五月阁色婷婷丁香五月

Chapter 274 Please Save Me

Qing Xue trembled all over and her face was as white as snow.

“In fact, you have been free during this time. In the beginning, I promised that I would give you a simple job, and keep you away from Madam Di’s attention, but you stubbornly wanted to get involved in this trouble. Then, I will let you go!” Qin Wanru gave a cold snort, her watery eyes below her long eyelashes, rippling coldly.

She waved her hand, decisively, indicating that Qing Xue could leave.

“Second Miss, I am…” Qing Xue tried to defend herself, but Qingyue pulled her away.

Seeing Qin Wanru’s cold and impersonal look, Qing Xue felt as if she had fallen into an ice cave. She trembled uncontrollably.

“Go. From now on, whether you live or die, our Miss won’t care. Our Miss has treated you well enough. You are looking for death, so you can’t blame anyone!”

Qingyue spoke as she pulled Qing Xue out of the room. When she was nearly at the door, Qing Xue suddenly pushed Qingyue away, rushed to Qin Wanru’s feet, and cried out loudly, “Second Miss, save me! Please save me!”

Qing Xue spoke anxiously, as she trembled uncontrollably.

Qin Wanru turned her face sideways to look at Qingyue. Her eyes had the serenity that seemed to have seen through everything, yet still remained extremely calm. “You betrayed Madam Di before, now you want to use a drastic remedy to win her trust again, and you yourself are the drastic remedy!”

This was not a question, but was telling a fact lightly. A confident look appeared on her stunning little face, making Qing Xue feel as if she was transparent before Second Miss.

“Second Miss, save me, please!” Qing Xue choked with sobs, as she lay motionless on the floor. This time Qin Wanru did not need to ask her, and she revealed everything in detail.

The reason why she suddenly proposed this request was that her mother sent her a message secretly, asking her to do whatever Madam Di asked of her, and saying that sometime back, her younger brother was given a cruel beating, because of a small mistake he made, and he was now still lying in bed, recovering from the beating.

A small mistake would not have brought on such a cruel beating, unless it was because of her previous “mistake”, which caused a flaw, in the matter of the hairpin. So, Madam Di’s plot did not work on Qin Wanru, but on her daughter, instead. Madam Di had not found out the truth of it, but she could still direct her wrath at Qing Xue.

Now since Qing Xue was nominally Qin Wanru’s maid, Madam Di could not do anything to her, so she vented her anger on Qing Xue’s family members, instead.

Qing Xue’s mother asked someone to send her a message, asking her not to disobey Madam Di, or their family would suffer in the future. She also told her frankly that she should request to leave proactively to serve Madam Di, and act as Qin Wanru’s “informer” at the same time.

“Second Miss, I have no other choices, either. My family members are being controlled by Duke Yong’s Mansion. I…I can only listen to Madam Di!”

After revealing every detail of the matter, Qing Xue wailed even more loudly.

It had been some time since she served Qin Wanru. Although she was not her confidant, she knew Qin Wanru had strategies through her actions, though she was still young. Madam Di and First Miss failed time after time, but did not even know the Second Miss had a hand in it. In Qing Xue’s heart, Qin Wanru was not only the mansion’s Second Miss.

Therefore, just now when Qin Wanru became serious and threatened her slightly, she told her every detail of the matter at once. Certainly, another important reason was that she did not want to believe Madam Di and Qin Yuru.

“Has your family been sold to Duke Yong’s Mansion?” Qin Wanru asked.

“No…no, no, my family has not!” Qing Xue shook her head repeatedly, and, wiping away her tears, said, “My family only rents the fields from Duke Yong’s Mansion and works in one of its farms, and the work is not laborious.”

“It’s only rental, why not leave?” Qin Wanru smiled, and said this in an extremely low voice.

“Can…can we?” Qing Xue was stunned, looking at Qin Wanru subconsciously. It seemed she wanted to get her support. Her family were all country-people of Jiangzhou, and had no idea about worldly stuff. After arriving in the capital, whatever they did was under the orders of Duke Yong’s Mansion, thinking that they should do everything as Duke Yong’s Mansion told them, because they followed the people Madam Di sent secretly to the capital.

“Of course you can, because you are only renting the fields. Although you have rented them for a long time, you only need to pay for part of the loss, and you can also leave secretly. Duke Yong’s Mansion won’t spend much energy getting you back. After all, you are not their servants!” Qin Wanru narrowed her eyes a little, looking at Qing Xue’s face.

Qing Xue’s family was her deadly point. If her family’s affairs were not dealt with promptly, she would not give up making trouble, or it would not be her who would do so, but that Madam Di would not give up the idea of using her to deal with Qin Wanru.

She did not feel much sympathy for Qingxue, who was pathetic, but was also detestable. If she had been trapped by Qing Xue, who would feel sympathy for her now!

If Madam Di could use Qing Xue, and so could she!

This was a double-edged sword, which would hurt the user if it was not used wisely.

“I can guarantee that I will take away all your family members. Our mansion is buying shops and farms. Your parents can work on the farm, and your brother can work in the shops if he is bright,” Qin Wanru said, her tender, dark-red lips curved in a smile.

She would not help Qing Xue without reason. So, there was a hidden condition: After she helped Qin Wanru, Qin Wanru would help her family.

Since this was her second life, she would not be the one who was only kind, and could not bear the cruelty of the world. She was but a vulnerable unmarried girl. If she could not protect herself, what was the meaning of kindness?

“Second Miss, you will help me! Second Miss, thank you, thank you!” Qing Xue was not stupid and knew Qin Wanru would not help her without reason. After learning what Qin Wanru meant in her talk, she felt thoroughly relieved, wiped away her tears, and kowtowed excitedly to Qin Wanru several times.

Not only could her parents work on the farm, but her brother could also work in the shops. This was Qin’s Mansion’s special favor to them. No wonder Qing Xue was moved.

This was much better than Madam Di’s threat. Now, Qing Xue kowtowed to Qin Wanru several times sincerely. When she raised her head again, her face had a determined look. “Second Miss, be at ease, I will serve Madam Di and send you messages.”

Madam Di’s real intent was not to ask her to come back to serve herself, for she wanted to use her to send some “contradictory” messages to Qin Wanru. Qing Xue was very clear about this.

So, now when she swore her loyalty to Qin Wanru, she spoke of this matter immediately.

“Okay, I will let you go! In a while, you should write a letter and give it to me. I will ask someone to send it to your parents, asking them to get ready at any time. Once you ask them to leave, they can pack overnight and leave with my servants!” Qin Wanru gave her the detailed plan.

“Yes, Second Miss, I will write once I return to my room!” By now, Qing Xue felt at ease completely, kowtowed again to Qin Wanru, and rose to her feet. Red-eyed, she left the main room and walked back to her room. On the way, she was still wiping her tears. Servant girls and old maids who saw her, were all shocked.

All the servants knew Qing Xue was not favored in Zhifang Pavilion. Though she was not favored, she was rarely scolded. As a principal maid, she was almost transparent in the courtyard. Without anything to do, Second Miss would never call her, but now she seemed to have been scolded.

Recalling the faint noise from the main room, many servant girls thought she was pathetic. Although she was a principal maid, she had fallen into a situation that was no better than these small servant girls’. She was to be pitied indeed!

Back to her room, Qing Xue wrote a letter to her father with the brush and ink at the edge of the table. Previously, Madam Di had intended to train her as a confidant, so she taught her to write and read. Although her handwriting was not good, it was legible. As for her brother, he had learned some Chinese characters since he was young. Since the family only had one boy, her parents cherished him most.

“Finished?” Qu Le pushed open the door, walked in, and asked. Now, the two of them were still staying in the same room.

Generally speaking, two of them seemed to have a predestined relationship, either in Jiangzhou or in the capital. Although they did not like each other, they had lived together for some time.

After dismissing her idea of hurting Qin Wanru, she began to get along well with Qu Le. After all, they were both young. Putting aside their emotional entanglements, the two of them had recently become good friends.

But this good relationship only appeared in the room. Outside, they were still roommates looking coldly at each other, and they appeared very unfriendly toward each other.

“Finished!” Qing Xue put the letter on the table to dry the ink, and raised her head to look at Qu Le, as if she wanted to say something, but stopped herself.

“Anything you want to say, just say it, don’t hesitate. In future, if you get married, you cannot always live in your parents’ home. For the good of your parents’ family, you have borne too much pain!” Qu Le snorted coldly, and seemed to be in a bad mood, as she said this frankly.

Recently, two of them had been getting along well with each other, but Qing Xue was about to leave. No doubt, she was in a bad mood! What she said sounded a little angry!

“Sister Qu Le, after I leave…” Qing Xue felt a little sad, as she said this. Initially, she did not want to get involved in the matter between Madam Di and Qin Wanru, but unfortunately, she could not run away from it in the end. Instantly, she felt sad and wiped away her tears with her handkerchief.

She usually looked cool and calm in public, but she felt inexplicably sad today.

“Well, well, don’t cry. Since that side wants you to go, you should go, but remember Second Miss is your only master. Anyway, that side is but an illusion for sure! By then, Second Miss may still need to get you back!” Qu Le was straightforward. Now she also felt sad, but she waved her hand and warned Qing Xue impatiently.

“Don’t worry, I will!” Qing Xue nodded, folded the letter, and handed it to her. She bit her lip, showing that she wanted to say something more, but she didn’t.

Qu Le snatched the letter and said impatiently, “Anything you want to say, just say it, don’t hesitate.”

Once she left, she did not have to care about rules anymore. Thinking for a moment, she gritted her teeth, lowered her head, came to Qu Le’s ear, and whispered a few words!