Chapter Ten Unexpected Harvest

  The two crones in the house retreated at the sound of the voice, and soon came back carrying a person who was tightly bound.

  This bound man was none other than Tong Si'er, the same person who had been standing next to Gong Sunjin earlier. He was still dressed in his usual attire as a young servant, with his hands tied behind his back. Upon closer inspection, it became apparent that he too had suffered injuries, his face red and swollen.

  "Madam, it's none of my business! Young master's affair is suspicious, I'm also a victim!" After finishing, he kept kowtowing to Qin Fengge.

  "How dare you!" Qin Fengge's face was filled with anger, but she also knew that this matter had nothing to do with Tong Sier. However, thinking about the sneak attack from Qin Dai Xin earlier in the morning, her hidden flames of anger flared up again.

  "Tell me, what happened last night? How did things go wrong? And how did the young master get involved?" Qin Feng's constant pounding on the table made the cups and saucers rattle loudly.

  Tong Si'er was inexplicably beaten, and now he was being tied up like a prisoner. He was naturally angry, but he didn't dare show it, so he could only say what he knew.

  "Madam, last night I followed the previous plan and took action in Miss Biao's room. I made sure she and the maid were both unconscious before leaving. Originally, I wanted to send a few people to follow Young Master, but he thought it would be annoying and didn't allow it. He also told me to dismiss everyone inside and outside the house, making them pretend nothing was wrong. Who knew that Young Master wouldn't succeed? This matter really isn't the fault of us underlings." Tong Si usually has a sly look on his face, looking at him makes one feel like they've swallowed a fly, it's disgusting. Now that he's been beaten up, he looks somewhat more pleasant.

  Everything said and unsaid is Gu Sunjin's fault, but he himself has been cleared of blame.

  "What's with the wound on your face? How did you, young master, end up like this?" And to be tied up like that, looking like a rice dumpling, was extremely unbecoming.

  Tong Si involuntarily shrunk his neck, "Madam, I really don't know. After the young master left, I was idle and had nothing to do, so I thought about drinking some wine and playing a few rounds of cards with others. Before I even returned to my own courtyard, I was knocked unconscious. When I woke up, I only felt sore all over my body. Before I could even understand what happened, I was already tied up by the madam's subordinates. Why the young master would be injured, I really don't know, please madam discern clearly!"

  Qin Fengge saw that he didn't seem to be talking nonsense, and his heart was also very confused. When he first arrived at Jin'er's room, he found that the house had been turned upside down, and all the valuable items around Jin'er were gone. Could it be true that they had been robbed? If it was just an ordinary thief, why would they go to such great lengths to knock out Jin'er and leave him injured? As long as there was no one in the room, they could have struck at any time. Why take such a big risk to harm Jin'er? Was it revenge or coincidence?

  Qin Fengge's mind became more and more confused as she thought about it, and she waved her hand to let people take Tong Sier away. The matter was strange and completely out of control, was this time a bit too hasty? For a while, all kinds of thoughts kept appearing in her mind, feeling anxious and not knowing what to do, making her pace back and forth in the room.

  The two mothers were also at a loss when they saw her like this. At this time, Gong Sun Jin, who had been lying in bed all along, slowly woke up and weakly opened his eyes to see Qin Feng Ge.

  "Mother." The voice was weak and feeble, very pitiful.

  Qin Fengge hastily heard her son calling herself, overjoyed, and hurried to the bedside, "Jiner, how are you, where does it hurt?"

  Gongsun Jin exerted himself and moved, but this brought about Qin Fengge's repeated cries of alarm: "Jin'er, slow down a bit, slow down a bit."

  It's no wonder Qin Fengge felt heartbroken, this Gong Sunjin was like someone who grew up in a honey jar, spoiled since childhood, wanting the moon and not giving stars, even if he got into some kind of trouble, scolding him was not an option. Now that such a disaster has befallen him, his whole body is injured, every move makes Gong Sunjin cry out in pain, listening to it in Qin Fengge's heart, it's like someone is cutting her heart with a knife.

  "Jin'er, what happened? Why are you tied up in bed? And why are you covered in injuries?" Qin Fengge was also a mother, and only when facing her son would she put away the disgusting expression and reveal a mother's most genuine emotions.

  Gongsun Jin gritted his teeth, resentful that he couldn't devour the little thief from last night. "It was just a black shadow, I only felt a pain in my neck and then lost consciousness. Later, I also half-waked and half-fainted, but all I saw was a man in black clothes, completely shrouded in black cloth, unable to make out anything. Then I fainted again and didn't know what happened."

  Not a single clue, was it just because they happened to run into each other?

  The curtain slightly moved, and Qiǎo sent medicine over.

  Qin Fengge had no choice but to temporarily put the matter aside, letting someone attend to her son and give him medicine until he fell asleep before leaving Gong Sunjin's courtyard and heading towards her own residence. The two servant girls did not dare to slack off and followed closely behind into Qin Fengge's courtyard.

  Send away the irrelevant servants, Qin Fengge's face was heavy as he said to the two old women: "You two split up and ask around, ask the night watchmaids if they saw anything unusual last night, and if there were any abnormalities in each courtyard."

  The two old women took their orders and withdrew, going off in different directions to attend to their tasks.

  Ever since she heard that scream in the backyard, Yiyi had been somewhat absent-minded all day, feeling like something was going to happen. Not only did Young Master Biao not leave, but another young lady arrived, what exactly happened in the backyard, why were the servants of the Gong Sun family so tense, not even daring to breathe?

  "Did you hear, Ruyi? The two mothers who came with the old lady have gone to Zheng's house to play mahjong." Chunli said with a mysterious tone.

  What's going on?

  "Who told you?" Ruyi hastily asked for details, afraid of missing any useful information.

  Chun Li smiled mysteriously and continued to move her hands quickly as she embroidered, "As Little Xiang in Ding Mama's courtyard said."

  "She must have known that her mother was ill and came to see her on purpose. When Auntie was not married, Li's mother was a reliable helper by the lady's side. She must be thinking of their past friendship and moved by it, after all, they don't often meet in daily life." Ruyi only felt that she didn't believe this herself, but couldn't think of a better reason either.

  "Xiao Xiang said, they might come to Ding Mama's again!" Chun Li knew that Ruyi would be interested in the news she had dug up, and her expression was a bit smug. She was best at digging up information like this.

  It seems it's even more complicated now.

  "Ordinary days are not in front of the young lady serving, but with Xiaoxiang walking so close, be careful to cause trouble for the young lady." Chunli is young and simple, always thinking that serving the young lady well is her duty, but rarely thinks about other things. Ruyi treats her like a younger sister, inevitably reminding her from time to time.

  Chunli was unhappy, but she also knew that Ruyi was doing it for her own good. "Don't worry, I'll be careful with my words! Xiaoxiang said that a peddler is coming to the village today, let's go take a look?"

  Ru Yi had something on her mind and wasn't interested in the peddler's goods, repeatedly declining. One wanted to go, one didn't want to go, the two girls each held their own views, arguing for half a day without reaching a conclusion.

  "Why don't you go and take a look?" Qin Dai's heart slept until she woke up naturally, feeling great, suddenly heard two maidservants whispering and arguing, so she got up to join in the fun.

  "Miss, are you awake? Are you hungry? What would you like to eat?" Ruyi and Chunli hastily got up and paid their respects.

  "It's so boring here, not as lively as the city. Now that a peddler has finally come, why don't you go take a look and see if there's anything you like?" Qindai casually sat down on the kang, looking at the two maids who seemed to be at a loss for what to do.

  "Go take a look, it's fine." Taking the tea from Ruyi, Qin Dai smiled and said: "Pick some things you like to play with, your mood will be better. The day of returning to the mansion is far away, finding something new here isn't bad either!"

  Chun Li quietly pulled at Ruyi's hem, revealing her childlike nature. Ruyi didn't move, as if she hadn't felt it. The two of them, one still and one moving, somehow matched each other quite well.

  "As you wish, go to the cabinet and take a few taels of silver."

  Ru Yi had no choice but to go and get the key, unlock it, take out five taels of silver from inside and hand them over to Qin Dai Xin.

  Silver, something that Qin Dai doesn't come into contact with much, is also usually left unused. Upon closer inspection, she feels that the silver ingots shown on TV are too beautifully made and somewhat unrealistic.

  Qin Dai Xin put the silver ingots on the small table, and said to the two of them: "You've followed me and suffered enough, take this silver and buy something you like!"

  The Great Yong Dynasty is rich and strong, with a wealthy population, relatively stable prices, and in daily life, twenty or thirty copper coins can buy a dou of coarse rice, and five taels of silver can be used to buy flowers for the maidservants, which is not a small amount.

  Ru Yi's refusal dampened her enthusiasm, so she had no choice but to agree. Chun Li was also delighted and the two of them thanked Qin Dai Xin together.

  "Miss, don't you want to buy something? This isn't the mansion after all, and we've been reducing expenses on food, clothing, and daily necessities. Doesn't Miss want to buy something?"

  Qin Daiyun stroked the floral pattern on her teacup, looking somewhat absent-minded. "I don't lack anything."

  She thought she was still in sorrow and hurriedly said, "Miss gave too much money, we two are not short of anything, I think it's better to help Miss choose one that you like!"

  "Yes, yes, yes." Chun Li also said: "Although it's not as good as the ones in the mansion, but at least it adds some fun."

  "Whatever, just for fun!" said with a somewhat careless tone.

  Chun Li hastily asked: "Miss, you haven't said what you like yet."

  Qin Dai thought for a moment and said, "The goods sold by the peddler are nothing but cosmetics, needles and threads. You can take a look and buy whatever you like. It's best if it's unique and special, even if it's useless."

  The two maids exchanged a glance, both thinking that their master's idea was a bit unusual. Probably there wasn't such a thing in the peddler's pack?

  The three masters and servants chatted for a while, Qin Dai Xin's lunch was ready, still vegetarian without any greasy smell, so bland that there was no flavor on her tongue. It seems that the top priority is to improve their living conditions.

  Just as Qin Dai had finished clearing the table, she heard a young girl named Chunli calling out that Xiao Xiang had arrived. Qin Dai knew that they were probably planning to go see the peddler together, so she invited Xiao Xiang into the house and chatted with her for a while. Xiao Xiang was originally a lively and outgoing person, and she got along well with Chunli; the two of them often spent time together. Unlike Chunli, who was a maid in the main household, Xiao Xiang was from Ding Mama's quarters, so the people on the estate were more willing to befriend her, whereas Chunli, being a proper young mistress, had been given the cold shoulder many times.

  Xiao Xiang found out that she had given five taels of silver to the maids, and was so envious that she kept saying that Miss Qin was being too kind to the maids. Qin Dai didn't mind, and told someone to give her a handful of melon seeds and candied fruit, and only then did she send three people to go take a look at the commotion.

  Before long, Ruyi and Chunli returned with laughter and chatter. After all, they were both in their teens, the age of flowers, who didn't love excitement and novelty? Coming to this rural place, it was also restricted in many ways, and there was no excitement. Now that a peddler had appeared, it had solved the boredom of more than a month.

  Ru Yi only bought a few pieces of silk flowers, which were not as good as those in the mansion, but they were well-made and looked nice. Chun Li bought a string of hand strings, which she thought was very precious, but Ru Yi thought it was too expensive, "It's not gold or silver, yet it costs four taels of silver!"

  Chunli said with a sly tone, "Miss gave us money, if we don't use it, shouldn't we return it?" After finishing speaking, she couldn't help but cover her mouth and laugh. Ruyi was also teased into bending over at the waist. The three master-servant pair had a rare joyful moment.

  Xixia laughed and took out an object from her sleeve, handing it to Qindai Xin: "We really did find such a strange object for the young lady, even the peddler didn't know what it was used for."

  Qin Daiyun inadvertently glanced over, but her heartbeat accelerated uncontrollably. Good heavens, what was that?