Chapter 300: Learning One’s Identity 10

Qi Boli and Madam Wu left the gates of the Qi Residence helplessly. Madam Wu scratched her head, muttering as she walked, “We inquired about this, this is Qi Qingyao’s new home.”

Qi Boli was also confused. “That steward said the miss only has one child.”

“The steward also said that there’s a young master. How is there a young master? Didn’t she win Lu Yan’s home? Qi Residence is hung on the house, there shouldn’t be a young master.”

Madam Wu rubbed her forehead. “Say, you don’t think we’ve been fooled by that person who was deliberately spreading the news?”

“It’s impossible. They deliberately leaked this information to us so that we would come and stir up trouble. I’m afraid the steward could just be using the excuse of the miss not being here,” Qi Boli firmly decided.

“Then, what should we do now?” Madam Wu also had no more ideas.

Qi Boli suddenly thought, “Isn’t the old lady staying at the Jin’s home? Let’s go pay her a visit.”

Madam Wu was not really on good terms with the old lady and did not feel like looking for her so she said, “If Qi Qingzhu isn’t at her husband’s home then she’d be at the Jiang residence. Why don’t we go to the Jiang residence and ask around?”

“I’m just afraid that we’d be chased away if we go knocking on the doors of the Jiang residence given our status. It’d be more reasonable for us to go look for the old lady,” said Qi Boli.

Madam Wu figured that was true too and so they left for the Jin family residence together.

The Jin residence was in the west city district. The two really could not walk anymore but they also wanted to rush to the Jin residence before nightfall, so they lavishly called for a carriage to take them there. Half an hour later, they arrived at the Jin residence. They gave their identities and knocked on the door to enter. They met the old lady quite soon.

The Jin family’s maids and servants did not really like the two given they were the old lady’s relatives. The old lady was not in any way related to the family to begin with and now her relatives have arrived… how could they not be angry? Although they complained about them, they were still relatives and they did not want to shoo them away. So, they brought them to meet the old lady.

The old lady was very surprised to see that her son and his wife had come. “Why are you two here?”

“We’re here to look for Qi Qingyao.” Madam Wu sat down silently. Qi Boli was the one who answered.

The old lady’s cloudy eyes instantly widened. “You two also know that Qi Qingyao is in Qingzhou City.”

Qi Boli sighed despondently. “We’ve already looked for her. They say we got the wrong person. Then the steward said that Qi Qingyao only has one child.”

The old lady was instantly astonished before she said helplessly, “I also went to look for her. The Qi Qingyao who came out was not our Qi Qingyao.”

At this moment, it was Madam Wu’s turn to be shocked. “Huh?”

Qi Boli listened to the old lady’s words, thinking deeply for a moment. “Could it be that the Qi Qingyao in Qingzhou City is not our Qi Qingyao?” he said.

Madam Wu pressed down on her lips. “…”

The old lady did not want to hear this and spoke her own mind, “You guys stay here first. We’ll go to the house and ask what’s going on again in two days.”

“??? Madam, you mean to say…” Madam Wu asked subserviently. She did not dare assume the old lady’s intention.

The old lady shared her thoughts firmly. “I think that she is definitely our Qi Qingyao. Qi Qingyao definitely struck it rich!”

Madam Wu said, “Madam?” Why did the old lady’s tone sound as if she were trying to take advantage of the situation?

The old lady did not disappoint Madam Wu and her next words were, “Now that she’s rich, we are entitled to a share of the house as well. Our family will be able to move to Qingzhou City.”

Madam Wu, “…”

She pursed her lips for a long time but did not dare say anything to refute.

She only dared pull Qi Bolo aside and whisper softly, “What nonsense is your mother spouting?”

Qi Boli rolled his eyes at her. “Isn’t it similar to the nonsense you used to spout not long ago?”

“…” Madam Wu did not dare say anything. She could only think about how they would be going over to take a look in two days.

…

It was starting to get dark when the carriages arrived at the hot mountain springs villa.

Qi Qingyao had fallen asleep again. After she was woken up by Si Jin, she stretched her waist and jumped off the carriage. She looked at the huge house. From the outside, it looked no different from the house she won, but in the end, it was a hot springs villa, so it was likely some other paradise on the inside.

After Si Jin carried the children down, the young male servant that Lu Yan brought over carried the children in before following Qi Qingyao.

Qi Qingyao looked at this scene and thought to herself that it was really nice to have servants.

Si Jin looked at the door header that read “Hualian Hot Mountain Springs Villa” and said disapprovingly, “This is the hot mountain springs villa?”

Beside him, Lu Yan said a bit acidly, “The Ye family of Eastern Ling discovered that there were springs here more than a hundred years ago. They then bought the land and built a house. They’re really good at running businesses.”

Qi Qingyao raised the tip of her brows and noted, “Your words are acrid. Are you mad that your family didn’t discover this land back then and stake a claim to it?”

Lu Yan did not hide it. “A little.”

Qi Qingyao, “…” He was truly a businessman, everything he thought about was with regards to business.

She swept a glance at the eight guards at the gates and knew that this hot mountain springs villa was probably the same as Chunjiang Restaurant. They relied on a “membership system” and one needed to rely on their status to enter. It was definitely not the case where anyone could enter the hot springs.

There were no less influential “dogs” inside this place. Qi Qingyao instructed Si Jin, “Si Jin, take care of the children at all times once we enter the villa.”

Lu Yan whispered, “There’s no chance for an assassination to happen here. The guards are very strict.”

Qi Qingyao just said four words, “Be prepared for anything.”

Si Jin nodded but said nothing.

When they walked to the gate, the guard took a look at Lu Yan’s face and offered a faint smile. He greeted Lu Yan in a very friendly manner without any obstruction.

“Master Lu, please enter.”

Lu Yan was about to lift his feet and enter.

When the guard took a look at Qi Qingyao’s entourage and asked, “They are…”

“They are… my friends,” Lu Yan said, introducing them.

The guard heard this and bowed slightly. “Please enter.”

Not long after Qi Qingyao entered the house with Lu Yan, one more carriage arrived behind them. A man dressed in black got down. His hair was tied up with a cloud patterned crown and he looked very cold and handsome. Beside him was Zhao Xin.

When the man reached the door, the guards were stunned.

“All hail the Head Grand Secretariat!”

Jiang Yeqian nodded faintly.

The guards immediately allowed him entrance.

… Qi Qingyao and her party followed a servant dressed in a blue uniform to the Haitang Pavilion. The Haitang Pavilion was where the guests of Hualian Hot Spring Resort would stay.

There were thirty living chambers.

Each room was three times larger than the most expensive rooms in the inns in Capital City.

Qi Qingyao and her group walked past the small bridge that crossed a flowing stream and a flower garden before reaching the Haitang Pavilion. She lamented, “What a luxurious house.”

After the servant sent the group to the Haitang Pavilion, they asked Lu Yan about the arrangements of their accommodation. Lu Yan stretched out his hand and put out three fingers.

Lu Yan said to Qi Qingyao, “You’ll stay beside me and Si Jin will stay on your other side!”

Qi Qingyao gave a short ‘oh’; she had no objections.

Si Jin thought that since he and Lu would both be staying next door to Qi Qingyao, both of them would know should anything happen. Hence, Si Jin also had no objections.

Lu Yan showed Qi Qingyao around, since he was familiar with the place.

“The men’s and women’s springs are there.”

He pointed in a certain direction.

Qi Qingyao steered in that direction excitedly. ‘Oooh, I wonder if there are any handsome men having a soak in the hot springs now. Maybe if I take a peek… I could just enjoy the scenery.’

Lu Yan saw through her shameless thoughts and said, “However, the rooms we live in all have separate pools since they’re considered VIP rooms, so you can have a soak in your room with your children.”

Qi Qingyao, “…” Damn the VIP rooms.

It did not matter, however.

It would not be too late for her to sneak a peek after she was done with her soak.

Before entering the room, Dabao and Xiaobao were naturally following Qi Qingyao everywhere. Qi Qingyao instructed, “Si Jin, you, Dabao, and Xiaobao should go and bathe in the pool in your room. Little Niuniu and I will soak in the pool in my room.”

“Mother, I wanna go with you.” Dabao hurled himself at Qi Qingyao’s leg, holding on desperately.

“Little rascal!” Qi Qingyao knocked on the little boy’s head. She crouched and said to Dabao softly, “You’re four years old now that the lunar new year has passed, you’re a big boy now. You’re boys while Little Niuniu and I are girls. We’re of different sexes. It’s no problem when I give you guys a shower at home but now we’re outside, we have to take care of our image. If people were to find out, they’d laugh at Dabao for not being able to leave his mommy, you see?”

Dabao and Xiaobao nodded, not fully understanding.

Dabao, “Hngh~~~”

Xiaobao however, was thinking, ‘Big boy? Are we grown up now?’ He was suddenly a little envious of Erniu. If he was a girl, he would have been able to soak in a bath with mommy.

The two still rushed to wave at Qi Qingyao as they followed Si Jin next door. “Mommy, we’ll see you later.”

When Lu Yan was about to take his leave, he added, “I’ll bring you all to the Furong Waterside Pavilion for a meal after our baths.”

Qi Qingyao held Erniu’s hands and entered the room. She first set the luggage down randomly. After she was done with that, the two of them entered the hot water bathing pool.

This was Little Niuniu’s first time soaking in a hot spring so she was quite excited.

Qi Qingyao was also quite delighted.

It was as if the exhaustion from recent times had all been soaked and swept away by the hot spring water.

However, one should not soak in hot springs for too long either.

After cleaning themselves, they soaked for only about ten minutes or so before getting out.

Erniu was starting to feel drowsy from soaking in the hot springs. After Qi Qingyao changed her into a set of fresh clothes, she stuffed the little fellow into the blanket nest.

Qi Qingyao changed into a set of clothes herself and instructed Erniu, “Stay under the blankets and sleep for now. Mommy is going to the toilet for a bit.”

“Okay~~”

Erniu was in a trance as she hugged the warm blanket and yawned.

Qi Qingyao was indeed somewhat in need of the bathroom and she could not possibly simply relieve herself inside the hot spring! She could only hold it in as she searched for the toilet. She walked along the corridor till the end where she bumped into a maid, whom she hurriedly asked.

“Miss, may I know how to get to the toilet?”

The maid took one look at her face and knew that she was not from an ordinary background, that she must be an important guest from the Haitang Pavilion, so she hurriedly replied.

“It’s over there,” she said, pointing in a direction.

“Thank you.” Qi Qingyao’s smile was gentle as she nodded slightly.

Qi Qingyao strode vigorously toward the toilet. However, she was caught off guard when she collided into a man who was rounding the corner just after taking a few steps. Even her nose hurt from the collision.

After stabilizing herself, she uttered her apologies and was about to walk around the person and continue her way.

However, the person suddenly grabbed her arm

Qi Qingyao, “Huh?” Had she not apologized already?

The man in front of her was pretty good-looking. His expression was somewhat stupefied as he looked at her. “You, you’re…”

He pinned Qi Qingyao against the wall in one move.

Qi Qingyao frowned. When she noted how the man’s hand was positioned on the wall, as if blocking her in, her expression suddenly turned dark. “What are you doing!!!”

The man started spouting nonsense, “Why? Why do you look so much like her?”

‘Her?

‘Who is her?

‘Who the heck do I look like?’

Although Qi Qingyao really needed the toilet, she did not want to lose her bearing in front of the handsome man. She curled her lips into a joking smile. “Hey beautiful, I might look pretty but there’s still no need for you to be so thirsty. You’re even blocking me in so dubiously, isn’t this a little overboard? I heard that the guests here are wealthy and respectable people. Since they’re so influential, they shouldn’t be so careless with their image, no? You’re acting like a gangster, don’t you think that’s embarrassing?”

The man was stunned for a moment before he returned to his senses. “My apologies.”

Then, he let her go.

Qi Qingyao moved to the side and eyed the man a few more times. He looked exquisite but his gaze was really cold when he was not smiling. “You look very expensive,” she said.

The man’s name was Xiao Wuji. He was not from Northern Liang and it was his first time hearing others complimenting him with this choice of words.

“Domineering and expensive, it doesn’t suit you to be apologizing!” Qi Qingyao said casually. “I’ll consider whatever that happened just now to be a misunderstanding then. Bye Bye.”

Xiao Wuji went speechless when heard those words of praise. He shouted out again.

“Stand right there.”

“What is it now, you insanely beautiful person?” Qi Qingyao asked calmly and she turned around.

“Are you named Mo?” Xiao Wuji asked as if trying to confirm something.

Qi Qingyao replied casually, “My name’s not Mo! It’s Qi, beautiful!!”

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