After the birthday banquet for the old lady of the Rongchang Marquis Mansion, Cuique lost a personal maid.
“That maid originally served the Heir. She was extremely clever and sharp. Cuique managed to take her away, and who knows what tricks she used to make that maid utterly loyal to her, even ignoring the Heir’s orders and only listening to hers.”
The more time she spent with Feng Qingsui, the more Madam Wei complained.
“Once, the Heir had that maid deliver watermelon to me. She didn’t say it was from the Heir, so I thought it was from that little wretch. I happened to have an upset stomach at the time and casually said, ‘Who wants to eat her rotten watermelon? Take it back.’”
“Later, I got scolded by the Heir, who said I was disrespectful and dared to disdain the watermelon bestowed by His Majesty.”
“Only then did I learn that the watermelon was given by His Majesty to the Empress, who then gave it to the old lady, who in turn gave it to the Heir. That wretched maid didn’t say a word—wasn’t she deliberately misleading me, causing me to be disrespectful?”
“If it weren’t for the old lady’s birthday banquet approaching and the mansion not being suitable for shedding blood, I would have definitely taught that wretched maid a lesson. Who would have thought Heaven had eyes? Just a few days after the banquet, that wretched maid died from eating poisonous mushrooms.”
Feng Qingsui looked surprised. “Poisonous mushrooms can be found in the Marquis Mansion? Could there have been a mistake in the procurement?”
“How could procurement make such an error?”
Madam Wei scoffed.
“That wretched maid was greedy. She picked mushrooms growing in a flowerpot, thinking they were delicious, and ended up poisoning herself.”
Feng Qingsui’s eyes flickered. “So it was self-inflicted.”
“Exactly. Heaven’s calamities can be forgiven, but self-inflicted ones cannot be spared.”
As she spoke, Madam Wei pinched her own waist.
“I think I’ve lost a bit more weight.”
Feng Qingsui nodded. “Probably two or three pounds. Have you been feeling more energetic these past few days?”
“Exactly!” Madam Wei beamed. “Before, I always felt sleepy right after eating, listless all day long. Now I’m full of energy and don’t even dare take a nap, or I won’t be able to sleep until midnight.”
“As long as you keep doing as I say, you’ll become slimmer and more energetic.”
Feng Qingsui said with a light laugh.
Madam Wei praised her again and again.
When the half-month period ended, she had lost nearly twenty pounds and couldn’t bear to part with Feng Qingsui, her close friend.
“If you’re not too busy, how about coming to accompany me for walks every day from now on? Or I could go to Ji Fu instead.”
Feng Qingsui agreed with a smile.
Only Ji Changqing was puzzled.
“Madam Feng keeps running to the Rongchang Marquis Mansion every day. What is she after?”
He couldn’t figure it out no matter how hard he thought.
He felt this woman’s mind was a hundred times harder to guess than the one sitting on the dragon throne.
“Maybe she just wants to make a friend.”
Baifu said casually.
“Don’t women need a few close confidantes? Otherwise, they’d keep all their thoughts bottled up and eventually fall ill.”
Shi An rolled his eyes at him. “You understand this? You don’t even have a woman in your room.”
Baifu immediately bristled like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, glaring angrily. “I don’t have a woman in my room, but you do? Even our master’s room is still empty!”
Ji Changqing tapped the table.
“What, am I holding you back from getting married?”
Baifu very much wanted to say yes, but after glancing at his master’s expression, he didn’t dare utter a word.
Instead, Shi An said, “Master, we’re not in a hurry to marry. But you—shouldn’t you find a mistress for the household? Otherwise, if His Majesty suddenly takes a fancy one day and arranges a marriage for you…”
If it’s a suitable match, that’s fine. But if it’s not, wouldn’t it turn into a resentful couple?
Ji Changqing frowned.
This was indeed a problem.
Previously, having to play two roles made it difficult to marry, but now that his identity was settled and life had stabilized, it was indeed time to put marriage on the agenda.
However, thinking of the “sister-in-law” in the mansion whose intentions were unclear, he dismissed the idea.
“Let’s settle Madam Feng’s matter first.”
Shi An fell silent.
What Ji Changqing didn’t expect was that the next day, during his day off, as he sat down for a meal with his mother and Madam Feng, his mother also brought up his marriage.
“Changqing, have you taken a liking to any young lady? If not, your mother received many invitations for the New Year. Go out more often with your sister-in-law and take a look around for a suitable match.”
The rice in Ji Changqing’s bowl suddenly lost its flavor.
“Mother, I’m still young. There’s no hurry to marry.”
“No hurry? After the New Year, you’ll be twenty-five. Men your age already have children attending school!”
Madam Qi’s face turned stern.
“Before, your elder brother was away on campaigns, and his marriage kept getting delayed. You said that since your elder brother hadn’t married yet, it wasn’t your turn. Now your sister-in-law is here too—what more is there to say?”
Ji Changqing: “…”
“Mother, we’ve just arrived here. We should observe and assess carefully. Otherwise, if we end up marrying someone who stirs up trouble at home, you won’t have peace either.”
“That’s exactly why we need to look around.”
Madam Qi gave Feng Qingsui a meaningful glance.
Feng Qingsui obediently chimed in: “Mother is absolutely right. I’ll keep a good lookout for Second Master.”
Ji Changqing: “…”
He forced a smile and said, “Then I’ll trouble you, sister-in-law.”
He wanted to see what kind of person Feng Qingsui would find for him.
Little did he know, Feng Qingsui had no time to spare for his marriage matters.
The workshop had finished making the sweaters and down jackets before the first snow. After contacting the Charity Orphanage where she had once stayed, Feng Qingsui took Wuhua and delivered the clothes there.
The former director had long been transferred elsewhere, and the current director had been transferred from another place last year.
The nannies who used to care for the children had been replaced, and the children who had stayed in the Charity Orphanage with Feng Qingsui back then had either been adopted or left when they came of age. Now, there was no one left who recognized her.
The director simply regarded her as a noblewoman passionate about doing good deeds and accumulating virtue.
“Thank you so much. We were just worrying about how to get through the winter. Many of the children don’t even have cotton-padded clothes, and you’ve come just in time to provide relief.”
Feng Qingsui smiled and exchanged a few pleasantries.
While the director was busy accompanying her and the nannies were busy dressing the children in sweaters, the account storeroom was empty at that moment.
Wuhua quietly slipped away and headed to the account storeroom according to the location Feng Qingsui had provided.
The adoption and fostering ledgers from over the years were stored in the account storeroom, classified as the Charity Orphanage’s top-secret archives. Even donors had no right to view them.
Feng Qingsui couldn’t openly request Cuique’s adoption information and had no choice but to resort to this underhanded method.
Following the director’s guidance, she toured the Charity Orphanage’s dining hall, dormitories, and school, finally arriving at the exhibition hall.
“All the paintings, embroidery works, wood carvings… here were created by the children of our Charity Orphanage. Children who leave after coming of age can all learn a skill, enough to support themselves.”
The director explained.
Feng Qingsui stopped in front of a three-foot square embroidered painting.
The painting depicted a little girl squinting her eyes, happily eating glutinous rice cakes, her cheeks flushed red as if rouged.
But she knew it wasn’t rouge—it was redness and swelling from the cold.
This was her sister’s embroidery of her.
Just as the director was about to explain, a nanny suddenly stepped forward and whispered something in her ear.
Her expression immediately turned tense, and she said to Feng Qingsui, “Apologies, a high-ranking official has come for an inspection. I must go greet them first.” Then she quickly left with her attendants.
Feng Qingsui stared at the painting for a long time. When footsteps sounded again, she turned her head, expecting to see the academy supervisor, but instead saw an unexpected figure.