Huang Yaning never expected that while she was scheming against Sheng Mingzhu, someone else was scheming against her.
No sooner had she and her maid returned to Haitang Court than Qingtian’s mother, Aunt Zhu, arrived in a fluster.
Aunt Zhu had just heard that the tenants at the manor were causing a disturbance with the estate manager.
It started because the sun had been scorching hot lately, forcing the tenant farmers to carry water from a distant place to irrigate their crops.
Thinking how hard her people were working, Huang Yaning had bought mung beans for each tenant as a gesture of goodwill, but the estate manager had embezzled them.
Usually, during festivals and holidays, the manager would often hint for the tenants to give gifts, which had already been a source of discontent.
This time, the incident over the mung beans was the final straw that sparked an outright revolt.
Word was that a fight had already broken out, and several people had been left bleeding.
This manor was one she’d asked Sheng Yong for five years ago, after she had returned to the residence.
Back then, she’d specifically requested two manors, each no less than five hundred mu, located near the capital.
Unexpectedly, Sheng Yong proved quite capable and managed to secure her a massive manor of over a thousand mu.
This manor was also very close to the capital, situated in an excellent area.
Sheng Yong, using her youth as an excuse, had even provided an estate manager and an accountant.
Huang Yaning had long wanted to replace the people Sheng Yong had placed there. It’s just that in recent years, the profits delivered from the manor had indeed been good, and she hadn’t been able to find any other faults to justify taking action.
Now that this situation had arisen, Huang Yaning naturally wasn’t going to let the opportunity slip by.
“Qingtian, go quickly and tell Madam that I need to inspect the manor today. Ask her to transfer ten matrons and ten male servants from Peony Court to come with me.”
Huang Yaning disliked dawdling. The sun was still high, so if they set out now, they’d reach the manor by sunset.
At the fastest, she’d settle things in a day; at the slowest, in two.
She also sent Ping’an to prepare the carriage and all the necessary supplies.
Ping’an was a first-rank maid promoted from among the servant girls bought a few years prior.
She had an ordinary face, was quiet, but handled matters with meticulous care and remarkable efficiency.
Qingtian and Ping’an both went off to carry out their orders.
About half an hour later, the supplies and carriage were ready.
Qingtian had also returned with the personnel. Huang Yaning hadn’t expected that Minmin would not only readily lend her the people but even send over their indentures.
She felt a flicker of confusion but simply assumed Minmin was giving her the indentures to ensure the servants would obey. With that, she led the group on their way.
Once Qingdai saw Huang Yaning leave the residence, she immediately returned to Peony Court.
She saw Madam sitting in the rocking chair, her expression unreadable, her head turned sideways, gazing at the scenery in the outer courtyard.
A sudden downpour had struck last night, ruining the precious flowers and plants outside, leaving them battered and disheveled.
Now, under the scorching sun today, they looked utterly pitiful and wilted.
Qingdai had no idea what Madam was thinking.
After they’d returned to the residence yesterday, they’d received a letter from Xiong San, which is how they learned that Sheng Mingjian was plotting against the Seventh Miss!
Qingdai felt that likening Sheng Mingjian to pigs and dogs would be an insult to pigs and dogs.
Although Madam didn’t seem particularly fond of the Seventh Miss, she would still help her whenever something came up.
Now, with her own son scheming against her own daughter, as a mother, she was surely feeling terrible.
“Madam, the Seventh Miss has left the residence.”
“She took some people with her, and Xiong San is there too, but better safe than sorry. Should I follow…”
Qingdai asked tentatively.
Sheng Minmin seemed lost in her thoughts and didn’t answer for a while.
——-
“Miss, have some snow pear…”
“Ping’an was really thoughtful. She put the pear pieces on top of the ice bucket. They must be nice and cool by now.”
In the carriage, Qingtian took out a container of chilled snow pear, faint mist rising from it, and offered it to Huang Yaning.
They had left the city over an hour ago. Since they’d set out in a hurry, the mistress and maid had even had lunch in the carriage.
Huang Yaning hadn’t had much appetite and had only eaten a piece of dried meat and two cookies for lunch.
The sun outside was scorching, making the carriage stuffy and hot.
The ice in the bucket had almost completely melted, and the water skins were soaking in the water. Qingtian pulled out the food container sitting on top, which held the snow pear.
The pear flesh was crystalline and juicy.
Huang Yaning ate two pieces, Qingtian also had two, and plenty remained.
Thinking they were about halfway there, Huang Yaning instructed Qingtian.
“Tell the driver to find a shaded spot to rest for a bit. Distribute these snow pears, some cookies, and two of the water skins from the ice bucket to the people outside.”
“The journey is tough. Tell everyone that once this matter is settled, I will surely reward them well!”
Qingtian nodded obediently, lifted the carriage curtain, and went out to relay the message to the driver.
After a quarter of an hour, the driver stopped the carriage and reported to Huang Yaning that there was a tea stall ahead.
Huang Yaning lifted the curtain and looked doubtfully at the “tea stall” under the large banyan tree.
Calling it a tea stall was a stretch; it was just a tiny, low thatched shed.
Two or three sets of tables and chairs were placed out in the open.
A man with dark, sun-tanned skin, tall and stout, with a full beard obscuring most of his features, was boiling water inside the shed.
Seeing them, he immediately broke into a wide grin, revealing a set of white teeth, and enthusiastically asked if they wanted to rest, claiming to have fine tea and snacks.
Huang Yaning was puzzled.
In both her past and present lives, she had never seen any tea stall here before. Besides, the stall owner’s build and his watchful eyes didn’t quite seem like those of a legitimate businessman.
She saw her servants looking at her expectantly, but Huang Yaning still felt it was safer to continue on.
She decided against distributing food to the staff for now and simply had Qingtian deliver the water skins.
As the carriage began to move again, Huang Yaning’s expression grew increasingly grim, and a sense of unease crept over her.
If the stall owner were a genuine businessman, finally getting a potential customer like them, he’d surely pester them to buy something.
But that tea seller had remained indifferent to her refusal. She found that extremely suspicious.
Her right eyelid began to twitch, too.
Taking a deep breath, Huang Yaning tried to reassure herself.
She had brought plenty of people, and this place was so close to the capital – surely no outlaw would dare cause trouble here…
Her instincts were actually quite sharp. The person at the tea stall was indeed “not normal.”
That tea seller was Xiong San.
Sheng Mingjian had instructed him to set up a stall there, knock out her servants with drugged tea.
Then, he was to slip her a certain kind of drug, making it look like an attempted assault…
Finally, Liang Mingcheng, waiting nearby, was supposed to swoop in and play the hero rescuing the damsel in distress.
This “hero” would then capture the Seventh Miss’s “heart” and, taking advantage of her drugged state, complete the deed.
Once that happened, Liang Mingcheng would become the son-in-law of the Sheng family.
In short, this scheme was disgustingly despicable.
Sheng Mingjian had also instructed that if things didn’t go as planned, Liang Mingcheng should use force directly.
Under no circumstances was the Seventh Miss to be allowed to escape.
Xiong San felt sick just receiving the order. He had already secretly informed Madam, who told him how to proceed.
He watched the group’s figures disappear into the distance before heading into the woods.
He saw Liang Mingcheng standing by two horses, his face dark and stormy, as if Xiong San owed him tens of thousands of silver taels.
