Quick Transmigration: Survive to the End

Qiu Rui escorted Pan Yinyin to the door and then stopped.

The maidservant guarding the gate saw her and, without even informing her, immediately lifted the curtain and called her in.

Inside the house, Qingwu was still chatting with Yu Miaoqi, who responded half-heartedly, and soon noticed Pan Yinyin's arrival.

Upon seeing Pan Yinyin, Yu Miaoqi immediately smiled, her eyes becoming much gentler: "Yinyin, come to my side quickly."

Pan Yinyin did as she was told and bowed respectfully, saying, "Greetings, Madam."

Yu Miaoqi reached out to support her, looked her up and down for a moment, and then said with some dissatisfaction: "The color suits you, but the fabric is too plain. I remember that Qiu Rui is good at embroidery. Ask her to embroider some flowers on Yin Yin's clothes when she has time."

The last sentence was spoken to Hongfu, the head maid who served him.

Hongfu agreed and went outside. Qingwu quickly said, "Yinyin is just a little maid. How could she embroider flowers on her clothes and be different from others? Madam spoils her too much."

The maids in the manor all wore green clothes in summer, but the shades and accessories varied to distinguish their ranks. However, they were all the same in that, except for the waistband, collar, and cuffs, their clothes were not allowed to have large areas of embroidery.

Pan Yinyin entered the household as a second-class maid, which already attracted attention. Therefore, Qingwu dared not let her have too many special features in these small matters, lest she attract someone's attention. After all, Yinyin was not even five years old yet, and Qingwu, as her mother, could not have been too worried.

However, Yu Miaoqi did not like to hear this: "Since Yinyin is serving me, how she dresses and does things is entirely up to me. What's wrong with her being different from others?"

Qingwu wanted to remind her daughter to be more careful, but Yu Miaoqi saw through her meaning and served her tea to send her away: "You've been out for so long, your youngest son should be awake by now."

Qingwu glanced at her daughter with some reluctance, then got up and left. She stood in the courtyard for a while, making small talk with the maids serving in the main courtyard, asking them to take care of Yinyin. Seeing that no one had come out of the room, she knew that the madam had left Yinyin behind, so she had no choice but to leave first.

Inside the house, Yu Miaoqi didn't keep Yinyin for any other reason than to have her sit beside her. She planned to teach her to read and write and read poetry after she finished her work.

Pan Yinyin was supposed to serve in the mansion, but because of Yu Miaoqi's favor, she didn't have to start as a lowly maid. She wasn't required to do any of the heavy cleaning or sweeping. Even serving tea and water was only done when it was easy. Most of the time, she spent her days by Yu Miaoqi's side, watching her do things, or being led out to play.

Pan Yinyin didn't know why Yu Miaoqi was so kind to her, but that didn't stop her from taking this opportunity to learn little by little and show off her talent.

Serving tea and water is a skill that can be learned by practicing tea-making techniques, and one can eventually become even better at it.

Practicing calligraphy can be done diligently and persistently, eventually leading to one's own unique style that is truly astonishing.

Reading can progress from recognizing characters to understanding their meaning, and then applying that knowledge to other situations.

After discovering her learning ability, Yu Miaoqi tentatively taught her to play the piano. Unexpectedly, Pan Yinyin learned even this very quickly. Apart from not understanding the true meaning of the music because she was too young, she could play a piece without making any mistakes.

Now, Pan Yinyin is even more famous in the mansion. Before, she was famous because of the special treatment Yu Miaoqi gave her, but now she is famous more because of her hard work and talent.

Because the rumors had spread, even when Zhan Zheng came to pay his respects again, he stared at Yin Yin with curiosity for a few more seconds.

Yin Yin acted shy and hid behind Yu Miaoqi, too embarrassed to be seen.

Seeing this, Yu Miaoqi gave Zhan Zheng a reproachful look: "You child, why do you act like you're seeing Yinyin for the first time?"

"I've seen her before, but I never expected Yinyin to have such abilities," Zhan Zheng said with a smile. "No wonder you like her so much, Mother."

“Yinyin is a lovely and lovable girl. If you spend more time with her, you will like her too,” Yu Miaoqi said, then turned to Yinyin and instructed, “I asked the kitchen to make ginger milk curd earlier. It should be ready by now. Yinyin, you and Hongfu go and get it.”

Pan Yinyin knew that the mother and son had something to talk about, so she deliberately sent her away and obediently followed Hongfu outside.

After the two left, only Yu Miaoqi and Zhan Zheng remained in the room. Yu Miaoqi then said to Zhan Zheng, "Granny Zhao said that the Taoist priest from her family returned to the village yesterday and will be leaving again in a few days. If you have time tomorrow, please come with me to visit him."

Zhan Zheng frowned and advised her, "Mother, the road ahead is always one you have to walk yourself. Even if a fortune teller predicts something, do you expect me to wait for fate to grant me a high position and punish the wicked?"

“That makes sense, but there’s no harm in taking a look,” Yu Miaoqi said softly, looking towards the doorway. “I also plan to bring Yinyin along and ask the Taoist priest to take a look at her as well.”

"Huh?" Zhan Zheng didn't understand. "Why does Mother suddenly want to have Yin Yin's fortune told?"

Yu Miaoqi clenched the clothes on her lap, then suddenly released them, gently smoothing them out. "The night your father was buried, he appeared to me in a dream, telling me to take good care of Yinyin. I started to suspect that perhaps the incident where your father used Yinyin to warn us caused some harm to Yinyin, or perhaps..."

"Zheng'er, do you think Yinyin might be your sister reincarnated and come back to my side? That's why she learned the warning words from your father back then, and that's why your father couldn't help but visit me in a dream after he was laid to rest?"

Zhan Zheng wanted to say whether his mother was dreaming about something she had been thinking about during the day, but when he thought of the amazing way Yin Yin learned to speak as a child, he couldn't bring himself to say it.

He looked at his somewhat sorrowful mother and sighed softly: "Even if that Taoist priest is truly effective, there are always possibilities. When the time comes and the results are revealed, have you made any plans, Mother?"

“Of course,” Yu Miaoqi quickly replied, “If not, then it was to help us avoid a disaster and to relay your father’s message. I will continue to take good care of Yinyin and prepare a dowry for her in the future. If…”

Yu Miaoqi didn't continue, but the stubbornness on her face was somewhat alarming.

-

Because Hongfu was with her, Yinyin couldn't linger and naturally didn't know what the mother and son were talking about. But walking along the path, the lotus flowers in the pond were in full bloom, which made Yinyin slow down and take a few more glances.

Seeing her interest, Hongfu said, "Why don't we pick a couple of branches to put in a vase? It's been a few days since Madam had any flowers in her room."

Yinyin's eyes lit up: "Just flowers aren't enough, they need to be paired with lotus pods and leaves to make the vase look nice."

“It’s clear that what Madam and Young Master said about how quickly you learn is true. You’ve only been in the manor for a few days, and you’ve already got the hang of arranging vases,” Hongfu couldn’t help but take her hand, beckon to the servants who were serving there, and give them a few instructions, “Let’s go to the kitchen first, and we can pick them up directly when we come back. I’ll bring the snacks, but you’ll have to take the flowers.”