xymnovel Chapter 61 Clues
Chapter 61 Clues
Inside the Wang family mansion, Wang Lu was asking Liu to help arrange for Li Shoujie to stay in a guest room for a short while.
"Brother Li, since we're on the same side, you can stay at my place from now on. I know you've come to Kaifeng to gather intelligence, so I've arranged a guest room in the east wing of the second courtyard for you."
"In the main room, next door, the Third King will be moving in within the next day or two. Also, my sworn brother, Li Chuyun's son Li Jilong, will be staying here for a while. Feel free to ask him anything you want. If a war really breaks out, Lord Li will definitely be on the front lines."
In this campaign against Li Jun, Zhao Kuangyin could only rely on his core advisors; he couldn't trust the court officials. Therefore, Zhao Pu and Li Chuyun were essential to the campaign. At this time, only these absolute confidants could be trusted.
Wang Lu didn't mind letting Li Shoujie gather intelligence, since Zhao Guangmei had already informed Zhao Kuangyin.
Whether or not to fight this battle depends on Li Jun himself. No matter how much Li Jun has shown signs of rebellion, even if he sends troops to occupy Tianjing Pass, as long as he does not formally rebel and raise his banner, Zhao Kuangyin will not be able to fight him.
The Kaifeng Imperial Guards were already far stronger than the Zhaoyi Army, and now their morale was high; they had nothing to fear from his observation or investigation.
Just as Zhao Guangmei told Zhao Kuangyin, if the investigation by Zhaoyi Army could lead to the conclusion that the Kaifeng Imperial Guards had already won over the hearts of the troops, and that Zhao Kuangyin was truly brilliant, and that a rebellion would be futile, then the best outcome would be to abandon the rebellion.
However, Wang Lu knew that Li Shoujie didn't want to rebel in the first place, and Li Jun didn't listen to him at all, so no matter how much he looked at it, it wouldn't be of any use.
Upon hearing this, Li Shoujie smiled wryly and touched the tip of his nose, feeling somewhat embarrassed.
He had come to gather information, but Wang Lu was so generous and open, making him feel like a petty person who had been wronged.
Now it seems that he not only has the opportunity to gather information, but also to contact and befriend the three kings, thereby influencing Zhao Kuangyin, which is already quite good.
He glanced at Xiao Tao, hesitating whether he should just admit it to Wang Lu.
This is clearly unnecessary.
Moreover, his behavior was really not very friendly. This Brother Wang was so open and honest with him, yet he arranged for a maid to infiltrate his side. It made him seem very despicable and shameless.
However, he was also afraid that if he was honest with Wang Lu, Wang Lu would get angry and kick him out, and then he would no longer have the chance to be neighbors with the Third King. So he was quite conflicted, and even showed a bit of guilt on his face in the face of Wang Lu's warm hospitality.
"Grandma" Wang Lu then turned to Madam Liu and said, "Brother Li is a friend from Hedong. He is a distinguished guest of my father and me. He did not bring any maids with him. Please help make arrangements. Also, my eldest brother and third brother will be staying here in the next day or two. Thank you for your help, Grandma."
"No problem, no problem, I'll arrange it, young master, you can rest assured."
"Brother Li, you should rest first. I have some things to attend to, so please excuse me."
"Brother Wang, please make yourself at home."
Wang Lu then introduced them to Madam Liu: "Grandma, these are my newly acquired maids, Xiao Tao and Qing'er. Qing'er is my personal maid. Please get to know her."
Xiao Tao is a head maid I specially selected. She's in charge of the servants and maids in my courtyard. If it's convenient, she can also manage my father's courtyard. Please take care of her, let her get to know everyone, and teach her about the affairs of the household.
Upon hearing this, Madam Liu was slightly taken aback, but immediately smiled broadly and said, "My lord is amazing! You've already found a maid so quickly. Where did you find her?"
"I bought it, haha, Grandma, I'm leaving the person in your care now. I have something to do, so I'll be going now."
After saying that, Wang Lu turned and left.
He had some respect for his adoptive grandmother, Madam Liu, but not much. The main reason he and his father were willing to entrust the management of the mansion to her was because there was no one more suitable, and they were too lazy to bother with her in the power struggle within the household.
He insisted on choosing his own head maid, and didn't bother to discuss it with Madam Liu; he simply followed her orders and let her think whatever she wanted.
He knew that Liu didn't like him; that was only natural. If this were a female-oriented novel, their family's power struggles would be quite exciting.
Madam Liu understood Wang Lu's meaning and was not angry, at least not on the surface. Instead, she led Xiao Tao into the inner courtyard with a smile on her face, introducing the mansion to him as they walked.
"This mansion of ours was originally the residence of Old Han, the Minister of State. After the founding of the Song Dynasty, it was bestowed by the Emperor as a private residence and then sold to my son-in-law, which is why it is quite large, with four courtyards."
Upon entering, you'll find the office area. There are two training grounds to the east and west, and a dozen or so soldiers live there. They used to serve Old Han, but now they're with their son-in-law.
This Lady Liu, ever since Han Tong left, always refers to him as "Old Han," as if she were the legitimate wife.
"This house was built very large back then; it was entirely newly constructed after the expansion of Kaifeng city. After Old Han moved in, he didn't really tidy it up much, and he didn't live there for very long. It was still a new house."
So it's a bit chaotic, many things are missing, and not all the people are there. You need to keep that in mind and tell your husband when the time comes.
"The second courtyard is the ceremonial residence, for guests and for ancestral worship. The three kings will move in in the next two days."
The third courtyard is our inner residence, and the central hall is where we enshrine our ancestors. However, it's currently empty. I've mentioned it to my son-in-law several times, asking him to make and set up the ancestral tablets, but he always makes excuses.
"This west courtyard is my residence, and the east courtyard is where my husband and son-in-law live. Judging from my husband's wishes, you will be in charge of the east courtyard from now on. Can you manage it well?"
Xiao Tao smiled sweetly: "Replying to Madam, I dare not manage the entire East Courtyard. It would be good enough if I could manage Young Master's East Wing well."
"snort."
Madam Liu continued leading Xiao Tao inside, saying, "As for this fourth courtyard, it's the mansion's miscellaneous courtyard, used for storing miscellaneous items and housing the servants. You are the head maid of the East Courtyard, so naturally you don't need to live here. You can sleep in the young master's room. Let me show you around."
After saying this, Madam Liu carefully introduced each servant in the mansion and the location of every miscellaneous item. Once finished, she asked, "Have you remembered them all?"
"I have remembered everything you said, sir."
"Yes, Momo."
"Yes."
Who are you?
"what?"
But then Liu found a chair, sat down, crossed her legs, and said with a smile, "You said you were a rich young lady from a once-wealthy family who had fallen on hard times, but when I was introducing you to the place just now, I noticed that you seemed quite familiar with things in the tenement."
"You said you came from a wealthy family, so have you read any of these stories, such as 'The Story of Yingying,' 'The Story of Huo Xiaoyu,' or 'The Story of Li Wa'? Since you can read, there's no way you haven't read any storybooks."
"I...I don't usually...like reading storybooks."
"You're not a young lady, you're just a maid. I smelled your scent the moment I saw you. You can fool the young master, but you can't fool me. Tell me! Who sent you?"
"I...I...I don't understand what you're saying, sir. Do you dislike me and are you deliberately making things difficult for me?"
"Your accent... what kind of accent is that?"
"I'm from Hedong, this is the Hedong accent."
"Of course I know it's a Hedong accent. I'm asking which part of Hedong it is."
"I'm from Zezhou, this is the Zezhou accent."
"No, this isn't a Zezhou accent. It sounds a bit like Luzhou, but more like Taiyuan. It's a Taiyuan accent... That's strange. Are you from Taiyuan? At your age, if you were from Taiyuan, wouldn't you be a spy from the Northern Han?"
"I...I'm not a spy."
"But you do have a Taiyuan accent. Why do you have a Taiyuan accent? It sounds like a maidservant learned the accent from her master. That young master Li from Hedong also spoke with a Taiyuan accent. Your accents are very similar."
Xiao Tao's face was deathly pale, and her body was trembling slightly: "I... I don't understand what you're saying, Madam. I have to go. Young Master is still waiting for me. Madam, you don't like Young Master, so you don't like me either, but don't even think about suppressing us."
After saying that, she ran away without any manners, and Madam Liu didn't call out to her, but just kept sneering.
Han Daqi, standing nearby, said, "Madam, could this girl be a threat to the young master, or even the son-in-law? We should remind the young master."
"This is a trusted maidservant chosen by the young master himself, and that Young Master Li is a friend he brought home himself. How can I remind him? Won't he think I'm stirring up trouble? Without any evidence, how can I say anything?"
I was born a concubine. My husband only shows me respect on the surface. In reality, he looks down on me. Do you think he would believe me if I told him?
Didn't you see that girl's last sentence? It was already steering me towards the idea of putting down my husband. The saying goes, "Those who are distant don't interfere with those who are close." That child calls me "Grandma," but in reality, they're the closer ones, and I'm the distant one.
"What should we do?"
"It's alright. It's a good opportunity for them, father and son, to see the skills of an elder who came from humble beginnings as a concubine. These skills weren't bought; someone has to vouch for them."
"Daqi, I'm leaving this matter to you. Bring me back that cousin of hers who's a whore, but don't let the son-in-law and the young master know yet."
"Yes, sir."