Chapter 270: His Hidden Condition 5
Qi Qingyao said she would let Lu Yan stay in the house but he was not really willing to do so. However, after thinking about the need to treat his condition, he instructed Dong Jing to bring his luggage over. Then, he once again picked out a courtyard to stay in. He even called back the servants that he had dismissed before.
Those servants all shed tears out of gratitude toward Lu Yan. Lu Yan pointed at Qi Qingyao. “That’s your new master.”
The servants were a little startled before they quickly bowed their heads to Qi Qingyao, thanking her.
Qi Qingyao looked at everyone with a smile. “Things will be the same as before, you will all work as you did before! Your wages will also remain unchanged.”
The servants were all ecstatic. They were no longer unemployed! They could even continue living in this large house.
“Manager Zhang, you’ll be in charge of the personnel of this house, just like before.”
Qi Qingyao spoke to a middle-aged person who looked about forty years old. She smiled and said, “You can ask for the monthly expenditure budget from Si Jin.”
Manager Zhang was shocked to see the youth in the horse mask. The youth’s figure was very scrawny and he seemed to be very young. Manager Zhang nodded faintly. “Is he the accountant?”
Qi Qingyao’s lips curled slightly. “Part-time accountant!”
Lu Yan was sitting in the hall as he watched the group of familiar servants. They were all elderly individuals who had lived in this house for a long time. “There’s no need for that. The monthly expenditure budget remains the same as before, a responsibility of the Senluo Chamber of Commerce. Put it on my bill.”
Qi Qingyao hurriedly reminded him, “This is no longer your house, don’t fall back into things like before.”
Lu Yan glanced at her, then said seriously, “You’re helping me treat my condition now. You didn’t say how much it’ll cost yet, so take this expenditure as payment for my treatment.”
Qi Qingyao raised her brows slightly and patted him on the shoulder.
“You’re sincere, I like it.”
After that, she said to the servants, “In that case, you all are to follow things as before, you can ask him about any matters you need to!”
The servants happily went and unpacked their luggage. They had just moved back in after moving away for one day; the ups and downs they felt in their emotions were not something that others could possibly imagine. They had all heard the rumors and slanders aimed at their master by outsiders, but they did not care about that.
These servants had served the Lu family for more than a decade and they knew Lu Yan’s habits and character intimately.
The master was nothing like what the people outside thought of him… He was a good man who minded his own business and steered clear of trouble.
Most importantly, he was also good-looking.
Lu Yan said, “Dong Jing, please deal with the matters here properly.”
Dong Jing nodded seriously and said, “Rest assured, master. Things will be as they were before, this servant of yours understands that.”
…
After Lu Yan returned to the courtyard, Jiang Yeqian also went back to his room. He said he wanted to read a book and the children went running to him, saying that they wanted to read together. Soon, only Qi Qingyao and Si Jin were left in the side hall. Qi Qingyao asked Si Jin to grind up some ink, then she began drawing out the relevant treatment plan on paper.
Si Jin looked at her scribbling on the paper. Somewhat confused, he asked, “Didn’t you ask Jiang Bai to rehire new servants before? Why don’t you want to use them now?”
Qi Qingyao replied as she continued writing out the plan, “I was always at ease when he took care of matters. But when I think about his identity possibly being fake, the people he hired would be too close to me and I’d feel as if I’m being monitored.”
Si Jin did not quite understand this. “Didn’t he say he was going to come clean with you the second time around?”
“You can tell Jiang Bai is an extremely intelligent individual just from his face. His confession could just be a facade,” Qi Qingyao shrugged as she explained calmly.
After a pause, Qi Qingyao said to Si Jin, “Lu Yan is now under my care so there will be no issues with his servants.” They were all elderly servants of the Lu family, who had been employed by them all year round. There should not be any strange things happening around them.
Si Jin thought about it for a moment, then tilted his head and said, “I thought you were already very trusting of Jiang Bai.”
Qi Qingyao snickered and said, “I’d rather trust a ghost than him!”
Si Jin, “…” For Qi Qingyao to be able to say all these things to him meant that she trusted him more than Jiang Bai! When he thought of this, he suddenly felt very happy.
Qi Qingyao continued writing out the plan, then analyzed the situation calmly and composedly. “He knows a lot. I think he knows a lot about the general trends in the world as well as the various forces in power. Based on how many people were killed at the back door yesterday night and how you described it to me, the situation at the front door would probably have been even worse. However, he was able to locate a familiar local corpse collector and have the corpses handled cleanly without leaving any trace behind. That proves that he has dabbled around in Qingzhou City before. Or perhaps he might have some kind of influence here. Not only that, he is also being hunted by the State Preceptor, Li Ruoxuan. From all this I think his identity should be rather special.”
“How special?” Si Jin’s pure black and clear eyes were filled with confusion.
Qi Qingyao mused thoughtfully, “I asked Pei Fengtang about this last time, and Heir Pei said that the State Preceptor was not someone you should provoke.”
“…” Then what did that mean?
Qi Qingyao continued indifferently, “He has been hunted by the State Preceptor for almost two months. He also doesn’t dare reveal himself in front of strangers. He said it himself that the State Preceptor’s people were still hunting him. Think about it, to be hunted by the State Preceptor so relentlessly shows that he is not some small, insignificant character.” Speaking of the Jiang family in Yuehua City, since she was just some little woman from the village, it would be impossible for her to ever meet Jiang Chenye of the Jiang family in Yuehua City.
Si Jin seemed a little happy and he said stupidly, “You really trust me a lot more than him.”
Qi Qingyao glanced at the smirking little idiot next to her. “You’ve shown your face several times so far. You’ve shown your face in front of Lu Yan and Heir Pei, yet no one is chasing after you. This indicates that you’re just some minor character and therefore, I don’t doubt you at all.” Jiang Bai, on the other hand, practically just wished he could hide himself within the shadows forever. His identity was too suspicious.
Si Jin asked, “So what do you plan on doing?”
Qi Qingyao pondered for a long time before saying, “First, maintain my current status quo and then slowly wait…” The truth would always surface in the end. Since she was in Qingzhou City, she might be able to catch hold of Jiang Bai’s pigtail someday.
She had never shied away from making deals with all kinds of people.
However, the premise for this deal was that he had to be honest enough with her.
Otherwise, he would have no right to initiate a deal at all.
Seeing how things were looking now, the playing field was too uneven. The man had hidden himself too deeply and was only thinking of using her.
Si Jin did not seem interested in Jiang Yeqian’s identity but he suddenly asked, “Sister, what does ‘not being able to get it up’ mean?”
Qi Qingyao’s hand that was drafting the plan stuttered. She blinked and asked him, rather dumbfounded, “Who told you this?”
“They did, Lu Yan’s escort and also Jiang Bai… they were discussing this,” said Si Jin as he scratched his head rather embarrassedly.
“Don’t listen to their crap. Don’t mind these issues, it has nothing to do with you.” Those two, what nonsense were they talking about in front of Si Jin?
Si Jin pressed, “But you haven’t explained to me what it means.”
Qi Qingyao went silent for half a beat before answering absent-mindedly, “Little guy, why don’t you, take a stroll around the brothel?”
“Can I?” He had heard that there were a lot of ladies at the brothel!
“Go and grab a fifty taels note yourself!” Qi Qingyao ordered, “Go to the brothel and have a feel of the atmosphere. Tell me how you feel after getting out of there.”
Si Jin gave an obedient “oh”.
He told her that he would go later.
Qi Qingyao raised her brows, the smile at the corners of her mouth very wicked.