No matter what his true thoughts were, Cui Muli patiently cooperated with Xie Miao's acting. Listen to her tell lies in a stylish way, and weave the process so seamlessly that the lies appear to be true.
If he hadn't already known the truth, he might have been fooled by her. After all, no matter how smart he is, he will never doubt that a boudoir lady knows all kinds of secrets in the court.
When he first found out that she was the mysterious person who delivered the letter, he was shocked and interested, but he did not suspect that she had evil intentions. Indeed, all the letters she sent were to help the Dingyuan Marquis Mansion avoid crises every time.
If it were anyone else, he would have arrested the person without saying a word, and used all kinds of coercion, inducement, and even torture to extract the source of the information from them. But when that person is A-Miao, he is willing to hide his doubts in his heart and wait for the right time to explore her deep secrets.
It is bound to be an exceptional and wonderful journey.
Looking at Xie Miao again, her mouth was dry after speaking. After taking a short break, she saw that Cui Muli's eyes were deep, looking at her thoughtfully.
Her heart beat a little faster, "Cousin Cui, are you listening?"
Cui Muli nodded and said seriously: "En."
Xie Miao lowered her head and glanced at the envelope. Then she raised her long eyelashes and said, "Do you know who the sender is?"
Cui Muli shook his head, "I have no clue, but this is not the first time I have received a letter from them."
Xie Miao pretended to be curious, "Oh? Have they written to you before?"
Cui Muli put the letter into his sleeve, "Yes."
It was rare that Xie Miao didn't follow up and asked, "Is that person an enemy or a friend?"
Cui Muli pondered for a moment and said, "They have no bad intentions."
Xie Miao wanted to roll her eyes. Not only did she have no bad intentions, she was basically the messenger sent by the Buddha to save Dingyuan Marquis Mansion. She was full of merits, okay!
But she was afraid of revealing her fault, so she could only smile hypocritically and said: "That's good. I have live up to the trust and successfully delivered the letter to you."
Cui Muli showed his gratitude at the right time, "Thank you for your trouble."
After successfully completing the task, Xie Miao finally breathed a sigh of relief and said: "Cousin has been busy all day and must be very tired, so I won't disturb your rest."
Cui Muli said: "Wait a minute."
Xie Miao:?
Cui Muli called to the outside: "Shen Yang, come in."
Shen Yang walked in carrying the cage. He put the thing on the table, and left silently.
Xie Miao didn't understand, "What is this?"
The cage suddenly moved, and something was scurrying around inside.
Cui Muli didn't pretend to be mysterious and directly opened the red cloth. Inside the lacquered gold-carved dome cage, a slender snow-white figure was curled up in the corner. It was different from Baifan. Although it was also plush and cute, it was a completely different species.
Xie Miao was stunned, "Is this a ferret?"
"En, a two-month-old ferret." Cui Muli explained: "A few months ago, I solved a problem for someone. In the afternoon, he sent me a thank you gift, which was this little ferret."
Xie Miao looked at the little ferret. It had stood up from the corner, holding its two little paws on the railing, looking at them curiously.
"..."
Xie Miao avoided eye contact. She pressed her forehead and walked out, "I have a headache. I'm going back to the courtyard first."
"A-Miao." Cui Muli easily blocked her path, his phoenix eyes lowered, his long and thick eyelashes casting light shadows under his eyes, "Can you help me take care of it for a few days?"
Xie Miao flatly refused: "No."
Cui Muli asked: "Why?"
Xie Miao: "Because, because we already have Baifan in our courtyard. It is not suitable to raise small animals." After thinking for a while, she added, "It can fight."
Cui Muli said: "Ferrets have a docile temperament and will absolutely not dispute with Baifan."
Xie Miao said: "But Baifan might, ah!"
Cui Muli asked: "You are not Baifan, how do you know? Maybe it likes ferrets very much and wants to become good friends with it."
"..." Xie Miao said: "You are calling this a strong argument."
Cui Muli immediately said, "A-Miao, you are favouring one thing over the other."
Favouring one over the other?
Xie Miao's eyes became erratic, uh, he, he knew everything?
Cui Muli no longer forced her, and just looked at her quietly. Although his eyes were light, there was an invisible oppression... No, it was an accusation.
Xie Miao simply said: "I'm trying to send Baifan back." So don't talk about favouring one over another, she is clearly treating everyone equally.
She thought Cui Muli would give up after saying this, but unexpectedly he said: "How many days you raise Baifan, then it should also be how many days you raise Xueqiu."
Xie Miao was speechless. One was called white rice, and the other was called snowball? They are such good brothers, even their naming is equally casual.
Cui Muli knew that she was extremely stubborn and it would be difficult to persuade her, so he suddenly changed the subject, "About your maid, Lan Xia..."
Before he spoke, Xie Miao frowned and said, "How did she offend you again?"
Again?
Cui Muli noticed her subtle choice of words, "Has she offended me before?"
Xie Miao noticed the slip of her tongue and looked away covertly, "No, it was a slip of the tongue. You tell me first, what happened with Lan Xia?"
Cui Muli's expression turned cold, "She is too reckless."
If he had not sent people to Pingjiang to investigate the Meng Mansion, but had believed her story, he would have misunderstood A-Miao and missed the opportunity to protect her again.
Xie Miao was unable to speak for a very long time.
After reviving her life, even though she told Lan Xia many times, Lan Xia still couldn't change her old habits. As the master, she knew that she should directly sell her out of the house, but thinking about the past, she really couldn't bear to do so.
Cui Muli said: "A-Miao, I understand that you have deep feelings, but she is a servant after all."
"One's duty?" Xie Miao's eyes were full of bitterness, and she fell into memories, "When Lan Xia and Fu Lu came to me, my parents had passed away. My aunt and I returned to Pingjiang. There were no elders in the Xie family to care for us, and I was ignored by my grandmother in all respects... In the entire Xie family, except for my aunt, only Fu Lu and Lan Xia treat me wholeheartedly and put me first in everything."
"One spring festival, I had a conflict with my cousin. My cousin picked up the scalding tea and threw it at me. Lan Xia rushed forward to block it for me. She was only eight years old at the time, and the skin on her neck was burned off. Because she was afraid that I would feel guilty, she only dared to hide and cry. I ran to my grandmother and complained. She said lightly that she was just a servant and it would be fine even if she was beaten to death. After thinking about it carefully, it didn't matter who was splashed with the tea. In fact, there is not much difference."
"Because of this, my aunt entrusted me to my uncle before she got married." Her voice was so soft, but it was like a sharp knife, slowly cutting into Cui Muli's heart.
"My uncle and aunt treated me well at first, but later their attitude changed drastically because of money matters. They often cut off the supply of my courtyard to force me to take out from my dowry. It was Lan Xia and Fu Lu who tried their best for my benefit. They come and let me eat fresh food, and they will drink water to satisfy their hunger, or eat spoiled food to ease their hunger."
Cui Muli called out: "A-Miao..."
"Cousin Cui." Xie Miao said: "To your Cui family, servants are just servants, but to me, Lan Xia and Fu Lu are more like relatives. They have stayed with me for more than ten years. Close relatives who will never leave each other."
During those difficult days and nights, these two maids stayed with her. Compared to Fu Lu's stability, Lan Xia is indeed reckless and rash. In her previous life, she and Cui Muli fell into a cold war due to the death of Meng Yuantang. At that time, there were rumours about him and Madam Wen, Su Panyan. Lan Xia mistakenly believed that Cui Muli had let her down, so she rushed to him and scolded him for being fickle and unfeeling to his wife. Indifferent and uncaring...
It was clear that she would happily get married in a few days, but she still acted recklessly for the last time for her Young Lady.
Her recklessness is true, and her sincerity is also true. So much so that she always makes mistakes, and Xie Miao can't bear to deal with it.
Cui Muli really wanted to wipe away the slight anxiety on her face, "A-Miao, I didn't think carefully and talked nonsense."
Xie Miao shook her head, "What you said makes sense."
When she officially becomes a monk, Lan Xia and Fu Lu will also start a new life. If Lan Xia doesn't change her temper, what will happen if she offends people outside in the future?
She made up her mind, "I will teach her strictly when I go back."
Cui Muli said: "I guess you have taught her countless times before, but without any results."
Xie Miao couldn't refute.
Cui Muli said: "A-Miao, do you know why?"
Xie Miao was all ears.
He uttered a sentence, "Rules of conduct should be separated from close relationships."
Xie Miao understood. It meant that her relationship with Lan Xia was too close and someone else should teach her?
"You mean?"
"Leave her to me, and within half a month, I will return to you a well-behaved maid."
"..." Hand Lan Xia over to Cui Muli? Are you serious?
Cui Muli saw her worries and said, "I will find someone to teach her the rules."
Xie Miao was a little moved. She knew very well Cui Muli's methods. It was not difficult to deal with extremely vicious criminals, let alone a mere Lan Xia.
She said hesitantly: "She has a little problem. You can just ask someone to correct it."
"Okay."
"Hitting, scolding, and threatening are not acceptable."
"As you wish."
"Seeing blood and torture..."
"A-Miao, don't worry."
Xie Miao still hesitated, "Would it be too troublesome for you?"
Xueqiu barked twice at the right time, and both of them looked at it.
Cui Muli said, "To express your gratitude, can you take care of it for me for a few days?"
...Sure enough, the benefits in this world cannot be obtained for nothing.
*
After careful consideration, Xie Miao finally agreed to Cui Muli's suggestion and brought Xueqiu back to Haihua Yuan.
First a charmingly naive snow fox came, followed by a lively and quirky ferret. The maids in Haihua Yuan were so happy and they were all eager to feed the two little fellows.
The two little fellows were not very interested in eating. Instead, they huddled in a corner of the couch, looking at each other warily, as if trying to figure out how much the other weighed.
"Will they fight?" Lizhi asked in a low voice.
Guiyuan said: "It's best to raise them separately first."
While the two little girls were muttering, Xie Miao said to Fu Lu, "Go and call Lan Xia."
Lan Xia was locked up in the woodshed for half a month. She thought the Young Lady had softened her heart and let her out early, but unexpectedly she heard the other person say in the first sentence: "Lan Xia, I will send you away in a few days."
Lan Xia stayed where she was, then threw herself at her feet, begging for mercy: "Miss, don't send me away. I know I'm wrong, and I will definitely change it!"
Xie Miao deliberately frightened her and said coldly: "This is not the first time you have made a mistake. I have given you many opportunities."
Lan Xia suddenly felt that life was hopeless and cried uncontrollably.
The action attracted the attention of several maids outside the door, but no one dared to say a word.
Seeing that the heat was enough, Xie Miao said calmly: "Okay, because you have followed me for many years, I will send you to learn the rules for the last time. If you still can't change your true nature..."
"It can be changed, it can be changed. This slave will definitely change her ways." Lan Xia wiped her tears with her sleeves and banged her head twice on the ground. "Miss, please don't send this slave away, okay?"
Okay.
Xie Miao answered this in her heart, but said: "I'll wait until you learn the rules well."
...
At the same time, Cui Muli carefully studied the letter sent by Xie Miao.
Under the candlelight, his expression gradually became serious. He rubbed his fingertips back and forth on the letter. After a while, he stood up and walked around the room.
The matter was so important that it was no wonder that A-Miao would risk exposure and personally deliver the letter to him. Regardless of the shocking conspiracy involving the person in the letter, let's just talk about the most important thing——
How could A-Miao know the secrets of the military camp far away in Northern Xinjiang? Could it be that she really has the ability to reach the heavens and has a perfect plan for everything?
After a long time, he sighed softly.
A-Miao, ah, A-Miao, what kind of secrets are you hiding?