Bai Suihe left through the side gate, walked down a long, narrow alley, and followed her memory to a small courtyard.
She knocked on the door in a rhythmic pattern. The door opened from the inside with a CREAK. A wrinkled old woman looked at Bai Suihe, who had her head lowered. "Miss Chunxiang, didn't you say the Miss was coming today?"
Bai Suihe slipped inside directly. "Nanny Wu, it's me."
Hearing the familiar voice, Wu Qingshui was startled and hurriedly closed the door. "Miss, why are you dressed like this?"
"How else was I supposed to get out?" Bai Suihe said dismissively. "Chunxiang should have told you yesterday. Did you bring the people?"
Wu Qingshui was Mrs. Bai's trusted confidante. Mrs. Bai doted on this daughter of hers, but when faced with the Bai Family's interests and her other children, she had been forced to compromise.
In her past life, on the day of the exile, even though the Bai Family had removed Bai Suihe from their genealogy, Mrs. Bai had still ordered Nanny Wu to send her ten thousand taels in silver notes.
Unfortunately, on the road to exile, even with silver notes in hand, she hadn't dared to use them openly. She never made it to the exile destination to improve her life, and she never knew who ultimately benefited from that money.
"Miss, this is highly improper," Wu Qingshui said anxiously. Looking at the young woman's attire, it was obvious she had snuck out. If the Gu Family found out, things would not end well for her.
"Nanny, now is not the time to talk about this. I truly have a matter of extreme urgency.
"My mother should have instructed you to follow my orders completely. We are short on time, so let's hurry."
Bai Suihe had no choice but to invoke Mrs. Bai's name. She simply had no manpower of her own. Originally, she had planned to arrange some people to make preparations along the exile route in advance, but now, the plan had changed.
"Miss, please don't worry. The people are already waiting inside. I'll take you in right now," Wu Qingshui said helplessly. She thought that Mrs. Bai simply spoiled the young lady too much, and she didn't know if that was a good or bad thing.
Bai Suihe entered the main hall and found that the faces there were all familiar. It seemed Mrs. Bai really had sent her own trusted aides.
They were all senior servants who served Mrs. Bai. Seeing someone who looked half like Chunxiang and half like the Eldest Miss, the clever ones immediately understood what was going on.
They were fiercely loyal and wouldn't say anything at this moment, but inwardly, they were incredibly curious about Bai Suihe's disguise. They wondered what purpose the Eldest Miss had in summoning them here.
Bai Suihe didn't waste words and directly pulled out a thick stack of silver notes from her robes. When she left that morning, she had visited the storehouse and taken out her entire dowry savings.
Seeing so many silver notes, Wu Qingshui's brow furrowed even tighter. As Mrs. Bai's confidante, she was naturally familiar with these. The young lady's entire savings amounted to a full fifty thousand taels in silver notes; she just didn't know how much of it was in this stack.
"Here is fifty thousand taels in silver notes." As soon as Bai Suihe's voice fell, Wu Qingshui nearly lost her footing. The young lady was leaving not a single coin behind!
"Miss?"
Bai Suihe gave her a look that told her to stay calm. "I know you are all people my mother trusts, so I trust you as well.
"I am in urgent need of some supplies right now. I don't care what methods you use, but you must buy all these items within seven days and store them at my dowry estate."
After speaking, Bai Suihe pulled out a list she had drafted earlier. "Try your best to buy from outside shops. Don't touch the inventory in my dowry shops; I still have a use for them."
Fearing they might try to cut corners, she added another instruction. "You must split up and act separately. Do not attract any attention."
With that, she handed the silver notes and the list to Nanny Wu.
Wu Qingshui wiped the sweat from her forehead and took them nervously. "Miss, how should we explain this to Madam when we return?"
"See if my mother can make a trip to the Gu Mansion in the next few days," Bai Suihe replied. "If not, I will find a way to go back and visit after some time."
Wu Qingshui immediately understood that this was not a matter for a servant to pry into, and she readily agreed.
If the Miss hadn't made the trip herself today, and had instead had that maid Chunxiang bring the silver notes out, Wu Qingshui would have definitely dragged Chunxiang back to the mansion or handed her over to the authorities.
"Miss, shall this old servant escort you back to the mansion?" Nanny Wu asked Bai Suihe, who was sitting to the side sipping tea, only after she had distributed the tasks and the silver notes in front of her.
Bai Suihe stood up, straightened her clothes, and smoothed her hair. "Come with me to the streets to buy a few things, and then you can lead some men to escort me back."
Since she had come out, she couldn't return empty-handed. Bai Suihe also wanted to get a sense of current market prices.
She didn't go anywhere far, simply buying some pastries and fresh fruit on a nearby street.
Although she currently had a vast orchard mountain inside her spatial dimension, she couldn't explain the origins of the fruit if she just pulled them out.
She actually wanted to look around a bit more, but Nanny Wu was incredibly anxious. Terrified that the fake miss back in the mansion would be exposed, the old woman urged her to hurry every few moments.
Knowing she couldn't be willful, Bai Suihe quickly purchased some needle and thread, and then they headed back.
Nanny Wu led two strapping porters carrying loads on shoulder poles to the side gate of the Gu Mansion's backyard.
When the old gatekeeper woman saw Chunxiang, she immediately greeted her with a smiling face. Before she could even get close, however, an old face blocked her view, and a small piece of silver was pressed into her palm. "I am Chunxiang's great-aunt. Thank you so much, sister, for taking care of this child."
The two porters had already squeezed past them, set the loads down inside the courtyard, and obediently retreated outside. In a flash, Bai Suihe slipped into the backyard.
From behind her, Wu Qingshui's voice rang out. "Chunxiang, hurry and get someone to carry these things back. Don't delay your master's affairs."
The gatekeeper woman looked at Chunxiang's retreating back but said nothing, quietly tucking the silver piece into her robes. "So we're all family! It's only right that we look out for one another.
"You are truly too polite. What did you buy here?"
"Just some fruits, preserves, snacks, and the like. As you know, pregnancy makes a woman's appetite quite picky. Since we didn't know exactly what the master would like, we bought a bit extra."
"Then you are truly considerate of your master. With loyal people like you serving her, the Third Young Madam's days will be a bit easier to endure."
Wu Qingshui felt her nose sting. If even a gatekeeper knew of the Eldest Miss's hardships, it was obvious how difficult life in the Gu Mansion must be.
She figured that if the Eldest Miss wanted to spend Silver, then so be it. If worse came to worst, Madam would just subsidize her.
Bai Suihe returned to her courtyard with her head bowed. The moment she knocked, Dongmei opened the door. It turned out the maid had been guarding the door the whole time, secretly observing the outside. Seeing the familiar figure, she heaved a sigh of relief.
Bai Suihe sat down at her dressing table and began to remove her disguise. "Go to the side gate and bring the things in."
Chunxiang, who had been lying in bed maintaining the disguise, immediately sat up. Seeing the sweat on her maid's forehead, Bai Suihe couldn't help but laugh with a PFFT. "You weren't hiding under the covers the entire time, were you?"
"Miss," Chunxiang said, exasperated. "This servant was scared to death, yet you still have the mind to joke."
"It's my fault," Bai Suihe hurriedly apologized. "I know you were uncomfortable. Let's switch back right away.
"Did anything unusual happen while I was out of the mansion?"
Chunxiang moved swiftly to change clothes, not forgetting to reply. "No one came by, but this servant's heart is still beating THUMP, THUMP, THUMP."