Higher Level Wife – 231 – Shocking (?) Meeting at the Study

Chapter 231: Shocking (?) Meeting at the Study

Author: White Pear Flower

Raws: https://book.qidian.com/info/2386994/

Translated by Gumihou

Proofread by Pill Bug

Gumihou: White Pear Flower does not know how to write a whodunit scene

 

While Fu Qiuning pondered upon the tragic conclusion of men in performing arts, Jin Fengju said, “You sit here for a while, I shall go outside for a moment. The kitchen has sent some freshly made snacks today. You must be hungry, I shall bring some for you.”

Fu Qiuning said, “There is no need, [1] I shall be leaving soon.”

She was about to stand up when Jin Fengju hurried over to say, “No, no, I mean. Haha, Qiuning, ah.” He brushed his thumb tenderly against Fu Qiuning’s nose as he said lovingly, “You have worked hard for an entire year for me. Although you have not said anything, I know this well in my heart. Qiuning, if I were to say that those women treated me like the moon in the sky, this may well be true. However, I also am very clear in my heart how much of it was due to love and how much was due to their self-interest. Only you, Qiuning, you, who are neither humble nor arrogant, who cared for neither schemes nor fighting, did everything straight from here.”

He tapped Fu Qiuning on the chest. Then, he tapped his own chest and said softly, “Therefore, while I may compensate those other wives and concubines with benefits, for you, I offer my genuine heart.”

Fu Qiuning, [1] who had frozen in place the moment he had touched her nose out of the blue, finally shook herself awake and had to take a few steps back before shivering and brushing down the goosebumps that had stood up on her arms.

Fortunately, [2] Bi Yu chose that moment to enter and said, “Madam, please forgive our tardiness. Cai Lian personally went out to fetch the snacks for Madam. Goodness, this maid has been here for so many years, but Madam is the first person to be treated like this. Madam, come sit down quickly, Cai Lian will be here very soon. This maid will serve tea now!”

Fu Qiuning did her best to walk around the maid, but Bi Yu expertly blocked her way with a smile. With [2] Jin Fengju pulling on one side and the maid pushing on the other, Fu Qiuning soon found herself forced onto the couch.

[2a] “Madam, ah,” Bi Yu chattered on. “In fact, not many people are allowed in Master’s study. Goodness, even Madam Jiang cannot set foot in here easily. Back when Madam Concubine Xu was still around, she and Madam Concubine Huo often dropped by to send food. In fact, it was all a pretence to make Master look at them twice.”

Bi Yu and Jin Fengju beamed proudly at her, both looked like they expected her to be pleased by this revelation.

All Fu Qiuning could say was, “I see.”

[2b] Seeing her unimpressed expression, Bi Yu suddenly brushed her sleeves against one of the bookshelves and exclaimed, “Goodness! Look at all this dust! Master, how many times has this maid begged you to let this maid clean this place? This maid knows that Master’s study is filled with secret information, but surely it is fine to let this maid clean the place a little? This maid is sadly illiterate and is not fit to wipe your books, but surely this maid can dust your shelves?”

Jin Fengju laughed heartily and said, “You already know my answer. It is important that no one other than myself may touch these books and papers.”

“Surely it is fine for this maid to dust shelves and floor of this place under Master’s watch? Look, this maid’s sleeves are already dirty and no longer fit for wearing. Therefore, this maid shall use this sleeve to dust this one shelf at least.”

Before Jin Fengju could answer, Bi Yu was already wiping the bookshelf with her grubby sleeves. Fu Qiuning watched this pantomime with vague interest, wondering just how far these two actors planned to push it.

Jin Fengju looked helplessly at Bi Yu for a moment before giving Fu Qiuning an embarrassed smile, “As you know, my study is considered a very secret place. Whenever I am out, I double-lock this place up and keep the keys with me. Not to mention, I also have special guards patrolling the place, therefore, not a single person could enter without my express permission, let alone touch the bookshelves…”

Fu Qiuning nodded at Bi Yu, “She is touching your bookshelves now.”

“… is that you, Cai Lian? Let me help you!” cried Bi Yu before running out of the study.

Fu Qiuning stood up, “In that case, I shall also take my leave…”

“Ah! I just realised you are right, Qiuning!”

“… …”

“This place is just too dirty for you! Please, my apologies. Bi Yu, Cai Lian, bring in water and some rags, clean all the shelves here. Do not let a single speck of dust escape! Come now, quickly,” then, he turned to face her and spoke in a tender voice, “Qiuning, ah. As a man, I am not entirely well-versed in cleaning, how about you supervise them for me…”

There really was no good way to refuse such a direct and reasonable request. Therefore, Fu Qiuning agreed. The maids soon came in with rags and dusters. Jin Fengju moved the books from the shelves himself for her to wipe down while the maids attacked the emptied shelves with their dusters.

The bookshelf was not that dirty in reality, except for the bottom bit. Like the young master that he was, Jin Fengju did not do a thorough job of the work and dust clouds appeared and caused the two maids to cough. [1] Jin Fengju immediately rushed over to ‘shield’ Fu Qiuning from the dust, all the while scolding, “What’s this? Can’t you do a good job? How could you create such a dust cloud? Are you trying to choke your madam?”

“It’s fine,” said Fu Qiuning from her corner far away from those poor maids, “They are eradicating evil. Let them do their work.”

“Of course, my Qiuning is always right-”

-clack-

The sound was loud enough to cause Jin Fengju to stop speaking. The two of them looked over to the maids, who were covering their mouths and noses with a clean rag while attacking the dust with another. Bi Yu had pulled something that looked like a chain of lint from the lowest shelf.

Blushing, Jin Fengju said, “Th-that’s…”

Bi Yu quickly threw the clump of lint into the pail of water. “Nothing like having experts around to clean the place, isn’t it?” said Cai Lian cheerfully.

However, Fu Qiuning had heard another odd ‘clack’, this time a little more muffled. She strode forward and stuck her hand into the pail.

“No, Qiuning! That’s dirty…”

Fu Qiuning fished out a red beaded earring, with a bit of wet lint still clinging to it. She turned to Jin Fengju, about to say something about his cleaning method when she was taken aback by his oddly stiff expression.

“Cai Lian, Bi Yu, whose is that?”

The two maids trembled and threw themselves at his feet.

“M-master, this… this thing does not belong to us. It’s… it looked familiar, but it definitely does not belong to us, ah!!! Even death could not make us come in and rob this place, ah!”

It took Fu Qiuning two long seconds to realise why they were crying and shaking like this. That’s right, this dirty bookshelf filled with dust was not supposed to see the hands of a maid. Considering the dust collected at the bottom shelf, it had probably not been cleaned since the day he started to do secret work. Therefore, how did this earring get there?

“I never said anything about a thief, nor did I accuse you two of anything. No need for this, get up immediately.” For once, Fu Qiuning was given the ‘privilege’ of seeing that ‘lofty young master’ once again. It was the same young master who had visited her on that first day after having thrown his two grubby children at her and had the cheek to wrinkle his nose at their appearance. “This matter is of great importance. Surely there is no need for me to say anything else? Be sure to keep your mouth shut about this. If I hear even a sliver of this outside, know that I shall not be lenient in my punishment.”

Cai Lian and Bi Yu nodded repeatedly, clearly frightened out of their wits. Jin Fengju continued, “If you are afraid of talking in your sleep, just cut out your tongues.”

This frightened the girls so much that they hurriedly backed away and ran off.

“Jin Ming! Come here!”

[3] Fu Qiuning set the earring down on the table and returned to the couch. There was no way he would let her go now, not when he could show off his investigation prowess. She would have to muster up the energy to act with him now that the two maids, Bi Yu especially, had exited the stage.

[4] Jin Ming came rushing in, “Master?”

[4] “Look at this,” Jin Fengju pointed imperiously at the earring on the table. “Do you recognise this earring?”

[4] “This…” Jin Ming squinted at the earring. “This looks very familiar. This is coral stone, isn’t it? From the clarity, it looks like a tribute item from a foreign country….”

Fu Qiuning took this opportunity to drop a full glass of tea onto the floor, splattering tea everywhere.

 

[Gumihou: Eh, changed out FQN lalala cleaning my hubby’s secret study~~ to let’s have the maids clean the study while we supervise~]

 

[1] Gumihou deleting lovey dovey moments

[1a] Deleted: ‘blushed slightly, thinking to herself that she didn’t love him to that extent, she was just naturally indifferent. But despite thinking this, she couldn’t help but feel genuinely touched and delighted.

[2] Coercive maids

[2a] Changed Fu Qiuning’s uwu JFJ White Washing thoughts to Bi Yu’s loud flattering proclamations

[2b] Have the maids ‘tactfully’ let FQN know that she is special

[3] Have Fu Qiuning prepare herself to be melodramatic, rather than suddenly be all melodramatic for no good reason

[4] AR Qiuning stopped JFJ from calling Jin Ming because… why?

AR Qiuning: Jin Ming has no power over inner court matters! Also, I need to rush out and tell Bi Yu and Cai Lian to think hard about where they last saw this earring before rushing back inside to drop a cup in shock, like wow, I’m so busy~!

Gumihou: Uh, he’s familiar enough with the harem that he could take bribes on a regular basis? He sends messages to the harem people? Also, that last bit contributed nothing to the story! It wasn’t even a dialogue scene.

AR Qiuning: Calling Jin Ming would just startle the snake in the grass!

Gumihou: HOW?! Jin Ming is the most discreet servant ever, you can’t just turn him into a dullard blabbermouth just because his intelligence and discretion inconvenience your romance plot!

 

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