As dusk approached, Mo Zi returned to the mansion alongside Qiu Sanniang.

Zhang Shi still refused to show her face, too lazy even to send a servant woman to offer greetings. However, Fourth Madam did dispatch several young maids to help clean the rooms that hadn’t been tidied for seven days.

Mo Zi felt completely indifferent to such cold treatment. She believed it was actually better if Zhang Shi completely ignored them—it would save them from constantly being on guard, which was utterly exhausting.

However, just because she thought this way didn’t mean others shared her calm perspective. First was Lu Ju, who before Fourth Madam’s helpers arrived, kept glaring in the direction of the main courtyard, muttering about the number of maids each young lady in the various households had, as well as the differences in duties between second-rank maids and junior maids. Second was the unexpected visitor now standing in the courtyard.

“Seventh Miss.” Bai He had just finished tidying the inner room when a junior maid reported a guest. She quickly came out to welcome her.

“Lu Ju, go prepare tea,” she said while curtsying to Qiu Qiniang, instructing the maids to attend to the guest.

“No need to trouble yourself, I just came to check on Elder Sister. I’ll leave after sitting for a moment.” Qiu Qiniang smiled radiantly. Without waiting for anyone to lift the curtain for her, she raised it herself and entered the room.

But Bai He couldn’t neglect her duties. She quietly instructed Lu Ju, “You should still go prepare a pot of tea.” After speaking, she pulled Mo Zi along to follow her inside.

As soon as Mo Zi entered, she scrutinized Qiu Qiniang from head to toe. Her dark hair was newly styled in coils, her makeup freshly applied, and her entire outfit was brand new—a sapphire blue skirt embroidered with dancing birds, the latest style from Luo Zhou this spring. How could this be someone just casually dropping by? She was deliberately here to flaunt how much better Zhang Shi treated her than Qiu Sanniang.

“Miss went to dine with Master and has been gone for over an hour. She should return soon,” Bai He was finally able to explain in detail. “I’ve had someone prepare tea. Please, Seventh Miss, sit and have some tea and refreshments.”

Hearing this, Qiu Qiniang thought about how she hadn’t visited her father recently. Her expression became slightly uneasy, and she used laughter to cover her embarrassment. “Father was better yesterday. It must be Elder Sister’s filial piety that moved the Buddha to grant this auspicious sign.”

Mo Zi thought cynically: Yes, your elder sister moved the Buddha, yet you came here to show off—what’s the point? She really couldn’t approve. Although she knew that life as a concubine-born daughter in this household wasn’t easy, and using various tactics to secure benefits for oneself was absolutely necessary, did she really need to be so arrogant about it?

Mo Zi and Bai He exchanged glances. The two were very tactful and didn’t respond with a single word. Just then, Lu Ju brought in the tea, and they pretended to be busy making arrangements, not casually engaging Qiu Qiniang in conversation.

Though Qiu Qiniang was somewhat displeased with the sudden awkward silence, the other party consisted merely of lowly maids. Their statuses were different, so of course they had to be careful and cautious—she couldn’t find fault with their attitude. But today she was determined to wait for Qiu Sanniang no matter what, so she endured and sat down, eventually drinking her tea.

Mo Zi wanted to find an excuse to go outside, but clearly Bai He insisted on keeping someone to suffer alongside her in this stifling atmosphere. Whenever Mo Zi’s hand touched the curtain, Bai He would assign her some task—adding tea, adding incense, closing the window. In any case, whatever small chores Mo Zi couldn’t think of, Bai He could.

After the junior maids finished their work, they informed Bai He and returned to Fourth Madam’s quarters.

Seeing this, Qiu Qiniang seized the opportunity and asked in surprise, “Aren’t these maids from your courtyard?”

Lu Ju looked at Mo Zi. Mo Zi looked at Bai He.

As a first-rank maid, Bai He couldn’t avoid responding to a young miss’s question. “No, they were sent by Fourth Madam to help tidy the courtyard.”

“Don’t tell me Elder Sister only has you few senior maids here? Then who does the menial work normally?” Like Sixth Miss, Qiu Qiniang had two first-rank maids, two second-rank maids, four junior maids, not to mention the servant women and matrons who worked in the courtyard.

Now even Lu Ju could see that Qiu Qiniang hadn’t come for deep sisterly affection. She was about to pout and speak when Bai He shot her a glance, forcing her to bite her tongue.

“Miss prefers peace and quiet,” Bai He could restrain Lu Ju but couldn’t stop Mo Zi. “Besides, menial work is what we maids are supposed to do anyway.”

Qiu Qiniang’s carefully drawn moth-eyebrows drew together. Why did these words sound so unpleasant to her ears? She suddenly remembered that the maid who spoke was the one Madam had disciplined. She was just about to seize on this topic and, relying on Madam’s authority, cause more trouble for this household. However, the opportunity didn’t belong to her.

“Miss has returned.” The person Qiu Qiniang wanted to scold had already left the room.

Qiu Sanniang was back!

“Is everything tidied up?” Qiu Sanniang asked Mo Zi.

Xiao Yi walked ahead carrying a glazed lantern, swinging it back and forth—very much in keeping with her style of doing things.

“Miss, Seventh Miss has been waiting in the room for nearly half an hour,” Mo Zi “tipped her off.”

“What did she come for?” How unusual!

Under Zhang Shi’s deliberate arrangements, the sisterly bond between Sixth Miss, Seventh Miss, and Qiu Sanniang was very thin—they rarely interacted on ordinary days. Only Ninth Miss, being young and favored by Zhang Shi, had more contact with these elder sisters.

“Most likely she came to share her experiences from last night’s visit,” Mo Zi could hazard a guess about Qiu Qiniang’s intentions.

Qiu Sanniang laughed aloud but spoke in a low voice. “Then we must thoroughly satisfy her before she leaves.”

Yesterday, the Wei household had hosted a banquet, reciprocating the invitation to the Qiu Mansion’s female relatives. It was said they went early in the morning and spent the entire day there. These female relatives naturally wouldn’t include Qiu Sanniang, who was at Cinian Convent.

“Elder Sister, is Father feeling better?” When Qiu Qiniang saw her, she slowly stood up, as if she were the host and Qiu Sanniang the guest.

“The physician changed the prescription. It’s better than the previous one,” Qiu Sanniang replied blandly, sitting down just as blandly. “Sister, if you have time, you should also visit Father. Last time when he told Sixth Sister and you not to step foot there again, those were just words spoken in anger. I just dined with Father, and he asked me whether you had gone out, wondering why he hasn’t seen you in so many days. I didn’t even know what to tell him.”

Qiu Qiniang’s face paled at Qiu Sanniang’s barbed words. She stammered, “Elder Sister… truly… last time when Father flew into a rage, he frightened both of us terribly.”

“That’s precisely why I said those were words spoken in anger—you needn’t take them seriously. Even if he truly was angry, as children shouldn’t we be able to bear such grievances?” Qiu Sanniang spoke sharply.

Qiu Qiniang, who had come to show off, was completely deflated. She could only meekly respond, “Elder Sister, I understand now. I’ll go see Father tomorrow.”

Seeing that she had already won in terms of momentum, Qiu Sanniang didn’t press her advantage. She picked up her tea to drink.

“Miss, it’s warmed up tonight. Why don’t I go fetch a serving of Snow Pear Blossom for you and Seventh Miss to share?” Mo Zi suddenly became diligent in her service.

Snow Pear Blossom—made with the finest bird’s nest threads mixed with snow pear juice from Nande’s famous produce, combined with various spices and several kinds of precious fruit pieces, then molded into snowflake shapes with ice. The serving vessel was a specially made double-layered cup with crushed ice in the middle layer to maintain the fresh taste of the Snow Pear Blossom.

Qiu Sanniang immediately understood—this was to let her really show off properly.

Hearing the name, Qiu Qiniang asked, “Elder Sister, is that the signature sweet from Wangqiu Tower?” She’d only heard of it, never tasted it. First, she couldn’t go out often. Second, she needed to save money—her birth mother still had debts.

“Yes, on the way back I passed by Wangqiu Tower. They had just taken some from the ice storage, and seeing it made my mouth water, so I had the maids buy two servings. I tasted a bite—it’s a bit too sweet,” or rather, she practically ransacked them. Qiu Sanniang looked at Qiniang with a smile. “Sister came at just the right time. Good things are better enjoyed with others. If you hadn’t come, I’d have to divide it among these greedy maids.”

Upon hearing about Snow Pear Blossom, Qiu Qiniang was filled with eagerness to taste the sweet famous throughout Luo Zhou. How could she think carefully about being compared to a maid? She was simply delighted, only able to say how wonderful it was.

Qiu Qiniang had some petty cleverness, but it was only petty cleverness after all.