When Yan Peiyu saw that it was Liu Xuan who opened the door, he was first overjoyed, but then his expression was quickly overtaken by panic. He quickly withdrew his hand. "Miss Liu, I..."
Compared to Yan Peiyu's fluster, Liu Xuan was much calmer. She said helplessly, "Come in and talk."
This fool. Did he really think no one knew he stood there every morning? If this got out, neither of them would be able to hold their heads up in this neighborhood.
Yan Peiyu nervously followed her into the courtyard. When Liu Xuan invited him into the main hall, he quickly declined. "No need. I'll just stand here in the courtyard."
Liu Xuan said, "Then let's talk in the pavilion over there."
The pavilion that Shen Qing had asked to be built had long been completed, and now it came in handy.
Liu Xuan told the maid Xing'er to make tea. After spending so many years in the Shen family, she was no longer used to having someone wait on her all the time. But there had to be someone in the house, so besides two guards, she had also bought a young maid.
After Xing'er served the tea, she withdrew. Yan Peiyu sat there, feeling quite at a loss.
Liu Xuan got straight to the point. "Mr. Yan, do you pity me?"
Yan Peiyu's eyes widened. "I don't!"
Then he realized he had been a bit too excited. "I didn't mean that. I..."
But Liu Xuan didn't have the patience to listen to his explanation. She interrupted him mercilessly. "Mr. Yan, I don't care if you meant that or not. I don't need your pity. If people see you standing in front of my house every day, it will be bad for both of our reputations. You, Mr. Yan, are a man with academic honors. You should cherish your good name even more."
Yan Peiyu's face turned pale. Seeing that she was really angry, he quickly explained. "Miss Liu, I really didn't mean that. I don't pity you. I just wanted to ask if... you've been doing well all these years?"
If... you've been doing well all these years?
Liu Xuan was stunned for a moment. Only after Yan Peiyu's question did she suddenly realize that eleven years had passed. And in these eleven years, no one had ever asked her if she was doing well.
Liu Xuan snapped out of her daze in an instant. Her tone was not exactly cold, but there was no warmth either. "It doesn't matter. I have a new life now. Everything in the past is just a passing cloud to me. There's no need to dwell on it."
"Mr. Yan, you have a bright future ahead of you. There's no need for you to waste your efforts on a woman like me who has been married and has a ten - year - old son. I also have no intention of getting remarried."
Yan Peiyu was annoyed that his feelings were so obvious that she could easily detect them. At the same time, he felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave because of Liu Xuan's words.
He thought that the words Liu Xuan said today were colder than the coldest winter in the capital.
"I have to go to the distillery to get busy. I'm afraid I can't entertain you anymore. Please go back, Mr. Yan. And don't come again in the future."
Yan Peiyu left in a daze. He had come as a normal person, but now he seemed like a walking corpse.
Liu Xuan felt a bit sorry for him when she saw his state, but she didn't think she was wrong. Even though he had wasted three years, he was only twenty - five this year and was still unmarried. Next year, if he passed the imperial examination, there would be countless girls who would want to marry him. Not to mention that her son was already ten years old. Even if she were still a maiden, she wouldn't agree to such a mismatched marriage.
A person should know their own place. Since she was not worthy of him, she should make things clear earlier.
After Liu Xuan made things clear, she never saw Yan Peiyu in front of her house again. She let out a sigh of relief. It was good that he could see things clearly.
In the Guangping Marquis Mansion.
Since Jiang Chan's power to manage the mansion had been taken away by Shen Mian, the smile on her face had become much more forced.
Even the maids in the Mingyue Pavilion had been looked down upon by the people from the Qifeng Courtyard during this period.
One day, Baizhi went to get the monthly allowance for this month and found that it was much less than before. Jiang Chan's face darkened. "Why is it only this much?"
Baizhi hardly dared to look at Jiang Chan's face. "The Qifeng Courtyard said that the mansion is trying to increase income and reduce expenditure. The silver should be spent on important things. The Marquis rarely comes to the Mingyue Pavilion, and there are no children here. It doesn't cost much. So this is the monthly allowance..."
Jiang Chan was so angry that she smashed a whole set of tea sets.
When Shen Mian heard about it, she proudly sipped the best tea. These high - quality teas had never been sent to her before. What was sent to her were always inferior ones.
"Just based on Jiang Chan, does she think she can fight against me!"
"I think now that the old madam has fallen and she has lost the power to manage the mansion, what capital does she have to be arrogant in front of me!"
Early the next morning, Jiang Chan, still angry, went to the Qifeng Courtyard to ask for an explanation, but was blocked outside the door by Xiaodie.
Jiang Chan suppressed her anger and stated her purpose. "Sister - in - law is managing the mansion for the first time. I'm sure there are many things she doesn't understand. I'm here to see if there's anything I can help with."
Xiaodie snorted. "Even if our side madam can't manage well, the Marquis will surely give her advice. We don't need the Jiang side madam to worry about it."
Since Jiang Chan entered the Marquis Mansion, when had she ever suffered such humiliation? Being mocked by a maid, even her good temper couldn't hold up.
"What about my monthly allowance this month? Why is it so much less? It's not even as much as that of a concubine!"
Xiaodie raised her chin. "Our side madam said that the mansion is trying to increase income and reduce expenditure. The money should be spent on important things. Concubine Juanlian is pregnant. We can't shortchange her. As for the Jiang side madam, you don't need to serve the Marquis, and you don't have any children. Spending so much money will only invite jealousy. I'm just kindly reminding you. What if you're harmed by someone with ulterior motives like our side madam was?"
Jiang Chan was extremely angry. "You, how dare you be so presumptuous!"
"I'm still a side madam in this mansion. How dare you talk to me like this, a mere maid!"
Using the same words she had said to the maid yesterday on her, it was as if they couldn't even be bothered to come up with a better excuse to fob her off!
At this moment, the door opened, and Shen Mian's lazy voice came. "You don't need to worry about how my servants behave, sister. I'm not as kind as you. I won't allow my servants to use inferior goods and pass them off as high - quality ones with the money they've embezzled."
Jiang Chan's face turned alternately green and white. Shen Mian was actually so disrespectful to her and directly tore up the pretense of good relations!
Seeing Jiang Chan embarrassed made Shen Mian feel good. Didn't Jiang Chan say that it was because she spent too much money that she had suffered misfortune? Well, then she wouldn't spend it either!
"Sister, do you still have something to do? If not, you can go back first. The Marquis said he'll come later. I don't have much time to entertain you."
Shen Mian covered her mouth with her hand and yawned. Then she smiled. "Sorry. It's just that Hui'er was sick and fussy last night, and I didn't get any sleep until late at night. Sister, don't laugh at me."
Being out of favor, having no children, and failing to manage the mansion well, every word of Shen Mian's was like a knife stabbing into Jiang Chan's heart. Jiang Chan felt as if she had been stabbed again and again, until her heart was bleeding.
Suddenly, Jiang Chan laughed. She leaned closer to Shen Mian and whispered, "Do you really think it was me who poisoned? I've only been in charge of the household for less than half a year. How could I possibly have won the hearts of the servants like someone who has been painstakingly managing things for several years? Some people seem not to fight or grab. But does she really not want anything? Sister - in - law, don't hate the wrong person."
Jiang Chan felt that she had regained the upper hand and felt much better. She left, leaving Shen Mian standing there to ponder over her words.
Yes, come to think of it, the person most threatened by her and Hui'er's arrival wasn't Jiang Chan. If it wasn't Jiang Chan, then it could only be...
Shen Mian's gaze suddenly turned to the west, exactly where Shen Qing's Zhuoying Courtyard was located.