Hearing her sister mention Cheng Xu, Zhou Shaojin appeared somewhat silent.
Only then did Zhou Chujin realize she had misspoken. She quickly said, “Shaojin, what I meant was that you should choose someone you like…”
Zhou Shaojin couldn’t help but mutter quietly, “Uncle Chi is the person I like!”
Zhou Chujin truly wanted to point at Cheng Chi’s nose and give him a thorough scolding.
“At your young age, what do you know about liking or not liking?” She lectured her sister. “Buying you things, joking and laughing with you, acting humble before you… none of this is real affection! Anyone could do such things, couldn’t they? He’s merely trying to win your favor to take advantage of you. Can he marry you? Can he publicly declare he likes you? Can he give you a proper status? Can he let you stand by his side openly and honorably? Shaojin, just listen to this one thing from your sister. What use is it that you like him? Does he like you? If he liked you, would he be sneaking around with you? You’d better forget such a person quickly. He’s our elder, more than ten years older than you!”
“Elder Sister!” Zhou Shaojin couldn’t help defending Cheng Chi. “Uncle Chi said that he, he will marry me. You don’t need to worry…”
Hearing these words made Zhou Chujin even more furious. “Just because he says he’ll marry you means he can marry you? Why don’t you use your head? What is he to us? You were just calling him Uncle Chi moments ago, weren’t you? As an elder, he does such things to you—his character and morals are questionable. How much of what he says can be true!”
“I believe he’s sincere!” Zhou Shaojin, seeing her sister’s expression was very poor, didn’t dare talk back to her, but argued quietly, “Uncle Chi won’t deceive me! Elder Sister, please just believe me this once, won’t you?”
She very much wanted to tell her sister that Old Madam Guo already knew about this matter, but she feared that after speaking, her sister would even blame Old Madam Guo.
Zhou Shaojin had the appearance of someone who had fallen into a love trap and couldn’t extricate herself. Zhou Chujin was so angry her eyes turned red.
But could this be blamed on Shaojin?
She was still a child!
If not for Cheng Chi seducing her, would she be so defiant toward her?
Thinking back, when Shaojin spoke with her, there had never been a time when she even raised her voice.
Zhou Chujin was so angry her liver hurt.
She paced back and forth in the room several times. With great difficulty, her mood calmed somewhat, and she decided to gently and patiently counsel Zhou Shaojin. But who knew that when she turned around, she would see Zhou Shaojin looking at her with teary eyes, like a child who had been severely bullied.
An inexplicable anger flared up in Zhou Chujin’s heart again.
She couldn’t suppress her fury and said, “You stay here properly. In a few days, I’ll send you back to Baoding Prefecture. Those things Cheng Zichuan gave you, I’ll have Chun Wan…” Speaking to this point, she only then remembered that both Chun Wan and Fan Liushi served Zhou Shaojin intimately. Looking at Zhou Shaojin and Cheng Chi’s situation, it clearly wasn’t something that developed overnight—they couldn’t possibly not know… Yet these two people had never revealed the slightest trace in front of her… Zhou Chujin’s expression turned cold and stern. She called out loudly for “Chi Xiang” and said, “Has Chun Wan arrived? Send someone to call Fan Liushi over as well…”
Zhou Shaojin suddenly thought of her previous life when the incident occurred—Old Madam Guan had also summoned Chun Wan and Fan Liushi in this same manner.
She jumped up and grabbed Zhou Chujin’s sleeve: “Elder Sister, no! You can’t!”
Zhou Chujin took two deep breaths and said, “Shaojin, I’m just calling them over to ask some questions. During these days you’re staying here, you can’t possibly have no one serving you. Nanny Shang and Xiao Tan are both from the main branch. I think it would be better to have them return to serve in the main branch.”
The more she spoke to Zhou Shaojin in this light, casual tone, the more uneasy Zhou Shaojin felt.
Zhou Shaojin tightly clutched her sister’s sleeve and wouldn’t let go, her eyes showing a pleading expression.
Zhou Chujin steeled her heart and refused to look at her.
Zhou Shaojin’s tears were about to fall, yet she didn’t know what to say.
On one side was her sister who had treated her with kindness as heavy as mountains; on the other were servants who had been utterly loyal to her.
She neither wanted to offend her sister nor wanted to hurt Chun Wan and Fan Liushi.
Seeing Zhou Shaojin’s distressed appearance, Zhou Chujin also felt uncomfortable. Thinking of Zhou Shaojin’s stubbornness just now, she said thoughtfully, “Not punishing Chun Wan and Fan Liushi is also acceptable—before I send you back to Baoding Prefecture, you must stay here properly and not go anywhere. Can you do that?”
Zhou Shaojin couldn’t do it.
She knew that if her sister didn’t relent, even if she took Chun Wan and Fan Liushi back to Baoding Prefecture, Chun Wan and Fan Liushi wouldn’t have a good outcome.
Zhou Shaojin said, “Elder Sister, please just let Chun Wan and Fan Liushi stay in Elm Coin Alley. You have so many maids here—you can just assign any two people to serve me. Please let Chun Wan and Fan Liushi remain in the capital.”
Zhou Chujin naturally couldn’t agree.
For Chun Wan and Fan Liushi to have allowed Cheng Zichuan to defile Zhou Shaojin—no punishment would be too severe. Moreover, even for the sake of Zhou Shaojin’s reputation, these two people couldn’t be kept.
The sisters remained at an impasse.
A young maid ran in and said, “Young Madam, Nanny Shang from Elm Coin Alley has come, saying she’s here to deliver Second Miss’s change of clothes.”
Wasn’t Chun Wan supposed to deliver the clothes?
Zhou Chujin was quite surprised.
Zhou Shaojin, however, let out a long breath, her expression relaxing.
It must be that Uncle Chi, knowing Chun Wan and Fan Liushi were her personal servants, feared they would be punished by her sister if they came, so he simply had the skilled Nanny Shang come help deliver the clothes instead.
Zhou Chujin, however, furrowed her brow.
Without Chun Wan and Fan Liushi outside, Shaojin would have no attachments, making it even harder to force her to stop associating with Cheng Zichuan.
The young maid who came to report, seeing that Zhou Chujin hadn’t given instructions after quite a while, and thinking of the two cartloads of trunks at the inner gate and Nanny Shang chatting intimately with Nanny Zhong, who was closest to Grand Madam Liao, couldn’t help but say quietly, “Young Madam, Nanny Zhong is keeping Nanny Shang company in conversation…”
Zhou Chujin’s heart trembled.
How could she have forgotten that her mother-in-law was still residing in the mansion…
Not even a whisper of Shaojin’s matter could be allowed to leak out.
She quickly said, “Then go and invite Nanny Shang in!”
The young maid acknowledged and left. Before long, she brought Nanny Shang in.
Nanny Shang first looked toward Zhou Shaojin. Seeing that Zhou Shaojin was completely intact, only with red, swollen eyes as if she had been crying, she first breathed a sigh of relief. Only then did she smile and step forward to pay respects to Zhou Chujin, saying, “Second Miss left in a hurry. Miss Chun Wan is Second Miss’s most trusted person—she manages all the jewelry and valuables. She also had to deal with the clerks from the grain, oil, rice, and flour shops who came for payment, and had to direct the maids and servants to pack Second Miss’s commonly used items into trunks to send over. Miss Chun Wan was simply too busy, so she sent me to deliver Second Miss’s trunks first, lest when evening comes, Second Miss would have to borrow even bedding and pillows from Young Madam. I also thought that since Second Miss is staying for some days and although Young Madam’s household doesn’t lack personal attendants, with Grand Madam still here and the Liao family relatives constantly coming and going, we couldn’t let people think Second Miss lacked proper etiquette. With all the close attendants being Liao family maids and servants, I’ve brought Xiao Tan and Bitao, whom Miss is accustomed to…”
Zhou Chujin looked toward Zhou Shaojin.
At some point, a trace of a smile had appeared at the corners of Zhou Shaojin’s mouth.