Qiuyun advised, "This is a critical moment. Madam's temperament won't allow her to pretend to be cordial with the Master in public. When the dust settles, Miss can go and complain to Madam about him then. It won't be too late."
Jiang Chuling suppressed her anger again and again, grinding her teeth. "We'll see how he behaves."
Flashback thirty years.
Qiuyun asked, "Then has Miss made her decision?"
Jiang Chuling nodded solemnly. "Sister Xiaoqiu, you've told me everything, and I'll only tell you, Sister Xiaoqiu, alone."
"I want to."
She wanted to be ambitious, to look down on the world, to hold power firmly in her hands, to dwell at the very core of the estate's authority!
The young girl's ambitions swelled in her chest.
"Good." A slight smile curled at the corner of Qiuyun's lips. "I will help Miss."
But before that, she had to help her father secure that position first — only then would she get her chance.
Qiuyun then told Miss the secrets she had previously avoided discussing, matters known only to those of the main branch of the family.
Jiang Chuling gasped. "No wonder my brother got caught every single time he tried to sneak out back in middle school — turns out there are surveillance cameras in the house too!"
"Perhaps it's not just our main branch — the second, third, and fourth branches likely all have them. And these cameras aren't only viewable by the Master and Madam and Head Steward Sun — Old Master and Butler Lin can access them as well."
For some reason, Jiang Chuling shivered.
She had assumed the cameras stopped at the front gate, never imagining there would be some inside the house too. Although she knew her grandfather and Grandpa Lin were far too busy to monitor so many feeds at all times...
Still, it sent a chill down her spine.
"Are there any in the bedrooms or bathrooms?"
Qiuyun answered immediately, "No, none of those. Only public areas like the kitchen, laundry room, living and dining rooms, storage rooms, and hallways."
Installing cameras in grandchildren's bedrooms would be crossing a line — even someone with such a strong desire to pry into others' privacy wouldn't go that far.
Jiang Chuling shook her shoulders.
That was still terrifying enough.
Her grandfather's controlling nature was simply appalling!
"Phew~" Jiang Chuling slipped into her role quickly. "Since Sister Xiaoqiu says my father's current task is to lower Grandfather's guard, then what about me? What's my task?"
"Miss's greatest advantage right now is her age." Qiuyun lowered her eyes with a faint smile. "Would Miss like to attend our group's annual meeting?"
Jiang Chuling's eyes widened. "Can I? Last year's annual meeting, my fourth uncle didn't even go — they said only family members holding positions in the group could attend!"
She blinked. "Where there's a will, there's a way."
Ever since the antique silver bracelet incident, Qiuyun had realized that in today's world of advanced internet technology, public sentiment was an incredibly easy thing to manipulate.
Jiang Yifeng's team acted as the hidden driver behind the scenes, and within just a few days, the story had fermented and spread across the internet, even able to convert users' emotions directly into real money flowing into their own pockets!
The Jiang family was primarily focused on traditional industry and had not ventured deeply into the internet.
Little did they know that in this day and age, the power of the internet could already determine the direction of the money in people's wallets.
"Sister Xiaoqiu, do you have a way?" Jiang Chuling asked.
"I do, in fact."
Qiuyun was just about to share her thoughts with Miss when Fang Jie came knocking at the door. "Miss, Assistant Qiu, Sun Assistant Manager has brought people to arrange the Master's luggage."
"Hmm? Isn't that supposed to be handled by Assistant Chen?" Qiuyun asked, puzzled.
Fang Jie was taken aback. "Oh dear, I've been so busy I completely forgot. Lately everything's been coming to you for instructions — I've gotten used to it."
"Sister Xiaoqiu, go handle it." Jiang Chuling was still fuming. "Put my father in the guest room at the end of the third floor! Far, far away from my mother!"
Fang Jie was shocked. "But that's the Master! That's not quite appropriate, Miss."
Qiuyun had already risen to her feet. "As you command."
Downstairs, Sun Assistant Manager — after a string of recent setbacks — had developed a condition where the mere sight of Qiuyun twisted his face into something between a frown and a grimace.
It was the kind of frustration akin to wanting to destroy her but being utterly powerless to do so, forced instead to smile through gritted teeth and play along with the pretense of harmony.
The bitterness of half a lifetime of work had all been consumed in the past few months.
"Sun Assistant Manager, how kind of you to make the trip in the middle of the day." Qiuyun came down all smiles, waving. "Yuan Jie, please pour Assistant Manager Sun a glass of mint water."
Sun Bo's face twisted even harder, but when he spoke, his tone remained polite. “Heh heh, it's all in service of the masters—what's there to complain about? You’re the one who’ll really be working hard, Assistant Qiu. Now that both Master and Madam have moved to Moonlight Tower, you'll have plenty to keep you busy!”
She replied with a pleasant smile, "Just as Assistant Manager Sun said — we all serve the masters, and doing our part isn't worth calling hardship."
Sun Assistant Manager took a deep breath, then turned to look around. "Where's Assistant Chen?"
Yuan Jie popped her head out from the kitchen. "I just saw her at the entrance a moment ago. She's not here now?"
"Forget it, never mind her." Sun Assistant Manager's eyes darted around, then he gestured to the people behind him. "There's still a pile of work waiting for me to arrange back at the main building. You lot, go put the Master's things in order, then wait here for Assistant Qiu's instructions."
"Yes."
Qiuyun raised an eyebrow, glancing at Sun Assistant Manager's hurried retreating figure, then turned to the male and female servants behind her. "Come on, follow me upstairs."
Meanwhile, Sun Bo stood by the door for a short while, and sure enough, saw Assistant Chen returning from outside. He quickly made it look as though he had just stepped out of the door himself.
"Oh? Assistant Manager Sun — you don't come to the three treasures hall without a reason. Is the Master coming over for dinner tonight, too?"
Sun Assistant Manager sighed. "The Master... he's moving in directly."
"What!" Assistant Chen was astonished. "Why is he moving in directly?"
"The Madam refuses to go back — what choice does the Master have?" Sun Assistant Manager's words carried a hint of sarcasm, but he soon shifted to a sigh of lament. "Alas, the deputy first floor is practically a hollow shell now. With both Master and Madam at your Moonlight Tower, you're more of a head steward than the head steward yourself."
Assistant Chen was inwardly delighted, of course, but she would never show it on her face. She offered consolation instead: "The Master and Madam staying here is only temporary. They'll have to go back eventually, won't they?"
Sun Assistant Manager let out a dry chuckle and sighed again. "True enough. But that's not what I'm worried about, to be honest."
"What is it?" Assistant Chen pressed.
"It's Assistant Qiu." Sun Bo sighed. "You know how good Assistant Qiu is at winning over the Madam and Miss. And just now, she even—"
Assistant Chen grew more curious. "She did what?"
Sun Bo glanced around and lowered his voice. "We've been colleagues for so many years, so I'll speak plainly. Neither you nor I are as good at playing the game as she is, or as good at pleasing the Master and Madam — that's fine, we accept that. But what she can't do is overstep her bounds and snatch up the work that belongs to you and me!"
Sun Bo said with righteous indignation, "Just now, I was moving the Master's everyday items over here per his instructions. By all rights, that should be a matter between assistant managers — a formal handoff between my position and yours. But that Qiu, without a word, went ahead and started giving me orders directly! Completely ignoring the fact that this isn't even within the scope of her little assistant role!"
Assistant Chen's expression darkened slightly.
Matters within Moonlight Tower were indeed not something an assistant had the authority to manage.
Sun Assistant Manager sighed. "I'll let it slide — I'm the assistant manager of the deputy first floor, so her reach doesn't extend to me anyway. But you're different. You're stationed right by Miss's side alongside her. Don't end up like your girl and get pushed right out the door!"
