Chapter 266

The head servant came over not long after and paid respects to them with a smile. After he served them tea, he said, “Young Master isn’t back yet, and I’ve already sent someone to inform Young Mistress! Did you bring any baggage, Second Young Master? Would you like to have a rest first?”

Shi Fengming replied with a smile, “I’m staying elsewhere, so you don’t have to. I’ll wait for my eldest brother to come back. My sister-in-law doesn’t have to see us now. We’re fine seeing them tonight instead!”

Regardless of whether his sister-in-law was his cousin or the young lady of the Sang Family, Shi Fengming did not want to meet her alone as it felt awkward to him.

Who knew that Su Qing’er would nudge him with her elbow and say with a smile, “Actually, we’re not outsiders. Young Mistress is probably bored. If she’s willing, we can pay her a visit now and chat with her to relieve her boredom!”

Su Qing’er felt regretful. If she knew that it would be so easy to enter the villa, she would have brought her baggage over! Shi Fengming was also an inflexible person. Why did he refuse? Wouldn’t their chance increase if they stayed here with Shi Fengju and his wife?

When Shi Fengming heard Su Qing’er say that, he smiled towards the head servant. “Qing’er is right. Since we’re all one family, there is no need to be reserved. Please inform my sister-in-law that we’re here!”

The head servant shot a weird glance at them and bowed in agreement.

“Why do you want to meet my sister-in-law?” Shi Fengming frowned slightly.

Su Qing’er replied with a smile in annoyance, “You really don’t have a brain! If your eldest brother brings her out, it’s clear that he treats her very well! Young Mistress is also a lady, so I think she’ll be able to empathize with our situation. If she helps us put a few good words in front of him, wouldn’t that save us a lot of trouble?”

“Right, right!” Shi Fengming became delighted. “You’ve thought so thoroughly! However, if my sister-in-law doesn’t have a good temper and says anything bad, you mustn’t take it to heart.”

Su Qing’er shook her head. “Why would I? Now that we have to bring up a request to someone else, it is inevitable that we have to put ourselves down. I still know such a principle!”

Shi Fengming was deeply moved, “It’ll be hard on you!”

Su Qing’er shook her head with a smile.

“What? Second Young Master is here?” Sang Wan was shocked. Wasn’t he in hiding? Why did he take the initiative to visit them?

“Yes, the Second Young Master also brought a lady. If you’re free, they are willing to pay you a visit first.” The head servant didn’t know how to address Su Qing’er, so she addressed her ambiguously.

“A lady?” Sang Wan instantly understood and silently sighed. It was no wonder Shi Fengming would take the initiative to go out. It must have been Su Qing’er’s idea. Su Qing’er was probably bent on entering the Shi household.

As someone who sympathized with Zhou Jingyi, Sang Wan did not have any good impression of Su Qing’er, who had seduced someone’s husband and made him abandon his parents and wife so that he could elope with her. The day before, their meeting at the West Lake made her dislike her a lot. Would she still meet her at this moment?

She recalled how furious Shi Fengju was when he came back the day before, with a very ugly expression. If he knew that Shi Fengming had brought Su Qing’er to visit him, that anger would definitely go above his head. The gatekeeper should have informed her before letting them in! However, she felt that she couldn’t blame the gatekeeper. Shi Fengming was a master, so how could he stop him?

“Tell them that the weather is warm and I’m not adapted to it, so I won’t be meeting them! Treat them well and quickly send someone to inform Eldest Young Master!” Sang Wan instructed with a light sigh.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Since they were already here, could they even be chased out? After all, Shi Fengming was her brother-in-law. As a sister-in-law, she could do no such thing!

The head servant did as told. After she had sent someone to call Shi Fengju back, she personally went to inform Shi Fengming.

Shi Fengming did not mind whether he was going to meet Sang Wan or not at first. But after he heard Su Qing’er’s words, he looked forward to meeting Sang Wan even more than her. Therefore, he felt disappointed upon hearing the head servant’s words. He asked, “May I ask if my sister-in-law’s surname is Gu?”

If it was Gu Fangzi, she could be considered someone familiar. If he insisted on meeting her, Gu Fangzi wouldn’t refuse either. If it was the young lady from the Sang Family, then it was better to wait for his eldest brother to come back!

The head servant said with her head lowered, “Young Mistress’ surname is Sang. Second Young Master, you don’t know that?”

“So it’s the young lady of the Sang Family!” Shi Fengming nodded his head and said while waving his hand, “Alright. We’ll wait here. You may leave to do your thing!”

The head servant took her leave and left a servant to serve them.

Su Qing’er looked outside and said with a smile, “The view in this villa is pretty good. Second Young Master, since we will be waiting idly, why don’t we take a walk outside?”

Shi Fengming, who was feeling bored, nodded his head and got up with Su Qing’er. When he saw the servant following, he said impatiently, “I know the way, so don’t follow me!”

The servant acknowledged respectfully and stopped in her tracks. Xiao Lian also stayed in the house.

Shi Fengming took Su Qing’er for a stroll in the garden and pointed at places for her to see on the way. Su Qing’er had never seen such a courtyard. All year long, the Shi Family might not even stay for a few days, yet every view with each step was exquisite. The exotic flowers and verdant plants and different shapes of freshwater stones conformed with one another, decorating the view from the pavilion corridors. It was also particularly quiet and secluded. From time to time, one could see the flowing of water, meandering into a reservoir. There were brightly-colored water lilies and goldfish swimming within, and mandarin ducks with vivid feathers among the water plants at the shore, adding on to the freshness of the beautiful scenery.

After passing through the moon gate, a hedge of wisteria appeared before her eyes. It was now the season when wisteria flowers bloomed. The wisteria flowers, which were a foot long, bloomed layer over layer and were very beautiful and enchanting. They hung on the verdant branches in an eye-catching manner.

“It’s so beautiful here!” Su Qing’er’s eyes lit up and ran into the hedge while lifting the corners of her skirts. She was full of smiles and couldn’t help stretching out to pick the flowers.

As Shi Fengming stood in the corridor, he watched her with a smile.

“Hey, stop! Yes you, the one in front of the wisteria! Who are you? How can you pick the flowers here as you please?” When Su Qing’er’s hands reached the flowers, she heard a voice from up ahead.

Su Qing’er’s spirits dampened and she picked the string of purple flowers in a fit of pique. Then, she looked up at that woman with a provocative sneer.

How dare a servant who was just in charge of the garden shout at her? How could she simply take it lying down?

Who knew that before Su Qing’er could show her sneer, her face turned rigid.

That servant recognized her and cried out in surprise, “It’s you!” That servant was Madame Qin.

Sang Wan loved the purple wisteria flowers. Therefore, Madame Qin had always asked the servants to take good care of it. When she passed by today and saw such an audacious person who dared to extend her hands to pick the flowers, she shouted at the person to stop her. However, she hadn’t expected that the world would be so small!

“It’s you!” Su Qing’er naturally recognized her and was stunned.

Madame Qin shouted angrily, “Why is an improper woman like you in our house! Our Young Mistress loves these purple wisteria flowers! What guts you have!”

“What happened here?” When Shi Fengming heard the argument, he quickly walked over. Upon hearing Madame Qin speaking rudely, he reprimanded her with a frown, “What’s your job in this household? Clean that mouth of yours, and how come it’s you!” Shi Fengming also saw Madame Qin.

At this time, Madame Qin felt that something was not right, so she replied to Shi Fengming, “Are you a friend of our Young Master? This woman simply doesn’t know how to appreciate what’s good. How can she pick the flowers here at will? She’s indeed an uncouth thing who isn’t upright!”

When Shi Fengming saw that Su Qing’er was feeling grieved and awkward, he couldn’t help but get furious, “Quiet! Isn’t it just a flower? It has already been picked, so what’s the deal?”

As Shi Fengming said that, he went forward and deliberately plucked another string of flowers.

“How dare you!” Madame Qin was not someone who was accommodating. Upon seeing Shi Fengming’s actions, she became even more furious. Without being polite at all, she went forward and slapped his hand away before blocking his way. She said with a sneer, “You seem to look and behave in a dignified manner, so I thought that you were at least refined. I didn’t expect that I’d misjudged you! How can there be a good person with this woman! Weren’t you taught that at someone else’s house, you need to follow the rules as a guest?”

“That is absurd!” Su Qing’er said angrily, “A guest? Open your eyes wide and see. Second Young Master is not a guest. He’s a master of this house! So what if I pull out the whole tree, let alone pick a flower? As a mere servant, you dared to go against your masters? I think you’re the one who doesn’t know the rules!”

As if Madame Qin had heard a big joke, she broke out in a peal of laughter and sneered. “Master? After Young Master and Young Mistress came here, I’ve always been serving them. If you two are the masters, what are they? Why did Young Master and Young Mistress not inform me if that was the case?”

When Su Qing’er was about to speak, Shi Fengming couldn’t bear hearing anymore. He pulled her and said fiercely, “That’s enough, Qing’er. Don’t stoop down to her level! Let’s go!”

Shi Fengming’s face had turned red and he couldn’t be more ashamed. He had never been humiliated like that ever since he was young. However, his own family’s servant had mocked him in his own house. He suddenly had a feeling that he didn’t seem to belong from the Shi Family anymore, as they no longer recognized him! He felt somewhat sad when he realized that.

“You two know your place indeed!” Madame Qin said with a snort, “Know some rules. Don’t treat yourself as if you’re not an outsider everywhere you go!”

“You!” Her words had made Shi Fengming feel unbearable, and he stared at her fiercely. Without taking it lying down, Madame Qin glared back at him with a sneer.

Su Qing’er couldn’t take this situation anymore, so she started arguing with Madame Qin again.

“Madame Qin, what’s going on?” Someone had already informed Sang Wan about the situation. Sang Wan felt that there was going to be trouble and could not avoid showing her face even if she wanted to. She brought some servants and hurried over. She could hear Su Qing’er and Madame Qin arguing very badly, while Shi Fengming remained quiet with his hands behind him.

“Young Mistress!” Even though Madame Qin seemed overbearing, Su Qing’er used to be popular in the brothel, so she was eloquent. When she gave it her all, all sorts of unkind words spilled. Madame Qin had never encountered such a situation. Despite not being able to hold her ground, she was unwilling to concede and argued with Su Qing’er. Upon hearing Sang Wan’s words, she quickly went up to her with her eyes still slightly red.