"Aunt Xu, why is it so late? If it were any later, the girl wouldn't even be able to use her lunch." Qingyue had already come out and looked around several times, and finally saw Aunt Xu coming in a hurry.

Aunt Xu wiped her sweat and said, "The kitchen is much messier than before. It's because Madam is not in charge now."

"Who's in charge?" Qingyue's eyes widened.

"It's said that several aunts took charge of it together. They didn't take care of things, so they took over and it became a mess." Aunt Xu said.

The two of them entered the house together and set out food for Yu Xijiao.

Yu Xijiao looked out the window, knowing that it was already past lunch time, and a dark look flashed in her eyes. Yesterday, she knew that Qian could not properly hand over the rights in his hands, and now she was just playing hard to get.

But now that Qian had let him go, she had no intention of letting Qian take it back intact.

After lunch, Yu Xijiao asked: "Mother Xu, how about other places?"

"Girl, other places are also in chaos. Many people waiting to get lunch in the kitchen are saying, how could such a mess happen? They also said that today is still the first day, and if things continue like this, the whole house will be in chaos."

Aunt Xu had been warned a long time ago to pay special attention to what was going on around her.

"Is lunch at father's place late?" Yu Xijiao took the teacup Qingyue gave her, took a sip, put it down slowly, and asked thoughtfully.

"The Marquis' lunch was not messy, and the time was not missed at noon today. I left aside other things and took care of the Marquis first. But I missed everything else, and I also missed a lot at the second girl's office. The eldest girl...

It's still behind the girl, and when the old slave came back, he hadn't sent it over yet."

Yesterday morning, Yu Xijiao specially asked Yu Zhuqing to go to the family temple in the mansion to worship. She was afraid that Yu Zhuqing would be involved in this kind of thing, so she took advantage of this to take out the eldest sister first.

In the past, when she was in the mansion, Mr. Qian would let her go to her family temple from time to time, often for a whole day. She claimed that Yu Zhuqing liked to be quiet by nature, and she especially liked to go to her family temple to worship her relatives.

Yu Zhuqing has not yet been engaged, and a large part of the reason should be this. This is naturally the result of Qian's vigorous publicity outside.

After yesterday's incident, Yu Zhuqing learned that something big had happened. When he hurried back, Yu Xijiao just smiled and told her that the matter was over, so that she didn't have to worry, and took her to Qinglanxuan.

In order to stay out of the incident after it happened, Qian was very concerned about Qinglanxuan. The interior was almost decorated, so Yu Xijiao asked Yu Zhuqing to go back first. Her Yaoshui Pavilion may not be clean recently, so first

It is best for the eldest sister to return to Qinglanxuan.

"Where's Aunt Zhou?" Yu Xijiao looked out the window.

"Usually Aunt Zhou would come out to get some fresh air at this time, but I don't know what happened today!" This is the news that Aunt Xu went to find out yesterday.

"Let's go!" Yu Xijiao stood up and walked out, Qingyue hurriedly followed.

Yu Xijiao walked all the way and found out carefully that many places looked a bit messy today, and the woman in charge was loudly scolding the maid in the corner. When she saw the master and servant coming, she hurriedly stood with a smiling face.

aside.

In a corner of the garden, there is a pavilion with four corners. There is a young woman sitting in the pavilion. She is sitting alone with her head bowed. There is no one else waiting around her. She is leaning against a pillar of the pavilion and seems to be holding something in her hand.

look.

"Is that Aunt Zhou?" Yu Xijiao glanced at it. She hadn't seen this Aunt Zhou since she entered the house. She heard that this Aunt Zhou had been in poor health and only came out for walks occasionally.

"It's Aunt Zhou. I've seen her from a distance before. But in the past, there were people waiting around. Why is Aunt Zhou alone today?"

Qingyue said the following words to herself. After she finished speaking, she looked around and saw no maid nearby, which was a bit strange.

"Maybe I took something!" Yu Xijiao looked at the small pavilion and walked over slowly.

Aunt Zhou quietly looked at a thin, small fan in her hand in a daze. When she heard the movement, she subconsciously raised her head and saw Yu Xijiao's beautiful eyes.

After being stunned for a moment, Aunt Zhou hurriedly stood up holding the pillar and subconsciously put her hand back.

"My concubine has seen the third girl!"

"What a beautiful fan, can I take a look?" Yu Xijiao smiled softly and asked calmly.

"It's just... the random drawings I made in the past were very ordinary. I'm afraid it might stain the third girl's eyes." Aunt Zhou hesitated for a moment, bit her lip and replied. She just looked at the fan in her hand wholeheartedly, but

I forgot that this was not the inside of the house, and the hand behind my back was not taken out.

Yu Xijiao looked at Aunt Zhou who was pale and haggard. Aunt Zhou was not very old, but she looked very haggard. The miscarriage must have been a huge blow to her.

"It seems to be painting a few bamboos. I didn't expect Aunt Zhou to paint so well." Seeing her reluctance, Yu Xijiao didn't force it and continued gently, "But the power seems to be very strong. It shouldn't be Aunt Zhou."

Was it a recent painting?"

Aunt Zhou had been ill for a long time and her body was almost withered. Some people in the house even secretly speculated that Aunt Zhou would not live long.

"My concubine... I used to paint, but now... I'm afraid I can't even hold a paintbrush." ​​Aunt Zhou said, turning her head to one side and coughing quietly.

A maid hurriedly came from outside. She was stunned for a moment when she saw the people in the pavilion. She immediately recognized Yu Xijiao and hurriedly stepped forward to salute: "I have seen the third girl."

Yu Xijiao looked at the cloak in the maid's hand and smiled slightly: "Put it on your aunt first!"

The maid stood up in response, put the cloak on Aunt Zhou, and stretched out her hand to support Aunt Zhou.

After Aunt Zhou finished coughing, she bowed to Yu Xijiao gratefully: "Third Miss, I'm not in good health, so I won't accompany Third Miss."

"Aunt Zhou, please help yourself." Yu Xijiao smiled and stepped aside.

Aunt Zhou held the maid's hand and left slowly.

Seeing that Aunt Zhou really left like that, Qingyue unconsciously took a step forward, then turned her head and glanced at Yu Xijiao, and called out in a low voice: "Girl."

"Go and check if Aunt Zhou received anything yesterday!" Yu Xijiao said thoughtfully.

"What the girl means is..." Qingyue was stunned.

"Although Aunt Zhou's health is not very good, she is not so dilapidated that she can no longer do anything. She can still go out for a walk every day, so she should be fine." Yu Xi said softly.

"But everyone in the house said that Aunt Zhou is dying." Qingyue said.

Yu Xijiao raised her eyes and looked in the direction where Aunt Zhou was walking away. Although she had not touched her pulse just now, looking at Aunt Zhou's complexion, it was really not that she was terminally ill. It was not that serious. It was just a knot in her heart.

That fan gave Yu Xijiao a new idea.

Aunt Zhou's health was not as bad as expected, and why was Qian so sure that Aunt Zhou would not take over the affairs of the mansion? After returning from the Zhengyuan Marquis Mansion, Yu Xijiao found out that only Aunt Zhou had

The ability to manage the internal affairs of the Xuanping Hou Mansion.

Qian handed over the power of the housekeeper just to deal with her father, so why did she think that the stewardship would eventually fall on her? Apart from her, there was no other suitable candidate in the house.

Where is it?

In a blink of an eye, Yu Xijiao had already confirmed that this fan was not painted by a woman. Was it because she was overthinking or was it Qian's conspiracy? This matter needs to be investigated carefully. What happened yesterday and today...

Qingyue acted quickly and found out the news not long after she went out.

"Girl, a letter came from outside yesterday, saying it was from Aunt Zhou's relatives in her hometown." Qingyue opened the curtain and came in to report.

There are quite a few people who know about this. It is said that this letter was delayed for a long time along the way. It was entrusted to a fellow countryman of Aunt Zhou. However, this fellow countryman was confused and actually sent it to the wrong place and then transferred it to the wrong place.

I went to several places and just delivered it yesterday. I heard that Aunt Zhou didn't believe it at first, but later she burst into tears when she saw the letter. She thanked the person who sent it and confirmed that the letter was hers.

"After the Marquis and his wife returned home yesterday?" Yu Xijiao continued to ask as this matched her inner guess.

"It was in the afternoon to evening. I heard from people in the house that Aunt Zhou was very excited. When she saw it, it was a letter from a relative at home. Everyone in the house was guessing who it was. I heard that there was no one else close to Aunt Zhou.

, otherwise she would not have followed her father to Beijing. In the end, her father died and she was unable to bury him. It was the Marquis who brought him back to the house."

Qingyue said, this matter is easy to inquire about. Many people think that Aunt Zhou has no close relatives in her hometown. Why would someone write a letter to make Aunt Zhou so excited?

"Let's go and see Aunt Zhou." Yu Xijiao stood up.

"Girl, are you going at this time?" Qingyue paused.

"I just accidentally dropped a piece of handkerchief that my grandmother gave me. I don't know if Aunt Zhou saw it, so I can go over and ask." Yu Xijiao stood up, with a faint look in her eyes. This matter cannot wait.

, if he really waits until the mansion is in chaos, his father will have no choice but to let Qian continue to manage the affairs of the mansion.

Now that Qian had let go, she would not let her take it back completely.

Aunt Zhou's housekeeping was something she had been considering before. How could she miss such a good opportunity now? If she went late, things might change...

Aunt Zhou had been looking at the fan in her hand for a long time, and finally her hand fell down weakly, and tears fell one after another. If she had not followed her father to Beijing at that time, none of this would have happened, or she would have been stronger at that time.

, it is also unknown whether he will keep his father.

Now, everything can't go back!

If her father was still alive, she would definitely be able to marry her cousin. But then her father was gone and the situation was like that. She could only enter the Xuanpinghou Mansion. At least at that time, she was grateful to Xuanpinghou, but now she

There was only one person left, and he even came to the capital. His cousin said that he would not dislike him and that no one would stop him from marrying him.

In the capital, just outside the Xuanping Hou Mansion, waiting for him was his cousin who had grown up with his childhood sweetheart. This fan indeed belonged to his cousin. When he was painting, he helped him polish the ink, but at that time

My aunt disagreed, and my cousin said that she would only agree to come to propose marriage when my father was in high school.

But in the end...she could only be a concubine...
Chapter completed!