Chapter 6: Pink Coat and Green Skirt

The steward's name is Tao Sancun, who is in his thirties. He used to be a rascal in the capital city. By chance, he met Tao Shiyi, who was only ten years old at the time. Tao Shiyi first kept him as a servant by his side, and later made him the steward.

Tao Shiyi is the heir.

The Tao family's heir was thin, and his foster father had no sons. After his foster father passed away, his foster mother had to adopt Tao Shiyi from the same clan to continue the family line.

Tao Shiyi's foster mother, Lady Huang, came from a scholarly family, and her maternal family was related to Huang Wanqiu, who had served as a minister in the Ministry of Rites. When Tao Shiyi was young, he was able to study at the Shude Academy in the capital city, all thanks to the recommendation of Huang Jing, the eldest son of Huang Wanqiu.

Tao Sancun also followed Tao Shiyi at that time and later took the surname of the main family.

At this moment, Tao Sancun sat under the gallery, leisurely drinking tea. The tea leaves were a gift from Master Tao Shiyi, and they were so precious that five taels of silver could not buy one tael of tea. After so many years, he still had the trust and respect of Master Tao.

Back in the day, he was just a rascal, but now he had a house and land. His eldest son was learning the business in the shop, and his younger son was also serving as a steward in the mansion.

In return, over the years, Tao Sancun had been loyal to the Tao family. Now that the family was in trouble and had to leave to avoid trouble, Tao Sancun volunteered to stay and guard the house. Not to mention guarding the house, even if he had to fight like he did when he was young, Tao Sancun would spare no effort.

But after a few days, Tao Sancun realized he had overestimated the situation.

It was just a delicate young lady and a sickly child.

Tao Sancun looked at the sky and furrowed his brow. Normally, at this time, Lady Rong would come to see him and report on the child's condition. Why hadn't she come today?

He took a sip of tea, feeling somewhat displeased. What was wrong with that woman?

Women from respectable families were always troublesome. At this point, she was still worried that the child would resent her when he grew up.

It's ridiculous. According to Master Tao's intentions, those people wanted the child. How could they let him grow up? Of course not. It's impossible. When cutting grass, one must remove the roots, let alone dealing with people.

Tao Sancun crossed his legs and hummed a tune leisurely, unable to help but look at the sky again. Something was not right. Although Lady Rong was indecisive, she cared about her brother and never dared to neglect her daily reports.

Could something have happened?

Tao Sancun stood up. Master had repeatedly instructed that this was a major issue, and any mishap could lead to the destruction of the family.

But what could possibly happen? He had seen the child when he first arrived. He was a tender little child from a wealthy family. He couldn't bear the hardships of the journey and fell ill after just one day. What could possibly happen to Lady Rong facing such a little child? Thinking of this, Tao Sancun sat back down.

He poured himself another cup of tea, and as the tea slowly poured into the sky-blue teacup, Tao Sancun's hand suddenly stopped in mid-air.

Could it be that she had given the child too much medicine, and the child couldn't bear it and died?

Oh, the child couldn't die!

That foolish woman shouldn't have given her so much medicine at once, and she shouldn't have added wine to the medicine as a lure. Even adults couldn't bear that medicine, let alone with the addition of wine. Master had instructed to only add a little each time, up to three or four times, and the matter would be resolved.

Tao Sancun called his son, Tao Shuner, and hurriedly ran towards the rear courtyard.

Before reaching the moon gate, a little maid ran over, panting. She was about seven or eight years old, wearing a pink jacket and a green skirt.

She must be one of the two little maids bought last month, specifically to serve the little child.

Children of seven or eight years old all looked similar. Although Tao Sancun had seen them before, he couldn't tell if this was Chunque or Fangfei.

The little maid stopped in front of them, gasping for breath, and timidly said, "Steward Tao, Miss is in trouble. Lady Rong is very anxious and asked me to invite you to come and give some advice."

"Tsk!" Tao Sancun spat fiercely. What was there to be afraid of? This troublesome woman was more likely to cause trouble than to solve it.

Without asking further, Tao Sancun waved his hand to his son, "Let's go, let's see what's going on!"

The father and son quickly passed through the moon gate leading to the rear courtyard. The little maid, with her short legs, couldn't keep up with them and could only shout, "Steward Tao, should we call for a doctor?"

Call for a doctor? Let the doctor know that the child had been given cold medicine? Was that woman crazy?

Tao Sancun was furious and didn't even look back, cursing, "Call the damn doctor!"

Watching the father and son's figures disappear through the moon gate, the little maid stayed in place and called out, "Steward Tao, wait for me! I can't keep up with you, pfft!"

She couldn't help but laugh.

Some people deserved to be used as tools for their entire lives because they had no brains, just like she had been in her previous life.

In this life, she hadn't drunk cold medicine, and her mind was still intact, so she wouldn't be a tool for others.

Shen Tong looked around. This seemed to be a five-section mansion. Although there were only a few people left in the mansion, there should still be a gatekeeper at the door, and perhaps there were also guards that Fangfei hadn't seen. Without hesitation, she lifted her skirt and tied it around her waist. In a few leaps, she climbed over the wall and jumped down, landing outside the wall.

Shen Tong looked at her snow-white little hands and then at her little feet, which were only slightly larger than her hands. Although her body was tender, it was agile and nimble, making her a good material for martial arts training.

She quickly familiarized herself with the surroundings and quietly hid in the dense canopy of a large tree, where she could see the entrance of the Tao family's mansion.

After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the door was opened from the inside, and several people came out. Leading them was Tao Shuner, the son of the Tao steward, followed by five or six strong men.

Shen Tong smiled and thought to herself, "There are indeed guards in the front yard. It's a good thing I didn't go anywhere else and just climbed over the wall. If I had been curious and walked further into the front yard, I might have run into these people."

"I knew it. With Tao Biao's cunning, how could he have only left behind so few people?"

She concealed her small body among the branches and leaves, making it difficult to see her from below. She calmly watched the people ask the gatekeeper a few questions, then they split up and went in different directions. However, Tao Shuner turned and walked back into the mansion.

They must have asked the gatekeeper if a little maid had gone out, and when the gatekeeper said no, Tao Shuner sent others to search while he returned to continue looking. Maybe that child was still in the mansion.

Shen Tong was a little tired. Being young and weak, she was exhausted from all this activity.

She adjusted herself into a more comfortable position and soon fell asleep.

When she had been lying in wait in the wilderness, she had spent three days and nights in a tree. The current environment was much more comfortable than the desolate mountains and wilds.

Forget about Rong Niang, forget about the Tao steward. The person she was truly waiting for had not yet appeared. She touched the rice cake hidden in her clothes and felt no urgency.