Моving bу mуsеlf!
Zhou Shaоjin widеnеd hеr еyes. Seеing thаt Jiying was sрeaking tо thе mаn оррosite, shе couldn't help but look tоwаrd him.
Thе man wоrе а brоwn Lu silk robе, арреaring аround twenty-twо оr twentу-three yеars old. Нe was tаll аnd fаir-skinnеd, with fасiаl featurеs thаt borе а siхty tо sevеntу perсеnt resеmblance tо Qin Zi'an. Even bеfоrе spеaking, he worе а smilе, aрреаring nоt оnly mоrе refinеd and еlegant thаn Qin Zi'an but аlsо mоre аmiаblе аnd apprоachable.
Cоuld he be the Qin Ziрing that Jiying оften mеntiоned?
Zhоu Shaojin wondered.
The man seemed to sense her presence and turned his gaze toward Zhou Shaojin.
Their eyes met directly.
Caught so blatantly staring at someone, Zhou Shaojin flushed red. She hurriedly nodded at the man and offered an embarrassed smile.
The man was momentarily taken aback and was about to say something when Jiying cheerfully walked over. "Second Miss, what brings you here? Why didn't you send a maid ahead to let me know? My place is a complete mess..." As she spoke, she frowned and addressed the man in brown rather rudely, "Qin Ziping, go find some tea and snacks for me. I have no idea where the tea leaves are after all this moving."
Qin Ziping responded with an "Oh" and obediently left.
Jiying then pulled Zhou Shaojin inside to sit.
Only when passing through the main hall did Zhou Shaojin notice two maidservants helping to tidy things up.
She asked, "What's going on? How can you have only arranged for these few people to help with such a big move? From what you said, this is Uncle Chi's intention. Has Uncle Chi decided not to add more people? If not, I can have people from Fragrant Garden Residence come help you move. It's not a big deal—no need to get upset."
Jiying was clearly troubled by the situation. Relieved, she took Zhou Shaojin's hand and said, "Oh, thank goodness you're here. Otherwise, I really wouldn't know what to do. When Qin Ziping returns, I'll ask him—if hiring outside help isn't allowed, surely using the Cheng family's maidservants is acceptable, right? If even these people can't be trusted, then there's nothing I can do. I'll just have to move a little today, a little tomorrow, and take as long as it takes, regardless of what orders were given."
Zhou Shaojin nodded with a smile.
Qin Ziping returned. Not only did he bring tea leaves, but he also brought celadon tea sets.
Zhou Shaojin invited Qin Ziping to have tea.
But before Qin Ziping could speak, Jiying interjected, "How does he have time for tea? Your Uncle Chi wants us all moved to Lixue Study by the twenty-second. My situation isn't too bad—aside from that sword, I don't have anything too valuable. If things break, they break; if they're stolen, they're stolen. But Nanping's situation is something else. Besides the flower sheds, there are also clothing racks, Ming paper, painting powder, fabric scraps... all sorts of things. Just the trunks alone number twenty or thirty. He needs to go help Nanping move."
Zhou Shaojin smiled and said, "Then we won't keep you."
Qin Ziping glanced at Jiying, clasped his hands in a salute, and left.
Zhou Shaojin asked, "Steward Qin, is he upset?""Angry?" Jiying was baffled. "Why would he be angry?" After saying this, she suddenly seemed to understand. "Could it be because I just ordered him around in front of you? That made him angry? But that can't be right... I've often ordered him around in front of Nanping or Uncle Huaishan before, and he never reacted much..." Unable to figure it out, she simply gave up and said, "Let's not worry about him. He's a decent person. Even if he is angry, he'll probably get over it soon." Then she personally poured a cup of tea for Zhou Shaojin and asked, "You came to find me. Is there something urgent?"
"It's not exactly urgent..." Since Cheng Yi was her cousin, Zhou Shaojin felt a bit embarrassed. "On Laba Festival, didn't I invite you and Cousin Jia to have Laba porridge? Cousin Yi was there at the time..."
She hesitantly explained the whole situation to Jiying.
Jiying seemed as if she had been hit on the head with a rock, taking a long moment to react. When she finally did, she jumped up in anger: "That bastard! Which of his eyes sees me as Cheng Zichuan's chamber maid?" As she spoke, she turned to grab the sword hanging on the wall for warding off evil spirits.
Zhou Shaojin was so frightened her face turned pale.
If Jiying charged over with that sword, even with Uncle Chi protecting her, she probably wouldn't survive!
And if by accident she unintentionally injured Cheng Yi... neither she nor her sister would have the face to see their grandmother or eldest aunt again.
Without thinking, Zhou Shaojin wrapped her arms around Jiying's waist and urgently pleaded, "Jiying, I know my cousin Yi was wrong in this matter, but please, for my sake, don't take it to heart. My grandmother and eldest aunt aren't the type to bully the weak. As long as you're unwilling, they would never force you to be with my cousin Yi. You can rest assured..."
Jiying twisted her waist, and Zhou Shaojin's arms fell empty.
Zhou Shaojin was stunned.
Jiying had already turned around, looking both amused and exasperated. "I'm going to find Cheng Zichuan! Not your Cousin Yi!"
Hearing this, Zhou Shaojin didn't bother to question how Jiying had so easily slipped out of her embrace with just a twist. Instead, she hurriedly said, "You... you're not going to find Cousin Yi?"
"Exactly!" Jiying looked at Zhou Shaojin with exasperation. "Why would I go find him? As you said, your grandmother and eldest aunt aren't the type to bully the weak. As long as I'm unwilling, they would never let Cheng Yi act recklessly. I'm angry at your Uncle Chi... if it weren't for him, why would everyone think I'm his chamber maid?"
Zhou Shaojin found her reasoning strange.
Shouldn't she be thinking of ways to clarify things with her grandmother and eldest aunt at a time like this?
Why was she so focused on settling scores with Uncle Chi?
Besides, what did this have to do with Uncle Chi?
It was Cousin Yi who took a liking to her, and Cousin Yi who assumed she was Uncle Chi's chamber maid... Could it be that all these years, whenever something like this happened, Jiying blamed it all on Uncle Chi?"I don't know about past matters, but this time you've wrongly blamed Uncle Chi," Zhou Shaojin said. "If Uncle Chi had said or done something in front of my Cousin Yi that led him to misunderstand you as Uncle Chi's chamber maid, then that would be Uncle Chi's fault. But my Cousin Yi hardly sees Uncle Chi once throughout the year—it was his own assumption. How can you blame Uncle Chi for that? On my way here, I thought of an idea. I don't know if you'll agree to it. If you agree, I'll go talk to Cousin Yi. If you don't, I think you might as well tell Uncle Chi about this and let him decide for you. If he doesn't care or says something unpleasant, then you can blame him—it won't be too late then!"
Jiying remained silent but didn't rush out either.
Zhou Shaojin breathed a sigh of relief and said, "I think the reason Cousin Yi dared to speak so boldly about asking Uncle Chi for you is mostly because he believes he genuinely likes you and would even give you a proper status. Based on that alone, he thinks following him would be better than following Uncle Chi. We just need to make him understand that even if you were to go with him, whether he can give you status depends not only on whether Grandmother and Aunt are pleased but also on whether his future wife agrees. Uncle Chi is different—he has the ability to establish his own household. If you stay with Uncle Chi, even as a chamber maid, as long as he keeps you by his side, even if he marries in the future, Aunt Chi won't casually mistreat you... If he truly cares for you, he shouldn't keep pestering you." At this point, she glanced uneasily at Jiying and added, "It's just that you'll have to bear the burden... of a reputation... and there may be similar misunderstandings in the future..."
Jiying didn't seem to mind, saying, "I have to stay by your Uncle Chi's side for ten years. Even if he doesn't misunderstand, others will. Even if there's no misunderstanding now, there will be later. Since you think this idea is good, go ahead and tell Cheng Yi."
Zhou Shaojin hadn't expected Jiying to be so agreeable. Gratefully, she took her by the shoulder and said, "Thank you. I'll definitely make Cousin Yi swear not to gossip about your relationship with Uncle Chi."
Jiying laughed, "What's there to thank? It's just a trivial matter."
Zhou Shaojin knew she truly didn't take this to heart and couldn't help saying, "You're really magnanimous."
Jiying scoffed, "Is this considered magnanimous?"
Zhou Shaojin said earnestly, "If it were me, I'd be worried to death."
"Not at all!" Jiying patted her head confidently and smiled, "Judging by the idea you came up with, you're not one to sit idly by. If this happened to you, you'd quickly find a solution too."
Zhou Shaojin was stunned.
In her previous life, she had been panicked and helpless—not only unable to think of a solution but even afraid to face Grandmother and the others...
In this life, had she really changed?
On her way back, Zhou Shaojin kept thinking about her actions since her rebirth, trying to find evidence of her change.
Meanwhile, at Lixue Studio, Cheng Chi, after hearing Huaishan's report, was surprised for a long moment and said, "Did Second Miss Zhou of the Zhou family really say that?""Yes!" Huaishan said, "The second young lady of the Zhou family said that you have the ability to establish your own household. Even if you get married in the future, as long as you keep Jiying by your side, even your legal wife wouldn’t dare to treat Jiying disrespectfully..."
Cheng Chi gave Huaishan a strange look and said, "I wasn’t asking about that. Why are you rambling on about all this?"
Huaishan replied, puzzled, "Then what were you asking? I thought among everything the second young lady of the Zhou family said, only these words were the most reasonable—though she is young and the second daughter of the family, she doesn’t have the spoiled, impractical temperament of those young masters and ladies..."
"Enough!" Cheng Chi impatiently cut off Huaishan’s words. "I was asking, when she told Jiying to pretend in front of Cheng Yi that she was my concubine, did Jiying really not get so angry that she drew her sword to attack?"
"No," Huaishan said. "Granny Shang mentioned that she saw the second young lady of the Zhou family hugging Jiying’s waist in the hall and was startled, fearing Jiying might harm her. She rushed all the way to the carved partition, only to see Jiying use the Ji family’s unique skill, 'Golden Cicada Sheds Its Shell,' to slip away. Fortunately, the second young lady of the Zhou family knew nothing about it and didn’t press further, or there would have been trouble. What do you think—should we have Jiying stay at Algae Garden for a few days?"
Cheng Chi remained silent, lightly tapping his fingertips on the desk.
Huaishan then cautiously added, "Fourth Master, there’s one more thing... Fan Qi has returned from the capital and should arrive in Jinling City in the next two or three days."
※
Sisters, here’s today’s update.
o(n_n)o
PS: Not sure if I can manage to finish two chapters in the next couple of days...
※ (To be continued. If you like this work, please vote for recommendations and monthly votes. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
!!
OpenNovel