Chapter 64: Trouble Comes from the Mouth

  After Xiao Chengxian left, Ling Yuexuan suddenly fell silent, sitting quietly in the house, gazing out the window at the dancing snowflakes, not speaking for a long time. Yuan Dai sighed, wanting to say something, but fearing it would stir her up, could only hold back and remain silent.

  It was a long time before Ling Yuexuan suddenly spoke up: "Ninth sister, what are you thinking about?"

  After a brief moment of distraction, Yuan Dai said: "I was thinking, when will this snow stop?" In front of Ling Yu Xuan, she unintentionally mentioned Lu Wei Ying, and could only change the subject as if nothing had happened.

  Ling Yuexuan softly said "oh", and in the time it took her to turn her head, she suddenly asked: "I thought Ninth Sister was thinking about when Lu Weiyin would leave this place?" Although her voice was light, her bright eyes clearly showed a sharp displeasure.

  Yan Dai never expected her to say such a thing, and her slender, delicate eyebrows suddenly furrowed slightly.

  Ling Yuexuan didn't even glance at her, and said directly: "My own affairs, I have my own decisions, actually there's no need for Ninth Sister to wag her tongue in front of others! Now I only advise sister one sentence, sister's mouth is still better off being more severe! You should know that all troubles arise from the mouth!" After saying this, she stood up and turned around, sweeping her sleeves away.

  Yan Dai stared at her departing back, but couldn't utter a word for a long time, and could only smile bitterly. The matter of Ling Yu Xuan was originally something that Ling Yu Xuan herself had inadvertently revealed through her words and actions, and was discovered by Xiao Cheng Yan. She couldn't deny it, so she simply mentioned it briefly, but in fact, she had never mentioned the name Lu Wei Ying from start to finish.

  Dazed and leaning on the kang, Yanzhi couldn't articulate her feelings at that moment for a long time. She could only let out a soft sigh.

  Outside, Wen's face showed a trace of surprise: "Miss, Miss Shi..."

  She knew that Ling Yu Xuan must have seen something on her face, and she couldn't put her mind at ease. So she came over to ask what was going on. Without any fatigue, she waved her hand at Ling Yu Xuan and said indifferently: "Let it go!" Even a clay doll that can be manipulated by others would still have its own nature. Let alone Ling Yu Xuan, who is not the kind of person who would humbly explain herself to others in a low voice.

  Wen Jing saw her expressionless face, so she didn't ask anymore. She just smiled and said: "The snowflakes outside are quite beautiful, Miss. Why don't you go out and take a look? I remember that Miss used to love watching the snowfall!"

  Yuan Dai heard this, but didn't even crack a smile. She casually said: "In the past when I was by my adoptive father's side, it would take many years to see just one snowfall. So when I did see snow, I found it novel and interesting. Now that I've seen three or four years of it, the novelty has worn off long ago. Not looking at it is also fine!"

  Wenping couldn't help but laugh and said, "So that's how it is! I used to think it was strange!" Yan Dai rarely mentioned anything about the past to her. Even when she did mention something, she wouldn't deliberately avoid talking about certain things. Therefore, although Wenping knew that Wanzhou and Pingjing were not far apart, and Pingjing had heavy snow every year, while Wanzhou would never have no snow all year round, she still looked calm and didn't think much of it.

  Cui Yi also came in from outside, holding a small porcelain cup with a lid and a saucer in her hand. She placed the cup on the table and said: "This is the ice sugar swallow's nest congee that Du Ruo sister simmered for Miss's afternoon nap, it's just right now, Miss, please have some while it's hot!"

  Yan Dai lightly raised an eyebrow, reached out to touch the small bowl, and found it was still very hot. So she didn't take it, but smiled and looked at Cui Yi, saying: "You've been quite close to her lately! Where is she?"

  Cui Yi smiled and said, "I'm good with Sister Du Ruo because she's a good person! Whenever I'm not quite right, she always points it out to me and teaches me everywhere. Ah, right, Sister Du Ruo went to the small kitchen, saying she wanted to see if there were any snacks now!"

  Yan Dai smiled and slowly ate a few spoonfuls of the bird's nest congee. Just as she had finished more than half of it, Du Ruo's voice suddenly came from outside the courtyard: "Miss, Madam has arrived!" Her tone was both surprised and hurried.

  Yuandai was taken aback, hastily putting down the bird's nest in her hand and standing up. Before she could even go out to greet her, Guoshi had already walked in with a smile. Although Yuandai was surprised by her sister-in-law's sudden arrival, her face didn't show it at all, and she smiled as she went forward to pay her respects.

  Guo smiled and helped her up, saying: "We're all family, no need to be polite, sit down quickly!"

  Yuandai responded, and after Hou Guoshi put on the blue-gray fox fur cloak, she invited Guoshi to enter the inner room together. They sat down on the kang. At this moment, Du Ruo also brought in a food box, opened it, took out several plates of pastries from inside, and smiled: "Madam has come at just the right time, I've just taken some pastries from the small kitchen, would Madam like to have some?"

  On the other side, Cui Yi obviously also received instructions and sent a bowl of bird's nest congee.

  Guo's family immediately responded, turned around and smiled at Yuanyan: "Sister, with these few maids being so thoughtful and considerate, even I feel a little jealous!"

  Yuandai smiled and said, "If we're talking about it, the few maids by my side are either personally trained by Old Madam or trained by the maids who were trained by Old Madam. They're naturally considerate and attentive! Sister, if you like, why not ask Old Madam for some people to go over?"

  "Enough, enough! I was wondering why the old lady had been complaining about people being wooden and not knowing how to advance or retreat. It turns out that all the good girls have been given to Ninth Sister! Now I know that the old lady is biased, it's absolutely true!"

  Yuandai smiled and said, "Sister-in-law, don't tease me anymore! If you continue to speak like this, I'll have no choice but to quickly send these few maids back to Old Lady's side!" As for this elder sister-in-law, due to the fact that they rarely interacted with each other, Yuandai actually couldn't quite see through her.

  Madam Guo smiled upon hearing this and didn't say anything more. The two of them finished their swallow's nest congee and ate a few pastries, then Far Chai signaled Du Ruo and the others to take away the food. If someone said that Madam Guo came just to chat with her for a bit, she wouldn't believe it. Therefore, when Du Ruo and the other two were cleaning up, she naturally gave them a look, signaling them not to come in immediately.

  Madam Guo watched from the side, and also dismissed the two maids who had accompanied her. She picked up the teacup on the table, hesitated for a moment, before finally speaking: "Not to hide it from Ninth Sister, I came this time because of Tenth Sister!"

  Yuan Dai gazed at her intently, with a hint of inquiry in his eyes, but he didn't say anything.

  "Guo sighed and said: 'Just now, my tenth sister hastily came to me and said she missed her third uncle and aunt. She insisted on returning to the mansion immediately! I advised her for half a day that the snow was heavy and the road was slippery, and even if we set off now, it would be difficult to return to Pingjing before the nine gates closed. Only then did I manage to persuade her to come back. However, she still made up her mind to leave as soon as the snow stopped. I saw that she had a somewhat stubborn look on her face, so I came over to ask you what's going on. She was fine at noon.'"

  Yan Dai smiled wryly, hesitated for a moment, and finally said: "Just now... Xiao Jie came to find me and said that there was a new guest in the other courtyard..." She paused slightly here, and after a while, she continued: "It's... Lu Weiying of the Lu family!"

  Guo suddenly heard the three words "Lu Weiying", her expression slightly changed, and after gazing deeply at Yuandai for a moment, she slowly said: "Speaking of Lu Weiying, I, as the elder sister-in-law, would like to ask, what does Jiumei think of him?"

  This remark was quite abrupt, yet it startled Yu Dai, who looked at Guo with clear eyes full of doubt. Guo, however, seemed unwilling to meet her gaze and turned his head away, but his long eyelashes trembled slightly with tension.

  Seeing her like this, Yan Dai's heart was shocked for a moment, and after a long time, she replied with a hint of exploration: "Lu Shixiong is handsome in appearance, eloquent in speech, and even among the sons of aristocratic families, he can be considered a young hero?"

  Guo smiled lightly and didn't respond, but suddenly said: "I came here for two reasons. One is that I wanted to have a few words with my sister, and the other is that I was entrusted by tenth sister to come over and help her pack up her luggage and move it to my place to live together." As she spoke, she couldn't help but take a deep look at Yuandai: "I think my sister is a lucky person, only for now you need to be careful and not make any mistakes!"

  After saying those inexplicable words, Guo left and went away. Yuan Dai didn't keep her much longer and sent her off all the way out. Watching Guo's figure gradually disappear into the distance amidst the swirling snowflakes, Yuan Dai finally couldn't help but let out a long sigh.

  Lu Weiying's sudden arrival was quite abrupt, and as for his intentions, Yuande's heart was also filled with doubts. But now, under Guo's intentional or unintentional hints, she seemed to vaguely understand something, and this understanding suddenly ignited a spark of anger in her heart.

  After standing silently under the corridor for a moment, Yuandai finally spoke to Wenshu and others who were standing by: "Please pay attention for me. When Miss Xiao returns, inform me!" Wenshu and others hastily responded, and Yuandai didn't say anything else, turned around and went back into the house.

  She had just returned to the house for a short while, and Xiao Chengyan was already back. She didn't go back to her own main house either, but instead rushed straight to the west wing. Seeing that Ling Yuanshu had already left, Xiao Chengyan's face couldn't help but show a few hints of surprise, and she asked: "Where is tenth sister?"

  Yan Dai smiled wryly and asked her to sit down, then said lightly: "Because of Lu Weiying's affair, she blamed me for not keeping my mouth shut and didn't want to talk to me. After you left, she also left! Just now, Big Sister came over and said she wanted to help her pack her bags and move in with her!"

  Xiao Chengxian was stunned for a moment, and after a while, she said reluctantly: "This girl... is really..." She wanted to say something, but felt that it wasn't good to discuss Ling Yuanshan's right and wrong in front of Yuan Cai, so she stopped halfway.

  She faintly shook her head, indicating that she shouldn't mention it again, and asked: "Where did you go just now?" Although Xiao Chengyan could be considered one of her best friends at the moment, she still didn't want to talk about her family affairs in front of him, so she casually asked a question.

  Xiao Chengyan didn't hide it from her either, and said frankly: "Strictly speaking, this matter is my elder brother's business, and I shouldn't be telling you, but since you know about it too, after all, this is the Xiao family's branch house. If something were to happen, I'm afraid the Xiao family wouldn't be able to stay out of it. That's why just now I went to find my elder brother and roughly hinted at him a few times, making him be more careful around that Lu Weiyin!

  She smiled and said, "I think if sister has time, it's better to return to Tanzhou as soon as possible!"

  Xiao Chengxian heard the words, but couldn't help clapping her hands and laughing: "If it weren't for my sister's reminder, I almost forgot about this matter! Alright! I'll go back to my room and write a letter!" After speaking, she hastily got up and bid farewell.