Chapter 10 Found Someone
In the study room of the east courtyard of the Chen Mansion.
Uncle Chen Sanye was wearing an amber robe lining, his face as calm as water. He stood in front of the desk, holding a pen in his right hand, and wrote the word "wait" on the rice paper with quick strokes.
The servant who came from Shou'an Hall to deliver the message waited on the side, with his head down and not daring to breathe.
The third master of the East Courtyard, as all his servants knew, was a good-tempered man who did not get angry easily.
But once he gets angry, even the ancestors of Shou'an Hall will have to give in.
Master Chen San handed the written words to the servant who served in the study, washed his hands and dried them in the basin brought by the servant, walked to the tea table, poured the tea slowly, put it to his lips and took a sip, then turned his gaze to the servant of Shou'an Hall.
"Mother asked you to come here. What is your request?"
The servant sighed in his heart that he was unlucky and came at the wrong time.
But I could only bite the bullet and answer cautiously:
"The old lady said that if the Third Master doesn't like this, he can just say it out loud. There's no need to wrong himself and sleep in the study every day."
Mr. Chen San was not surprised that Old Madam Chen knew about this. He had never intended to hide it from her.
After a moment's silence, he told the servant in the study:
"Ping'an, go and make arrangements. Set aside a yard in the east courtyard and bring the girl in." Although he had not touched her, she was considered to be someone who had entered his room, and it would be against the rules to leave her outside.
Ping An withdrew and started to do it.
Seeing that the servant of Shou'an Hall was still standing there and had not left, Mr. Chen San knew that the old lady's matter was not over yet, so he asked again: "What else does the old lady want to say? Tell me all at once!"
The servant said, "Third Master, there are Madam Liu and Madam Jiang in the other courtyard. Please tell me who should be carried in tonight."
The situation in the court has been complicated recently, and Mr. Chen Sanye really has no interest in dealing with these matters in the bedroom.
He rubbed his brows and said, "No need, I'll go back and talk to my mother about this, you go out first!"
The servant hurriedly responded, left the study and closed the door.
After a while, Feng Mo came back, pushed the door and walked into the study, reporting:
"Third Master, the matter you asked me to investigate has yielded results."
Mr. Chen San shifted his gaze from the chess board in front of him and looked at Feng Mo, motioning for him to continue.
"The person who rode in our carriage last time in the South City neighborhood was not our girl."
Mr. Chen San retracted his gaze and asked casually:
"Which mansion?"
"Neither, Third Master. You will never guess who that person is." Feng Mo's face flashed with excitement.
Mr. Chen San raised his eyes and glanced at Feng Mo indifferently.
Feng Mo stopped laughing and didn't dare to keep the secret any longer. He reported the results of his investigation in detail.
"Jiang Xueqing?" Master Chen San threw the black pieces in his hand into the chess basket and asked Feng Mo:
"So you accidentally heard the servants in the mansion talking about it?"
After searching for so long without any results, Feng Mo came across them by chance. Mr. Chen San didn't believe in coincidences. It just so happened that the group of people had been biting him hard recently, so he could take this opportunity to take a look.
An inexplicable smile flashed across Master Chen San's lips. He instructed Feng Mo:
"Go to mother and tell her not to move the girl in my room for the time being. Wait until I have my day off in three days, and then go to the villa on the outskirts of the city to make plans. Tell her not to let the news leak out."
When will the master go to see these concubines? Is this a sudden enlightenment?
Feng Mo was very worried about his master being so old and still having no one to accompany him. After receiving the order, he immediately took action to do it.
……
The three ladies didn't know that the villa would welcome a distinguished guest in three days. Even Baoer didn't go to Chen's house today, so he came to Qinyuanju for dinner.
Seeing Lian Baoer looking like a hamster with her cheeks stuffed full, Liu Yu picked up some food for her in a funny way.
"Sister Yu, why are the dishes here better than those in the Chen Mansion? Can you ask your little maid to cook for me every day?" Lian Baoer said vaguely, still stuffing chopsticks into her little mouth and giggling.
"The chefs at the Chen residence are probably hard to find in the entire Yanjing. If they heard what you said, they would probably be upset to death," Liu Yu laughed, and then looked at Jingzhe who was still watering the vegetable garden over there, and joked: "Jingzhe, even my wife praised your dishes, saying that they are more delicious than those made by the chefs at the Chen residence."
Jingzhe quickly put down the ladle in his hand, walked over, and denied it:
"I can't compare. How can I compare with the chef in the mansion? Ladies, please don't tease me. It's making people laugh to death."
Liu Yu and Lian Baoer smiled at each other.
Look at the look on this little girl's face. If she says again that her cooking skills are better than the chef in the Chen residence's, she'll probably get angry.
Liu Yu did not discuss this topic any further, but asked: "Mrs. Lian said she likes your cooking. Are you willing to cook for her every day? If you cook well, Mrs. Lian said there will be a reward."
Fearing that Jingzhe would not agree, Lian Baoer hurriedly echoed Liu Yu's words: "Yes, yes, yes, there is a reward, there is a reward." As he said that, he put down his chopsticks, took off a gold bracelet, and stuffed it into Jingzhe's arms.
Jingzhe retreated again and again...
Looking at these two people, Liu Yu couldn't hide the smile on his face. Each one was more innocent than the other.
Finally Jingzhe couldn't hold on any longer and could only hide behind Liu Yu.
Liu Yu could only smile and persuade:
"Okay, Baoer, this bracelet is too valuable, Jingzhe definitely can't accept it. If you really like her cooking, I'll ask her to send some to your yard when she cooks."
Jingzhe nodded quickly and ran back to water the vegetable garden.
Hearing this, Lian Baoer had no choice but to put the bowl around her neck again. She was already eight-tenths full, so she had no intention of carrying the bowl again and followed Jingzhe to the vegetable garden.
Liu Yu was originally there to accompany Lian Baoer. When Lian Baoer stopped eating, she asked Guyu to remove the vegetables and she also went to the vegetable garden.
"Yujie, I finally know why your vegetables are more delicious than others. It turns out the secret lies in this vegetable garden." Lian Baoer plucked the small leaf of a cabbage seedling and exclaimed in amazement.
"I don't know, maybe!"
"Absolutely. Ah! I saw a bug..."
"Let me catch..."
Hearing the laughter coming from Qinyuanju, Jiang Xueqing irritably ordered someone to close the door, and then looked at Qiu Ruo who had just come in.
"When can I enter the Chen Mansion? Did you really leak the news to the people in the Chen Mansion?"
"Don't worry, my lady. Didn't Lord Chen bring you into the mansion today? Maybe he will come to invite you into the mansion later." Qiu Ruo recalled the news she had heard about the Chen Mansion. She said:
"Madam Jiang, the third day of next month seems to be the day when the second master's eldest daughter will be engaged to the Tao family."
Hearing this, Jiang Xueqing's eyes lit up: "Is it true?"
Qiu Ruo shook her head. With their money, they could only bribe some servants who cleaned the outer courtyard. How could they be sure whether the news was true?
"Come on, let's go next door."