“Second Miss Qin, I am the servant from Duke Xing’s Mansion. This time I am here to arrange for our Madam to take Miss Qi as her foster daughter.”
The principal maid smiled mildly and politely.
Qin Wanru nodded. This servant girl was familiar to her, she had been here with Madam of Duke Xing, before.
“Our Madam likes Second Miss very much, and originally she wanted to adopt Second Miss as her foster daughter. But she had not thought that the rumors outside were so unpleasant that our Old Madam even rebuked our Madam, so she had to switch to First Miss. But anyway, our Madam likes Second Miss most, and although you cannot become mother and daughter, she asked me to tell Second Miss that whatever happens in the future, you can directly tell our Madam, and our Madam will try her best to help you!”
The principal maid was quick witted and eloquent. She finished the speech from Madam of Duke Xing without any pause, and then waved her hands to a servant girl behind her.
That servant girl came forward. A gift box was presented to Qin Wanru, respectfully.
“I originally wanted to look for Second Miss. Now that we happened to meet, it will save me having to walk. This box of pearls was given by the Queen to our Madam, but she allowed our Madam to give it to others. They are of an excellent grade and can be made into earrings or necklaces. Originally, our Madam reserved them specially for our First Miss. But …our Madam feels very guilty. So she is giving them to Second Miss Qin as an apology!”
The principal maid went forward and opened the box. Everyone was immediately attracted to the pearls in the box.
These pearls were of a good size, and each of them was round and of the equal size, which made it quite precious. They would make excellent head-ornaments or other ornaments.
The number of pearls in the box was not small, and each of them was of good quality. Madam must have given it a lot of thought before she took it out, not to mention that this was a gift given by the queen. Of course, she was allowed to give it away, which meant that Qin Wanru did not need to worry about it later.
“This… was originally the gift for your First Miss. I dare not accept it!” Qin Wanru fluttered her long eyelashes, smiled and shook her head. She turned her eyes away from the pearls and her eyes looked beautiful, clear and indifferent. It seemed that she really did not like these pearls so much.
The principal maid had been with Duke Xing for a long time, and she had seen many young ladies. Although many of them said that they did not want to accept, their behavior indicated otherwise. She seldom saw one who was so calm, so she respected Qin Wanru more internally.
“Second Miss Qin, our Madam has said that our First Miss owns many accessories and she does not like to wear head accessories. Second Miss is younger than our First Miss and you are at the age where you love dressing up. So it is suitable to give this box of pearls to Second Miss. This is a token of our Madam’s regard, please don’t refuse it!”
The principal maid smiled and spoke eloquently.
If Qin Wanru did not accept it again, it meant that she did not accept the apology of Madam of Duke Xing. It seemed that she was pretending to be vexed, because she wanted to raise up her status.
“Show my gratitude to your Madam for me!” Qin Wanru smiled slightly. The smile was deeper in her eyes, and she glanced at the hands of another servant girl.
There was also a small gift box in the servant girl’s hands. It was very small, which looked like tiny accessories as scorpions, earrings, or woman’s head ornaments. She stood respectfully behind the principal maid.
Yujie took the box from the servant girl, and then stood behind Qin Wanru.
“How is the preparation for First Miss Qi going?” Qin Wanru asked, with smile. Since she had accepted the gift from Madam of Duke Xing, Qin Wanru could not stay completely out of the picture.
“We have finished the preparations for Miss Qi. But we need to wait for our Madam to finish her preparation. Our Madam says that Miss Qi is not alone in the capital city, and she also has two brothers. So she wants to discuss this issue with the two brothers and ask for their consent.”
The principal maid answered with smile.
It meant that Qi Rongzhi was already prepared and could not wait to become the Miss in Duke Xing’s Mansion. But Duke Xing’s Mansion was not in a hurry, and did all things according to the rules.
“So First Miss Qi should go to the house of Qi’s mansion to wait for news?” Qin Wanru fluttered her long eyelashes and asked curiously.
“We should not do anything in a hurry. We need to wait for the two childes in Qi’s mansion to confirm it. There is no eldership in the house of Qi’s mansion in the capital city, so our Madam believes that it would be better and more suitable that First Miss Qi lives in Ningyuan Army General’s Mansion. After the completion of the ritual of acknowledging her relatives, we will invite First Miss Qi to enter into our mansion!”
From the decent answers of the principal maid, one could tell that this principal maid had been well-trained.
Qin Wanru closed her small red mouth slightly, and something slid into the depth of her eyes. This meant that things would be decided slowly, and there was still a period of time in which Qi Rongzhi had to live in her own mansion.
“You have said this to First Miss Qi?” Qin Wanru glanced at the small box of gift in the hands of that servant girl, emotionlessly. Since Madam of Duke Xing wanted to accept Qi Rongzhi with great fanfare, it was impossible and shameful to send such a small box of gift to Qi Rongzhi.
That gift must have been sent out, and this box of gift, if there was no mistake, should be given to Qin Yuru.
Madam Di was being confined. Although Qin Yuru had been encaged before, only she herself was under restriction, others could still go in and see her.
The first gift should be presented to Qi Rongzhi. But considering the personality of Qi Rongzhi, if she saw the two boxes of gifts, it was inevitable that she would ask who these gifts were meant for, and what were these gifts…
“It has already been sent, and I have spoken with First Miss Qi. During this time we need to bother Second Miss Qin to take care of First Miss Qi. Our Madam will show her greatest gratitude to you!” The posture of the principal maid was quite low, showing that her gratitude to Qin Wanru was overflowing with her words.
If it was not the fact that Qin Wanru had also intervened in this thing secretly, she would have thought that Madam of Duke Xing was sincerely fond of her. It was because of the established form that she could not admit Qin Wanru as her foster daughter. But her care toward Qin Wanru was the same as and even more, than that to her foster daughter, Qi Rongzhi.
Then she should express the same gratitude to their Madam?
“Please express my gratitude to your Madam, and I will take care of Qi Rongzhi!” Qin Wanru smiled subtly.
“I still have another thing to bother Second Miss with. I don’t know whether it is feasible or not?” The principal maid asked with a smile.
“What is it?” Qin Wanru answered indolently.
“There is a pair of earrings in this gift box, which is supposed to be given to First Miss Qin by our Madam. But when I went to see First Miss Qin just now, I found that the people in the yard did not allow me to go in. Since I came under the orders of our Madam, and our Madam has sent gifts to all the three misses in the mansion, if I fail to send the gift to the First Miss, I am afraid that our Madam will blame me. So I’d like to ask for Second Miss’s help…”
The principal maid seemed to be very awkward. She looked at Qin Wanru and said imploringly.
“Is this for my Big Sister?” Qin Wanru raised her eyes and seemed to be moved, as she looked at the gift box, in the hands of that servant girl.
She was given such a big box of pearls, while Qin Yuru was only given a small pair of earrings. From this, it seemed that Qin Yuru could not be compared with her.
This contrast was quite big.
Qin Yuru had been forbidden before, but after the “map” incident in Nanny Sheng’s hands, Qin Huaiyong had asked people to control her yard. Although it was not like the situation of Madam Di, where nobody was allowed to go in and out freely, people who wanted to get in should have good reasons.
She heard that Qin Yuru could not come out, until she had finished the one hundred copies of Woman Precepts and Daughter’s warns.
“Yes, this is our Madam’s gift to First Miss. There are three misses in the mansion and if we only sent gifts to two misses, we are afraid that First Miss would misunderstand us!” The principal maid explained.
That was why this gift was so small, which was only to make it less embarrassing for Qin Yuru.
This kind of thing was a trivial matter, and Madam of Duke Xing had expressed such great kindness to her before. It would be impolite if Qin Wanru did not help her.
“Just leave it here. I will give it to my Big Sister in a while!” Qin Wanru smiled elegantly.
With such an elegant smile, matched with her limpid eyes, Qin Wanru seemed to have the ability to look through a person’s heart. Having been looked at, the principal maid felt her heart jumping suddenly and lowered her head at once. But later she smiled and thought that although this Second Miss Qin was very intelligent, what could an eleven-year-old girl who had not experienced much, know about?
The principal maid bowed to Qin Wanru respectfully, “Thank you very much Second Miss Qin!”
The other servant girl who held the small gift box, went forward. Yujie took the small gift box from that servant girl.
“Second Miss Qin, then I’ll go back first. I am sorry to bother you!” The servant girl bowed to her politely again.
Qin Wanru nodded slightly, and the principal maid turned and left with the two small servant girls.
“Second Miss, I’ll go back to my yard first. After I put down the things, I’ll send the gift to First Miss!” Yujie said, after seeing these servant girls off.
If there had been not that box of precious pearls, the earrings were not a bad gift. But compared with this box of pearls, that pair of earrings did not seem so precious. Qin Yuru always had a high regard of herself, and could not tolerate being not as good as others. If she saw it, nobody knew what she would do again.
Qin Yuru had been very aggrieved recently. There was nowhere for her to vent her anger. She was not willing to go to her place at this moment.
“You don’t have to go back first, just go and see my Big Sister first. At least we are sisters, as a younger sister, I need to send some comfort to my big sister at this time! ” Qin Wanru raised her eyebrows and looked at one corner of the plum forest. Actually, this plum forest was not big, and it only had dozens of trees. But there were many plum blossoms, which gave off a sweet fragrance. It was an excellent place in Qin’s Mansion to enjoy the plum blossoms!
“What if the First Miss feels angry?” Yujie said worriedly. She was sure that if they went there, there might be some problems.
“So what? My Big Sister used to disturb me frequently. At this time, why should I not have any reason to see her?” Qin Wanru smiled and looked very complacent. She took a look at the big gift box held by Yujie and lifted the cover up. She took one of the pearls out and put it under the sunshine.
“I’ve heard that there is a kind of pearl in the south country. Although it is not big, it is extremely rare. If they are strung together, they will be more shiny and their color can be preserved. My Big Sister used to love using pearl powder to moisturize her skin. If she uses this pearl, will she be more pretty?” Qin Wanru smiled more proudly.
Her exquisite little face seemed quite proud at that time. Her small, squinty and watery eyes contained a touch of provocation, which seemed to have no good intention.
“Well, Qin Wanru, you can really pretend to be what you are like, in daily life!” A cold voice could be heard, coming from behind the plum tree…