Under Granny Qin's murderous glare, Lingzhi helped Pan'er move her things out of the Old Madam's courtyard.
When the little maids in Ning'an Courtyard learned that Pan'er had been transferred by Xiao Bao'er, envy flashed in their eyes. But since Granny Qin was still there, those maids who were on good terms with Pan'er didn't dare to step forward and say a few more words.
The first thing Pan'er did after arriving at Xiao Bao'er's courtyard was to ask Xiao Bao'er to give her a new name.
Although Pan'er's parents had already had a son before her, when they saw that the second child was a girl, they still wanted to have another son. So they named their daughter Pan'er, which meant "hoping for a son". Fortunately, Pan'er's family only wanted more sons and didn't treat her badly.
After learning that Xiao Bao'er had transferred Pan'er from the Old Madam's courtyard, the food in Xiao Bao'er's room became much more delicate than before. Xiao Bao'er knew that this was Pan'er's mother, who was in charge of the kitchen, showing her gratitude in a roundabout way.
Pan'er's family naturally knew that she had asked Xiao Bao'er to change her name. Although Pan'er's father was a bit reluctant, he finally nodded.
Xiao Bao'er asked for Pan'er's opinion and finally came up with the name "Lingchu" for her.
"Lingchu, just now you said that your elder brother is a servant beside the Eldest Young Master, right?"
Lingchu replied, "Yes. My elder brother has been following the Eldest Young Master since childhood. The Eldest Young Master has been sent on official business to a far - away place recently, so my elder brother is quite free now."
Xiao Bao'er thought for a while. Her own origin was still a mystery, and she didn't know where to start investigating. However, the biological daughter of Madam Xiao was traceable. Maybe she should start with Madam Xiao's biological daughter.
Every month, Madam Xiao would receive a letter without fail. When she was a child, Madam Xiao thought that Xiao Bao'er was illiterate, so she would open the letter right in front of her. As she read, she suddenly burst into tears.
Curious, Xiao Bao'er also craned her neck to take a look. She vaguely saw the words "Sheng Family", "down and out", and "eldest girl". She didn't understand the rest.
Seeing Madam Xiao crying so sadly, she comforted her nicely. But when Madam Xiao looked at her, the tears flowed even more fiercely. The servants on the side quickly told the maids to take Xiao Bao'er out.
Later, Xiao Bao'er also asked Madam Xiao why she was so sad after seeing the letter.
Madam Xiao evaded the question and only said that it was a letter from an old acquaintance. Learning that the old acquaintance was not doing well, she was a bit sad.
Now that she thought about it, what was written in the letter might be information about Madam Xiao's biological daughter. But this was just a guess and needed to be verified. So Xiao Bao'er thought of Lingchu's elder brother.
"Lingchu, ask your elder brother to come here tomorrow. Just say that I want to make a pair of winter insoles for the Eldest Young Master, but I don't know his shoe size. Ask your elder brother to bring some old insoles over."
Lingchu took the order and excitedly went to inform her elder brother.
The next afternoon, Lingchu led her elder brother to Xiao Bao'er. Xiao Bao'er sized up Lingchu's elder brother and found that his eyebrows and eyes were very similar to Lingchu's. Although his actions were smooth, it was not difficult to see from his eyes that Lingchu's elder brother was a man who loved his sister.
When he saw Xiao Bao'er, Lingchu's elder brother reacted the same way as Lingchu. He knelt down and started kowtowing directly.
Xiao Bao'er rubbed her temples in annoyance and told Lingchu to quickly help her elder brother up. But Lingchu stood aside, looking quite satisfied with her elder brother's sincere kowtowing.
"Eldest Miss, my elder brother loves me very much. He knew that it was you who saved me, and he always said that he wanted to come and kowtow to you."
Xiao Bao'er had no choice but to pretend to be angry again and told Lingchu's elder brother to get up quickly.
"Greetings to the Eldest Miss. I'm Guanyan, Lingchu's elder brother. Our whole family is grateful to the Eldest Miss for her kindness. You are Lingchu's benefactor and also our family's benefactor. Whatever you order, I will do my best to help you accomplish it."
The place Xiao Bao'er chose was well - ventilated. Others could clearly see them, and they could also clearly see if anyone was eavesdropping. She told Lingchu to guard nearby and not let anyone come over.
Then, Xiao Bao'er picked up a pair of half - embroidered insoles and pretended to ask,
"Guanyan, you are someone beside my elder brother. You must have established quite a few connections over the years. I'd like to ask you to use these connections to help me investigate something, but don't alert anyone. Can you do it?"
Guanyan's expression became solemn, and he nodded heavily. "Just give your orders, Eldest Miss. I will handle it properly for you."
Xiao Bao'er smiled in satisfaction and whispered, "Madam receives a letter every month. I want to know where this letter is mailed from. It would be best if I could know the content of the letter."
Guanyan was a bit surprised. He didn't expect that the Eldest Miss wanted to investigate something related to Madam. This was a bit difficult, but no matter how difficult it was, he would surely keep his promise and help Xiao Bao'er accomplish it.
After taking the order, he bid farewell to Xiao Bao'er and left. As he passed by Lingchu, he reached out and ruffled her hair.
Guanyan's eyes were full of the love of an elder brother for his younger sister. When he first learned from his mother that Granny Qin had her eye on Lingchu, he was the first to object.
Others might not know, but Guanyan, who had been by the Eldest Young Master's side for so long, knew that Granny Qin's son was not only a mentally - challenged fool but also had a tendency towards abuse and violence.
Granny Qin had gone to the brothel more than once to buy young prostitutes, hoping that these girls from the brothel could guide her son to have sex. But every attempt failed, and these girls would be beaten to death by her son not long after.
These prostitutes were not from good families, so even if they were beaten to death, the government wouldn't care. The servants in the Xiao Mansion all knew this to some extent.
So when he learned that his parents wanted to marry Lingchu off to that family because they were afraid of Granny Qin's status, he strongly helped his sister resist. He even had the thought of killing Granny Qin's son.
For this matter, he even begged the Eldest Young Master, but the Eldest Young Master was very busy and didn't take this matter seriously.
After he begged several times, the Eldest Young Master said impatiently, "After all, Granny Qin is the most respected person beside the Old Madam. Although her son is a fool, if your sister marries into their family, she will have no worries about food and clothing. Moreover, your sister is the daughter - in - law that she personally asked for. I think she won't treat your sister badly. It's not a disgrace to your sister."
In the end, he was almost desperate and was about to discuss the details of killing Granny Qin's son with Ji Feichen. Unexpectedly, in the end, his sister was saved by Miss Xiao. How could he not be grateful?
Thinking of Ji Feichen, Guanyan stopped in his tracks. He seemed to have forgotten to tell him that his sister didn't have to get married.
Ji Feichen was the son - in - law that Lingchu's mother had favored before. He and Lingchu had grown up together as childhood sweethearts. Now he was a bodyguard under General Xie's command and was said to have a good relationship with General Xie. After Ji Feichen learned that the Eldest Young Master Xiao was unwilling to help, he shouted that he would tell General Xie about this.
No, he had to hurry to inform Ji Feichen!
After saying that, Guanyan quickened his pace.
On the other side, Ji Feichen had just come out of the Xie Mansion with a solemn look on his face...