Time Travel: The Noble Family

Chapter 160: Chapter 67: Testing

The next day, early in the morning, craftsmen arrived and had the small kitchen cleaned up within half a day. The kitchen was completely transformed, and from then on, cooking and boiling water became very convenient.

Nanny Deng was delighted. Lanxi Courtyard was so far from the kitchen, and she had been worried about the upcoming winter. The cold days would make food from the main kitchen cold by the time it reached Lanxi Courtyard, not to mention that even hot water would become tepid. She didn’t expect the Old Madam to have thought of everything and arrange for the small kitchen in Lanxi Courtyard to be fixed up, making everything more convenient from now on.

Qiao Lan watched Nanny Deng’s joyful expression and smiled as well. The Old Madam was of an age where she couldn’t have thought everything through so thoroughly—it must have been the Fourth Miss’s request. Over the past few months, the Fourth Miss had changed a great deal, beginning to plan for herself, and that was all to the good. Qiao Lan had been worried before, but now it seemed she had been concerned over nothing.

When everyone arrived at Jingsi Garden, Yuehuan gave Yueyao a complicated look. After pondering all night, her heart was still in turmoil, uncertain of how she had ended up in such a situation. But if she didn’t compromise, she and Maternal Auntie, as well as her brother Tinglun, might all fall under Lady Mo’s control. As Maternal Auntie said, their futures and lives were in Madam’s hands—she couldn’t resist. She felt so insignificant and powerless in this era.

Yueyao sensed Yuehuan’s complicated gaze and responded with nothing but a faint smile. And Yueyao’s smile only served to irritate Yuehuan further.

During the morning etiquette lesson, Yuehuan repeated the same errors she had made on the first day, making several mistakes in the process. Nanny Wang naturally noticed Yuehuan was preoccupied, and her inability to focus due to some external issues revealed her poor mental fortitude. Although the Fourth Miss had potential, her weak mental strength would keep her from achieving much.

...

Yuehuan had an utterly miserable morning under Nanny Wang’s instruction.

After the lesson, as they were all about to go back to their respective homes, Yuehuan summoned her courage and said to Yueyao, “Third Sister, I have something I want to discuss with you alone.” After struggling all morning, Yuehuan still couldn’t hold back her desire to voice the doubts in her heart.

Yueyao smiled and said, “Alright.” She was curious to see what Yuehuan wanted to ask her, though she suspected it wouldn’t be anything good.

Without beating around the bush, Yuehuan went straight to the point, “Third Sister, you knew that Eldest Madam had bribed your wet nurse to spy on you, and that’s why you sent your wet nurse away. Not only that, you even summoned back your mother’s trusted aides and sought support from your maternal family by every possible means. All of these actions were to guard against Madam, am I right?”

Yueyao was surprised. “Why are you suddenly saying all this?” Yueyao believed that Grandmother must have also guessed that she did so much precisely to be wary of Lady Mo. Yueyao wasn’t worried about it. Even if Grandmother knew she was on guard against Lady Mo, she wouldn’t say anything, as long as Grandmother didn’t find out she was also wary of Eldest Uncle.

Seeing Yueyao dodge the crux of the matter, Yuehuan said directly, “What I want to know is whether you are harboring thoughts of using me.”

Yueyao couldn’t help but laugh, seeing Yuehuan as if she were looking at an idiot. But then she realized, even smart people can find themselves in a blind alley. “What do you have that I could make use of? You don’t suspect me of using you to deal with Eldest Aunt, do you? As if you, a mere daughter of a concubine, could stand against the Lady of the house. Fourth Sister, have you really lost your mind to the point where you no longer understand human affairs?”

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Yuehuan felt so embarrassed by Yueyao’s words that she wanted to crawl into a hole. Were people from ancient times all this formidable? For a moment, Yuehuan felt utterly powerless, though she reminded herself that Yueyao had cheats and was in a different situation. Yuehuan stared at Yueyao and said, “Whether you’re using me or not, you know very well in your heart.”

This time Yueyao openly laughed. “If Fourth Sister has nothing else, I should go.” Having said that, she turned to leave.

Yuehuan lowered her voice, but made sure it was loud enough for Yueyao to hear. “My Maternal Auntie said the reason for your drastic change in temperament was because your mother appeared to you in dreams. But I don’t believe it. Third Sister, only you know the true reason behind your sudden change of character.” Yuehuan was trying to force Yueyao’s hand to reveal her secrets, suspecting that Yueyao had been reborn, but she lacked solid evidence.

Yueyao stiffened, then her expression changed dramatically. Yueyao’s change of color was due to Yuehuan’s preceding statement, the one about her mother appearing in dreams. “I’ve only told three people about my mother appearing in dreams. How did you know about it?” She had only spoken of it to Nanny Deng and Hua Lei, and she trusted that neither of them would betray her. But if not them, who else could have leaked the information?

No, it couldn’t have been Grandmother either.

Yueyao’s eyes widened. No, it wasn’t three people—it was four. Nanny Zheng was with Grandmother at the time, which meant Nanny Zheng had also been bought by Lady Mo. A trace of murderous intent flickered in Yueyao’s eyes. Lady Mo’s tactics were indeed cunning, even managing to buy off Grandmother’s trusted aide.