Reborn in Each Other’s Bodies: A Mother and Daughter’s Deadly Revenge - Chapter 136

“Qingying, do you think the Madam will send gifts to the Sixth Young Miss…?”

Qingying of the Peony Courtyard was preparing an iced dessert for the Madam when Qingxiang whispered the question to her.

“Qingxiang, as servants, our duty is to focus on our own tasks. We shouldn’t concern ourselves with things we don’t need to know—”

Stopping what she was doing, Qingying looked at Qingxiang seriously.

“I was just asking casually…”

Qingxiang’s eyes darted away for a moment, looking somewhat embarrassed.

“If we understand the Madam’s attitude towards the Sixth Young Miss, it would be easier to know how to treat her in the future…”

Seeing that Qingying didn’t seem inclined to say more, Qingxiang felt a twinge of resentment.

She and Qingying had served the Madam the longest.

But Qingying had always been more favored by the Madam; Qingxiang was only promoted later.

After her promotion, Qingchi, Qingzhu, and Qingdai had joined them.

Qingchi, still young, was treated by the Madam as a source of amusement. Qingzhu was useful because she could manage accounts, so it made sense the Madam liked them both.

Besides, Qingzhu was almost always outside looking for shops or checking accounts, often taking Qingchi with her, sometimes even staying at the estates for ten days or half a month.

Since Qingxiang didn’t see those two often, there wasn’t much conflict.

Only Qingdai, who had arrived last and had no real skills to speak of.

She knew just a little about herbal medicine, yet acted as if she were the most unique and talented person under heaven.

She was gluttonous, lazy, and often wandered idly around the mansion…

Despite being such a frivolous person, the Madam doted on her immensely.

She seemed to treat her as a second-rank maid, but in reality, her treatment was almost on par with Qingxiang, a first-rank maid…

Qingxiang genuinely disliked Qingdai and had complained about her a couple of times to Qingying.

But Qingying had said, “The Madam has her reasons for employing whoever she wishes,” which infuriated Qingxiang.

She tried to find fault with Qingdai but never could, forced to watch helplessly as Qingdai enjoyed a carefree and happy life in the mansion.

Feeling stifled, she often went to stroll in the gardens. Once, while picking flowers there, she met Gaoshan, who served the Eldest Young Master.

She ran into him several more times after that, and gradually, the two became familiar.

Qingxiang was self-aware; her looks were only average among the maids, not comparable to Qingxin’s.

She also wasn’t like Qiuju or Dongkui, who served directly under the young masters…

Besides, the young masters were still quite young, and Qingxiang had never considered potentially getting involved with any of them in the future…

She used to think that in a few years, the Madam would most likely assign her to a steward on one of the estates.

Becoming a steward’s wife in the future and continuing to work for the Madam would actually mean a comfortable life.

But plans can’t always keep up with changes. Gaoshan said he had long held feelings for her and had remained unmarried for her sake…

Knowing she liked pastries, he often bought some for her.

He also gave her rouge from outside shops. Once, after receiving a reward from the Eldest Young Master, he eagerly bought an exquisite plum blossom hairpin to give to her…

She knew perfectly well that the Madam and the Eldest Young Master did not get along. In principle, she shouldn’t be getting involved with the Eldest Young Master’s servant.

But sometimes she felt that the Madam and the Eldest Young Master were mother and son after all; surely there couldn’t be any deep-seated hatred between them—

Once the Eldest Young Master matured another couple of years and learned to speak more softly, his relationship with the Madam would surely return to how it was before.

Moreover, Gaoshan was handsome, around her age, and utterly sincere towards her…

Slowly, Qingxiang found herself succumbing. She privately accepted the plum blossom hairpin from Gaoshan.

Now, she was just waiting for the right opportunity to ask the Madam for her blessing.

Earlier, Gaoshan had secretly come to see her, asking her to help find out the Madam’s attitude towards the Sixth Young Miss.

In recent years, the concubines in the mansion had all followed the Madam’s lead, and the two illegitimate young masters and the cousin young miss supported the Madam even more.

If the Madam didn’t send gifts to the Sixth Young Miss, the concubines and the two illegitimate young masters certainly wouldn’t dare to send gifts to the Hibiscus Courtyard, and probably wouldn’t dare to associate with her in the future either.

The Eldest Young Master seemed worried that the Sixth Young Miss would be isolated and was extremely anxious. Gaoshan, unable to stand seeing him like that, had pleaded with her.

That’s why Qingxiang couldn’t resist secretly trying to sound out Qingying.

Qingying likely understood the Madam’s thoughts best, but she hadn’t expected Qingying to be unwilling to reveal a single word…

Left with no choice, Qingxiang found an excuse to go out and inform Gaoshan that she would try to find another opportunity to probe in the next couple of days.

Meanwhile, after Qingying finished preparing the iced dessert, she heard movement from the inner room and went in to help Sheng Minmin with her washing up.

The weather was hot now, and Sheng Minmin usually took a nap of about half an hour each day.

However, she hadn’t slept today.

What Qingdai had said earlier about the blood gu had left her heart racing with shock, fury, and a faint thread of guilt.

If she hadn’t been reborn, Huang Yaning might still have been the Huang Yaning of this lifetime. Sheng Mingzhu wouldn’t have broken her leg, and there would have been no need to sacrifice so many people to cultivate the gu…

Of course, this feeling of guilt lasted only a very short time. Regardless, the ones doing the evil deeds were Sheng Mingzhu and those helping her behind the scenes!

The truly unforgivable people were living well; she shouldn’t be draining her own energy with internal guilt!

If the opportunity arose in the future, she would avenge those innocent people who died unjustly. But for now, she had her own vengeance to pursue!

Her thoughts returned to her past life—being falsely accused of adultery, suffering abuse and hardship on the estate while heavily pregnant, and her child who died a tragic death just after birth…

The more she thought about it, the more her hatred burned fiercely within her.

The problem was, Sheng Mingzhu now had powerful backing, seemed to have become very cunning, and was highly valued and protected by Sheng Yong. Her path to revenge needed to be tread with even greater caution.

However, Sheng Minmin felt that Sheng Mingzhu would likely take the initiative to strike against her and Huang Yaning.

Sheng Mingzhu was incredibly narrow-minded. Five years ago, her true identity was exposed, she suffered a broken leg, her reputation plummeted, and she ultimately left in disgrace.

Now that she was back, she surely wouldn’t be content to just play the role of an “obedient daughter.”

These coming days, she would need to be extremely careful. Fortunately, she now had some capable people around her, especially Qingdai.

With Qingdai here, she wasn’t afraid of Sheng Mingzhu and Lin Zhijing collaborating to play underhanded tricks.

As for Huang Yaning… she was no pushover either!

Huang Yaning could be said to be the person in the entire capital with the most legitimate reason to cause trouble for Sheng Mingzhu!

After all, both commoners and nobles knew that the Seventh Young Miss Sheng had suffered immensely during her years as a peasant girl in Taohua Village.

People felt sympathy for this Seventh Young Miss and were also more tolerant towards her.

It could be said that Huang Yaning was now Sheng Mingzhu’s natural nemesis!

Sheng Minmin looked forward to watching these two fight it out.

Then, at the most opportune moment, she would step in and deliver a heavy blow to both of them.

“Madam, it’s hot weather. Would you like some iced dessert?” Qingying suggested.

Sheng Minmin had no appetite and shook her head.

“My room is cool enough; I don’t crave anything cold. You and the others have it—”

Qingying smiled faintly and thanked her. “Thank you, Madam.”

She then waved to the two younger maids in the room.

“The Madam is kind. Everyone else is busy right now; you two go and share this.”

The two young maids thanked her happily and left.

“What happened?”

Seeing Qingying’s demeanor, Sheng Minmin knew she had something to report.

“Madam, Qingxiang met with Gaoshan again today. Afterward, she tried to find out your attitude towards the one in the Hibiscus Courtyard.”