Chapter 326: Exorcism and Resentment
It was not until the late night that the maids followed Baoyu back to the Yihong Courtyard to settle down - but they still did not dare to sleep in the upper room of the main hall, and could only spend the night in the east and west wings.
Before dawn the next day, Xiren, Qingwen, Sheyue and others surrounded Jia Baoyu and interrogated him carefully. Only after confirming that there was nothing unusual except that he was a little weak did they feel relieved.
At this time, Mrs. Wang happened to come to visit her son, so all the maids withdrew and left the east wing to the mother and son.
Qingwen thought that she couldn't live in the east wing permanently, so she went into the main room on her own and planned to tidy it up first so that she wouldn't be in a panic when she moved in again in the future.
Who knew that just as I pulled out the feather duster from the revolving bottle in the corner, I heard someone tiptoeing into the living room behind me.
Qingwen thought that Sheyue and Qiu Wen were playing tricks on her, so she pretended not to know. When the footsteps got closer, she turned around abruptly, raised the feather duster high, and screamed, "Ah!"
“Ah~!”
The visitor was indeed startled. Xizi patted her chest and said angrily, "What are you doing? People came to you with good intentions to tip you off, but you tried to scare them!"
When Qingwen saw that it was not Sheyue or Qiu Wen who came, but Caixia, the head maidservant beside Lady Wang, she felt a little embarrassed. She hid the feather duster behind her and said with a smile, "My dear sister, how would I know it was you who came?"
Then he quickly flipped through the article and asked curiously, "You said you would tip me off, but I don't know what tip or what?"
"You can still laugh!"
Caixia rolled her eyes at her, turned around to see if there was anyone outside the door, and then said in a serious tone, "Jinchuan taught Madam the exact conversation between you and Lord Sun yesterday - and Madam immediately proposed to Lord Sun that she send you to serve him for a night!"
"What?!"
When Qingwen heard this, she felt as if struck by lightning. The feather duster in her hand fell to the ground with a thud, and then her eyes went dark and she fell backwards.
"Hey~ You... Qingwen? Qingwen!"
Caixia hurriedly supported her, pinched her philtrum and rubbed her chest, and finally managed to wake Qingwen up. The first thing she said was gritting her teeth: "I...even if I die, I will never give in to that Sun!"
“That’s enough!”
Caixia saw that she had just recovered and immediately started to speak harshly. She couldn't help but feel a little amused and helpless: "Even if you are willing, Mr. Sun is not willing! He rejected the madam's kindness at the time, saying that it was just a joke and could not be taken seriously at all - and also said something like 'a gentleman does not take away what others like'."
After hearing this, Qingwen finally felt relieved.
She broke away from Caixia's support, straightened her back again, and silently chanted "Amitabha" a few times. Suddenly, she became confused again: "Jinchuan and I usually get along well, why would she want to harm me for no reason?"
"What's so confusing about this?"
Caixia snorted and said disdainfully, "Although Jinchuan is serving in the Madam's room, her heart has long been with Master Bao. When you and Xiren were almost driven away a few years ago, she was so happy in secret that she has been waiting and looking forward to replacing you."
"Although that matter was suppressed, her desire to climb up the social ladder was not suppressed!"
"Now that she sees that the Madam doesn't like you, and she has also happened to find your weakness, she naturally wants to take the opportunity to vacate a position so that she can get closer to the Second Master!"
When Qingwen heard this, she suddenly realized something, but at the same time, she felt a chill in her heart.
It's really hard to guard against the secret affairs in this mansion. Jin Chuan usually looks amiable, but now she stabs the Second Master in the back without hesitation just to get closer to him!
And there is Mrs. Wang, who looks kind and benevolent on weekdays, but she wants to push herself into the fire pit without even asking a question.
On the contrary, although Lord Sun looked a bit vulgar, he was actually a kind person at heart. Otherwise, if he had just agreed to it, I would have been in great trouble this time...
"Alas~"
At this time, Caixia sighed again: "You must control your temper in the future. For people of our status, when the master gives us face, we can say anything. If the master doesn't give us face, one wrong word can make you fall into ruin!"
"That's what my sister said."
Qingwen nodded gratefully, but what she was thinking in her heart: Others may be like this, but Baoyu is not a heartless person.
Let’s not even talk about how Qingwen felt.
While several maids in the Yihong Courtyard were scheming against each other, a farce was also taking place in Wang Xifeng's room.
"Ping'er, Ping'er! Where did you go?!"
Ping'er had just instructed the small kitchen to stew some nourishing medicinal food when she heard Wang Xifeng yelling anxiously in the bedroom.
Although Ping'er didn't know what was going on, she still hurried to the inner room.
As soon as he entered the room, he saw that the hibiscus spring tent was wide open and had been turned inside out. Wang Xifeng was standing in front of the bed with her eyebrows raised and her hands on her waist. Her chest was heaving violently, lifting the purple tassels on her lapels high.
Ping'er was shocked when she saw this, and hurriedly asked, "Grandma, what are you doing? You just recovered, how can your body withstand the torment?!"
Having said that, he helped Wang Xifeng sit back on the bed.
"Stop talking nonsense!"
Wang Xifeng pushed her away, gnashing her teeth and saying, "Tell me, where is the money I left at home?"
Ever since the audit last year, when Wang Xifeng was forced to use most of her savings to make up for the shortfall, she has come to value these material possessions even more.
Well, she had just recovered from a serious illness and hadn't even tidied up the house yet, but she remembered the silver she had put in the inner room. She felt that she wouldn't feel at ease unless she took a look at it.
But when he looked again, he found that three thousand taels of silver notes and dozens of taels of gold were all gone!
But Ping'er saw her glaring at her with those triangular phoenix eyes, with an attitude that looked like she wanted to eat someone. How could she dare to be negligent in the slightest?
He cried out in grievance, "Ever since grandma got sick, I have been staying by her side, but how could I have ever touched her money?"
"So..."
In fact, Wang Xifeng didn't think that Ping'er was so brave. After hearing her explanation, she immediately believed it about 80%.
So he directed all his anger at the biggest suspect, stamped his feet heavily, and said angrily: "Go and call that filthy-hearted guy to me - I'm not even dead yet, but he's already coveting my belongings!"
Ping'er naturally knew who she was talking about, and hurried out to call for help.
Who knew that as soon as he stepped inside the door and outside, he heard someone in the living room answer, "What are you yelling about? I'm here!"
A person came in with the voice, but who else could it be but Jia Lian?
He was holding a mahogany box in his hand, explaining unwillingly, "You've been acting crazy these past few days. If I don't take the silver, wouldn't it be a bargain for outsiders?"
When Wang Xifeng saw the wooden box, she didn't care what he said.
He had grabbed the wooden box with a leap of the tiger, lifted the lid swiftly and flipped through it. Then his eyebrows stood up again, and he stared at Jia Lian and asked in a deep voice: "How come eight of the gold ingots are missing?!"
"Is that even a question?"
Jia Lian spread his hands innocently: "How many people and things have been disturbed because of your illness? Which of these things does not cost money?"
"What the hell are you talking about!"
Wang Xifeng was even more annoyed. She slammed the wooden box on the bed and said with a puffed-out chest, "I've already asked Ping'er. The medical expenses this time will all be paid from the public account. How could my private money be used?!"
"Look at you, you're anxious again, aren't you? She's talking about the big account, I'm just dealing with the small account..."
Jia Lian muttered to himself and talked about many trivial accounts.
But Wang Xifeng had been in charge of the accounts of Rongguo Mansion for many years. She knew clearly where the expenses were needed and where the expenses were falsely reported. How could she be deceived by him?
He mustered up his sharp tongue and exposed all of them one by one, and at the same time denounced Jia Lian as worse than dog shit.
"What do you mean by private money or not?!"
After all this, Jia Lian finally became angry and said, "You have been tearing up the account book all day long just to extort a few taels from us. Now you dare to talk about private money. How dare you!"
“You…you…”
Wang Xifeng was so angry that she fell backwards and pointed at the door and shouted, "Get out!"
"Just get out. This is a haunted place. I don't want to stay here even if you beg me!" Jia Lian was really single this time. He left the hall without even turning his head, saying these angry words.
Seeing him leave without hesitation, Wang Xifeng became even more grief-stricken. She leaned her plump body onto the bed and burst into tears.
