, so you don't need to worry about it."
A while ago, when Ye Jiaoniang was mentioned, the old lady clearly cursed her as a "bastard" through gritted teeth, but now that she mentioned her again, her tone had miraculously softened.
Qin Sheng's doubts deepened.
Back at Zhefang Courtyard, Qin Sheng called Caiyue over. "I remember your cousin works in the stables, right? Have him help me find out about someone."
He then whispered in Caiyue's ear.
Caiyue nodded and said solemnly, "Madam, rest assured, I will definitely have my cousin do his best to find out for you."
After Caiyue left, Qiao'er immediately asked curiously, "Does Madam want to inquire about Aunt Ye's family?"
Qin Sheng shook her head.
She couldn't explain why, but she always had a bad feeling about it.
Fortunately, Caiyue's cousin was reliable and found out the truth in just two days.
Qin Sheng used the excuse of going out to inspect the shops to go to a teahouse and went straight up to the second floor to enter a private room.
At this moment, a slightly awkward young man was sitting in the room. He was Xia Sang, Ye Jiaoniang's so-called fiancé.
"Young Master Xia," Qin Sheng called out.
"Madam Yin." Xia Sang quickly stood up and bowed to Qin Sheng.
Qin Sheng asked, "The Yin family has already compensated Young Master Xia with one thousand taels of silver. Although your family heirloom cannot be found, this capital city is not a place to stay for long. Why hasn't Young Master Xia left yet?"
"What do you think, Madam?" Xia Sang asked, her eyes fixed on Qin Sheng.
"..."
Just as Qiao'er was about to reprimand him for his rudeness, she heard the madam speak up, "Is the young master afraid that he will be killed once he leaves the capital? On the contrary, if you stay in the capital, even if someone wants to kill you, they will have to think twice before doing so, since this is under the emperor's nose."
When someone pointed it out, Xia Sang simply said, "I am afraid of death and have made you laugh at me, Madam."
Qin Sheng shook his head. "It's just human nature, nothing to laugh about. However, if you want to leave the capital safely and return home, I can help you."
Xia Sang's heart stirred; he naturally wanted to go back.
He came to the capital alone only to retrieve his family heirloom from Ye Jiaoniang. Now that he can't get it back, what's the point of him staying?
It would be better to go back to Hushan and continue studying with my uncle, so I can take the imperial examination next year.
However, it wasn't that Xia Sang was being petty and judging others by his own standards; rather, the Yin family was simply too powerful and influential for an ordinary person like him.
In the capital, after all, it's right under the emperor's nose. Who knows if they'll kill us to silence us once we leave the capital?
He dared not gamble with his life.
"May I ask what your conditions are, Madam?" Xia Sang asked.
Finally getting to the point, Qin Sheng sat down, picked up her teacup and took a sip of tea before asking, "I want to know, why did your parents agree to your engagement with Ye Jiaoniang back then?"
"this……"
There's nothing wrong with saying it, Xia Sang said: "Actually, my parents didn't agree at first. Jiao Niang and her daughter were an orphan and had a hard time, while my family had a tofu shop and a few acres of land, so we were doing alright."
"However, it was Aunt Ye who contacted my parents. They closed the door and talked inside the house. I happened to come back from outside that day and overheard some of it."
"Jiao Niang... seems to have a very remarkable father."
"..."
Qin Sheng suddenly felt a sharp shock in her heart and subconsciously asked, "What extraordinary father? Do you know who he is?"
Xia Sang shook her head. "All I know is that Aunt Ye has a token that was given to her by Jiao Niang's biological father. My parents... then agreed to my engagement with Jiao Niang, and our family has taken good care of them."
However, it is said that "there is much gossip around a widow's door."
Ye Jiaoniang's mother eventually couldn't bear the harassment any longer and moved away from the village with her daughter.
However, the houses they lived in after moving out were all arranged by the Xia family. Even the job that Ye Jiaoniang's mother got in the town's wealthy family was introduced by Xia Sang's father.
In fact, the Xia family has been a great help to the mother and daughter.
Later, Xia's parents passed away one after another due to illness. After handling their funeral arrangements, Xia Sang sold the family property and went to study in another town with her uncle.
Before leaving, he went to see Ye Jiaoniang.
Xia Sang believed that since the two were already engaged, he would definitely marry his beloved in the future.
So he gave the family heirloom jade pendant to Jiao Niang, telling her to wait for him, and that he would return to marry her once the mourning period was over.
But unexpectedly, later---
Xia Sang shook her head.
He was truly devoted to Jiaoniang, even leaving her a considerable amount of money before leaving, and frequently writing to her afterward. Who knew...
"but---"
Xia Sang hesitated for a moment, but still said, "Once I went to Jiao Niang's house to deliver something. Jiao Niang wasn't home. Aunt Ye was holding something and seemed to be lost in thought... It was a jade pendant about the size of a palm with two characters on it, one of which was the character '慧' (hui)."
"Wisdom?"
Qin Sheng frowned, going through all the powerful and influential people she had ever heard of in her mind.
However, none of their names contain the character '慧'.
However, judging from Madam Yin's attitude towards Ye Jiaoniang, Qin Sheng could be fairly certain that Ye Jiaoniang's identity might not be so simple.
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