Chapter Sixteen Having One's Own Plans

  When Wenping returned, Yuandai was leaning on the kang reading a book, and there was no one else in the house. Hearing the sound of the door curtain moving, Yuandai slightly raised her eyes to look over, saw that it was Wenping, nodded slightly, and asked: "Does Rong have any message for me?"

  Wen Ping responded, "I didn't say anything else, I just sighed and said that Miss is being wronged!" When he said the two words "wronged", Wen Ping's expression couldn't help but reveal a hint of unusualness.

  Yan Dai nodded slightly and surprisingly stopped asking questions, lowering her head to continue reading.

  Although she didn't ask, Wenping couldn't help but say: "That jasmine flower was given to Sixth Master. He just said he would thank Miss later and took the flower away! It was actually Sister Zhēn who gave me a small box when she left, telling me to give it to Miss!"

  Her distant eyes didn't even flicker as she said, "Since she's given it to you, just take good care of it and use it as needed!"

  Wenping responded with a sound, and then opened the box in front of Yuandai. She originally wanted to check the contents of the box in front of Yuandai to avoid any future trouble caused by the things inside the box. However, as soon as the box was opened, Wenping was already stunned.

  The box's exterior looked extremely ordinary, with a black lacquer finish and simple carvings of auspicious cloud patterns on top. A bronze lock was attached, but there wasn't even a keyhole. It was precisely because of this that when Wenjing first received the box, she didn't pay it any mind at all. However, when the box opened, Wenjing's heart couldn't help but feel a wave of fear.

  Inside the box, there was nothing else, only silver notes. The denomination of the silver notes was not large, and the first one on top showed an amount of only fifty taels. However, although this box was not very deep, judging from its thickness, this stack of thick silver notes had at least fifty sheets. Two thousand five hundred taels of silver, for some people, may not be a big deal, but for Wenping, it was undoubtedly a large sum.

  "Miss......" She hesitated and looked up at Yuedai, somewhat afraid to take this hot potato.

  Yuandai heard her unease and looked up at Wenshu: "I've told you to take it, so just take it. You should know that everything in this world can be summed up in ten words...". She paused slightly before continuing, enunciating each word clearly: "That is... a distant road tests the strength of a horse, and time reveals a person's heart."

  After finishing this sentence, she didn't speak again, lowered her head and continued reading the book in her hand.

  Wen Ping remained silent, and after a moment, he hugged the box in his hand and quietly retreated. After a while, he brought tea again and replaced the cup of cold tea in front of Yuan Dai. Yuan Dai still didn't move, lazily leaning to one side.

  Wen Ping saw the situation and said in a soft voice, "This tea is made from top-grade Tieguanyin, which is most suitable for drinking on winter days. This tea was brought back by Shuang Zhen's sister when she went to the other courtyard last time, but due to being busy these past few days, I forgot to take it out!"

  Yuan Dai listened to these words and slightly nodded her head. She put down the book in her hand, sat up straight, took the tea from Wen Ping's hand and took a sip.

  Wenjing took away the cold tea that had been left there earlier, and then came back in, standing for a while before finally being unable to resist asking softly: "I wonder who Sixth Master asked Miss to give those two pots of flowers to?"

  Yan Dai casually put down the teacup and said calmly, "Of course, it's for Baili Yi!" Since she had given that silver note to Wenping, she had treated her as a confidante. At this moment, facing Wenping, there was no need to be evasive anymore.

  Wen Ping gritted her teeth and asked again: "Actually, Old Lady is also a flower lover, why doesn't Miss..."

  She had only spoken half of her words when Yuande raised her hand to stop her, looked at Wenshu deeply and said: "You are also a child born in the mansion, and you used to serve in front of the old lady. Let me ask you, what is the relationship between the old lady and the madam all these years?"

  Wen Ping was taken aback for a moment, then said in a low voice: "The relationship between the old lady and the madam is naturally very good."

  After the Zhou Dynasty was established, Emperor Taizu lavishly rewarded his founding ministers. On one day alone, he conferred titles on three dukes and eighteen marquises. Among these eighteen marquises, the Xiao, Ling, and Lu families were all prominent. However, as emperors rose and fell, times changed, and after a hundred years of wind and rain, many of yesterday's nobles had withered away. Today, only three or five families still stand tall. Precisely because of this, these few families not only did not drift apart but instead became even closer, and now they are related by marriage, intertwined like the roots of trees. As a result, they have become one entity, where one family's honor is shared by all, and one family's loss is shared by all.

  With a faint smile, Yuandai asked again: "In your opinion, would the old lady be willing to offend her mistress for my sake?"

  Wen Ping was speechless for a long time before stuttering: "But yesterday..."

  Her eyes were cast down, and she said calmly, "After all, Miss Xiao is a member of the Xiao family!" Not to mention that Old Lady had originally come from the Xiao Manor, even if there was no such relationship, if Xiao Xian Yun wanted to see her, Old Lady would not have refused. But if Old Lady were to treat her differently because of Xiao Xian Yun's relationship with her, that would be impossible. And if she were to fawn on Old Lady and try to curry favor with her, she couldn't do it either. Otherwise, more than two years ago, she wouldn't have had to scheme and use illness as an excuse to move to another courtyard to live alone.

  In that case, it would be better to borrow Ling Yuancheng's power and make friends with Baili Yi.

  Wen Pingyuan was a straightforward person, and Yuandai had said it simply, but she still understood. She responded lightly and didn't speak again. At this time, Yuandai picked up the book that had been put aside earlier and continued to read it leisurely.

  These days, the Lings' household has been busy with the news of Third Master's return. Today, Lady Lu sent someone over to borrow Red English, Purple Luo and Wang Shi from Concubine Zhou, but after some discussion, they were still not satisfied. So they asked Distant Di for Cai Lian instead. Distant Di was too lazy to care about this matter, and seeing that Cai Lian seemed eager to go, she let her go without any hesitation.

  She originally only had Wenping and Cailian, two second-class maidservants by her side. Hui'er and the other little maidservants were still in another courtyard, thinking that there weren't enough people to help, so she bought them herself. Now that Zhou Yiniang is ill and lacks someone to take care of her, Yuandai sent Hui'er over to serve Zhou Yiniang, leaving only Wenping by her own side. The entire West Courtyard thus became even more deserted.

  By the time it was late in the evening, Cai Lian returned. Because of what had happened the day before, she felt a bit uneasy and after greeting Yuanyan Dai politely in the inner room, she left. As Hongying and Zilu had also returned, Hui'er and the other two young maids naturally went back to the west wing as well. Cai Lian couldn't help but feel a bit restless and couldn't resist chatting with Hui'er and the others in hushed tones. It turned out that Old Master Ling of the Ling family had originally estimated that he wouldn't be able to return to Beijing until the 28th, but due to good weather along the way and a smooth journey, he would actually arrive by tomorrow afternoon.

  Wen Ping listened in and naturally followed them into the inner room, telling Yuandai about it. However, Yuandai seemed to have no reaction at all.

  After dinner, Yuandai got up and ordered Wenshu to hold the lantern. They walked to the south end of the courtyard and looked at her own evening primrose. This evening primrose was a rare species that liked cold weather and feared warmth. Under the cold wind, not only did it not show any signs of wilting, but it grew even more luxuriantly. After so many days had passed, the few low-hanging flower buds had opened up some more, and were now as big as fists.

  Wen Jing saw Yan Dai looking carefully and couldn't help but smile: "I don't know how much longer it will take for this flower to bloom."

  Yan Dai smiled and said: "More than ten days, less than seven or eight days, it will be the time when this flower blooms!"

  Just as the two were talking, a rustling sound of clothes and whispers came from outside, indicating that someone was approaching. Yu Dai slightly raised an eyebrow and glanced in the direction of the sound. The three maidservants who had come were dressed in their usual attire. One on the right held a lantern with a dead flame, smiling and talking to the middle woman, her expression warm and slightly flattering.

  Three people obviously didn't expect the sky to be completely dark, and Yuandai was still outside. As soon as they saw her, they were stunned for a moment, and then went forward to pay their respects. Yuandai had not been at the Ling family's house for long, so she was not very familiar with them. After nodding slightly, she looked at Wenshuang.

  Wen Ping smiled and said: "Aunt Hu, Aunt Deng, Aunt Yuan, why have you three come at this time?"

  As soon as she spoke, the woman on the right, Yuan's mother, immediately smiled and said: "It's been two years since we last met, and Wenping has become more and more outstanding following Ninth Miss. No wonder your parents always mention you with great praise." She said, then pointed to Hu's mother who was standing among the three of them, with a smile on her face: "I'm just accompanying Sister Hu here to deliver a message from the Deng family!"

  Wen Ping's heart skipped a beat for no reason, but she didn't dare to show it. She only asked Yuandai: "Miss, are you asking the three mothers to come in and talk?" Yuandai didn't recognize these three women, but Wen Ping did. Deng Mama and Yuan Mama were nothing special, but Hu Mama was a person of great importance in front of Madame Lu, although she wasn't the head housekeeper of the inner courtyard, even the head housekeeper would have to show her respect when they met.

  Yan Dai naturally wouldn't slight her, so she nodded slightly and raised her hand, saying: "Please, the three mothers!"

  Madam Yuan was about to speak when Madam Hu suddenly opened her mouth and laughed: "Ninth Miss's good intentions, shouldn't be declined, but tomorrow Third Master will return to the mansion, and there are many things outside that need to be taken care of, so let's not disturb him! I came over now only because Madame said that Concubine Zhou is unwell and should rest quietly, so tomorrow it won't be necessary to go out to greet her! As for Ninth Miss, just follow your own wishes!"

  As soon as this was said, Wenping's face stiffened. Yuandai, however, remained calm and composed, and after hearing the words, she replied indifferently: "Thank you, madam, for your concern! Since my aunt is not feeling well, I will take care of her in the same courtyard, so please tell mother to convey my intentions to madam!"

  Old Lady Hu smiled again and didn't say anything else. She just said "yes" and bowed, then left with Old Lady Yuan.

  Yan Dai's expression didn't change as she glanced at Wen Ping's pale face and ordered, "Go back to the house! It's cold outside!"

  Wen Ping barely suppressed the anger in his heart and accompanied Yu Dai to the west wing. Although the commotion outside was not very loud, the west courtyard had always been quiet, but there were many people living there. At this moment, Hong Ying, Zi Luo, Cai Lian and others were already standing at the door, each with a different expression.

  Yan Dai walked over and swept a glance at everyone: "It's already this late, yet you're all still standing outside in a daze. Each of you go back to your own rooms!"