Chapter 115: Dilemma

  "Has the skirt been sent over?"

  Chao Sheng nodded: "Mm, thank you, Your Highness."

  The fourth prince smiled faintly: "In the future, be more careful and don't take on things that aren't your own."

  Although it sounds like he's warning her not to interfere, Chao Sheng has known the Fourth Prince for a long time and knows that his tone may be mild, but that doesn't mean he's not displeased in his heart.

  "Yes, I remember."

  There was no open window, and the room was warm. Chao Sheng lowered his head to collect tea cups, and the faint ink fragrance and tea fragrance lingered in the house. The window paper was reflected by the outside snow light, making it white and bright.

  Such a time made Chao Sheng feel as if they were still in Yiqiu Palace, nothing had changed.

  But this was just for an instant.

  After returning, Aunt Li also asked her the same question.

  Chao Sheng said: "Qin He and Chun Mo were both there, they saw it with their own eyes - in my opinion, Qin He is 80% sure that the skirt was damaged."

  "She's the most favored one by Wang Fei, and her wrist is quite capable. Whatever happens under her eyelids, she wouldn't find it surprising at all. Man'er came to you, probably she also gave a push. If you can't hand over the skirt in time, hehe..."

  Chao Sheng silently kneaded the dough.

  Aunt Li said, "In the inner courtyard, struggles are like this, anything can become a handle. It's easy to get into trouble over food and clothing. There have been cases before where someone made clothes for their master, but when they wore them, they were pricked by a needle hidden in the seams. Where did that needle come from? These things are hard to explain."

  Chao Sheng hastily thought for a moment, she didn't drop any needles when she was embroidering. Later, Auntie Li helped her sew the front and back pieces together, so there shouldn't be any problems.

  But her anxiety was unnecessary. If others wanted to frame her, there were plenty of opportunities to sew a needle in.

  "In short, don't take charge of things in the Zhengyuan from now on." Li Aunt concluded.

  Almost exactly like the tone of the Fourth Prince.

  Chao Sheng responded with a "yes": "I know."

  Auntie Li gave her a slanted glance: "You agreed so readily this time, don't go soft-hearted again when your good sister cries and begs you."

  Chao Sheng shook his head and said, "It won't work."

  After sending the skirt over, Chao Sheng thought that Man'er should come over, even if it's not to thank her, she would ask how the burnt skirt was mended.

  But Man Er never came over.

  It's been busy, and now it's New Year's.

  Madam Wen finally put on that ill-fated dress. Chao Sheng had been worried for two days, if Madam Wen suddenly borrowed the dress and something bad happened to her, what would she do?

  Yes, just as Man'er said, the Fourth Prince should be protecting her. Chao Sheng didn't doubt this in the slightest.

  The fourth prince would not have asked her to serve in the study at the beginning if he was not protecting her.

  If she wasn't in the study, but anywhere else in the mansion, Wen Shi could easily manipulate her. But the study was different, this was the Fourth Prince's domain, his private sanctuary, and Wen Shi's hands couldn't reach here.

  But it's precisely because of this that she stands out from the crowd and becomes even more prominent in Wen Shi's eyes.

  Now there seems to be a delicate balance between her and Mr. Wen. The tide does not overflow, and Mr. Wen does not take action.

  But putting one's life and death in someone else's thoughts is really too unreliable.

  At the beginning of the year, the fourth prince accompanied Madame Wen back to her hometown. Qin Hechun and Mo followed suit. The mansion was left without its masters and many people were gone, suddenly making it seem empty and spacious. In the distance, the muffled sound of firecrackers could be heard, and Chao Sheng looked out, only seeing a patch of white sky with a hint of light gray above the wall.

  The firecracker sounds like they came from another world.

  From the outside world.

  People outside have their own lives, a life that is unfamiliar to me.

  But being unfamiliar doesn't mean she can't yearn for it.

  Even if life is a bit bitter, it's better than being trapped inside this wall.

  Chao Sheng and Auntie Li sat around the stove drinking tea, while others hid away to enjoy themselves. Some of them gathered in groups of three or five to start a game. Anyway, during the New Year's celebration, everyone had some money on hand, and they quietly cheered and shouted, creating a lively atmosphere.

  Aunt Li was telling Chao Sheng about her childhood experiences celebrating the New Year in the countryside: "In the countryside, there were firecrackers made from bamboo tubes filled with gunpowder and a fuse. When lit, they would explode - although some didn't make much noise. Paper firecrackers were more expensive than bamboo ones. When they exploded, fragments would fly everywhere, and many children would pick up the unexploded scraps of paper from the ground. Sometimes, they could still be lit and used again, but there were also people who got their hands blown off..."

  Auntie Li suddenly fell silent.

  Chao Sheng followed her gaze outwards, Man Er lifted a corner of the door curtain, smiled at her in a somewhat flattering manner, and stepped inside.

  "Auntie Li... it's just right for drinking with some sweet pastries I brought along."

  Auntie Li loved to pretend she didn't care, but just raised her eyelids slightly.

  Chao Sheng was quite harmonious and invited her to sit down.

  Man'er looked at Aunt Li with some hesitation.

  "Sit down and warm yourself by the fire."

  The fritters brought by Man'er don't look like something from the mansion - at least not something from the small kitchen. The color is a bit dark, probably because the sugar was overcooked. Drinking it will definitely have a burnt taste.

  It should be something made by the big kitchen. During the New Year, when guests come to stay, the big kitchen prepares a lot of fried cakes and this kind of pastry mixed with many stir-fried noodles, which is sweet and warm when served with water, and most importantly, it's convenient. The tea house in the front yard also prepared quite a few of these. Most of them are used to entertain those who come from the fields to settle accounts, as well as the servants brought by guests who come to visit.

  Aunt Li was also there, and Man'er couldn't speak even if she had something to say. Chao Sheng looked at her awkward appearance, fidgeting constantly, as if the small stool had thorns that were pricking her.

  She has something to say.

  But Chao Sheng didn't want to listen.

  Because she could intuitively determine that whatever Man Er was going to say would definitely make her mood worse.

  Man'er waited for a while, and finally couldn't sit still anymore, so she got up to bid farewell. Chao Sheng put on his coat and saw her out.

  Man'er's shoes scraped against the bluestone floor, standing there without moving forward, saying in a low voice: "Chao Sheng... thanks to you for taking care of my skirt..."

  Chao Sheng said lightly: "Let's just drop this matter, but next time you'd better be careful, or else you might not have such good luck again."

  She said that, and Man'er's expression suddenly relaxed a lot, smiling and saying: "I knew you were capable. The fabric of the tribute goods can be obtained, and the embroidery looks exactly the same as before, without any flaws."

  Chao Sheng didn't want to say much and just responded with a simple "uh-huh".

  Who says it's that easy?

  The tacit consent of the fourth prince, the tolerance of Director Qi, and the help of Little Shun and Auntie Li...

  But when it comes to Man Er, a light and casual sentence can get him through.

  She doesn't seem too grateful, as if it's a matter of course.

  It seems like she didn't get any profound lesson from the incident of burning her skirt.

  She kept talking, saying that during the New Year's festival, each of them had given an extra share of lucky money in the main house. One person even made a cyan satin padded jacket with rose-purple water-patterned edges on it, which looked very good. She also said that Qin He and Chun Mo didn't get along well, often secretly competing with each other, one wanting to go east while the other wanted to go west. Wen Shi might not have known about it or maybe she just didn't want to intervene, anyway, she let them be like this all the time. Fortunately, nothing went wrong...

  Before, she also had a lot of words, but Chao Sheng always listened very patiently.

  This time, however, it just felt very noisy. Like listening to the distant sound of firecrackers coming from who-knows-where, it was too far away and unrelated to her.

  When they arrived at the hospital entrance, Chao Sheng stopped.

  "Ah, don't send it over, it's quite cold outside, hurry back inside, I'll come visit you again later."

  Chao Sheng gently shook his head.

  "It's better if you don't come looking for me again."

  Man Er was taken aback for a moment, as if she hadn't understood.

  "Is it born?"

  "Don't come looking for me again."

  His mouth was half open, and after a while, he muttered: "You... made me angry?"

  "No." This was Chao Sheng's true words.

  She is not angry.

  "So why... I know, you must be angry with me. At that time, I was also anxious and couldn't help it. Besides, it's all right now, the skirt has been mended, and the princess didn't blame..."

  What if it's not fully compensated?

  What if the princess blames me?

  Chao Sheng didn't want to get tangled up with her over the skirt issue again.

  "You're now a servant in the main house, and coming and going with me won't do you any good." Chao Sheng said: "Haven't you seen that Chun Mo doesn't even look for me now?"

  Man'er thought for a moment: "You mean, to avoid suspicion? I didn't come when there were people around, and now that it's quiet, with no one in the house, I just happened to arrive..."

  When he said this, Man Er seemed to be still the same as before.

  In the past, Man Er was silly and always had a one-sided wish when speaking or doing things.

  But the feeling in Cai Sheng's heart was different now.

  Maybe it's him who has changed, maybe it's her who has changed.

  At that time, Man Er looked childish and lovely.

  That feeling has changed.

  "But we're good sisters, aren't we... Chun Mo wants to curry favor with the princess, but you and I won't be at odds..."

  "Mei'er keeps repeating the same old things, and even brings up past events: 'At that time when we parted ways, I thought I'd never see you again, and secretly cried many times. But after leaving the palace, we ended up together again, you don't know how happy I was. We're all in the same household, what's the point of distinguishing between inner and outer? Besides, we were close friends before, even if I didn't come to find you, they would still think we're close... You must be blaming me, right?'"

  Cháo shēng feels itchy in his hands and really wants to raise them up and swing them around.

  The last time I had this impulse was when I saw Song Can punishing Han Xiang.

  Man Er is not stupid.

  The tide knows.

  Their relationship was no longer as simple as it had been in the days of the Washing Brook.

  Everyone knows her character, Chao Sheng has never quarreled loudly with others, and in the past when others pushed heavy and hard work to her, Chao Sheng also gritted her teeth and finished it.

  Man Er nagged for half a day, and Chao Sheng felt physically and mentally exhausted.

  "Then I'll go back first..."

  Man'er took one step and looked back three times, while Chao Sheng turned around and left without any hesitation.

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  I'm in a terrible mood. My grand pass was stolen today, and all the points inside were emptied. Fortunately, the editor helped me retrieve my password in time, so there's no impact on the author's backend and comment section.

  I never thought there was such a thing as account theft, so I didn't bind my phone and all that. Everyone must learn from my lesson, absolutely cannot be lazy and take shortcuts~~~

  Well, congratulations to iuiulin on his promotion to deputy editor ~ throwing flowers ~ This good news has finally lifted my mood again.