Chapter 44: Seeing with Different Eyes (3)
"My dear young master, I didn't think too much about it. I just wanted to get Young Master Yue to talk. I just think that Young Master Yue is very smart. The reason why he doesn't like to talk is actually caused by you."
After she finished speaking, she glanced at Meng Shao nervously, and saw that he raised his eyebrows but did not speak. Instead, Jiang, who was standing next to her, said, "Whether it was the master or I, we were the ones who led him to talk, so why do you say it's the adults' business?" Su Qing listened to Jiang's tone and was not angry at her boldness, so she breathed a sigh of relief and continued,
"This is what I think. Young Master Yue is a rich man, surrounded by everyone. Whatever he likes, he only needs to look at it and someone will give it to him. Whatever he wants to do, those who follow him will guess it with just one move. Therefore, after a long time, the children will inevitably think, anyway, even if I don't say anything, you will do it well, so why should I say anything? Therefore, I pretended not to know what Young Master Yue meant in the back room just now.
"First, because I am not used to serving Master Yue, and second, I clearly stated that I did not know what Master Yue was going to do. Master Yue is quite smart. He saw that there was no one around to serve him, and he also saw that I really could not understand what he meant, so he had to say it himself."
Su Qing finished speaking in a crisp voice, then stood quietly where he was, without saying a word.
The couple sitting on the low couch looked at each other, and saw shock and understanding in each other's eyes.
"Maybe our approach all along has been wrong. We just kept leading him to talk, but didn't expect him to speak on his own initiative." Meng Shao said with a long sigh.
Su Qing also breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that she had guessed correctly. This was just a small chapter in the psychology course she took in college. Fortunately, she had studied it seriously at that time.
When Su Qing came out of the main house, she had no intention of looking at the concerned, curious, or gloating eyes of the people around her. Her mind was full of the words that the eldest young master said, "I know you are the storyteller of the fourth sister, and the fourth sister can't live without you. But today it seems that Yue Ge'er is getting along with you. How about this, you go to Canglang Courtyard for an hour every day, talk to Yue Ge'er in your way, and the eldest young lady will pick a few smart ones to follow her, and you teach them. If Yue Ge'er can speak normally from now on, you will have made a great contribution."
This is the first merit, so can I be rewarded with a lot of silver? Should I take this opportunity to make some requests, such as redeeming myself? Find a place to live happily and adopt a few homeless children, instead of raising a bunch of little servants in this inner courtyard.
Thinking of this, the corners of his mouth kept rising and his steps became lighter.
When Wanxiang heard that Su Qing could go to Canglang Courtyard every day, her mind was full of Meng Shao's smile at Su Qing. No, she couldn't just wait like this, she had to take the initiative. After she went to visit Shuangqiao and explicitly rejected Shuangqiao's suggestion to get her to serve her, she knew that everything depended on herself.
But first of all, Su Qing must not be allowed to have the opportunity. Although she knew the reason why Meng Shao asked Su Qing to go to Canglang Courtyard, Wanxiang still felt that Su Qing had taken her job. She didn't believe that Su Qing didn't know Meng Shao was outside when she said those words to Master Yue. She must have done it on purpose to attract the attention of the eldest master.
Wanxiang was now influenced by her own thoughts. She felt that Su Qing had the same idea as her, so she had to find an opportunity to trip up Su Qing and make the Fourth Miss hate her. At the very least, she had to make her reputation worse, so that the Eldest Young Mistress would never let her go near the two Young Masters again.
Wanxiang was thinking, Yuanyue came into the room, "This Su Qing is really lucky."
"What's wrong?" Wanxiang turned her head and asked.
"I just heard from Sister Jiao Xing that the Fourth Miss wants Su Qing to tell stories to the young ladies of your family at the autumn banquet in a few days. How come she suddenly got so lucky? She was just praised by the eldest young master in the afternoon and was asked to teach Young Master Yue how to speak, and in the evening she was arranged by the Fourth Miss to do such a show-off thing." Yuan Yue said as she made the bed. Because she lived in the same room with Wanxiang, Wanxiang "accidentally" mentioned Su Qing's affairs in the West Mansion, so Yuan Yue did not have a very good impression of Su Qing, whom she did not know very well.
Wanxiang sat up straight, "Who are you listening to? Are you sure about it?"
"Didn't I just say what Sister Jiao Xing said? What are you listening to?"
Wanxiang smiled and said, "I only heard what you said at the end, but didn't pay attention to the beginning."
"But there were quite a few young ladies from noble families that day. The third young lady from Prince Shen's mansion was also going to come. I didn't dare to tell stories in front of so many people. I don't know if Su Qing would dare to do that."
The third young lady of Prince Shen's Mansion is Meng Qi's future sister-in-law and the princess's biological youngest daughter.
Wanxiang became more and more angry as she lay on the bed. No, she must think of a way to embarrass her and make the Fourth Young Lady dislike her. But how should she do it?
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Watching Jiao Xing walk out of the courtyard, Su Qing became worried. Asking her to tell stories at the autumn banquet was not as simple as telling stories to Meng Qi and Young Master Lang on weekdays.
What to say, how long to say it, and how to say it all need to be carefully considered. This preliminary work must be well prepared. If there is any mistake, wouldn't Meng Qi be skinned alive?
After a while, Bao Chengjia came into the room and said with a smile, "Miss Jiaohong called me just now and asked me not to assign too many tasks to you for the time being, so that you can think carefully about what to say at the autumn banquet. In this case, you just need to take care of the fourth young lady Kuli in the yard starting tomorrow, and you don't have to worry about anything outside."
Su Qing nodded and smiled, "Then I will be lazy for a few days. I want to go to my sister later to ask for her advice."
"What's the big deal? Just go away and don't tell me about such things." Bao Chengjia waved his hand and walked out with a smile.
Su Qing sat for a while and then stood up and went to Shanzhi Hall. The maid at the door recognized her and greeted her with a smile when she saw her coming over, "Are you here to look for Miss Qingrui? I just came back with the lady. You can go now."
Su Qing bowed and said a few flattering words, then walked into the courtyard and headed towards Qingrui's room. Zhu'er was just coming out with a basin of water. "Qing'er is here. Wait a moment. Sister Qingrui is in the upper room. Come in and sit down."
As autumn came, the nights became much cooler. Su Qing came in a hurry and was not wearing a vest outside. He put his hands on the teapot to warm them when he entered the house.
"Why don't you wear a coat? Don't act coquettishly just because you are young." Qing Rui said as she took out her coat and put it on Su Qing.
"It's not cold now, I'll put it on when I get back. Sister, I'm here to discuss something with you..."
Qing Rui was a little surprised after listening to Su Qing. She knew that the Fourth Young Miss had gradually lost interest in listening to stories during this period of time. She was still worried and asked Mother Guo twice to let Su Qing be a third-class maid by the Fourth Young Miss's side. However, Mother Guo told her that the Crown Prince's wife had other arrangements in mind and asked her not to worry.
Mother Guo said that Wang's selection of maids for Meng Qi was to determine her future dowry. After the Chinese New Year, Meng Qi would be thirteen years old, and not only Meng Qi herself should be prepared, but also the people who would serve her should be considered. Therefore, Wang was very cautious about the quota of the two third-class maids this time, and it was not certain whether Wanxiang and Yuanyue could stay for a long time.
After hearing this, Qing Rui began to hesitate whether to let Su Qing go to the fourth lady's side as the third one. According to Su Qing's conditions, the chances of being favored by Wang Shi were not great.
First, she was bought from outside, she has no relatives, and it will be difficult to control her when she goes to the Zhou family. Second, Su Qing is two years older than the fourth lady, and she will be seventeen when Meng Qi gets married, which is a bit too old. Third, Su Qing is too thin. Although she has been in the East Palace for almost three months, she has obviously become taller and fatter, and her little face is gradually showing a beautiful look, but it is still a little short of Wang's requirements.
There was another reason. Qing Rui herself did not want Su Qing to go to the Shenjun Prince's Mansion as a dowry. She had heard Mother Guo talk about it a lot, saying that it was more complicated than the Huainan Marquis' Mansion. The situation of the second young master that Meng Qi was going to marry was not ordinary.
She still felt that Su Qing was more suitable to stay in the Meng family, so she could find a good family for her after the 15th day of the first lunar month, which would also make it worthy of Mother Liu to recognize her as a godparent.