The Second Miss, as the legitimate wife, naturally cannot seduce her husband shamelessly like those concubines; it is essential to cultivate someone who can win over and manage her husband.
The Third Madam immediately pondered, "The Pei Mansion did purchase quite a number of servants with 'death contracts' this year, but our wing didn't lack people at the time, so they all went to the second wing. The Old Madame's courtyard also brought in a few third-ranking servants with death contracts."
The Second Miss frowned and said, "It's hard for us to intervene in the second wing. The Old Madame is kind-hearted, and in her courtyard... I specially observed on the day of the reward, but didn't notice any particularly outstanding maids."
There are one or two prominent senior maids, but they are close to the Old Madame, having served for many years. The Old Madame wouldn't give her personal maids, no matter how fond she is of them, and besides, those aren't servants with death contracts.
The second-ranking maids aren't outstanding.
"Are there any third-ranking maids? There were many people that day, perhaps some young maids didn't have the chance to appear before the masters."
The Third Madam said, "I didn't pay attention to that either. I'll have someone inquire, but if there isn't anyone, we can't forcibly ask the Old Madame for her servants, since they aren't from our courtyard."
The Second Miss sneered, "When the master says something to a maid, it is so; there's no discussion of willingness. Besides, many young maids yearn for a better life, if I'm willing to promote them, they'd likely be too grateful to refuse."
The Second Miss wanted to select a third-ranking maid most of all; these maids have the lowest status and no roots in the mansion, making them easier to control.
The Third Madam found her daughter's words reasonable and immediately had someone go to the Old Madame's courtyard to check.
Nanny Fang was sent over to investigate without alarming the Old Madame, claiming she'd lost something and needed the third-ranking maids to help find it.
Without much effort, she obtained the information the masters wanted.
Nanny Fang quickly returned to the third wing with the information.
"Reporting to Madam and Second Miss, in the Old Madame's courtyard, among the third-ranking maids, there is indeed one particularly beautiful maid. She seems young and hasn't reached adulthood yet. Her looks haven't fully developed, but one can already see the makings of a stunning beauty."
The Second Miss rose in surprise, "Truly?"
The Third Madam was also pleased and inquired, "What's her name, how old is she, what's her family background, and does she have a death or a living contract?"
*
"What did that Nanny Fang mean? She called us sisters together for no reason, saying she lost something and wanted us to help find it. After searching for a long time, she just sent us off saying she might have remembered incorrectly," Hai Xia complained.
Qu Fulan was not focused on that, she just found it odd.
Logically, someone who loses something should show some anxiety, especially for important items. But Nanny Fang, despite claiming to have lost an important bracelet, showed no signs of worry.
Moreover, while the maids were helping find the bracelet, Nanny Fang did not search alongside them but kept watching the maids, as if assessing something, like goods being evaluated.
Qu Fulan disliked that feeling; she knew servants have no status, yet being scrutinized like merchandise was a first for her, and it aroused great resentment.
"Which wing is that Nanny Fang from, and how did she manage to drop something at the Old Madame's courtyard?" Qu Fulan asked Hai Xia.
Hai Xia replied, "She is the Third Madam's personal nanny. Probably she had some business at Fushou Hall and inadvertently left something behind."
Sometimes, nannies run errands or deliver messages for their masters.
Qu Fulan, however, felt matters weren't that simple; having experienced highs and lows in modern life, she never viewed matters simplistically. She only sensed something peculiar in this.
Yet, she couldn't figure out any clues for the moment.
The information at her disposal was still too limited.
Nonetheless, Qu Fulan wasn't particularly worried; whatever happened, it wouldn't affect her in the next two months.
The Old Madame's medicine was in her hands, making it irreplaceable and a matter for serious attention.
But she still had to find out what was going on so that if anything unfortunate happened, she could plan ahead.
In the third wing, Nanny Fang was passionately recounting her well-executed task.
"When the maid arrived, they were going about their tasks separately, making it hard to evaluate them one by one. After a moment's thought, I quickly came up with an idea."
"I gathered them all together and claimed a bracelet was lost, an important gift from the Madam, and asked them to assist in searching. During this time, I was able to clearly observe them."
"Among that lot of maids, only one caught my eye, with those pretty red lips, bright white skin with a hint of red, large almond-shaped eyes seemingly filled with water, such a sight that one couldn't look away."
"Later, while they were searching for the bracelet, I took a good look at her, that figure, truly unparalleled compared to the other maids; one might mistake her for a young mistress. She..."
Nanny Fang was going to continue but was impatiently interrupted by the Second Miss.
"Just say she's pretty; why go on so much? Just provide the answers to Mother's questions quickly."
Nanny Fang dared not ramble further and was about to respond, but after searching her memory, she realized she hadn't asked the vital questions, engrossed as she was in observing the maid.
"Well... Perhaps... I should ask again, since I already know her name."
The Second Miss's face darkened; if this were her personal nanny, she'd truly want to slap her, so muddle-headed, unable to perform tasks properly.
Go back and ask? Wouldn't that alert everyone in the mansion and make it obvious her situation here is poor, creating a commotion that would please her?
Seeing her daughter's displeased face, the Third Madam guessed this wasn't suitable and said, "Since it's inconvenient to inquire directly at the Old Madame's courtyard, why not summon her here so we can examine her thoroughly. After all, good or bad needs examining."
The Second Miss said, "Find an excuse to bring her here for me to see, ensure nothing of this leaks."
Qu Fulan didn't even leave her room before being summoned by Nanny Fang.
She was told she'd help with something.
Upon arriving at the third wing, she waited in the courtyard without being attended to. After a quarter-hour, Nanny Fang appeared and dismissed her, offering a purse.
After Qu Fulan left, the Third Madam and Second Miss emerged from behind the curtain.
"Are you satisfied with her looks?" the Third Madam asked.
They had been observing Qu Fulan from behind the curtain.
The Second Miss replied, "She's even prettier than those vixens. Bring her over and educate her well, she'll definitely show those vixens what's what."