Having madе uр her mind, Zhou Shаojin felt sеttlеd.
Оnсе thе belongings аt Flat Bridge Street werе mоstly рaсkеd, shе infоrmed Маdаm Li аnd tоok Сhunwan to Jia Shu Наll in Nine Рrosperitiеs Lane.
Оld Madаm Guаn wаs dеlightеd tо sеe her, tаking hеr hand аnd аsking, "Whаt brings yоu herе tоday? Is thеrе somеthing on your mind?"
"Nоthing in particulаr, I just саme tо see yоu аnd mу eldеst аunt," Zhоu Shаоjin rеpliеd. Нaving оbservеd how Old Мadаm Guо еngagеd in роlitе conversаtion, she had learnеd to speаk apрroрriаtelу for social occasions.
Old Madam Guan was even more pleased to hear this. Not only did she have the maids serve many of Zhou Shaojin’s favorite tea snacks, but she also insisted she stay for a few days: "...Fragrant Garden Residence is still kept for you sisters, and the maids and servants attending there are all still in place. As for jewelry, you can borrow your eldest aunt’s, and you don’t even need to bring a single change of clothes."
Zhou Shaojin happily agreed, saying, "Madam said that once my sister returns from her wedding visit, she will take me back to Baoding Prefecture. I thought I’d take these few days to come stay with you and my eldest aunt."
Old Madam Guan was taken aback. "Madam Zhou is taking you back to Baoding Prefecture?"
"Yes!" Zhou Shaojin smiled. "Now that my sister is married and I’m older, it wouldn’t be proper for me to live alone at Flat Bridge Street, so Madam said I should go back to Baoding Prefecture with her. Father has been serving as an official away from home all these years, and I haven’t had a proper conversation with him in so long. I’d like to spend some time living with him." Then, shifting the topic, she added, "Grandmother, I’ve heard the pickled vegetables from Daci Pavilion in Baoding Prefecture are quite famous. I’ll bring some back for you to try."
Seeing Zhou Shaojin speak so cheerfully about returning to Baoding Prefecture, Old Madam Guan thought to herself that despite having raised her, Zhou Shaojin’s heart ultimately lay with her own parents. This displeased her somewhat. But later, hearing her speak like a child, even promising to bring back pickled vegetables as if she were only going away for a short visit, Old Madam Guan felt somewhat comforted.
She smiled warmly and asked, "Then, Shaojin, would you be willing to stay and keep your grandmother company?"
Zhou Shaojin’s heart sank.
The reason she hadn’t straightforwardly asked Old Madam Guan about moving her belongings from Fragrant Garden Residence to Flat Bridge Street as soon as she saw her was precisely to avoid appearing ungrateful. Yet now, despite her carefully crafted words, things had taken an unexpected turn—Old Madam Guan actually wanted her to stay in Nine Prosperities Lane. Wasn’t this a clear sign of her determination to marry her off to Cheng Yi?
But she dared not say anything else. She could only pretend not to understand.
"Of course I’d be willing!" Zhou Shaojin forced herself to say against her true feelings. "But as for Father..."
Old Madam Guan immediately smiled and said, "Leave your father to me. I was just worried that, seeing your sister married off, you might not want to stay with a lonely old woman like me, so I thought I’d ask."
With Old Madam Guan resorting to such emotional tactics, Zhou Shaojin became even more convinced that her intention to keep her there was far from simple.
"Of course!" she replied with a smile. Inwardly, however, she was already planning to write a letter to her father as soon as she returned and have it delivered to him posthaste. She would also need to inform Madam Li, lest she be caught off guard and unwittingly betrayed.
Old Madam Guan was very satisfied with Zhou Shaojin’s obedient and thoughtful demeanor.Zhou Shaojin felt as if sitting on pins and needles, wishing she could sprout wings and fly back immediately, unable to listen to Old Madam Guan's chatter. When she heard Old Madam Guan say she had sent a maid to fetch Madam Mian, she grew even more restless. Seizing an opportunity, she stood up and said, "Grandmother, if Aunt is busy, we shouldn't disturb her. I'll first go to Cold Green Mountain House to pay my respects to Old Madam Guo, then come back to chat with Aunt."
Old Madam Guan, who intended to have Zhou Shaojin educated in the main household, was naturally pleased to see her getting closer to Old Madam Guo. She nodded with a smile and reminded Zhou Shaojin, "The old madam is very fond of you. When you're not around, Cold Green Mountain House feels quite lonely. Once you're there, have a good chat with the old madam. If she invites you to stay for lunch, have your meal there before returning. Your aunt usually has nothing to do in the afternoon."
Zhou Shaojin was somewhat surprised by Old Madam Guan's familiarity with the main household, but she herself also wanted to spend more time there. Without overthinking it, she agreed with a smile and hurried off to Old Madam Guo's place.
However, she did not go to the main residence. Instead, she quietly took a detour and went directly to the Listening Oriole Pavilion.
The spring sunlight was just right. Qing Feng sat on the threshold, basking in the sun while chatting with a young Daoist boy about his age.
The young Daoist boy wore a blue silk robe, had fair skin, delicate features, and looked like a young master from some family, not someone who served others. Yet, his face was unfamiliar.
Could Uncle Chi have taken on another servant?
Zhou Shaojin wondered silently.
Qing Feng was animatedly talking to the young Daoist boy, completely unaware of the surroundings. It was the unfamiliar Daoist boy who noticed Zhou Shaojin. He nudged Qing Feng and whispered, "Someone's here!" Only then did Qing Feng stop talking and turn his head.
Seeing it was Zhou Shaojin, he stood up with a slightly uneasy expression and said, "Second Cousin, you're here? Who are you looking for?"
Zhou Shaojin replied, "Is Uncle Chi here? I'm looking for Uncle Chi!"
Qing Feng said, "The Celestial Master Zhang from Dragon Tiger Mountain has come, and Fourth Master is speaking with him." His words implied that she should wait.
Zhou Shaojin hadn't expected her luck to be so poor.
She glanced at the young Daoist boy.
The Daoist boy hurriedly bowed to Zhou Shaojin and introduced himself, "I am Shan Yu, the Daoist boy serving the Celestial Master. Greetings, Second Cousin!"
He was very polite.
Zhou Shaojin smiled and curtsied in return, then said to Qing Feng, "Then I'll wait for Uncle Chi in the study."
By etiquette, she should have first visited Old Madam Guo upon arriving at Cold Green Mountain House, but Old Madam Guan's words had made her extremely anxious. She couldn't possibly chat with Old Madam Guo before seeing Cheng Chi.
Afraid of running into Biyu or others if she stood here, she didn't want to wait outside.
But Qing Feng stopped her, saying, "Fourth Master and Celestial Master Zhang are in the study!"This was originally a minor matter. Perhaps it was because Qing Feng never gave her a pleasant expression whenever she visited, or perhaps it was seeing Old Madam Guan's confident smile, while Cheng Chi's promise to help resolve her situation with Cheng Yi had shown no progress. All these negative emotions suddenly made Zhou Shaojin feel irritable. She said, "Qing Feng, a visitor at the door is a guest. Even if Uncle Chi has guests and I wish to see him, I am willing to wait outside. What right do you have to stop me like this instead of arranging a place for me to rest? Even if Uncle Chi doesn’t want to see me and asks me to leave, you should first seek his instructions before giving me such a look, shouldn’t you? Though people say the gatekeeper of a prime minister holds the rank of a seventh-grade official, you’re only a relative of the prime minister, yet you’re already putting on airs like a seventh-grade official. You’re quite something, aren’t you?"
Qing Feng’s face instantly flushed a deep purplish-red. He pointed at Zhou Shaojin, stammering "You..." for a long time without managing to say another word.
Zhou Shaojin, however, didn’t even glance at him again. With a cold expression, she entered the Listening Oriole Pavilion and went straight to Jiying’s quarters.
Unexpectedly, Jiying was not at home.
The young maid serving Jiying told Zhou Shaojin, "The Fourth Master sent Miss Jiying to deliver a letter to someone. She left three days ago."
Zhou Shaojin immediately felt a pang of bitterness in her heart.
Unable to see Uncle Chi and with Jiying gone who knows where, why was everything so difficult for her!
She stood before the holly tree outside the side room where Jiying lived, gloomily plucking its leaves.
"What’s wrong?" Cheng Chi’s amused voice suddenly sounded beside her ear. "You’re almost killing my tree."
"Uncle Chi!" Zhou Shaojin turned around, both startled and delighted, to see Cheng Chi standing tall and elegant in the corridor, wearing a plain lotus-colored Hangzhou silk robe. "Weren’t you talking with that so-called Master Zhang? How did you end up here?" As she spoke, an overwhelming sense of grievance welled up inside her. Her eyes reddened, and she pouted, saying, "Uncle Chi, you’re bullying me. Your little acolyte is bullying me too. I’ll never trust you again!"
Why did this little girl always have to say something shocking whenever she spoke to him?
Cheng Chi was left speechless for a moment. He took a few deep breaths before saying, "What nonsense are you talking about here? When did I ever bully you? And how did my little acolyte bully you?"
Zhou Shaojin, her face flushed, said, "You clearly promised to help dissuade my grandmother from trying to pair me up with Cousin Yi. But today, when my grandmother saw me, she said she would talk to my father about keeping me at Jia Shu Hall. I don’t want to stay at Jia Shu Hall, and I don’t want to marry Cousin Yi!"
Cheng Chi frowned, a hint of anger flickering between his brows. He said coldly, "What exactly did Fourth Aunt say to you?"
This was a Cheng Chi entirely different from the one Zhou Shaojin usually saw. Feeling timid, she quietly recounted what Old Madam Guan had said to Cheng Chi.
Cheng Chi felt both annoyed and amused.
She really was someone who bullied the weak but feared the strong.
Just moments ago, she had been venting her anger at him. Now, as his expression shifted slightly, she watched him warily like a frightened kitten, ready to flee at the slightest movement from him.
"Come here!" he said softly to her from the corridor.
"Oh!" Zhou Shaojin carefully skirted the railing, ascended the corridor via the nearby steps, and slowly came to a stop before Cheng Chi.
Cheng Chi reached out and plucked a leaf from her hair, saying, "Where have you been playing? You didn’t even notice there was a leaf stuck in your hair."Zhou Shaojin looked at the leaf on Cheng Chi's shoulder with confusion and said, "I, I haven't been anywhere? I just walked from the entrance to here..."
Cheng Chi tossed the leaf into the nearby bushes and said, "Be more careful when walking in the future!"
Zhou Shaojin obediently nodded.
Cheng Chi said softly, "It was my idea to keep you at Nine Prosperities Lane!"
"Ah!" Zhou Shaojin widened her eyes, her distinct black-and-white pupils filled with astonishment, like a child.
Cheng Chi couldn't help but smile, his voice growing even gentler: "What you told me is of great importance. There are many things I don't understand and need to ask you about. But if you spend too much time with me, it will inevitably arouse suspicion. If someone were to doubt your experiences because of this, that would be my fault—you told me such a significant secret for the sake of the Cheng family, yet I cannot protect you... After much thought, the best solution is to use my fourth aunt's name to keep you at Jia Shu Hall and have my mother take care of you for a while. In a couple of years, when you're older and things have settled down, my mother will arrange a marriage for you... I had this plan when you told me about your situation last time. I just never had the chance to discuss it with you. Just move back to Fragrant Garden Residence with peace of mind. At most in half a month, I will bring you to Cold Green Mountain House."
※
Sisters, this is an extra update for Qingtian Moyun.
Tonight's update is uncertain, sisters can check tomorrow morning.
I haven't been able to log into the backend smoothly these past few days.
※ (To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to...)
OpenNovel