The Phoenix is Back - Chapter 22

Chapter 022 Madam Qi Splashed
From the Nuan Chun Pavilion to the old lady’s quiet garden, one had to pass through the veranda and the garden. Along the way, Xiao Xichun’s face was tense, and the tip of his nose was covered in fine beads of sweat. He was indescribably nervous and uneasy. The closer she got to the Tranquil Garden, the more nervous and terrified she became.

“Don’t worry, grandmother is very kind.” Sensing Xiao Xichun’s uneasiness, Xiao Xiwei smiled at her.

Xiao Xichun glanced at Xiao Xiwei and nodded lightly.

The two of them had just stepped into the courtyard when Sang Ruo, the servant beside Old Lady Jun, walked out. Seeing that the two of them were busy, she blessed herself. “This servant greeted Second Miss and Fourth Miss.” After saying that, she smiled and said, “Just now, Old Lady Jun was worried that Fourth Miss’s carriage had missed its journey. Why hasn’t it arrived yet? I specially let this servant come out to take a look.”

Sang Ruo said as she opened the curtain sideways.

Ever since Madam Li was grounded, the Matriarch had placed a lot of trust in Second Miss. She had even left a few important matters of the manor to Second Miss. Seeing this, Sang Ruo naturally curried favor with this second young miss.

Xiao Xi smiled and looked at Bi Yun beside him. Bi Yun immediately understood and took a silver nude from the money bag and stuffed it into Sang Ruo’s hand.

“Sorry to trouble Sister Sang Ruo.” Bi Yun said with a smile.

Sang Ruo quietly hid the silver nude that Bi Yun had stuffed into her sleeve and smiled, “Second Miss, quickly go in.”

Xiao Xi smiled and nodded at Sang Ruo before stepping into the main room.

Xiao Xichun hurriedly followed. However, there was a bare marble floor, an exquisite octagonal lantern hanging above his head, and the furniture of the tables and chairs in the room was carved out of the finest yellow flower pear and red sandalwood, making the work complicated and exquisite.

“Grandmother.”

Xiao Xichun suddenly came back to her senses when she heard the voice. She looked at Xiao Xi and smiled as she called out to the old woman who was leaning against the Arhat chair. She suddenly felt a wave of anxiety in her heart.

Before coming here, although Nanny Zhu had already taught her etiquette, when she really faced all of this, she couldn’t help but feel nervous and flustered.

“Fourth sister, come and see grandmother. Grandmother has been talking about you these past few days.” Xiao Xi smiled and pulled Xiao Xichun’s hand.

Xiao Xichun looked at her gratefully, then knelt on the ground and kowtowed three times, “Granddaughter pays respects to Mother, and wishes Grandmother happiness and longevity.”

The matriarch raised her eyes and looked at Xiao Xichun indifferently. She felt that she was thin. Although her palm-sized face was covered with rouge, she still felt that there was no blood on her face. There was also some fear and unease on her face.

“It’s good to be back. Get up.” The matriarch looked at Xiao Xichun and finally said indifferently.

In the end, this was the Xiao Clan’s bloodline.

“Congratulations to Matriarch for having another beautiful and obedient granddaughter.” As Nurse Liu spoke, he extended his hand to help Xiao Xichun up.

The matriarch pursed her lips and smiled, but she turned to look at Xiao Xiwei. “The fourth girl is back. Have you chosen the person to serve her?”

“Yes, mother has already arranged it.” Xiao Xi lowered her eyes and replied.

Madam Li?

The old lady raised her eyebrows. She then remembered that before Madam Li grounded, she had indeed asked her to send someone to bring the four girls back. In other words, there was nothing wrong with her making arrangements. With this thought, she was relieved.

“Even though your mother has already arranged everything, you still need to worry about it.” The matriarch warned.

“Yes.” Xiao Xiwei replied.

At this time, a little girl walked in and whispered a few words into Nurse Liu’s ear. Then, Nurse Liu turned to look at Old Lady Lord and said, “Old Lady Lord, it’s time for dinner. Look …”

The matriarch looked up at Xiao Xiwei and Xiao Xichun and said, “Let them set the vegetables.”

This meant saving food.

Although the Marquis Mansion was large, there were only small kitchens in Old Lady Jing Yuan and Li Clan’s Hua Jin Yuan. The others were all serving food in the big kitchen of the public school.

After dinner, the matriarch casually asked Xiao Xichun how he had been living in the manor all these years. As soon as Matriarch spoke, Mammy Xiao, who was hiding behind Xiao Xichun’s sleeve, unconsciously clenched her hands. She stared at Xiao Xichun without blinking, afraid that she would say something wrong.

Although Xiao Xichun’s heart was beating like a drum, he thought about what Mother Xiao had told her on the way here. Finally, he had the guts to pick up a few trivial things and said it without mentioning that she had been humiliated and scolded by servants in the manor.

Hearing Xiao Xichun’s words, the matriarch nodded and smiled more.

She had been sent to such a remote manor for so many years without paying attention to it. Actually, she didn’t need to think about it to know that she had had an extremely difficult time these past few years. However, this girl didn’t complain to her in front of this girl’s mother-in-law, which meant that she was still a sensible and knowledgeable child.

Xiao Xi looked at Matriarch Xiao’s expression and unconsciously looked at Nanny Xiao with more praise.

After finishing their dinner in Jingyuan, the two of them bid farewell to each other and went back to their own courtyards.

In the blink of an eye, the weather was getting hotter and hotter. According to the past, it was time to buy more summer clothes for the master and servants in the manor. In the past, these things were handled by Madam Li, and the silk used to make summer clothes was bought from the famous embroidery shop in the capital.

When Xiao Xiwei was ten years old, her uncle, Chen Jinrong, gave her a birthday gift. The shopkeeper, silk and tailor inside were all handled by Chen Jinrong. Xiao Xiwei only had to wait until the end of the year for the shopkeeper to give her the profits and accounts for the year.

Now that Madam Li had been grounded, Old Lady Jun could not bear to work hard for days, so she handed this matter over to Xiao Xiwei. In any case, the embroidery shop was her shop, so she only needed to do as usual this year.

Since the matter had been handed over to her, she had to make a trip to the embroidery shop and see how her shop was doing. He immediately packed up and led Bi Yun and another second-class girl, Zi Yan, out of the manor.

Jinxiu Square was located on the east street of the capital, and the streets were bustling with people.

As soon as he stepped into the room, an attendant immediately greeted him.

“Young miss wants to make clothes. The cloth in our shop is shipped from Jiangnan. It’s the thinnest and most delicate. If you can introduce it to me sometimes, I’ll introduce it to you.”

Xiao Xi smiled faintly and said, “Alright.”

When the waiter saw that there was a play, he hurriedly led Xiao Xiwei into the private room and brewed tea for her. It was only then that he was introduced to her with a few brightly colored brocade satin. He was just halfway through when a sharp female voice suddenly came from the private room next door.

“Do you know who I am? I am the uncle and wife of Zhongyong Marquis Mansion! I am the aunt of your second young miss! In the past, the Yunzhongjin in my mansion used to be ten silver taels each. How dare you charge fifty silver taels this year! Are you trying to cheat this madam?”

When the waiter heard this voice, he immediately frowned, “Miss, I’m sorry, you drink your tea first, I’ll be right there.”

“It doesn’t matter. You can go.” Xiao Xi smiled.

The man thankfully retreated.

The voice from the private room continued to come.

‘”Forgive me for talking too much. I don’t know what uncle and wife I am. I don’t remember you buying brocade in our store in the past. Besides, our store always has a clear price tag. No matter which wife buys it, this brocade in the clouds is fifty taels. Please forgive me, madam.”

With a’pa ‘sound, the sound of the teacup breaking came from next door.

“How dare you speak to me like this! Let your shopkeeper come out!”

“Madam, I’m really sorry. My shopkeeper hasn’t returned yet. Why don’t you come back another day?”

“Then send someone to call him back! If he is half a minute late, I will make you all pack up and scram back!”

The quarrel next door continued.

“What a temper, uncle and madam!” Bi Yun muttered softly.

Xiao Xiwei smiled and slowly put down his teacup. “Come, let’s take a look.”

Sure enough, when they entered the next room, they saw Madam Qi sitting in a chair with purple embroidered long sleeves. The clerk who had just introduced Xiao Xiwei to the precision forging was smiling at the side. A trace of surprise flashed across her face when she came in.

“I wonder what made aunt so angry?” Xiao Xi walked in with a smile.

Suddenly, a trace of embarrassment flashed across Madam Qi’s face when she saw Xiao Xiwei here. However, a smile immediately hung on her face. “Wei’er, why did you leave the manor?”

“Seeing that the weather is hot, it’s time for Xia Chang to be made in the mansion, so I came to take a look at the shop. I didn’t want to run into aunt.” Xiao Xiwei had a faint smile on her face. “Oh right, did aunt say that my shop assistant was lying to you just now?” As she spoke, her phoenix-like eyes swept towards the waiter standing at the side.

Only then did the waiter know that the young lady who had just come to see the silk was actually the owner of the embroidery shop, so he hurriedly bowed forward and said, “Little clumsy, I didn’t recognize the owner.”

“It’s not your fault. You haven’t seen me before. It’s not strange that you don’t know me.” Xiao Xiwei smiled faintly, “However, my aunt said that you were lying to her? This matter …”

“Back to the owner, small name is a good, in the owner of the shop has been working for three years, has been guarding this, how can the moon? My uncle and madam insisted that the brocade of clouds bought in our shop last year was ten taels a piece. But boss, the Cloud Brocade in our shop has never sold for this price. According to Little Guess, perhaps what Madam bought last year wasn’t Cloud Brocade, but Su Brocade. “Yun Zhong Jin and Su Jin are very similar, but the weaving techniques of the fabrics are completely different. I think Madam must have remembered wrongly!”

“Aunt, look” Hearing A Liang’s words, Xiao Xiwei turned to look at Madam Qi.

Madam Qi was annoyed, “Could it be that I can’t even distinguish Su Jin from Yun Zhong Jin?”

‘”Uncle and madam must say so. Then tell me when you bought it last year and who sold it to you. I will send someone to get the ledger! If it is really as uncle and madam said, I am willing to sell my life to the owner in front of the owner as compensation for the money!”

“This … how can I remember this?”

“Then madam must remember some month, right?”

Madam Qi pursed the corners of her lips and a trace of anger flashed in her eyes. However, in front of Xiao Xiwei, it was not good for her to make things difficult for another clerk. She only suppressed the anger back angrily.

“Madam, you have forgotten that you were busy preparing to accompany Master to Su Yang at this time last year, so you asked Madam Xiao to buy it at a price of ten taels.” The servant beside Madam Qi tugged at the corner of Madam Qi’s sleeve and reminded her softly.

“Yes, I bought it for your mother last year. I did give you ten taels of silver.” Madam Qi hurriedly said.

“If it was Madam Xiao, that would be even more impossible! Because of our young miss, every year Madam Xiao sends people to fetch the precious silks of Misty Gauze, Cloud Brocade, and Brocade Satin. We don’t have any cashiers.” A Liang smiled and said.

Madam Qi blushed.

What, no silver! Then why did Madam Li tell her that the Cloud Soft was bought for ten taels of silver? Could it be that she was lying to her?