Chapter 257 Caught Red-Handed

Chapter 257: Caught Red-Handed

Xue Han fell silent for a long while after hearing Uncle Xu's words.

Uncle Xu kicked Xue Han's leg with his foot. "I'm asking you."

After a long pause, Xue Han's voice came through, sounding completely hopeless: "Uncle Xu, if you want me to be awake all night, you could have just said so directly."

Uncle Xu kicked Xue Han again, his tone smug: "You're done for."

The next morning, after bidding farewell to Uncle Xu, Qiu Heng noticed the dark circles under Xue Han's eyes.

"Didn't you sleep well last night?"

She was a light sleeper and hadn't heard Uncle Xu snore, so it shouldn't have affected Xue Han's rest.

Xue Han gazed at the girl with a face as bright as the morning sun, and asked, "A Heng, did you sleep very early last night?"

How could she have slept?

Qiu Heng realized: "Are you worried that the Old Madam will find out?"

Xue Han was speechless for a moment at her question.

It would be weird not to worry, right?

"Don't worry, the Old Madam won't find out. I've snuck out so many times and never been caught."

Xue Han was somewhat reassured by Qiu Heng's confidence.

The two entered the city almost as soon as the city gates opened, traveling together for a while before parting ways.

"A Heng, do you still keep the carrier pigeon I gave you?"

Qiu Heng nodded.

"Then send me a message with the pigeon when you get back."

"Alright."

Qiu Heng waved goodbye and headed back to Earl Yongqing's mansion without attracting any attention.

At this hour, Earl Yongqing's mansion seemed as if it hadn't yet awakened—quiet and still. The breakfast stalls set up on the street had few customers; the day was just beginning.

Qiu Heng slipped into an alley and headed for the wall she often used to climb over.

Inside that wall, not far from its base, stood several osmanthus trees. If she jumped in the right direction, she could hide behind them, so that if someone happened to pass by, they wouldn't see her.

Qiu Heng knew every inch of Earl Yongqing's mansion by heart. For her, the riskiest moment was when she climbed over the wall.

After carefully looking around to make sure no one was watching, Qiu Heng took a breath, leaped up and grabbed hold of the top of the wall. Just as she had done many times before, she first glanced inside—and locked eyes with two people.

Qiu Heng's grip failed, and she fell back to the ground.

Inside the wall, a maidservant looked up, rubbed her eyes, and asked her companion, "Am I seeing things? I saw the Sixth Young Lady!"

The companion was calmer: "It's the Sixth Young Lady."

"So the Sixth Young Lady really does climb over the wall from here," the maidservant said in disbelief, still looking up.

After landing, Qiu Heng rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn't dreaming. Then she climbed back over and landed right in front of them.

Both maidservants stepped back in unison, clapping their hands over their mouths.

Qiu Heng couldn't help but smile.

She was the one caught red-handed climbing over the wall, so why were these two maids from Qiansong Hall acting as if they were the ones caught red-handed?

Adjusting her robe, Qiu Heng asked calmly, "Did the Old Madam send you here?"

The two maidservants answered in shaky voices: "Yes—"

"Don't be nervous." Qiu Heng took a handful of silver coins from her pouch, handed a few to each, and asked as she walked, "How did Grandmother know I'd come in from here?"

Once they had the silver coins in hand, the two maidservants suddenly relaxed.

They hadn't been flustered to begin with—they were instinctively tense for the Sixth Young Lady. The Sixth Young Lady really had been out all night and had just climbed over the wall at dawn.

They had forgotten that the Sixth Young Lady was the richest, had the highest status, and was the Old Madam's favorite.

The maidservant who answered Qiu Heng now had a smile on her face: "The Old Madam said that with those osmanthus trees near this section of the wall, if the Sixth Young Lady were to climb over, she would almost certainly jump down here. So she had the two of us wait quietly here early this morning."

The other maidservant quickly added, "Sixth Young Lady, don't worry. Only Qiansong Hall knows that you were gone all night."

"Is the Old Madam at Qiansong Hall or at Lengxiangju?"

"The Old Madam should be back at Qiansong Hall."

Qiu Heng headed toward Qiansong Hall.

The two maidservants looked around furtively, acting as though they were afraid of being discovered.

Qiu Heng: "..."

She didn't actually care if the people from the third branch found out; they couldn't do anything to her anyway. But the two maidservants seemed quite stressed, so she silently quickened her pace.

In Qiansong Hall, the Old Madam sat expressionless on the heated brick bed, her demeanor foreboding a storm.

Chun Cao walked over quietly and said in a very low voice, "Old Madam, the Sixth Young Lady is here."

The Old Madam raised her eyes and scolded the senior maid: "Could you speak any quieter?"

Anyone who didn't know would think it was the Old Madam herself who had climbed over the wall.

"Let her in!"

Chun Cao went out to relay the message, and soon Qiu Heng entered, flanked by the two maidservants.

"Grandmother."

The Old Madam snatched a teacup and hurled it at Qiu Heng's feet, shouting angrily, "You wretched girl, you still had the nerve to come back!"

Qiu Heng quickly ran over and hugged the Old Madam's arm: "Grandmother is wise; I knew I couldn't fool you."

"Let go!" The Old Madam tried to shake off Qiu Heng's hand but couldn't.

"Sixth Girl, let go of me!"

Qiu Heng tugged at the Old Madam's sleeve: "Grandmother, don't be impulsive. This dress of yours is made from fabric gifted by the emperor. What a waste to tear it."

The old lady instinctively lowered her head and immediately felt a lump in her throat.

This imperial fabric was granted by the royal family to Sixth Miss, who then offered it to her as a filial gift.

"Grandmother, please let me explain."

"Fine, explain!" The old lady dismissed everyone else.

Not even the most trusted senior maid could stay—what if that wretched girl said she had slept all night with that little beast surnamed Xue? Where would she hide her old face?

"When I was down south, a teacher who once taught me said he would come to the capital, so I asked Xue Han to look for him. Today—oh, it was yesterday—while I was strolling with Xue Han, he said he'd found a lead. So, there's no time like the present, I went outside the city to see if it was that teacher. Unexpectedly, the road was rough going, and by the time I returned, the city gates were already closed..."

After Qiu Heng finished, the old lady frowned and asked, "So that teacher taught you all those incense-making skills?"

"Yes. They say a teacher for a day is a father for life. Even though he never officially took me as his student, he is like a half-father to me. Now that I'm in the capital, I couldn't feel right without at least looking for him."

"Fine, I'll grant that it's a legitimate matter. But this isn't the first or second time you've sneaked out by climbing the wall, is it?"

Look how smoothly Fang Zhou covers for her!

She said she came back too late to disturb anyone, and the next day, when the old lady got suspicious and sent someone early to inquire, she claimed to be unwell.

On normal days, she might have believed it, but going out with a young rascal was a different story.

After hearing these excuses, she went to Cold Fragrance Lodge. Fang Zhou said she was afraid of passing the girl's illness to her, so the old lady pretended to believe it and came back, so news of Sixth Miss's night out wouldn't get around.

"Grandmother, calm down. I won't climb the wall anymore. If you don't believe me, I can swear an oath—"

"Swear on a fart!" The old lady cursed in anger and poked Qiu Heng's forehead with her finger. "How did I get stuck with such a disaster of a granddaughter?"

The problem is she only brings bad luck to others, not to herself!

A parade of people's fates flashed through the old lady's mind, and suddenly she felt there was no need to be so angry.

"From now on, you'll use the side gate, and properly."

"Yes."

"Also, tell Xue Han to come and propose marriage soon." From now on, go climb the Xue family walls instead.