Chapter 253 A Shield—There was Another One in Qin’s Mansion
“Word has already got out that we will adopt her as a daughter. How can we stop this?” Madam of Duke Xing shook with barely suppressed anger.
In order to put more pressure on the Qin’s Mansion, she deliberately visited many high-powered madams for various reasons, the next day. Although she did not explicitly say that she would adopt Qin Wanru as a foster daughter, she did express implicitly that she would like to have an adopted daughter. She had visited Qin Wanru before with great satisfaction, and showed that she valued this adopted daughter.
After being adopted, Qin Wanru would be brought up in Duke Xing’s Mansion.
She did not say that in an explicit way, which absolutely showed her self-restraint. It was obvious that before things were formally finalized, she could not just casually say something for certain.
“Do you still want to adopt her now? Does it mean that the rumor is true?” Duke Xing asked in a cold voice. With an even colder look, he raised his heavy eyelids to look at Madam of Duke Xing and stood up, “So just let it be!”
After saying this, he got up, as he was about to leave.
“This can’t be done in this way. What will other people think of me? I will become a joke in the whole circle of madams from the aristocratic families!” Madam of Duke Xing also stood up and disagreed.
“My words have been said almost with certainty, except that I directly mentioned Qin Wanru by name. If I retract it now, those madams will take it as a joke, and I will be laughed at by people.” thought Madam of Duke Xing, who was unwilling to lose her dignity.
“If you don’t do this, what else do you want to do?” Duke Xing asked with displeasure, and the dim light in his eyes flashed slightly, with an unknown meaning.
“There is not only one girl in Qin’s Mansion. Qin Huaiyong has another daughter.” Madam of Duke Xing said, after a silence.
Even if she could not adopt Qin Wanru, she still had to adopt one. She was unwilling to become a joke in the circle of madams from the aristocratic families. If this kind of thing could be taken so irresponsibly, no one would believe her in the future. Besides, this kind of dispute was also what a Miss from an aristocratic family had been banned from, since she was a child. It was inconsistent with Madam of Duke Xing’s image as a daughter from a noble family in the past.
This would affect the image of Madam of Duke Xing.
“You want to accept Qin Huaiyong’s elder daughter, who has such a bad reputation, as an adopted daughter? Our Duke Xing’s Mansion won’t accept such a disreputable person!” Xing Guogong refused directly.
“But what should I do? I can’t lose my dignity in this way!” Madam of Duke Xing was startled and had to directly disobey his order.
“How do you want to attract… attention?” Duke Xing looked sharply at Madam of Duke Xing, making Madam of Duke Xing lower her head.
“Just let it go at that. Don’t mention it again!”
“Besides the Qin sisters, there is another girl living in the Qin’s Mansion. She is the daughter of Jiangzhou Magistrate. I will adopt her!” Seeing that Duke Xing was turning to leave, Madam of Duke Xing became anxious, and said this loudly.
Duke Xing paused and answered, without turning his head back, “It is up to you!”
After saying that, he lifted the curtains and pushed the door to exit the house. His expression had already become as gentle as before, but all the servants in the yard kept quiet, and even dared not to breathe.
Nanny Sheng was more nervous, with her eyes darting everywhere, and dared not move at all.
“You are the trusted subordinate on Madam’s side. Later on, when Madam is inclined to do something, you still need to give her advice. Don’t let her be as impulsive as that day!”
“Yes, Duke. I know!” Nanny Sheng understood what Duke Xing said, and started to tremble, with her whole back bent.
“That’s good. Madam does not know everything well, but you are different from her. You used to watch me grow up, and I have always respected you, so you should persuade Madam if necessary, and prevent her from doing something unrealistic!” Duke Xing became even gentler.
Everyone in this yard knew that the identity of this Nanny Sheng was not simple. Although she was the trusted subordinate of Madam of Duke Xing, this Nanny was not someone who had been brought from her parents’ home, but the wet nurse of Duke Xing. This identity had a deterrent effect on the people in the yard, as well as Madam of Duke Xing.
“Yes, Duke. I understand!” Nanny Sheng had a respectful look, and did not take advantage of her seniority at all.
Duke Xing glanced at Nanny Sheng, and went out with a gentle smile on his face.
His rounded smile was well in line with his image of stoutness.
When he left the yard, Nanny Sheng knocked on the door gently.
“Come in!” Madam of Duke Xing’s cold voice came from the room. Obviously, she had not recovered her composure yet. Compared with Duke Xing, who had altered his expression the moment he went out, Madam of Duke Xing was slower in her mood adjustment.
When Nanny Sheng entered the room, she found that although Madam of Duke Xing still did not look well, she was not as gloomy as before, and the expression on her face was not too bad.
“Prepare four gifts. I will adopt the girl from Qi’s mansion as a foster daughter!” Looking at the teacup on the table, Madam of Duke Xing said slowly. She did not look impatient, which apparently meant that she indeed had given some thought to this, instead of deciding on a moment of impulse.
“Madam, do you really want to accept Miss Qi as an adopted daughter?” Nanny Sheng was startled, and hurriedly raised her head to ask.
“If not, how would this matter end? Now we can only take one step at a time, and plan the next step. There are not many people in our mansion. Even I choose to adopt a daughter to our family, so what? It is nothing but only helping to provide some dowries. It’s not a big deal!” Madam of Duke Xing said in a cold voice.
There was a flash of anger in her eyes. This time, she still did not know who was pushing her, behind her back. If she knew who this person was, she would definitely hack him or her into pieces. It had been a clever move. Because of these rumors, she had to restrain herself from using her means, and even had to adopt, Qi Rongzhi, which was highly unexpected.
She deeply disliked Qi Rongzhi since she first met her. Qi Rongzhi was just a girl who was vain, and used flattery to get close to herself. Madam of Duke Xing had seen so many girls like this, so she was really not interested in her.
But now she could only do this!
“Madam, it is best to think like this. Originally, I also wanted to persuade Madam to change to someone else. Since Miss Qi lives in Qin’s Mansion, your trip to Qin’s Mansion also makes sense. Although Miss Qi is not good, at least her reputation is clean. She can be raised in our mansion!” Nanny Sheng answered frankly after a thought.
After that, she was afraid that Madam of Duke Xing would not understand, so she lowered her voice and said implicitly, “Just now Duke asked me to try and give Madam more advice, saying that Madam might have be doing something… wrong!”
It would be better if she had not said this. The moment she said this, Madam of Duke Xing’s eyes became piercing, and she sneered repeatedly, “What does he mean? I’m wrong? Isn’t that about the set of dishes? It originally was not bad, but who knows Madam Di and Countess Yong both have no calculated plans, and even such a small thing can’t be done!”
Having said this, Madam of Duke Xing was filled with anger. This kind of thing could have been solved privately which everyone knew well. She did not really want to punish Qin Wanru. Instead, she just wanted to have a hold on Qin’s Mansion, which she could even use to threaten Madam Dowager and Qin Huaiyong, and keep her quiet forever!
This sort of thing had no effect on Qin Huaiyong’s career. Even if Qin Huaiyong became suspicious, it did not matter. Besides, she could offer Qin Huaiyong something else to get along well. If Qin Huaiyong indeed swallowed everything, she could even promise to give Qin Huiyong’s only daughter a little benefit, so that when she was married to Duke Yong’s Mansion, she would no longer be in a weak position.
But now, because Madam Di and Countess Yong had no calculated plans, this matter could not succeed.
It did not only fail, but also came to the ears of Duke Xing. For this reason, Duke Xing reminded her again and again, and lost his temper with her, in her room. Every time she thought of this, Madam of Duke Xing foamed with rage.
That was because both Madam Di and Countess Yong were so stupid to have destroyed her plans!
“Take that small box of beads. Give another four gifts to Qi Rongzhi, and arrange for her to come to Duke Xing’s Mansion. Just find a yard to let her live in. Give this box of beads to Qin Wanru.” Madam of Duke Xing took a deep breath, and said this, after suppressing the agitation in her heart.
“Madam, those are your favorite pearls, you have indicated that you will give them to First Miss!” Nanny Sheng exclaimed.
“Give it to her first. Now she is… more important!” Madam of Duke Xing sneered, and said slowly. Now she really kept this matter in her heart!
It was originally meant to be a casual move. In this case, she should give more thought to it. She still did not believe that she would fail, “You go and visit Qin Yuru, and give her a pair of earrings!”
When the message that Madam of Duke Xing would accept Qi Rongzhi as an adopted daughter was sent to Qin’s Mansion, the whole mansion were shocked. No one had expected that the result would be like this.
That day, Madam of Duke Xing’s attitude was obvious, and she bluntly turned down Qi Rongzhi. Why did she suddenly change her mind now? Although Madam Dowager did not want Qin Wanru as an adopted daughter of Duke Xing, she still felt surprised about the current situation. For this reason, she specially asked Qin Wanru to come to Xinning Pavilion.
She enlightened Qin Wanru, and was afraid that Qin Wanru would take this matter to heart since she was just a child. Although she was unwilling, she might still care too much about her dignity.
Qin Wanru did not look disappointed at all and comforted Madam Dowager with a smile. Not until she managed to coax Madam Dowager into beaming with delight, did she go back with Yu Jie.
It went so smoothly, which made Qin Wanru feel a little surprised. But, it also made Qin Wanru feel that there were more evidences proving that someone was behind Qi Tianyu, and he was a man of power. There were not many people like this, who had the strength to go against Madam of Duke Xing in this capital city, and was hard to find.
There had already been an indistinct plan in Qin Wanru’s mind, including all these suspicious people.
Standing still, Qin Wanru looked at the plum blossoms on the top of a branch, with a cold smile at the corners of her lips. “In my previous life, perhaps what I saw were all the things that others wanted me to see.” thought Qin Wanru.
That was just the tip of the iceberg. What was gradually revealed in this life was the truth!
A fact that would be more cruel than her being cut in two at her waist, in the previous life.
Tearing away the fake veil, she must see it properly in this life, and no longer be the same as she had been in the previous life. She had died not only with grievances but also without reasons.
“Second Miss Qin!” On the way behind the plum tree, three servant girls came to Qin Wanru. The one standing in the front was obviously a principal maid, who had a distinguished air. When she saw Qin Wanru, she stepped forward with a smile and greeted her gracefully.
“Her appearance is quite familiar!” thought Qin Wanru.