Zhou Shaojin called Fan Qi in and instructed him: “From now on, every two or three days, go to Pingqiao Street to see Nanny Yu. When you go, you might as well buy some pears and dates to bring along, and keep her company talking. If anyone asks, just say I’m grateful for my birth mother’s kindness and want to provide honor and care for Nanny Yu!”

Fan Qi didn’t understand, saying: “She’s already receiving honor and care at the Zhou household. What more does Second Miss want to do? Don’t tell me you want to reward her with another residence and hire maids and servants to attend her? She’s used to working in the outer courtyard. If people treat her like an old madam, she probably won’t even have anyone to talk to. Wouldn’t it be better to leave things as they are now, where everyone respectfully calls her ‘Nanny’ and she can work when she wants and rest when she doesn’t—free and easy?”

Zhou Shaojin smiled: “Have you ever heard the story of ‘buying bones with a thousand gold pieces’?”

Fan Qi shook his head.

Zhou Shaojin suppressed a smile, saying: “Go find someone to ask about it later! Just make sure you handle what I’ve instructed properly, or else I’ll tell your mother.” She also took out two strings of cash, “Use this to buy things. Don’t come asking me again when it runs out.”

He couldn’t understand a word Second Miss was saying.

Fan Qi walked out with his head hanging low.

He ran straight into Shi Xiang.

Fan Qi’s eyes darted around. He pulled Shi Xiang to a secluded spot and said: “Sister Shi Xiang, do you know the story of ‘buying bones with a thousand gold pieces’?”

“I do.” Not knowing Fan Qi’s purpose, Shi Xiang told him the story as it was written in books.

Now Fan Qi understood.

So Second Miss wanted to use Nanny Yu as bait to draw out all the people who had once served her birth mother… But what would she do after drawing them out? Keep them too? Support them?

Fan Qi couldn’t figure it out.

But he still obediently took a few pears and half a jin of dates to the Zhou family’s ancestral home on Pingqiao Street.

Cheng Jia came to find Zhou Shaojin in a fury and on her own authority drove out all the servants attending in Zhou Shaojin’s quarters.

“How shameless!” Seeing no one was in the room, she immediately showed a disgusted expression. “Do you know what Pan Qing did? She actually went to walk by Qingxi Lake, and just happened—so coincidentally—to encounter Cousin Xu, and she talked and laughed with Cousin Xu. Saying things like she admires Cousin Xu’s learning and character, and wants to seek his advice on playing the qin. Asking if Cousin Xu could recommend her to Old Madam Guo because she wants to learn calligraphy from Old Madam Guo… You didn’t see how coquettish she acted, like this…” She made an expression of tender affection. “It was so nauseating… I knew she was shameless, but I never imagined she was shameless to this degree! And Cousin Xu, he still smiled at her with such courtesy and spoke to her in such gentle tones… I nearly threw up everything I ate yesterday… She’s never been so gentle in front of us…”

Zhou Shaojin was stunned, saying: “How did you find out?”

Cheng Jia, who had been talking non-stop, suddenly got stuck. She hemmed and hawed for quite a while before murmuring: “I, I had someone follow her…” After the words left her mouth, she felt she was showing too much guilt. She immediately straightened her back and blustered: “You can’t blame me for this! Who told her to be two-faced, always so insincere toward me? I have to expose her true colors and let my mother see whether she’s really gentle, respectful, and modest… and save my mother from using her as an example to lecture me every time she sees me…”

Cheng Jia was like a child.

But Zhou Shaojin couldn’t laugh at all.

If not for Cheng Jia, she might not have known that for the sake of marrying Cheng Xu, Pan Qing could lower herself to such a degree.

But these were all Pan Qing’s own affairs.

She shouldn’t have used her sister Zhou Chujin to enhance her own reputation.

Zhou Shaojin thought of those servants’ discussions.

Her sister was someone about to be married off, yet for their own selfish interests, they still dragged her into this circle of gossip.

Zhou Shaojin sneered inwardly and asked Cheng Jia: “Besides you, who else knows about this?”

Zhou Shaojin hadn’t lectured her with righteous indignation like an old scholar. Cheng Jia immediately felt delighted. She rolled her eyes at her and said petulantly: “Do you think I’m stupid? Aren’t you my best friend? Besides you, I haven’t told anyone.” Then she said with distress, “But what should we do about this? Are we just going to let her continue like this? What if someone else sees her? Wouldn’t that be mortifying! How unlucky am I to be cousins with Pan Qing!”

Zhou Shaojin looked at the ignorant Cheng Jia, and suddenly a wave of desolation rose in her heart.

Qingxi Lake was located in the back courtyard of Jiuru Lane. The Cheng family garden was built along the lake, with the first branch to the west and the second branch to the east. For people from the third branch to go for a walk there, they would have to pass through the second branch…

If someone hadn’t sent word to Pan Qing, how would Pan Qing have gone to walk in such a distant place? And so coincidentally encountered Cheng Xu?

Cheng Jia knew nothing.

In the matter of her own humiliation, could Cheng Jia really be an accomplice?

Zhou Shaojin asked Cheng Jia in a heavy voice: “That day at Yicui Pavilion, why didn’t Cousin Zheng stop them from holding the qin competition?”

“Don’t even mention it.” Cheng Jia hadn’t noticed Zhou Shaojin’s emotions at all. She said indignantly, “You ran off by yourself that day and left me there to be embarrassed. I couldn’t sit or stand. When I went back, I gave my elder brother a good scolding. He said it was because Cousin Shi agreed that he couldn’t very well stop it—Cousin Shi is the eldest brother after all!”

Was that so?

If Cheng Yu had objected, would Cheng Shi have embarrassed his cousin over such a trivial matter?

It turned out that many things one saw were different from reality.

Just like Cheng Jia—she had always thought Cheng Jia was heaven’s favored daughter, with parents who doted on her, grandparents who indulged her every wish, and brothers who looked after her in every way… But in reality, she had been married off far away!

Zhou Shaojin looked at Cheng Jia as if seeing her former self from the previous life.

Only Cheng Jia never awakened until death, while she was fortunate enough to receive Buddha’s blessing and be reborn!

She asked Cheng Jia: “Do you want Pan Qing to leave sooner?”

Cheng Jia stared blankly at Zhou Shaojin.

She had never seen Zhou Shaojin like this—her voice was very deep, her gaze very solemn, her expression very serious.

“What, what are you going to do?” Cheng Jia was a bit frightened and stammered: “At most I just really dislike her, but I can’t actually make her lose face… Otherwise my grandmother would definitely be very sad…”

Zhou Shaojin’s vision immediately blurred.

In the end, Cheng Jia only remembered her family’s kindness…

“You’re making it sound like I’m going to kill someone or commit arson.” She laughed. “I just want to make Pan Qing lose face a bit, so she won’t be so smug in the future.”

“Oh my!” Cheng Jia patted her chest. “You scared me to death. If it’s just making her lose face, then fine!”

Zhou Shaojin said: “However, you need to help me with something.”

Cheng Jia quickly said: “Tell me, tell me.”

“You need to help me find out clearly who suggested going to Yicui Pavilion for the qin competition.” Zhou Shaojin said.

“Why?” Cheng Jia was quite disappointed.

“I need to know the cause and effect before I can figure out a method, don’t I?” Zhou Shaojin wanted to know Cheng Shi’s position in this matter.

Whether it was Cheng Shi, Cheng Zheng, or the third branch—at present she had no way to make contact with them.

Cheng Jia readily agreed and asked with blinking eyes: “What good plan do you have? Tell me!”

Zhou Shaojin hadn’t thought of anything yet. She only vaguely sensed that Grandmother’s birthday might be a good opportunity.

“Wait until you’ve found out clearly who suggested going to Yicui Pavilion for the qin competition, then we’ll discuss it in detail.”

Cheng Jia was even more careless than Zhou Shaojin.

She probably felt that as long as Pan Qing lost face when the time came, it would be fine. As for what to do beforehand and how to handle the aftermath—none of that concerned her.

Just like when Zhou Shaojin set fire to the fifth branch.

She chattered with Zhou Shaojin for quite a while, repeatedly assuring Zhou Shaojin she wouldn’t tell anyone else about Pan Qing’s affairs, before leaving Wanxiang Residence with satisfaction.

Zhou Chujin, however, was afraid Zhou Shaojin and Cheng Jia would go out and cause trouble, saying: “On Grandmother’s birthday, many people will come to offer congratulations. Although they can’t compare to the elders from the first and second branches, they’re all close relatives of the fourth branch who watched you and me grow up. Don’t run around everywhere these next few days. Be careful not to get tanned, or people will think you’re playful and unruly. After Grandmother’s birthday is over, you can go wherever you want to play.”

Sister always worried about her no matter what!

Zhou Shaojin felt that with her sister’s conduct in the previous life, it was impossible for her to be completely unaware of the third branch’s intentions.

She told her sister about Pan Qing’s affairs.

Zhou Chujin indeed wasn’t shocked. She was only silent for a long while before instructing Zhou Shaojin: “Just know about this matter yourself. In the future, go less often to the third branch. Your sister hasn’t suffered any real loss. It’s you who was quite fortunate that day, being called away. Otherwise, if you’d stayed there, Cheng Jia had Cousin Zheng to protect her, while I… probably couldn’t have protected you.”

Zhou Shaojin hugged her sister tightly.

She listened to her sister’s words. Aside from going to Jing’an Studio to study and Hanbi Mountain Lodge to copy scriptures, she just accompanied Old Madam Guan in conversation or did needlework in her room.

During this time, Cheng Jia had Cui Huan bring her news: “The Grand Aunt said that now that Elder Zhuo has achieved official status, he’s no longer like before when he was a child. He should have his own friends and confidants. Besides hosting a banquet at Furong Pavilion, they also hosted one at Tingyu Pavilion in the outer courtyard and invited Young Master Shi, Young Master Zheng, and others. It was our Cousin Zheng who said that since everyone came to congratulate Elder Zhuo, why not substitute tea for wine and make friends through music, holding a tea gathering. Young Master Shi has always enjoyed such refined activities, so he immediately responded. Then everyone discussed it and decided on Yicui Pavilion as the location…”

One casually stirred things up, the other added fuel to the flames…

Zhou Shaojin thought of the subtle relationship between Cheng Shi and Cheng Zheng after she left the Cheng family.

To say that Cheng Shi didn’t know Cheng Zheng’s intentions, didn’t know the third branch’s plans… she would rather jump into Mochou Lake.

Perhaps in her previous life, this was how they had worked together to push her toward the abyss!

Zhou Shaojin paced back and forth in her room.

Fan Qi came to tell her: “Second Miss, there’s a begging old man who says he once drove carriages for Old Master Zhuang… He insists on seeing you… He spoke with such detail and conviction… I listened to him…” He looked at Zhou Shaojin cautiously, “Should you see him or not?”

There was news so quickly!

Zhou Shaojin said hurriedly: “See him, of course I’ll see him! Where is this person now?”

Fan Qi said: “I was afraid the man was a rogue and didn’t dare bring him to the door, so I handed him over to Steward Ma. Steward Ma has settled him in a small inn on Pingqiao Street, providing him with good food and drink…”

This was truly good news.

Zhou Shaojin showed a smile she hadn’t worn in a long time.