Xu Zhihe didn’t know how she returned to the residence.
Sun Mama walked past the corridor and seeing her return, asked, “Why was the Miss gone for so long today?”
“The snow grew heavy. I waited for quite a while, but seeing it wasn’t letting up, I asked someone to buy an umbrella before coming back.” Although Xu Zhihe was still in a daze, years of conditioned reflexes kicked in; almost the instant Sun Mama asked the question, her mind formulated a decent and convincing explanation.
Sun Mama sized up Xu Zhihe. Seeing that her clothes were clean, bearing only a few scattered flakes of snow, she already believed more than half of it in her heart.
However… compared to her two younger sisters, the Third Miss had always been steady. Why did she seem somewhat out of sorts today?
Supporting Xu Zhihe, Fang Li said apologetically to Sun Mama, “Sun Mama, our Miss caught a chill and needs to go back to warm up properly.”
Sun Mama nodded and said, “It is only proper, only proper. The weather is cold, and Da-niangzi ordered the main kitchen to brew ginger tea. You should go fetch a bowl for the Miss as well.”
Fang Li agreed to everything and supported Xu Zhihe back to the west wing.
Xu Zhihe sat on the bed with a brazier lit by her feet. Gradually, her cold hands and feet warmed up, and her thoughts slowly returned to their senses.
Fang Li brought the ginger tea over. Seeing Xu Zhihe staring blankly at the water pouch, she reached out to hand her the ginger tea while saying with lingering fear, “Miss! You truly frightened me just now!”
Xu Zhihe took the ginger tea. The smell of ginger was overwhelming. She twitched her cold-reddened nose… the scent was far too rich; she didn’t really want to drink it. But having been blown by the cold wind for so long today and caught in the snow for a short while, drinking it was the safest bet.
Pinching her nose, Xu Zhihe took a sip. A spicy, pungent taste shot straight to the crown of her head.
Originally, her eyes were only slightly moist, but stimulated by this, tears instantly gathered, shimmering brightly.
In the time it took Fang Li to stir the charcoal, she turned her head and saw the glistening moisture in Xu Zhihe’s eyes, and her heart jumped with a start.
Had her words made the Miss cry?
Xu Zhihe set down the ginger tea in her hand. “This taste is too choking. I’ll wait until it cools a bit and down it in one gulp.”
So it was because of the ginger tea. Fang Li breathed a sigh of relief, continued to place the lid on the charcoal brazier, and sat down beside Xu Zhihe.
“Miss, since Young Master Chen has already agreed, you no longer need to worry about the future.” Hugging Xu Zhihe’s upper body, Fang Li chuckled softly, “I knew it, Miss is as beautiful as a lotus emerging from water; who could see you and not feel fondness in their heart?”
With both hands being held tightly by her, unable to move, Xu Zhihe could only gently bump her head against her. “You! Always saying pretty words to coax me.”
Even after being bumped, Fang Li didn’t let go, giggling happily. “This servant did no such thing!”
Xu Zhihe said, “However, today is indeed worth being happy about.”
Once she married out, Fang Li would follow by her side. They wouldn’t have to pay any attention to the rules and schemes of the Xu family’s inner courtyard; just thinking about it made her whole body feel comfortable.
As for the elders in Chen Yundu’s family, as long as she didn’t take a wrong step, she wouldn’t have to suffer being controlled by others.
Even if she was only a concubine-born daughter in the Xu residence, she was not someone a farmer’s family could afford to slight.
Fang Li naturally knew what Xu Zhihe was happy about, and she was happy in her heart too. But after rejoicing for a while, a faint worry arose in her heart—”Miss, can Young Master Chen persuade the Master?”
Xu Zhihe tilted her head to think for a moment and told the truth: “I don’t know.”
Although Magistrate Xu didn’t care about her, he was someone who placed extreme importance on immediate interests and the family’s interests.
If Chen Yundu could not provide the slightest bit of assistance, Magistrate Xu would likely not agree easily.
But whether he agreed or not didn’t matter. A farmer’s son proposing, the Third Girl marrying down—Da-niangzi and Concubine Yao would probably wake up laughing from their dreams.
For someone of an official’s background to marry a commoner, in the words of the inner courtyard, it meant being a head shorter than others.
This way, during festivals or when returning to her maiden home, Xu Zhihe would always have to sit at the very bottom seat, reduced to fodder for others’ gossip.
Xu Zhihe said, “But fortunately, Da-niangzi and Concubine Yao will spare no effort to ‘help me’, hoping I secure this marriage.”
Although Fang Li was a bit slow to react, she wasn’t stupid. After a moment of thought, she understood the implied meaning behind the Miss’s words.
“The Miss truly calculates brilliantly, to have even considered this point,” Fang Li praised.
Xu Zhihe smiled, reaching out to tap the tip of Fang Li’s nose, and laughed, “He has to experience a trial eventually… If he cannot even manage this point, how can I believe he will pass the provincial and metropolitan examinations in the future to give me an affluent, worry-free life?”
If it truly didn’t work out, she wouldn’t be willing to foolishly roll up her bedding and elope with someone.
She was only here to be an angel investor; she had no intention of tormenting herself into someone scavenging for wild vegetables.
Fang Li let out a soft “ah.”
Seeing the Miss faintly distracted twice today, she had thought that although the Miss deliberately approached him, she already had Young Master Chen in her heart.
Now it seemed, the Miss being tempted was real, but her rationality was also real. If it didn’t work out, she would withdraw and leave without the slightest lingering attachment.
Everything Fang Li was thinking in her heart was written all over her face. Xu Zhihe looked at her and laughed, “Silly Fang Li, it’s not that I wouldn’t be heartbroken at all…”
Based on that handsome face alone, she would feel a great deal of pity in her heart.
Appetite and lust are human nature. Xu Zhihe felt in her heart that discussing these things was normal, but she couldn’t speak of them so bluntly to Fang Li. If she did, she guessed Fang Li would be so shocked and bashful she’d definitely dive right under the bed.
In the blink of an eye, it was the end of the twelfth lunar month, the Little New Year.
Starting today, the county office had paused its work, and officials of all ranks could return to their own homes to spend a warm and cozy winter.
Waking up early in the morning, the mamas and older female servants in the courtyard were coming and going, preparing the utensils needed for the Little New Year to sacrifice to the Kitchen God. The maids in the courtyard were assigned tasks by Sun Mama to sweep the floors and wipe down the furniture.
Fang Li was jostled and shoved by the others. By the time she finally squeezed her way in with great difficulty, there were no brooms left.
Sun Mama said, “When someone finishes using one, you can take over… for now, go help out in the main kitchen.”
Fang Li stood on her tiptoes and glanced behind Sun Mama—there were clearly several more brooms back there.
Being one rank higher in officialdom could crush a person to death, and wasn’t it the exact same for the servants in the courtyard? Sun Mama was a managing mama, while she was only a lowly maid from the west wing. Fang Li had no choice but to swallow this grievance and head to the main kitchen along with several other miscellaneous laborers.
Xu Zhihe waited in the courtyard for a moment, but seeing no one return, she went out to look. Only then did she learn that Fang Li had been pushed off to the main kitchen to work as a miscellaneous laborer again.
“My room is currently short-handed; I cannot do without Fang Li,” Xu Zhihe looked at Sun Mama and said. “I must ask Sun Mama to do me a convenience and allow me to go bring her back.”
Sun Mama hadn’t expected Xu Zhihe to actually come knocking on her door for the sake of a little maid. However, acting in this way had been personally approved by Madame Lü above. Having this backing, she naturally had no fear. “Third Miss, it is truly not that I am being biased. It is just that there are only so many brooms in the courtyard in total. With the Madams’ courtyards and the Young Masters’ rooms, we truly cannot spare an extra one.”
Xu Zhihe did not yield an inch. “Since Sun Mama cannot make this decision, why don’t you come with me to see Da-niangzi and let her judge?”
Sun Mama blocked her path. “What is the Third Miss anxious about? It is nothing more than fetching water and sorting vegetables; Fang Li is used to doing it. With the end of the year approaching, Da-niangzi is burdened with many matters; there is no need to disturb Da-niangzi.”
After she finished speaking, two laborer mamas stepped up to the entrance of the main hall behind her, standing like two evil deities, blocking Xu Zhihe’s path forward.
A wise person doesn’t fight when the odds are against them. Xu Zhihe only took one glance, then turned around on her own and headed for the main kitchen.
The main kitchen was bustling with activity. Two or three mamas leaned against the stove cracking melon seeds, while the young maids worked together to pound glutinous rice, preparing to make rice balls, New Year cakes, glutinous rice cakes, and other foods.
As soon as Xu Zhihe arrived, the manager of the main kitchen, Liu Mama, immediately came forward to greet her. “Third Miss, what gust of wind blew you here?”
Pumpkin seeds had been roasted on the stove, and she was just chatting and laughing with the others. Seeing Xu Zhihe approach, she placed the melon seeds on the table, patted her palms on her apron, and hurriedly leaned in closer… Although the Third Miss was not favored in the residence, she was ultimately a Miss of the master’s family and could not be slighted.
Xu Zhihe smiled at Liu Mama. “I heard from Sun Mama that Fang Li had come here to help out… However, I have some matters for Fang Li right now; taking her wouldn’t delay your work, would it?”
“Not at all, not at all!” Liu Mama waved her hand, turned her head to scan around the stove, and upon seeing Fang Li tending the fire in the back, hoisted her up with one hand. “Fang Li, the Third Miss has come looking for you; hurry up.”
Fang Li’s face was stained with ash, making her look like a little calico cat. Seeing Xu Zhihe walk over, she glanced hesitantly at the burning stove.
What Liu Mama liked most about Fang Li was exactly this point: no matter what she did, she always saw it through from beginning to end. She patted Fang Li’s shoulder soothingly and said gently, “Go on, go on. I will call Qiu’er over to the stove.”
Qiu’er was a little maid bought into the residence just at the end of autumn this year. Having just turned thirteen, she was timid by nature. Not having been picked by any of the courtyards, she was assigned to the main kitchen under Liu Mama’s charge.
Fang Li had tried speaking to Qiu’er before, but the latter mostly kept her eyes lowered, silent and uncommunicative. As time went on, Fang Li didn’t like to take the initiative to talk to her much either, only occasionally stepping forward to help if she saw Qiu’er had heavy work.
“Miss, you finally came.” Taking one glance, Fang Li walked to Xu Zhihe’s side, tugging her sleeve and whispering coquettishly. “But I didn’t mistreat myself either. Tending the fire looks like hard work, but it’s the warmest spot, even if my face got a bit dirty. It’s not like washing vegetables by the well water, where the weather is freezing and hands shiver from the cold.”
Holding a handkerchief in her hand, Xu Zhihe wiped away the ash on Fang Li’s face bit by bit.
Hearing Fang Li’s words, Xu Zhihe curved her index finger and flicked her lightly on the forehead.
“Do you expect me to praise you for being clever and calculating?”
Fang Li simply smiled and said no more.
Before leaving, Xu Zhihe took a glance. Qiu’er was slow to react and was currently being shoved by Liu Mama. She could vaguely hear her complaining voice.
“If it wasn’t because you only cost one tael of silver at the time, I truly don’t know what Madam bought you back for.”
She was not nimble in her work and was slow to react. Usually acting like a little kitten, she was a beat behind in whatever she did. It was said she came from a farming family. With six children in the house plus the elderly, there were nine mouths waiting to eat. They truly couldn’t afford to provide for her anymore, so they sold her.
Just thirteen years old—placed in modern times, it would be around the age of transitioning from elementary to middle school.
If maids were raised closely by their masters’ sides from a young age, they were mostly meant to serve in the young misses’ courtyards. For those left over from the selection like this, if they met no noble benefactor to aid them in the future, they generally spent their entire lives as miscellaneous laborers.
Xu Zhihe felt somewhat moved in her heart, but couldn’t clearly say if it was good or bad. Living in the Xu residence, she at least had a place to eat and sleep. If she were wandering the streets in the freezing winter of the twelfth lunar month, how could she possibly survive it?
—”Liu Mama, Qiu’er is still young. Take your time to teach her.”
Liu Mama gave an acknowledgment. Seeing that Qiu’er was already sitting in front of the stove poking at the firewood, she decided to do Xu Zhihe this favor and stopped voicing her sarcastic remarks.
T/n: The New chapter is up! Enjoy the ride and do join us on this adventure 😍🎉🎊. If you want to support me, do check my other novels on my Translator’s Page🫶. You can support the original author here. Please vote on NU here. If you’re interested, you can also buy me a Ko-Fi. Happy Reading 🤓 💅.