Chapter 205: Chapter 205: Thoughtful Care
In the end, Feng Mei’er was unable to meet Qu Fulan.
Miss Jin guarded against her like a thief, and Feng Mei’er was naturally furious, but couldn’t do anything about it.
Finally, she came up with a plan: she wrote a letter to Qu Fulan, asking her to come see her. Otherwise, she would reveal her family’s secrets and make it impossible for her to live in the Pei Mansion.
Then she bribed the maid to deliver the letter bypassing Miss Jin.
However, the Pei Mansion was too big; the young maid was there for the first time, bumping and asking directions from this and that maid. Finally, she found the courtyard where Qu Fulan lived, but the person was not inside, so she could only hand it over to a maid in the courtyard to pass it along.
After returning, the maid dared not tell the truth, afraid of being scolded, but most importantly, fearing Miss Feng would blame her for not completing the task and take the money back.
So when Miss Feng asked her if she had handed the letter to Qu Fulan, she said she did. Feng Mei’er then asked if it was given to her face-to-face. The maid lied again and said yes.
"What was her expression after receiving the letter?" Feng Mei’er asked.
The maid lied with a straight face, "No expression."
Feng Mei’er frowned, "Didn’t you tell her the letter was from me? How could she have no expression? Did she read the letter?"
The maid remained unfazed and said, "How could Miss Qu read a letter in front of outsiders? Therefore, her expression after reading the letter, I would not know."
Although Feng Mei’er was not satisfied, she felt the maid made some sense, so she was reassured, waiting for Qu Fulan to come to find her.
But she underestimated; the letter did not end up in Qu Fulan’s hands; instead, it fell into Pei Ji’an’s hands.
As it happened, the Heir Pei had gone to Qu Fulan’s courtyard to check the situation; if anything was amiss, he would have to arrange for someone to make modifications, and he saw a maid arriving to deliver a letter.
The Heir Pei had an excellent memory; it was a maid from the Jin Family. He quietly watched from the original spot as that maid walked away, then went over to ask, "What’s going on?"
The maid in the courtyard honestly replied, "It was said to be a letter from the cousin of the Jin Family to Miss Qu."
Pei Ji’an naturally remembered Qu Fulan saying Feng Mei’er was her childhood confidante, but now the two do not have a good relationship.
So the Heir Pei asked the maid to give the letter to him, saying he would hand it over to Qu Fulan.
The maid could barely refuse, so she handed it over immediately.
The Heir Pei took the letter back to Pear Fragrance Courtyard and immediately opened it to read.
The entire letter was full of threats, which amused the man.
A wash of inner strength, and the letter was burned to ashes.
Then he called a servant, "Go and investigate the affairs of Feng Mei’er’s family."
Isn’t she fond of threatening people?
Then he would expose her family’s sordid secrets, there would surely be some unspeakable filthy matters.
Qu Fulan spent the morning strolling through the various shops and then returned to the Pei Mansion.
The assassination had just happened, and she was still a bit apprehensive. Besides, now that the new shop was running stably, even if she wanted to undertake other projects, she would have to wait until after the New Year, so she no longer needed to be outside every day watching over things.
Upon returning to the Pei Mansion, Qu Fulan made some food and took it over to Ren Hua.
The appetite of a sick person is poor; they would be picky about what they eat, and what others make is not as tasty as what she makes.
When she reached Ren Hua’s place and saw a room full of tonics and medicinal herbs, Qu Fulan was stunned, "Isn’t that a bit much for just getting sick?"
Ren Hua had just woken up and didn’t react to the report from the maids.
"Mr. Pei sent people to bring it." The maid spoke while tidying.
Qu Fulan was exceedingly curious, "Why would Mr. Pei send these to you for no reason?"
Ren Hua herself thought it was baffling, "Perhaps he misunderstood that I caught a cold while playing with Tuan, so he sent these things."
Qu Fulan accepted this reason; after all, she was not very perceptive when it came to matters of emotions, "The Pei Family’s Mr. Pei and the Second Master are both good people. If others did a little thing, they would generously reward them."
Ren Hua initially felt a bit odd about it, but listening to Qu Fulan, she thought of the Second Master’s kindness to Qu Fulan and immediately saw it as a result of the Pei Family sons’ upbringing.
As the saying goes, sickness comes like a mountain falling, but goes away like silk being drawn; when Ren Hua recovered, it had already been four or five days.
Her father had already arrived in the Capital City.
Mr. Ren saw his daughter much thinner than before and naturally felt heartache, "If you get married earlier, you wouldn’t have to struggle alone. You insist on torturing yourself."
Ren Hua didn’t like listening to her father’s nagging, but he hit on an undeniable truth in such matters.
"It isn’t that your daughter doesn’t want to; it’s not just about wanting to get married and it happens."
She had been in the Capital City for quite some time but hadn’t encountered a suitable junior official.
Mr. Ren sighed, "Since ancient times, marriage has always been decided by parents and matchmakers. You run around outside all the time; how can your marriage settle? If you get stable here, we as parents can feel at ease."
Others would hear this and think it was simply parental love for their children, but in truth, it was not.
Mrs. Ren’s health was poor, and although Mr. Ren was still able to engage in commerce, age was catching up. In the future, apart from the dowry for the daughter, the family business would mostly be left to the son.
This was the best arrangement while the parents were alive; otherwise, when they were gone, the sibling relationship would be uncertain.
The Ren Family Brother had no talent for business, focused on studying from an early age, and rarely involved himself in other matters.
Because of this, Ren Hua could participate in business; otherwise, how would there be a matter for a girl?
But the brother didn’t understand business, yet married a resourceful wife.
If the sister-in-law was amicable, there wouldn’t be much of a problem; the trouble was she didn’t like her, fearing she would snatch the family assets, wanting her to marry off quickly.
To help her brother, the sister-in-law even hoped she would become a concubine for an official.
Every family has its difficult scripture to read.
Ren Hua recovered from her illness and must go to thank Qu Fulan properly; during her sick days, she continuously made delicious food for her, or else she wouldn’t have had any appetite.
Finally entering the mansion, led by the maid, she hadn’t arrived at Furong Courtyard yet but encountered Pei Yuan.
Thinking of how not only did he personally visit her at home, but also sent many tonics, Ren Hua hadn’t had the chance to thank him; now upon meeting him, she naturally expressed her gratitude profusely.
She first offered him the proper greeting, Pei Yuan nodded, and then asked, "Have you fully recovered from your illness?"
Ren Hua took the opportunity to say, "I’ve fully recovered, only the medicine Mr. Pei gave was too expensive, and Ren Hua feels she cannot bear it."
Pei Yuan sternly said, "Even the finest medicine is meant for curing illnesses; using them appropriately does not count as wasteful, you needn’t feel like you cannot bear it."
Ren Hua thanked him repeatedly.
Pei Yuan then said, "I heard your father has arrived in the Capital City as well?"
Ren Hua was taken aback; her father only arrived yesterday, how did Mr. Pei know?
"Yes, the Ren Family’s shop opened, and father came to inspect it."
"Oh, where is the Ren Family’s shop located?" Pei Yuan asked.
Ren Hua thought he was asking casually, so she casually provided the address.
As a result, on the day of the Ren Family shop’s opening, besides Qu Fulan and Third Miss coming to show support, Mr. Pei surprisingly sent a generous gift, though he didn’t appear personally.
That evening, Mr. Ren hosted a small gathering at home, inviting some of the friends who had shown support during the day as guests. Due to Mr. Pei’s generous gift, Ren Hua, out of courtesy, also sent someone to invite him, originally thinking he wouldn’t attend, just a symbolic invitation, but Mr. Pei actually appeared at Ren Family with Tuan, formally introducing himself to Mr. Ren.
Mr. Ren was dumbfounded.