The sweltering heat turned both indoors and outdoors into steamers. Xi Hongrui fanned herself vigorously, but it brought little relief. Leaning halfway out of the attic, she called to the man in the courtyard, “Pei San, heat some water for me! I want to bathe!”
Pei San looked up and saw Xi Hongrui leaning on the windowsill, her arms propped against the frame. A light green robe draped over her figure, and the water-red ruqun tied above her chest was embroidered with a simple lotus flower. Her hair was styled in a round bun, adorned with clusters of delicate green blossoms. Fine, untrimmed bangs clung to her plump, creamy face, damp with sweat. She looked utterly languid, as if she might melt at any moment.
The sticky heat was already fogging his mind, but the sight of the girl upstairs, soft and limp like spring mud, made his heart flutter with intoxication. “Wait right there!” he blurted out eagerly, then hurried to gather firewood for heating water.
Just then, Mother Pei stepped out and witnessed the scene, her face instantly darkening. As Pei San rushed excitedly toward the kitchen, she grabbed his arm and snapped, “What are you doing? Are you that little hussy’s servant?”
Pei San remained oblivious to his mother’s anger. “Mother, it’s no trouble at all!” he replied dismissively.
Her expression grew even stormier. She pinched his arm sharply. “No trouble? Firewood doesn’t grow on trees! Ever since that girl showed up, you’ve been acting like a fool possessed—buying her rouge one day, clothes the next. If she were a decent girl from a good family, how could she shamelessly keep spending your money?”
Her words finally struck a chord. Pei San realized he had indeed been spending quite a lot on Xi Hongrui lately. But what could he do? Whenever she glanced his way, his head spun, and he obeyed without question. Now that he thought about it, despite all his spending, she hadn’t given an inch—not even a single “dear brother” had escaped her lips. She treated him like a servant day in and day out.
Seeing her son finally come to his senses, Mother Pei snorted coldly. “I know what’s on your mind, but let me tell you—I won’t have a daughter-in-law like that. Look at her! All flirtatious and lazy, frivolous and loose. How could a simpleton like you ever handle her? If you ask me, you should marry Ning Meng, the old princess’s attendant. She’s a bit older than you, but she’s the serious, dependable type…”
Ning Meng?
As Pei San mulled over his mother’s words, Xi Hongrui’s voice drifted down from above: “Pei San, what are you doing? Hurry up! I’m dying of heat!”
“Coming!”
Pei San immediately forgot everything else. Gently pushing his mother aside, he grinned. “Alright, Mother, Hongrui is still young. Once she becomes a mother herself, she’ll understand things better. Then you can teach her properly!”
With that, he cheerfully went to heat bathwater for Xi Hongrui.
In such scorching weather, leaving a bucket of water outside would suffice, but Xi Hongrui insisted it wasn’t clean enough and demanded the extra effort. By all rights, Pei San should have been annoyed, but the thought of her delicate, dripping-wet appearance after her bath made it all worthwhile.
His mother praised Ning Meng’s virtues, and he knew she was right. But faced with this little enchantress, who could possibly compare?Mother Pei was nearly driven mad by his dazed and confused state, ready to burst into a furious tirade, when Xi Hongrui descended the stairs. Shielding herself from the sun with a fan, she gave Mother Pei a light, airy smile.
This flippant and provocative demeanor immediately ignited Mother Pei’s anger. The girl wasn’t even married into the family yet, and already she seemed intent on trampling all over her!
But remembering that Xi Hongrui was the Crown Princess Consort’s personal maid, she couldn’t openly vent her fury. She could only shoot her a disdainful glare, turn away, and stride indoors—out of sight, out of mind.
Xi Hongrui, in her delicate green willow-embroidered shoes, swayed slightly as she came down the stairs. Seeing Mother Pei retreat without a fight, she found it rather dull.
With a haughty air, she stepped outside and leaned against the large willow tree by the water’s edge, fanning herself.
Mother Pei was the wet nurse who had raised the male lead. He held her in high regard and, as she aged, had granted her family a residence within the prince’s estate to live out her retirement in comfort.
To “facilitate” the match between Xi Hongrui and Pei San, she had been conveniently lodged in the Pei household.
Holding her fan up against the sun, Xi Hongrui felt a sense of tranquility despite the sweltering heat. It was as if she were no longer a servant but a carefree, untroubled old woman, leisurely waiting by the doorway for the sunset.
She savored the peace brought by this illusion until a voice brimming with joy interrupted her: “Miss Hong!”
Xi Hongrui lifted her fan and looked up to see the woman who had once carried a shoulder pole selling sour plum drink.
She was entirely transformed now. Her tattered clothes had been replaced by neat hemp garments, and she had a towel draped over her shoulder, promptly wiping away any sweat. She looked every bit a resident of Daliang City.
The heavy shoulder pole had been swapped for a small pushcart, and since it required less effort, she now carried two extra buckets.
Xi Hongrui watched her, idly waving her fan. “Sales good today?”
Widow Song, the sour plum drink vendor, wiped the sweat from her face and beamed. “Thanks to you, miss, it’s all sold out! But I was thinking of you and saved some specially!”
Her children, Damao and Xiaoya, now much brighter than when they first arrived, sweetly called her “Auntie” and handed her the reserved sour plum drink.
Xi Hongrui felt utterly content. Glancing into the courtyard, she remembered that Pei San had gone to fetch hot water, so she reluctantly reached for her purse.
Seeing her about to pay, Widow Song hastily waved her hands. “Miss Hong, please don’t! Our family owes you a great debt—even working as oxen or horses in the next life wouldn’t repay it. How could we take your money?”
Xi Hongrui paid her no mind. Such a monumental favor could never be repaid by mere beasts of burden, let alone a few coins. What a fantasy!
It would be sheer folly to let such a profound act of grace be diminished by petty thrift. Without hesitation, Xi Hongrui stuffed the money into Xiaoya’s arms. “Take it. I’m not short on cash, hmph.”
Xiaoya struggled in vain, leaving Widow Song flustered and at a loss.
Back when she had been at her wit’s end, nearly forced to drown herself and her children in the river, she had encountered this noble benefactor.
Since that day, every time she visited, Miss Hong would relentlessly lecture her. The words might have been harsh, but each one struck true, growing more valuable with every listening.
Following Miss Hong’s guidance, she had gone from struggling to sell even one bucket a day to steadily earning two to three hundred coins daily—over three strings of cash a month, more than many laborers made!Overjoyed, she began looking for cheap rental houses in the city and finally settled on one. Though it was tiny, the rent was only one string and five hundred coins per month—a sum she could manage by tightening her belt.
From then on, her itinerant work became much more convenient, and her days grew increasingly hopeful. And all of this was thanks to the young lady before her!
Widow Song poured out endless gratitude as she shared her recent situation, gazing at Xi Hongrui as if she were a temple bodhisattva.
Xi Hongrui flicked her fan impatiently, uninterested in such talk. “Why bother telling me about renting a place? Get to the real matter.”
Hearing this, Widow Song grew even more excited.
Recently, the new scented soap launched by “Linglong Pavilion” had caused quite a stir in Daliang City.
Everyone was amazed by the effects of this scented soap, but its high price limited its reach to aristocratic circles, slowing the spread of its reputation.
To quickly boost its fame, Linglong Pavilion released small “trial-size” bars for street vendors to sell. For each bar sold, the vendor would earn one coin, and unsold bars could be returned.
Vendors scrambled for this easy money, snatching up the trial stock as soon as it hit the counters each day.
Widow Song, with her insider access, always managed to get some through Xi Hongrui’s connections. Not only did she earn a coin for each bar sold, but she also used the reputation of Linglong Pavilion’s scented soap to sell more of her sour plum drink.
To better serve customers, these alley-roaming vendors secretly reported information and preferences of potential buyers in Daliang City, all the better to “tailor” their sales.
Widow Song, along with Damao and Xiaoya, chattered on, each adding their piece.
“Today we went to… Alley—what a place! I heard someone lives there who…”
Xi Hongrui listened half-heartedly until a certain moment when she suddenly looked up.
She heard Widow Song say animatedly, “At the east end of Yulin Alley, a new family moved in. Just like when we first arrived, they don’t know much, but they’re nothing like us common folks. Rumor has it the head of the household is a guard serving right by the emperor—a really high-ranking official!”
At this, Xi Hongrui covered her eyes with her fan, her lashes trembling.
A guard by the emperor’s side?
Behind the fan, she blinked slowly, recalling that day in the water—the flailing, oversized land duck.