Chapter 66: Chapter 66: She Can’t Attend to Him in Person
In the carriage, the two of them half-opened the curtain and chatted endlessly about the scenery outside.
No wonder, like birds in a cage, being able to leave the mansion even once was a source of happiness.
The carriage was immediately filled with their exclamations and shouts.
"Wow, that’s so beautiful, look quickly!"
"There’s a place selling pastries over there, they must be delicious, let’s go eat them later!"
"And such beautiful kites~"
...
Shi Yi was riding not too far behind, also overhearing all the conversation, with a twitch at the corner of his mouth.
He didn’t understand why the Heir needed to give a maid this sort of grace, it was too indulgent.
What sort of matter required a maid to leave the mansion to handle? It could easily be delegated to others.
Although Qu Fulan’s suspicion as a spy had been cleared, she was still part of the Li Family, which had an unusual relationship with the Xiao Family. Rumor had it the two families nearly entered a marriage alliance.
The way the Heir utilized such a person was somewhat inappropriate.
Yet, he didn’t dare to question the Heir’s decisions, could only complain within himself.
In truth, another key reason for Shi Yi’s displeasure was that he had lost a bet earlier, betting on Qu Fulan being a spy, and ended up losing, almost down to his underpants.
Shi Er was also a loser, mocked by the other two for quite a long time, hence he wasn’t showing a friendly face either.
Logically, the other two should be winners and be in a good mood.
Actually, that’s not the case, if today they were following the Heir out of the mansion, they would be happy despite losing.
But instead, they were grandly escorting a maid? Even though she was the only main maid beside the Heir, she was still a maid.
How would other guards view them if the word got out?
They’d likely spend their days henceforth under ridicule.
Besides, with useful people around the Heir so many, if they didn’t seize opportunities to prove themselves, who knew when they’d be replaced.
The four guards felt very complex and dejected, in stark contrast to the jovial scene inside the carriage.
Shi Yi was a bit depressed and said to Shi Er, "Isn’t she Miss Li? At least she was once a lady from a noble family, why doesn’t she have an image of virtue? Laughing and giggling, what kind of decorum is that?"
Shi Er scratched his nose, "To be fair, not all noble ladies are gentle and virtuous, are they? There are plenty who are arrogant and domineering."
Shi Yi seemed to have thought of the multi-faced noble ladies in the Capital City, immediately agreed with Shi Er’s view, "You have a point."
The laughing voices in the carriage ceased as they reached Chang’an Street.
No choice, if you want to act as a lady, some attention to image is needed, constantly laughing isn’t appropriate either.
After arriving at North Alley, Qu Fulan put on her veiled hat before getting off the carriage, Hai Xia got off first, then helped her down, acting had to be done thoroughly.
People came and went around them, but indeed not many paid too much attention to them, as this was a common sight for noble ladies’ outings in the Capital City.
However, there were some who hadn’t seen much of the world, who, when seeing the graceful figures, felt even more intrigued by the mysterious aura from the veiled hats, couldn’t help but stop to look.
Qu Fulan ignored those looks, smoothly arriving at a restaurant that seemed to be doing well.
The shopkeeper saw that the customers were unusually dressed and brought along a maid and bodyguards, figuring they were from a wealthy family, and immediately offered warm hospitality.
Qu Fulan ordered a private room on the third floor, with a view perfectly overlooking the street and the building opposite.
The shopkeeper asked what dishes to serve, Qu Fulan didn’t ask about the price, directly asking for their signature dishes, the shopkeeper realized the customer was generous, happily relayed the order.
In the private room, Qu Fulan kept her veiled hat on, for if someone discovered later that she was from Zhaoying Building, it wouldn’t be good.
So after the dishes were served, each time she tasted a dish, she only lifted a corner of her veil, if it tasted good, she’d have a few more bites, if not, she’d move on to the next dish.
With over a dozen dishes, she used communal chopsticks to serve herself, later everything could be packed to go, nothing wasted.
The server stood by waiting, noticing the distinguished guest’s manner, assuming she must be a daughter of some wealthy family, providing ever more careful service.
When seeing that she tried a dish but ate no more, he asked if the taste was off, noting any dissatisfaction she had.
Qu Fulan glanced at the server, a young man, very quick-witted, timely in pouring tea and water, and served well in every respect.
She silently took note of it, keeping it in mind, asking a question or two appropriately.
Only then did she find out this establishment occasionally invited performers to attract guests, while also employing singers with voices so melodious that Qu Fulan could hear them clearly from her private room.
She saw, through the bamboo curtain, quite a number of guests in the hall enjoying the music blissfully.
They were mostly wealthy, surrounded by companions.
When it came time to pay, the meal cost Qu Fulan ten taels of silver, considering the monthly salary for a first-class maid at the Pei Mansion is only two taels.
Who could afford such an establishment?
This was just the first place, Qu Fulan carefully chose, finally sampling each business that was busier than others on this street.
On the other side, Pei Ji’an was dining at Zhaoying Building with several colleagues.
As a trusted minister by the Emperor, Heir Pei’s stature in court was undeniable, having only returned to the Capital City for a short while, constantly busy with social engagements.
Nevertheless, the Heir wasn’t accommodating to everyone, but if someone with utility tried to curry favor, he was willing to reciprocate slightly and bring them to dine at Zhaoying Building.
Others didn’t know that Zhaoying Building was the Heir’s domain, only assumed he had a unique taste, favoring the average dishes here, or perhaps being back for such a short time didn’t know which restaurant tasted better on this street, none of this mattered, what mattered was the Heir liked it, and they were happy to accompany.
Manager Yu saw the Heir bringing people again to dine, naturally served them well.
It was just as well that the Heir frequently brought people over; before the Heir was back, those friends of his also came by frequently, barely keeping the restaurant afloat, otherwise...
Manager Yu sighed, feeling quite useless himself, failing to manage even a restaurant well, not only unable to help the Heir but burdening him continuously.
Perhaps it was this sense of burden that made his daughter Yinhua somewhat timid with no decisiveness.
Quite unfortunately, today Lianhua was ill, the Heir came over, she couldn’t serve, feeling anxious, worried that if someone else served, they might harbor wicked intentions to seduce the Heir, thus decided to call Yinhua over.
"Yinhua, *cough cough*, go serve the Heir, just do as I usually do, if he asks, say I’m sick, very ill, unable to serve him, *cough cough*, go on, I trust you."
Lianhua lay in bed, due to illness, looking quite pale and haggard.