noffsinger Chapter 532 Too Many Strange Things
Chapter 532 Too Many Strange Things
"Love the house and the dog?"
Du Mingxian snapped out of her reverie, "You also think it's about loving the house because of its owner? I thought so at first, but I don't think so now."
"why?"
Du Mingxian recounted what the old woman had told her yesterday: "Even if she loves the house and its inhabitants as much as she loves her own children, it certainly won't surpass the love she has for her own children. The problem now is... none of Madam Tian's children are as favored as this Miss Tian."
"Have you ever heard of someone in the capital casually giving fifty taels of silver as a tip to a servant?"
Chunfeng shut up. There really wasn't such a thing in the capital. She was a servant, so she knew a bit about tipping money.
"So this shows that Miss Tian has a lot of money, or she doesn't care about money at all and spends it however she wants, which is why she has become so ignorant of worldly affairs and doesn't know that fifty taels of silver may be an amount that some farmers cannot earn in their entire lives."
"Miss Tian said she grew up in the village. Do you think someone like that would give such a large sum of money as a reward?"
"It's okay for people to have vanity, but not like this."
After listening to Du Mingxian's analysis, Chunfeng also sensed something was amiss. "Madam, should we send someone to investigate this Miss Tian?"
"No, I asked you last time if there were any particularly powerful people among the people who came this time. I secretly went to Miss Tian's courtyard last time and found two extremely skilled people guarding the door. This proves that Miss Tian has someone behind her that we cannot afford to offend."
"At least we can't alert them."
It's true that she has the Crown Prince backing her now, but the mountains are high and the roads are far. If something really happens, she might not be able to protect all of them. She really can't afford to offend the person behind her.
Chunfeng became interested. "Madam, why don't we send them to test the waters?"
"Wait a minute. I've gotten some information from that servant in the Tian family. You guys continue investigating the Ming Prince's line. I'll handle this. I still don't understand the relationship between the Tian family and the Ming Prince's family. It's a relationship that looks so complicated..."
"Everyone knows that the young master married Miss Tian because he was so fond of her. But he still spends time with other women outside. I heard from Granny Tian that neither the young master nor Miss Tian agreed to the marriage; it was their parents who arranged it."
"This is even stranger. Even if Prince Ming was afraid of what others would say behind his back and wanted to arrange a marriage for his son with a family of humble origins, he could not choose from the Tian family no matter what he did."
Chunfeng sensed something was amiss. “Madam, is it possible that Madam Tian and Mr. Tian have been in contact with the Ming Prince’s family behind the scenes? They want the two children to be together, but they are afraid that others will find out about their relationship. So they use the engagement of the two children as an excuse to bring the two families closer together.”
"Yes, yes, I didn't think of that." Du Mingxian was a little excited, shaking the hairpin in her hand.
Spring Breeze felt a little dizzy from the swaying. "Madam, the pattern on your hairpin is quite unique."
"Yes, it was given to me by Granny Tian just now. I'll keep it."
Chunfeng didn't say anything more, and Du Mingxian didn't want to think about it anymore. "Let's go get something to eat. We can't use our brains too much lately."
"Yes."
After dinner, the two went back, but... Red Peach returned.
Hongtao didn't dare to ask for leave too often, but because she was diligent and performed well, the people in the courtyard were willing to do her a favor. Knowing that her mother was coming, sometimes when she wasn't busy, Hongtao would ask the maidservant next to the young lady for leave and leave.
She had also returned once when Du Mingxian went back to Ping County. Du Mingxian was not there at the time, and she knew that her mother was extremely anxious and had been waiting for her mistress to return.
She was already extremely anxious after only a few days away, just like her mother, fearing that her master might never return and what would become of her mother.
She had just arrived home today, and although she still hadn't seen her mistress, her mother's face had filled out, and she looked radiant. "Mother, has Madam returned?"
"Yes, I've been back for several days. I was so worried when I didn't come back. Now that I'm back, I can calm down a bit."
Hongtao chuckled, "I've never seen Mother so worried about us."
“It’s different. No matter what, Mother will always care about you, but Madam is Madam. Without Madam, my heart feels empty, and I don’t know what to do.”
The two hadn't been talking for long when Du Mingxian and the other woman returned. Dong Shi then busied herself preparing food, while Chunfeng and the other two stared at each other in the room.
Hongtao said, "My mother is really worried because Madam hasn't come back yet. She has lost a lot of weight. I was also worried about my mother when I went to work at the mansion, so I asked for leave to come back and see her."
"Something came up and I had to come back right away." Du Mingxian noticed that Hongtao had lost a lot of weight. "Is the work in the manor hard? She seems to have lost a lot of weight since last time."
"No, the work in the manor is still quite easy. It's just that the manor has been busy lately, and some of our staff have been seconded out. We're now doing the work of two people. Now that the staff has returned, we have enough manpower in the courtyard, so I quickly asked for leave."
Du Mingxian inquired intentionally, "Is all that busy in your backyard just women's banquets?"
"This isn't a women's banquet; it's a matchmaking event for the young lady."
"How old is your young lady this year? Why are you getting engaged so soon?"
"I'm fourteen this year. By the time the betrothal gifts are exchanged and all the formalities are completed before the wedding, I'll be sixteen, which is just the right age."
"The daughter of the prefect must have married into a good family."
Hongtao realized that Du Mingxian was asking questions, but she didn't object. After all, her mother had become the other party's servant, and if she, as the servant's daughter, answered well, it would help her mother gain favor with the madam and receive more preferential treatment.
"That's what I find strange. The madam is unwilling, but the master is. That person is Mr. Tian's student. You may not know who Mr. Tian is. The eldest daughter of the Tian family is the fiancée of the Prince of Ming."
Du Mingxian thought that the person she knew best was probably this Miss Tian.
"You adults only have one legitimate daughter, are you willing to marry her off to an ordinary man?"
"This is the strangest thing. Madam and Master have a very good relationship. In the manor, Madam always listens to him. Master didn't even ask about our eldest son's marriage. Madam just chose the right person, told Master, and he said it was fine."
"But when it came to Miss, Madam was very opposed. In the past, when Madam was very opposed to such things, Master would always compromise in the end. But this time, Master did not compromise and insisted on marrying Miss to Mr. Tian's apprentice."
Chunfeng reminded him from the side, "The Tian family is related to the Ming Prince's Mansion. Mr. Tian is the heir apparent's father-in-law. Mr. Tian's disciple married the daughter of the prefect. Your master is trying to build a good relationship with the Ming Prince."