Rebirth: The Journey of an Heiress

Chapter 23: Chapter 23: Losing Face_1

Chun Yan’s face turned pale instantly. She hurriedly knelt down, saying, “Eldest Young Lady, this maid… this maid never had such thoughts. This maid is determined to follow the Eldest Young Lady in life and death. Wherever the Eldest Young Lady goes, this maid goes too! Even if the Eldest Young Lady gets married in the future, this maid will surely stay by her side to serve both the Young Lady and the Young Master!”

Bai Qingyan glanced at Chun Yan. Chun Yan must have believed that Bai Qingyan had no other future except marrying into King Liang’s mansion, so she was thinking of becoming her dowry maid there; otherwise, she wouldn’t work so hard to please her on behalf of King Liang.

Feeling uninterested, she didn’t want to waste her breath lecturing Chun Yan and picked up her chopsticks to eat.

For now, she couldn’t deal with Chun Yan. If Chun Yan, who could inform King Liang, left, King Liang would undoubtedly find other people in the Duke’s mansion. At that time, she would be in the open while King Liang’s people would be in the dark, causing more headaches.

Even though Chun Yan was annoying with her constant praise of King Liang, she wasn’t deeply conniving and wore her heart on her sleeve. @@novelbin@@

For several days, Bai Qingyan practiced morning and evening, feeling so sore that she couldn’t even hold her chopsticks while eating.

Chun Tao ladled a bowl of chicken soup millet porridge for Bai Qingyan, looking worried as she said, “Miss, if this continues, this maid fears that it will take a toll on your health.”

“These past few days, being all sweaty morning and night has actually made me feel much lighter.”

Hearing Bai Qingyan say this, Chun Tao dared not persuade her further, only lowering her head to glance at Chun Yan kneeling there, trembling and wiping tears, and shook her head.

After finishing breakfast, Bai Qingyan changed clothes to visit Bai Jinxiu, allowing Chun Yan to get up and attend to her.

Chun Yan tearfully handed the hand warmer to Bai Qingyan, respectfully stepping aside. Ever since she followed the Eldest Young Lady, this was the first time she had been punished so humiliatingly by her. All the maids coming in and out saw her kneeling there.

As Bai Qingyan draped the fox-fur cloak over her shoulders and stepped out of the Qinghui Courtyard, she saw Chen Qingsheng, who had been waiting at the door and joking with the sweeping maids, hastening over. He bowed to Bai Qingyan. “Eldest Young Lady…”

“Speak as we walk,” Bai Qingyan said.

“Yes,” Chen Qingsheng said respectfully, bending slightly and lowering his voice. “I found out that the six confidant maids accompanying the Second Young Lady as her dowry haven’t been sold. It seems that the Marquis of Loyalty and Courage’s family searched the dowry but couldn’t find their contracts. Eldest Young Lady, watch your step…”

Chen Qingsheng reminded Bai Qingyan to avoid the icy path underfoot and continued, “The gatekeeper at the Marquis of Loyalty and Courage’s mansion said his wife told him last night that, except for Mingyu, who was taken out of the mansion and arranged properly by Nanny Wu, the other five maids were all drowned!”

Bai Qingyan halted her steps, glanced sideways at Chen Qingsheng, and wondered if he was telling her that Mingyu had betrayed her mistress.

The dowry maids of Bai Jinxiu, chosen by their mother and second aunt, were simple and intelligent girls. Bai Qingyan had seen them on the wedding day.

But five young lives drowned just like that. Mrs. Jiang, Madam of the Marquis of Loyalty and Courage, was indeed ruthless and vicious.

Chen Qingsheng continued, “To avoid having the clothes on the five maids traced back to the Marquis of Loyalty and Courage’s mansion, Mrs. Jiang’s Nanny Wu ordered their clothes stripped off, rolled them in straw mats, and threw them to the Burial Mound on a snowy night. The servants tasked with burying the bodies didn’t understand the situation, found it hard to dig the frozen ground, and, thinking they were just drowned maids, didn’t bother digging a proper grave, leaving the bodies in the snow hoping the heavy snow would cover them overnight before they went for drinks. The tavern owner said when they arrived, one seemed uneasy while the other reassured him that by the time the ice melted, the corpses would have been eaten by winter-foraging wild animals.”

Rage flared in Bai Qingyan’s heart, but she forced it down after a moment. “Continue,” she said.

“I also found out from the steward of the private brothel that the Second Young Lady’s head maid Mingyu’s brother… hired two brothel women yesterday, saying he had come into some unexpected wealth. I stayed vigilant and have now discovered that Mingyu was unharmed and moved to Mrs. Jiang’s dowry manor.”

“Why do you always tell the Eldest Young Lady about filthy things…” Chun Tao said in a small voice, her ears turning red.

“Forgive me, Eldest Young Lady. It was my oversight!” Chen Qingsheng immediately knelt to ask for forgiveness.

“No matter, get up,” Bai Qingyan said.

Chen Qingsheng was indeed clever and capable. Bai Qingyan had sent him to investigate the whereabouts of Bai Jinxiu’s dowry maids. She hadn’t expected him to find out so quickly and so thoroughly.

“You go wait at the Chuihua gate. You might have to make another trip soon,” Bai Qingyan said after thinking a moment. “Send someone to the Burial Mound, find the bodies of the Second Young Lady’s dowry maids, keep them under guard, and report it to the authorities. Don’t let wild animals desecrate them. They are, after all, our Bai family members. Even if they’re maids, they shouldn’t die so unjustly, left to be exposed in the wilderness.”

“Yes, I understand,” Chen Qingsheng said.

Chun Tao supported Bai Qingyan as they walked to the Green Bamboo Pavilion, sighing inwardly… Back then, when Mingyu’s black-hearted parents wanted to sell her to a brothel, it was the Second Young Lady who pitied her, bought her, and kept her close, giving her great face, making her a first-class maid. And now she had betrayed the Second Young Lady.

Chun Tao couldn’t help but think of Chun Yan, feeling her heart thud. She looked at Bai Qingyan, harboring a suspicion. “Eldest Young Lady… do you no longer trust Chun Yan?”

Knowing Chun Tao’s keen sense and loyalty, Bai Qingyan didn’t hide it. “Chun Yan has grown up and her heart has grown fonder of King Liang. Can’t you see her obvious attentiveness to him?”

The reason Bai Qingyan still kept Chun Yan was merely to see what else King Liang would have Chun Yan do. Seeing Chun Yan’s close interaction with those from King Liang’s mansion, Bai Qingyan even suspected that the letter placed in Grandfather’s room might be related to Chun Yan.

Chun Tao pressed her lips together. No wonder the Eldest Young Lady had become distant from Chun Yan and from King Liang recently.

But if this issue delayed the Eldest Young Lady’s chance for a good marriage, Chun Tao thought, it was not worth it.

When Bai Qingyan arrived at the Green Bamboo Pavilion, the Bai sisters were all gathered by the bed, chatting and laughing with Bai Jinxiu.

As she stood in the courtyard, hearing the laughter and teasing from her sisters inside, her heart felt inexplicably cheerful.

Bai Qingyan had lived through one previous life. In this life, she could endure any hardship and give up anything. All she needed was to ensure the safety of her elders and the carefree laughter of her sisters.

Hearing the maids outside repeatedly calling “Eldest Young Lady,” Bai Jinxiu quickly looked toward the door. Bai Jintong even came out to support Bai Qingyan. “Eldest Sister is here…”

“What are you all talking about? I heard laughter from afar,” Bai Qingyan’s heart softened considerably. She handed the hand warmer to Chun Tao and unfastened her cloak.

Chun Tao quickly came forward to take the cloak and then stood properly behind Bai Qingyan, head down.

Bai Jinzhi put down a handful of melon seeds she was holding, stood up, and greeted Bai Qingyan cheerfully. “We were just talking about how yesterday, at the Marquis of Loyalty and Courage’s mansion, you rendered the old shrew of a lady, Mrs. Jiang, so mad that she was practically steaming!”