Chapter Twelve: Reality or Illusion?

  Qin Dai Xin put on her shoes and personally went to the door to greet him.

  Li's mother was originally a personal attendant of the lady, and she was given to Qin Fengge as an accompanying chamber. When Qin Fengge married into the Gong Sun family, Fang Shi was afraid that she would not have a capable person by her side, so she let Li's mother follow her. This red person who is well-received in front of both the lady and Qin Fengge can naturally bear Qin Dai's heart-wrenching greeting.

  A plump and short mother came in, wearing a bright satin jacket with a simple pattern, which made her look even more rounded. On her head was a hairpin with gold and jade inlays, on top of which were two identical green tourmalines the size of fingernails. Her ears only had two simple agate earrings hanging from them. Looking at this outfit, it seemed even more impressive than that of the mistress of a small household, and just those two green tourmalines the size of fingernails must have cost quite a bit of silver.

  Qin Dai Xin no longer showed the neglect of the past towards Madam Zheng and Madam Ding, and hastily made a half bow to Li Mama. However, the other party seemed to understand the underlying meaning even more clearly, and hurriedly stopped her, shouting: "It's not good, it's not good! This old slave can't bear this courtesy, Miss, don't be polite to me."

  Although she said so, Li's mother still felt quite pleased in her heart. No matter whether it was a gift or because of whom, it was considered to have earned herself some face, which probably no other mother from any other household could do.

  "My mother said that the place was spoken of, although I couldn't see my mother, but the old people in the mansion always muttered about it. Li Mama was quite favored by my mother." The tone is somewhat respectful.

  The two exchanged pleasantries and took their seats. Qin Dai Xin leaned against the back of the kang, propping herself up with a pillow. Li Mama couldn't resist Qin's persistence, so she sat down on the kang as well, but only halfway, never fully sitting down.

  "Originally planned to leave tomorrow, but the lady suddenly caught a chill and started coughing." His expression was worried, as if Qin Fengge had really contracted some serious illness.

  Qin Dai's face showed worry, and she asked: "Is your old illness back?"

  "After managing the Gu family for half a lifetime, her body is not as free and easy as it was when she was a young girl. How could she not have any minor ailments? However, it's nothing serious, just rest for a few days, take some medicine, and she'll be fine. It's also because of this that the trip back to the manor has been delayed. Since they had already sent word early on, they were afraid Old Lady Gu would worry, so they thought of sending someone from the household to deliver a message." The words are full of probing meaning.

  Qin Dai's expression relaxed, and she said with a sigh of relief: "This is also good, after resting, we can grasp it better." Did she start to worry? Probably because of Gong Sun Jin's matter, she changed her mind!

  "Mom's here, but is there something wrong?" Polite words are enough, let's get back to the point.

  Madam Li pretended to be enthusiastic and said, "I didn't have anything in particular, I just thought it was getting cold outside, so I wanted to see if Miss needed anything. If not, let someone take a message back to the mansion and bring something for Miss at the same time."

  Qin Dai's heart was delighted, and she said with a smile: "Mom is really thoughtful, so I won't be polite. I also hope that Mom can find someone to bring more clothes to my courtyard." After finishing speaking, she actually sat up, pulled Li Mama's hand.

  Mrs. Li's face wore a smile, but her eyes flashed with disdain as she said straightforwardly, "This is to be expected."

  Qin Dai Xin saw it clearly, but didn't take it to heart. "Won't it be too troublesome?" There was deep concern in her eyes, as if she had been wronged.

  "How could that be? Third Miss is worrying too much. Since it's like this, I'll take my leave first and also inform the servant who reported the news." After finishing speaking, he stood up straight and bowed to Qin Daihe.

  Qin Dai Xin hurriedly asked Ruyi to help her up, saying she couldn't bear it, and then had Ruyi and Chunli escort the person all the way to the courtyard gate.

  Li's mother finished her errand and quickened her pace, hurrying towards the backyard where Qin Fengge's courtyard was. But as soon as she entered the courtyard, she was informed that the mistress was not in, saying she had gone to Big Brother's courtyard, this Big Brother referring to Gong Sunjin.

  Mrs. Li changed her direction to Gong Sunjin's place, and as soon as she entered the house, she saw the mother and son talking intimately. A rare smile from the bottom of her heart appeared on Mrs. Li's face, it had been many years since she had seen the young master and his wife so close, this was the best. She didn't dare to disturb them, turned around and instructed a little maid with one sentence, then turned around and left.

  Qin Fengge returned to her own courtyard and ordered someone to find Li Mama, then dismissed the attendants on either side of her and hastily asked: "How is it? What's going on?"

  Mrs. Li said with full confidence: "Madam can rest assured, it's still the same as before. In just three sentences, she revealed her intentions. As soon as she heard that someone was returning to the mansion, she hastily ordered people to send some clothes and daily necessities. My eyes are not blind to people, and she is still as heartless as ever, treating me like a Bodhisattva who saves suffering. After finishing speaking, she went through the matter of going to Qin Dai's place one by one again.

  After listening to Li's mother, Qin Fengge's heart was greatly settled. To say that the two mothers who followed her were both her confidantes, and they worked hard for her in the same way, but somehow, she just trusted Li's mother a bit more. They were all old people brought from the Qin Mansion, but it was still unavoidable to have a distinction between intimacy and distance.

  "With your words, I can rest assured." The two mothers searched high and low but couldn't find any clues that Jin'er was injured. This made her feel uneasy, thinking that if the other party had really left a trail, the two mothers would have found it with their keen eyesight. But after searching the entire estate, they didn't make any progress, which only added to her worries. She couldn't sleep at night. For some reason, she thought of Qin Daihe's demeanor that day - calm, composed, and able to admit her mistakes with just one sentence. Her heart felt a little cooler then. If something happened to her, it might have something to do with herself. If this girl was seeking revenge, it wouldn't be easy to deal with. Feeling uneasy, she had Li Mama go and probe for information. According to what she said, it seemed that she was indeed overthinking things. What kind of storm could a half-grown illegitimate daughter stir up?

  "It's just that I was too nervous, which is why I'm so confused." His tone relaxed a bit, and his face looked better.

  "It's nothing." Li's mother tried to placate her, "This matter can't possibly have anything to do with her, just look at her, she doesn't seem like a formidable person, and she's always been timid, does she even have the capability to hire thugs?"

  Yes, her current situation is precarious, and she's probably struggling to save herself, let alone having the energy to harm others. If she weren't born to that woman, perhaps I wouldn't be so suspicious. It's a pity that such an extraordinary woman could give birth to such a fool.

  "Never mind, never mind, it's just myself scaring myself and making a joke. Who wants to let others see their own embarrassing appearance?"

  "Yes, yes, yes. Madam, the person who is going to send a letter back to the mansion should set off now. As for Third Miss's matter, can we really not help her?" Li Mama was someone who acted according to the situation and was well-versed in the power struggles within the mansion. She always left some leeway in her words, never speaking too much.

  "Help her? Humph, I'm afraid she can't take it." Qin Fengge came to the case, wrote a letter, and handed it to Li's mother, instructing: "Give it to the person who is going back, and say that it was presented to my cousin personally."

  This table sister, of course, refers to Xiao Fang's sister Fang Wanru.

  Li's mother took over and went downstairs to run errands.

  Qin Fengge looked at Li Mama's departing back with a cold smile. The Su family had already fallen, and Su Ailan was no longer the Miss Su of years past. What could she use to compete with herself now?

  Just as Qin Fengge was secretly pleased, Ruo Yi also expressed her concerns to Qin Dai, "I'm afraid this Li Mama is not a good person, and even if she agrees, she may not keep her promise."

  Mrs. Li's words cannot be taken as a standard, she came just to investigate in general, to see if she was still weak and could be deceived.

  "There are a few things on my mind." Qin Dai didn't want to say more about this matter, but asked some other questions. "Is there someone in charge of purchasing at the farm? What kind of person is he? How often does he go to town?"

  "I don't know, I think it's not following me. The estate must have someone in charge of daily purchases, why don't I find some time to ask around." Ruyi didn't understand the situation but didn't want to make the same mistake again, so she tentatively asked.

  "Ask more details." This is a positive response to Yu's behavior.

  "The slave understands." Ruyi knew she had said the right thing and hastily responded.

  After chatting for a while, Qin Dai's heart looked at the book again, thinking about the mysterious iron box, and didn't turn a few pages. It wasn't until dinner time that she hastily ate a few mouthfuls and put down her chopsticks, instructing the maids to withdraw.

  In the past, Qin Daiyu would often drink tea and chat with others after dinner. Today, however, she simply said she was tired and wanted to sleep early, so she let her maids help her wash her face, undo her hair, and quickly wash her feet before lying down.

  The two maidservants thought she was just being troublesome and stopped bothering her, each going about their own business until the courtyard fell silent.

  They dispersed and left. The night watch blew out the lamp and lay down on the kang in the room to sleep.

  Qin Dai Xin sat on the bed, but had no intention of sleeping. Until she was certain that there were no more movements outside, she carefully took out the Xuan Tie box and began to study it carefully.

  The protrusions on the back of the box should be two mechanisms. Qin Dai pressed one of them, but found no movement. When she pressed another one, a thin and flexible iron wire suddenly came out from a small hole on one side. The front end of the iron wire was made into a sharp shape. Could it be...

  Qin Dai's heart was eager to press the previous mechanism, and indeed, the Xuan Tie silk quickly retracted and restored its original shape. Pressing the mechanism again, the Xuan Tie silk swiftly extended and pierced the wall opposite it, inserting itself straight in. Such complex craftsmanship would be impossible for ordinary craftsmen to achieve. Just processing the Xuan Tie into silk would require an unknown amount of effort, let alone shaping them into their current form.

  In the era of martial arts, where lightness and agility were paramount, using this mysterious iron to make such an auxiliary tool was simply a waste of its potential. However, for Qin Dai Xin, who only knew external family techniques, it was a treasure bestowed upon her by heaven itself.

  Because this mystic iron is extremely fine, even if it's wound around the waist, outsiders won't be able to see its entrance. When encountering a higher and more dangerous road, you can use the mechanism to launch the front end of the mystic iron, causing it to tightly nail into rocks or wood, allowing people to escape danger through the mystic iron by climbing or crawling. Of course, if you wind it around your arm, you can also use it to shoot out over ten meters in one breath...

  To put it bluntly, it's actually just a tool for quick escape and vaulting.

  "Tsk tsk, this craftsmanship is really something. I wonder what kind of artisan could have made it." Qin Dai's mind suddenly recalled the old man who bought wine to drink that the peddler had mentioned. Could it be him?