Chapter 124: Cheating Su Family

  Qin Wen sat upright in the yellow pear-wood chair of the side hall, drinking tea.

  Tea is of high quality, but it's not as good as a person's mood.

  The gathering of the Chamber of Commerce has ended, but he still has some lingering thoughts. After all, it was a rare grand occasion, and it was really too rare. He not only met with representatives of the four major families and had a pleasant conversation with them, but also invited the helmsman of the Qi family to come home for dinner, how could he not be happy?

  What kind of family is willing to accept his invitation, that's an attitude. Zicheng marrying Ping's wife is almost a done deal.

  Just thinking about this, Qin Zhenwen became even more excited, and the fatigue of the day seemed to disappear without a trace! As long as Zichen marries the daughter of the Qi family, is there anything to worry about the Qin family not having any business in the north? It's likely that even the imperial palace will have to make some deals, and the Qin family will be on the rise. And then there's Zixin, who has a good material for reading books, and has already passed the Tongsheng test. As long as he performs well, his name will definitely be on the list this autumn! This way, his status will change, and once he passes the exam, he will become a scholar with a reputation, and naturally, there will be many benefits for the Qin family. He is still young, if he can continue to study, that would be great. If he is lucky enough to achieve success under the blessing of his ancestors, it would be even better. The two brothers support each other, how can the Qin family's days not be prosperous?

  Just as he was thinking, Qin Zongwen suddenly heard the sound of footsteps hurrying from afar. The people below knew his rules and at this time, if there were no important matters, no one would disturb him.

  Qin Congwen had barely enjoyed a moment of peace when he saw that he was about to be disturbed, and his mood became very unpleasant. Before the person arrived, he had already become annoyed. Fang Wanyu led Lin Shi in, pushing open the door, and because she was worried that things were too big, she couldn't care about so many formalities, only calling out softly: "Master, it's not good."

  She had no idea that Qin Chongwen was already annoyed, and after hearing her words, he became even more irritated.

  "What's the hurry? You don't even have any manners?" Qin Congwen wanted to vent his grievances, but he didn't expect Lin Shi to be there too. In front of his daughter-in-law, he lost face in front of Fang Wanru, and he was also very uncomfortable, so he deliberately coughed a few times to cover up the discomfort on his face.

  Lin had always been a stickler for propriety, and just now she pretended not to have seen it, took a step forward and greeted Qin Zongwen with courtesy, trying her best to ignore Fang Wanru's dark face.

  "Old Master is indeed good at avoiding trouble, but doesn't he know that something big has happened at home?" Fang Wanru was also furious, wasn't she the one who took care of everything at home and outside? Didn't she have any credit or hard work to show for it? How could he still scold her in front of his daughter-in-law? Didn't he know that for tonight's important dinner party, she had been busy for half a month without rest, pushing away many gatherings with relatives and friends during the first month of the year, only to be met with such a remark?

  "Madam, what brings you here?" Qin Congwen composed himself and asked Fang Wanyu the reason for her visit.

  Fang Wanru was also in a bad mood and didn't bother to reason with him, so she let Lin Shi retell the whole story from start to finish again.

  "This unfilial daughter." Qin Chongwen suddenly stood up from his chair, his eyebrows tightly knotted into a "川" shape. The Qi family was coming over tonight, and at such a critical moment, she had actually gotten herself into such big trouble.

  "Get the servants to keep their mouths shut, and make sure this matter is kept strictly confidential, especially from Old Lady Qi and Yilan. Absolutely no word of this can get out. The dinner party at home will go on as usual, find a few reliable people and spread them around." Now that things have happened, there's no use panicking, the most important thing now is to make sure that no matter what, the Qi family must not find out about this. With a daughter like this, it's a misfortune for our household, and I'm afraid that when the time comes, it will affect the Qi family's good impression of our family.

  "Mr. Lin hastily said: 'Sir, aren't you going to report this to the authorities?'"

  Qin Zongwen waved his hand, "Find it first, if there's no news, we'll talk about it tomorrow."

  Lin's heart felt a chill, a good girl like her, was she really so unimportant?

  Fang Wanru understood Qin Chengwen's idea and knew that he had put the matter of marrying Zi Cheng as his wife first, so she was delighted and said: "It's easy to fool my mother, it's okay if we don't see her for a few days, and it will pass if we just pretend. But what about Su Shi? She usually goes to the third daughter three times a day, how can we hide it?"

  "Yilan has a body, absolutely can't let her know." The tone didn't allow for questioning, making Fang Wanru very unhappy. But she also knew that this wasn't the time to nitpick, of course, big things were more important.

  "Daughter-in-law, you handle this matter!" Fang Wanru probably felt that Lin Shi was too close to Qin Dai Xin, so she handed over the thorny issue to her. Knowing that she had never liked San Ya Tou, and yet still kept a close relationship with her, wasn't this a show of defiance towards her mother-in-law?

  She's thinking too much, actually, Lin wouldn't bother with demonstrations like this.

  Since Fang Wanru had given the order, she could only follow it. She didn't want to be known as unfilial. However, with a young lady missing in the manor without any reason, couldn't they think of other ways besides quietly searching for her?

  Lin raised her head and glanced at Qin Zongwen, thinking that as a father, he was nothing special. When the third lady was held hostage by the thief and injured, he wasn't like this. Why did he suddenly become so cold? As soon as she met Fang Wanru's gaze, she completely understood that these two had something to say, probably about the noble guest visiting tonight, and they were afraid that this sudden event would disrupt their plans.

  Mr. Lin thought of this and bowed to say: "Sir, Madam, I'll take my leave first. I will go to Lan's wife myself."

  "Go down!" Fang Wanru said, and then she made no indication that Qin Congwen had something to say.

  Lin quietly withdrew from the side hall, with a desolate heart.

  Qin Dai Xin's Chang Xiao Garden, Ruyi and Chunli are wiping away tears! Chunli is crying so hard that she can't speak, it's all her fault, why is her mouth so greedy? If only she had listened to Sister Ruyi and stayed by Miss's side, there wouldn't be such a heart-wrenching situation now.

  When Lin entered the house, she saw such a scene. Ruyi's eyes were red as she greeted her, while Chunli was crying so hard that she couldn't stand still and had to lean on another second-class maid for support.

  Even the young girl is so deeply emotional, but Master Lin only allows people in the mansion to secretly search for her and not report it to the authorities. If she was really kidnapped, Lin's wife unconsciously bit her lip, fearing...

  She collected her thoughts and warned herself not to think wildly, looking at the only calm person in this house.

  Yan's family.

  She had only met her once and knew she was the housekeeper in Qin Dai's heart, but didn't know if it was because of the short time she had been following her that Lin saw no sadness in her eyes.

  When the master encounters a mishap, the calm and composed attitude of the servant can be interpreted in two ways: either he has no regard for his master and even pretends to grieve is unnecessary, or he is able to remain stable. "Stable" also has two meanings: one is being calm and composed when encountering things; the other is...

  Lin thought of this, and couldn't help but look up and down at Yan, who was neat and tidy from head to toe. She had a fair complexion to begin with, and after dressing up slightly, she looked very comfortable, neither showy nor flashy, just decent and proper.

  Could it be that this person is actually Sanmei's trusted confidant?

  Mr. Lin pointed to Miss Yan and asked, "Only a few people know about the Third Miss's accident, you are her close relatives, naturally you understand the severity of this matter, and it is not allowed to talk nonsense. There is only one difficult thing at present..."

  Several people who heard it hurried over and asked, "Young lady, what's wrong?"

  Lin sighed and said, "It's better to have an explanation for Auntie."

  Several maids looked at each other in dismay, all at a loss for what to do. What would they say to Madame? Miss had gone to her house every day, but this morning she left in a hurry and didn't go. Before leaving, Miss had specifically instructed Xueqing to pass on a message to Madame that she would definitely visit her when she returned, but now...

  Miss Yan stepped forward and said, "If the young lady is willing to entrust this matter to me, I will definitely handle it properly and not let anything go wrong." Although she had thought of every possible outcome, she still hadn't anticipated that Third Miss Qin Dai would cause trouble. However, since the incident had just occurred, there was still time to act. As long as she could find an opportunity to inform their master's people in Taizhou, they should receive news about the miss soon, and at the latest, by dinner time, there would be a result.

  I hope those thieves are just after money and haven't harmed Third Miss. If not, the consequences will be more than she can imagine. It's not just those thieves who will suffer, I'm afraid both mother and daughter will have to pay the price!

  Lin thought to herself, Yan must be confident in her heart, otherwise how could she say such bold words? With that, Lin put down 70% of her worries and asked softly: "Are you sure?"

  From what she saw and heard, Su was not someone to be trifled with.

  "Don't worry, madam." The voice was calm and powerful, neither arrogant nor humble, making people feel at ease just by listening to it.

  "Leave this matter to you," said Lin. After finishing speaking, she turned around and left Qin Dai Xin's room, bringing people back to her own courtyard. That night, she solemnly placed the Ling symbol that Qin Dai Xin had asked for under her pillow. In Lin's eyes, Qin Dai Xin was a lucky person. Even though her current whereabouts were unknown, with attendants like Yan Shi by her side, it was clear that she was not ordinary. She hoped that this time, Qin would also be able to turn disaster into good fortune and return safely.

  Yan sorted out a few simple words of comfort for Ruyi and Chunli, then went to the Lan Garden of the Su family.

  When Yan entered the house, Xue Qing was doing needlework with Fang Cai outside the warm pavilion, while Su and the wet nurse were talking in the inner room. Seeing Yan arrive, they naturally looked behind her, but there was no one there.

  It's also unreasonable for a master to walk behind his servants. She was just too anxious.

  "Where is your young lady?" Su's words also meant to ask - Has Qin Dai'er returned, has anything happened on the way, and is she still safe?

  Yan's family made a courtesy, saying: "At this time, the young lady has naturally returned. However, Madame is in high spirits and pulled along the second lady and asked many questions. The third and fourth ladies also had to accompany her. Today, the young lady went out and everything was smooth. There were not many things bought, but there were a lot of people, it was crowded and noisy. The young lady remembered her aunt's words and was afraid that something would go wrong, so she didn't leave the second lady's side for a single step. Her aunt can rest assured. However, when she returned from Madame's place, she was probably already late, so she didn't come over to avoid disturbing her aunt's rest. Tomorrow morning, after paying respects to Madame, she will come over again to accompany her aunt and chat with her about the lively events of yesterday's flower festival."

  Yan's words were reasonable and made sense, so even the clever Su couldn't find any fault with them.

  "So I'm relieved too. To be honest, if it weren't for Ali, I would have gone to bed long ago." She was getting sleepier and her body felt heavier.

  "Auntie got some rest earlier, I took Xue Qing back with me. When Miss returns, she'll inevitably ask this girl a few questions about Auntie."

  Su smiled, this daughter is getting more and more considerate.

  "You two go back together!"

  Yan wanted nothing more than this, so he hastily bid farewell to Su and left Lanyuan with Xueqing, heading towards Changxiaoyuan.

  Xue Qing didn't know the inside story and asked: "Mother, is Miss still at Madame's place?"

  Yan Shi Meng stopped in his tracks and turned around to look at Xue Qing, "Something's happened to Miss."