“Go call her in for me.” In the time Mo Zi spent reminiscing, Third Mistress Qiu had finished dressing.

Mo Zi lifted the curtain. After Third Mistress Qiu walked to the outer room and sat on the couch, only then did she stand at the doorway on the corridor and announce in a moderate voice: “Nanny An, the young miss invites you in.”

She saw Nanny An cross the small courtyard, smiling until her eyes became slits.

Mo Zi observed this, thinking to herself: Smile away, smile away—let’s see who has the last laugh.

“Nanny An, what tea would you like to drink?” A faint smile floated across her face. “I’ll brew it for you.”

“Mo Zi, don’t trouble yourself. I’m just here to relay the mistress’s message—I’ll leave once I’ve said it.” Perhaps the only proper and appropriate person in Third Mistress’s courtyard was this maid. Nanny An clicked her tongue lightly. “Such a sweet tongue—no wonder people like you.”

Mo Zi didn’t take the bait, helping to lift the curtain. “Nanny An, please come inside.” Even if she didn’t like her, she had to show a pleasant face—otherwise how could she gather news from the front courtyard?

“Third Miss, greetings.” Nanny An made a slight curtsy, secretly sniffing the incense in the room, stealing glances at the furnishings on the couch, memorizing them silently.

Third Mistress Qiu slowly tapped the tea lid, humming acknowledgment. “No need for excessive courtesy. What message did Mother send you to relay?”

“The young miss heard everything already?” Nanny An made a show of slapping her own mouth. “Look at my loud voice—I hope I didn’t startle the young miss from her sleep.”

“Startled is startled—if anyone should slap your mouth it should be my maids doing it. Can you really hurt yourself?” Though Third Mistress Qiu was ranked third, with her two older sisters having died young, she was genuinely the eldest daughter of the Qiu family.

Though Nanny An had the mistress backing her, she still knew the distinction between master and servant. Cursing in her heart, she verbally admitted her fault repeatedly, then stated her purpose: “The mistress is hosting a banquet tonight at Hongchun Pavilion to entertain an honored guest and requests that the young miss attend in formal dress.”

“Where is this honored guest from?” A lazy question, yet one that demanded an answer.

“Madam Wei, the secondary consort of Prince Jing from the capital, who grew up together with the mistress. Her family’s old master passed away, so she specially returned to pay her respects. Because the mistress often praises the young misses in her letters, saying their temperaments and appearances are one in a hundred, she wishes to take this opportunity to meet them in person.” Nanny An chose her words carefully.

“Such an esteemed personage—to be able to meet her is a blessing for us juniors.” Prince Jing’s mansion in the capital? Could there really be such good fortune?

Mo Zi observed her nose, her nose observed her heart.

“Naturally so. Third Miss is the eldest daughter of the Qiu Mansion, with the appearance of a celestial maiden and an even more impeccable temperament—you’ll surely win the noble lady’s favor. Though she’s a secondary consort, she gets along with Princess Jing like real sisters, frequently attending to matters together, and knows many noble ladies in the capital.” Nanny An had said about as much as needed. “Third Miss, it’s getting late. You should hurry and prepare. This old servant must return to report to the mistress.”

“Mo Zi, see her out for me.” Without touching her tea, Third Mistress Qiu glanced sideways at Mo Zi.

“Nanny An, I’ll see you out.” How could Mo Zi not know Third Mistress Qiu wanted her to extract more information?

The two walked out of the main hall one after the other.

“Nanny An, please accept this.” Mo Zi took out three qian of silver from her sleeve pocket. “For making you wait so long, the young miss feels quite apologetic.”

Nanny An made a pretense of pushing it away, but finally smiled and tucked it into her sachet pouch. “If nothing else, Third Miss is the most generous to us servants.”

Who can’t put on a show? Mo Zi observed calmly. “From what you said, Nanny, that secondary consort wants to select one from among our Qiu Mansion’s young misses to send away?”

“Exactly—who knows who’ll have this good fortune?” Nanny An’s eyes lit up at the sight of money, and besides, it wasn’t anything that couldn’t be said. All the households knew about it anyway.

“Is it to arrange a match for someone?” The capital? That’s quite far away.

“Who else could it be for? Of course it’s for a young master in Prince Jing’s mansion. That’s why I said it’s good fortune.” Nanny An looked at the money if not at the monk’s face.

Mo Zi slipped her another five qian of silver. “Which young master?”

This time Nanny An didn’t refuse, directly pocketing it. “Mo Zi, if it were anyone else from this courtyard, no matter how much silver they gave, I wouldn’t say another word.”

“Nanny, good deeds bring good rewards. If my young miss marries well, she’ll certainly give you a large red envelope.” Mo Zi thought—if she loves money, then she loves money. It’s not shameful.

“Third Young Master.” Seeing Lu Ju, Nanny An lowered her voice.

“Born of a concubine?” Mo Zi’s final question.

“Born from Princess Jing’s own belly—how could he be born of a concubine?” After Nanny An finished speaking, they had reached the courtyard gate.

“Nanny An, safe travels. Mo Zi won’t see you any further.” Mo Zi stood still, graceful and upright.

Hearing the door bolt being secured behind her, Nanny An turned back with some regret. “That maid is capable.” She slapped herself once on the mouth, planning not to mention a word to the mistress about leaking information.

Back to Mo Zi—when she returned to the room, she saw Third Mistress Qiu turning through a calligraphy copybook at the table.

“Well?” Third Mistress Qiu asked.

“That secondary consort came to evaluate appearances, selecting someone for her own Third Young Master.” Mo Zi stepped forward, rolling up her sleeves and raising her wrist to grind ink.

“Born of a concubine?” Third Mistress Qiu also asked.

“Young miss, I asked the same thing, but she said he’s legitimate.” Mo Zi soaked the brush thoroughly and passed it over.

“Legitimate?” Third Mistress Qiu smiled coldly. The characters under her brush were strong and vigorous, lacking a woman’s gentleness. “Why would a legitimate third son of Prince Jing’s mansion marry a merchant family’s daughter, traveling all this way here? Most likely, either there’s a problem with the person or there’s a problem with the mansion.”

Since ancient times, merchants were considered lowly. Even if wealthy enough to rival nations, if the family had no one serving as an official or scholar, they were still inferior to others.

The Qiu clan—three generations ago they had purchased a minor sixth-rank official position, but by Third Mistress Qiu’s grandfather’s generation, when the court abolished the practice of purchasing official positions, no one had served as an official since. Qiu Si and Qiu Wu were both wastrel sons—for them to pass the imperial examinations would be like climbing to heaven.

Whether these two could maintain the Qiu family’s century-old estate was not Mo Zi’s concern. Third Mistress Qiu was a woman who would eventually marry out. Once married, taking another family’s surname, she would belong to that other family. And since Mo Zi planned to temporarily follow Third Mistress Qiu, naturally if Third Mistress Qiu did well, she would do well too.

“Prince Jing’s mansion is no ordinary household. If we put in the effort to investigate, there will certainly be traces to follow.” Mo Zi was in no hurry.

Third Mistress Qiu never practiced calligraphy for more than half a page. She set down the brush, frowning and shaking her sleeves. “I listened to you for nothing, going to the trouble of changing into this outfit. Just sitting here I feel hot and stuffy.”

“Would the young miss like to visit Ninth Miss? A few days ago she mentioned your purple wood butterfly-pattern hairpin. See, I’ve carved another one—perfect to give her as a gift.” Ninth Miss was only ten years old, the mistress’s own legitimate daughter.

Mo Zi was clever, and Third Mistress Qiu was also an understanding person. She immediately smiled with pursed lips. “Bring it here and let me see.”

Mo Zi left the room and returned in less than half a ke, placing the newly made hairpin on the desk.

Third Mistress Qiu examined it carefully and couldn’t help but praise it: “This butterfly looks like it’s about to fly out. Look at this craftsmanship—improving day by day. I didn’t save you for nothing.”

Mo Zi lowered her eyes, smiling faintly, showing not a trace of arrogance.

Before transmigrating, she had been a naval vessel engineer, designing various warships and submarines. However, this talent was useless in the Qiu Mansion. As for woodworking skills, she must have learned them after arriving in this era. Who taught her, to what level she learned—she completely couldn’t remember. But as soon as her left hand picked up carving tools, it couldn’t stay idle. Her right hand had one more skill than ordinary women—the abacus, learned from her accountant mother in high school, which she could operate reasonably well.

Therefore, Mo Zi was neither left-handed nor right-handed, but equally skilled with both hands.

Third Mistress Qiu jokingly said she saved one person but gained a pair.