Chapter 50: Pretend
"In all these years, I've never seen Mother Liu speak so openly for someone." Yuan Dong said as he spread the quilt.
"Didn't they say that Sister Qingrui asked Mama Liu for help?" Wanxiang asked carefully. When she heard Yuandong say that the fourth young lady was angry and wanted to sell Su Qing, Wanxiang actually felt secretly happy for a moment. She was also surprised to hear that Mama Liu had protected Su Qing.
"I will definitely ask for it, but based on my understanding of Madam Liu, generally, the Fourth Miss makes a decision to protect her reputation, and Madam Liu will not object. There are not many times when the Fourth Miss is directly rejected like today. So, I think it is not just a matter of giving face to Sister Qingrui."
Wanxiang felt her eyelids twitching. "What could that be? Su Qing made the Fourth Miss lose face so much, why did Madam Liu still protect her?"
"I heard that Su Qing didn't have a stomachache, nor did he have a sudden illness." Yuan Dong thought for a while and said in a low voice.
"What do you mean?"
"From what Jiao Xing said, Madam Liu suspected someone was up to something. Otherwise, Su Qing has been in good health recently. This morning, she had the same meal as the people in the back room, and..."
"And what?" Wanxiang asked nervously.
"It is said that the jar that Su Qing usually drinks water from is missing. Su Qing is different from us. He doesn't drink tea from a cup and doesn't like to drink tea. He only drinks boiled water from a large jar."
Wanxiang was stunned. In fact, when she thought about this matter, she had a very simple idea, which was to make Su Qing look bad in front of the other young ladies, make Meng Qi angry, and then punish her. This would not only make the fourth young lady lose the heart to listen to her story, but also make the eldest young lady give up the idea of letting her go to Master Yue.
She really didn't expect that Mother Liu would investigate it so carefully. This matter simply couldn't stand up to scrutiny. What should she do?
"What's wrong with you? You don't look well? Are you tired today?" Yuan Dong frowned in confusion.
"Oh, no, I'm just worried about Su Qing. After all, we came to the East Mansion together. It's always worrying when she encounters something like this."
Yuan Dong looked at Wan Xiang who turned around to make the bed, thinking about the three new people. They just ran here every day like spring, but he didn't see Su Qing say a word to them. Just now when he talked to him about Su Qing, he looked like he was asking about her, but now he was concerned about her again?
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Chuan'er brought the utensils that Su Qing often used into the house.
"Sister Jiaohong said that she was just pretending to be nice to the Fourth Miss and would be back in three to five days at most. And Madam Liu has already decided to investigate your case."
Su Qing took the bed sheet and spread it on the other empty bed in the room guarding the corner door. She paused and asked, "Mother Liu wants to check?"
"Yes, when I came just now, Sister Jiaohong came to our room and asked everyone what we did that day, and if anyone had seen the jar you often use, etc."
Su Qing was relieved. It would be much better for Liu's mother to investigate this matter than for her to investigate it herself. She believed that it would not be long before Ruchun would be suspected.
"You don't have to say anything more for me, okay?" Su Qing took the supplies that Chuan'er brought.
"Well, I just told the truth. Sister Jiaohong asked who knew that you were used to drinking water from that jar, and I said that everyone in our house knew it. I also said that I was in the warehouse for two incense sticks yesterday, and I didn't know who entered the house."
Su Qing nodded, "As long as Mama Liu believes that I was framed by someone else, that's fine."
"Qing'er, why do you think Mama Liu would believe you? If it were me, I would rather believe that you ate something wrong."
Su Qing had thought about this question last night. It was actually very simple. Mother Liu would absolutely protect Meng Qi's authority and image. To put it bluntly, she could ignore the minor quarrels and conflicts of interest, but if it affected Meng Qi, Mother Liu would not let it go easily.
So, Ruchun was stupid in this matter. She underestimated Mother Liu's protection of Meng Qi. She thought she was embarrassing herself. In fact, in Mother Liu's eyes, it was embarrassing Meng Qi, and a big shame. Humph, just wait and see, within three to five days, it would be good if Ruchun was not sold.
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After two days of strict interrogation by Liu's mother, Wanxiang regretted her decision more and more. She never expected that Liu's mother would keep nagging about this matter. Of course, she also knew Liu's mother's true intention. That is, this matter made Meng Qi lose face, and Liu's mother would never allow anything that made Meng Qi lose face.
I was careless. As a newcomer to the mansion, I didn't understand anything, especially how much Madam Liu valued protecting Meng Qi's interests and image. I originally wanted to embarrass Su Qing, but I forgot that there was Meng Qi behind this.
What should I do? Wanxiang knew that if she continued to investigate like this, Ruchun would be discovered in a few days. The reason was simple. Everyone had errands that day, and Ruchun went back to the back room several times, so she knew where she went.
Another thing is that Ruchun has lived in the same room with Su Qing for more than two months and knows Su Qing's habits too well.
Wanxiang didn't dare to think about what would happen if Ruchun was found out. Ruchun would definitely say that it was her idea, even though what she said was just a brief statement and there was no direct evidence that she was the one who led her to do it, but Liu's mother would still doubt her and dislike her.
After finally entering the East Palace, he had a bad relationship with Shuangqiao. He had only taken the initiative to look for her once in the East Palace, and he directly rejected Shuangqiao's request for her to enter Shanzhi Hall. Later, Shuangqiao asked the little girl next to her to look for him twice, and he refused both times because he was busy. Therefore, Shuangqiao could not help him at all at this time.
Too careless. Wanxiang only then realized that what she had done in the West Residence was not good enough to be transferred to the East Residence. What should she do?
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Su Qing and Mrs. Fang, who was watching the back corner door, were picking up a basket of vegetables together. Mrs. Fang's little grandson was squatting beside them, drawing circles on the ground with stones.
"How many copper coins can you get for one basket?" Su Qing asked.
Mrs. Fang stretched her back. She was in her early forties but looked more like she was in her fifties because of the hard times she led.
"At least I can give you a copper coin. If you clean up the mess, maybe I can even give you a piece of cake." Granny Fang said helplessly, "Gou'er, stop playing. Send the food to your grandmother Xu's house."
The old woman Fang who guarded the corner gate was an orphan, she had no husband or children, only a little grandson to depend on. Gou'er was too young to do any work, and Fang's legs and feet were not good, so she could only watch the corner gate. With a monthly salary of 200 yuan, the two of them dared not even have a headache or fever.
Fortunately, she was on good terms with the old woman in the vegetable garden of the big kitchen. Whenever there were leaves and small grains left after picking the vegetables, Old Woman Fang would carefully pick them up and give them to the people in need in the back street. She could earn some pocket money for herself, and the people in the back street didn't have to buy them anymore.
"No, I want to finish this." The dog was six or seven years old, just the age when he loved to play, and he squatted there and didn't get up.
"Hurry up, kid. I'm worried." Mrs. Fang called out twice more, but the dog still didn't move. She had no choice but to stand up slowly and move her feet. "Miss Qing'er, please help me watch it for a while. I'll take the food over."
Su Qing looked at her struggling to drag her leg, stood up, patted the vegetable leaves in his hands and said, "I'll go, tell me which family the Xu family is?"
Granny Fang quickly thanked Su Qing, "They live on the second street, the fourth house from the east end, with a red string hanging on the door."
Su Qing understood that those who lived on the second street were servants who had no status in the mansion.
This was her first time coming to the back street. Compared to the front street, the back street was longer. When she turned in from the east just now, it seemed that if she walked further out, she would reach other streets in Beijing. She could hear the bustling sounds of people coming and going.