Yinzhen was taken aback, then leisurely got up without saying a word. He pointed towards the washroom. Nan Yi needed his help, so she brought him a basin of water. He sighed and wrung out a handkerchief to wash his face and hands. After Nan Yi put the basin down, he pointed to the tea.
Nan Yi was furious. He poured another cup of tea for his master. Yinzhen took a sip and then said leisurely, "Speak, what is it?"
His generosity made Nan Yi feel a little timid. She carefully refilled his teacup and said, "From now on, may I pay my respects to the Princess Consort on the first and fifteenth of each month?"
She refused to get up early every day, and we had to take away her good habit of sleeping in.
Yinzhen frowned coldly. This woman had only just returned to the manor and already wanted to break the established rules. He said indifferently, "These are the rules." The inner courtyard was managed by the Fujin (principal wife), and he did not want to break the rules of the inner courtyard.
Nan Yi refused to listen. She had no regard for rules and no longer felt the slight fear she had felt when facing the Fourth Master. "I'm used to strolling around in the other courtyard and can't get up. Besides, I want to take care of my health," Nan Yi casually offered an excuse.
"What does taking care of your health have to do with paying respects?" Yinzhen twitched his lips, refusing to budge.
Nan Yi gritted his teeth and forced her to tell the truth. No wonder she didn't give him any face. She said in a low voice, "To tell you the truth, I'm not patient with these things. Women getting together is never a good thing. Haven't you heard that three women make a drama? Last time, I didn't even touch Sister Li, but she got into trouble for no reason, and I was demoted to another courtyard. Don't tell me I don't know about this."
Yinzhen narrowed his eyes, a dark glint in them. He had indeed investigated and found several women involved in the inner court. It was likely that the Fujin (Prince Consort) had also made moves. He didn't want to investigate further, fearing there might be something he didn't want to see. As a prince, he was well aware of the filth in the inner court, and as long as the bottom line wasn't crossed, he would tolerate it.
This was the first time he had been spoken to so bluntly to someone's face, so he frowned and said, "I will mention it to my wife."
His tone was ambiguous, not explicitly indicating his agreement. Upon hearing this, Nan was overjoyed and gave Yinzhen a big, enthusiastic kiss. He was so perceptive! Oh, I forgot to mention, she learned this trick from her eldest sister-in-law.
Yinzhen slightly curved the corners of his lips into a smile. His face was slightly flushed, and his tone was somewhat unnatural, "You should rest. I'm going to see my wife."
He stood up, his robes billowing in the breeze as he moved. Nan Yi glanced at his retreating figure as he walked out the door, his movements as swift and decisive as if he were leaving without a trace.
"Master, someone from the other courtyard came to say that a young maid has been bitten by a snake, and..." Yiren swallowed the rest of her words. Qiu Ma said that the snake entering the other courtyard was probably intentional, using the snake to harm the master. They had been too careless at the time. Sure enough, people become complacent when they relax.
"And what? How is that girl?" Nan Yi urged.
Yi Ren's eyes were filled with anger. "The girl was fine when she was first bitten, thinking that the snake was non-venomous. The next day, her face started to itch. She couldn't help but scratch it a few times, and as a result, her face was ruined." If it had been any of the girls or the master who had been bitten, they would probably have been ruined for life. This tactic of cutting off someone's escape route is really vicious.
Nan Yi was shocked. It turned out that she had already walked through the gates of hell and was disfigured. What a huge grudge that must have been. It must have been done by some people. She was demoted to another courtyard, but they still relentlessly pursued her. What a pity for that girl.
Yiren said indignantly, "Master, should we talk to the master?"
Nan Yi pondered for a moment, then asked, "What did Aunt Qiu say?"
Yiren hesitated for a moment and said, "Aunt Qiu said that we shouldn't make wild guesses about things without evidence or proof. We should just be more careful in the future."
"Yes, that's what I meant too. We should be more vigilant about Lan Academy in the future," she said, not wanting to be bothered by these things, as life would be meaningless without them.
"Go and fetch a doctor for that girl, and also give her a hundred taels of silver. From now on, she can continue to live in the other courtyard, and her monthly allowance will remain the same." That was all she could do; she couldn't do any more. Yiren agreed and did as she was told. Just as she was about to leave, Nan Yi said, "Invite Aunt Qiu here."
"yes"
When Qiu's mother entered the room, Nan Yi was in a daze, lost in thought, seemingly preoccupied with something.
"This servant greets Your Highness," Qiu Ma said softly. She raised her head, a look of confusion in her eyes, and after a moment, said, "Qiu Ma, you've arrived. Please sit down."
"Aunt Qiu, you've heard about it, haven't you?"
"What does the mistress want to hear?" Qiu Ma asked tentatively. Having spent time with Bi Zhi, she had heard about the mistress's situation and found that she had indeed changed her personality, which was very different from her previous image as a well-bred young lady. In fact, they could be said to be two completely different personalities.
The servants said it was due to amnesia, but she couldn't deny it or explain why. She just did her best to handle things. The concubine trusted her and didn't care about anything these past two days, acting as a hands-off manager. She also treated everyone around her well, so she felt at ease and did her best to help her, just to find a place to retire.
"You probably don't know, but I don't want to deal with these troublesome things. I just want to live a good life. As long as no one comes to bully me, I will repay them tenfold. I will treat the matter of the villa as an accident. I will just have to trouble Aunt Qiu from now on."
She was annoyed by constant scheming; she wasn't afraid of open attacks, but she feared hidden arrows.
Qiu Ma was confident. "This servant understands. It's not difficult for the mistress to have a peaceful life. It's just a matter of strictly guarding the courtyard. This servant is 80% confident. There's only one thing: the kitchen."
It should be known that many backyard schemes and intrigues are carried out in the form of food, making the kitchen of utmost importance.
“Master probably doesn’t know that our daily meals are taken from the main kitchen, which is also the easiest place to tamper with food. If you want to eliminate the source of someone’s evil intentions, start with the kitchen,” Qiu Ma pointed out the key point.
That's true. She hadn't thought about that yet. She probably thought that this little backyard was just a game of make-believe in Qiu Ma's eyes.
She frowned and said, "What should we do?" Everyone else was assigned to the main kitchen, so she couldn't be an exception.
Aunt Qiu chuckled, “Master, you have a small kitchen in your yard, so you can get ingredients from the main kitchen, which reduces the risk.” Reduced risk, but not risk-free.
"That's possible, but it would be even better if we could source and sell the ingredients ourselves," since the ingredients might be different and we wouldn't be able to tamper with them.
"…Well, Master, there's a proper order to things, so things can proceed naturally. You can't get fat in one bite. Let's deal with the small kitchen first, then plan for the future." The master was unaware of the intricacies involved, and doing this all at once would be too conspicuous.
Nan Yi smiled in relief, "That's true. Do you have a solution?"
Aunt Qiu nodded, whispered a few words in Nan Yi's ear, and Nan Yi excitedly clung to Aunt Qiu's shoulder, praising, "That works, let's do it this way."
Aunt Qiu chuckled. Her mistress had never seen the many tricks of the palace; this was just an appetizer.
"Aunt Qiu, you go ahead. Master will be here for dinner. Yiren is in charge of the money. If you need anything, you can handle it yourselves."
Nan's family was flush with cash, and now that they had money in hand, they hadn't touched a single penny of the dowry's cash. They treated their personal servants exceptionally well, and said, "Aunt Qiu, from now on, the courtyard will depend on you. I won't say more, you'll know later." Let their actions prove it.
Aunt Qiu chuckled. She knew that her master was kind and gentle. She entrusted all the tens of thousands of taels of silver to the maid to manage. She had heard that the maid often rewarded her with things, such as fabric, new clothes, jewelry, and medicine. She was never stingy. She was afraid that she had met a good master.
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