Chapter 27: Not Knowing What's Good For You
It was not until the beginning of July that Jiaoran was able to get out of bed, but after she recovered from her illness, her complexion was even better than before.
In addition, the young master did not treat her harshly, and she was given a constant supply of precious medicines to replenish her qi and blood.
Seeing Xiaoju bring her new clothes and trying to put them on her, Jiaoran said embarrassedly, "Thank you so much, sister, for taking care of me during my illness. It's been so troublesome."
Xiaoju looked at her and wanted to tell her, but when the words came to her lips, she didn't know what to say.
"Sister must be very busy these days, helping the master clean up the inner courtyard." Jiaoran said while changing clothes.
Xiaoju said it didn't matter, "I was born to work hard, so working more or less doesn't make any difference."
The house had already begun to be decorated. When Jiaoran saw the red all over the yard, he thought of the bright balsam flowers.
The lady of the Cheng family is as gorgeous as a cockscomb. It is true that she is more beautiful than flowers and outshines all other beauties. Her beauty is even better than the several young ladies of the Chai family who do not leave the garden.
One day, she was coming down from the small kitchen and passed by a tank of goldfish when she saw a familiar figure.
It was Bu Yue.
It had been a while since I last saw him, and Jiaoran felt particularly close to him.
She was about to go up and talk to them when she saw a group of people walking towards her in the distance, so she lowered her head.
Bu Yue, dressed in a guard's uniform, walked past Jiaoran and said a few words briefly.
"On the fifteenth, when the operation begins, you will be responsible for unlocking the armory and the locks on the box containing the Takayama Shou. Just follow Fenghuang Chu's instructions. Once you're done, follow Zhuxing and she'll pick you up."
"But……"
But what should the young master do? If she took the secret book like that, the Governor's Mansion would be in chaos without the secret book. She suddenly disappeared from the young master's side, and everyone would be suspicious. Even if no one saw her actions, it would definitely cause trouble for the young master later.
"If you have to fart, do it quickly." Bu Yue said as he looked around.
"I want to take Mu Jin with me!" As soon as she said this, she was shocked. This was what she thought in her heart.
"What are you talking about? Stop looking for trouble. He has nothing to do with us. Are you afraid of causing trouble for him and bringing disaster to him? Oh, you women are so soft-hearted. With your temper, we in Huiyingmen should stop doing anything and just act like Bodhisattvas every day!"
"What if the governor punishes him? He won't be able to withstand the punishment."
Bu Yue really wanted to slap her hard, "What should I do? What should I do? You are just meddling in other people's business. He is a young master from an aristocratic family. Even if he is not valued by his family, he is still different from ordinary people like us. You are just a servant, and you still feel sorry for your master? Just do your own thing. You really think of yourself as a servant because you have been a maid for a few days? Idiot."
Jiaoran was about to argue, but before he could say anything, he left in a hurry in anger.
Just then, Chai Hui came towards them. It turned out that he was the one who brought that team.
Jiaoran felt unlucky when he saw him, so he bowed and was about to take the things back.
"I heard that you were beaten by my aunt?" He smiled with schadenfreude.
Jiao Ran couldn't hold back his excitement. If only he could kick him away, "Thank you for your concern, Third Young Master."
He poked Jiaoran's shoulder and said, "Are you okay? You look fine and there are no external injuries."
Jiao Ran stared, thinking, "Am I okay? If the young master hadn't arrived in time, I would have almost died at the hands of your aunt."
"Why are you glaring at me? I didn't hit you."
Jiaoran was helpless. The punch he had given her in the stomach some time ago was no less severe than the one he had given her by the madman.
"If the Third Young Master has nothing else to do, Jiaoran will leave first."
"Hey, what are you in such a hurry for!"
"It's hot, I have to go and bring mung bean soup to the young master to cool him down." Jiaoran said, raising the soup bowl in his hand.
He burst out laughing. "Mu Jin doesn't eat mung beans. Didn't anyone tell you? He also doesn't eat red beans. How could you not know that?"
Jiao Ran raised an eyebrow. How could she not know? Anyway, the young master didn't drink it. When he left it there to serve the pen and ink, he must have told her to drink it and not waste it. She loved drinking mung bean soup, so he took it for herself. After all, it was for her to drink, just borrowing the young master's name. She usually took her favorite food back from the kitchen in this way.
Roasted pigeon was too greasy, and the young master didn't like it, so she ate it. Ginseng chicken soup had a medicinal smell, and the young master didn't like it, but she finished it in one gulp. Steamed crab was cold, and the young master didn't like it, but she ate it with relish...
"Is that so? Thank you for the reminder, Third Young Master. Now that I have taken it, I might as well take it back and ask you if you want to drink some," she said.
Chai Hui saw through it all but refused to say it out loud. He thought to himself, who knows who will eat it after he takes it back!
After saying this, Jiaoran was about to leave, but as usual, Chai Hui stood in front of her.
"I haven't finished talking yet, who told you to leave?"
He clapped his hands twice in triumph, and at that moment, the people following him opened the carved wooden boxes in their hands one by one.
There was a box filled with seasonal fruits, another box filled with seafood and wild poultry, two boxes filled with silk and satin, two pieces each for spring, summer, autumn and winter, and one box filled with silver. The remaining box sparkled with gold when it was opened.
Seeing all the food, silk, silver, etc., Jiao Ran asked in confusion, "What are you doing?"
"It's for you."
Jiaoran quickly thought about what Chai Hui was up to. Could he have hidden poison?
She took a decisive step back and said, "No reward without merit. I dare not accept such a generous gift! Third Master, please ask them to carry it back to your warehouse." Jiaoran said.
Chai Hui sneered, "A generous gift? What kind of generous gift is that? My father is the governor, and my mother is the daughter of the richest man in Quzhou. Compared to what I have, this little bit is just like plucking a hair from an ox or a leaf from the forest."
Jiaoran fanned himself with his hands. It was such a hot day, and he was still standing here talking nonstop. He wished he could suddenly turn into a piece of ice that couldn't speak.
"Yes, the Third Young Master is very wealthy, so it's better to keep it safe and not let thieves get jealous." She said
"This little thing is nothing to be proud of! Look at your clothes, they are so plain and simple, you are so young but you are dressed like you are in mourning. They say that a wise bird chooses a tree, Mu Jin is about to marry, and the lady from the Cheng family is not on good terms with you, right? If she goes to Siyu Garden, you will suffer. Why don't you come to me? There is no mistress in Jinlin Garden, and the concubines won't dare to bully you. You can even practice swordsmanship with me later, how about it?"
"No—" she said simply.
"You're afraid Mu Jin won't let me go, right? Don't worry, I'll go talk to my dad. If he refuses, I'll ask my second brother to talk to my dad. My second brother's words are effective. Come on, I've cleaned up the room for you."
"No——" Jiaoran didn't know why he suddenly thought of this.
Seeing Jiaoran about to leave, he said anxiously, "Hey, I like you so much, why are you so stubborn and ungrateful?!"
She was stunned for a moment, staring at him in confusion for a while, and suddenly realized that he might have been kicked by a donkey, so she hurried to leave. The people in the Chai family were as sick as the madman who hurt her.
Seeing that Jiaoran rejected his kindness and refused to accept the food and silk, Chai Hui was so angry that he snatched her mung bean soup and held it high.
"You! Give it back to me." Jiao Ran completely lost his patience and tugged at his arm, saying, "This is a new soup bowl. If you break it, I'll definitely get scolded. Give it back to me now!"
Seeing her lose her temper, Chai Hui unexpectedly returned it to her obediently without spilling a drop, and whispered, "If you want it, I'll give it back to you. But if you keep rejecting me, I might continue to bully you. Aren't you afraid?"
Jiao Ran said bluntly, "I'm afraid. Your aunt almost killed me with one palm strike. Why don't you ambush me from behind on a dark and windy night and see if you can kill me with one palm strike."
After saying that, she took the mung bean soup and walked away, ignoring him.
Jiaoran pushed open the half-open door and turned around to see someone in the yard digging the pebbles that formed a cloud pattern.
She went into the house and put the mung bean soup on the table. Since the young master didn't say anything, she didn't say anything either. She put down the things and lay on the windowsill to chat with the people outside.
"Why did you take out all the pebbles? They look so beautiful." Jiaoran was puzzled.
She leaned halfway out of the window, her hands on the windowsill, and watched them struggling to raise their heads.
The servants were silent, their faces all red from the sun.
The young master asked her to close the window facing the sun.
"What's wrong? Do you want to grind ink?" She lowered the window.
I looked down and saw there were still many.
"No, it's just too hot." He finished writing a line.
"How about I fan you, sir?" She picked up a folding fan.
He said no, "It's not very hot."
Jiaoran was stunned for a moment. Is it hot or not?
The only sound in the study was the rubbing of the wolf-hair brush tip against paper.
Jiaoran stood aside and saw that he was silent again, so he held up the mung bean soup and asked him if he wanted to drink it again.
He asked in return, “Why not?”
He took it from Jiaoran, scooped up a spoonful and held it to his lips. He paused for a long time, not knowing what he was thinking. Jiaoran thought he was lost in thought, "Sir?"
He took a sip and quickly closed the soup bowl.
"Sir, do you want to drink the rest? If not, I will finish it." Jiaoran said.
He quickly pushed the rest aside, "It's hot... the taste is wrong... there's lotus seed tea in the kitchen, go get a cup and drink it. This... just pour it out."
Jiaoran agreed, but she didn't understand why he seemed a little flustered.
When the servant came back, he saw Jiaoran passing by and said, "This Cheng family lady has already started to make decisions before she even married into the mansion. I'm afraid everyone's life will be difficult in the future."
"What's going on?" Jiaoran asked.
"Just a few days ago, Madam Cheng said that the courtyard she used to live in was built with Balin stone, and that these pebbles were really stingy. She also said that there was a large white stone in her courtyard, as clean as jade, warm in winter and cool in summer. Don't we have a Yuanji Tower behind this hall? The young master often climbs up there to enjoy the view. Madam Cheng saw it and said, 'It's a great place. Why not dig a pond behind the tower, plant lotus flowers in it, and put in a few hundred goldfish...'"
The servant was still complaining that Cheng Yuan's hand was stretched too far, but before Jiaoran's eyes, countless goldfish were playing and jumping under the sunlight of the summer sunset, shining brightly. The young master must have been very happy to see it.
To be honest, Mrs. Cheng is a really wonderful person.
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