Chapter 14: The Trouble with Mrs. Fan

  Xu Mingjin smiled slightly and said: "You can tell me or not, I'll only give you one chance."

  For a moment, this storage room became eerily silent.

  Xu Mingjin felt her patience was wearing thin, and she was thinking whether she should just beat Red Luo up and throw him out when he finally managed to speak: "I can talk, but you have to let me go if I do."

  Xu Mingjin said: "You don't say it, I also know. It seems that you don't want this opportunity! Then just wait for your journey." She didn't look at Hong Luo again and walked out.

  "Wait! Wait!" Hong Luo desperately tugged at Xu Mingjin's sleeve.

  Xu Mingjin stopped but didn't turn around.

  "Those medicines were given to me by Lady Xu of the Shangshu Mansion!" Hong Luosheng feared that if she spoke any slower, Xu Mingjin would never pay attention to her again, and she would be left waiting in vain.

  "How much silver did she give you?"

  "Three... three hundred taels." Hong Luo said timidly.

  "Three hundred taels and you'd sell your own soul?" Xu Mingjin sneered, "Is it worth it for you to do something so reckless? Are you really that cheap, only worth three hundred taels?" Hong Luo was frightened by Xu Mingjin's cold laughter, she had been serving her for a while now, and in her impression, Xu Mingjin had always been gentle, although lacking passion towards anyone, but never as fierce as this before. Just the cold laughter alone made her whole body tremble with fear rising from the bottom of her heart.

  "Who in this mansion is your ally? Is it Dongxiang?"

  "No, I just wanted to win Dongxiang over, but she refused."

  "Who is it?"

  She was the first-class maid Yuqin beside Madam.

  Yuqin? Xu Mingjin had no impression of this maid called Yuqin at all. Autumn Cloud leaned in close to Xu Mingjin's ear and said, "Miss, this Yuqin was sold into the estate at the age of seven and has been serving the madam ever since. You could say she is one of the people the madam trusts the most. If it were Yuqin, I'd rather believe it was Dongxiang."

  "Oh? Why is that?" Xu Mingjin became interested.

  "Dongxiang has been serving Madame for only half a year and is still just a second-class maid, if it's said that she was bought off by someone, I believe it."

  "Who says that the longer you serve, the less likely you are to betray? People have no loyalty, it's all about the stakes. As long as the stakes are high enough, anyone can betray. Xu Mingjin patted Qiu Yun's head and shook his head with a smile: "You're still too young, it's hard for you to understand."

  Qiu Yun twitched the corner of her mouth, and this sentence seemed to make her look like she was in a similar situation. Chun Xing looked at Qiu Yun's silly expression and chuckled, this chuckle gave Hong Luo, who was desperately begging on the ground, a glimmer of hope, and her pleading voice became even more mournful: "Miss, I've already said what I needed to say, please spare me!"

  Xu Mingjin lowered his head and glanced at her.

  Hong Luo couldn't understand the inexplicable look in Xu Mingjin's eyes, but she didn't get angry and immediately call for someone to throw her out, which meant there was still hope. So, Hong Luo cried even more desperately. She tried to use this method to make Xu Mingjin spare her.

  "Stop wailing! No one has died here, you're not afraid that if you die there won't be anyone to mourn for you, so you're crying ahead of time? Xu Mingjin gave Hong Luo a disgusted look and said to Permit Auntie: "Her crime isn't punishable by death, give her a good beating with a board and drive her out!"

  "Miss, don't...!" Hong Luo begged, but Xu Mingjin ignored her.

  "Miss, isn't this too cheap for her?" Chun Xing was still indignant.

  "Alright, I'll leave the task of supervising Red Luo to you! Can't you just tell the little servant to use a bit more force? Or, if you're interested, you can do it yourself." Xu Mingjin smiled and patted Red Luo's shoulder, saying: "I'm entrusting this glorious and important task to you, don't disappoint me!"

  "Spring Apricot"

  Xu Mingjin led the giggling Mrs. Xu and Qiuyun out of that dimly lit back room, leaving Chun Xiang alone in the wind.

  As soon as Xu Mingjin came out of the room, his face immediately turned cold.

  "Get me to investigate Yuqin immediately, I hope it's not too late." Xu Mingjin immediately ordered Mrs. Xu: "I always feel that something big is going to happen, and my heart is very uneasy. What does that woman who suffered a thousand knives, Mrs. Xu, want to do? What did my mother offend her about?"

  Madam Xu heard Xu Mingjin's words and was about to comfort her when she saw Xu Mingjin anxiously waving her hand, urging her to hurry up. "You go quickly, find out the details of Yuqin as soon as possible, so I can rest assured." Madam Xu could only sigh and rush out quickly, heading straight for Madame Fan's Pear Garden.

  "Ah, you just said that Yuqin is the mistress's trusted maid, and it's likely that even Madam Xu can't move her. I'll have to take care of this myself." Xumingjin patted her head and said. After finishing speaking, she chased after Madam Xu in a flurry. "Miss, wait for me!" Autumn Cloud saw the situation and didn't even have time to say much before following suit and running off as well.

  Spring apricot stared at the little servant as he pushed the red sedan chair out of the room, but found that the young lady and others were nowhere to be seen. She let out a sound of surprise, but didn't know whether she should stay behind to keep an eye on the sedan chair or go after the young lady. But where had the young lady gone?

  When Xuming Jin arrived at the Pear Garden, it was getting late, with a gentle breeze blowing, and everything seemed normal as it had been the day before. However, she still felt a sense of turmoil beneath this calmness. She entered the dining hall where Lady Fan usually stayed at this time, and indeed, Lady Fan was having dinner. When Xuming Jin caught sight of a round-faced unfamiliar maid serving Lady Fan's meal, Autumn Cloud whispered in her ear, "Miss, that's Yuqin." Xuming Jin nodded, and under Lady Fan's enthusiastic invitation, she quietly sat down beside Lady Fan. As she looked up, she saw that there was only one bowl of silver ear soup left on the table in front of Lady Fan, which had been almost finished. She smiled and said, "Mother, where is Dongxiang?"

  Madam Fan was about to speak when she suddenly felt a wave of dizziness wash over her and fainted into Xu Mingjin's arms.

  Xu Mingjin was stunned.

  Qiu Yun Town was still, and she repeatedly shouted loudly: "Quick! Quick, invite the doctor!" After finishing speaking, seeing that several maids who were waiting on one side had not yet awakened from their shock, she hurriedly gave one of them a slap in the face, which finally woke them up. They hastily rushed out to invite the doctor. Qiu Yun sent off the maid and turned her head to see Xu Mingjin already helping the maid support Fan's wife onto the bed. She stared straight at Yuqin who was standing on the side with a piercing gaze.

  "Tonight is your turn to serve the lady's meal, speak! What did you feed the lady?!" Xu Mingjin rushed over, grabbed Yuqin's collar and pushed her against the wall.

  "No, I don't! I don't know what you're saying, Miss!"

  "Hah, hahaha. You don't know?" Xu Mingjin's anger turned to laughter, "It doesn't matter, I'll let you know what I'm saying." She casually slapped Yuqin with a loud slap, her strength was unusually great in her rage, and Yuqin's pale face immediately reddened at a speed visible to the naked eye. Her own hand also started to hurt, but no amount of pain could compare to the pain in her heart.

  "Do you want to die a happy death or live a life worse than death?" Xu Mingjin said word by word.