“Thank you, Ninth Sister.” Qin Chen escorted Qin Wan to the door. Qin Wan glanced back one last time at Yao Xinlan, who lay in bed with narrowed eyes, speaking less than she had yesterday. Withdrawing her gaze, Qin Wan walked out slowly.
Outside the main door, Qin Chen paused and said, “Xinlan is frail and often overthinks things. When Ninth Sister has time, please come keep her company more often. She likes your temperament. In this household, you’re the only one she enjoys talking to.”
Qin Wan naturally nodded in agreement, “Then Qin Wan will come again in the afternoon.”
Qin Chen broke into a smile, “That would be excellent. These days there’s much news from the capital, and I spend more time in the outer court. It would be wonderful if you could keep her company in the afternoon.”
Qin Wan’s eyes flickered, “Is Elder Brother preparing to go to the capital?”
Qin An had taken a sinecure position and lived as a wealthy idler in Jinzhou, but Qin Chen was different. As the eldest son of the third branch, the Qin family needed him, as did the third branch, so he would certainly need to seek opportunities in the capital.
Qin Chen felt that explaining would be beyond Qin Wan’s understanding, so he simply said, “The current situation in the capital is unclear. Even if I go to the capital, it will have to wait until after spring next year. By then, everything will be clearer.”
Qin Wan carefully pondered his words and immediately thought of the matter of establishing the Crown Prince.
Without saying more, Qin Wan turned and left Lingfeng Court.
Fuling, following beside her, began sighing again, “The Young Master’s devotion to his wife is truly enviable. I only hope Young Miss will also marry such a good husband early—”
Walking along, Qin Wan’s eyes darkened. Even between deeply in love couples whom everyone envies, some secrets cannot be spoken, let alone ordinary couples. How many people in the world could be like her father and mother, who knew each other from humble beginnings and accompanied each other until death?
Lost in thought, Qin Wan soon heard a commotion nearby. Looking up, she saw Liu Chun leading seven or eight male servants carrying hoes and baskets, heading east in quite a procession. “What are they doing?”
Fuling smiled, “Young Miss doesn’t know? After summer, all the wells in the manor need to be cleaned of silt. The kitchen’s Lady Liu said the water has been having a muddy taste lately, so the Old Madam ordered the wells to be cleaned.”
Qin Wan’s eyes deepened, “There’s a well in the east?”
Fuling nodded, “There’s a well outside the Purple Bamboo Grove for the concubines’ use.”
The concubines’ quarters were all on the east side, which Qin Wan knew. Her mind stirred, suddenly interested in the well cleaning. She lifted her chin, “Let’s follow and take a look.”
Fuling was slightly surprised, but seeing Qin Wan already walking, she could only follow.
“Young Miss, why do you suddenly want to watch them clean the well? The well is full of silt and smells terrible. Did you see the baskets they were carrying? The silt all needs to be carried out. Young Miss, please stay back…”
“Shh—” Qin Wan made a silencing gesture. Passing through the winding corridor and walking past the east side of the Half Moon Lake, they soon saw the concubines’ residences—rows of small but exquisite pavilions standing proudly, displaying the manor’s wealth and luxury, as well as Qin An’s romantic nature. Qin Wan had no desire to peek into the concubines’ quarters, only walking along the outer corridor.
Soon, Liu Chun and his men stopped. The well was outside the Purple Bamboo Grove near the concubines’ flower trellis, some distance from the bamboo grove. Upon arrival, Liu Chun directed some men to draw water and others to tie ropes. The scene quickly became noisy. Fuling watched helplessly and said, “Young Miss, there’s nothing worth seeing here. To clean out the silt, they first need to empty the well of water. It will probably take many days, and this well won’t be usable for nearly half a month.”
Qin Wan frowned slightly. She naturally wasn’t interested in watching others clean out silt—she had only become curious when she heard the well was near the Purple Bamboo Grove. However, there was truly nothing worth seeing in the current scene, so she would have to find another opportunity.
After watching a while longer, Qin Wan sighed, “We’ve seen enough, let’s go back.”
As she spoke, Qin Wan turned around. But just as she was halfway through turning, her eyebrows suddenly twitched. When her gaze swept past, she saw Liu Chun’s figure emerge from the flower trellis, heading toward the Purple Bamboo Grove!
Qin Wan immediately furrowed her brows tightly. What was Liu Chun doing going to the Purple Bamboo Grove?!
“Young Miss isn’t leaving?”
Fuling had already taken two steps when she looked back to see Qin Wan had stopped again. Not only that, she was staring intently toward the Purple Bamboo Grove with unprecedented gravity.
“Young Miss, what’s wrong?”
Qin Wan’s heart was pounding. Her feet itched to move, almost wanting to immediately follow Liu Chun to see exactly what he was doing in the Purple Bamboo Grove. However, going there would mean passing by the flower trellis, which would inevitably cause a stir…
“Young Miss?” Fuling was somewhat worried. The reason for Qin Wan’s previous visit to the Purple Bamboo Grove hadn’t been explained clearly, and now she was staring at it again, which was truly strange. She had heard there were ghosts in that Purple Bamboo Grove—surely her Young Miss hadn’t been enchanted!
“Young Miss! Stop looking! There are unclean things in that Purple Bamboo Grove—”
Fuling pulled at Qin Wan, but this pull only strengthened Qin Wan’s desire to follow and look. She shook off Fuling’s hand and was about to step toward the Purple Bamboo Grove—
“Finally found Ninth Young Miss!”
Just as Qin Wan took a step, a clear voice rang out not far behind her.
Qin Wan turned around and immediately saw Caihe, who was out of breath from running. Caihe had brought two servants in green, all three covered in sweat. Qin Wan raised her eyebrows, “What has happened?”
Caihe took a couple of breaths, “Ninth Young Miss, please hurry to the front court.”
Go to the front court? Seeing Caihe’s state, she had thought something had happened to Yao Xinlan or Madam Jiang…
“What for?”
Caihe wiped the sweat from her face, “A distinguished guest has arrived asking to see you. Both the First Young Master and Second Young Master are at the front court now.” She then added breathlessly, “How did you end up here? We went to Tinglan Court and Lingfeng Court and were about to search the west rear court for you. Please hurry, we mustn’t keep the distinguished guest waiting.”
Qin Wan wanted to ask who the guest was, when Fuling helplessly said beside her, “Sister Caihe doesn’t know, but Young Miss wanted to watch them clean the well silt…”
Caihe was slightly surprised, her eyes widening as she glanced at the flower trellis area, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, “Ninth Young Miss…” She stepped forward to urge, “Ninth Young Miss, please don’t watch anymore. These are just servants’ tasks. Please hurry to the front court.”
Caihe was truly anxious, almost wanting to pull Qin Wan along. Seeing this, Qin Wan reluctantly swept her gaze one last time toward the Purple Bamboo Grove before turning to walk toward the front court. “Who is this distinguished guest?”
Caihe shook her head, “I don’t know, but First Young Master’s servant has come to hurry us several times, and the maids from Lingfeng Court are also looking for you. Who could have thought you’d come this way…”
Qin Wan pressed her lips together, trying her best to resist looking back. She just needed to remember—everyone said the Purple Bamboo Grove was haunted and forbidden in the manor, so why had Steward Liu just gone there? He hadn’t noticed her, and when he went, the other male servants were blocked by the flower trellis and couldn’t see either. What was he doing sneaking into the Purple Bamboo Grove at this time? Or who was he meeting?
Qin Wan felt as if a hundred claws were scratching at her heart. A good opportunity had been ruined, and her lips pursed as she developed some resentment toward this “distinguished guest.” Why come now, of all times?!