Chapter 25 Don’t Be Bought by Small Favors

Chapter 25: Don't Be Bought by Small Favors

Qing Rong was also conflicted. Since the Young Mistress had already married the young master, if things continued like this, when would their relationship ever improve?

The Young Mistress was only seeking momentary satisfaction now. If there were concubines in the future...

As they were chatting, they saw a maid named Ye Ling approaching, looking as if she wanted to say something but hesitated.

"Speak up if you have something to say. Don't put on that face from now on," Xi Qianyue said with some displeasure.

"Young Mistress, this servant just saw Achang leading Miss Liu Mei into the young master's courtyard."

"Who is Liu Mei?"

Xi Qianyue couldn't recall such a person, but she wasn't sure if it was that scheming little concubine either. When she had been reading the book, she was already drowsy and had only skimmed through it. She knew some of the plot but couldn't remember the characters clearly.

Ye Ling glanced at Xi Qianyue's expression before continuing, "She is the young master's bedroom maid. The young master has two bedroom maids, Liu Mei and Lian Ye."

When Qing Rong heard this, she thought to herself, trouble. The young master had been upset by the Young Mistress and had gone to find his bedroom maid.

"It's fine. Come with me to check it out."

Xi Qianyue said as she stood up, her expression dark.

The maids thought, "So the Young Mistress does care about these things after all."

Achang was dutifully keeping watch in the corridor when he heard a woman's voice coming from the courtyard entrance. His heart nearly jumped out of his chest.

Listening more carefully, oh my god, it wasn't the lady of the house, but someone even more terrifying than her.

It was the Young Mistress!

He hurried over, but Xi Qianyue had already brought her maids, shoved aside the servants guarding the courtyard gate in a few swift moves, and entered the courtyard!

"Young Mistress, why are you here?" Achang smiled nervously, his guilt showing.

Xi Qianyue smiled enigmatically: "I came to see if your young master is studying diligently. Didn't he say he was going to suck up to the Great Confucian Scholar? How many essays has he managed to write?"

"The young master is... uh, studying diligently." Achang was sweating buckets.

The Young Mistress was so fierce that if she discovered Liu Mei had seduced the young master in broad daylight, she'd probably beat her within an inch of her life. Maybe even the young master would get a beating too...

"Oh? Studying diligently? Then I must go and see for myself."

Xi Qianyue pushed Achang aside without another word, while Ye Ling and Ye Xi grabbed hold of him, pinning him in place.

Achang shouted, "Young master, the Young Mistress is here!"

Qing Bi raised her eyebrows and twisted his mouth hard, causing him to wince in pain, and he couldn't shout anymore.

Yang Xingxian was in the middle of things and shouted irritably, "Shout again and I'll kill you."

Achang thought, "Whatever. I tried to block her and warn him. If the young master won't listen, it's his own damn fault."

"Kick it open," Xi Qianyue said quietly.

Qing Bi naturally stepped up without hesitation and kicked the hall door open in one go.

"Studying with the door closed in broad daylight? Really?"

Hearing the mockery in Xi Qianyue's voice, Yang Xingxian's legs went weak with fear.

"Hurry, get back on."

Liu Mei was scared out of her wits. The Young Mistress had actually come!

Who in the household didn't know of the Young Mistress's authority?

Was she about to get skinned alive?

Liu Mei's hands shook as she scrambled to get dressed.

Both saw fear in the other's eyes, but Yang Xingxian didn't realize how scared he looked.

Seeing how terrified the young master was, Liu Mei thought, "It's over, it's over. The young master can't protect me."

Unexpectedly, the Young Mistress didn't enter the bedroom but sat down in the hall instead.

"Are you coming out or not? Do I have to come in and drag you out?"

Yang Xingxian clung to a sliver of hope and whispered, "Don't come out yet. I'll go out alone."

Liu Mei let out a quiet sigh of relief and hurriedly helped him fix his clothes.

Yang Xingxian pretended to be angry: "Why are you here again? What do you want? You wouldn't give me the inkstone, so are you here to hand it over now?"

Xi Qianyue gave him a weird look: "Your clothes are a mess and your face is all red. Who are you trying to kid?"

Yang Xingxian panicked. This damn woman—if she'd seen through him, couldn't she at least be a little more subtle?

Achang and Liu Mei, still inside the room, were too scared to make a peep. To their surprise, the Young Mistress didn't resort to violence.

"Call out the maid in there, and that Lian Ye too. Bring them both out so I can see them."

Liu Mei clamped her hand over her mouth. So it really couldn't be avoided after all...

"Why do you want them out here? What are you planning to do?"

"Don't worry. I just want to take a look. Really."

But the calmer Xi Qianyue sounded, the more scared they got.

When no one came out, Qing Bi barged into the room and dragged the girl out.

Liu Mei had already dressed and curtsied nervously: "Greetings, Young Mistress."

Xi Qianyue studied her closely. No, not her. She didn't have a teardrop mole under her eye.

The book said the concubine had a small, bright red teardrop mole under her eye. Liu Mei clearly wasn't her.

"Sorry to interrupt. Go on with what you were doing."

With that, Xi Qianyue actually stood up and strolled out, her maids trailing behind hesitantly!

Yang Xingxian and Achang stared at each other, dumbfounded. She was just letting him off like that?

It felt too good to be true.

Liu Mei, seeing Xi Qianyue walk away, got her nerve back and said in a sweet, coy voice, "Young master..."

Before she could get close, Yang Xingxian waved her off like shooing a fly. "Shoo, shoo, don't you have any sense of timing? Leave now."

Liu Mei huffed and quickly retreated. Regardless, she had truly dodged a bullet today.

Xi Qianyue then had Lian Ye summoned.

As soon as Lian Ye heard the young mistress wanted her, her heart raced.

Seeing Liu Mei returning, she blurted out nervously, "Liu Mei, what should I do? The young mistress has called for me."

Liu Mei's heart tightened again, and she whispered what had just happened.

Lian Ye worried, "You were with the young master in broad daylight... Why would the young mistress call for me?"

Liu Mei was displeased. "What do you mean by that? The young master called for me, so I went. If he had called for you, wouldn't you go?"

Lian Ye had no time to argue. She straightened her clothes, ready to head over.

Suddenly, Liu Mei grabbed her hand. "Sister, I think the young mistress must be angry today, but she didn't lose her temper in public. Calling you over might be her way of warning both of us. Stay on your toes."

Lian Ye nodded and followed the young maid.

But she was back quickly, looking puzzled.

Liu Mei immediately asked, "What did the young mistress want? Did she beat you? Did she yell at you?"

Lian Ye slowly shook her head. "The young mistress just had me come over, took a look at me, said nothing, didn't even ask about the young master. She gave me a plate of fruit and sent me off."

Liu Mei clapped her hands. "I see now. The young mistress must be resentful inside but putting on a virtuous act. Dear sister, we're both servants in this household, we've known each other since we were kids. Don't let the young mistress's small favors buy you off."

"What are you thinking? The young mistress truly didn't try to win me over. She didn't even ask anything."

Lian Ye grew impatient, finding it strange herself.

She had also expected the young mistress to question her about when she and Liu Mei had waited on the young master. But the young mistress asked nothing at all.