"What should we do, Miss?" The nanny was so anxious her face was all scrunched up. "That Serena Jane is a coward—she'll definitely spill everything!"
"Yeah! This time, I’m afraid none of us will escape with our lives," Pan’er said gloomily.
Compared to them, Chloe Zhu was calm and collected.
"Xi’er, Chu Shi, you two go back to the manor right now and tell my father that Abbess Serena Jane has gone missing. Make a big scene—the bigger, the better," Chloe Zhu said. "Just to buy us some time."
"Yes!" The two of them accepted the order.
"Xi’er, there’s something even more important I need you to do," Grace added.
"What is it?"
"Go find Aunt Crystal and ask her for a favor."
"What kind of favor?"
"Ask her to find Sierra and tell her: if she’s willing to steal a few pieces of Cindy Zhu’s jewelry, we’ll help her keep the baby and marry Kevin Zhuo as his concubine," Grace said. "Otherwise, we’ll tell the mistress about her pregnancy."
Sierra was Cindy Zhu’s personal maid.
In her previous life, at this exact moment, Sierra had been secretly dealt with by Grace Wan because she was pregnant with Kevin Zhuo’s child.
The reason Grace asked Aunt Crystal to go instead of Xi’er herself was because... In the eyes of the maids, Miss Grace was kind of unreliable—she didn’t exactly inspire trust or fear. If Xi’er went straight to Sierra, who knows how she’d react.
But Aunt Crystal was different. She was the chief stewardess of the lady of the house. Even though the mistress was always ill and didn’t manage things, she was still the mistress!
Plus, she was deeply favored by the Prime Minister himself. Any promise she made was worth a lot more.
But Xi’er was stunned when she heard this. "Huh? A baby? Sierra’s pregnant?"
Grace nodded. "In this house, Sierra isn’t the first maid to get pregnant by my dear brother. She knows perfectly well what’ll happen if the mistress finds out!"
"So... so we’re really going to use this... this to threaten her?" Xi’er was young and had never done anything like this before. She was so nervous she stuttered.
Grace shot her a sideways glance. "Yep! We’re threatening her. Nakedly threatening her! Either she becomes Kevin Zhuo’s concubine, or she dies!"
"Okay! I get it now." Xi’er put on a face like a tragic hero about to meet her doom.
"The jewelry has to be chosen carefully," Grace continued. "We need one spirit treasure registered with the manor, four or five pieces Cindy Zhu usually wears—stuff the old lady and the others would recognize. The rest can be random extras."
"Got it."
"Once you get the jewelry, bring it straight to me! Immediately!" Grace ordered.
"Yes!"
This has to be done fast—before Serena Jane confesses and they come to drag me back!
"Yes, ma’am! We’ll get it done right away!" Chu Shi and Xi’er dashed off at top speed.
Pan’er, the nanny, and Wang Dong stayed behind, all looking at her expectantly. "Miss, what should we do?"
"Wait," Grace said. "If I’m right, the Zhu family will send someone—maybe today if they’re quick, tomorrow if they’re slow!"
...
Chu Shi raced back before noon.
Sure enough, he brought back seven or eight pieces of jewelry. One was a spirit treasure, four were pieces Cindy Zhu often wore, and the rest were flashy but unfamiliar.
A spirit treasure meant jewelry inlaid with spirit jade.
Or other gems and materials that helped with cultivation, crafted into jewelry.
Their value couldn’t be measured with money.