Mad Queen Leaves the Palace

Just as Jasmine was being dragged away, Madam Jiang said to the head maid, "Didn't they say they also found two pieces of jewelry? Wasn't that also stolen by Jasmine?"

"Reporting to Madam, when I found them, these two pieces of jewelry looked like they were worth at least several tens of taels of silver, so I felt they didn't belong to a maid. But they probably weren't stolen by Jasmine. The jewelry was found in the partition of the bed near the south end. Jasmine's bed was at the north end of the room, and the two beds were quite far apart. Please take a look. But I don't remember you having any jewelry like this, Madam. Please take a look, I'm afraid I'm mistaken." As she spoke, she handed the jewelry to Madam Jiang Huang.

Jiang Huangshi looked at it and said: This is not mine. It does not look like the craftsmanship of our Shaozhou.

Granny Yu, who was closest to Madam Jiang, looked at it and said, "It doesn't look like the craftsmanship from our area. It's more similar to the items worn by the General's wife and Miss Yu."

"Xiuzhi, take a look," Madam Jiang said, gesturing for Granny Yu to hand the jewelry to Jiang Xiuzhi.

"Let me see," Jiang Xiuzhi said, taking the jewelry and examining it. "This is indeed from Baoyuzhai in the capital. It even has the Baoyuzhai logo." She then pointed to the logo, subtly placed on the back of the jewelry. "You know what, it really does look familiar," Jiang Xiuzhi said, looking at it again before suddenly turning to Xiao Lan and saying, "Lanlan, isn't this the jewelry I brought for you?"

"Let me see," Xiao Lan said, and immediately walked towards her aunt. She was overjoyed, thinking, "It's finally my turn to perform again!"

“Aunt, this really is from the jewelry set you gave me before. How could this be? Where did you find it, Granny?” Xiao Lan looked at the head nanny.

“Miss Huilan, it was found in the maid's room in your courtyard. There are three beds in the room. I found it in the crevice of the bed board at the south end. It is said that the bed belonged to Miss Yueji.”

Previously, when Yueji saw Jasmine in trouble, she was secretly pleased, thinking that she would be the only one favored by the young lady from now on. Yue'er was not very bright and definitely couldn't compete with her. Jasmine was also not very bright; how could she be so greedy as to take so much at once? If it were her, she would definitely save it little by little and would never be discovered.

Just as she was thinking about this, she suddenly realized she was involved in something else entirely. Weren't those two pieces of jewelry Miss's? It seemed they were found on her bed. How could that be? Who framed her? Could it be that bitch Jasmine? That couldn't be right. With her greed, she wouldn't go to such lengths to frame her. It was just her, Jasmine, and Yue'er in the room. No one else could have gone in.

Moon? No, that idiot wouldn't understand even if she had her brain. The worst part is, she framed me. What was she after?

There was no time for her to think. Jiang Huangshi spoke up directly: "Granny Yu, lock this lowly maid in the woodshed and keep a close eye on her. Later, go with Lanlan to her room and get the slave deeds of these two lowly maids. Sell them both." She then turned to Xiao Lan: "Lanlan, I know you are kind-hearted, but sometimes, just because you treat people sincerely doesn't mean they will reciprocate. You must be more discerning in your dealings with people in the future." Fortunately, this time no major mistake was made; it was just a loss of some money.

"Yes, Lan'er keeps Grandmother's teachings in mind. She thought that since Mother had kindly taken them in, the loss would only be some money. If they were sold at home, it would be a blow to Mother's reputation."

After listening, Madam Jiang nodded with satisfaction, knowing that her granddaughter was a capable person. She felt much more at ease.

Looking at Yue'er standing next to Xiao Lan, he said: "This girl is good, but she's too impulsive. You still need to discipline her properly."

“Grandmother is right,” Xiao Lan said, looking at Jiang Chunlai and Jiang Huangshi. “Grandfather, Grandmother, I plan to visit Uncle Lin at the escort agency tomorrow and ask him to pass on a message to my parents. With things like this happening here, we should let them know. Also, my brother asked me to do something, and I need to give him a reply. I don’t trust anyone else to do this.”

Lin Dayou was a notorious hoodlum in Shaozhou City in his early years, but he wasn't a hoodlum in the traditional sense; he was quite loyal and righteous. Once, when he was young, he was chased by enemies and rescued by Jiang Nihuang. He then recognized Jiang Nihuang as his sworn sister. Because of this relationship, he heeded Jiang Nihuang's advice, stopped his reckless ways, and opened the Dayou Escort Agency with some close brothers, leading a more stable life. Over the past twenty years, he has expanded the agency to various parts of southern China.

"Alright, take Granny Yu with you when you go out tomorrow. It's inconvenient for you to be without two people by your side all of a sudden. No, Grandmother will pick out two capable ones for you to take with you to the capital, so you won't have anyone to do things for you when you're studying hard."

“Grandmother, there’s really no need. I was thinking of asking Uncle Lin tomorrow if he could find me two maids. After all, the capital isn’t Yuzhou City. Having two maids by my side would make me, a woman, a little safer. Yue’er is enough to serve me in my room for now. I can buy more later if I find suitable ones in the capital.”

After saying that, fearing that the old lady would try to give it to her maid, she quickly winked at Jiang Xiuzhi.

Jiang Xiuzhi immediately chimed in: "Alright, Mother, stop trying to find maids for Lanlan. Once we get to the capital, with me here, you won't have to worry about her not having any servants to do with her."

So the group discussed it further. Xiao Lan was originally scheduled to go to Minglu Academy in seven days, which would take about three days by water. She would rest at the academy for three days to prepare for the entrance exam. Jiang Xiuzhi decided to wait until Wu Yuyu's follow-up appointment was completed in three days before deciding whether to return with Xiao Lan. After the discussion, everyone dispersed and went back to their rooms to rest.

Xiao Lan returned to her courtyard and sent Yue'er to her room to tidy up. A short while later, Granny Yu arrived. Xiao Lan offered her a seat and handed her two slave contracts on the table. Granny Yu took the contracts, looked at Xiao Lan's listless appearance, and comforted her, saying, "Miss Lan, don't be upset over these two ungrateful wretches. It's not worth it. I'll sell them off first thing tomorrow morning, so they won't bother you anymore."

Xiao Lan thought to herself: "How did they notice my distress? But it's alright, I was just wondering how to bring it up." So she asked, "Where are you planning to sell these two, Granny? I heard the price varies depending on the place of sale."

Granny Yu thought to herself, "Is Miss still thinking about our past relationship and wants to find a good place for these two ungrateful wretches?" She continued, "It's said that a maid of this age usually costs 50 taels each. If the previous head maid wants to find her a good place, she might charge a little less, around 30 to 40 taels."

"How come I heard that some maids were sold for 200 taels? Is it because my Yuzhou City is different from Shaozhou City? Shaozhou City is supposed to be more prosperous than Yuzhou City, so why are the maids here so worthless?" Xiao Lan looked at Granny Yu indifferently.

"This..." Granny Yu looked at Xiao Lan, unsure how to broach the subject. How could she tell her mistress that she needed to be sold to a brothel to fetch a higher price? This wasn't a good idea to discuss with an unmarried daughter of an official.

"Granny, don't be troubled," Xiao Lan put away the slave contract. "Come with me to Uncle Lin tomorrow. He can help me figure out a price. He knows many people, so we can get a higher price. Just remind him to keep a close eye on the person and make sure he doesn't go hungry."

Xiao Lan initially wanted Granny Yu to sell the two women to a brothel, but then she thought that since she had been reborn and was only 16 years old and unmarried, it wouldn't be appropriate for her to do such things in her own home. She decided to tell Uncle Lin about it tomorrow, and he would definitely make the decision to sell them to a brothel. With this connection, even if her maternal grandparents found out in the future, they would only think it was Lin Dayou's idea and wouldn't suspect anything wrong with her words and actions.

The next day, Xiao Lan went to see Lin Dayou and told him what had happened the day before. Lin Dayou was immediately furious. He told Xiao Lan to give him the slave contract and had someone fetch 600 taels of silver for her. He told her he had a place to sell the slave, and someone would take the contract to the Jiang residence to pick her up that afternoon. Xiao Lan didn't need to worry about anything else. Xiao Lan knew that Jasmine was beautiful and probably worth 300 taels of silver, while Rose wasn't as pretty and would fetch less. So she took out 200 taels and gave them to Lin Dayou. Upon hearing the word "Uncle," Lin Dayou knew the girl was up to something again. “Actually, I know where you sold them. There are some things I can’t let my grandmother know I know.” She then smiled sweetly at Lin Dayou. “Because I know, I know they can’t possibly fetch such a high price. Uncle has helped me a lot, so I can’t let him put any more money into it. Five hundred taels is enough for two people in that kind of place. The other 100 taels can be considered a deposit. Please help me find two good-natured female servants; I want to take them to the capital.” Lin Dayou didn’t want to accept the money, but Xiao Lan kept calling him “Uncle,” so he reluctantly accepted.

(When Jiang Nihuang met Lin Dayou, she was not yet married to Xiao Daren. Because of this, Xiao Daren was jealous and made his children call Lin Dayou "uncle," claiming that men can talk to each other easily. This angered Lin Dayou, who often wanted to fight him. Xiao Mu'an and Xiao Lan also knew that calling Lin Dayou "uncle" would make everything easier to discuss.)

Seeing that Lin Dayou had accepted the silver note, Xiao Lan said again

"In addition, there are two family letters, one to my mother and one to my eldest brother. Uncle, you must find a trustworthy person to deliver them to them personally, do not entrust them to a third party, and be sure to bring back the replies from my mother and brother."

Seeing that Xiao Lan was very serious, Lin Dayou immediately sealed the letter in a specially made leather bag. He summoned his trusted confidant and gave him instructions, telling Xiao Lan: "Don't worry, it will be delivered by express courier within five days."

After saying that, he ordered someone to load Xiao Lan's carriage with a bunch of tonics and snacks from the city's time-honored shops. Until Xiao Lan shouted: Stop loading, stop loading, if you load any more I won't have a place to sit.

Only then did they stop. They let Xiao Lan return to the Jiang residence first.