Chapter 539 Qingâer Who Is Simple and Obedient
The carriage of Duke Xingâs Mansion stopped in front of Ruiâan Great Elder Princessâs Mansion, far away from the gate. Nanny Yu thought that as servants, they didnât dare to directly stop in front of the gate of Ruiâan Great Elder Princessâs Mansion, so they stopped in front of a shop on the opposite side of the gate of Ruiâan Great Elder Princessâs Mansion.
Qingâer got off the carriage in a hurry and went into the mansion. After a while, she came out with an exquisite box and ran to the carriage from a distance.
Nanny Yu, who was anxious, had already waited out of the carriage with four old maids.
Seeing Qingâer finally come out, Nanny Yu let out a sigh of relief and instructed an old maid beside her. âGo and pick up the longevity lock of the Fifth Miss. Weâll go back to our mansion immediately and show it to Taoist Priest Xiushui.â
At this moment, Taoist Priest Xiushui must have arrived at Duke Xingâs Mansion!
The strong old maid responded by a nod and staggered over in an attempt to pick up the box in Qingâerâs hand. Perhaps because the old maid was too sturdy or she walked too fast, she bumped into Qingâer hard before reaching out.
Qingâer fell backward with hands and legs in the air, and the box in her hand was thrown away.
Not only the box but also the longevity lock in the box was thrown to the street and almost hit someone.
The passers-by dispersed at once. Seeing a circle of black ants on the longevity lock on the ground, some people nearby jumped high in fear and screamed while desperately pushing their way out of the crowd.
More people saw such a disgusting scene, and some ladies even screamed in fear.
Nanny Yu felt her legs went weak and collapsed on the ground. She was trembling all over and muttering to herself, âEvil⊠evil spirits. As I expect, all the pieces of stuff of Fifth Miss contain evil⊠evil spirits!â
A bold old maid dragged Nanny Yu desperately and said anxiously, âNanny Yu, letâs get away from here. The Fifth Miss is possessed by evil spirits⊠Both of her bracelets and longevity lock contain evil spirits. Hurry⊠hurry up and report it to Old Madam. Letâs go!â
As she said, she pulled Nanny Yu up. They got in the carriage in a hurry, leaving both Qingâer and the longevity lock on the ground behind, as if they met a dreadful monster.
Everyone backed away, watching the scene in front of them in shock and fear and glancing at the longevity lock on the ground.
There was a circle of black and big ants on the longevity lock. They couldnât even find such a big ant in normal times, while the longevity lock was covered with these ants, which was quite chilling.
Qingâer stood up slowly from the ground. She, who was quite bold, picked up a small branch from the ground to lift the longevity lock and looked at it. Everyone around her stepped back, for fear that the ants would stick to them.
Of course, there were some busybodies taking a few more glances at it. Although the ants were chilling, they had never seen such a strange thing. They intended to take a closer look at it so that they could boast about the experience in the future.
âIs there sugar on it?â Qingâer said to herself. She picked up the longevity lock, put it in front of her nose to smell it, and then continued saying to herself, âIt smells like osmanthus sugar!â
Did it smell like sugar? Several meddlesome men suddenly didnât feel afraid.
âLet me smell it!â Some busybodies said and reached out. If the ants were really attracted to the longevity lock by sugar, they had just made a fuss about nothing!
Qingâer handed over the branch in her hands. A bold busybody took it over, put the longevity lock under his nose, and smelled a strong sweet fragrance from it.
âItâs really stained with sugar.â The busybody nodded and said, passing it to his companions around. They nodded one after another. The scent of osmanthus sugar was so strong that even those, who hadnât taken the longevity lock, could smell it when other people passed the longevity lock.
Someone couldnât help laughing and said, âIt turns out that the longevity lock is stained with sugar. The ants made me think itâs something evil!â
Although so many ants also looked like something evil, they were nothing unusual. An ant was actually not horrifying. It was horrifying and disgusting to see so many ants. Nevertheless, thinking of the strong scent of osmanthus sugar from it, they found it was no big deal that it attracted so many ants.
At this moment, even ladies stopped from a distance. Although they thought so many ants were quite disgusting, they would not turn around to run away and scream in fear.
âYou didnât keep it well, so itâs stained with sugar. Go and wash it clean, lest it should scare plenty of people next time you take it out!â The busybodies said complacently while passing the branch back to Qingâer. It proved that they were bold and careful, and they wanted to tell others about it later.
âItâs just stained with sugar. Why were the old maids of Duke Xingâs Mansion scared away? They said that the stuff of Fifth Miss contained evil spirits. The longevity lock was obviously given by Old Madam of Duke Xingâs Mansion to the Fifth Miss. The Fifth Miss has grown up, and itâs no longer appropriate for her to wear it, so she could only lock it up! Why was it stained with sugar?â Qingâer took over the branch while defending her master defiantly.
She put the longevity lock on the ground and hit it hard with the branch. Some ants began to run away after being hit. Someone was afraid and lifted the bucket beside him in an attempt to pour some water on the longevity lock, but was stopped by Qingâer.
âDonât do that. The sugar will be washed away by the water. I should keep the sugar as evidence in case that my master will be wronged!â As she said, she hit the ants very quickly.
Some ants were killed, while some of them were crushed to death by some passers-by when they tried to escape. As they became less, people no longer felt afraid.
âHow could your master be wronged because of the sugar on the longevity lock? The girl is a maid loyal to her master, but she exaggerated a bit!â Someone pointed at the somewhat naive Qingâer and said with a chuckle.
âThey donât like my master!â Qingâer said gloomily and continued knocking the ants off from the longevity lock. There were not many ants left, so it wasnât slow for her to knock them off one by one.
âWho is your master?â Someone asked in astonishment.
âMy master is the Fifth Miss of Duke Xingâs Mansion. She has been observing mourning for the heir of Duke Xing and the Infanta in the Yuhui Nunnery for more than two years. Unexpectedly such a thing happened at the end of the third year. I really feel aggrieved for my master!â Qingâer talked about what had happened to her master naively.
However, judging from her appearance, she was just an inferior maid at a young age. There was no one else from her mansion around at this moment. Based on what had happened just now, it was no big deal for her to defend her master indignantly. Moreover, she did not mention anyoneâs name.
âThe Fifth Miss of Duke Xingâs Mansion? Is it the Miss who is extremely filial to her parents and has just been recognized by Duke Xingâs Mansion?â Someone suddenly thought of it, immediately looked at the gate of Ruiâan Great Elder Princessâs Mansion, and realized who the maid was talking about.
âIt should be her. I heard that the Fifth Miss couldnât stay in Duke Xingâs Mansion after being recognized by Duke Xingâs Mansion because everyone in the Duke Xingâs Mansion doesnât like her. Could it be true?â
âSince she has been recognized, she must be the biological daughter of the former Heir of Duke Xing. How can they treat her so harshly and send her to the Yuhui Nunnery, where she has stayed for three years? Itâs indecent indeed for them to do that. It can be seen that they really donât like the Fifth Miss. Sheâs such a poor girl who has no parents and is disliked by other family members.â
âJust now the little maid said that the longevity lock was given by Old Madam of Duke Xingâs Mansion. Later, the Fifth Miss has been too old to wear it, so she kept locking it up. In this case, the sugar on it could beâŠâ
âDo you mean they are going to wrong the Fifth Miss?â Someone gasped with surprise and came up with this conclusion.
Many of those present stood gazing at one another and thought that the members of Duke Xingâs Mansion were really cruel. The Fifth Miss was just a girl. Why couldnât they tolerate her? Even her grandma did this to trap her.
âLittle girl, hurry up and report it to Great Elder Princess. You canât bear the responsibility.â Someone reminded Qingâer, who looked naive and was still knocking those ants off.
âThatâs right. Little girl, turn to Great Elder Princess, tell her about this and show her the longevity lock!â Hearing the words, plenty of people expressed assent. Looking at this little girl, they knew that her master was not scheming. Since the members of Duke Xingâs Mansion did not like this Miss, she could only turn to her biological grandma!
Qingâer, who was at a loss, was pulled up. Someone kind-hearted picked up the longevity lock with a branch, put it into the box on the side, and handed the box to her after closing it. They pushed her toward Ruiâan Great Elder Princessâs Mansion and said, âGo ahead. Your master will get into trouble if you go late!â
At this moment, Qingâer seemed to have realized something. She rushed to Great Elder Princessâs Mansion with the box in her arms. After taking a few steps, she turned back and bowed deeply to the crowd and then continued running in a hurry.
This little maid was quite likable and very polite, so she left a good impression on plenty of people at present. Seeing her run into Great Elder Princessâs Mansion, the onlookers let out a sigh of relief for her and began to talk about it at the moment. They all thought that Old Madam of Duke Xingâs Mansion was unamiable, and then some past events were raked up.
It was said that this Old Madam did not like Infanta Qinghua and kept torturing her so that Infanta Qinghua and the former Heir of Duke Xing had to leave Duke Xingâs Mansion. Afterward, the former Heir of Duke Xing died outside, and Infanta Qinghua died of difficult labor not long after being found and returning, only leaving a sonâŠ
With the hints dropped by someone ax-grinding, not only the past of Old Madam of Duke Xing but also the past of the current Madam of Duke Xing was raked up. The present Madam of Duke Xing was supposed to marry the former Heir of Duke Xing, but she had to marry the current Duke Xing in the end. Some people found it amusing.
It was a shameful thing rather than a good thing to marry the younger brother after failing to marry the elder brother.
As they talked, someone mentioned the First Miss Shao, who had a great reputation. It was said that the First Miss Shao had a great reputation, a gorgeous appearance, and an excellent character. However, when they talked about her, someone raised an objection and said that the First Miss Shao and Madam of Duke Xing were much alike in character. They divagated into a subject of gossip.
Someone said that the First Miss Shao looked demure, but she faked it and was actually ill-behaved. As they talked, some of their words deviated from the original topic. Most of those people who stayed to gossip were idle busybodies. Speaking of the affairs of such a beauty, they became increasingly excited and had forgotten they didnât talk about Shao Yanru at the beginning.
Nevertheless, it was more exciting to talk about the affairs of a beauty, especially the top beauty in the capital city, than to talk about the affairs of a little maid.
A carriage stopped at the side of the road. After listening to their discussion for a while, someone in the carriage said in a cold voice, âGo and disperse them!â
Two guards immediately answered, came out from the back of the carriage, and swayed the whips in their hands at the faces of several busybodies, who were talking excitedlyâŠ