“Young Madam, the accountant said that sir has ordered that you can only withdraw fifty taels of silver per day,” Lian Xin said cautiously.
Upon hearing this, Li Yaoqin’s gaze turned cold. Fifty taels? “Go and inquire if Father has been to Concubine Liu’s chambers again recently?”
Lian Xin quickly retreated to gather information.
Li Yaoqin gripped her teacup, squeezing it tightly. Just then, someone entered, “Young Madam, you haven’t had breakfast yet, please have some!”
She looked up to see Suo Xin.
Suo Xin placed the food on the table and stood to the side.
She looked at the food without appetite. “Take it away, I don’t want to eat.”
“Young Madam, please eat something, your health is important,” Suo Xin said.
Li Yaoqin raised her eyes to look at Suo Xin, only now noticing that Suo Xin’s right cheek seemed a bit red and swollen, her eyes also red, as if she had been crying.
“Suo Xin, what happened to you?” she couldn’t help but ask.
Hearing this, Suo Xin quickly shook her head. “Nothing, thank you for your concern, Young Madam.”
Suo Xin, Lian Xin, and Yan Xin were all her head maids. There was no one in the manor who could bully them. However, Suo Xin’s swollen cheek seemed to have formed recently.
“Did Mother scold you?”
Suo Xin quickly shook her head. “Madam is so kind, how could she scold a servant?”
Li Yaoqin thought that was true. Her mother had always been kind to the servants, and besides, Suo Xin was her person, so her mother wouldn’t scold her own people, right?
This made it even more perplexing. Her father wouldn’t possibly do it either; he rarely managed affairs in the inner courtyard.
Just then, Lian Xin returned, her face full of anger. She came before Li Yaoqin and said, “Young Madam, Concubine Liu is too much.”
Hearing this, Li Yaoqin asked, “What did she do?”
“She actually went to sir’s study again,” Lian Xin said indignantly.
“Father didn’t agree to it?” Li Yaoqin scoffed.
Hearing this, Lian Xin bit her lower lip and said, “This servant only feels it’s not worth it for Madam.”
Li Yaoqin fell silent. She knew Lian Xin was also concerned about her mother. Her mother was kind and approachable, and everyone in the manor respected her mother.
It was precisely because of this that her father treated her mother quite well. At least in other people’s manors, there were many concubines and mistresses, while her father only had Concubine Liu besides her mother.
“Suo Xin, what happened to your face? Did Concubine Liu hit you?”
Hearing this, Li Yaoqin looked at Lian Xin and asked, “What exactly happened?”
Lian Xin quickly said, “Just now, I heard Concubine Liu reprimanding a maid who tried to climb onto sir’s bed.”
With a thud, Suo Xin knelt on the ground. “Young Madam, this servant did not try to climb onto sir’s bed. This servant was just delivering breakfast to sir. Sister Mo Shu was not feeling well and asked this servant to deliver it for her.”
Suo Xin tried her best to explain.
“Get up, I believe you,” Li Yaoqin said.
She didn’t care what others in the manor thought, but her three maids were likely influenced by her to have similar thoughts.
Hearing this, Suo Xin began to cry. “Before this servant could even enter sir’s study, Ping’er, from Concubine Liu’s side, stopped me and wanted to take the breakfast. This servant did not agree, and Concubine Liu stepped forward and slapped this servant.”
Li Yaoqin’s expression darkened. This Concubine Liu was truly ungrateful. It seemed she had been too gentle with Concubine Liu.
“You didn’t hit back?” she asked.
Suo Xin was startled and shook her head. “Sir came out and reprimanded Concubine Liu a few times.”
Hearing this, Li Yaoqin looked at Suo Xin. Suo Xin was actually the most attractive of the three maids.
She still remembered that when her father visited her in the past, he seemed to look at Suo Xin a bit longer.
Thinking of this, she asked, “Suo Xin, do you have any thoughts about becoming a concubine?”
Suo Xin, frightened, quickly knelt on the ground. “Young Madam, this servant has been influenced by you and would rather be the wife of a poor man than a concubine of a rich man.”
Hearing this, Li Yaoqin said slowly, “But now, I’ve changed my mind. If you want to, I will fulfill your wish. But you must also know that even if you become a concubine, I might need you to do things for me.”
Suo Xin was stunned. She looked at Li Yaoqin for a long time before kowtowing, “This servant’s life was saved by Young Madam, and this servant is willing to share Young Madam’s worries.”
“Suo Xin, I’m asking you one more time, are you willing? If not, I can find someone else.” She absolutely could not let Concubine Liu’s arrogance continue. Otherwise, if Concubine Liu had a child, wouldn’t she then be even more likely to step all over Mother?
“This servant will follow Young Madam’s arrangements,” Suo Xin said.
“Good. I am doing this only because I want someone to share half of Concubine Liu’s favor.”
As dusk fell, Li Sinian received an invitation from Li Yaoqin to have dinner.
Thinking that he had instructed the accountant not to allow Yao’er to withdraw more money, he knew this was bound to happen.
“Father, you’re here,” Li Yaoqin said, seeing Li Sinian arrive, and quickly walked forward.
Li Sinian nodded and looked at Li Yaoqin. “The intention is beyond the wine, Yao’er. Just say what you want to say!”
Li Yaoqin smiled. “Father worries too much. Your daughter invited you to dinner today purely for dinner. Father, you used to have dinner with my mother, but you haven’t come to have dinner with your daughter and Mother for five days.”
Hearing Li Yaoqin say this, Li Sinian only then remembered that it had indeed been a long time since he had dined with Yao’er and Madam.
But he didn’t see Xu Shi and couldn’t help but ask, “Where is your mother?”
“Mother is not feeling well and has already returned to her room to rest. Suo Xin, pour wine for Father.” Li Yaoqin said.
Hearing Suo Xin’s name, Li Sinian looked up at the approaching Suo Xin. Today, Suo Xin was even more captivating than usual.
He knew Suo Xin was beautiful, but today she was exceptionally beautiful and alluring.
“Father, I heard that Ping’er, from Concubine Liu’s side, hit Suo Xin today?” Li Yaoqin asked.
Li Sinian came back to his senses and said, “This is true. I know you care about Suo Xin, so I have already reprimanded Ping’er.”
“Father, Suo Xin’s perfectly good face was disfigured after being hit, and you only reprimanded Ping’er once. It’s unfair.”
“Young Madam, sir has already disciplined Ping’er, and it’s fine. This servant’s skin is thick and doesn’t mind,” Suo Xin said.
Li Sinian looked at the red and swollen marks on Suo Xin’s fair and tender face, feeling displeased. “When I return, I will have the steward expel Ping’er from the manor.”
Suo Xin shook her head. “Sir, please don’t do that. Otherwise, they will say this servant is acting lawlessly by relying on Young Madam’s favor. As a servant, I can’t even be beaten.”
“Who dares to say that?” Li Sinian roared.
Li Yaoqin said, “Father doesn’t know, these words all come from Concubine Liu. She says my maidservants rely on me and act presumptuously in the manor. If it were true, how could Suo Xin be beaten?”
“Yao’er, tell your mother to manage them properly.”
“Father, you’ve given Concubine Liu so much power these past few days. Everyone in the manor is opportunistic and already obeys Concubine Liu. Who still listens to Mother?”