"Ever since the second young mistress entered the Ji Mansion, there has been no peace. First, the second master was punished, and now Miss Lüqu has had an accident. Do you think it's possible that the second young mistress and the second master have incompatible birth charts?"
The old servants were chatting animatedly. They didn't even notice the approaching matriarch. The matriarch had a gloomy face and wanted to hear what else these old servants could gossip about. But when the perceptive Lady Ji sensed something was wrong, she shouted,
"Come here! Teach these reckless old fools a good lesson!"
When the old servants heard Lady Ji's angry voice and turned around to see Lady Ji, the matriarch, and Zhao Luoning standing behind them, they were completely flustered. They knelt on the ground in a disorganized heap.
Soon, the maids behind Lady Ji stepped forward and gave the old servants several hard slaps.
"You've got a lot of nerve! How dare you judge your masters' affairs? If I hadn't heard it with my own ears today, who knows what you would have said about Ning'er!"
The matriarch was also extremely angry. The sound of her walking stick hitting the ground made the old servants tremble with fear.
Zhao Luoning quickly stepped forward to support the matriarch and occasionally reached out to help her calm down.
"Mother, these old servants were brought in by your daughter - in - law. It's my fault for not disciplining them well. Please don't be angry. I'll have them pack up and go back to their hometowns right away."
Lady Ji quickly stepped forward to smooth things over. Unexpectedly, when the old servants heard Lady Ji say this, they burst into tears.
"Matriarch, please be magnanimous and forgive us this time. We'll never dare to do it again."
The matriarch was in a fit of anger. Hearing these old servants beg for mercy only made her more annoyed.
"Leave right now! I don't want to see you again."
Seeing that the situation was about to get out of control, Zhao Luoning quickly stepped forward to smooth things over.
"Grandma, I originally wanted to bring you here to have some fun. But now that things have turned out like this, I feel really bad. Grandma, please, for my sake, forgive them this time."
The matriarch looked at Zhao Luoning in disbelief.
"Ning'er, they said such things about you. Aren't you angry?"
Zhao Luoning lowered her head, looking dejected.
"What they said is true. Since everyone thinks that my birth chart doesn't match my husband's, I'll ask my father to write a new one. We can check it again."
The matriarch looked at Zhao Luoning with心疼 and liked her even more for her virtue and propriety.
"Ning'er, what nonsense are you talking about? The birth chart can't be fake. It's these old servants who are unreasonable. How can you take their gossiping seriously?"
Zhao Luoning took a bold gamble. The birth chart sent when the childhood engagement was arranged was actually Zhao Luoyue's. In this sense, it was indeed "fake". She said that on purpose so that no one would bring up the birth chart in the future.
Lady Ji also quickly tried to persuade Zhao Luoning. Zhao Luoning helped her keep these "servants" in this situation, and Lady Ji was somewhat grateful.
"If it weren't for Ning'er's intercession today, don't even think I'd let you off."
The matriarch's words made Lady Ji breathe a sigh of relief. However, as the mistress of the family for so many years, she knew how to handle this situation.
"It must be that the work in Pingle Garden is too easy, which gives you the energy to gossip. Well, I'll transfer you to another place."
Lady Ji shouted sternly. In this situation, being able to keep their jobs was already a blessing.
"Ning'er, if there are any places short of hands, no matter how dirty or heavy the work is, just assign it to them. It's time to discipline them properly. Otherwise, they'll start to act above their masters."
Just as Zhao Luoning was thinking, the matriarch interrupted.
"Let them go to Fengti Xuan. The study has always lacked someone to take care of it. I'd like to see if they still dare to gossip after they go to Shisu's place."
The old servants were already extremely grateful for not being driven out of the mansion. They didn't care where they would work.
The news of the old servants' bad comments about Zhao Luoning soon reached Ji Shisu's ears. Coupled with the matriarch's request that he spend more time with Zhao Luoning, he entered Furong Yuan, which he hadn't visited for half a month.
When Ji Shisu entered Furong Yuan, it was still early. Zhao Luoning might be organizing the accounts and hadn't returned yet. The room was empty, and there wasn't even a serving maid.
Only then did Ji Shisu realize that the maids and old servants were really neglectful of Zhao Luoning. Just as he was thinking about when to correct this atmosphere, he saw a row of rouge on the dressing table.
Did Zhao Luoning need so much rouge?
Ji Shisu picked up a box of rouge curiously. When he lifted the porcelain lid, a fresh peach fragrance immediately wafted over.
Whether it was the fragrance or the color, the rouge on Zhao Luoning's table was much better than that in ordinary rouge and powder shops outside. Even the secret - recipe rouge of Liuxiang Zhai, which the Ji family was always proud of, couldn't compare to this box in his hand.
Ji Shisu had been in the business world for many years and had never seen such good rouge. He wanted to ask Zhao Luoning where she got it.
Maybe Zhao Luoning knew he was in Furong Yuan and deliberately avoided him. Ji Shisu waited for a long time but Zhao Luoning didn't come. Worried about Lüqu, whose health hadn't fully recovered, he left Furong Yuan.
As soon as Ji Shisu stepped out of the door of Furong Yuan, Hongshao ran to the accounting room to inform Zhao Luoning. Only then did Zhao Luoning start to pack up the account books and rush to Furong Yuan.
She did deliberately avoid Ji Shisu.
This Ji Shisu had been acting a bit crazy lately. His mind seemed to be out of order.
She thought it was better to ignore him for a few days and let him figure out that the deal they had talked about before was indeed a win - win situation.
#### Lüqu's Pavilion
Ji Shisu couldn't sleep.
He was wearing only a single - layer robe and a thin cloak. He walked out of the bedroom to get some fresh air.
Different from Furong Yuan where Zhao Luoning lived, Lüqu's Pavilion was filled with apricot trees. Lüqu loved apricot flowers. She was a gentle and elegant woman just like the apricot flowers.
At this time, the flowers were slowly withering. With just a gentle breeze, the apricot petals fell like rain.
In a short while, Ji Shisu's clothes and hair were covered with apricot petals.
Just as Ji Shisu was about to go out for a walk, he suddenly heard a sound of footsteps approaching.
Was there a thief in the Ji Mansion?
Ji Shisu dodged into a corner. He wanted to see what this audacious thief looked like.
Although there was little moonlight, since Lüqu had been extremely afraid of the dark after losing her child, Lüqu's Pavilion was brightly lit even in the middle of the night.
A figure emerged from the darkness. Ji Shisu was wondering what kind of thief could be so calm. When he took a closer look, he was surprised to find that it was Ji Shijian.
Ji Shijian walked up to the half - open door and stood there in a daze for a long time. One of his hands unconsciously wanted to push the door open, but he didn't act on it. The raised hand fell back.
Even from a distance and in the dim light, Ji Shisu could clearly see the sadness and helplessness on Ji Shijian's face.
Ji Shijian's feelings for Lüqu were an open secret among the three of them.
If Lüqu hadn't had an accident, she should have been the third young mistress of the Ji family instead of his concubine.
Making Lüqu his concubine in Lüqu's Pavilion was really a pity for her.
But there was nothing he could do. It was Lüqu's own choice.
In the end, Ji Shijian didn't do anything. He turned around and left. And Ji Shisu, feeling the coldness of the night, decided to go back to his room to sleep after Ji Shijian had walked far away.
A sudden strong wind blew open the half - open door, and the curtain flapped loudly. The dim yellow candlelight shone on the curtain, casting a floating shadow on the ground.