At the Yin hour, before the sky was bright.
Before the sound of roosters crowing even rang out, the maids of the Qunfang Courtyard had already exited their doors, chattering and laughing amongst themselves.
The Chen Estate was an official's household. Master Chen Liqin had to leave for the Government Office at the Mao hour before the sky turned bright, so the maids could only wake up even earlier to boil water, sweep, and cook.
Hearing the commotion from the maids, Chen Ji's eyelids twitched slightly. He rolled over and continued sleeping.
With just this single motion of rolling over, Wu Yun, who had been resting on his chest, fell off. She silently climbed back onto Chen Ji's body, tucked her paws in, and closed her eyes.
The Silver Wire Charcoal in the charcoal basin had already burned down to white ash, only leaving a gentle, lukewarm heat that slowly dissipated in quiet silence.
"Knock, knock, knock."
The sound of knocking came from the doors.
Sitting up, Chen Ji felt somewhat helpless. "Who is it?"
Then he muttered in a low voice, "Why is this Chen Estate so troublesome? Someone doesn't sleep in the middle of the night just to kneel at my door, someone else doesn't sleep early in the morning just to knock on my door. Are you all ganging up to exhaust an eagle?"
He only heard a crisp, clear voice from outside the door: "Young Master, open the door. It's me, Xiaoman."
Chen Ji froze for a moment. Who is Xiaoman?
He put on his clothes, got up, and went to open the door. With a creak, the door opened, only to see a young girl standing outside. She had a round face with delicate, exquisite facial features. When she smiled, two small canine teeth were revealed. She looked to be around sixteen or seventeen years old.
In her hands, Xiaoman carried a brass basin. A white towel was draped over the edge, and the hot water inside emitted white steam.
Standing inside the threshold, Chen Ji asked in confusion, "I said it yesterday: the Mingquan Courtyard does not need manservants or maids."
Xiaoman's eyes widened. "Young Master, I finally managed to beg Master to agree to let me come back and serve you! I served you for three years! Are you just casting me aside now?"
Without showing any outward reaction, Chen Ji observed Xiaoman.
This young girl before him was actually "his" former maid... Then he definitely couldn't keep her.
At the Taiping Medical Clinic, it was his Master and Li Qingniao who smuggled him down from the Forty-Nine Heavens, so even if he behaved differently from the past, it didn't matter.
However, this was the Chen Estate. If people discovered inconsistencies, he feared it would cause trouble and complications.
Holding the basin of water, Xiaoman tried to step inside, but Chen Ji shifted a step to the left, blocking the doorway. "You don't need to serve me anymore. Go back."
Stopping her footsteps, Xiaoman pleaded piteously, "Young Master, please have a heart of Benevolence and let me continue serving you! If I'm promoted to a first-class maid, my monthly silver allowance will increase by three hundred copper coins!"
Thinking for a moment, Chen Ji said, "I'll give you three taels of silver; you go back."
Hearing these words, Xiaoman stubbornly kept her head down, holding the basin of water, and charged inside. Seeing that the water basin was about to crash into him, Chen Ji dodged sideways to let her pass.
The corners of Xiaoman's mouth curled up slightly, a sly glint flashing through her eyes.
Carrying the basin inside, she said, "Young Master, hurry and wash your face. You still have to go pay your respects to Master and Madam later."
Chen Ji frowned. The Chen Estate's rules were truly far too numerous.
Placing the brass basin on the wooden stand, Xiaoman turned around and began tidying up the bed without being prompted. The young girl worked with exceptional agility and speed. In just a few swift motions, she had the blankets folded neatly and tucked them into the wooden cabinet on the side.
At this moment, she saw Wu Yun resting on the window lattice and said with pleasant surprise, "Ah, a Cat!"
Xiaoman leaned closer, wanting to pick Wu Yun up, but Wu Yun curled her paws in disgust and smacked the back of her hand with a 'bang'.
"Ouch!" Pulling her hand back in pain, Xiaoman wasn't angry. Turning to Chen Ji, she said, "Young Master, didn't you used to dislike Cats? Why has your personality changed? I wanted to adopt one to keep in the courtyard in the past, but you wouldn't even allow it."
Feeling a slight headache, Chen Ji could only cover it up by saying, "I like them now. In two years' time, people will always change."
He pondered in his heart, what excuse should he use to send this maid away? The other party was exceedingly familiar with him; keeping her by his side meant she would discover the inconsistencies sooner or later.
Before he could think of an excuse, Xiaoman had already turned to look at the ground. "Eh, Silver Wire Charcoal... The estate is finally willing to supply you with Silver Wire Charcoal?"
Chen Ji gave an "Mhm." "Older Brother Wenzong sent it over."
Suddenly sighing with emotion, Xiaoman said, "Back when we were still in the Capital City, the steward deliberately made things difficult for us by sending cheap Moso bamboo charcoal to our room. We sat around the charcoal basin and were smoked so badly we couldn't even open our eyes. I ran over to have a huge argument with him! Later, when you were sent to the medical clinic, I was demoted to a third-class maid, and he made things difficult for me quite a bit over these past two years..."
Speaking up to this point, the slightly immature-looking young girl instructed with an old-fashioned, mature tone, "Young Master, you finally managed to return to the estate with great difficulty; you can absolutely never let people bully and push you around like in the past anymore."
Chen Ji's heart moved. This Xiaoman could be considered an "old-timer" within the Chen Estate. Keeping her around might allow him to use her to understand the situation of the Chen Family in the capital.
Finding a chair and sitting down, he asked casually, "Do you want to follow me back to the capital?"
Xiaoman smiled. "Have you forgotten? I said before that I didn't want to return to the capital. I want to stay in Luo City to avoid returning to the Chen Family's grand mansion and having to look at the Second Branch's expressions every single day. It's just that since you are returning, I have to follow and serve you, ah."
Calculating the time, since Xiaoman had been by 'his' side for three years, two of those years should have been spent in the Chen Family's grand mansion in the capital.
Thinking for a moment, he asked, "Do you still remember Chen Yu?"
Xiaoman blinked. "Chen Yu? Of course I remember! In the past, when we were in the Chen Family's grand mansion, he was the only one who interacted with you."
Chen Ji was startled. Crap!
Previously, when Bai Long asked him if he and Chen Yu were familiar, he had said they were 'not familiar'.
The Secret Spy Division's informants were spread throughout the imperial court and public; they definitely knew the truth. At that time, Bai Long had given him a deep look but didn't expose the lie... How was he supposed to smooth this over?
But the problem was, since Chen Yu was familiar with him, why hadn't he ever written a single letter? Could they have been intercepted and withheld by Madam Liang?
At this time, Xiaoman pulled out a broom from the corner of the room and silently began sweeping the floor.
Looking at her back, Chen Ji said, "Having been in Luo City for two years, I've almost forgotten what Chen Yu looks like."
Xiaoman smiled. "How could Young Master even forget what Chen Yu looks like? With how handsome and elegant he is, it's rare to see even across the entire Capital City... Uh, well, still slightly inferior to you, Young Master."
Chen Ji was helpless. "There's no need to flatter me; I know perfectly well what I look like."
Xiaoman let out a sigh of relief. "As long as you know."
Chen Ji: "..."
Xiaoman hurriedly added a remark to salvage the situation: "You aren't bad either; it's just that compared to Chen Yu, you are still slightly inferior."
Chen Ji pondered. The former master-servant relationship between 'himself' and Xiaoman must have been very good, which was why Xiaoman could speak so Unbridled and Unscrupulously.
It was just that one of Bai Long's primary objectives for having him infiltrate the Chen Family was to get close to this Chen Yu. Yet Chen Ji had absolutely no impression of Chen Yu, not knowing where to even begin.
Chen Ji pondered for a moment. "You can stay by my side from now on. However, you don't need to serve me either; just taking good care of yourself will be sufficient. I have hands and feet; I can take good care of myself."
While sweeping the floor, Xiaoman responded, "That won't do! A maid must do a maid's duties. Earning monthly silver and doing work, this is my proper duty."
Sitting in the chair, Chen Ji gently tapped his fingers against the tea table beside him. After weighing his words for a moment, he asked, "Right, during the two years I was gone, what happened to the things I left behind in the estate in the past?"
Xiaoman's expression tightened. "I didn't take them!"
Chen Ji didn't know whether to laugh or cry. What kind of reaction was this?
He asked, "I'm asking where those things were packed away to. Were they thrown away?"
Xiaoman said, "A portion was thrown away by the steward, and a portion was taken away by Nanny Li."
Chen Ji was utterly baffled. Who in the world was Nanny Li? Were his interpersonal relationships in the Chen Estate truly this complicated?
He asked cautiously, "Is Nanny Li... doing well?"
Xiaoman said, depressed and dejected, "Not too well. Last year, she suddenly began suffering from hysteria. She kept saying that Auntie died an unclear and unjust death back then, and it must have been the result of a vicious villain's murder."
The fingers Chen Ji used to tap the tea table froze.
He took quite a while to react, finally realizing that the 'Auntie' Xiaoman spoke of was his birth mother in this world.
Speaking in a low voice, Xiaoman said, "Nanny Li said that when she returned home to visit relatives, she went to burn incense at Auntie's grave. Auntie's graveyard had been washed away by a landslide, exposing the Coffin. But there was absolutely no one inside the Coffin! She came back to report this news. Master comforted her, saying he would dispatch someone to investigate. However, the manservant who was dispatched returned and said Auntie's grave was perfectly intact; it was Nanny Li who found the wrong place. After that, no matter what Nanny Li said, no one believed her, and she slowly fell into hysteria."
Chen Ji's pupils constricted slightly. "Where is Nanny Li?"
Xiaoman answered, "Madam disgusted her for having lost her mind to madness. Originally, she planned to sell her off. It was Master who, considering she was your wet nurse, dispatched someone to send her to a countryside manor outside the city instead."
Chen Ji was bewildered and uncertain. Could Nanny Li have already been silenced and killed by the Chen Family?
Furthermore, was his birth mother dead or alive?
If she was already dead, why did the Chen Family need to bury an empty coffin? If she was still alive, why did the other party abandon him and leave without saying goodbye?
Where was she hiding now?
Chen Ji asked calmly, "Which countryside manor was Nanny Li sent to?"
Xiaoman shook her head. "I'm not clear on that."
He observed Xiaoman. He truly needed to keep this maid around. The things the other party revealed casually were all extremely crucial to him.
At this time, the roosters of the Chen Estate finally began to crow.
It was the Mao hour.
Glancing at the sky outside the window, Xiaoman urged, "Young Master, hurry and wipe your face. It's time to go pay respects to Master and Madam. If you break the Propriety rules, someone will pick on your faults again."
While speaking, she tossed the white towel into the brass basin, tossed it around a bit, wrung it dry, and handed it to Chen Ji.
Wiping his face, Chen Ji turned and walked out of the courtyard.
Standing by the doorway, Xiaoman stood on her tiptoes, secretly observing Chen Ji's back. Once she confirmed the other party had gone far away, she hurriedly pulled her head back and began rummaging through the room.
She flipped over the pillows, then flipped over the mattresses, not even sparing the space under the bed.
Refusing to give up, Xiaoman dragged a chair over, placed it on top of the table, and lightly climbed to the top. Standing on her tiptoes to look at the roof beams... still nothing.
Returning the chair to its original position, Xiaoman's petite figure paced back and forth in the room, muttering to herself in a low voice, "How strange. Where did the Young Master hide the silver? Could it be he exchanged it for Buddhist Prayer Beads Currency and carries it on his person? But I didn't see any Buddhist Prayer Beads Currency on his wrists either."
Resting on the window lattice, Wu Yun silently watched her. Turning her head and meeting Wu Yun's gaze, a sudden, inexplicable feeling arose in Xiaoman—she kept feeling as if there was ridicule hidden within this Cat's eyes.
Thinking she had seen wrongly, Xiaoman rubbed her eyes and looked again. Wu Yun's gaze had already regained its clear innocence, merely continuing to look at her.
Feeling guilty and lacking confidence, she said, "Why are you looking at me? I... I'm just worried that the Young Master's silver might be swindled away by someone again; I'm not trying to steal it! Back then, the money and properties Auntie left behind were all coaxed away by Madam. This time, I have to keep a close watch on it; otherwise, what will he use to provide my dowry? Wait, why am I explaining this to a Cat?!"
Xiaoman began wandering around the room again.
She arrived beside the table, staring with drooling desire at the greenhouse cucumbers on the plate. "Young Master has never had a good memory for these things. Missing one shouldn't matter, right?"
Secretly glancing outside the doors to ensure no one was there, Xiaoman picked one up and took a bite with a crunch.
Looking up at the roof beams, she chewed slowly. After a while, she muttered, "It's not even that tasty, yet they sell it for so much. Swindlers."
Finishing the cucumber in two bites, Xiaoman set her sights on the sugar-preserved plums on the table.
Picking up one plum, Xiaoman made a gesture as if offering it to Wu Yun. "Do you want to eat this?"
Wu Yun: "..."
Xiaoman smiled. "If you won't eat it, I will."
After saying that, she stuffed the plum into her mouth, picking up several more to stuff her cheeks full until they bulged. Only then did she pick up the broom again and continue sweeping the floor.
(End of this chapter)