Chapter 30

In the afternoon, Shiyue came to the garden. Seeing Tang Jie still busy, she let out a light laugh, walked over with a graceful gait, stood behind Tang Jie, patted him, and called out, "Hey!"

Tang Jie, however, remained unperturbed and calmly turned around, "Hello, Sister Shiyue."

"Is it so hard to scare you, or did you see me coming earlier?" Shiyue looked at Tang Jie with her big, watery eyes.

"I just heard the footsteps." Tang Jie replied, "By the way, how do you have time to come over now?"

Shiyue covered her mouth and laughed lightly, glancing at Tang Jie, "Isn't it because of what you all did? Before noon, that young Master Ji went to Madam, and you didn't see it, his eyes were red, almost in tears! I wonder how you managed to offend him so much?"

"It has nothing to do with me." Tang Jie spread his hands in a gesture of innocence, "It was just that Shimu taught him some rules of being a servant, and that young Master Ji couldn't take it."

As he spoke, Tang Jie casually mentioned how Shimu "trained" Ji Ziqian as a servant. Throughout the morning, Shimu kept Ji Ziqian busy, making him do all sorts of tasks, truly treating him like a servant.

Ji Ziqian, despite his tolerance, managed to endure it, but as a young master, he was used to being served. He had no idea how to do those tasks, and even if he tried, he did them poorly. Thus, he was scolded by Shimu many times throughout the morning.

Chai Si was sent away, and the other servants ignored him, leaving him with no one to help.

No matter how well-mannered he was, he couldn't bear this situation and finally found an excuse to run away, going back to his mother to complain.

Shiyue found this amusing and couldn't help but burst into laughter, clapping her hands and saying, "Good, very good, well done. These tasks are what we servants usually do. Since he came to learn to be a servant, even if he complains to Madam, we will still be in the right."

"I don't think so." Tang Jie sighed, "In my opinion, this isn't well done; it's actually quite poorly done."

"Huh? Why is that?" Shiyue was puzzled.

Tang Jie replied, "When we do something, we usually have a goal. If achieving the goal is difficult, we often need some indirect methods, which can easily lead to forgetting the original purpose during the process. This time, the method used on Young Master Ji has this flaw. Although we harshly disciplined Ji Ziqian and vented our anger, was our goal to discipline him?"

Shiyue was taken aback, and Tang Jie's voice turned grim, "Our goal was to drive him away! All plans and methods should be directly related to this goal. If we fail to achieve this, the effect will be counterproductive."

To avoid being implicated, Tang Jie didn't appear in person to drive away Ji Ziqian but controlled everything from behind the scenes. However, this also meant he couldn't participate in Shimu's specific plans and couldn't provide timely guidance.

This is the drawback of behind-the-scenes control; he could only give directions but couldn't intervene in the specifics, relying on the executor's ability.

Shimu's actions in the morning were again a mistake of lacking a clear goal, but Tang Jie, though he saw it, couldn't correct it.

It wasn't until Shiyue came over that Tang Jie finally had the chance to speak. He wanted to use Shiyue to correct the mistakes of these little rascals.

Shiyue was surprised and said, "But didn't that young Master Ji leave in anger?"

"He left in anger today, but he will eventually come back." Tang Jie said meaningfully.

Shiyue opened her mouth, "You mean... they won't really leave?"

"How could they give up so easily?" Tang Jie said calmly, "When they come back, it won't be so simple."

Now, Ji Ziqian was caught off guard because he didn't expect the Wei family to be so hostile, like getting hit by a surprise attack.

It's no wonder; although Ji Ziqian was well-read and well-mannered, that was just his upbringing, not understanding the other party.

To truly put himself in the other person's shoes... even as a minor, let alone as an adult or a seasoned veteran, few could achieve this.

But after this incident, Ji Ziqian will certainly be more cautious, making it harder to catch him off guard again.

After all, he is Wei Tianchong's cousin, with plenty of opportunities to turn things around.

Therefore, such an opponent cannot be defeated in one blow; otherwise, they will come back to bite you.

This is why Tang Jie felt deeply troubled, but he couldn't point it out. He could only regret that even a skilled housewife can't cook without ingredients—these were the materials he had, and he couldn't use them openly, so many things could only happen without his ability to stop them.

Even Shiyue felt a chill run down her spine, "That's going to be a problem. With Madam's temper, she will definitely lose her cool. When that happens, you all will be in trouble."

"Lose her cool?" Tang Jie was taken aback, thinking for a moment, he said, "Do you mean Madam will come to Jingxin Garden to cause trouble?"

"Definitely!" Shiyue replied, "Madam's temper isn't good in the Wei family. She used to beat and scold servants before she got married. After marriage, her temper only slightly improved but wasn't much better. Don't be fooled by her polite demeanor; she's just trying to get something from the Wei family. Once she knows her son was humiliated, she will definitely come to cause trouble."

"You weren't even born when Madam got married, how do you know this so well?"

"The old people in the mansion say this, and the maid she brought, Ningcui, has been close to me these past few days."

"I see... So the managers must know this?"

"They certainly do."

After thinking for a moment, a smile appeared on Tang Jie's face.

He chuckled, "Good, very good. I was wondering why those boys were so bold this time and did such a thoughtless thing. It turns out there's more to it, a well-planned scheme... It must be those managers who planned it behind the scenes. Indeed, the older ones are wiser. This time, I learned a thing or two!"

"What do you mean by that?" Shiyue was puzzled.

"Nothing." Tang Jie replied, "Losing her cool is a good thing; I'm afraid she won't lose her cool... By the way, there's something I need your help with, Sister Shiyue."

"Don't call me sister anymore; I'm not much older than you. Just call me by my name. What do you need? I'll help if I can..."

---

"Wei Tianchong, you little brat, come out here!"

Wei Lanxin, dragging her son, rushed to Jingxin Garden. Before even entering, she was already shouting at the house.

Wei Tianchong peeked out the window and, seeing it was his aunt, quickly hid his head.

Seeing Wei Tianchong not coming out, Wei Lanxin stepped forward to enter, but Shimu and another servant blocked her, shouting, "Madam, this is the young master's study. Without permission..."

"Get out of my way!" Wei Lanxin slapped Shimu's face, "It was you who bullied my son. I'll settle with you later!"

She then rushed into the room.

As soon as she entered, the sound of shattered porcelain filled the air, and several vase fragments appeared on the floor. Wei Lanxin was taken aback but didn't think much about why vases were placed at the door. She rushed toward Wei Tianchong, who, seeing the situation, turned and ran. Servant Shimeng stepped in front of him, holding a chair.

Wei Lanxin puffed out her chest, "I dare you to hit me!"

Shimeng trembled but didn't dare to hit her, so he put down the chair.

Wei Lanxin picked up the chair and threw it over.

Shimeng ducked, and the chair flew past his head, hitting a painting of a peaceful mountain and sea, creating a large hole. The chair back grazed Wei Tianchong's head, causing him to cry out in pain, and blood trickled down.

Wei Lanxin tried to chase after him, but Shimu pounced, grabbing her legs and shouting, "Young master, run!"

Wei Tianchong, showing unusual agility, jumped out the window. Wei Lanxin, unable to catch him, sat on the ground and burst into tears, "Wei Tianchong, you ungrateful brat, how could you treat your cousin like this? How could I, Wei Lanxin, have such a hard life? After being away for a few years, I'm now being bullied by everyone!"

Seeing his aunt not chasing him, Wei Tianchong stopped and, hearing her complaints, felt a bit guilty. He stopped and muttered, "I... I didn't do anything... I just had the servants teach him some rules..."

"How can you make your cousin do servant's work?" Wei Lanxin shouted.

"But he came to learn to be a servant; he is a servant." Wei Tianchong was angry and shouted back.

Wei Lanxin, hearing this, was stunned for a moment, then burst into tears, "You... You actually say such things. You were raised by me when you were little! Do you know how well I treated you? I played with you every day, and you always wanted to go out with your second aunt. I raised you with my own hands, and you treat me like this? Do you have any conscience?"

Wei Tianchong's face turned red and white as he was scolded, with no memory of those childhood days and