Chapter 122 : Did I Say Something Wrong?

Seeing the amazed expressions of those around her, Madam Xue’s smile widened.

Her daughter was indeed impressive!

At that moment, Xue Qingyin put down the cup she was holding and said, “I want to go up the mountain to check on the horses…”

Master Lin quickly responded, “Yes, yes, it’s best to take a look. We can just stroll around the manor ourselves.”

He paused, then continued, “If we plan to start a horse business, we might need to have two veterinarians at the manor.”

Xue Qingyin sighed, “That’s what I was thinking, but it’s hard to find.”

Most veterinarians are already working for the military, and the few left in the civilian sector mostly treat oxen. Finding a proper equine vet is indeed difficult!

Ning Que opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again.

It would be easy for him to find a high-ranking official, but finding a veterinarian was definitely not his strong suit.

Master Lin immediately nodded, “It is difficult to find. I’ll keep an eye out.”

While Master Lin might not know many high-ranking nobles, he still had some connections among the lower classes.

Feeling useless, Ning Que suggested, “Why don’t we go check out the horse farm together?”

Master Lin laughed, “I’m afraid that if we go, we’ll just be in the way.”

Ning Que: “…”

Master Lin’s heart skipped a beat. What was this? Did I say something wrong? What’s wrong with what I said? They really don’t have much use, do they? They can’t even help with horses!

Xue Qingyin smiled, “Mother doesn’t need to go.”

Madam Xue frowned.

Xue Qingyin explained, “I’m lazy, I might need someone to carry me up and down the mountain. If you go too, they’d have to carry both of us.”

Madam Xue thought about it and agreed.

If she went with them, it wouldn’t make sense for her to be carried while her daughter was not.

It wasn’t really a big event to join, so Madam Xue nodded, “Go ahead.”

Before leaving, Xue Qingyin reminded the servant, “Bring out the cards for Mother and the others to play with.”

The servant quickly agreed.

Before long, the cards were brought in.

The symbols and designs on them had been carefully crafted.

Master Lin was puzzled when he saw them, “Are these cards? I’ve never seen these before.”

Madam Xue covered her mouth and laughed, “Never seen them? I hadn’t either. These were made by my daughter.”

Talking about this, Madam Xue became lively and said, “Let me teach you how to play.”

Madam Xue came from a merchant background and wasn’t too concerned with formality. Now, sitting here playing cards with them, with the maids and servants around, there were no rules to follow.

She casually shuffled the cards.

The common leaf cards are long, but the ones in her hand were square-shaped. When she held them, it only made people notice how graceful and delicate her fingers were.

Ning Que, who had already felt out of place, couldn’t help but say, “…Madam, you should really apply some ointment on your hands.”

Madam Xue looked at him in confusion, wondering why he was still harping on the earlier issue. It was really annoying.

Seeing that Madam Xue didn’t respond, Ning Que had no choice but to stand awkwardly as she observed him.

Madam Xue said, “Let’s just play cards.”

She smoothly steered the conversation away from Ning Que’s comments.

Master Lin also sensed that the atmosphere was off.

He wondered, could it be that Madam Xue knew Ning Que was from the Wei Wang’s side?

Master Lin silently thought, if things turned uncomfortable, they couldn’t bring Ning Que here again in the future.

Fortunately, after a while, Madam Xue finished teaching them the rules of the card game. Along with Liu Xiuyuan, the four of them began playing together.

Naturally, they had no time to pay attention to anything else.

The atmosphere was very good for a while.

On the other side, Xue Qingyin had climbed the mountain, and before she got close, she heard a low sobbing sound.

The voice was hoarse, as if it came from an old, broken bellows. If it weren’t for the bright daylight, it might have been somewhat frightening to listen to.

“Who is crying?” Xue Qingyin asked.

The person was startled, suddenly emerging from beneath the canopy, and upon seeing Xue Qingyin, froze.

“This is the eldest daughter of the master,” a servant quickly pointed out.

Only then did the person quickly bow in greeting, his face filled with anxiety.

Xue Qingyin looked him over.

He turned out to be an old man.

He was dressed in coarse cloth, his shoes worn and full of holes. His back was deeply hunched, and his face was deeply lined with wrinkles. The tears had streaked down his face, leaving muddy marks. Looking at his eyes, they were cloudy and yellowed, protruding slightly like those of a fish.

The old man, aware that his appearance was frightening, shrank his neck, and his back became even more hunched.

His lips trembled as he mumbled, “I-I’m sorry, master. It’s my fault…”

Xue Qingyin couldn’t help but glance at the servant.

The servant hurriedly explained, “He’s the one taking care of the horses now.”

Xue Qingyin found it strange. “Weren’t there two young men earlier?”

The servant replied, “One became ill, and the other is this old man’s son. His son wasn’t doing well, but after the old man came to check on him a few times, he learned how to handle the horses from the stableman. Afterward, his son just took care of the farming.”

Upon hearing this, the old man shrank even further and hurriedly knelt before Xue Qingyin, mumbling, but unsure of what to say.

Xue Qingyin said, “Please get up. No need to do that. Show me the horses.”

The servant responded promptly.

The servants of the Wang family, who were following behind her, quickly laid a cloth on the ground and invited Xue Qingyin to step onto it.

Xue Qingyin couldn’t help but laugh, “There’s no need for such a grand gesture.”

“The stable is very dirty, and we don’t want to soil the young mistress’s clothes,” the servant explained.

The old man, seeing this, naturally thought that this young mistress was quite distinguished and out of reach.

Panicked, he knelt down again, trying to bang his head against a stable pillar, trembling as he said, “I’m sorry, master. I failed to take care of it… take my life, please. Please don’t send me to the authorities…”

Xue Qingyin couldn’t bear to see the old man like this.

She quickly gestured to the people nearby, “Help him up. Don’t let him kneel.”

The bodyguard, who had been silently standing by Xue Qingyin’s side, finally stepped forward and helped the old man up, steadying him.

Now the old man couldn’t kneel even if he wanted to, let alone bang his head against the pillar.

He stood there, staring blankly, with his head lowered, as though waiting for his doom.

Xue Qingyin asked, “Why are you so afraid of being sent to the authorities?”

The servant hurriedly explained, “It’s because he hasn’t managed the horses properly. In some estates, if property is damaged, the person responsible is sent to the authorities for punishment.”

Xue Qingyin sighed inwardly and said, “Since you haven’t conspired with anyone, they won’t send you to the authorities.”

The old man seemed to come back to life, shaking his head rapidly, “No, no, I’d never dare to!” He wept bitterly, “I’m so grateful, master. At my age, it’s hard to find work. Taking care of the horses is simple. It lets my son have the strength to farm and still have time to do other work. Things were finally starting to look up for our family…”

For the Liu family estate, it was just a matter of one estate trying to outdo the other.

But for the old man taking care of the horses, one careless mistake could break his livelihood.

This was why Xue Qingyin sometimes despised those who used underhanded means to attack others.

All that “strategy”—no one knew how many innocent bystanders would die in the process.

As Xue Qingyin walked inside, she quickly saw the injured horses.

It wasn’t as serious as she had imagined…

The horses lay in the stable, with their hooves smeared with a dark substance. There were bloodstains on the ground, though they weren’t very noticeable.

“What is this smeared on them?” Xue Qingyin asked.

The old man stuttered, “It’s… it’s the method Lord Dong taught. He said that sometimes when horses’ hooves get injured in the military, they don’t have time to see a vet, so they use herbal medicine…”

Xue Qingyin nodded.

Lord Dong was probably the stableman she had seen earlier.

“You did very well, and reacted quickly. The horses’ hooves being injured is not your fault.” Xue Qingyin paused, then added, “You will be rewarded.”

The old man stood stunned, “Huh?”

With decades of life experience, he couldn’t fathom why the horses’ injury would lead to a reward instead of punishment.

The master hadn’t made him pay compensation or sent him to the authorities, and now there was a reward?