Crabapple Courtyard.
Lin Yu’er was treasure hunting in the yard.
She would squat down to examine anything unusual she came across.
Zhang Momo watched the lunatic crouching with her butt in the air, pressing her ear against a peculiar landscape rock as if listening for sounds, and sighed with a headache.
“Madam, that’s just an ordinary rock. It’s not a conch shell—it won’t produce any sounds.”
“Who said I was listening for sounds?” Lin Yu’er rolled her eyes dramatically at her. “A low-level magic weapon like you hasn’t opened your celestial eye, so of course you wouldn’t understand. This rock… is no ordinary stone!”
Zhang Momo glanced at it dismissively.
What’s so special about it?
It’s just ordinary red iddingsite! The Marquis’ estate has many landscape features made from this type of rock—it’s the most common material!
Du Du approached and asked, “Madam, what makes this rock special?”
The young maid had fair, pinkish skin and round eyes. When she blinked her long eyelashes, she exuded a kind of pure foolishness.
She looked very easy to fool.
Striking the pose of an enlightened master gazing at the moon through thin mist, Lin Yu’er flicked the rock with a Head Flick, her fingers going numb from the pain though she dared not make a sound, only clicking her tongue lightly.
“This rock is unlucky!”
Hearing this, Du Du immediately squatted down. “Madam, why is it unlucky? Is it because it’s red and black? Like blood?”
Lin Yu’er was taken aback.
How did she know what I was going to say?
Now she didn’t know how to continue fabricating…
As the Demon Lord’s successor, how could she be outdone by a mere magic weapon?
“You’re both right and wrong. Your celestial eye must be clogged with sleep sand. Rub your eyes and crouch down lower for a closer look…” Lin Yu’er instructed.
Before Zhang Momo could intervene, Du Du had already crouched down with her butt in the air to examine the rock.
Zhang Momo: “…”
Great, now there’s another mad one.
The two of them maintained their strange positions while studying the rock, chattering back and forth like detectives solving a case.
Before they knew it, darkness had fallen.
Zhang Momo, who had been standing by numbly all afternoon, finally moved.
“Madam, I’m going to the kitchen to arrange dinner! Du Du, remember to help Madam up to change clothes and wash her hands…”
“Okay.”
Du Du responded, though it was unclear whether she had actually heard.
As Zhang Momo reached the courtyard entrance, she happened to encounter Chang An approaching.
Chang An stopped and announced, “Momma, the Marquis sent me to inform you that he’ll be joining Madam for dinner tonight!”
After Chang An delivered the message and left, Zhang Momo remained rooted to the spot.
Zhang Momo: !!!
Oh no!
This felt like the boss returning to headquarters disguised as a junior employee to investigate corruption. After serving Lin Yu’er—who had managed to pick fights with three people in three days—the Marquis suddenly showing such approachability must mean trouble. This had all the signs of a reckoning coming.
…
Not long after the dishes were laid out, He Jiulin arrived.
Lin Yu’er held her chopsticks and frowned at the man taking his seat.
He Jiulin asked her, “What’s wrong? Aren’t you welcoming me?”
“You’ve given me so many gifts, of course I welcome you.”
Lin Yu’er’s eyes darted around as she gulped, then pointed at the dishes on the table: “But you can’t snatch my favorite dishes from me. Especially this one, this one, this one, this one, and this one.”
He Jiulin: …
She had pointed at nearly every dish except the plate of greens.
You might as well just tell me not to eat at all.
Zhang Momo watched from the side, trembling with anxiety, her face filled with frantic worry.
“Madam, you mustn’t do this.”
This was not a society governed by rule of law. In this era, noble authority stood high above, how could they tolerate anyone challenging their dignity or setting rules for them?
Lin Yu’er might not care, but her own deed of sale was still in the master’s hands.
“It’s fine.” He Jiulin raised his hand to stop Zhang Momo from saying more.
He picked up his bowl, lowering his eyelashes: “Since Madam enjoys meat, please eat more. I happen to prefer vegetarian dishes.”
After saying this, he focused on his meal.
Seeing he truly ate nothing else, Lin Yu’er felt quite satisfied with this male companion.
After the meal, He Jiulin didn’t leave immediately but sat down for tea: “Let me tell you something interesting, Madam.”
“Oh? Storytelling? Alright, speak quickly!”
“Today, Salt Pavilion Road was crowded with onlookers because the Commandant of Majestic Might was arrested. He murdered his wife and dumped her body in a well! The corpse has been retrieved from the well – her skull was shattered, her head smashed while she was still alive…”
Zhang Momo, who was pouring tea for Lin Yu’er nearby, trembled, spilling the tea.
Du Du stood gaping nearby.
It matched!
It actually matched exactly what Madam described during her auditory hallucinations!
It wasn’t some minor officer Wei, but the Commandant of Majestic Might! And it truly was murder and well disposal!
Exactly as Madam had said.
Both Du Du and Zhang Momo were stunned!
“Zhang Momo, you’re spilling the tea.” Lin Yu’er was the only unaffected one. Watching the tea spread across the table, she grabbed her sleeve to wipe it, but Zhang Momo snapped out of it after just two wipes.
“This old servant has been improper.” She immediately knelt to beg forgiveness.
He Jiulin glanced at her indifferently.
“Clean it up quickly.”
Zhang Momo promptly rose to tidy up.
“Zhang Momo is my subordinate, she only listens to me. Zhang Momo… don’t listen to him!” Lin Yu’er was both rebellious and protective of her own.
Zhang Momo:…
If asked whether she was moved at this moment?
She was utterly frozen, daring not move a muscle!
He Jiulin sighed, conceding again, and called Chang An from outside to clean up.
Lin Yu’er instead asked Du Du: “Have you made offerings to the Demon God?”
Du Du thumped her chest twice: “Rest assured, Madam, of course!”
He Jiulin had already learned from Chang Sui that the so-called Demon God was just a little clay figure Lin Yu’er casually molded, ugly beyond belief.
He coughed lightly, trying to steer the conversation back: “Madam, can you still hear those hallucinatory voices now?”
Lin Yu’er completely ignored him, getting up to check on the Demon God.
Then came a piercing shriek: “Ahhhhh, why has the Demon God cracked from dryness? Where’s the decoration on its head? Why does it only have four fingers? Where are its clothes? Du Du, how could you let the mighty Demon God expose his little thing?”
Du Du’s plaintive voice responded: “Madam, I even watered the Demon God. I don’t know why it still dried out. Its clothes might have been accidentally knocked off. Your leaves weren’t inserted deeply enough. I’ll go pick some more leaves for it right now…”
Listening to the commotion outside, He Jiulin’s head buzzed.
He turned to Zhang Momo: “If Madam experiences auditory hallucinations again, have Chang Sui notify me immediately!”
“Yes.”
“Madam’s condition seems much improved—she no longer intentionally harms others. You’ve done well! A reward of ten taels of silver! Staying cooped up in Crabapple Courtyard all day will grow tedious for Madam. Starting tomorrow, she may go wherever she wishes within the entire marquis’ estate!”
…
Meanwhile, at Bibo Pavilion.
Yue Yiniang slammed her chopsticks down in fury.
“Cabbage, cabbage, nothing but cabbage!! I’m going to vomit if I have to eat this meal after meal!”
Cuihu, straightforward by nature, spoke bluntly: “You’d better eat it, Yiniang. It’s only been three days—you still have over twenty more days of cabbage to go!”
This only angered Yue Yiniang further: “Do you even know how to comfort someone? Did I need you to remind me?”
Cuihu: “This servant merely thought that since you have to eat it anyway, you might as well finish it before getting angry.”
Yue Yiniang stared at the bland, watery cabbage and let out a frustrated cry, “I don’t want to eat it, but I’m so hungry! By the way, Cuihu, what did you have for dinner?”
Cuihu licked the grease from her lips: “This servant had mapo tofu, osmanthus fish strips, crispy roasted marinated pigeon, black pineapple duck slices, century eggs… oh, and I believe there was also stir-fried chicken with winter bamboo shoots.”
Yue Yiniang’s eyes widened, her chest tightening with anger: “…”
“You’re eating better than I am?”
Cuihu: “They were just scraps left by the other concubines—the tofu was mashed to bits, the crispy roasted pigeon only had the head and wings with little meat, and when I arrived for the stir-fried chicken with winter bamboo shoots, only some bamboo shoots remained in the pot…”
“Still better than cabbage! Why didn’t you bring some back for me?!”
The more Yue Yiniang heard, the hungrier she became. She couldn’t bear to look at the cabbage before her.
Cuihu: “The marquis’ men have been stationed outside the door all along. All incoming and outgoing food is inspected—there’s no way for this servant to sneak any in. I certainly couldn’t carry it back in my mouth.”
Furious, Yue Yiniang stabbed her chopsticks into the dish over a dozen times.
“Ahhh! This infuriates me, it really does! It’s all Lin Yu’er’s fault!”
Growing angrier the more she looked at Cuihu, she snapped, “Go fetch Wanqing!”
Soon, a tall maid entered the room: “You called for me, Yiniang?”
Yue Yiniang: “Take my rouge and deliver it to Madam…”