Chapter 8: Moving into Tingyu Pavilion

"Madam, Madam, something terrible has happened! The Moon Courtyard is on fire!" Before the carriage had even come to a complete stop, Steward Xia, who was pacing frantically in distress, hurried forward to meet them.

Suddenly, the calm Yun Ruo had just been struggling to maintain was tossed into stormy waves again upon hearing Steward Xia's anxious voice.

Recovering her senses, Yun Ruo rushed to the Moon Courtyard. Looking at the courtyard, which had been burned down to mere ruins and broken walls, her heart twinged with pain. She glanced sideways at Qiu Liyue, who stood behind her with an air of indifference, and her heart became a whirlpool of complex emotions.

How could the perfectly fine Moon Courtyard catch fire? But if one were to say Qiu Liyue had orchestrated this, she wouldn't believe it. The maids and elderly servants allowed into the Moon Courtyard were all carefully selected by her; every single one of them was shrewd. They knew exactly who the mistress of the Qiu Estate was, not to mention that she held their indentures in her hands. But to say the Moon Courtyard caught fire for no reason, as if even the heavens were helping this dead girl—she believed that even less!

On the surface, Qiu Liyue appeared unperturbed, but in her heart, she was already cheering with joy: *This is great! This is great! Even the heavens are helping me; my wishes really do come true!*

"Madam! Madam!" A maid dressed in a dark green skirt held her hem with both hands and rushed to Yun Ruo, kneeling with a "thud." "Madam, please save my Concubine! The Moon Courtyard caught fire just now, and Concubine was frightened. I fear she has disturbed her fetal qi; her stomach is hurting terribly right now!"

Looking at the anxious maid kneeling before Yun Ruo, Qiu Liyue realized it was Cuidong, who served Concubine Song. She suddenly remembered that in her previous life, while she was under house arrest, Concubine Song had come to the Moon Courtyard to visit her. Less than an hour after returning, Concubine Song had suffered a miscarriage.

Because of that, Qiu Jinshan had stormed into the Moon Courtyard with a darkened face, but in the end, he had only stared at her gloomily for a long time without saying a word before turning and leaving. After that incident, she had never seen Qiu Jinshan again until the day she died.

Thinking of this, Qiu Liyue already had a plan in mind. The Moon Courtyard was destroyed, which was perfect as it saved her the trouble of exerting effort to cause more trouble. However, she wondered where she would live now.

"Where is the estate physician?" Yun Ruo felt as if her head were splitting. In these past ten-plus years, all the bad luck seemed to have converged on this single day.

No child had been born in the estate for five or six years. This pregnancy of Concubine Song's was something Qiu Jinshan happened to value extremely highly. Regardless of how things were in private, on the surface, she could not allow even the slightest mistake to show.

"Madam, the estate physician requested leave to return to the countryside yesterday," Chunmei whispered in Yun Ruo's ear.

She had been driven to confusion by Qiu Liyue's behavior today. Yesterday, she had intentionally sent the physician back to the countryside, waiting to return from the palace today, place Qiu Liyue under house arrest, and then use that opportunity to eliminate the child in Concubine Song's womb. Now, the entire plan had fallen through.

"Steward Xia, go quickly to the Xingren Hall to fetch a doctor! Cuidong, lead the way and go check on Concubine Song!" Yun Ruo commanded briskly.

"Mother!" Seeing Yun Ruo deliberately choosing to "forget" her, Qiu Liyue spoke softly.

"Look, I've forgotten—this Moon Courtyard cannot be lived in for the time being. Why don't you endure a bit of hardship, Liyue, and stay temporarily at the Listening Rain Pavilion? Once the Moon Courtyard is tidied up, you can move back. What do you think?"

"Thank you, Mother!" It seemed Yun Ruo didn't want to see her for even a moment longer.

The Listening Rain Pavilion was located in the southwest corner of the Qiu Estate, right against the perimeter wall. The courtyard gate faced the lotus pond. The main building was a small two-story pavilion with three rooms on each floor. On the west and south sides of the small building, there were five wing rooms each against the walls.

The total area of the small courtyard was not even half the size of the Moon Courtyard where Qiu Liyue used to live; even compared to the courtyards of the two concubine-born daughters, it was inferior.

Qiu Lixing cast a somewhat gloating glance at Qiu Liyue before following behind Yun Ruo with an air of arrogance.

"Miss, this servant knows a bit of medicine. Do you require it?" Seeing the group walk away, Zijin suddenly stepped forward and whispered to Qiu Liyue.

Qiu Liyue looked at Zijin with a hint of pleasant surprise. An Xiaoman was indeed not wrong; this was truly a surprise for her.

"No need! We are going to the Listening Rain Pavilion now!"

Although the Listening Rain Pavilion was in a remote location, its interior decoration was extremely simple and elegant—though this was merely Qiu Liyue's personal opinion.

The four newcomers didn't feel much, but the former maids and servants of the Moon Courtyard were severely dissatisfied with this. Qiu Liyue was happy to avoid the hassle; she only instructed everyone to clean the Listening Rain Pavilion, and those who were unwilling to stay could leave on their own.

Standing in the Chenxiang Pavilion with its sweeping eaves by the lotus pond, Qiu Liyue sized up her four newly acquired maids. After a long pause, she spoke, "You have seen my current situation; following me does not guarantee a good life. I will ask one more time: if you choose to leave, I will let you leave with your indentures. If you choose to stay, if you ever harbor any disloyalty toward me in the future, do not blame me for being ruthless."

The four exchanged glances and said in unison, "This servant will naturally follow Miss."

Qiu Liyue smiled slightly. "Since you treat me with sincerity, I will certainly not mistreat you in the future. I will treat you as my own sisters."

"Thank you, Miss, we wouldn't dare!" the four said in unison again.

Looking at the still-cautious four, Qiu Liyue said no more. Some things had to be seen through actual actions, not through words.

"I haven't asked yet—what are your specialties?" Qiu Liyue asked, resting her chin on her left hand while her right fingers lightly tapped the stone table.

Qingqing, who had slightly dark skin and a somewhat honest look, was the first to speak. "This servant is skilled in cooking. If Miss has anything she wishes to eat, just give the order."

Zijin, whose dark eyes were darting around, smiled faintly. "This servant has a basic knowledge of medicine."

Youyou, who had fair skin and a somewhat charming expression, said, "This servant is skilled in dressing and perfumes!"

Xin'er, who was slightly taller but somewhat shy, said, "This servant knows some martial arts."

As expected, a great surprise! She already knew Zijin knew medicine, but she never expected Xin'er to know martial arts; it was too unexpected. Qingqing and Youyou also satisfied her; she now had a complete set of talents by her side.

The Emperor truly had intentions! But why was the Emperor helping her so much?

As the sun set, it brushed a layer of crimson over the rippling waves in the lotus pond before her.

Not a single one of the original elderly servants from the Moon Courtyard remained, and only four maids were left. According to her original quota, there should have been two first-class maids, four second-class maids, and eight third-class maids. The maids and servants had been gone for half a day, yet there was no sign of Yun Ruo seeing them off; it was estimated that this Listening Rain Pavilion only had these few people.

Qiu Liyue didn't bother to nitpick these details. Looking at the four somewhat clumsy girls, she said, "The four of you, explain the situation of the estate to them, and then tomorrow, take them to familiarize themselves with the paths in the estate. From now on, the four of them will serve you closely, and the rest of the chores will fall to you. The four of you are not allowed to enter my room without my permission. Alright, go do what you need to do."

Qiu Liyue leaned against the bedpost, closing her eyes and thinking about the events of the day. From this day forward, she had stepped onto a path completely different from her previous life. In the Qiu Estate, she would inevitably have to be extremely careful. Previously, Yun Ruo had protected her in every way, but now, she likely wanted to tear her heart out.

She suddenly thought of those two people in the palace who had blocked her to demand the truth about the fall into the water. There shouldn't be any problems, right? She had no conflicts with them.

"Miss!" Qingqing walked in with her head lowered.

Qiu Liyue was startled. Although they had only spent a short time together, she could tell that among these four girls, Qingqing was the most steady. Why was there anger on her face now? "What is it? Who bullied you?"