Chapter 175 Bo Lan
Aunt Zhang sat on the bed, stroking Ling'er's red and swollen face, and said apologetically:
"It's all my fault that I lost my mind this morning and didn't know how hard I hit you. Look how hard I hit you. Does it still hurt?"
"It doesn't hurt. Auntie, you deserve to hit me. It's all my fault. I ruined your business. Thank you Auntie for pleading for me and not letting Second Madam kick me out."
After hearing Ling'er's words, Aunt Zhang nodded with satisfaction, and asked again:
"Did Si'er really trip you up?"
"It's true. I'm not trying to shirk my responsibility. Today is an important day, so I've been more careful than usual, fearing that something might go wrong and that something important might be missed. I know that Aunt Cui doesn't like you, so I've been on guard for a long time. I thought they wouldn't dare to do anything in front of Second Madam, but they got into trouble when they weren't paying attention. Aunt Cui must have been afraid that you would steal the limelight, so she ordered Fourth Son to do something bad. Aunt, you didn't see how smug Aunt Cui looked when she left the house. I wished I could tear her to pieces at that time."
After hearing Ling'er's words, Aunt Zhang narrowed her eyes into a line. After a long while, she squeezed out a few words from between her teeth:
"Aunt Cui, from now on, in this courtyard, either you or me!"
Ling Er rarely saw Aunt Zhang like this, and was secretly shocked. Thinking of Aunt Li, all the maids in her house were sold to a brothel, she felt disappointed and tried to dissuade them:
"Aunt, please don't think like that. Don't forget that Aunt Cui is the first wife's personal maid. The first wife will protect her more or less. After all, she is childless, but she relies on her youth to please the second master. She is not as close to the second master as you. We should just take good care of the young lady and live a good life."
Speaking of children, Aunt Zhang suddenly remembered something and asked:
"I was so busy these past two days that I forgot to ask, has Bolan been sent to Haitang Garden?"
After hearing what Aunt Zhang said, Ling'er's eyes lit up and she replied:
"If you hadn't told me, I would have forgotten. I sent it the day before yesterday, but you were busy preparing the headwear. I thought I would reply to you later, but I forgot."
"How did you send it? Did Aunt Cui not get suspicious?"
"A few days ago, when I went to get the quota, I happened to run into Wu'er, and she casually mentioned that you had found the Bolan that you had treasured for two years to welcome the Second Master, and said that this spice has a unique flavor, and the Second Master praised it highly."
"What did Wu'er say?"
"Wu'er first asked where it was bought. I said your brother happened to see it when he went out to sea with his friends two years ago. He knew that the Second Master liked exotic fragrances, so he sent it to you like a treasure. Daqi doesn't have it at all. The Second Master is not at home, and Auntie herself is reluctant to use it."
"You said it very well, what happened next?"
"Later, Wu'er asked if she could share some of it with her, saying that she could pay a high price. I was afraid that if I agreed too readily, they would get suspicious, so I refused and just kept praising Bo Lan's merits."
"You're praising me like this, aren't you afraid they'll get suspicious?"
"Don't worry, Auntie doesn't know. Wu Er thought I was showing off in front of her on purpose, and her face turned green. She took the things and left directly."
"Then what excuse did you use to send it over later?"
"Why do we need to make excuses? It was Baozhu who came to me and said that the eldest lady heard about Bolan and wanted to ask for some. Auntie, think about it, the eldest lady never likes these, and Miss Xiu is not here, so how could she send Baozhu to ask for them? It must be Aunt Cui who asked Baozhu, but she used the name of the eldest lady. Aunt Cui and Baozhu were the best when she was a maid. I pretended to be embarrassed for a long time, saying that I wanted to give it back to you , and then I sent it to Baozhu the next day. Yesterday, I made a special inquiry and heard from Aunt Cui's maid that Aunt Cui specially asked for some rare fragrance for the second master to return to the mansion. I think it was Bolan. But I don’t understand. Such a good spice, which the second master likes so much, why did Aunt Cui get it for nothing?"
After hearing Ling'er's question, Aunt Zhang's eyes flashed with viciousness. She hesitated for a moment and said:
"The last time my brother came, he told me that this cypress orchid is made from exotic soil from overseas, using cedar, clover petals, musk and other ingredients. The fragrance is unique and long-lasting, and it is very rare. But this musk can make women infertile. Unfortunately, I didn't know this before. I used it for a while. Since I had the third daughter, although the second master often came, he never had a son or a daughter. I think it is related to the use of this cypress orchid. I just hate that my brother thought that the second master liked exotic fragrances, so he bought them for me everywhere, but it hurt me. I haven't seen that I have been adjusting to it these days. The second master is back, and this time I must have a boy. Once I have a little boy, I won't be afraid of Aunt Cui making a fuss again."
As she was talking, Jinfeng pushed the door open and when she saw Jinfeng, Aunt Zhang's eyes lit up. She had forgotten the topic just now and asked hurriedly:
"The Second Master is back. Did you ask me why I didn't go to greet him? What did he do when he came back? Where is he now? Did you tell me which courtyard he will stay in tonight?"
Jin Feng took the water handed to her by the maid, drank a sip, took a deep breath, and then said with a smile:
"My aunt asked so many questions in one breath, and I just opened my mouth, how can I answer them all at once?"
Aunt Zhang's eyes widened when she heard this:
"You stupid girl, hurry up and tell me. If you keep saying useless things, I will beat you up."
Jin Feng stuck out her tongue and said tactfully:
"When the Second Master came back this morning, there were too many people at the door, so he probably couldn't ask you about your affairs. But I saw clearly that when the concubines came to pay their respects, the Second Master's eyes were always wandering, especially Concubine Cui, who kept wiping tears at the Second Master, but the Second Master looked absent-minded, and just casually nodded and sent her away. Aunt, you were not there, so you didn't see it. Concubine Cui's face turned green, and she was so embarrassed that she stepped aside indifferently. I wanted to laugh when I saw her from behind."
After Jin Feng finished speaking, she stole a glance at Aunt Zhang and saw that she was smiling. She breathed a sigh of relief and continued:
"I guess that the Second Master must not be able to see you, and it is not convenient to ask in front of everyone, so he has lost interest."
"Go on, don't say anything useless."
After hearing what Jinfeng said, Aunt Zhang was so excited that she couldn't close her mouth and pretended to scold her.
Seeing this, Jinfeng started talking again obediently:
"After greeting each other, the Second Master ordered everyone to return, and he and the Second Madam went to Shouxi Hall."
"Did you go with Second Madam? Did Second Master also take a sedan chair?"
"The Second Master also rode in a sedan chair, but he and the Second Mistress rode in two separate sedan chairs."
Aunt Zhang heaved a sigh of relief after hearing this and said:
"What do you think? When the Second Master returns home, he will of course go to see the Old Lady with the Second Mistress. It's just a formality."
"That's right, I think so too. This is the rule of the mansion. The Second Master doesn't really like to go out and come in with the Second Mistress. After lunch, the old lady sent the First Mistress and the Second Mistress away. The Second Master is now discussing matters with the old lady and the first master in the west wing of Shouxi Hall."
"Second Grandma is back too?"
"I'm back. Second Master said that the discussion would last until very late, so he asked Second Madam to go back to Xiaoxiang Courtyard first. He also asked Second Madam to sort out the several carts of things he sent back in the morning, saying that they were to be distributed to the various courtyards. He wrote names on them and asked Second Madam send someone to deliver them. He counted the remaining items and put them in the warehouse."
Aunt Zhang stared at Jinfeng with eyes wide open:
"Second Master has never bothered to ask about such trivial matters. How come you have arranged it so meticulously? Did you hear it with your own ears?"
"I am also confused. Why did the Second Master take care of the affairs in the backyard? I guess he thought the Second Madam was clumsy and lazy, so he made his own arrangements? The Second Master went to the west wing and followed behind the Second Madam. He only gave instructions to the Second Madam after he left the hall. I was standing not far away outside and heard everything clearly ."
Aunt Zhang felt something was wrong after hearing what Jinfeng said, but she couldn't put her finger on it. Without thinking any more, she continued to ask:
"Didn't the Second Master tell us which garden we'll be staying in tonight? We should prepare early."
"The Second Master only said that it would be very late and he would send someone to deliver a message, but he didn't say where to stay. Normally, he should stay in the main house today, but I think it would be difficult for the Second Master to say that he would go to another garden in front of the Second Madam. He might come directly to our yard. We can just send someone to deliver a message to the Second Madam then."
Aunt Zhang thought for a moment and said:
"The Second Master will either come here or go to Begonia Garden tonight. No matter what, we should make some preparations early to avoid being caught off guard. By the way, did the Second Mistress say anything when she came back?"
"I was afraid that after Second Madam came back, she would call the other concubines to talk. After all, Second Master had just returned and brought many things that needed to be sorted out. So I followed her into Xiaoxiang Courtyard. Thinking that Second Madam would call you, I called you directly. After waiting for a long time, Second Madam only called the eldest concubine to count the things Second Master brought back, and then sent them away. She said that the concubines had gotten up early to welcome Second Master and had worked very hard. So there was no need for them to pay their respects in the evening and they should just go to bed early."
When Aunt Zhang heard about counting the things, she was jealous and snorted coldly:
"Let us rest! She has such good intentions, she must be afraid that we will run into the Second Master coming back and steal the limelight. Humph, if she doesn't let us go, I won't serve her!"
Ling'er quickly agreed after hearing this:
"That's right, I don't know what's wrong with the eldest aunt. She has been obeying the second wife's orders like a dog in the past two years. Is she still hoping to get some benefits from her?"
"Benefits? Humph, you wish. The eldest wife is in charge of this family. If she follows the second wife, she can get good things. She'll be lucky if she doesn't get punished. Haven't you seen that since the second wife came into the family, not only has the second master never favored her, but the eldest wife has never even looked at her. She's called a master, but she's not as respectable as a servant. But a butler named An has suppressed her like that. Not to mention that her monthly allowance has never been paid regularly, just look at what she has done with butler An in the past two years. On such an important day today, look at how shabby she is dressed, without a single valuable thing on her head."
After hearing what Aunt Zhang said, Jin Feng said:
"That's true, don't be angry, Auntie. When the Second Master comes back, the cousin will definitely come to see him. This cousin is already seventeen years old, almost an old maid, and she has not found a husband all this time, isn't it because she is waiting for the Second Master? I heard that the old lady agreed two years ago, but because the Second Master suddenly went out, the matter was put aside. Now that the Second Master is back, this matter has to be brought up. If the Second Madam falls ill by then, you will see, and the eldest aunt will not be well!"
Hearing Jinfeng mention her cousin, Ling'er said hesitantly:
"Our cousin is here, and our lives are not easy either."
Aunt Zhang's face darkened after hearing this. She was silent for a long time and said unwillingly:
"No matter how bad your life is, you won't be divorced."
Seeing this, Ling'er and Jinfeng dared not say anything. They lowered their heads and began to think about how to welcome the Second Master. If they didn't prepare first, the Second Master would come and embarrass the aunt, and then their good days would be over...
