" Everything is fine here, you should go back. Eldest Miss has ordered to not let anyone pass."
That was what they said--everything was fine here--but from the looks of it, it didn't seem like they themselves believed it.
Every time that blood-curdling scream came out of courtyards akin to howls of ghosts and evil spirits the two maids couldn't help trembling like leaves in the autumn wind.
It was just that scary.
A few of them even wanted to ask...
Are you sure?
Among the cacophony of screams, they could still discern the voices which were very familiar to them.
Especially....their commander Yu Hai's raspy voice.
They looked at each other in confusion. When they heard the noise they thought that something bad had happened, perhaps a group of assassins found a way to sneak into the residence.
It wasn't like incidents like that had never happened before. During this week they had caught countless spies and assassins who were trying to sneak into the residence. Fortunately,
But now that these two, who were their Master's personal maids were telling them everything was fine they didn't know whether to believe them or not.
They couldn't ignore their master's order nor could they ignore the heart-wrenching cries of their brothers. They were in a dilemma.
They were still hesitating when Jiang Ying Yue's languid voice came out of the courtyard, " Go back. Don't worry, it'll be your turn soon."
The guards nodded somewhat hesitantly hearing the first half of the sentence, however, after hearing the second half the guards all felt strange coldness behind their necks.
Jiang Ying Yue's tone was casual and languid as usual but they couldn't help sensing the subtle sinister subtext.
An ominous suddenly hit them out of nowhere and decided to leave the place in haste.
Something that could make a tough guy like Yu Hai cries and wail like a ghost was definitely not a good thing!
From their master's carefree voice, everything seemed alright, it's just that their brothers seemed to be suffering.
They silently prayed for their brothers and burned some incense as they hastened their pace.
' Brothers, you are on your own!'
Jiang Ying Yue smirked.
Heh...those brats!
No matter how tough they were, they were just teenagers at most. If she couldn't handle them wouldn't her experience of two lifetimes be wasted?
To completely subdue these little haughty fellas she absolutely couldn't be soft-hearted!
However, she was also very glad that she was as always far-sighted and sent that 'nagging old man' away. Otherwise, if that 'old man' knew she was treating those proud soldiers of such a magnificent army as coolies and even took pleasure in torturing them Jiang Ying Yue believed that she wouldn't hear the end of it.
She didn't know if that guy was like that by nature, or he was hit by menopause but when he nagged Jiang Ying Yue couldn't help but find him annoying.
Fortunately, that naggy guy was away.
Tao Jin, the nagging old man, who was far away somewhere doing what Jiang Ying Yue had assigned him to do, though he actually had no idea what he was doing, sneezed hard, and his heart couldn't help but flutter. He rubbed his nose and thought.
These past few days he kept feeling that he had been badly plotted against. He couldn't tell where it came from but kept him nagging.
Tao Jin sighed and shook his head before lowering his head to look at the list in his hand.
It was still one hour to go,
After finishing the first plate, Jiang Ying Yue took out another plate of roasted peanuts and started to munch.
As she kept munching she couldn't stop it. Nuts were addictive to begin with, especially for a nut-lover like her, who had to have nuts of every kind to munch on whenever she had nothing to do.
Like other girls, she wasn't very fond of sweets but she liked nuts. Especially, when you have drama to watch along with.
Alas, it was a pity that the season of plum was long, otherwise, she would have made some wine to go with these nuts.
Although people here didn't show much liking for ordinary fruits and plants, they still grew some of them for decoration. Behind her courtyard, there was a small plum forest, which her grandparents had asked someone to plant when she was still in her mother's womb. It was their first gift to their future granddaughter, they really hoped that their first grandchild would be a girl.
She had heard her mother often recount this, saying that her grandparents loved her deeply and she must be filial to them.
Now that she was no longer her past self she still retained the memory.
Jiang Ying Yue was thinking and munching on nuts, not forgetting to count the time when she suddenly saw something and choked.
" Cough, cough, cough....."
" Apologise, Miss Jiang, I shouldn't have been so abrupt."
Jiang Ying Yue:" Cough, cough...."
If it wasn't for her coughing feat she would have rolled her eyes and scolded this man.
It was fine to be abrupt, she was already used to him appearing out of thin air, but what was with that look, as if he was looking at a pervert?!
Seeing that he had startled her to the extent that she couldn't stop coughing, he touched his nose feeling slightly guilty.
But he really couldn't help it, he was just that surprised.
Wei Mo felt that he should explain but he didn't know how to. As soon as he entered the residence he heard the noise and rushed over in a hurry thinking that his master's darling might be in danger but who would have thought sitting in the chaos leisurely the person was busy eating?
Wei Mo's mouth twitched he didn't know what to say, but the way he looked at Jiang Ying Yue suddenly changed.
It was like he was saying.....' Oh, you also have such of kind of strange hobbies!'
His gaze was too apparent that Jiang Ying Yue clearly felt his meaning but chose to ignore it.
She wouldn't lower herself to a rank of a gossiper.
Wei Mo could clearly feel the disdain of the other party, he felt that he had been greatly insulted but he had no evidence nor that sort of courage that he could confront her.
Who asked this ancestor to be his master's darling? He couldn't do anything.
Otherwise, who didn't know the might of Commander Wei Mo and was daunted by his skill?
Dared to kill him a gossiper?
Just wait, it wouldn't even take a single day for that person's every secret to be leaked!
That's how formidable he was!
Jiang Ying Yue ignored the guy's constipated look and handed him a handful of peanuts, gesturing at him to pour out the information he had gathered from eavesdropping these past few days.
Wei Mo was sullen in his heart but still recounted everything he had seen and heard.
Perhaps, Yu Hai and others were too exhausted from the torment which lasted for more than an hour, their cries grew fainter until they turned into muffled groans.
It was much quieter.
Wei Mo whispered everything to Jiang Ying Yue not omitting a single detail. He was very thorough in this because he knew that sometimes the most ordinary detail proved to be the most vital in often cases.
Jiang Ying Yue's eyes turned still, lacking complete warmth. She listened quietly, not interrupting Wei Mo throughout the whole time.
Only when Wei Mo was done and she heard Tian Lan's voice did Jiang Ying Yue return to her usual self and shouted at Qiu to let Tian Lan in.
This courtyard was originally, the martial arts ground of their mansion, it was a big and open space.
The place where they were was not far from the entrance. So, Jiang Ying Yue could hear the voices outside.
" You are back?" Jiang Ying Yue looked back and smiled.
" Yeah, I had something to do, and it took a while to handle the matters, otherwise I'd have come back earlier." Tian Lan didn't ceremony and sat down beside Jiang Ying Yue before grabbing a handful of nuts from the plate on the table and popping them in her mouth unceremoniously.
As she ate the girl didn't forget to speak. Her mouth kept moving, " Oh, right, I saw the house when I came in, although it's only the foundation but why does look so small and weird?"
Although Tian Lan didn't have any experience in house-making she could still see at a glance this house looked very different from the usual courtyard mansion.
" Sister Lanlan's eyes are indeed sharp." Jiang Ying Yue smiled and praised which caused Tian Lan to smile gleefully.
Then she raised her chin slightly and slightly, " Hehe...Of course, it's all thanks to this pair of sharp eyes I never missed a precious herb.....Oh, by the way, what is this fruit called? It's the first time I have tasted it, it's really delicious."
Wei Mo, on the other side, who had long figured out the 'mantra' and munching on with all his might also nodded vigorously.
It's really delicious!
There was crunchiness but also subtle softness, it was sweet but not greasy and was extremely addictive.
Wei Mo felt that it would be good to take out a handful of it to munch on when you go out to listen to gossip.
For the first time in his life, he was tempted by something as ordinary as food.
They were practicing immortality. Their ultimate goal was to be immortal. Indulgence for food, drink, and sex were actually a great hindrance in their path.
Only by following the ascetic path they could complete the circle and become truly immortal.
" These are called pea-nuts, the nutty taste is fresh, right?"
" Hmm... it's sweet but not greasy. I feel like munching on a whole plate won't be enough. Yueyue, do you have more?"
Tian Lan looked at her greedily. Wei Mo who was done stuffing the last bit in his mouth also looked up with his gaze scorching as the sun.
Jiang Ying Yue blinked her eyes.
Looks like she had accidentally given rise to the birth of another two foodies.
" I think that's enough for today. I'll prepare something good for lunch, so leave some room for the lunch in your stomachs."