After seeing Madam Qin off, Gu Sinian asked Qian Yuanbao to send over two maids. They were neither ugly nor pretty, their sharp eyes hidden, and they walked without a sound.
"These are the best I have, I'm reluctant to part with them," Qian Yuanbao whispered. "You, though, with your mother having such an incident, why didn't you even tell me? Do you still consider me a brother?"
"My mother had an accident, and I wasn't by her side. I was in Xinghua Village," Gu Sinian said in a low voice. For the past month, he had been filled with regret. If he hadn't gone to Xinghua Village and had stayed in the manor, his mother wouldn't have suffered so much. Arsenic was a potent poison. Although the poison had been completely neutralized, it had damaged her foundation. The imperial physicians said his mother would likely be bedridden for the rest of her life.
"Xinghua Village? What were you doing in Xinghua Village?" Qian Yuanbao asked in surprise. "Could it be you went to find that little girl? No, Gu Sinian, over the years, you've never been interested in any of the noble ladies in the capital, so how could you have developed feelings for that little girl? She's so plain, your taste is truly unique."
"I don't know my own feelings. I don't blush furiously as you say, but when I'm with her, I feel at peace. Looking at her, she's pleasing to my eyes no matter how I look," Gu Sinian truthfully told Qian Yuanbao his feelings.
Qian Yuanbao looked as if he had seen a ghost. "A Nian, you can't be serious? Blushing furiously, that's a feeling one gets when doing… intimate things. You say you're willing to be with her? We grew up together, and I've never seen you willing to spend time with any girl. It's over, it's over. The most handsome man in the capital has fallen for a plain little girl. Truly, truly…"
Gu Sinian glared at Qian Yuanbao.
Qian Yuanbao flinched. "I was wrong, I was wrong. I spoke too freely. The most handsome young master, is that better?"
"The people have been delivered, you can leave now," Gu Sinian dismissed him.
Qian Yuanbao had just heard a sensational piece of gossip and was hoping to dig up more explosive news. This A Nian was too boring, directly chasing him away. Qian Yuanbao dared not linger; if he did, he might be thrown out. It would be too undignified for a dashing young gentleman to be thrown out. There would be plenty of time to figure this out later.
Gu Sinian sat in a daze for a while before sending the people Qian Yuanbao brought to Lanzhi Courtyard.
"Your task is to protect Madam. No matter who it is, if they are detrimental to Madam, show no mercy. Remember, in this manor, you are to obey only my words and Madam's words. Disregard everyone else," Gu Sinian said with a cold expression.
"Yes," the two maids replied in unison.
After chatting with Madam Qin for a while, Gu Sinian left the manor and went to the martial arts hall. He sparred with a few skilled young men. Gu Sinian then called Zhang Xiaoniu over.
"You have two days off. Go home and see your family."
Zhang Xiaoniu had accompanied him on a trip to Jiangnan and was quite exhausted. He was supposed to go home at the end of the month, and his family was likely worried that he hadn't.
"Thank you, Young Master."
Zhang Xiaoniu immediately got on his horse and galloped back to Xinghua Village.
"You weren't worried when I didn't come back at the end of last month?" Zhang Xiaoniu asked Qi Zhenzhen with a cheeky grin. "Did my second brother not say he'd come see me?"
"Go, go, go. It's more peaceful for me when you're not here. Zhang Er Ge is busy in the county town right now and doesn't have time to worry about you. If you miss your second brother, ride your horse to the county town yourself; it only takes half a day. If you don't want to, your eldest brother and third brother are fertilizing the fields these days, so don't dawdle here," Qi Zhenzhen said irritably.
"Xiaoniu, sit down. It must have been hard traveling in this cold weather," Madam Yun kindly greeted Zhang Xiaoniu.
Zhang Xiaoniu made a face at Qi Zhenzhen. "It's still Auntie who cares about me."
Qi Zhenzhen ignored him, her hands busy with needlework, sewing Q-version cloth dolls. She was thinking of taking them along when she went to the county town to pacify children.
In the evening, Zhang Xiaoniu had a meal at the Qi family's and went home content. He had two days off this time and planned to come over for all three meals. As for his second brother, he was too far away, so he wouldn't go.
The next morning, before Qi Zhenzhen had even finished cooking, Zhang Xiaoniu arrived.
After shamelessly freeloading a meal, he chatted with Madam Yun. When Song Mingyue arrived, he bantered with her, making the atmosphere lively.
"Zhang Xiaoniu, are you blind? How is what I sewed not good? If you can sew, then sew it!" Song Mingyue angrily threw the little rabbit at Zhang Xiaoniu.
"Where is a rabbit's head this big and its body this small? It looks awkward," Zhang Xiaoniu retorted righteously, pulling the rabbit's ear.
This was Qi Zhenzhen's idea. Q-version dolls had big heads and small bodies to make them cuter. But in Zhang Xiaoniu's eyes, they were strange creations.
"Shut up. If you don't shut up, I'll poke you with this needle," Qi Zhenzhen said, measuring with the embroidery needle in her hand.
Zhang Xiaoniu sheepishly put down the little rabbit and moved back a few steps. "It's beautiful, it's beautiful. Everything you two sew is beautiful, alright?"
Madam Yun and Madam Yu watched their playful banter with amusement. They were children, and this was how it should be.
When they got tired of sewing, the three of them chatted together, with Zhang Xiaoniu speaking and Qi Zhenzhen and Song Mingyue listening.
"Is it really warm enough to wear single layers in Jiangnan?" Song Mingyue asked with shining eyes, full of curiosity.
"I'm not lying to you. When we left the capital, the Young Master and I wore thick cotton clothes and cloaks. The further we went, the warmer it got. When we arrived, we were wearing single layers," Zhang Xiaoniu said earnestly.
Qi Zhenzhen was a little puzzled. The so-called Jiangnan, meaning the Yangzhou area, was indeed warmer in winter than the northern regions, but it wasn't as exaggerated as Xiaoniu described. At this time, while thick cotton clothes couldn't be worn in the north, thin padded jackets could certainly be worn. It was nowhere near the exaggeration of needing to wear single layers.
Zhang Xiaoniu, feeling a bit intimidated by her stare, stammered, "Padded jackets, padded jackets. I was just trying to describe it. It's really warmer there than here."
Song Mingyue didn't pay much attention to the exaggerated statement. She had never traveled far, and she was extremely curious listening to Zhang Xiaoniu describe the outside world.
"Cough, it's no fun just listening to me talk. The scenery outside is best appreciated when you see it with your own eyes," Zhang Xiaoniu even used an idiom he had overheard from the Young Master, as he wasn't much of a scholar.
Just as he was getting excited, someone knocked on the door.
"Is this the Qi family? Is anyone home?"
Qi Zhenzhen got up to answer. A young man stood at the door, someone she didn't recognize.
"Is this the Qi family?" the young man asked again.
Qi Zhenzhen nodded. "Who are you?"
"I've come from a town in the southern county. The owner of the noodle shop in the city asked me to deliver a message, asking you to come over as soon as possible."
Qi Zhenzhen was puzzled. She had only been back for a few days, what could be the matter?