Liu was afraid that she would ask more questions, so she quickly changed the subject and said, "Sister Yan, Princess Yong'an specially sent a hairpin invitation. No one in our mansion has ever had the honor of attending Princess Yong'an's banquet. Your father will definitely be very happy to know. You go back first, and I will ask Jin Yuzhai to come and pick out a set of headwear for you, okay?"

Sheng Xiyan stood up and bowed, "Thank you, mother."

As soon as Sheng Xiyan left, Liu's face darkened: "What's going on with the wife of the Marquis of Yongning?"

A few days ago, he said he would come but didn't, and he didn't send anyone to tell him, but now he's here again. He claims to be from a famous family, but he doesn't even know the rules.

"Madam, please calm down." Nanny Sun leaned over to refill her tea. "I have asked around. It seems that the reason why the Marquis' wife broke her promise last time was because something happened to the Yongning Marquis' son."

Liu frowned and asked, "What happened?"

Nanny Sun said, "I heard that he was walking on a horse in the streets of Beijing and was taken away by the patrol officers of the Northern City Military Department. According to the law, he was given 20 strokes of the cane before being released."

"What?!" Liu blurted out, hardly able to believe her ears.

A noble son of a marquisate would be beaten with a stick twenty times for such a trivial matter as letting a horse run in the street? You must be joking.

Last time, the illegitimate son of the Earl of Zhongyong fell in love with a young lady selling flowers and tried to take her away by force. However, she "accidentally slipped" and fell out of the tavern. After the Jingzhao Prefecture came to check, they just said it was an accident and asked the lady's family to compensate her with 100 taels of silver.

How could the Prince of Yongning be beaten by the Sima of the North City Army just because of a mere horse?

"You're not making a mistake, are you?"

"Madam, you also know that I have a distant cousin. Her family all work in the Yongning Marquis's mansion. Her son is a promising man and serves as the long-time attendant of the third son of the mansion. Last time, the wife of the Yongning Marquis didn't come, so I secretly asked my cousin to find out about it, and that's how I found out." After explaining, Madam Sun emphasized, "It should be correct."

Ever since Fang Fei was driven away, Nanny Sun could feel that Mrs. Liu had become noticeably colder towards her. Instead, she became closer to the little girl Amber and took her everywhere with her. This made Nanny Sun feel that her position would be replaced sooner or later.

After hearing the news, Nanny Sun deliberately did not say it directly, waiting for Mrs. Liu to get anxious, so that she could show her importance.

She glanced at Amber with a smug look.

Amber was listless and didn't notice Nanny Sun's hostility. After they finished talking, she said, "Madam, the nanny sent by the wife of Marquis Yongning is still outside, waiting for your reply."

Liu frowned and said in a pretentious manner, "Just say I'm busy these days."

I invited her, but she said she wouldn't come and now she wants to come, do I still have to wait for her?

"Yes, ma'am." Amber went down.

Liu said to Nanny Sun: "Let's just let her wait and make her anxious!" This way it will be easier to negotiate terms in the future.

Grandma Sun flattered her and said, "Madam is wise."

Liu held the embroidered handkerchief in her hand, her slender fingers slightly tensed, and after a long while she sighed, "Madame Sun, go call the matchmaker today and let the eldest daughter choose a chambermaid. We have to find something for her to do."

Nanny Sun agreed, and so that day a matchmaker came into the mansion and brought a few people for Sheng Xiyan to choose.

Because they knew that the people were chosen to be companions, the matchmaker always brought healthy couples and their children.

Sheng Xiyan picked two rooms, both of them were a couple in their thirties, with a son and a daughter.

She asked a few questions, and they were able to answer them fluently. Their manners were pretty good, and their words and deeds did not seem to be those of the cunning and dishonest type. She asked the matchmaker again, and she said that these were all sons of a wealthy family, who had to sell their property because their master's merchant ship sank and all their money was lost.

Sheng Xiyan kept them and temporarily settled them in the Sheng family, holding the indentures in her own hands.

After the matchmaker left, Sheng Xiyan asked, "Xigui, do you think there are any maids in our yard that can be used?"

Xigui thought about it carefully and said, "Erui is not bad. She is a widowed child born in a family. She is very smart, knows a few words, and is very good at embroidery, but she is a bit quiet."

Sheng Xiyan nodded slightly and let her continue.

Xigui then went on to explain in detail: "Erui's maternal grandfather's family was the lady's concubine. Her mother used to be the housekeeper who trained the maids in the mansion. Her father was the manager in charge of purchasing. One year, her father went out with her uncle, and no one knew what happened. He was beaten to death outside. The lady also took away her job in the mansion because it was unlucky to be a widow." The uncle Xigui mentioned was Liu's younger brother.

"Without a job, life was very difficult for them, mother and daughter. When E Rui was just eight years old, she was sent to the mansion to be a maid. She came to our Caijueyuan only two years ago."

I returned home early and knew the origins of several people in the yard like the back of my hand.

Sheng Xiyan no longer had any impression of E Rui, but from Xigui's words, she heard that E Rui and her mother did not have much relationship in the Marquis' Mansion, and E Rui's mother knew how to train servants, so it should be a good idea to take them away as companions.

Thinking of this, Sheng Xiyan decided: "Let her learn from you for now."

She only has Xigui, a personal maid, by her side now, and there is no nanny in the yard. Everything is managed by Xigui. Xigui has looked much more haggard in the past few days. Sheng Xiyan had been planning to recommend another personal maid and let her choose one herself.

Xigui was stunned for a moment, joy revealed in his pretty eyes and he responded with a smile.

She knew that the girl had gradually begun to believe her.

The girl was wary of her, but Xigui didn't care at all. In the past, when Fangfei was around, everything in the yard was controlled by Fangfei. She was a person left behind by the previous lady, and she was already an eyesore to the lady and Fangfei. The girl didn't care about anything, so she could only give in everywhere.

She had never done anything to help the girl before, so it was normal for the girl not to trust her completely. All she could do was to make the girl trust her more in the future.

"There is one more thing." Sheng Xiyan said thoughtfully, "There is a small green porcelain bottle in my study. You can give it to Amber. Tell Amber that this can cure children's convulsions. Let her give it to her brother. If it can cure the disease, she can do one thing for me..."

Sheng Xiyan waved her hand, and Xigui came over and listened attentively.

"It's not difficult for her..."

Amber was a first-class maidservant of Lady Liu. In her previous life, Amber's younger brother died of a sudden stroke. Amber was so sad that she was absent-minded while on duty and accidentally spilled a cup of warm tea on Lady Liu's biological daughter Sheng Ying. Lady Liu was so angry that she beat Amber half to death. A bowl of hot oil burned her throat and she was sold.

The medicinal herbs that Sheng Xiyan had asked Baicaotang to prepare were for Amber.

This is the Xu family's exclusive recipe, specially designed to treat pediatric convulsions. It is more effective than the commonly used Zixuesan on the market, but it contains several herbs that require special preparation, which is quite troublesome to make. I only got this bottle yesterday.

At that time, she just wanted to place a pair of eyes next to Liu to prevent her from being touched in everything. She didn't expect that this move would be used here. It can be said that the timing is perfect.

Just now in the main courtyard, she noticed that Amber was absent-minded, with red eyes, totally unlike her usual cute and cheerful self. She guessed that Amber's brother must be sick.

Xigui responded to the order. After settling the two newly bought families, she took the small porcelain bottle to look for Amber.

Amber has taken leave and returned home. His family lives in a small alley behind the Sheng Mansion. This alley is inhabited by the Sheng family's servants.

Xigui knocked on Amber's door. Soon, the door opened and she saw a face full of despair and sadness.

Seeing Xi return, Amber was a little surprised. She hastily wiped her tears with her sleeve and asked with sobs, "What's the matter?"

"Miss, I heard that your brother had a stroke, so I brought you some medicine." Xigui took out a small porcelain bottle from his sleeve pocket. "Miss, she said that if you feed him the medicine three times a day, he will be cured in three days."

Amber was slightly startled, and her gray eyes brightened slightly.

Xigui smiled and took the initiative to put the small porcelain bottle into her hand. He squeezed her hand and said, "Take it first. It's up to you whether you want to use it or not. The girl said that if you can save your brother, you just need to do something for her. I'm leaving first."

Xigui didn't stay long and turned around and left.

Amber held the small porcelain bottle in her hand, feeling a warm and cool sensation in her palm, with a look of doubt on her face.

Her brother was just six years old. He suddenly had a fever the night before last. Then the fever got higher and higher. He was delirious. Dad took her brother to see a doctor yesterday. The doctor said it was a pediatric convulsion and gave him Zixuesan. Not long after taking it, the fever subsided. But in the second half of the night, the fever came back, which was worse than before. His hands and feet were twitching.

My parents later found several doctors, but my brother's fever kept getting higher and higher...

Early this morning, her mother sent someone to give her a message, asking her to go home quickly to check on the patient, saying that the patient might be in serious condition.

Amber took leave and rushed back.

When I returned home, my brother was already delirious from fever and kept talking nonsense.

"Ah-ah!"

At this moment, a heart-wrenching scream came from the room. At that moment, Amber's mind went blank. Without thinking, she ran in, staggering.

Inside the room, a haggard middle-aged woman was hugging a little boy tightly. She seemed to have lost her soul, and she only shouted, "Pillar! Pillar!"

There was another middle-aged man standing beside the bed, wiping his eyes constantly.

The little boy's eyes were dull, his hands and feet kept twitching, his face was pale and faintly deathly, and he was breathing out more than he was breathing in.

Amber seemed to have lost all her strength, and her whole body went limp: "Brother..."

Amber's hand loosened involuntarily, and a small green porcelain bottle slipped from her palm.

Bang!

The slight sound brought Amber back to consciousness.

She stared at the small porcelain bottle rolling on the ground, her eyes suddenly widened, and she rushed over like a beast protecting its cub, grabbed the porcelain bottle, pulled out the stopper without thinking, and poured out a bright purple pill from it.

Amber bit her lip, made up her mind, and stuffed the pill into the boy's mouth.

The pill melted in his mouth and flowed into his throat...