Jun Jiuling

The servant girl seated behind her agreed and stood up.

Miss Jun did not pay any heed to her; Jinchuan, who was standing by the door, didn’t say anything either.

Xianglan carried the teapot and opened the door. Besides the attendant, there was a servant girl standing outside the door, calling out to her.

Xianglan remembered that she was the servant who had come in with Miss Jun.

She hadn’t expected that she wouldn’t be waiting outside the Jinyun Hall like the other maids. Instead, she was guarding the door to the private room.

Was this the Fang Family showing concern for Young Lady, or were they uneasy?

It definitely had to be the latter.

Xianglan smiled.

“Young Miss wants tea; I am going to get some,” she said, refusing the attendant.

She moved as she spoke, but that servant girl followed after her.

“There are many kinds of tea in the Jinyun Hall. I heard they have a specialized teahouse to brew it; I’ll come along to see,” she said, smiling.

Xianglan’s heart skipped a beat. She pinched the cuff of her sleeve, but had no facial reaction.

“Yes, I’m also going to see. It would be rare to come again,” she said with a smile. Breezily, she asked, “What is your name, little sister?”

“I am called Yinbao[1].” the servant girl responded.

As expected of a filthy money grubbing merchants’ servant. Even their names were tacky and related to gold, silver. Xianglan scoffed internally. It it weren’t for Young Miss, who would show a smile to such a person.

“That’s a very nice name,” she complimented.

She and Yinbao set out for the tea place.

After selecting their tea, they started to head back. As they chatted and went up the stairs, they suddenly saw someone run in from outside.

“Yinbao!” came a clear, girl’s voice.

The servant girl chatting with Xianglan was frightened by the sight of this girl.

“Third Miss,” she greeted hastily. “You came too?”

Fang Jinxiu did not step forward and waved at her instead.

“Come over here,” she ordered.

Yinbao looked at Xianglan with hesitation.

Xianglan was very happy.

“You go ahead. I will tell your young lady you went to the bathroom,” she said quietly.

Obviously, she knew that Jun Zhenzhen and the Fang Family young misses were not on the best of terms, so she considerately assisted the young girl in avoiding being caught between two people.

Yinbao was still hesitant, looking at the nearby door.

She had gotten the tea herself so it wasn’t of an unknown origin, and the door was just a few steps away.

“Yinbao, are you deaf?” Fang Jinxiu shouted angrily.

Yinbao thanked Xianglan then hastily ran off. She did not see Xianglan go up the stairs, or the thing hidden in her sleeve.

…………

“What took you so long?” scolded Lin Jin’er when the servant entered.

Xianglan acknowledged the complaint and saw the servant girl sitting behind Miss Jun look outside.

“Little Sister Yinbao went to use the bathroom,” she said after sitting down.

Jinchuan smiled at her but did not say anything. Xianglan leaned near Lin Jin’er’s ear and said a few things.

Lin Jin’er had a surprised expression but immediately disguised it. She stared at Xianglan, who seemingly fearfully backed away to sit down.

Miss Jun was still resting her chin on her hand, not seeming to notice them speaking.

“Why hasn’t anyone gone up yet?” she asked impatiently.

After that man had won the through the ear, Miss Jun had shouted out six hundred for an inverted ear, but that man was not experienced with it and quit the game, taking his earnings and leaving.

So Miss Jun had lost about one thousand taels.

Lin Jin’er’s frown had not been relieved the whole time. At the moment, her face became even more worried.

“We have been out here so long and lost one thousand taels; I imagine the Fang Family doesn’t care,” she said quietly and gently. She passed some tea to Jun Zhenzhen. “Let’s go after you drink this tea.”

Miss Jun looked at the proffered cup. It was different from the dark-green tea from before. Now it was a warm yellow tea.

She touched the teacup with her hand, but did not move otherwise.

Lin Jin’er seemed to not care about what she was doing.

She simply poured herself a cup, not hesitating at all. She then set down the teapot and drank her whole cup in one gulp.

“… Although the Jinyun Hall is a famous restaurant, right now it’s not very special. It’s not worth it to eat here. We should go out and find somewhere else to eat…” she continued.

Miss Jun picked up her cup.

There was indeed some medicinal power added to the tea, but it wasn’t poison. Smelling it would make people excited, eating it would make your blood boil.

Drinking it would stir up your emotions, making you more likely to accept challenges and hastily make bets.

Perhaps she had assigned people to play pitch-pot, or perhaps those who went up before had one or two of her people.

Was this for money?

Although Jun Zhenzhen might lose eight or ten thousand taels of silver and the Fang Family would definitely not be happy,  it was not overly shameful.

After all, the land-owning elite did not play pitch-pot for betting, but for its elegance.

Miss Jun drank her cup in one gulp, then put it back on the table.

“What leaving. I am not hungry,” she said.

Lin Jin’er was jubilant inside and hurried to pour her another cup, her facial expression still anxious.

“Zhenzhen,” she pleaded.

Miss Jun took the teapot from her and poured her a cup of tea.

“Drink,” Miss Jun said.

Lin Jin’er stared blankly. Her heart jumped, then saw Miss Jun push a cake to her.

“Eat,” she added. “So you won’t be hungry.”

Lin Jin’er laughed in relief, then drank her cup entirely and pinched off a piece of cake.

“Zhenzhen, let’s not make trouble. They really are not worth your time, okay?” she entreated earnestly.

Miss Jun put down the teapot and was about to speak when someone entered the room.

“Your younger sibling is here, how coincidental.”

Miss Jun saw Fang Jinxiu standing at the entrance with surprise.

Fang Jinxiu did not wait for her to say anything before waving a hand at the girl in the room.

“Jinchuan, go and see if my horse has been fed,” she said, throwing her the horsewhip.

The girl sitting behind Miss Jun suddenly looked uneasy.

“Third Miss, Old Lady told me…” she started.

“I will wait on her,” Fang Jinxiu said, smiling but not really, “in place of you.”

She sat down next to Miss Jun.

The servant girl hesitated, not knowing what to do.

She obviously knew that Third Miss and Miss Jun did not get along. Don’t even talk about waiting on her, not fighting would be enough to praise the heavens for. She did not dare leave.

“Jinchuan, Young Master has not died yet, Old Lady and Lady haven’t either. I am a Miss Fang who has not married out yet. You do not need to be in such a hurry to flatter the new lord,” Fang Jinxiu said without looking at her, not caring at all about how frightening her words were. She picked up the teapot, “I do not care about your life now, but tomorrow I could. If I said I wanted to sell you, who could stop me?”

Jinchuan immediately turned white while looking at Miss Jun.

If Miss Jun fought with Third Miss now, who would stop them?

[1] Yinbao: It literally means silver treasure.