Hadn't Returned
Matron Li chuckled awkwardly, "It was more than a month before I heard about it. You know, some servants like to gossip. Sometimes, things that are completely unfounded get passed around and sound like the truth."
Lady Wei glanced at Matron Li but said nothing.
Zhao Rurui knew that her marriage was in the hands of her stepmother, so she often tried to please Lady Wei. But Lady Wei had a bad temper and didn't even give Zhao Yuanliang a good look, let alone Zhao Rurui, a concubine's daughter.
So Zhao Rurui changed her approach and tried to curry favor with Matron Li, sending her gifts from time to time and taking special care of Matron Li's granddaughter. After two years, her persistent efforts paid off, and Matron Li would occasionally speak on her behalf to Lady Wei.
"How is the relationship between the Fourth Miss and the Fifth Miss?" Lady Wei asked.
"When Fifth Miss first returned to the manor, Fourth Miss probably thought that since they were all daughters of the Second Branch, she wanted to befriend Fifth Miss, but Fifth Miss ignored everyone," said Matron Li.
Lady Wei nodded. She was aware of the situation.
She pondered for a moment and said, "Let's see how things are with Master tomorrow."
If she could persuade Xu Xi to obediently return to the Wei Residence with her, she wouldn't need to resort to any other tricks.
Zhao Yuanliang felt pity for his daughter Xu Xi and had some sense of responsibility as a father. He also felt that if the stalemate continued, people would laugh at them. So the next day, he made a point of returning from outside the mansion before evening and waiting for Xu Xi in a pavilion along her route from the front yard to the hanging flower gate.
Xu Xi lived in the inner courtyard and went to school early in the morning, returning only in the evening. Zhao Yuanliang, being a grown man, couldn't just wander around the inner courtyard outside the second house, so he could only stop her on her way home from school to talk to her.
"Wait at the main gate, and report to me immediately when you see Fifth Miss return," he instructed the servant.
It's late summer now, and the pavilion is quite cool. I ordered some tea and snacks, and the wait wasn't too long.
Two pots of tea had already been drunk, and Zhao Ruyu had been back for quite some time, but the servant who went to wait for Xu Xi still hadn't returned.
He instructed another servant, "Go and take a look."
Before the servant could get up, he added, "Ask the gatekeeper again what time the Fifth Miss usually returns."
Actually, the servant had inquired about it that morning. In the past, Xu Xi would arrive home shortly after Zhao Ruyu returned, but yesterday he was two quarters of an hour later than usual. To be on the safe side, Zhao Yuanliang specifically came to wait for Zhao Ruyu when she returned. But Xu Xi still hadn't returned by then, and he began to suspect that the servant had inquired about the wrong time.
The servant went to the main gate and returned a while later to report, "Fifth Miss has indeed not returned. I asked the gatekeeper, and he said that Fifth Miss is returning about half an hour later than usual."
Zhao Yuanliang frowned immediately, feeling dissatisfied with the old lady and the first wife.
Xu Xi hasn't returned this late, half an hour later than usual, and neither the Old Madam nor the First Madam has sent anyone to inquire about her. Isn't that incredibly irresponsible?
But as soon as he had this thought, he lost his spirit.
What grounds did he have to blame the old lady and the first wife?
Xu Xi is from their second branch of the family. Even Lady Wei herself doesn't care about her daughter's whereabouts, so who else in the mansion would care about Xu Xi? The old lady and the first lady have never really interfered with the second and third branches of the family. The affairs of the two branches are handled by the masters and mistresses of the two branches themselves.
Even though Xu Xi lives in Tea Tasting Residence, she can't be considered part of the main branch or the old lady's family. Lady Wei doesn't care, and neither do the old lady and the first wife. Who knows what kind of life this child is living?
Zhao Yuanliang was usually irresponsible and too lazy to manage household affairs, just getting by. His only thought was to obtain a leisurely and prestigious official position through his father-in-law, so that the old lady and Lady Wei would no longer dare to look down on him. Therefore, he didn't care about anything in the household. After Xu Xi returned to the household, he also thought that with the old lady, the first lady, and Lady Wei taking care of him, ensuring he wouldn't go hungry or cold and could even attend school, he wouldn't need to worry about anything anymore.
But now it seems that this is not the case at all.
Thinking that it had come to this point, and that Lady Wei hadn't sent anyone to inquire about his return for meals, nor had she paid any attention to their daughter, he was very angry.
He thought for a moment, then stood up and said to the servant, "Go and prepare the carriage. It's almost dark and the young lady hasn't returned yet. Something might have happened to her. I have to go and check on her."
The servant obeyed and went off. Reaching the road, he stopped a maid. "Go to the kitchen and tell them the Second Master is going out and won't have time for dinner. He needs some food to take with him on the road. Also, have the kitchen staff deliver the provisions for us attendants to the front gate."
Actually, it didn't matter whether the second master ate or not. He had some snacks earlier, so he wouldn't go hungry even if he went out for a while. He hadn't ordered any meals to be prepared. But the servant himself was hungry. He hadn't had time to eat earlier, and he didn't know when he would be back after going out for a while.
So he simply used the excuse of preparing food for the second master to prepare food for them as well.
He should have run this errand himself, but since he couldn't leave, he simply grabbed someone to run it for him. The little maid in front of him looked to be only thirteen or fourteen years old, dressed in the clothes of a third-class maid, nothing more than a lowly servant. When the servants around these gentlemen gave orders, the maids dared not refuse.
The young maid glanced at him, lowered her head slightly, and replied, "I'm busy." With that, she walked straight towards the gate.
"Hey, you little brat, you think I can't get my way? Do you know who I am? I'm the servant of the Second Master. The Second Master is over there." He pointed to the pavilion.
From here, you can still vaguely see Zhao Yuanliang sitting in the pavilion.
"I'm busy here and can't leave. If you don't help pass on the message and delay the Second Master's business, you'll be in big trouble," he added.
The young maid glanced at the pavilion, but instead of stopping, she lifted her skirt and walked quickly, saying, "I'm from the First Madam's courtyard. The First Madam sent me to inquire about the Fifth Miss. I don't have time to help you, so please ask someone else." With that, she quickly disappeared.
The servant hesitated for a moment, glancing at Zhao Yuanliang in the pavilion, wondering whether to go and report the matter. After thinking for a while, he didn't go back. Instead, he found someone else to go to the kitchen to relay the message, and then went to the gatehouse to call someone to prepare the carriage.
After a short while, Zhao Yuanliang went out and got into the carriage. He was very satisfied to see the food and snacks on the table in the carriage. Although he had eaten some snacks earlier, it was not as satisfying as a proper meal.
He said, "Give each person twenty coins."
The servant was overjoyed and quickly bowed to express his gratitude.
Their monthly allowance was only three hundred coins. The occasional tips they received were also a considerable income.
"Master, the First Madam just sent a maid to ask why the Fifth Miss hasn't returned yet. The gatekeeper told her that he hadn't seen the Fifth Miss's carriage, so the maid went back," the servant said.
He was a meticulous person, and he had just inquired about the maid from the gatekeeper. He knew that she was indeed from the First Madam's courtyard and had come to inquire about the Fifth Miss, so he reported to Zhao Yuanliang.