C81

The moment Jin Lan saw Yan Rong, he could tell that the smile on her face was different from usual. If it was before, the most considerate servant girl beside the old lady had always been respectful to him, then the smile on her face now was flattering.

Why? Jin Lan frowned his eyebrows unnoticeably, he had originally guessed that the reason the old lady allowed her to join Jiayu Hall, was probably because of the matter of her leaving the house last night, but Yan Rong's actions did not seem to be like that. After thinking for a moment, he carelessly asked: "Sister Yan Rong, did the old lady have a good sleep yesterday?"

Yan Rong smiled like the spring breeze blowing past her face, giving Jin Lan a bow, she got up and replied: "Don't worry Second Miss, the old lady slept well last night, she got up early, and was full of energy. I had intended to call the young lady to the garden to admire the flowers, but young lady said that the young lady's health was not good, that's why I didn't come over."

So his mother was actually in the old lady's room, but after hearing the meaning behind Yan Rong's words, the old lady did not plan to call him over, so why did she change her mind now? And knowing that her body was "unfavorable", he still sent someone to call her.

Jin Lan thought for a bit, then asked with a smile: "When did mother go to the Jiayu Hall, no wonder I sent someone to the Shuixie Pavilion a few times just now, and said that mother wasn't in the courtyard."

Yan Rong looked at Jin Lan, and laughed: "Madam came to Jiayu Hall early in the morning to pay respects to the old lady, and saw that the Old Ancestor's birthday is approaching, and that the old lady is discussing with Madam what kind of birthday present to present to the old lady."

Old ancestor's birthday? Jin Lan's heart suddenly jumped. She seemed to have grasped on to something. She walked a few steps toward the door and asked, "Are there any visitors in the old lady's room?"

"What visitors?" "But he's from my clan …" Just as Yan Rong spoke halfway, he suddenly choked, only then did he realize that Jin Lan was trying to trick her, causing his face to instantly turn awkward. Without further ado, he said: "Second Miss should go quickly, it's always a good thing."

Jin Lan nodded his head with a smile, but his heart was already in turmoil. Even though Yan Rong hadn't finished speaking, she had already spat out the most important part.

The old lady did indeed have someone in her room, and it was someone from her own family. From the sound of it, she was not her master, but to be able to travel all the way from the capital to the Yangzhou, she definitely was not an ordinary slave.

Who could it be? The Old Ancestor is also my clan's Eldest Wife?

Jin Lan's heart rose. It was very tense the whole way.

Yan Rong seemed to realize that she had talked too much and never took the initiative to open her mouth again. Jin Lan pondered for a moment before giving up.

As they walked along the veranda to the garden, the autumn light became thicker, and withered leaves fell from the branches one by one. However, at the corner, the Begonia and Hibiscus were blooming just right, and there were also a few chrysanthemums and red clumps of green flowers, adding a lot of radiance to the desolate garden.

The servant girl who was cleaning the garden was busy cleaning up the dried branches and leaves. When she saw Jin Lan and his men walking over, she lowered her head and bowed. After she walked over, she stood up and resumed her duties.

Walking across the garden's Nine Winding Bridge, the Jiayu Hall's gate could already be seen in everyone's eyes.

After walking for another ten steps, Jin Lan saw Ye Jinwei wearing a goose-yellow brocade cloak in the distance. She was talking to someone under a locket tree not far from the courtyard door. From the looks of it, she seemed to be a Concubine Shao.

Jin Lan squinted his eyes, that's right, it was the Concubine Shao, who was wearing an emerald colored 10 kinds of embroidered flowers and a light blue, silver-edged bamboo blue horse mask dress. After being pregnant for almost 5 months, his lower abdomen had grown slightly, and he looked even more round and jade-like, exuding a different kind of charm.

It was unknown what the two of them were talking about, but they both suddenly covered their sleeves and laughed. There was even a hint of complacency in their eyes.

Why is Concubine Shao here? Didn't the old lady personally ask for her to be nurtured in the Bright Autumn Pavilion until the day of birth? Just as Jin Lan was thinking, Su Xin who was standing at the side saw the group of people walking over.

She raised a smile and walked towards Jin Lan: "Second Miss." His voice was clearly louder than usual, and was a little sharper.

Even the old gatekeepers looked over, which of course alarmed Ye Jinwei and Concubine Shao.

Jin Lan's eyes flashed, but his mouth raised in a smile, he did not slow down, and followed behind Yan Rong the same steps.

Seeing that Jin Lan had not paid attention to him, Su Xin's face immediately stiffened. However, after pausing a moment, he smiled again, bowed to Jin Lan, and then said to Yan Rong, "When I came out just now, I still heard that old lady talking about Second Miss."

Yan Rong laughed and replied, "Isn't that how they came?" Her tone was neither too polite nor too intimate.

The sycamore tree was planted not far from the gate of the Jiayu Hall courtyard. According to the paths taken by the group of people, they would have to pass under the tree to enter the courtyard. Ye Jinwei and Concubine Shao had long since stopped standing late and just happened to be standing there talking. It was very likely that they were waiting for her.

Jin Lan thought over everything in detail and had some idea of what to do. He didn't avoid it but walked straight towards it.

Yan Rong bowed towards Ye Jinwei and Concubine Shao, then returned to report to her Jiayu Hall. After she left, Jin Lan walked forward slowly.

"Second sister." Ye Jinwei was obviously in a very good mood today. When she saw Jin Lan, she did not even raise her head, and greeted him with a smile.

"Big Sis, thank you for your concern. Little Sis is fine now." Jin Lan also had a sweet smile on his face. If an outsider had seen this scene, they would have thought that the two of them were intimate sisters.

Concubine Shao raised her hand and gently caressed her lower abdomen, nodding towards Jin Lan with a smile, "Second Miss."

Jin Lan naturally replied with a smile. "Aunt." A trace of ridicule flashed past her eyes. Did she really think she could push her mother and herself into the mud while carrying her body and not even giving them a half a salute?

"I was still wondering why I didn't see my second sister when I came to pay my respects to the old lady in the morning. Just now, I heard from my mother that my second sister was sick again." Ye Jinwei laughed, "Last night, I copied half of the scriptures for my sister. I was obviously very tired, but after lying down, I couldn't fall asleep.

Each word specifically pointed to the night before, when her mother had brought her out to admire the lights.

Jin Lan's heart tensed up. Normally speaking, his mother would never talk too much with Ye Jinwei, and the only possibility was that she was an old lady. This meant that the old lady most likely knew of this matter and was extremely angry, if not Ye Jinwei would not be gloating like this and would be stuck here, wanting to see her in a good mood.

His mother was still in the Jiayu Hall, and he didn't know what the old lady would do to his mother.

When he thought about the Madame SHen, Jin Lan was not in the mood to argue with Ye Jinwei, and instead said with a smile: "Since that's the case, big sister must also be careful, if you accidentally get as sick as your little sister and delay the copying of the scripture, if Buddha thinks that big sister is not sincere, I'm afraid he will blame you."

"You …" Ye Jinwei's smile froze on her face. She raised her eyebrows and was about to open her mouth to scold him, but the Concubine Shao stopped her in time.

"Second Miss is right. To Buddha, sincerity is naturally everything. Why would First Miss be delayed?" Concubine Shao's gaze flashed, and said with a smile that did not reach his eyes, "On the other hand, Second Miss should have gone in earlier, this old lady has been looking forward to it."

Jin Lan originally wanted to go in quickly, but he was too lazy to get riled up with the Concubine Shao, so he went down the stairs, smiling as he nodded his head, and brought the Mama Tang and Wan Ju who were waiting at the back to enter the Jiayu Hall.

Ye Jinwei stared at Jin Lan's back until he disappeared from the courtyard door, then unwillingly said to Concubine Shao: "Why did Aunt let her go in? Didn't you plan on dragging it out so that the old woman would have a grudge against her? "

Concubine Shao looked at Jiayu Hall meaningfully, "Yan Rong, that lowly servant will be entering the house first. Old lady will definitely know that we are obstructing her from going in, and if you want to blame her, you can only blame us."

Ye Jinwei coldly snorted, "Yan Rong has never placed me in her eyes, sooner or later..."

Concubine Shao quickly covered her mouth, "Little Ancestor, look at where we are, can you speak nonsense?" As she spoke, she surveyed her surroundings and made sure that no one was paying attention to him, before releasing her hand. In a deep voice, she said, "Let's go back first. We'll slowly calculate later!"

Ye Jinwei nodded, and brought up the topic on Bright Autumn Pavilion together with the Concubine Shao.

Jin Lan quickly entered the courtyard. Pin Yue had already known that she was coming, so he smiled and bowed, then pulled the curtain to invite her in.

Upon entering the house, Jin Lan saw the Madame SHen sitting under the old lady with a dejected look on her face. Obviously, something had happened, and her heart couldn't help but sink.