Seeing the ingratiating smile on Ian Brooks's face, Lauren Brooks sighed inwardly, propped herself up in bed, moved the pillow over, and then took a handkerchief from under the pillow, motioning for him to wipe himself. Ian Brooks took it and clumsily wiped his face a couple of times, then glanced around the room, suddenly dropping his smile: “Sis, where are the attendants in the room? You’re still ill—have they all gone off to play? This is outrageous! I didn’t see a single person when I entered the courtyard just now, this bunch of useless girls…”

Before he could finish, several voices came from outside, and soon the light green floral curtain at the door was lifted high. The first person to enter glanced around the room and was immediately shocked, quickly calling to those behind. In a moment, three people hurried into the room, led by Evelyn Young, and all three knelt in greeting.

“Fourth Young Master.”

Ian Brooks glared, instantly flaring up: “Where did you all go? No one at the door, no one in the room—if you don’t want to stay here, then I…”

“Fourth Brother!” Lauren Brooks heard him getting more and more out of line and had to cut him off, then asked calmly, “What exactly happened?”

Although she knew she wasn’t the real Lauren Brooks, and her words and actions might be a bit off, since she’d been gravely injured and unconscious for over half a month and still needed time to recover, she also knew now wasn’t the time to just play dumb. Seeing the three maids exchanging glances but saying nothing, she couldn’t help but frown and raised her voice: “Can’t any of you even say a word?”

At this, the leading Evelyn Young finally raised her head and explained with a troubled look, “Miss, it was Mrs. Bennett who called us all out and scolded us harshly. If Fiona Quinn hadn’t said that Samuel Smith and Jack Hudson were still in the room, I wouldn’t have gone to listen to her scolding at all—it took all I had not to talk back…”

At this point, the previously silent and stern-faced Ian Brooks couldn’t hold back any longer and immediately rebuked, “What Mrs. Bennett? Since when does an outsider like her get to meddle in the affairs of this courtyard? Before, when Sis was sick, I tolerated her bossing people around, but now that Sis is awake, what right does she have to interfere here!”

Ian Brooks was always hot-tempered; as he spoke, he stood up and stomped his foot fiercely: “From now on, don’t let her in here, understand?”

Evelyn Young immediately beamed and nodded repeatedly, “Fourth Young Master is right, I’ll definitely remember from now on!”

“All right, all right, Fourth Brother, don’t go on like that!”

Lauren Brooks saw Ian Brooks losing his temper, but the maids below were all smiling as if they were used to it. Seeing that Ian Brooks was still fuming, she gave a light cough: “Since it was Mrs. Bennett who called you away, let’s leave it at that.”

Just then, the curtain moved again, and Fiona Quinn entered the room. Her eyes were still a bit swollen and red, and it looked like she’d touched up her face with some powder, so she looked all right. Seeing the three maids standing by the bed, she was momentarily taken aback.

This time, it was Ian Brooks who spoke first: “Where did you go!”

Seeing Lauren Brooks looking at her as well, Fiona Quinn hurried forward and explained nervously, “Today is the day for distributing monthly wages, but the numbers didn’t add up. Samuel Smith and Jack Hudson took a few of the younger maids to find Mrs. Clark to argue about it, and I had to try my best to stop them, but in the end, I couldn’t, so I had to go with them. I deserve to be punished—I forgot someone should have stayed in the room.”

At this point, Lauren Brooks really didn’t have the energy to keep questioning. First, her injuries hadn’t healed yet; second, she still didn’t have a clear grasp of the situation and didn’t know if there were other hidden dangers among the staff; third, the issue with the monthly wages wasn’t something that could be sorted out quickly. So, after lazily giving a few more instructions, she dismissed everyone, even refusing Fiona Quinn’s suggestion to have the young maids come and kowtow to admit their mistake.

Once everyone had left, Ian Brooks said indignantly, “Sis, you’re just too soft and easy to bully. The Zhu family is up to no good! If it weren’t for Grandmother still being here, Second Aunt would have kicked the two of us out long ago. Just because she’s the Marquis’s wife? It’s all because Father didn’t inherit the title back then—otherwise, these servants wouldn’t dare be so snobbish! Sis, when I become an official in the future, we’ll move out and live on our own!”

For an eleven-year-old to be worrying about such things, Lauren Brooks couldn’t help but sigh inwardly. She gently patted his hand and shook her head, signaling him not to go on. Seeing the “so disappointed” look in Ian Brooks’s eyes, she didn’t take it to heart, just smiled and gave him a few more words of advice, then took out a sachet from the small box by her pillow and handed it to him.

“This… Sis, you made this yourself again? Your needlework is as good as ever!” Ian Brooks happily tucked the sachet into his chest and finally grinned, “The New Year is coming, and I was just about to ask you to make one for me—I didn’t expect you’d already prepared it.”