"How many children do you have here?" Yao Ling asked curiously.

"Currently, besides these two babies, I have twelve children live with me. Seven girls and five boys," Ning Qing Xue answered her truthfully. "Why?"

Yao Ling beamed at her. "I need several shadow guards, personal maids, and people to plant outside of my household. Spies to be precisely and do odd jobs here and there."

Ning Qing Xue looked at her in disbelief. "What? You basically need everything! Don't you even have your own people now?"

"No. I have personal maid and servant, but both were given to us by 'w.a.n.g Fu'. I'm currently testing them whether they could be trusted or not. However, to implement our own people in my household, I still need time to prepare by getting rid some of the spies." Yao Ling laid all her cards on the table. She truly had nothing to lose, because she didn't even have anyone on her side – except her husband, of course.

"The ones who were given must be given for some reasons. If you test them and you don't have their loyalty, then you should do whatever you can to make their loyalty yours. They can also become your double agents," Ning Qing Xue suggested. "This what I should do back then. I was too arrogant and my personal servants betrayed me too in the end."

Yao Ling listened to what Ning jie said and contemplated over that matter. Ning jie indeed gave her a great idea and she was grateful for the pointer. 'I don't need to remove all the spies. The one that can be brought over might be able to be used, while those who can't… I can remove them.' Indeed, it was a good idea.

"Buying their loyalty is probably easier than maintaining their loyalty. Once someone betrays their masters, they can do it again later," Yao Ling said.

Ning Qing Xue looked at Yao Ling and laughed, "I'm just giving you an idea. Whether you do it or not, it's up to you. How you implementing it… it's also for you to think about. Whether you are succeeded or not, it's also your own responsibilities."

'Well… that makes sense.' Yao Ling helplessly thought. Ning jie still hadn't given Yao Ling her agreement.

"So… are you going on board or not?" Yao Ling decided to ask once again. Thinking too much about this matter really gave her a headache. There were too many possibilities that she had to contemplate and count, well… she probably should think about this later.

The most important thing at the moment was gaining Ning jie's approval. She had to get one! Although she didn't manage to survive in the household, she could help her by giving a pointer. Who knew that maybe her mistakes would save her in the end? If Ning jie agreed, she would probably agree even if Ning jie had another condition. Heck! Even if she wanted to make a comeback at 'Qin Fu', she would probably agree to her demand and help her with everything she could.

Ning Qing Xue didn't know how to answer the question. Her brain was overloaded with the information that Yao Ling gave her. She knew that there was no free meal in this world and she also knew that Yao Ling had an ulterior motive for helping, but the name Qin Xiu Ai invoked something within her.

She already severed her relations.h.i.+p with 'Qin Fu' and Qing Xue had already decided to use her mother's surname, 'Ning'. However, the hatred was still there and she didn't know that when someone mentioned of those surname Qin, it would affect her this much.

But still… she remained undecided. Her hatred wasn't enough for her to sacrifice the children's life and happiness. The power struggle inside n.o.ble household wasn't a joking matter. It could lead someone to lose his or her life and even make him or her succ.u.mb to greed. Once you got in there, there would be no way out.

If someone followed the right master, it would lead them to have a good life – as long as the master held the power. But once the said master lost to the power struggle, their destiny was to follow the said master down to the grave.

"Can you give me some time to think about it?" Ning Qing Xue hesitantly asked. She needed to think things through and find out more about 'w.a.n.g Fu'. She didn't want to blindly say yes and then chose the wrong master.

Yes, she likes Yao Ling. She had the determination and great aspiration, but she had no power on her hands and Yao Ling also already admitted to it.

Before Yao Ling could answer, both Yao Ling and Ning Qing Xue heard the creaking sound from the door. Someone opened it and when they looked up, they saw Xiao Xia. They didn't know whether the little girl heard their conversation or not, but they also knew it wasn't suitable for a kid to listen to the rest of their conversation, so they stopped talking.

Yao Ling and Ning Qing Xue knew that Xiao Xia might not understand the meaning of their conversation, but such a pure child, she might accidentally blurt out and tell others about their conversation. Then, that would be bad. After all, the conversation needed to be kept as a secret and they couldn't risk it.

"What's the matter Xiao Xia?"

"Ning jie, Xiao Li is back. All of the ingredients have been bought. Should we prepare it now?" Xiao Xia lowered her voice, afraid to wake the babies up. Xiao Xia knew how hard it was to make the two rascals slept peacefully. Xiao Er Jie Jie must have been trying all sorts of tricks just to make them sleep peacefully. Yes, it was that hard!

Ning Xue Qing looked apologetically to Yao Ling. "I need to prepare foods for the kids and also prepare the medicine."

"It's okay. Let me help you with it."

"No need to trouble yourself. I usually only make simple dishes. Thank you for the offer though." Ning Qing Xue smiled softly.

"Then I will help you prepare the medicine. I think I'm already here around four s.h.i.+chen. I still have time to spend here. After helping you, I will go home."

"Thank you." Ning Qing Xue was really grateful for the help. Preparing medicine required times and she couldn't let the kids do it -- just in case they made a mistake while preparing it. She usually handled it all by herself. With Yao Ling's help, it would save a bit of her time.

They both headed to the broken-down but clean kitchen. There was barely anything there. It had a small wood stove which in dire need of repair, but it was still usable. Beside the stove, there were piled-up wood – only a little, but enough for cooking three more times. Yao Ling sighed in pity, at least they could provide themselves with foods. Yao Ling took a mental note, thinking of what could be done to help them get a better environment to live.

"You have twelve children here, but why most of them are only loitering around in the courtyard instead of helping you?" Yao Ling couldn't help but ask. If all the kids were a.s.signed to work and doing their jobs properly, it would certainly lessen Ning jie's burden.

"Well… I'm not good at management. I just let them do what they want," Ning Qing Xue grimaced after listening to her own words. She felt like beyond stupid. As a Di daughter, she was always served by her loyal servants. Yes, she was too pampered. Where did she get the time to manage people? Back then, she just enjoyed herself all day.

"Didn't 'Qin Fu' teach you how to manage the household? Manage a household is supposed to be an important lesson for Di daughters because they are expected to become the main wife of their husband's family." Yao Ling asked in confusion.

"I never received one." Ning Qing Xue admitted.

"What? Never received a lesson?" Yao Ling asked in surprise.

"Yes," Ning Qing Xue looked down in embarra.s.sment.

"It seems like someone wanted you to become an oblivious person with no skill whatsoever," Yao Ling used her a.n.a.lytical skill and said what she thought bluntly.