Chapter 14 Exchange Conditions

  He heard the words and didn't make another sound, just watching the rain fall on the flowers. Anyway, the two women in this big house were fighting with each other without harming her, she could watch from a distance, eager to see the commotion.

  The flower doesn't lack a twisted eyebrow. "Seven Yāo Tóu, since you know the nature of snakes, did you go to the kitchen and steal the snake just to harm your eighth sister on purpose?"

  But he negated this idea, "Is it possible? You are a weak woman, even if you are brave, you can't steal two snakes out."

  Qin's family couldn't help but nod and interject: "There are only a few people in the mansion who can catch snakes. If you really want to find out who is behind the snakebite, it shouldn't be difficult. Why not call the person in charge of the kitchen to ask?"

  When Mother Zhou heard this, her face changed color. The person in charge of the kitchen was actually her nephew, Zhou Pu. At that time, he had caught the two snakes and secretly thrown them into Jingting Garden in the middle of the night. If they were to investigate further, given Zhou Pu's relationship with herself, it would definitely drag Madame and Eighth Miss into the matter again.

  Unexpectedly, Seventh Young Miss brought up Madame with just one sentence, was it unintentional or deliberate?

  Mr. Gu suddenly thought of the seriousness of the matter, stared at Hua Zheyu fiercely for a moment, and then smiled: "Forget it, forget it, just two snakes ran into the kitchen, fortunately they only hurt our Meng'er, Qi Yaotou is fine, don't make a big fuss about it. From now on, I won't eat snake when I have a headache again. Master, let's go see how Meng'er is doing."

  She changed the subject, wanting to get over it. Hua Buqi was about to respond when Hua Yu took two steps forward and said: "Ba Mei was injured for her daughter's sake, even if it was for Ba Mei, we should find out who released the snake. Otherwise, if something happens in the mansion again, it will be too late to regret."

  The flower was not blocked by her, and she stood there in a daze. In his impression, Hua Yue was not someone who dared to refute him directly. Being gentle and avoiding conflict was her nature. How could she dare to defy him now? Had he misheard?

  Gu's face turned cold, "Qī Niángzǐ (Seventh Sister), we're going to see your Eighth Sister now. Must you stay here?"

  The rain poured down with a strong momentum, her head held high and her back stiff. "This is for the safety of everyone in the household, I also believe in Father's fairness."

  She didn't back down, and her fearless appearance immediately made He Shi burst out laughing. "Ah, our little rain is really living up to her name, just like the moon in its prime. Brother-in-law, this child is right, we can't let those with ulterior motives cause more trouble in the mansion."

  The flower was taken aback, her face slightly aflush, and she hummed softly to herself as she prepared to respond. But before she could say anything, Madame Gu gazed at Hua Yu with an almost imperceptible curl of her lip and said, "Some time ago, Old Man Shi suggested that you learn to manage some household chores and take care of some of our land holdings. I think the timing is about right now. Later, come over and let your mother instruct you on the state of those land holdings. Tomorrow, we'll have someone take you to visit some shops, and from then on, you can be in charge of managing those shops that will serve as your dowry."

  She finally said it.

  Looking at Gu's iron-green face, Hua Zhe thought to himself and secretly rejoiced. He then restrained his stubbornness, took two steps back, and bowed: "I don't know how Eighth Sister's injury is, Father and Mother should go take a look."

  Hua didn't lack, gave her a glance and left with a flick of his sleeve.

  Gu's wife was surrounded by a group of women and maids as she left with her eyes red from crying.

  He got up and walked to the front of Hua Zhe Yu, looked him up and down, then raised the handkerchief in his hand, and walked while drawing out his tone, saying to the woman next to him in a strange voice: "I didn't expect that Qi Mei also turned out well, it's only right for Bi Li and Bi Juan to learn from her."

  Hua Zhe Yu pretended not to hear her sarcastic words, and at this time, Qin Shi walked over with a gentle smile, patted her shoulder, and said softly: "When you have time, go to San Shu's place and play with your ninth and tenth sisters, San Shu will make delicious food for you."

  Hua Zhe Yu's admiration for the elegant and refined Third Aunt increased, and he nodded shyly: "Thank you, Third Aunt, I'll definitely have my niece visit when she has time."

  As soon as she came out of the Da Cheng Garden, Peony secretly let out a long sigh. As soon as she returned to the Jing Ting Garden, she had already heard that Coral had been severely punished and was sold out of the mansion by Old Mother Zhou. Qin'er, who was delighted, asked Peony: "Good sister, quickly tell me, what happened in the Da Cheng Garden? How could Madam punish Coral so severely?"

  Peony had a lot of questions for Hua Zhe Yu, but she was so entangled that she couldn't get anything out, so she first told her about what happened in Dacheng Garden.

  After hearing the story, Qin'er stared blankly for a long time before regaining her composure and gazing at Hua Zhiru with a look of admiration as she examined the embroidery under the window. "Miss, how did you manage to anticipate that Madame would use snakes to attack you? What's the deal with those two snakes? Quickly enlighten me, servant."

  She smiled faintly, put down the embroidery in her hand, and leaned back with her hands propping up her head. "It's nothing much. I just knew that Mother would not be willing to return those accessories, so I made some preparations beforehand. It happened that on that day, when Hua Yao went to the kitchen, she heard Zhou Pu say that Mother had a relapse and asked him to buy a snake. So, with the intention of preventing it, I transplanted some anti-snake radix plants over here. Unexpectedly, that night, I saw two bamboo-leaf green snakes in the grass thicket. Then, I used Xiang Huo's mouth to spread false news, and unexpectedly, Ba Mei was led here, so things turned out this way."

  "Wow, Miss is so formidable! That day, Chun Tao's little hoof ate a loss to Coral and still didn't know how to retreat. This time she ran into Miss's knife mouth again and was sold out, it serves her right. Who told her not to take Miss as the master before? She thought she was the mistress of Jing Ting Garden, now she has what she deserves."

  Qin'er's eyes sparkled with delight, feeling a great sense of relief and satisfaction that the wicked person had finally gotten their due.

  "But miss," Peony brought out those several house deeds again and placed them on the small table in front of Hua Yan, "from what madam said today about handing over the management rights, I'm afraid things are really as you said, madam will make some moves on these three shops. What do you plan to do?"

  He took the three house deeds from Yu Rong, remained silent for a moment, "It's not time to think about it yet. These shops have been in Mother's hands for more than two years. Even if I got the deed, the business side of things would still need her people to come and hand over clearly. Today, I forced her to take a step back, letting her use this as an exchange condition to hand over the operating rights of the shop entirely to me, is not a small gain. As for what happens next, it can only be taken one step at a time. After dinner, I will go to her place and see what she has to say."

  Peony nodded heavily, "I hope everything goes smoothly."