bookcurios Chapter 211 Substitute
Chapter 211 Substitute
He tilted his head, as if thinking about something, and then replied: "Okay, then I'll wait for you in the room tonight."
I left the study and called Qianmu to ask Jingye to take a leave to serve him dinner, and I went to the small kitchen.
I have had the rare opportunity to come to the kitchen to eat recently. The maids and servants were very surprised and quickly offered their seats to me.
A young servant who was unfamiliar with him asked with a smile, "Sister Lanxiang, what mistake did Qian Mu make that day that made the young master make such a big fuss?"
Jin Gui was picking up some food, and when she heard this question, she uttered a "tsk!" and looked at the servant and said, "You've been here for a few months now, don't you know not to ask questions that aren't allowed in our mansion?!"
The boy shut up angrily, but his eyes were still full of curiosity.
I thought they probably didn't talk to Qian Mu very often, so I made up an excuse that something that should have been given to the second young master was sent to the eldest young master by mistake, to appease their curiosity and prevent them from being obsessed with it in the future and digging out other news.
After finishing my meal with a fake smile, I hurried back to my room.
I took a piece of paper and wrote and drew countless messy relationship lines and yes or no possibilities. Fortunately, after putting them on paper, I was able to slowly sort out the clues.
I painted for a long time and didn't notice that it was getting dark outside. I was not brought out of my thoughts until someone knocked on the door.
"Girl, are you in there? I'll bring you food." It was Xiao Hui's voice.
I was wondering why we had dinner so soon after lunch, but when I looked outside, I saw that the sun was setting and it was already dusk.
I answered, hurried over to open the door, and saw Xiao Hui standing in front of the door holding a lunch box.
I saw him wink at me, as if he had something to say, so I let him into the room.
He put the lunch box on the table and said, "Xiao Wei didn't see the girl when she was having dinner. It happened that I finished eating early and had to go to the study to be on duty, so she asked me to bring a portion to the girl."
I wasn't really hungry, but since he had brought it to me and I had to go out that evening, I decided to eat something later and nodded, saying, "Thank you."
Xiao Hui took out a letter from his bosom and whispered, "Girl, I received a letter from your hometown today. Ruiyang and Ruofeng happened to be away, so I answered it. Can you take a look?"
I took it with full of doubts, opened it, and saw that it was written by a man named Bai Lifeng who claimed to be my cousin. He didn't say anything else, just said that we haven't seen each other for a long time and he would come to see me soon.
I don't know what the real Lanxiang's hometown is like, or who this cousin is, but things are complicated right now, and I don't want him to join in the fun, and I have to devote my attention to dealing with him.
I closed the letter irritably. Seeing that I looked unhappy, Xiao Hui asked cautiously, "Miss, what's the matter?"
I shook my head. "Not yet, but nothing is more worrying than being honest. He said my cousin from my hometown is coming, so what? I'll wait until he comes. I don't know what he wants to do, and I can't prepare anything in advance."
Xiao Hui lowered his head and thought for a while, then replied, "In my opinion, you might as well prepare some money. I have never heard you mention your cousin from your hometown. I have known you for such a long time and I have never heard you receive any letters from home. I guess you would not come to visit for no reason. I think most of the sisters and family members who come to visit are here to ask for money, except for those who are really close to you."
I smiled and said, "You're right. I prepared some banknotes in advance. Well, if it's just something that can be solved with money, then I won't bother with it!"
Xiao Hui bowed and said, "Miss, you are so smart that you can solve any problem easily. You don't have to worry in advance. I have to go to the study to work. If you have anything, just tell me."
I raised my chin and replied, "Okay, go ahead. Be more alert recently."
He nodded and turned around and walked out.
I put the letter back into my box and decided not to think about him tonight as there were too many annoying things.
After eating just the right amount of food and washing and dressing myself up, I took the food box back to the kitchenette and went to Tu Shanjing's room.
He seemed to be sitting at the table, reading a book under the lamp, with a leisurely look. The golden light illuminated his fair face, and one could almost see the tiny fuzz on his temples.
Seeing me come in, he looked up and smiled: "You're here?"
I uttered "hmm", turned around and closed the door, as if to lock in the silence of the room and not let even a bit of it leak out through the crack in the door.
Approaching him, I asked in the same tone as I would talk to Tu Shanjing: "What are you looking at?"
He closed the book, showed me the cover, and replied, "Ying Ning."
I smiled and said, "Mr. Yuan also likes to listen to this story, and he praised Yingning as a wonderful woman. I didn't expect that you have the same hobby as him?"
He also laughed and replied, "Maybe it's just a coincidence. I just think that Yingning's personality changes so suddenly, which is rare."
I pursed my lips and covered it up, "Ah! You men are both masters and husbands, and your status is high, but you rarely understand that weak women can only depend on you under such a system, being servants and wives, and having to observe etiquette and the three obediences and four virtues. If you don't change, you will hit a wall. So don't you have to change as soon as you say so?! After all, you will be the one who suffers."
He nodded: "That makes sense. I still need to continue learning. Thank you Mr. Lanxiang for your guidance."
I shook my head: "No, no, I don't deserve it! Don't tell me that in front of the young master, I'm not used to it!"
He smiled and changed the subject: "Miss Lanxiang said that today is her birthday. Now that I know this, I have to express my gratitude. It feels too easy to just take you to see the flowers. But I don't have any money. Does the girl have any other wishes? I'll see if I can help you realize them."
I asked curiously, "Ah? Don't you have monthly wages? I thought you didn't have monthly wages, or at least you were paid by the hour."
He shook his head and replied, "The puppet is made of spiritual objects, with drops of the young master's blood inside. It is not a real person, and there is no place to spend money."
I stroked the ends of his hair, which was as cool and smooth as the finest satin, and said softly, "You don't have to buy anything. Just dress up as him tonight."
He was startled and looked up at me with innocent doubt in his eyes.
As if waking up from a dream, I let go of his hair and said with a wry smile, "I'm sorry, it will be difficult for us to get along in the future, right?"
He lowered his head and pondered for a while, then looked up at me and said, "It's not difficult. I have an acupuncture point on the back of my neck. If you press it, I will lose the memory of that day. It was originally used to help the young master with secret matters so that he would not know too many things that I should not know. Tonight is the birthday boy, so I can pretend to be him - anyway, this is all my daily life. When tonight is over, you press me here," he turned his neck and tapped the back of his neck two inches below the hairline, and continued, "Tap this acupuncture point and I will pass out. After a while, I will wake up and forget everything that happened today."