Zhou Shaojin didn’t react immediately.

Old Madam Guo said: “Your complexion doesn’t look very good.”

Really?

Zhou Shaojin was startled and said: “Uncle Chi just came by…”

Hearing this, Old Madam Guo sat up at once and said solemnly: “When did he come? You should have woken me. Did he say anything?”

Zhou Shaojin brought over the vest that was draped on the nearby clothing rack for Old Madam Guo and said: “Uncle Chi came to see you…”

Neither of them had thought to wake Old Madam Guo. In fact, fearing they might disturb her, they had deliberately lowered their voices and moved quietly… Zhou Shaojin looked embarrassed, knowing that some things couldn’t be hidden from Old Madam Guo. She simply picked out the important points: “Probably worried that you might hear something and become concerned, he came over. Seeing that you were asleep, Uncle Chi said he still had matters to attend to and went out.”

Today Cheng Chi had contradicted Cheng Shu in front of so many family members. From any perspective, Cheng Shu couldn’t just let this pass without a response. It was completely necessary for Cheng Chi to make some arrangements and preparations.

Old Madam Guo nodded gently without saying more.

Zhou Shaojin breathed a sigh of relief. She couldn’t help but think that Old Madam Guo was very formidable, and Uncle Chi was also very formidable. But no matter how affectionately Old Madam Guo treated her, she always felt pressured when facing her. On the other hand, Uncle Chi sometimes even mocked and laughed at her, yet she felt that Uncle Chi didn’t treat her as an outsider. Not only was she not afraid, but she actually felt very close to him…

Why were these two people so completely different in her heart?

Zhou Shaojin herself found this somewhat strange.

She attended to Old Madam Guo as she got out of bed.

Biyu, leading a young maid carrying hot water into the room, kept making eyes at her.

Sitting at the dressing table, Old Madam Guo saw everything clearly in the mirror. She couldn’t help but laugh: “Biyu, be careful or you’ll blink yourself into having blinking eyes.”

Biyu’s face flushed red.

Everyone burst into laughter.

Only then did Old Madam Guo say: “What do you have to say to Shaojin? If it’s inconvenient with me here, just pull her outside to talk. Making faces at her in front of me—aren’t you afraid I’ll marry you off tomorrow?”

Biyu was so embarrassed she couldn’t lift her head.

Both she and Feicui had reached marriageable age. Old Madam Guo had carefully selected for them two stewards whose character and appearance were both outstanding among their peers—one named Zuo Xian and one named Ding Rong. They would marry next spring.

This matter had only been settled a few days ago. Openly, Zhou Shaojin had given each of them a pair of five or six-fen gold hairpins. Privately, she had given Biyu an additional pair of gold bracelets weighing about four taels.

Zhenzhu took Zhou Shaojin’s arm and laughed heartily.

Outside, a torrential rain began to fall.

Biyu finally managed to lift her head and said to Old Madam Guo: “It’s Miss Jia from the third branch. She seems to have quarreled with Madam Lu and came crying to Cold Jade Mountain House. But she wouldn’t come inside—she just sat blankly on the threshold in a daze. When I asked her, she said she came to find Second Cousin Miss. You were resting at the time, so I had Xiao Tan invite her to Floating Jade Pavilion. Just now Xiao Tan came and told me that Miss Jia has been lying on Second Miss’s bed crying for almost an hour. I was so anxious that I kept making eyes at Second Cousin Miss…”

Old Madam Guo frowned and said: “Isn’t everyone saying that Madam Jiang is virtuous? I don’t think she’s truly virtuous. The child is already this grown—no matter what happened, one can only guide, not block. Acting like this, sooner or later she’ll drive her daughter to rebellion. Shaojin, there’s nothing much here for me. You go see her. Comfort her well, but don’t take on her troubles as your own. No matter what, Jia and Madam Jiang are still mother and daughter. If an outsider interferes at this time, if things turn out well that’s fine, but if they don’t turn out well, you’ll likely offend both sides—thankless effort!”

Zhou Shaojin nodded repeatedly and said: “I’ll keep your words in my heart.” But letting her just leave like this, she was somewhat worried about Old Madam Guo and said: “Old Madam, why don’t you play leaf cards with Biyu and the others for a while? It’s still an hour until dinner. Whoever wins gets to add a dish from the small kitchen today!”

Biyu and the others also wanted to cheer up Old Madam Guo, but constrained by their positions, none were as bold as Zhou Shaojin, daring to make plans for Old Madam Guo. Hearing this, they all chimed in: “Second Cousin Miss, you can’t use Miss Jia as an excuse to desert us—you can leave, but you have to leave your money behind.”

Zhou Shaojin also wanted to banter with them and said: “I still have two taels of loose silver—I’ll give it all to you!”

“Is Second Cousin Miss trying to weasel out?” Zhenzhu was more lively and said: “Two taels of loose silver to get rid of us? We won’t accept that.”

Zhou Shaojin smiled and said: “Then how much silver do you want?”

“At least three or five taels, right?” Zhenzhu said with a laugh.

“Oh my!” Old Madam Guo couldn’t help but laugh. “My first-rank senior maid, bought off with three or five taels of silver—what excellent judgment you have!”

Manao and the others couldn’t stop laughing.

Zhou Shaojin called for Chun Wan and Bitao to come in and set up the table. Only after Old Madam Guo’s leaf card game had started did she brave the rain to go to Floating Jade Pavilion.

Cheng Jia’s eyes were red as peach pits. She was sitting propped on her elbows at the large desk by the window in the inner chamber, staring blankly into space.

The two orioles hanging in the covered walkway chirped noisily, making her listlessness and lack of spirit even more apparent.

“What’s wrong with you?” Zhou Shaojin sat down at the table and instructed the young maid to bring tea and refreshments.

“You’re back!” Cheng Jia languidly came back to her senses and said: “My mother scolded me again today, saying I don’t know how to be proper…” As she spoke, she began crying again. “Tell me, what kind of mother scolds her own daughter like this… Cousin Jing just obtained a prescription from a renowned physician and personally brewed a batch of realgar wine to have sent over. It wasn’t specifically sent to me by name—she got some, Grandmother got some, and even you got some. If she looked down on it, she could have returned everything in front of the Li family’s steward… It’s just because I spoke a few extra words with the woman who delivered the wine…”

Zhou Shaojin, remembering Old Madam Guo’s earlier instructions, said: “Forget it—there are no overnight grudges between mother and daughter. And Li Jing too—wasn’t the festival gift enough? Why did he go out of his way to specially send realgar wine? From now on, just have less to do with people from their family.” Then she said: “When did you run out? Where’s Cuichai? Why didn’t she follow you? Does Madam Lu know you came to my place? Should I go tell Madam Lu? Although Madam Lu may say such things, she must still be thinking about you in her heart…”

Hearing this, Cheng Jia bit her lip and said, changing the subject in a low voice: “Shaojin, that woman said that Cousin Jing has business to discuss in Jinling City and is staying at Gaosheng Inn not far from our home. What do you think—how would it be if I went to see him?”

Zhou Shaojin was so startled she nearly knocked over the tea cup. She said sharply: “You, what are you trying to do?”

“Keep your voice down!” Cheng Jia looked around warily and said quietly: “I’ve only told you about this idea. You must keep it secret for me!”

“I can’t keep it secret for you.” Zhou Shaojin had suffered greatly from this in her previous life. In this life, she feared Cheng Jia would suffer a loss—in the previous life, Li Jing had been good to Cheng Jia, but circumstances had changed in this life. Who could guarantee with their hand on their heart what would happen? “You can’t do this. If you do this… it will only make Madam Lu detest Li Jing more, thinking it was his idea… He’s several years older than you!”

Zhou Shaojin gave a reason that Cheng Jia could accept.

Who knew that Cheng Jia hadn’t listened at all and was still muttering to herself: “Actually, I don’t really remember what Cousin Jing looks like… I just know he’s very tall… But why would he take an interest in me? You were there at the time! You’re much prettier than me… But he didn’t look at you, he looked straight at me. So clearly he thinks I’m better looking than you… Tell me, what exactly does he want? He clearly knows my family could never agree to this match. Why does he keep humiliating himself like this! You don’t know—the Dragon Boat Festival gift was delivered personally by Cousin Jing. My mother didn’t tell my father at all and just sent a third-rank steward to receive Cousin Jing… I heard from the woman from Cousin Jing’s household that Cousin Jing is quite a prominent figure in the Luoyang area…”

Zhou Shaojin wished she could have a young maid bring a bucket of cold water to pour over Cheng Jia’s head.

“You can’t go see him!” She could only threaten Cheng Jia. “If you go see him, I’ll tell Madam Lu.”

This sentence finally caught Cheng Jia’s attention.

She glanced at Zhou Shaojin quite disdainfully and said: “Am I stupid? Go see him myself! What if he gets rough with me? I’ll have him come see me! Isn’t he supposedly so capable? Then let him find a way to see me once.” Speaking of this, she seemed to think of some amusing scenario and suddenly burst out laughing. “If he can manage to see me, I’ll… I’ll go tell my maternal grandmother.”

The corners of Zhou Shaojin’s mouth twitched. She no longer knew what to say.

But Cheng Jia was captivated by her own idea. She stopped crying and perked up like a flower watered by dew. She hugged Zhou Shaojin’s shoulders tightly and said with a beaming smile: “I know you’re very busy attending to Old Madam Guo. I won’t disturb you anymore. I’m leaving now—you should hurry back to the main hall!” Before Zhou Shaojin could speak, she had already rushed out of the inner chamber in just a few steps.

Zhou Shaojin said nothing.

Cheng Jia was much cleverer than she had imagined.

She knew to have Li Jing come see her.

What else did she need to worry about?

Zhou Shaojin returned to the main hall.

A pile of copper coins was stacked in front of Zhenzhu.

Seeing Zhou Shaojin, she quickly pointed to the pile in front of her and said with a laugh: “Second Cousin Miss, you’ve finally come. If we keep playing, all of Biyu’s pocket money will be lost to me.”

Zhou Shaojin smiled with pursed lips.

Biyu stood up and said: “Second Cousin Miss, you play instead. I’ve already lost nine hands in a row…”

Zhou Shaojin pressed Biyu back into her seat and said with a laugh: “Don’t worry! Just now I wasn’t here—now that I’m here, Zhenzhu won’t be able to keep winning straight through.” As she spoke, she sat down beside Old Madam Guo and said teasingly: “It must be that Old Madam is soft-hearted and plays whatever Zhenzhu wants. I’ll sit behind Old Madam and watch for you all—I won’t let Old Madam play cards randomly!”

Old Madam Guo laughed heartily.

By the time Cheng Chi returned from outside, the rain had already stopped.

The tree leaves had been washed by the rain until they were lush and dripping with green.

From far away, he could already hear the sound of laughter from the main hall.

When he entered the hall, he saw Biyu and the others all smiling cheerfully, either collecting the leaf cards or clearing the card table, looking very happy. Only Zhou Shaojin was pouting with her head resting on her mother’s shoulder, her arms wrapped around her mother’s arm, looking like she’d been wronged and was acting spoiled.