Chapter 8 This Can Also Be Misunderstood_2

Sang Wan had no servant as part of her dowry, only Liu Ya the maid came with her as part of her bridal procession, and she was the only one who could be used to help with the inventory of her dowry.

Upon hearing this, Sang Wan nodded, called Liu Ya forward, whispered a few commands to her, and handed her the list of dowry items to match against the warehouse.

Liu Ya agreed and then turned to the wife with a placating smile, saying, "Please kindly lead the way!"

But the wife did not move her feet and sizing Liu Ya up from head to toe with a slanted gaze, she smiled obsequiously at Sang Wan and said, "Wouldn't it be better to send a capable and experienced mama? This, after all, is about checking the dowry!" Her implication was that she did not trust Liu Ya, as she was just a young maid.

Liu Ya's face turned pale with anger. Normally, she would have jumped up and argued back upon hearing such words, but remembering what Sang Wan had said the day before, she pushed down her anger and kept her eyes lowered without responding.

Sang Wan also felt uncomfortable but did not show it on her face; she continued to smile amiably. When she spoke again, her tone was more authoritative and decisive, "Let Liu Ya go. Rest assured, she can read and will not mess things up! She won't delay your work either!"

The wife, feeling embarrassed, replied with a forced laugh, "What are you saying, madam? If you say it's okay then it must be, I was just asking needlessly! Indeed, being from a scholarly family, even a young maid knows how to read; truly impressive!"

Hearing these backhanded compliments, Sang Wan's palms clenched tightly, and she nodded with a smile, "Then please go quickly! The sooner you go, the sooner you can complete your task."

With that, she gave Liu Ya a meaningful glance. Liu Ya took a deep breath to control her temper, forced a smile, took a couple of steps forward, and hesitantly stretched out her hand to tug at the wife, saying amiably, "Sister, please lead the way!"

With no more excuses, the wife had to leave and led Liu Ya away.

Watching their departing figures, Sang Wan's gaze flickered. It was clear to her that, without someone backing her, and if she hadn't been told to make trouble, the wife would not dare to speak so rudely to her in front of everyone. Liu Ya, this maid, was indeed too inexperienced.

As Liu Ya followed the wife, the woman took the opportunity to slowly probe her with questions along the way—how old was she? Who else was in her family? How did she come to the Sang family? How long had she been with madam? She then subtly shifted to inquire about Sang Wan and the Sang family—how many people were in madam's family? What were their temperaments like? How much land and how many rooms did they have? What was their daily life like? What did madam usually do, and so on, digging deep as if she was trying to investigate the entire ancestry of the Sang family.

Liu Ya was a talkative person; her mouth never stopped, and she loved to gather and spread gossip. If it weren't for Sang Wan's warning the day before, she might have carelessly spilled everything when someone actively engaged her in household talk. Now alerted by Sang Wan's words, Liu Ya was cautious not to engage too much. She skillfully evaded giving substantive answers by changing the topic, seemingly talking a lot but revealing nothing. Instead, she subtly steered the conversation and managed to garner quite a bit of information from the wife.

Suddenly realizing something was amiss, the woman abruptly stopped talking, glanced at Liu Ya annoyed, cleared her throat, and said sternly, "Enough of that useless chitchat, let's move quickly! Madam Zhang at the warehouse is waiting, and I have other tasks to do!"

"Yes, Sister Ning!" Liu Ya cheerfully complied, acting as if she hadn't noticed Sister Ning's annoyed expression.

Seeing Sister Ning's frustrated but repressed look, Liu Ya felt a surge of joy inside, thinking: Serves her right! Thinking you can mess with me as if I were an easy target!

Madam Zhang, who was surprised to see a young maid handling this, asked Sister Ning a few questions. After getting confirmation, she quickly checked each item with Liu Ya without much further conversation.

Liu Ya, young as she was, recognized many characters and had a sweet manner; her radiant smile made Madam Zhang feel quite fond of her, softening her demeanor considerably. Soon, Madam Zhang had cleared and handed over all of Sang Wan's dowry items to her.

When signing the receipt, Madam Zhang noticed Liu Ya's neat handwriting and couldn't help but commend it, praising that the madam's family was indeed as reputable as said. Liu Ya listened and humbly smiled.

Afterward, Madam Zhang left with her people, and Liu Ya watched as about twenty young servants and a group of rough-hewn maids and women called from the outer courtyard picked, carried, and transported the items to Ningyuan.

This was meant to be a very simple task, which Sang Wan had not particularly worried about. However, to her surprise, a maid hurriedly rushed in, gasping, "Madam, there's trouble! Sister Liu Ya is about to fight with someone! Madam, you must come quickly, I'm afraid Sister Liu Ya is at a disadvantage!"

Sang Wan was startled and quickly inquired about the matter.

The maid looked troubled and said, "I, I didn't hear much, but I saw someone drop madam's dowry on the ground, and Sister Liu Ya started arguing with them. I don't know what was said, but Sister Liu Ya burst into tears!"

A wave of dizziness hit Sang Wan — that Liu Ya, always causing trouble. Despite her repeated admonitions, how could she still be so impulsive? This was the Shi family, not the Sang family; making a fuss like this, how would she manage in the days to come!

Yet she was one of her own, and Sang Wan could not ignore her. She immediately headed there with Xingzhi, Hong Ye, and others in haste.

Upon arrival, Sang Wan saw Mrs. Jiang, Mrs. Wang's trusted mama, already there, huffing and puffing orders. Sang Wan hurried her steps in alarm.

"Oh! Madam is here too!" Mrs. Jiang also noticed Sang Wan, came forward with a obsequious smile and a bow, then swept a disapproving glance around as though blaming someone for running their mouth to Sang Wan.