Thirty-fourth, you're still pretending (part 2)

  "Miss, have you woken up?"

  "Hmm!"

  The ninth sister looked out of the window at the sunset and twilight outside, then rubbed her eyes and sat up from bed.

  Qing Xing was still looking at her, the worry in his eyes was self-evident.

  "What's wrong? I'm fine." Jiujie glanced at her and asked again, "What's the situation outside?"

  Upon hearing this, Qing Xiang smiled and said, "Sixth Sister and Seventh Sister have been confined to their rooms, copying the 'Admonitions for Women' as punishment. Third Young Master has just returned and Second Master is locked up reading books. The Crown Prince was scolded by the Queen and then rushed to the large camp of Weiyuan Wang's garrison ten miles outside the city."

  It's really no wonder that San Jie is the most valued among all the young ladies in the Wen household, even her accusations are so forceful!

  The ninth sister couldn't help but smile slightly and asked Qing Xing, "Where's Qing Tao?"

  "Helping the girls in the big kitchen to decoct medicine." Qing Xiang said again.

  "Big kitchen?" Jiuniang was taken aback.

  "Yes," Qing Xiang smiled, her cunning eyes flashing, "this girl somehow broke that small stove, and the small kitchen doesn't have any spare parts, so we can only go to the big kitchen."

  The ninth sister suddenly understood and smiled, "This girl has become so clever."

  "She's still not clear-headed, could it be that she really wants to harm the young lady? Qing Xiang immediately cried out upon hearing this, but after finishing speaking, she immediately felt extremely remorseful and slapped herself, "Hiss, I truly deserve to be beaten, saying something about life or death, the young lady's good fortune is boundless."

  "Hehe......" Jiu sister was amused.

  "Girl!" Qing Xing immediately scolded her.

  "Third sister, you've arrived! You must be here to see your sister. Please come in quickly, she's just woken up!"

  The master and servant were laughing together when they heard the gatekeeper's little girl shouting in a respectful yet astonished voice from outside.

  The master and servant both changed color at once.

  "Miss......" Qing Xing looked at Jiu Jie with a worried face, as if facing a great enemy.

  "No worries, we'll fight off soldiers and bury the waters!" The ninth sister had already calmed down and gave Qing Xiang a reassuring glance.

  Qing Xiang nodded slightly.

  The door was soon pushed open and Wen Sanjie led two little maidservants in.

  The third sister was combing her hair into a cloud-like bun, wearing a jacket with gold-embroidered hundred butterflies and flowers on a cloud-patterned satin, still looking calm and tidy, not a single hair out of place.

  "Third sister..." Ninth sister hastily got out of bed and paid her respects to Third sister, with a face full of sincerity and fear.

  "Alright, Ninth Sister, you're not feeling well, so forget it." Third Sister waved her hand to stop her, but her sharp gaze fell on her face.

  Under her elder sister's scrutinizing gaze, Jiu Si'er felt a bit nervous, lowering her head and speaking in a low voice, "Thank you, Third Sister, for your concern!"

  The third sister didn't say a word, she just nodded and gazed at her for another moment before shifting her gaze away to examine the furnishings of the room.

  On one side, Qing An had carefully arranged the chairs and served tea, but was intimidated by San Jie's stern expression and didn't dare say another word.

  The ninth sister looked at her and felt that it was really hard to get along with her, so she quietly waved goodbye to let her leave.

  "It's tidy now, just a bit small!" After a long while, San Jie finally withdrew her gaze and sat down, looking at Jiu Jie.

  "Third sister doesn't know," Ninth sister smiled awkwardly, "it's sunny here. When we moved in last year, mother originally wanted me and tenth sister to live together, but I was greedy for the sunshine here and insisted on moving here. Mother couldn't persuade me, so she agreed."

  This reply to the third sister has two layers of meaning, one is to show that living here is her own will, and has nothing to do with anyone else, nor does it contain the plot of a stepmother treating a concubine's daughter poorly; another layer of meaning is deeper, which is to tell others that she is very self-aware, not only actively choosing to live in the humble house, but also giving her stepmother enough face.

  But this is meant for those who understand!

  "You're really a clever one!" Of course, San Jie was the understanding one. Looking at her, he smiled, but suddenly his face changed and he said sternly, "Clever to the point of scheming, making me, someone who sits at home peacefully, not offending anyone, become your scapegoat and play the role of a villain, is that right?"

  "Third sister..." The words immediately scared Jiu Si'er, her face paled, she stood up, hands hanging down, standing respectfully to one side, "Sorry... please forgive me, I was also momentarily impulsive..."

  "Was it a moment of desperation? Hmph..." San Jie also stood up, staring at the obviously shorter Jiu Jie, "In a moment of desperation, you can calculate my head, among the many madams and masters of our Wen Fu, are you only looking at me as foolish, only looking at me as easy to bully?"

  Jiuer didn't back down under pressure, "Third sister, listen to me..."

  "I hear you say... saying that you were pretending to faint on purpose, saying that you're not sick but faking it, saying that at such a young age, you already have such cunning and tactics..."

  "Third sister!" Having been pressed and scolded by her, Ninth Sister also got angry, shouting loudly, "I always thought you were a sensible person, but I didn't expect you to be so muddled. Let's not mention that I was just an innocent passerby who saw Sixth Sister and the young master struggling, and fearing that something would happen at this critical moment, affecting the reputation of our Wen family, so I intervened. Just say that I didn't call anyone else, but called Third Sister. Who do you think Third Sister should have called? Second Aunt or Fourth Aunt, or my mother?"

  After hearing her words, San Jie'er was taken aback.

  It seems like I can only call myself now.

  Second Aunt is even more unbearable, previously jealous of Mother, now even more so because she herself has a good marriage and received a generous dowry from Grandmother's hands, her eyes are red with envy, now probably just waiting for something to go wrong.

  Fourth Aunt has always been one who delights in stirring up trouble, with a belly full of resentment towards the wealthy. If she were to be called upon, even small matters could be blown out of proportion.

  As for Third Aunt Jiang, she is also not suitable, because once she intervenes, it may evolve into a conflict between the third and main branches.

  Grandma is not around, and the one who really cares about this is just myself!

  Never thought that this little transparent-like cousin of mine would have such thoughts, and I actually...

  "Sorry, Ninth Sister, it was just a momentary impulse on my part!"

  Jiuer has always admired Sanjie for being fair and open-minded, with a clear distinction between kindness and resentment. Although she doesn't interact much with this cousin, her strong intuition allows her to understand the personalities of all the sisters in the manor.

  This is also the reason why she dared to put her mind on San Jie's head!

  Of course, there was one thing she didn't dare to mention. In fact, she had never planned to tell the old lady and the princess about it, because the person who reports is always the first to be disliked, and it's not necessarily a good outcome, especially for someone like her with little influence.

  But... haha, San Jie is different, today's facts are proof!

  A crisis was soon resolved, and in the end, she not only won the affection and trust of the three sisters, but also received the honor that the seventh sister had wasted countless emotions on without getting. She even got a piece of jewelry from the third sister, which made Qingtuo and Qingxing feel proud for several days.

  Later, the other sisters also came to see her. The fifth sister even personally embroidered a purse with soothing medicine for her. The fourth sister sent her delicious food. The tenth sister scolded the sixth and seventh sisters in anger. The eighth sister and little eleven also gave her gifts.

  The days returned to their former calm and busyness, and Ninth Sister also began to walk freely in the mansion.

  "Miss, I'll go back for a while, it's Auntie's heart's desire."

  Jiujie and Qing Xing returned from Aunt Xu's place, but only halfway through did they realize that they had forgotten the pastries that Aunt Xu had made. So Qing Xing went back to get them, while Jiujie continued on alone.

  But just as she walked to the edge of the garden's artificial hill, a strong arm pulled her back, "I see if you're still pretending..."

  ……