Chapter Twelve: Birthdays

  Xu Mingjin bid farewell to Fan Yicheng and returned home, telling the result of the matter to Mrs. Fan, who was also very happy. Fan Yicheng became the manager of their embroidery shop, which meant that they had said goodbye to their previous life of begging and their days were no longer plagued by hunger and fullness. Their lives now had a guarantee. Firstly, with Fan Yicheng as the manager of their embroidery shop, they no longer had to worry about not having their own people in the shop. Secondly, now that the manager was chosen, the apprentices and embroiderers were all ready, and there were still eight hundred taels of silver worth of embroidered goods in the warehouse. Everything was ready, just waiting for a good day to open for business.

  Xu Mingjin and Mrs. Fan were discussing when to open the business. Several maidservants chimed in, each with their own opinion. Chun Xing was the most impatient, blurting out: "Mrs. Fan, let's set it for May 8th! That's Miss's birthday!" Xu Mingjin was taken aback by this, only now realizing that her past life's birthday coincided with her modern-day birthday. This must be why she had transmigrated.

  Xu Mingjin thought about her past life's birthday and couldn't help but feel nostalgic for her modern family. It had been a month since she transmigrated; did her parents and brother miss her? In the past, she had always spent her birthdays away from home without any family celebrations. She would treat herself by buying things she liked but wouldn't normally buy.

  But more often than not, she would only remember it was her birthday when she happened to glance at a calendar, realizing that several days had passed since then. With a tinge of regret, she would buy something she had been wanting as a consolation prize. After getting a boyfriend, they spent their first birthday together, but he was away on business. When she called him to say it was her birthday, he simply responded with an "oh." She protested, unsatisfied, and he reluctantly said: "Can't you just buy something you like?" leaving her speechless.

  Xu Mingjin sighed, wondering if her boyfriend was just not romantic or if she was too naive. They were almost thirty years old; why did they still act like teenagers? Xu Mingjin thought it was because she liked to dwell on superficial things. However, in modern times, life was so busy that even when she had free time, her friends and family didn't have any. Even when they did, it felt like she was celebrating alone.

  She wondered how she would spend her first birthday in ancient times.

  Xu Mingjin is looking forward to it.

  Mrs. Fan agreed to the opening on May 8th, and all the maids applauded in agreement. Mrs. Fan looked at Xu Mingjin, but found that she was lost in thought, completely unaware of her own words. Mrs. Fan couldn't bear to interrupt her. She had never seen her daughter smile so happily before, when did this start? Mrs. Fan pondered, it seemed to be after she fell ill that time, since then, she could always see her daughter smiling so happily. Her daughter would also occasionally act coquettishly with her, which was unthinkable in the past. Mrs. Fan felt that her daughter's temperament was completely different from before, but she didn't think much of it, after all, she preferred her daughter's current temperament.

  Xu Mingji imagined the scene of her first birthday in ancient times, then raised her head to find everyone staring at her. She couldn't help but ask: "What are you all looking at me for? Did a flower bloom on my face?" The maids all covered their mouths and laughed, with Hong Luo laughing the loudest. Xu Mingji caught sight of her not covering her mouth well, revealing a big front tooth. She immediately thought of sending Zhang Shuo to investigate Hong Luo's family situation on her way back from Qi's pharmacy. I wonder if there were any results? Xu Mingji thought angrily, she couldn't wait any longer, she didn't want to see Hong Luo again! No matter what the result of Zhang Shuo's investigation was, she would drive Hong Luo out. What crime should she frame her for? Xu Mingji thought excitedly.

  "Miss, madam has decided that the opening day of Embroidered Villa will be on your birthday, which is May 8th." Chun Xing said with great enthusiasm.

  She suddenly realized that everyone had been waiting for her to speak up. Unfortunately, she was too focused on recalling the past and didn't hear it. Xu Mingjin felt embarrassed, coughed twice, and then said, "I have no opinion." May 8th is still half a month away from now. Xu Mingjin thought for a moment and asked doubtfully, "Isn't the date a bit far off?" Lady Fan said, "Firstly, we're waiting for your uncle's injury to heal before opening, and secondly, it's also to coincide with your birthday, for good luck." Xu Mingjin nodded in agreement. After discussing it, Xu Mingjin accompanied Lady Fan and Xu Mingxuan, who had finished his classes and returned home, to a happy dinner together, before returning to the Quiet Garden.

  As soon as they returned, Xu Mingjin sent away the unrelated people and only kept Chun Xiang and Qiu Yun. Xu Mingjin said to Chun Xiang: "Tomorrow you go out of the mansion and ask Zhang Shouzi about the situation he investigated. The Hong Luo family is just outside the city, and it's almost time for them to arrive. He should have found out everything that can be known." Chun Xiang nodded and then worriedly said: "Miss, your complexion looks really bad, I'll instruct the kitchen to stew some bird's nest congee for you tomorrow to nourish you." Xu Mingjin didn't have the mood to care about this, she was thinking of what crime to use to send Hong Luo away. She casually said: "You handle it yourself." Then they started discussing how to drive Hong Luo away. Chun Xiang exclaimed loudly and excitedly said: "Miss, you finally don't say anything about startling the snake by hitting the grass!" Xu Mingjin gave her a white eye, turned her head and asked Qiu Yun: "What was Hong Luo's reaction after drinking that bowl of congee last time? Did she continue to put medicine in it afterwards?"

  Xu Mingjin had instructed Qiuyun to keep an eye on Hong Luo after discovering that she had put medicine in her porridge, and later, not feeling at ease, she added Manzi to the task. She didn't believe it, thinking that two people couldn't keep an eye on one Hong Luo.

  Miss, you instructed last time, and I carefully watched Hong Luo. After the last poisoning, she behaved for two days and then continued to poison again. Each time, I let the kitchen staff make two portions of porridge, and I had Manzi secretly follow her. Every time Hong Luo served porridge to Miss, Manzi would serve another portion. The porridge Miss drank every day was actually brought by Manzi from the kitchen.

  Xu Mingjin nodded in approval, saying: "Good job, clever maid! Have you discovered any secret contact between her and others in the mansion?" Autumn Cloud heard Xu Mingjin's praise and smiled shyly, saying: "I've been watching her for two days, and I found that she has a close relationship with Winter Fragrance, the senior maid beside Madam."

  Xu Mingjin heard this, put away his playful expression, and thought for a long time before saying to Qiu Yun: "Dong Xiang? Let her be for now. Think of some way to send Hong Luo out tomorrow."

  Qiu Yun said: "The method is already prepared."

  "What method?" Xu Mingjin asked, "You thought of it as soon as I said it?" Qiu Yun smiled slightly and said, "Miss, have you forgotten? When you were seriously ill last time, Hong Luo, your most trusted maid, secretly took away several precious pieces of jewelry. Stealing from one's master is punishable by twenty heavy slaps and being sold off." After finishing speaking, Qiu Yun playfully winked her eyes. Xu Mingjin suddenly understood and laughed, saying "I understand what you mean now." She turned to instruct Chun Xiang, "Let Man Zi handle this matter, take a few of my pieces of jewelry and secretly put them under her bed."

  "Miss, why are you doing this?" Qiu Yun asked. Xu Ming Jin replied in confusion, "Qiu Yun, isn't this your plan?" Qiu Yun cried and laughed at the same time, saying, "Miss, I'm telling the truth! You don't need to frame her because she originally stole your jewelry and hid it under the bed." Xu Ming Jin was stunned upon hearing this. She really didn't expect that Hong Luo, who had been planted beside her as a spy, would dare to steal things with such audacity. This was truly killing two birds with one stone! Xu Ming Jin didn't know whether to cry or laugh, and she realized that she had wasted her brain cells trying to figure out how to deal with Hong Luo for half the day.

  Xu Mingjin said with a smile, "Why didn't you tell me about this earlier?" Autumn Cloud replied, "I also heard about it from Manzi two days ago. She saw Hong Luo secretly playing with several pieces of jewelry, and Manzi thought they looked familiar, like the ones Miss had worn before. I told her not to alarm anyone and to investigate further. Just as we were about to report back to you, Miss asked about it." Xu Mingjin said, "Aren't you afraid that maybe I gave them to Hong Luo as a reward?" Autumn Cloud replied seriously, "No matter how much Hong Luo is favored, it's impossible for Miss to give her so many pieces of jewelry in such a short time. Moreover, Chun Xiang is in charge of Miss's jewelry box, and she told me that Miss did not give any jewelry to Hong Luo. However, there are indeed some missing items from Miss's jewelry box, which allows me to infer that Hong Luo stole Miss's jewelry, and the evidence is solid."

  Xu Mingjin nodded after hearing Qiu Yun's words and said, "I'll deal with her early tomorrow morning." Then he changed the subject and said, "That Dong Xiang, have someone keep a close eye on her." Qiu Yun and Chun Xing both nodded in agreement.

  "By the way, Manzi has been doing well lately. You two should cultivate her well, and she'll be useful in the future." Xu Mingjin said: "Chun Xiang, you should pay attention to this. After you get married, I'll lose a left arm. Now, we need to prepare for the future." As soon as Xu Mingjin finished speaking, he looked at Chun Xiang, expecting her to be angry and embarrassed, but instead, she said firmly: "I will wait until Miss gets married, gives birth to a young master, and I will serve the young master until he grows up! I..." Xu Mingjin interrupted her, speechless, saying: "Chun Xiang, you're becoming more and more unbearable!" After that, she waved her hand for the two of them to go make the bed, as she was going to sleep.

  Chun Xiang turned her head, in a place where Xu Ming Jin couldn't see, and revealed a triumphant smile to Qiu Yun. Hehe, look at Miss teasing me from now on! Qiu Yun saw her smug expression and couldn't help but burst out laughing. Xu Ming Jin leaned against the couch, unable to see their expressions, and asked suspiciously upon hearing the laughter: "Qiu Yun, what are you laughing about?" Qiu Yun suppressed her smile and replied seriously: "This servant is happy for Chun Xiang, Miss has already thought of her future, this servant is deeply moved." As soon as Chun Xiang heard this, she became anxious and said: "If you're so moved, Miss, then let her be even more moved, quickly find a good match for her too, make Qiu Yun feel moved to tears!" Xu Ming Jin was overjoyed upon hearing this, and with great fanfare, she patted her chest and guaranteed: "The two of your lifelong matters are on me, Miss!"

  Chun Xing and Qiu Yun looked at each other with mutual resentment, then said in unison: "Miss, don't drive us away! We want to serve you for the rest of our lives!" Xu Mingjin heard this and shook her head, saying: "Even if I get married, you can still serve me for the rest of my life. When did I ever say I'd drive you away?" Xu Mingjin continued: "Besides, if you two don't get married, won't there be two more bachelors in the world who can't find wives? Won't I, Miss Xu, be hated to death by someone? And besides..." Qiu Yun and Chun Xing looked at Xu Mingjin speechlessly, no longer speaking. They knew that their mistress had made up her mind to take them down a peg today. Alright, time to retreat! The two quickly helped Xu Mingjin wash up and get into bed, then immediately blew out the lights and bid her goodnight before hastily slipping out of the bedroom. Tonight, Chun Xing was on night duty in the outer room, while Qiu Yun gave her a "good luck" look before hurrying back to the servants' quarters to rest.

  That night, Xu Mingjin couldn't sleep and told Chun Xing everything that had happened. The next day, when Chun Xing was helping Xu Mingjin get dressed, she discovered that many of her hairpins and accessories were missing. Xu Mingjin was furious and ordered a search of all the servants' quarters in Jingyuan Garden. Eventually, they found the missing items under Hong Luo's bed.

  Digression

  Finally recommended!