Ji Feichen recalled the sweet way Pan'er used to call him "Brother Chen" in front of him. His heart was filled with guilt. At first, when Pan'er's mother had hinted at her intention to marry Pan'er to him, he had never felt so overjoyed.
However, later on, Pan'er had caught the fancy of a powerful old maid in the Xiao Mansion. That old maid had half-threatened and half-seduced them into letting Pan'er marry into her family as a daughter-in-law. If the old maid's son had been a decent person, Ji Feichen might have been able to bear the pain and, in the capacity of an elder brother, send Pan'er off well on her wedding day.
But he had secretly gone to take a look. That son was a fool. He was three or four times Pan'er's size, with crude behavior. There were always prostitutes going in and out of his house. How could Ji Feichen bear to let Pan'er marry into such a family?
Pan'er's elder brother, Guanyan, had gone to plead with the eldest young master of the Xiao family. The eldest young master had advised Pan'er to accept her fate. Helplessly, Ji Feichen had thought of General Xie. He served under General Xie, and perhaps the general could come up with some idea.
But when he had told General Xie the whole story, although the general hadn't refused immediately, he had still shaken his head and said the word "difficult".
Ji Feichen sat dejectedly on the steps in front of his house. From afar, he saw Guanyan running over in a hurry. When Guanyan saw him, his face was beaming with joy.
Seeing Guanyan like this, hope welled up in Ji Feichen's heart.
Could there be a turn of events regarding Pan'er's matter?
Guanyan gasped as he ran up to Ji Feichen. His voice was full of joy. "Feichen! Lingchu's matter has been resolved. Miss Xiao has taken Lingchu to work in her courtyard. You can rest assured!"
Ji Feichen didn't hear the name he wanted to hear from Guanyan's words, and his eyes dimmed. He just absent-mindedly mumbled a couple of words. "Really? Congratulations..." Then he sat back on the steps and continued to stare blankly.
Guanyan was just wondering why Ji Feichen was reacting so coldly. After patting his head, he realized. "My sister! Pan'er has been given a new name by Miss Xiao. It's Lingchu. My sister doesn't have to marry that old hag's son!!"
"What?!"
Ji Feichen perked up. Guanyan briefly told him the ins and outs of the matter and then was in a hurry to leave.
"This is really great. We should go and have a drink! Hey... hey... Where are you going?!"
Seeing that Guanyan was about to leave in a hurry after telling the story, Ji Feichen stopped him. Guanyan had no choice but to say that he was busy with his duties and then ran off like a flash.
It wasn't that he had intentionally hidden the truth from Ji Feichen. It was just that Xiao Bao'er had repeatedly told them not to alarm others. Naturally, the fewer people who knew about this matter, the better.
Watching Guanyan's disappearing back, Ji Feichen also left. He had to quickly tell General Xie about this so that the general wouldn't keep worrying about his matter.
After Xie Yumo heard Ji Feichen quickly finish telling the story, the movement of the jade pendant in his hand paused. He fell into deep thought.
Ji Feichen stood respectfully to one side, not daring to even breathe loudly. He could only nervously look at Xie Yumo's back. After all, he had come to plead for help in the morning, and in the afternoon, he was already coming to say that the matter had been resolved. Who would feel embarrassed about such a thing?
"Are you saying that your friend left in a hurry?"
"Huh? Yes!"
Ji Feichen was a bit confused. So, after he had said such a long story, General Xie had only remembered the last sentence?!
Xie Yumo let out a soft laugh. His cold voice said, "I understand. You can leave."
"Yes, this subordinate takes his leave." Ji Feichen didn't dare to say any more nonsense. He turned around and left. As long as Xie Yumo didn't show his displeasure on the spot, it meant that he was in a good mood. He had served under Xie Yumo for quite a while and had some understanding of his ways.
After Ji Feichen left, Xie Yumo put away the jade pendant and called out, "Ying Yi."
"This subordinate is here."
A man in black combat clothes leaped down and knelt in front of Xie Yumo, waiting for his master's order.
"You heard what Guard Ji just said. Go and investigate what kind of errand that friend of his has gone to do. If... forget it. Just go and investigate first."
Ying Yi received the order and disappeared in a flash.
Xie Yumo turned around and walked to the window. Staring at the distant scenery, he murmured, "Could it be you?"
In the Xiao Mansion, Xiao Bao'er had patiently waited for several days for news. Finally, Guanyan had passed on the hard-won information to Xiao Bao'er through Lingchu.
When Xiao Bao'er saw the words "Bamboo Shadow Alley in the west of the city" and "the Sheng family" written on the letter, she had a strong intuition that the real eldest miss of the Xiao family was here. She put the letter into the brazier to burn it and asked Lingchu to take a reward to Guanyan.
Now that she knew where the person was, the rest would be easier. Although she had been waiting for the news these days, she hadn't been idle. She had been busy planning her subsequent strategies. After all, after the New Year, in May of the coming spring, it would be Xiao Bao'er's coming-of-age ceremony.
If she wanted to avoid the fate of dying of illness after her coming-of-age ceremony in the previous life, she had to make the most of the limited time to achieve more plans.
-----
Since the flower-viewing banquet, the two sisters, Xiao Jinghui and Xiao Jingwan, had shut themselves in their rooms. The entire second branch of the family was shrouded in gloom.
Regarding the incident of the Sixteenth Princess falling into the water, although there was no substantial evidence proving that Xiao Jingwan had pushed the Sixteenth Princess, Xiao Bao'er's useless second uncle had still been scolded by the emperor for his poor upbringing of his daughter. He had been fined half a year's monthly salary and suspended from his post for three months.
As for Xiao Jingwan, Concubine Hui had sent an old maid from the palace to teach her etiquette. It was said that as long as Xiao Jingwan made the slightest mistake in her movements, the old maid would scold and beat her. She wasn't even allowed to have dinner. In just half a month, Xiao Jingwan had become much thinner.
Because there was an old maid from the palace watching over her, Xiao Jingwan couldn't pretend to be sick when it was time to pay respects to the old lady. Out of curiosity about what Xiao Jingwan looked like now, Xiao Bao'er was rarely looking forward to going to pay respects to the old lady.
When Lingzhi knew that Xiao Bao'er was going to pay respects to the old lady, she hurriedly made excuses to decline and didn't want to go with them. Xiao Bao'er also knew why she was afraid, so she only took Lingchu with her.
Lingchu had originally been from the old lady's courtyard, but when they went there, she didn't seem the least bit uncomfortable. Instead, she held her head high and walked beside Xiao Bao'er, which actually impressed Xiao Bao'er.
Before they even stepped into the Ning'an Courtyard, Xiao Bao'er heard a stern middle-aged woman's voice. "Miss Fourth of the Xiao family, when the elders haven't gotten up yet, you should stand respectfully in the courtyard and wait. How can you sit aside and wait? It's really unruly!"
Immediately afterwards, Xiao Jingwan's voice with a sob sounded. "Nanny Li. Please let me rest for a while. I haven't had dinner for several days in a row. I'm really too hungry and weak. I've come to grandmother's courtyard half an hour earlier..."
Xiao Bao'er and Lingchu exchanged a look and slowly walked in.
After they went in, they saw at a glance an old maid in a female official's costume standing beside Xiao Jingwan with a ruler in her hand, seriously correcting Xiao Jingwan's posture.
Seeing Xiao Bao'er come in, Nanny Li's eyes lit up. She quickly walked up to Xiao Bao'er and bowed.
"Paying respects to the Princess Anyang. This servant is Nanny Li beside Concubine Hui."