"Young master, slow down, don't fall," Chu Qing chased after Da Bao, afraid he might stumble and fall again.
Cai Qing was playing with Er Bao and occasionally received disdainful glances from him. But when she saw Chu Qing running behind Da Bao, panting from exhaustion, she suddenly felt that playing with Er Bao, despite the occasional disdain, was much better than Chu Qing's situation.
Instantly, her heart felt more balanced, and she increasingly found Er Bao to be more likable.
Even though Er Bao didn't talk much and always seemed to look down on her, he was much more obedient. He wasn't as mischievous and troublesome as Da Bao, which made her unable to cope.
"Bang... bang..." A series of knocks came from the door, making all four people in the courtyard look over in unison.
Chu Qing, closest to the door, walked over first. Instead of opening it immediately, she called out, "Who is outside?"
"Is this Miss Chu Qing? I am here on Master's orders to deliver some pastries to the two young masters. They are all the young masters' favorites."
Chu Qing's eyes darted around, still fully alert and not forgetting Feng Jin's instructions. She quickly shouted back towards the door, "Please trouble the steward to inform Master that we have pastries in our courtyard. Our young madam and young masters appreciate his kindness, but our lock is broken and cannot be opened for the time being. Steward Wu, please return."
Steward Wu, standing outside the door, was slightly taken aback. Chu Qing was not as easily fooled as Cai Qing. After a moment, he said in a gentle tone, "Miss Chu Qing, I am truly just delivering some pastries to the young masters. Please open the door just a crack so I can hand them over. It will be difficult to report back to Master if I return without delivering them. I am already an old man, please don't make things difficult for me."
"Steward Wu, it's truly not me making things difficult for you, but the lock is genuinely broken and cannot be opened. We can't help it. How about you leave the pastries at the door for now? Once the lock is repaired and the door can be opened, I will bring the pastries in for the young masters to eat. Please don't worry."
Chu Qing responded skillfully, and her words left Steward Wu speechless, unsure of how to continue his pretense. The words he was about to say faltered.
"Yes, Steward Wu, our lock is really broken. The wind is strong today, you should hurry back and not stand at the door. Don't catch a cold."
Cai Qing also chimed in to persuade him to leave. With the two of them speaking one after another, Steward Wu didn't even have a chance to interject.
Whether it was genuinely windy or he was angered by the two of them, Steward Wu indeed sneezed several times.
"Steward Wu, you're going to catch a cold. You're old and frail, so please hurry back," Cai Qing said, trying to suppress a smile as she urged Steward Wu to leave.
"Yes! Steward Wu, you should go back first. The young masters need their afternoon nap, and we're taking them back to their rooms."
Chu Qing was also worried that Steward Wu wouldn't leave, so she directly took the two children back to the room. If Steward Wu wanted to wait, she couldn't stop him.
"Alas... you guys... don't go!"
Through the crack in the door, Steward Wu clearly saw Cai Qing and Chu Qing taking the two children into the room. He anxiously shouted, but it was to no avail. He could only watch helplessly as they led the children back to the room.
A young servant who had come with Steward Wu hesitated for a moment before asking, "Steward Wu, should we go back or continue waiting here..."
After speaking, he also sneezed. The weather was indeed too cold. The servant quickly hunched his neck, looking like an ostrich at the moment.
Steward Wu was already furious, and the servant's question only made him angrier. He reached out and hit the servant on the head: "You clueless fool, can't you see they're deliberately going inside? They don't want us to see the young masters. Waiting any longer is useless, let's go back."
"If we go back, how should we explain it to Master?"
As the servant's words fell, he was slapped heavily by Steward Wu again: "Do I need to tell you these things? Since you're so worried, then you stay here and handle all these matters."
Steward Wu left angrily, leaving the servant standing there bewildered, unsure whether to leave or stay.
After hesitating for a long time, he quietly remained in place. Without Steward Wu's instructions, he really didn't dare to leave easily.
He had no choice but to continue waiting. A gust of cold wind blew, and the servant shivered, quickly finding a sheltered corner to hide, not knowing when this wait would end.
It was his bad luck. If he had known this would happen, he wouldn't have spoken so much. In the end, he was the one who suffered.
...
"I don't hear any more noise outside. Has Steward Wu left?"
Cai Qing pressed her ear to the door, listening carefully, making even the slightest movement to avoid being discovered by the people outside.
"Sister Cai Qing, you should come in quickly. Whether they've left or not, as long as we don't go out, Steward Wu's people wouldn't dare to barge in. We just need to wait for Young Madam to wake up and let her decide."
Chu Qing stepped forward and pulled Cai Qing back. All they could do now was to stall for time. For any future matters, they would have to wait until Young Madam woke up to make further decisions.
After all, Steward Wu was someone close to Master, representing him. They, as maids, dared not offend him easily. Everything had to be decided by Young Madam.
"You're right. We can't afford to offend Steward Wu. We were lucky this time to have fooled him. If we're discovered again, there will be no other way to fool him. It's best that we don't go out and wait for Young Madam to wake up."
Cai Qing nodded hastily. She had witnessed Steward Wu's ruthlessness before. Any disobedient or errant servants were dealt with by Steward Wu, and their fates were never good.
Previously, a maid she was good friends with was beaten thirty planks by Steward Wu and his men simply for gossiping about their masters in private. She was then dragged away covered in blood. No one knew whether she lived or died.