"She didn't brand your name."
Lin Jingxiu looked at Pei Yanzhou with disapproval, "Are you so sure that she will follow you honestly?"
"She had no choice."
Pei Yanzhou tapped the table, his eyes darkened for a moment, and then fell back to the fold in his hand.
He had always been reluctant to talk to others about Song Jinyin's affairs, and he was too lazy to listen to advice or explanations.
"Well, she really has nowhere to go without you, so she might as well follow you and maybe get the name of my concubine."
Lin Jingxiu didn't want to persuade him.
Whose backyard doesn't have a few delicate flowers? No matter how much you pamper her, she's just a maid. At worst, spending more money to buy her happiness won't cause any trouble.
...
Song Jinyin didn't know what Lin Jingxiu was thinking. She had become busy in recent days because of the work she was doing.
This time, the gathering of the third bedroom was not scheduled in the plum garden. The plum blossoms were not very lush at this time of year, and the plum garden was close to the second bedroom. Pei Musheng felt that it was unlucky, so he set his sights on Yunxin Water Pavilion.
The water pavilion is located in the garden, with spacious pavilions and seats next to the water for people to enjoy the scenery and rest, which is quite artistic.
It's just that there are places to enjoy the scenery in each courtyard of the Duke's Mansion. If there are no parties, there will be few people here on weekdays.
Pei Musheng planned to use this garden as a banquet place. There is a courtyard outside the waterside pavilion. In the hall, you can make tea and listen to music. There is a small bridge outside the courtyard with flowing water. The waterside pavilion corridor has its own fun.
Today, Song Jinyin was going to accompany the third girl to the waterside pavilion.
Now she can do some easy work, but Butler Wang's care when he comes back this time is different from before.
Not only did he not persuade her to recover early and go to work at the front, but he also had one or two plates of food prepared for her in the house all day long. She was really treated like a girl.
Song Jinyin was really a little uneasy, so she simply put her mind on the banquet in the third room, and even stopped the embroidery work.
But as soon as she and Biyu stepped into the garden together, and before they finished walking on the gravel path, they heard the voices of two women coming from inside the wall.
It was as if they had just received money. One was very happy, while the other was slightly worried.
"I heard that the purchase orders were sent to the third girl a few days ago. I don't know if she will see anything. If I want to see it, why don't we restrain ourselves a little these days? We are all masters and we can't offend anyone. Eat the good fruit."
"Oh, my good sister, are you stupid? No matter what, the third house is just a businessman, how can he compare with the second wife?"
"But the second lady is openly taking advantage of the opportunity to make money, just once or twice. If the difference between the money and the money is too big, it is impossible to hide this matter."
"so what?"
The voice of the other woman sounded younger, and her words were full of disrespect, "To put it bluntly, even if this matter comes to the old lady, the old lady will not do it for the third wife who is a concubine and has no status. , to find trouble for the second lady, the most I can do is to say a few words."
"Besides, the discrepancies in the money have been smoothed out a long time ago. Even if it is sent over, what can the three girls understand without touching the spring water with their fingers? At most, there is Song Jinyin in the prince's courtyard, but that girl has never seen anything other than serving people. What kind of world is this?"
The mother-in-law's words became more and more arrogant, and she laughed twice while speaking, with contempt.
"Maybe if you ask her how she recommends herself to serve the master, she can talk to you for a few hours, but judging from the accounts, she is probably just discrediting the master and doesn't understand anything."
Song Jinyin pulled Biyu and stood aside to listen quietly.
He didn't pay attention to the ridicule to her in those words, and only focused on looking at the account.
She also said that the orders sent by the third girl were more and more scary every time because she was used to being grand and always used only the best items and never showed mercy, so she suppressed her confusion and didn't mention it.
I didn't expect that there would be such an extra thing here.
The people inside are still going on, but they seem to be leaving in a hurry, and their voices are getting smaller and smaller.
"But behind that maid, there is the prince supporting her. The second lady just stuffed some items to buy and asked us to take their places. It is not something that will alarm the prince, but what if..."
"If this little thing can make the prince show up, then she, Song Jinyin, will not be just a maid. Have you ever seen her favored in such a long time? It was just the prince's whim that made her gain some respect, and she could toss for a few days ? Besides, we have also gained a lot of benefits. The amount that fell out from the fingers of the masters is not a small amount, and I can't bear to let it go."
"That's what you said... that's all, but even if you change some items, the expensive ones may not be much better..."
Biyu listened all the way, frowning from beginning to end.
She didn't expect that the second roommate would be so greedy and extend his hand so far, nor did she expect that others would talk about Song Jinyin in such unpleasant ways.
She glanced at the girl next to her and saw that her beautiful eyebrows were slightly furrowed, as if she was deep in thought, and her words of comfort were stuck in her throat.
Song Jinyin didn't look sad, but her face wasn't relaxed either.
"Are we going to see the old lady now?"
After a long time, Song Jinyin shook her head and said, "We can't go yet."
"Why? If it's true that the second lady was tampering with her, then the money difference is probably not even a small amount."
"We haven't really found any fault with her. What those two women said is right. Even if we sue the old lady at this time, she will suppress the matter because of the second master's face."
Biyu was speechless for a moment, feeling a little grievances for Sanfang.
The third master is a businessman. Although his status is not high, the money he pays every year is more than the first and second houses combined.
But even so, people in the mansion were not satisfied, especially the second lady.
The old lady may still be warm and close to the third master because of his filial piety for so many years and his family background, but the second lady despises the third master from the bottom of her heart and wishes she could only let the third master take over the Duke's mansion. expenses.
In her opinion, the money earned by Sanfang merchants should be handed over and let people with official positions use it first.
"The second lady's behavior is really disgusting."
"Let's go find the third girl first. Those two women can take over the purchasing work. They must be slaves of some status in the third room."
...
Pei Musheng was picking out hairpins. She never expected that such a thing would happen here.
She only gave one instruction for the banquet, and that was that all the eating utensils should be of the best quality, and there should be no perfunctory arrangements. But she didn't expect that the second room would take advantage of it.
"It's not the first time that those two bitches can do this under the eyes of others. They are really disgusting bitches!"
"Third girl, don't be upset. It's useless to be angry at this moment. It's better to wait a little longer."
"Are you still waiting? Now I just want to go to my grandmother and ask for an explanation!"
"But based on the three girls' words alone, why should the old lady believe it?"
Song Jinyin called the angry Pei Musheng, and regardless of her status, she reached out and held her, "Even if the old lady gives the third girl an explanation, it won't hurt. At most, if these two women are replaced, the money will not be returned." , maybe next time, the second lady will be more bold, anyway, I know that the old lady will not punish her."
"What should we do now? The items on the list do match. Even if we go through the old accounts, it will take time to find out where the replacement items came from."
"If we can't settle the old score, we'll have to wait for the new score."
Song Jinyin looked over with a calm look.
As Pei Musheng listened to her soft words, his anxiety gradually calmed down a little, and clarity reappeared in his mind.
You have to ask someone to steal the stolen goods before you can speak.
On the way back to Zhuyayuan, Biyu's eyes fell on Song Jinyin from time to time.
The matters that Song Jinyin discussed with the three girls all revolved around the second wife and the money. However, she did not mention a word about the two wives' comments, and she did not seem to be affected by them.
But as both women, Biyu didn't know how harsh those words were.
"Sister Biyu, do you have something to say?"
Sensing her scrutiny, Song Jinyin slowed down.
She hadn't recovered yet, and she was already a little tired after walking for a long time. Now that she stopped under the shadow of a tree, she simply rested on the tree trunk.
"It's nothing, I'm just a little worried about you."
"worry about me?"
Song Jinyin opened her round eyes, her eyes flickered, and suddenly she smiled with her eyes bent again.
"If sister is worried about me, can you not tell the prince about the third girl's matter this time?"
Biyu raised her hand to help her but froze in the air.
It was one of her responsibilities to report everything about Song Jinyin in detail, but after she became more sincere, this matter was suddenly exposed by Song Jinyin, which made her somewhat ashamed.
But the accusation did not fall. Instead, the girl's subtle voice sounded like she was mumbling to herself.
"Forget it, since sister has something to do, let's talk about it. Anyway, the prince should not care about such a trivial matter."
