Chapter 45: Du Ruo (2)

  Du Ruo heard this and didn't say another word, then knelt down with her knees bent: "Miss's meaning, Du Ruo naturally understands. It's just that now that Old Madam has given me to Miss, I have already become Miss's maid. If Miss finds me unsatisfactory, she can dispose of me as she pleases, but if she wants me to go back in front of Old Madam again, I absolutely don't have the face to do so!"

  Her words were spoken calmly, but her attitude was exceptionally firm. Far away, Dai Mo looked at her silently for half a day and only let out a sigh. She had never expected to be able to persuade Du Ruo with just these words, and now that she saw the situation, she could only give up.

  "Yuan Ping..." she called out loudly. Yuan Ping outside heard her call and hastily responded, then walked in. Yan Dai looked at her, then at Du Ruo, and after a while instructed: "From today on, Sister Du Ruo is one of us in this house. She's older than you all, and also the old lady's favorite person, so you mustn't be lacking in even the slightest courtesy towards her. Do you understand?"

  Miss, don't worry! I still remember the kindness Du Ruo showed me when I first arrived at Old Lady's place. Even if I had to borrow some courage in front of Du Ruo, I wouldn't dare be presumptuous!

  Du Ru heard this and couldn't help but secretly sigh in her heart. She knew that Yu Dai had reluctantly accepted her, but ultimately didn't treat her as one of their own. And these words, although seemingly directed at Wen Ping, were actually also meant for Du Ru herself.

  Although the words were subtle, they were actually warning her not to overstep her bounds, and also made Wenjing constantly stare at her.

  Although she felt embarrassed in her heart, she didn't have any intention of retreating. Before coming here, she had already thought it through clearly; since she had decided to come, there was no turning back, and if she couldn't gain Farang's trust, the only way out would be to leave the manor in despair.

  Yan Dai gave her a deep look, after all, and scolded Wen Ping: "You're usually clever, how come you suddenly became stupid today, watching Du Ruo's sister kneel on the ground without even helping her up?"

  Wen Ping listened to this, and suddenly seemed to understand generally. He hurriedly smiled and went over to support Du Ruo, saying: "Sister, please forgive me! I was busy answering Miss's words and forgot about this!"

  Du Ruofu stood up with the momentum, she didn't stand up yet and still didn't feel it, but as soon as she got up, she felt that her legs were numb, and involuntarily stumbled, almost falling. Fortunately, Wenping was quick-eyed and quick-handed, and happened to be standing beside her, so he quickly supported her with one hand.

  Yan Dai saw her like this, and in her heart, she was also quite reluctant. She sighed and said: "Wenping, help Du Ruo down to rest for a while, and then rub her knees again!"

  Du Ruo busily shook her head and said, "Thank you for your concern, Miss! I can handle it myself!" She had been following Xiao Lao Tai Jun for many years, and in the past three or four years, she had gained a lot of face. In the mansion, not only the young masters and misses, but even Lu Furen and the other two madams would treat her with courtesy and respect, not daring to be slightly neglectful. As for kneeling on the ground to speak, it was something that was almost forgotten by her now.

  Yan Dai nodded slightly and didn't say another word. Wen Screen quietly escorted Du Ruo out, helped her sit down in the side room, and squatted down to slowly massage her knees for her. Du Ruo neither spoke nor thanked him, she just sat there silently.

  The outer house was silent for a long time, and Wenping finally couldn't help but say in a low voice: "Sister, what's the point of this again!" She said it very softly, if Du Ye hadn't been extremely close to her, he almost wouldn't have heard. What she had said to Yuan Dai earlier wasn't entirely false either. In the early years when she first arrived at Old Lady Xiao's side, Du Ye had indeed taken great care of her, letting her avoid a lot of trouble.

  Du Ruo didn't expect her to say such a thing, and after taking a deep look at Wen Ping, Du Ruo also said in a low voice: "Wen Ping, you and I are the same, we're both maids. So we should know that no matter how dignified a maid's face is, she's still a servant serving her master. As a servant, one should keep to their place. For me, since I've come to serve Miss, from now on Miss will be my master, and just like how I used to serve the old lady, from now on I'll only serve Miss in the same way, this is my duty!"

  Wenjingyuan didn't expect her to respond, but after hearing this, she was shocked. After a while, she replied: "If so, that's the best! In the past, Miss had given me ten words, and now I have also said them to my sister, just hoping that my sister will remember them!"

  "What words did he say?"

  "A distant road reveals a horse's strength, and time will reveal a person's heart!" Wen Ping said slowly, but his mind suddenly thought of Cai Lian, and he couldn't help but let out a quiet sigh.

  Yu Ruo and Wen Ping left, but Yuan Dai remained on the kang, lost in thought for a while. However, she also knew that at present, the Ling family was not in a position to listen to her opinions, no matter what Yu Ruo's intentions were, as long as Yu Ruo refused to leave, she could only accept it.

  Outside, suddenly came the sound of Cuiyi's voice: "Miss, Xiao Miss has arrived!"

  She raised an eyebrow unexpectedly, and Yuandai got up to go out and greet her. She had only taken a few steps when the curtain on the other side moved, and Xiao Cheng walked in with a smile. Her eyes scanned the room, and she asked with a laugh: "Where's Du Ruo?"

  Yan Dai knew she had come for the sake of Du Ruo's matter, so he wasn't surprised by her question. He just smiled wryly and said, "Your news is quite timely?" His expression was full of helplessness.

  Xiao Chengxian smiled to herself as soon as she knew that Du Ruo was not in the house, and then beckoned cleverly to Cai Lan to guard the door. Only after that did she pull Yu Dai down to sit on the kang, asking puzzled: "What's going on? Could it be that the young lady has found out about our plans?"

  Yan Dai shook her head and asked instead: "What if sister were an old lady, once she knew of our plans, what would she do?"

  Xiao Cheng's eyebrows furrowed slightly, and after a moment of contemplation, she said: "If it were me, I would pretend to be unaware, but not allow you to leave the house!" As she spoke, a hint of doubt naturally appeared on her face: "Could it be that Miss has an ulterior motive for this move?"

  Yan Dai sighed and said slowly: "I also thought so! But for a moment, I couldn't think of what the old lady wanted to do?"

  Xiao Chengxian shook her head, looking very worried, and said: "Now that Auntie has sent Du Ruo to serve you, it's like having an extra pair of eyes and ears by your side. How can this be good?" Although Xiao Canfu and his wife were extremely obedient to her, if they knew that Xiao Chengxian had intentionally gone to the tea house and tavern on her own to choose a husband among the thousands of scholars, they would probably not agree to it at all.

  Yan Dai suddenly heard this, but her heart moved slightly: "Sister Xiao, I've long heard that the plum blossoms on Lü Yu Ridge are unparalleled in Pingjing. I suppose, apart from the Xiao Manor, there should be many other aristocratic families who also have villas built on Lü Yu Ridge?"

  Xiao Chengxian was worried about Du Ruo's affairs in her heart, and after hearing this, she didn't pay much attention to it. She replied: "Sister only knows that the plum blossoms on Lü Yu Ridge are unparalleled in the vicinity of Pingjing, but I'm afraid you don't know that besides the cold plum blossoms, there is also a hot spring on Lü Yu Ridge?"

  Yuan Dai suddenly heard this and was taken aback: "This is something I've never heard of!"

  Xiao Cheng sighed and said, "The hot spring on Lü Yu Ridge was only discovered a few years ago, so apart from a few families, not many people know about it." She paused for a moment before continuing, "My family knew about this because our branch house happens to be next to the branch house of Prince Rui. And the source of that hot spring is actually located in Prince Rui's branch house!"

  As soon as the words came out, Yuan Dai suddenly realized that all her previous doubts had been answered at this moment. She slowly let out a long breath and said, "Sister, don't worry, I've roughly guessed what Old Lady meant!"

  Xiao Chengxian heard this and hastily asked: "What exactly does milady mean?"

  Yan Dai did not immediately respond to her, but suddenly asked: "Has Sister Xiao ever seen Prince Rui?"

  Xiao Chengxian listened to her suddenly asking about Rui Qīnwáng, and his expression didn't seem to move slightly. He didn't answer immediately, but after a long time, he sighed and said: "Five or six years ago, I did see Rui Qīnwáng from afar. At that time, he was still young, indeed full of vigor and spirit, with an air of grandeur. In his conversation, there was even more of a sense of commanding the eight extremes and shaking the four directions. It's just a pity that good times don't last!"

  Yuandai nodded silently, and after a long while, she smiled bitterly and said: "To be honest with you, sister, I only found out today that the old lady actually valued me so much!"

  Xiao Chengxian was originally a clever and astute person, but at this moment, being pointed out by Yuan Dai, she couldn't help but be stunned. After a moment of silence, she involuntarily exclaimed: "Auntie...this...this..." She wanted to say that it was truly absurd, but the words stuck in her throat and couldn't come out. Staring at Yuan Dai for a long time, she finally said inexplicably: "If Auntie had used someone else, I would have thought there was no hope at all, but if it's my sister...or maybe it could actually work!"

  Yan Dai couldn't help but laugh bitterly: "Sister and Old Lady are indeed a match made in heaven!"

  Xiao Chengxian smiled slightly, but then said: "However, what I'm thinking now is different from yours, you're afraid that Rui Wang won't like my sister, but I think the current Rui Wang doesn't deserve my sister at all!" Yuan Dai smiled lightly and didn't respond.

  If we talk about the ranking, Ruiqin Wang Ba Li Zhao is ranked second among many princes, but he is the son of Empress Dowager Dong. Empress Dowager Dong was the wife of Emperor Yang De, and during her lifetime, she had a very close relationship with Emperor Yang De. After Empress Dowager Dong's death, Emperor Yang De did not establish an empress for three years, and he favored Ba Li Zhao, the second son left by Empress Dowager Dong, even establishing him as the crown prince early on.

  Baili Zhao did not disappoint Emperor Yande's favor, he was extremely talented, at the age of eleven he followed the court to listen to politics, and at thirteen he wrote "On State Affairs" which caused a sensation in the imperial court, his reputation was so high that it could be called unparalleled. Unfortunately, heaven is jealous of outstanding talents, three years ago, Baili Zhao's legs were broken due to an accident, after repeatedly seeking medical treatment without success, he resolutely submitted a memorial, and firmly declined the position of crown prince, and was granted the title of Ruiqin Wang, from then on he lived in seclusion, his sharp spirit completely gone.

  Yan Dai quickly recalled what she knew about Bai Li Zhao, but after a while, she shook her head.

  But where did this old grandmother get the confidence that Ruiqin Wang would be willing to marry her?