Chapter 198: Chapter 198: The Wrong Person
The worries of a divorced man are perhaps difficult for an unmarried man to comprehend.
Take Heir Pei for example, he never has dreams about women.
In fact, he rarely dreams at all, possibly due to his busy official duties, falling asleep as soon as his head hits the pillow.
Ever since Qu Fulan left Lixiang Courtyard, Heir Pei has not had a close maid by his side, although there are still plenty of second and third-tier maids available, but none are allowed to serve closely.
Whenever a maid left the courtyard, another would fill in, allowing Douya to become a second-tier maid, occasionally able to report to the Heir, which was already quite prestigious.
"Why doesn’t the Heir have a close maid to serve him? Even though he has young servants and Hidden Guards, some tasks can only be meticulously handled by women," the newly arrived little maid was very curious.
Perhaps in her understanding, sons of noble families are always surrounded by a throng of servants, yet Heir Pei didn’t even have a close maid, which was extremely strange.
Although Douya had become a second-tier maid, she wasn’t stingy about offering a hint to the newcomer, "Just remember this: the Heir once had a close maid named Fulan. If you ever meet her, serve her carefully and don’t be negligent, or else there will be consequences."
The little maid said, "Fulan? Is she the one the Heir gave the kite to during the day? Why did he give her a kite when no other young lady in the mansion got one?"
There were many things Douya couldn’t explain, but all she needed to know was the importance, "As a servant, don’t ask too many questions. Just serve attentively. You know the empty room next to the Young Master’s quarters? Only Sister Fulan has ever lived there, and everything inside is still arranged as it was when Fulan was there. Occasionally, the Heir will have someone clean it. Be careful if it’s ever your turn."
"Thank you, sister, for the advice."
...
The Third Madam secretly arranged for someone to check the list of maids with unknown origins in the Pei Mansion and used an excuse to call them to the third building for a tea treat.
After such a commotion, nothing was discovered in the end.
"Could it be that the old woman is a fraud?" The Third Madam was displeased, especially since she spent ten taels of silver, which was not a small amount.
"It shouldn’t be. Mrs. Lv has a decent reputation in the circle," the maid replied. "The issue likely lies elsewhere, maybe the person was wrong."
"The list is right here, how could it be wrong?" The Third Madam was becoming restless.
"Madam, don’t forget, besides these few, there are also some in the main and second houses, and one or two in the Old Madam’s courtyard, which will take some time to gradually investigate."
After all, they didn’t have the authority to meddle in the main and second houses or the Old Madam’s courtyard all at once.
The Third Madam thought this made sense. There was no use being hasty now. Having endured this long, she could wait a bit longer. As long as the person was in the mansion, she would eventually find out.
Using other people’s luck to ensure her own smooth sailing, the Third Madam felt no guilt or shame.
Another who felt no shame was Ji Nishang.
From her aunt, Ji Nishang obtained Qu Fulan’s birth details and, following Lv Daopo’s method, affixed the birth details onto a ritual doll before piercing it with needles.
Lv Daopo instructed, pierce one needle per day, and when all the right acupuncture points are hit, one’s wishes would be fulfilled.
Ji Nishang hid the doll in her room and personally pierced it each day, not entrusting it to others.
On the second day of piercing the doll, Ji Nishang went to visit Qu Fulan’s noodle shop.
According to Lv Daopo, since the first needle, the opponent would begin to experience bad luck, and the new noodle shop business would inevitably decline.
Yet after watching the shop for a morning, not only did Qu Fulan’s pig foot noodle shop business not decrease, it seemed there were even more customers than usual. What was going on?
Could it be that one needle was too little to suppress her?
Ji Nishang went to see Mrs. Lv, who said there was no such quick effect. Even if bad luck happened, it would be on minor matters. Otherwise, what would be the point of piercing needles for seven consecutive days?
Meanwhile, Qu Fulan was unaware her birth details had been used to pierce a doll. She was busy daily with the shop’s affairs, inspecting various shop accounts, which left her plenty busy.
The noodle shop business had begun to improve as expected, beyond just breaking even, it was starting to make small profits as well.
From selling over a hundred bowls of noodles a day initially, to around two hundred bowls daily now, deducting expenses, there was some profit to be made.
With a loyal customer base growing, maintaining above three hundred bowls a day would mean true profitability.
In the long run, this noodle shop would become Qu Fulan’s most stable income source, supporting her other ventures with security and a fallback.
Everyone dreams of investing for big returns but always overlooks that when investment fails for those without a solid foundation, it spells disaster.
Qu Fulan didn’t want to find herself with nothing to support herself if any unforeseen changes happened.
Day by day, returning customers at the noodle shop increased.
The charm of pig foot noodles, only those who’ve tried it would know, and Qu Fulan had confidence in it.
But while she was confident, others were not.
Every day Ji Nishang dutifully pierced the doll, making time to check on Qu Fulan’s noodle shop business, and from the first day to the seventh day, not only was there no detrimental effect on the business, if anything, it seemed to grow each day.
Completely ineffective!
She had paid Lv Daopo twenty taels!
If successful, the cost would have been worthwhile, but now that it hadn’t worked, wasn’t that twenty taels thrown to the wind?
As a businesswoman, Ji Nishang couldn’t tolerate such deception.
Relying on the Xiao Family’s influence, she "invited" Lv Daopo for questioning.
Lv Daopo firmly insisted her method was effective, and even if something went wrong, it certainly wasn’t on her end.
"But it’s just not working now," Ji Nishang insisted.
Lv Daopo was also annoyed, thinking that in her long career, even the noble ladies treated her with respect because she dared to employ methods others wouldn’t, and they were highly effective, hence her popularity.
Lv Daopo was unafraid of Ji Nishang, "Miss, instead of questioning me, why not investigate where the process went wrong? There’s no way the mistake is on my side."
Ji Nishang dared not truly confront Lv Daopo, merely wanting to apply pressure for the truth, but Lv Daopo steadfastly claimed her technique wasn’t at fault, only some other part had erred.
"What could have gone wrong? I followed your instructions precisely, piercing one needle every day for seven days, without missing any."
Lv Daopo replied, "Perhaps the birth details are wrong. This has happened before, where someone recalled the details incorrectly and later blamed me."
Ji Nishang’s first reaction was disbelief. Her aunt had watched Qu Fulan grow up and shouldn’t have got her birth details wrong.
But there’s always a chance. What if her aunt wasn’t attentive and made a mistake?
Ji Nishang went to probe again, and Mrs. Xiao assured her that she had been present at Fulan’s birth, so how could it be wrong?
Upon hearing this, Lv Daopo immediately said, "If the birth details aren’t wrong, then it’s the wrong person."