Chapter 142: What! Shuang'er Refuses to Drink Her Medicine? [Heartfelt Thanks for Everyone's Support! A Second Bow!]

Xu Xu Pingmei watched the two depart, then glanced at Old Da Niangzi Sheng before turning to Wang Wang Ruofu and saying, "Great-grand-aunt, Eldest Mistress, just before Little Five went out to play pitch-pot, he said his personal maid, Seeing Seeing Qingcao, was exceedingly clumsy; this morning she soaked her clothes, and it was only because a maid from our household was kind-hearted enough to remove her own garment to shield Seeing Qingcao from the wind and chill. Is that maid present here?"

Hearing this topic, Wang Shi's smile faltered as she replied, "Sister Ping, that maid who just left is Sister Xiaodie."

Xu Xu Pingmei stared in surprise, exclaiming, "What a coincidence! Truly, she is someone from Wei Wei Xiaoniang's side!" She then continued to cast an approving glance at Wei Wei Shuyi.

Wang Shi forced a smile and said, "Yes..."

With such a scandal occurring in the Sheng family, even resulting in the beating to death of a servant woman, and with a concubine managing the household, Xu Xu Pingmei's words, though intended as praise, sounded to Wang Shi like immense sarcasm.

Wei Wei Shuyi, naturally aware of the morning's events, seeing Wang Wang Ruofu's awkwardness and Xu Xu Pingmei's appreciative gaze, hastily spoke up: "Forgive my presumption, but both I and Sister Xiaodie originally came from the Eldest Mistress's natal family; that Sister Xiaodie could act in such a manner is largely due to following the example set from above; it is solely because the Eldest Mistress has always been generous and benevolent that this maid acted as she did; it truly has little to do with me."

Cui Mama Liu, standing beside Wang Shi, looked at Wei Wei Shuyi with some surprise; in all these years, this was the first time she had ever seen Wei Wei Shuyi behave this way.

Wang Shi, however, nodded with some agreement; seeing that Wei Wei Shuyi did not Ju Gong (claim credit), she felt very satisfied.

Xu Xu Pingmei nodded upon hearing Wei Wei Shuyi's words and said, "Wei Xiaoniang speaks rightly! Aunt, you have gifted me such a fine present and, through your proper instruction within the household, saved a maid of the Hou Fu! I will say no more; when Sister Sheng Hualan marries, I shall definitely send a substantial gift."

Having spoken, Xu Xu Pingmei turned her gaze toward Sheng Hualan, who looked embarrassed by the mention.

Upon hearing this, Wang Shi felt both amused and helpless, sighing, "Alas, by that time, we shall still need Sister Xu and other relatives to take much trouble to assist us."

Xu Xu Pingmei smiled, her eyes flickering with surprise, before turning to look at Old Da Niangzi Sheng; the Old Da Niangzi met her gaze and shook her head slightly, indicating that Wang Shi was unaware.

Understanding the hint, Xu Xu Pingmei continued, "Naturally. Aunt, during my stay in Yang Zhou, I shall surely visit the Sheng family frequently to seek your guidance and trouble you; I hope you will not grow weary of your niece by then."

Wang Shi feigned seriousness and said, "What kind of talk is this? Treat this place as your own home!"

Xu Xu Pingmei said, "In that case, Great-grand-aunt, Aunt, I recently received quite a few bolts of fine fabric from my mother-in-law; please look through them and see if any suit your fancy. Qingxia."

Wei Wei Shuyi smiled as she observed everyone in Shou'an Hall, especially Xu Xu Pingmei; she noted how Xu Xu Pingmei occasionally glanced at Sheng Hualan, and how Sheng Hualan appeared somewhat evasive and shy.

Wei Wei Shuyi understood clearly in her heart.

It was always better to grow up with prospects ahead.

To struggle or not to struggle...

Struggle!

Following instructions, Cui Mama Cui led Sister Xiaodie out of Shou'an Hall; walking through the courtyard, they saw the Fifth Miss, Hearing Rulan, clapping her hands beside a plum tree and exclaiming, "So amazing!"

Seeing Sister Xiaodie emerge, Seeing Seeing Qingcao, who served Xu Xu Zaijing, hurriedly squatted down in a bow and called out, "Sister Sister Xiaodie."

Sister Xiaodie turned her head and smiled at her.

She saw Xiao Xiao Xiaotao place a piece of cake from her pocket in front of Seeing Qingcao; Seeing Qingcao, turning back, took it in her hand and then placed it into Xiao Xiao Xiaotao's mouth.

After leaving Shou'an Hall, the two arrived at the second gate, where Zhu Zhu Qinghu was standing beside Brother Qingyun, looking somewhat anxious and frequently glancing into the courtyard.

Upon seeing Sister Xiaodie and Cui Mama Cui approach, Zhu Zhu Qinghu initially intended to scrutinize them closely to discern any resemblance to his comrade-in-arms, Liu Liu Xiao Mao, but Brother Qingyun tugged him and said, "Young Master Cousin, those are women from the inner quarters; it is improper to stare at them like this."

Zhu Zhu Qinghu hastily withdrew his gaze.

A moment later, Cui Mama Cui led Sister Xiaodie to the second gate, bowed to Zhu Zhu Qinghu, and said, "Young Master Cousin, this is the maid Sister Xiaodie from the courtyard; please verify her identity once more."

Sister Xiaodie also cast a tearful glance at Zhu Zhu Qinghu before standing aside.

"Miss, when did your brother enlist in the army?"

Listening to Sister Xiaodie's response, Zhu Zhu Qinghu asked several more questions,

such as her brother's hobbies and distinguishing features; Sister Xiaodie either knew or was uncertain; finally, Zhu Zhu Qinghu said:

"Judging by this, you are indeed Little Cat's biological sister. Good; it is fortunate we found you; from now on, besides me, he will have someone else who cares for him."

As he spoke, Zhu Zhu Qinghu's nose tingled with emotion.

"Miss Sister Xiaodie, from now on, you have gained an older brother... Do not worry; I will definitely help you remove your status as a slave," Zhu Zhu Qinghu said with firm resolve, but to his surprise, Sister Xiaodie shook her head: "Thank you, Brother Zhu; I am very well off serving beside Wei Xiaoniang; there is no need."

Cui Mama Cui tugged her; Sister Xiaodie stared in bewilderment; Cui Mama Cui whispered, "Silly girl! Even after removing your slave status, you can still serve beside Wei Xiaoniang."

This single sentence left Sister Xiaodie stunned.

Having spoken, Cui Mama Cui glanced at Zhu Zhu Qinghu and said with a smile, "Young Master Cousin, Miss Sister Xiaodie is young and does not understand matters; please do not take offense."

"Not at all, not at all. What Granny says is correct."

"In that case, Young Master Cousin, this old woman and Sister Xiaodie will return to the courtyard."

"Very well! Thank you, Granny."

Parting ways at the second gate, Sister Xiaodie and Cui Mama Cui returned to Shou'an Hall; passing by the group playing pitch-pot in the courtyard, Cui Mama Cui saw Xu Xu Zaijing approaching and hurriedly bowed; Xu Xu Zaijing walked over and asked, "How did it go? Is she the one my cousin was looking for?"

"Yes."

"That is good then. Miss Sister Xiaodie, I must also thank you for protecting Seeing Qingcao this morning."

"Young Master Cousin is too polite," Sister Xiaodie said, bowing to Xu Xu Zaijing and also offering a smile to Seeing Qingcao.

After speaking, Cui Mama Cui led Sister Xiaodie into Shou'an Hall; Xu Xu Zaijing returned to the pitch-pot area, where Minglan was looking at Gu Gu Tingyi with an expression of utter astonishment, saying, "You! You are attempting a backward throw into both ears! This..."

Gu Gu Tingyi bore no resentment over having lost the earlier round of pitch-pot to Minglan, which allowed her to challenge his Second Brother; instead, he said cheerfully, "Sister Minglan, do not worry; he has been practicing these past few days."

Hardly had he finished speaking when Gu Gu Tingyi, with his back turned, flung two pitch-pot arrows outward; under Minglan's astonished gaze,

Thump~ Slap~ One hit.

This made Minglan, who was holding an arrow, light up with excitement; Sheng Changfeng, standing nearby, said somewhat happily, "Sixth Sister, if you hit with this arrow, it will be a perfect score!"

Hearing Rulan also smiled and said, "Sixth Sister, aim carefully before throwing!"

Sheng Changbai waited until they finished speaking before saying to Minglan, "It is merely a game of pitch-pot; do not let the situation burden you!"

Minglan glanced at Sheng Changbai and nodded.

Xu Xu Zaijing smiled at her and said, "Keep a normal mind, keep a normal mind."

Then, under the gaze of everyone present,

Whoosh,

another arrow was thrown; it bounced several times against the rim of the pitch-pot vessel, Thump, and fell inside.

Minglan jumped up with joy.

Xu Xu Zaijing clapped his hands and said to Gu Gu Tingyi, "She achieved a perfect score, while you missed one..."

In pitch-pot, a perfect score means victory.

Only if all shots hit the target does it count as a valid score.

In Shou'an Hall, everyone already knew that Sister Sister Xiaodie was the person Zhu Zhu Qinghu was looking for; naturally, there was much sighing and lamentation, followed by the sound of Hearing Rulan's cheers.

Immediately after, Hearing Rulan ran into Shou'an Hall and proudly announced, "Sixth Sister, I hit every shot in the pitch-pot game and beat the Second Young Master of the Gu family!"

Xu Xu Pingmei said to the Old Da Niangzi and Wang Shi with some surprise, "My second son rarely loses at pitch-pot." While everyone was looking at Hearing Rulan, Xu Xu Pingmei turned her gaze to Wei Wei Shuyi; seeing Wei Wei Shuyi look back, Xu Xu Pingmei nodded.

Gu Gu Tingyi, his older brother, and Xu Xu Zaijing walked behind them; Gu Gu Tingyi said, "Second Brother, it seems if you wish to challenge that young lady, you will need to practice a bit more."

Gu Gu Tingye also felt somewhat frustrated; had he just aimed steadily for the front double ears earlier, none of this would have happened.

The crowd returned noisily to Shou'an Hall.

At lunchtime,

Sheng Hong also returned from outside the residence; after meeting Xu Xu Pingmei in Shou'an Hall, he went back to Linqi Pavilion.

Unlike yesterday, he did not stay to accompany Xu Xu Zaijing and Gu Gu Tingye; after all, they were not close relatives, and it would have been improper for him to linger.

Sheng Changbai had studied less these past two days, and today he again had to keep Xu and Gu company.

In Shou'an Hall, Sheng Hong learned of Sister Sister Xiaodie's identity and also learned that the gift his principal wife, Wang Wang Ruofu, had sent to Hou Fu was extremely pleasing, so much so that Xu Xu Pingmei had specially risen to express her thanks.

This brought honor to the Sheng family, which eased Sheng Hong's heart somewhat.

Upon arriving at Linqi Pavilion, a young maid immediately announced his arrival, and Zhou Zhou Xueniang hurried out to greet him: "Master."

"What did the Physician say?"

Sheng Hong asked as he walked.

"Replying to Master, the Physician said that the young lady exhausted herself managing the household, damaging her internal organs over time; furthermore, she suffered a fright early this morning which shocked her spirit, and now she is depressed and burdened in heart, which is not good."

"What!? Did he prescribe any medicine?"

"He did, but..."

"Say whatever you have to say!"

"Upon learning that the prescription contains herbs to calm the spirit, the young lady refused to drink it, to the death."

"Why is this happening!" Sheng Hong asked anxiously with furrowed brows, quickening his pace even more.

"Master, the young lady forbade this servant from speaking..." Zhou Zhou Xueniang hurried to catch up and said.

It should stabilize by the day after tomorrow.

Yesterday morning, the author wrote this while laughing.

From this afternoon until now, I wrote this while pulling at my hair.

Additionally, the original novel leans toward a Ming-Qing social atmosphere, while the television drama shifted it to something resembling the Song Dynasty.

Therefore, the overall setting is largely fictional; there is no need to be too entangled in historical facts, since we are not reading history books.

Everyone, please do not argue while reading the novel.

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(End of Chapter)