Chapter 77 Never See You Again
Su Qing told the whole story again, and Mother Liu's brows furrowed deeper and deeper. Looking back on this matter now, there were indeed many doubts.
Just like Su Qing said just now, because the Madam and the Fourth Young Miss were going to stay for a while, everything was neatly prepared. Especially since they knew that the Fourth Young Miss was a playful person, the places they would go had been confirmed more than once in advance.
The ducks in the pond were found by the Third Young Master specifically for the Fourth Young Lady. It was impossible for him to bring any ducklings that could hatch eggs. So where did the nest of ducklings come from? If the servant wanted to please the Fourth Young Lady, he would have to ask her for everything, even the potted flowers and the grass. How could there be such a nest of ducks without being discovered? The appearance of that nest of ducks was too strange.
Because of this incident, Wanxiang was directly promoted to the third rank when she came to the Fourth Young Lady. Now it seems that there really was a man-made element in this.
"Chuan'er, are you sure that the person you saw the night before was Wanxiang's mother?"
"Yes."
Mother Liu stood up and said, "I understand. Tomorrow I will send someone to the West Residence to transfer Ruchun's parents to the East Residence."
"It's just that there's one more thing I want to ask mom."
"what?"
"Can you not let Chuan'er come out to testify? Just say someone saw her mother there at that time? Or can you find another witness?"
Mother Liu looked at Su Qing for a long time, "I didn't ask you to offend Wanxiang, why did you do this?"
"After all, it was Chuan'er who reminded me. In fact, Chuan'er should be the hero in this matter. If it weren't for her, the fourth young lady would have fallen down unjustly. So, if, if Chuan'er came out to testify, I'm afraid that others would not understand the cause and effect and think..."
"Okay, I understand. Go back and I'll take care of this matter."
Su Qing breathed a sigh of relief. In Liu's mother's eyes, being framed was not a big deal at all. Liu's mother only cared about everything related to Meng Qi. It was okay for her to work for Meng Qi and use some tricks, but she would never agree to achieve her goals by hurting Meng Qi's body or other methods that threatened Meng Qi's safety.
Mother Liu was very fast. The first real heavy snow of the year fell for three days. On the first day, Ruchun's parents arrived at the East Palace, and on the third day, Wanxiang's family was dragged into the car and sent back to the West Palace.
When Chuan'er stared at Su Qing for the Nth time, Su Qing put down the needle and thread in his hand and sighed, "Please spare me. Ask whatever you want to ask."
"Did you do it?"
"No."
"what?"
"What? I don't have that ability. This is all done by Mama Liu, okay?"
"What? I'm asking you, did you tell Mrs. Liu about Shuiqin?"
Su Qing nodded.
"Then why didn't Mother Liu come to ask me?" Chuan'er sat next to Su Qing.
"Why? You want Mama Liu to ask you to confront Lady Wanxiang?"
Chuan'er quickly shook his head.
"So, when I said that, I begged Mama Liu not to get you involved."
"Could the unfamiliar old woman who came with us that day be the witness that Mama Liu is looking for?" Chuan'er asked.
"It should be. There has to be someone to point it out, right? We can't look for it in the East Palace."
Chuan'er nodded, "It seems that it was really the mother and daughter who did it. How vicious! In order to get to the Fourth Miss's side, they didn't care about the Fourth Miss's safety. If the Fourth Miss had rolled down a little more that day, she would have fallen in."
Su Qing picked up the needle again and continued to sew the new hat. The last time she knitted a hat, Wang Xiaoer laughed at him for so long and even called him a bear. This time she would make a good one and sew a rabbit fur edge on it so that he would stop talking nonsense.
"Qing'er, do you think we should do this? Wanxiang finally got to the East Palace, I mean..."
Su Qing put down the needle again and sighed, "She just returned to the starting point, but what about Shuiqin? Who would pity her? If she hadn't had such a vicious idea, Shuiqin would still be happily earning her 200-coin monthly allowance in the West House and spending it with her grandmother."
Chuan'er also sighed and nodded, "It can be seen that people should not have bad intentions. One day they will find other ways to get it back."
Su Qing said, "You don't have to feel any burden. Mama Liu will not talk nonsense about what she promised, and no one will know that it was you who provided the information. I didn't say a word to Ruchun either. Chuan'er, it's not easy for us, and we all live cautiously. If you feel sorry for or sympathize with others, you have to consider whether that person is a rabbit or a wolf."
Chuan'er went back to her bed and lay down without saying a word. Su Qing didn't know whether Chuan'er would have other thoughts about her because of this incident. The reason why she didn't tell her in advance was because she was afraid that she would not agree with her if she thought too much.
For Yu Chuan'er, the conflict between herself and Wanxiang is deeper, but she can only say this and explain this much. She can digest the rest herself.
What no one expected was that a few days later, Mother Liu actually promoted Chuan'er to be a second-class maid, and Cai'er was promoted to a third-class maid in Qinyuan as she wished. The other three third-class maids also arrived, two of whom were from the original courtyard, and one was arranged by Wang.
During the first month of the lunar year, Ruchun came specially to bring Su Qing a plate of rice cakes, saying that they were made by her mother and asked Su Qing to try them.
"I heard that you went to the third young lady's yard?" Su Qing asked.
"Well, my mother went to the kitchen, and it's not convenient for us to work together. My father works as a gatekeeper, and he doesn't earn much, but it's easy. My mother said that she would try to get my sister in in the spring with the quota from those who got married."
Ruchun has become much calmer and doesn't speak as freely as before.
"That's good, just don't go back to the West House. After all, Mother Yu is still the manager of the inner courtyard."
Ruchun nodded and said, "I heard that when Wanxiang's family returned, Mother Yu did not arrange any work for them. They only got 200 yuan a month to stay at home."
Su Qing didn't ask about what happened to Wanxiang's family after they returned, but judging from the fact that Yu's mother originally wanted Wanxiang to favor Shuangqiao, but Wanxiang was disdainful of it, it was unlikely that Yu's mother would be nice to them when they returned.
Wanxiang actually made one wrong step after another. To put it bluntly, she was too careless. If she had grasped one step better along the way, she would not be like this now. But these have nothing to do with her anymore. From now on, she is a person who has nothing to do with her and she will never see her again.
------
The first month of the year is the time when every household holds banquets. The Duke Zhongguo's Mansion, which had not had close contact with the Marquis Huainan's Mansion for a long time, sent an invitation this time.
Meng Changfeng stroked his beard and sat on the kang by the window without saying anything. Song placed the tea on the kang table. "My Lord, what does this Duke Zhong's Mansion mean? Years ago, the second son of Wei Ge's wife's family only had the ceremony but no one showed up, but now they have sent an invitation again."
"If my guess is correct, the third brother will make another contribution."
"Ah? Are you saying that the Duke Zhong's Mansion is doing this for the sake of the third brother?"
"What else? It won't be for the sake of your two sons."
Song lowered her head in embarrassment when she heard what Meng Changfeng said. Meng Changfeng took a sip of tea and continued, "I asked you to look for Sister Juan, but it's been more than a year, why haven't you done anything?"
"It's really because Liu is too picky. Whenever I go out, I always bring Sister Juan with me. Sometimes I would take her with me even if I don't bring Sister Qi with me. But neither of them likes her. Miss Juan is already seventeen this year, and I'm very anxious."
Meng Changfeng shook his head, "I guess the third brother has his own rules."
"How to say?"
"I also heard that the third brother is too ambitious and looks down on ordinary people. He only has this one son and one daughter. His son has already married in the northwest, and he can only rely on this daughter to establish a relationship with the capital."
"Master, if the third son does this and gets married, I mean..."
"I know, but there is no other way now. We have come to this point, and we have to follow his ideas. Just take the children with you. No matter what the Duke Zhong's Mansion wants this time, since they dare to invite us, we dare to go. After all, outsiders know that we have the same surname, Meng."