Chapter Thirty-Eight All in One Sword

  Ling Yuancheng's sudden arrival, if it was surprising, the person most surprised in the scene would be none other than Yuan Dai. She clearly remembered that just now, the three of them had seen Ling Yuancheng in Chunhui Garden, and he had seemed to want to come over to pay his respects to Old Lady Xiao with Xiao Chengye. Yuan Dai was indeed puzzled - why did these two take so long to arrive?

  However, the sudden appearance of Ling Yuancheng and Xiao Chengye was obviously a good thing for Xiao Chengyan. At least she didn't have to face the "Three Halls Trial" anymore. Xiao Chengyan secretly let out a sigh of relief and immediately looked up at Ling Yuancheng with gratitude in her eyes.

  As soon as Ling Yuancheng arrived, the conversation that everyone was having naturally came to an abrupt end. At this point, Guo Shi stood up first and smiled at Ling Yuancheng with a bow, calling out: "Sixth Uncle!" Yan Dai and the others also hastily got up and paid their respects.

  After a brief exchange of greetings, Old Lady Xiao smiled at Ling Yuanqing and said: "You two have come at just the right time!"

  Ling Yuancheng hadn't spoken yet, but Xiao Chengye had already chimed in: "Miss, you don't know that we've actually been here for a while now! However, when we walked to the south end, we suddenly caught a whiff of plum blossom fragrance. We went over to take a look and found out that the plum blossoms in your garden have already bloomed with many buds! Although there aren't many, they already have some fragrance. The two of us liked them so much that we couldn't help but linger for a while, which is why we're late!"

  Only then did Yuan Dai and the others understand why these two had arrived so late yet so coincidentally.

  Xiao Lao Tai Jun obviously didn't know about this matter, and upon hearing it, couldn't help but laugh: "There are so many maids in my garden, are they all foolish? Not one of them knew about this, truly deserving of a beating!"

  Ling Yuancheng smiled and said: "I reckon Grandma doesn't know, so I rushed over to report the news and also ask for a reward!"

  Xiao Lao Tai Jun was born with a fondness for plum blossoms, and in Chunhui Garden, she even set aside a separate plum blossom forest. Every year when the early plum blossoms burst into bloom, those attentive maidservants would hurry to report the news, and Xiao Lao Tai Jun would reward them heavily.

  Xiao Lao Tai Jun had not spoken yet, but Du Ruo beside her was already smiling and saying: "Every year the old lady gives this reward, originally it's just for her own pleasure, giving some things to let the people below also follow along and be happy. This year is good, unexpectedly letting Liu Ye and Xiao Da Ye snatch away this lucky chance. It's just a pity for those maids who have been guarding in the garden for many days!"

  Ling Yuancheng was taken aback for a moment, then burst out laughing and said: "Since Sister Du Ru has spoken, I also can't let everyone wait in vain for these days. Alright, the old lady's reward is something I must take, consider your rewards as compensation for my red envelope!"

  Du Ruo heard this and couldn't help but purse her lips in a smile, stepping forward to thank Ling Yuanqing.

  Xiao Lao Tai Jun listened and shook her head, then smiled slightly at Du Ruo: "You little girl, I used to say you were clever, how come today you're so ignorant! Under the sky, who asks for rewards only from their own family, but ignores the god of wealth beside them?"

  She said with a smile and glanced at Xiao Chengyan.

  Xiao Chengye's face immediately turned sour upon hearing this: "Yuan Qing, look at your family's reward, it's really not good to ask for. Yet you're still dragging me along, saying it's a good thing! This is great, the shadow of the reward hasn't even appeared, but I've already started bleeding!"

  Du Ruo heard it and also laughed, one head laughing but still one head passing by, facing Xiao Cheng Ye making a courtesy said: "I originally didn't dare to ask Master for reward presumptuously, however now that the old lady has spoken, Master Xiao can't help but have to cut his flesh!"

  Everyone burst out laughing, and Old Lady Xiao laughed so hard she was almost crying. She pointed at Du Ruo and said: "Look at this little girl! She just climbed up the pole and then started talking about blood. Now she's even using chicken feathers as arrows and wants to cut her own flesh!"

  Mrs. Lu saw the excitement and couldn't help but smile: "These are all clever people brought up by the old lady, if it were those maidservants around us, they wouldn't be able to respond so quickly!" Although Mrs. Lu's previous words had been interrupted by Ling Yuqing, her mood not only didn't change, but actually improved a bit. The reason was simple: just now when Ling Yuqing came in and said that, Xiao Chengyu had glanced at him with gratitude in her eyes. This glance, to Ling Yuqing and Xiao Chengyu, was perfectly normal and meant nothing else, but to Mrs. Lu and the others who saw it, they couldn't help but interpret it as a romantic exchange between young lovers.

  Everyone laughed and the lunch was already served. Ling Yuqing said that he had previously made an appointment with Ling Yuanhui to have a meal together, so he bid farewell with Xiao Chengye and went forward. The people here didn't mention eating.

  After dinner, as Old Lady Xiao was accustomed to taking a nap, everyone else also excused themselves and left.

  Mrs. Lu then took Xiao Chengyan's hand and walked with her, chatting as they went, treating her like a daughter-in-law. Xiao Chengyan was anxious in her heart but couldn't do anything about it, so she had to pretend to be happy. In this way, the atmosphere seemed harmonious.

  Yuan Dai saw Mrs. Lu and couldn't help but think of Zhou Yiniang, so she left Yanhui Studio and went straight to the West Wing. In the West Wing, everything was as usual. When Zhou Yiniang saw Yuan Dai arrive, she was both surprised and delighted, pulling her into a long conversation and asking in detail about the situation in Chunhui Garden. Yuan Dai only picked out the good things to say, but didn't mention Mrs. Lu at all.

  As they left the Western Wing, Yuan Dai brought Wen Ping along the winding corridor. She had something on her mind and didn't notice anything around her until Wen Ping pushed her, and she suddenly raised her head in surprise. With a movement of her eyes, she saw that someone was staring at her from about ten or so steps away. When Yuan Dai looked closely, it turned out to be Xiao Cheng Ye.

  After a brief moment of stunned silence, Yuandai finally gave a slight bow: "Young Master Xiao!" She was quite surprised to run into Xiao Chengye here, but if she were being honest with herself, it wasn't like they had any particularly deep connection. After all, to her, Xiao Chengye was probably just slightly better than a passing acquaintance.

  Xiao Chengye gave her a thoughtful glance and returned half a courtesy, saying calmly: "So it's Ninth Miss!"

  The two exchanged greetings, and Yuandai didn't intend to stay any longer. After saying "Young Master Xiao, take care," she led Wenshuang away. But just as they had taken a few steps, Ling Yuqing's voice suddenly came from behind: "Ninth Sister, wait!"

  Yuandai had no choice but to stop and turn around. Not far from the side of the corridor, Lingyuan Qingzheng emerged from behind a clump of flowers and trees. It wasn't until then that Yuandai vaguely remembered that there was a latrine on this side of the corridor.

  It turns out that Xiao Chengye is standing here inexplicably, and it's actually for waiting for Ling Yuqing to come.

  Ling Yuan Qing took a few steps forward and hastily asked, "Sister, where did you come from?" As soon as he spoke, a faint smell of alcohol wafted over, clearly indicating that at noon, he had accompanied Xiao Cheng Ye and Ling Yuan Hui in drinking quite a bit.

  Yan Dai heard this and immediately understood his meaning. She smiled and said: "I just went to the West Wing to see my aunt!"

  Ling Yuancheng murmured an "oh" and hesitated for a moment, but still asked: "Sister is going to the West Wing, has mother returned?"

  A hint of smile flashed at the bottom of her eyes, but facing Xiang Ye's scorching face, Yan Dai didn't dare to tease Ling Yuanqing either. She said: "Madam seems to like Sister Xiang very much, she kept asking her questions and wouldn't let go, my sister and I couldn't get a word in edgewise, so we each went back to our rooms!"

  As soon as these words came out, Ling Yuancheng's handsome face twisted slightly. After a moment of stiffness, he could only smile bitterly and say: "Others might not know better, but Ninth Sister clearly knows the whole story, why didn't you help me out at all!"

  Yan Dai smiled slightly and said: "Sixth brother knows my situation, how can you still say such a thing!"

  Ling Yu was speechless for a moment. What he had just said was only a slip of the tongue when he was anxious, and now that he heard what Far Dai had to say, he didn't know how to respond either. In his heart, he actually understood that with Mrs. Lu's temperament, if Far Dai really dared to intervene, Mrs. Lu would either ignore her or make a big fuss, and by then, things would be even more out of hand.

  Sighing, Ling Yuqing listlessly asked, "I wonder if you have any solution?"

  She slightly raised her eyebrows and said, "What can others do about this matter? It's just a matter of stretching one's neck for a knife, shrinking one's head for a knife, the sooner it's over, the better!" After saying that, she didn't want to stay any longer, gave a slight bow, bid farewell to Ling Yuqing, and took Wenping away.

  She didn't sleep all night, and after the fifth watch, she dozed off slightly, but then it was noisy again for the whole morning. In fact, she had been tired for a long time, but her heart was set on going back to the house to rest properly for a while. However, as soon as she lay down on the kang, Ling Yuexian brought Huan Liu over from outside.

  Yuandai had no choice but to get up, and Ling Yuanshuang had already walked in from the other side. Seeing her getting up, he hurriedly came forward and pressed down on her: "Ninth sister, just lie down, I'll come. It's just that my heart is feeling stuffy, I want to find someone to talk to, but apart from Ninth sister, I couldn't think of anyone else, so I had to thicken my skin to come over. If Ninth sister still wants to be like this, then I can only leave!"

  Yan Daiyuan is just a lazy person, otherwise he wouldn't have been pretending to be ill in the Ling manor for years. At this moment, after hearing these words, he smiled and leaned against the kang, saying: "This morning when you came, I felt that you seemed to have something to say, but because Sister Xiao was by your side, it wasn't convenient to ask you! What's wrong with you? Has something happened?" His tone already carried a few hints of concern.

  The whole Ling family, the people she really cares about, first and foremost is Zhou Yiniang. If you insist on mentioning others, then it must include Ling Yuanqing and Ling Yuanshuang. Although Ling Yuanqing is the son of Mrs. Lu, he has been taking good care of her these days without pretending to be fake. As for Ling Yuandai, although she is indifferent and lazy, she is not a person who does not know what is good or bad. As for Ling Yuanshuang, let alone the various behaviors of Luo Shi being kind to her, just her simple and honest personality makes her care about her involuntarily.

  Ling Yuexuan heard the concern in her words and felt a wave of dizziness, after a long time, she said softly: "Sister doesn't know, last night after you left with Sister Xiao, someone came to my mother's place!"