Ping'er rushed over, "Miss, you're awake..." She secretly turned her head to the side and wiped her eyes, "Come, let me help you get up."
"What happened? Who is she?" he asked, pointing at the old woman with a dissatisfied expression.
"She's Granny Chen, who serves the old lady. She insisted on taking Miss to Mingyin Hall early this morning." Her voice sounded somewhat aggrieved.
"knew."
"What are you doing?" Ping'er blocked the doorway. "Don't come in, don't come in..."
I rushed out and saw a group of servants in the courtyard, looking so imposing that anyone who didn't know better would think they were there to rob us. "What are you doing?"
Upon hearing this rather forceful shout, several servants nearby stepped back. Granny Chen stepped forward, saying, "Fourth Miss, you should come with me quietly to Mingyin Hall to avoid unnecessary suffering!"
“Miss…” Ping’er called from behind.
“Grandma,” I called out sweetly.
"Oh... Fourth Sister, why are you only getting up now that the sun is high in the sky? I already paid my respects to Grandmother long ago," Liu Feiyun exclaimed from the side.
"Who are you?" I looked up at her.
"You, you..."
Ping'er whispered in her ear, "It's the Third Miss Liu Feiyun, who shares the same mother as the Eldest Young Master Liu Fangxiu. She's Madam Lan's daughter."
Relying on her mother's position as head of the household, Liu Feiyun considered herself the eldest daughter-in-law, and no one dared to disobey her. She was also quite charming and liked by the old lady.
Liu Feiyun glanced at the person at the door. "Grandmother, this is lotus seed porridge that I specially cooked early this morning. Please try it and see if it tastes good."
Seeing the old lady's satisfied expression, she continued, "Grandmother, I heard that yesterday Fourth Sister took her bridal sedan chair to a brothel. In the end, she was coaxed back. Today, I heard from Bi'er that everyone on the street is talking about her competition with the courtesan yesterday."
"Crack..." The cup was smashed violently.
I touched my nose and continued looking up. "Third Sister, you're wrong about that. It's Second Sister getting married, what does it have to do with me..."
The old woman's face immediately changed. "Now look what's happened! The Liu family has become the laughingstock of everyone. Granny Chen, take Fourth Miss away and teach the Liu family some manners!"
Upon hearing this, Liu Feiyun's expression changed slightly. This punishment was too harsh. Looking at the old lady, she asked, "Grandmother, do you not like Fourth Sister?"
"Hmph... I'd like to see how long she can remain unmoved?"
Liu Feiyun looked bewildered; what were they talking about this time?
Looking at her young mistress kneeling before the ancestral hall, Ping'er felt a pang of heartache. "Miss, please rest for a while..."
I looked back and wondered, "Where's that old woman who's been watching me like a surveillance camera?"
"You mean Granny Chen? I persuaded her to leave."
I smiled slyly, "Oh... Ping'er knows how to bribe now..."
"Where?" Ping'er smiled evasively. "Are you tired, Miss? Get up and move around. Look... I even brought some food!"
She ate heartily, sitting on the futon, and said, "Thanks, Ping'er."
Ping'er was overjoyed to hear this.
"It's clearly the second young lady's fault, why is the fourth young lady being made to take the blame? It's so unfair..."
His eyes flashed, "Want to know why? Let's go see today..."
“Miss…” Ping’er looked astonished.
"Miss, what are you doing?"
She put on a dark-colored set of Ping'er clothes, let her bangs down to cover half her face. "How about it? Can't you tell?"
"Miss, what exactly are you trying to do?"
"Don't ask anything, just come with me."
The courtyard was pitch black.
"Miss, shall I go get a lantern?"
"Stop talking nonsense and follow me..."
I walked through several covered walkways, but thankfully I had been exploring the area for the past few days and familiarized myself with the layout.
"ah……"
Luckily, I covered it in time. Ping'er gave me an innocent look, and the two of us quickly left.
The two people wriggling under a tree just now startled us.
Ping'er whispered in her ear, "Those are Steward Hu and Yu Fang. Yu Fang is a second-class maid in Madam Lan's courtyard, and she's always so arrogant! No wonder..."
"Does Ping'er get bullied by her usually too?" Look at her aggrieved little face.
“Yesterday when they were distributing the gauze, they even used cheap cloth to cover me! Miss…”
She patted his head and said, "It's okay, Miss will help you get revenge later."
She secretly ran to a big tree and nimbly climbed up in a few moves. "Ping'er, grab my hand and come up."
Ping'er tried several times, but slipped down each time. Her face flushed red, so I grabbed her hands tightly and pulled her up with my feet. It was a rather unseemly way to get her back up.
"Miss, what are we doing?"
"Shh... keep your voice down..." I winked at her, signaling her to look ahead.
"Ah..." Ping'er quickly covered her mouth and whispered, "Isn't that the Second Miss?"
"Yes, this is going to be good. Let's watch it slowly..."
A woman with thick eyebrows, large eyes, and a voluptuous figure, dressed in a long floral dress, said, "Granny Lin, please talk to her for me, she's really infuriating..."
"Madam Mei, don't worry, the old lady hasn't found out yet!" The woman called Lin Mama was the wet nurse of the second young lady, Liu Mengshi. She was also a servant that Madam Mei had brought from her maiden home.
"Didn't find anything! Didn't find anything... What would have happened if they had!" He glanced at the woman on the bed with her head covered. "She's so stupid, how could I have given birth to such a stupid daughter..."
"Madam, the Fourth Miss took the blame this time, so this matter can be considered closed. After all, it was still a scandal for the Liu family..."
Bai Mei walked to the bedside, her face pale, and pulled back the covers. "Tell me, couldn't you just marry Lin Ruixuan peacefully? He's a royal physician, a high-ranking official." Everyone respectfully addresses Physician Lin, as he treats the Empress Dowager and the Emperor. You couldn't even curry favor with him.
Liu Mengshi was undoubtedly a top-tier beauty, excelling in all the arts, including music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. She was renowned. Otherwise, Lin Ruixuan wouldn't have chosen her when he had no other options.
She pouted and said, "I want to get married too, but you won't let me, will you?" with an expression that said, "It's not my fault."
"How dare you say that? Who told you to get involved with that teacher..." A surge of resentment welled up inside her; how could such a thing have happened? She absolutely could not forgive him. "Take care of yourself; you'll have another chance."
"Madam Mei, this old servant has spoken to the servants and assured them that they will not leak the news. As for that doctor..."
"Isn't it always Dr. Chen's?"
"Yes, yes. He said that after taking this medicine for about ten days, you won't see anything."
"Fortunately, Lin Ruixuan didn't take a liking to that girl either. Don't worry, Mother will definitely let you marry Lin Ruixuan." She glanced at the person on the bed, "You'd better forget about this child completely."
"knew."
"And that teacher, do you... if you do, you'd better give up on him!" Bai Mei said fiercely.
"No, no... Mother, don't worry. I won't fall for him." It was just that he suddenly said some sweet words to her that day, which she found amusing. Later, he invited her to the Moon Invitation Pavilion, and in a moment of infatuation, that happened. Who would have thought that she would become pregnant later?
"That's good!"
They climbed down the tree using both their hands and feet.
Ping'er followed behind, "Miss, I didn't expect..."
Suddenly, a sound was heard: "Let's talk about it when we get back."
A man in black floated down from the rooftop, glanced into the house, then looked in the direction the two had left, a strange light flashing in his eyes.
"Miss, I can't believe it. The Second Miss is actually... pregnant?"
Ping'er was so excited that she covered her mouth to avoid making too much noise.
"Yes, she also had a miscarriage."
Looking at her young mistress's calm demeanor, she asked, "Miss, did you already know?"
"No, I just vaguely sensed something."
"The Second Miss, who never leaves the house, actually had something like this happen to her," Ping'er said with a hint of schadenfreude. "Is that why she disappeared on her wedding day?"
I nodded. I guess that young master Lin probably doesn't want to marry him either.
“Miss, let’s tell the master about this and let him uphold justice. You’ve done nothing wrong,” Ping’er said righteously.
"Of course."
"Moon, you've come." Liu Mengjun, who was reading documents, looked up and smiled lovingly.
"father……"
He gave her a deep look and said, "I'm sorry about what happened last time."
"Dad, what's wrong? I'm fine, why are you saying that? I'm your daughter."
"Yes, yes. Come, Moon, look at a painting I recently made." Saying this, she slowly unrolled a scroll on the table.
It's a plum blossom painting in ink wash style, just a few light strokes, yet full of charm. The blank spaces leave room for endless imagination.
"Okay..." That's all I can say, I can't say anything else.