"Grandmother..."
A timid voice came from the bedside, finally pulling Xiao Bi's thoughts back. She looked up at the two pale-faced maidservants. They were also two beautiful young girls, yet at this moment, there was no life in those two pairs of beautiful large eyes; there was only confusion and despair. Even the previous panic still lingered on those two delicate faces.
A surge of heroic spirit suddenly rose in her heart: Damn it, so what if it's ancient times? Ancient times are still a society, right? If it's a society, there must be systems, laws, and rules, right? Even though she is a woman, so what? With a skill in hand, she won't have to worry about food or clothing. Many predecessors who transmigrated also arrived in this strange world all alone, yet they still lived prosperously. She, Xiao Bi—oh no, she, Xia Qingyu—what is she lacking compared to others? Strong, optimistic, and with a Golden Finger, she has everything. By what right can she not live a good life? She even led people to build the only secondary-level hospital in the city from a simple county hospital; she really doesn't believe that this small fictional historical era can swallow her up.
Thinking of this, Xiao Bi—oh no, Xia Qingyu—felt her entire spirit recover. She sat up straight and asked the two maidservants, "Do we have any pastries or silver in this room? If there are, take them out and eat some. It's almost dawn, and we need to hurry."
"Ah?"
Both maidservants were stunned. They didn't expect their Master to say such things. They had thought their Master would hit the wall and commit suicide again, and they were already prepared to follow her into the Underworld. After all, if their Master died, the two maidservants felt there was no need for them to live either. The Master and Madam were both dead, and they couldn't return to the Xia Family. Two lone women drifting outside—who knew what they might encounter? It was truly better to die with their chastity intact.
Xia Qingyu tilted her head to listen to the sound of rain outside the window. The rushing sound had finally quieted down, but it was still a rainy day regardless. Seeing that the two maidservants were still standing there blankly, she simply got out of bed herself and began rummaging through boxes and cabinets. She gathered everything—clothes, quilts, silver, and jewelry—all together.
"Grandmother..."
The two maidservants finally came to their senses and scrambled up, looking at their busy Master in disbelief. They heard Xia Qingyu say without even looking up, "Hurry, pack up everything we can take. By the way, is my dowry in the storeroom? If it is, go and get it back. Don't leave a single cent behind."
"Ah?"
The two maidservants were stunned again. By this time, Xia Qingyu had already searched the inner room and moved on to the outer room. The two maidservants heard a surprised cry from outside: "Oh, there are two plates of crispy pastry here! Not bad, not bad." When they rushed out, they saw their usually elegant Master holding a plate in one hand and grabbing a crispy pastry with the other, eating ravenously. In just this short while, she had already eaten half a plate.
Something... is wrong. This... this person doesn't seem to be our Master.
The two maidservants exchanged a look, both seeing the doubt in each other's eyes. Before they could speak, they saw Xia Qingyu walk over and stuff a few pieces of crispy pastry into their hands, smiling slightly: "Silly girls, what are you standing there for? Hurry up and eat a couple to fill your stomachs. Pack up the rest. We are about to be kicked out, you know? I suspect we can't go back to my maternal home either. With all this wandering and traveling over mountains and rivers, how can we do it without strength? Eat quickly."
So, their Master actually knew they were about to be kicked out? Bai Kou and Bai Wei looked at Xia Qingyu in silence. It was clearly the same familiar face, yet it was filled with expressions they found strange: a vibrant spirit, a faint but kind smile, and delicate hands holding the golden, crispy pastry—it really looked quite out of place no matter how they looked at it.
"You... who are you? You are not our Grandmother."
Bai Kou was a bit bolder and accidentally blurted out the question in her heart. Bai Wei was so scared that she quickly glared at her, but the words were already out and could not be taken back.
Xia Qingyu raised her arched willow eyebrows and gave Bai Kou a thumbs-up: "Oh? You noticed? That's good observation. You're right, I am not your Master. But rest assured, I am not some demon or ghost either. I am just... well, a wandering soul from another place. Shh! This is a secret. Only you two know, so don't tell anyone, okay? From now on, the three of us are grasshoppers tied together—no, mantises tied together. Hmm, mantises are more imposing. Or, do you have family? Can you go home? If so, go back. I won't force you to follow me."
"We are both orphans."
Although she was stunned by Xia Qingyu's words, upon hearing the last sentence, Bai Wei lowered her head with a heavy heart and choked out, "I have followed my Grandmother since I was a child, but she passed away a long time ago. Wuwuwu..."
"Sigh! How pitiful. But the dead cannot return to life, so please accept your grief." Xia Qingyu swallowed the last bite of the crispy pastry, clapped her hands to brush off the crumbs, and then patted the two maidservants on the shoulders: "If you don't mind, just come with me. I can't promise anything else, but having enough to eat and wear shouldn't be a problem."
The two maidservants looked at her in disbelief and muttered, "But... but we are about to be kicked out, Grandmother. The three of us are weak women; how can we make a living?"
"So what if we are weak women? It's not like we don't have hands or feet; why can't we make a living?" Xia Qingyu did not agree with this pessimistic view of life and smiled slightly: "Besides, since I am the daughter of the Director of the Imperial Hospital, it is only natural that I know medical skill."
"Grandmother... does not know medical skill."
Bai Kou said in a low voice, but Xia Qingyu laughed indifferently: "It doesn't matter. From now on, she does. How about it? Do you want to come with me? Let's carve out a life for ourselves using our own strength." She did not hide her identity from the two maidservants, knowing she couldn't hide it anyway. She and the original Xia Qingyu were too different in personality, behavior, and even speech, especially since these two were her personal maidservants. Since that was the case, it was better to be open and honest. As for them revealing her secret, heh, at a time like this, even if they wanted to tell someone, would anyone listen? If they leaked it later, she would deal with it then. If it really came down to it, she would just deny it to the end and turn the tables—what of it? Of course, the most important thing was that she had a gut feeling that these two maidservants were very trustworthy. From childhood to adulthood, her intuition had always been very accurate.
Follow Grandmother and carve out a life using our own strength?
For the lost and bewildered Bai Kou and Bai Wei, Xia Qingyu's words were truly too tempting. The two maidservants had already reached a dead end, and now someone suddenly said she would take them to carve out a life. Not to mention that this person was in their Grandmother's body, which made them feel a sense of familiarity and sorrow, even if she were a devil, they might have followed her without hesitation.
From the expressions of the two maidservants, which were gradually becoming firm, Xia Qingyu already knew the answer. So she walked back to the inner room, pulled the sheet off the bed, and took out all the large bed sheets from the cabinet to spread them out. The Master and Servants began to pack their things.
With the guidance of Bai Kou and Bai Wei, everything that belonged to the Lu Family was thrown out. Xia Qingyu's dowry was quite generous, with plenty of quilts, sheets, clothes, and jewelry, but after five years, there wasn't much left. Naturally, the furniture couldn't be taken, which made her very regretful. She secretly thought that God was not being fair; many people transmigrated with a space, so why didn't He give her a bracelet or a ring?
The three of them packed a total of three large bundles, each half a person tall. Bai Kou and Bai Wei took this last opportunity to look longingly at the four walls of the room, while Xia Qingyu was also looking around, using her gaze to sweep the area to see if there was any "missed treasure." Finally, her gaze landed on a piece of paper on the floor by the bed. If she remembered correctly, this was the thing just "issued" to her by her husband, which was supposedly a Letter of Divorce.
Hmm, what does an ancient Letter of Divorce look like? Does it require a specific format? With a "thirst for knowledge," Xia Qingyu walked over and picked up the Letter of Divorce to browse through it.
"Grandmother..."
Although they knew the person in front of them had changed, in the hearts of Bai Kou and Bai Wei, they still regarded her as the Master they had always served. Seeing her reading the Letter of Divorce, the two couldn't help but feel a wave of nervousness.
Xia Qingyu waved her hand: "It's fine, I'm just looking. Oh my, this handwriting is actually quite good, and the literary talent is also decent. Tsk tsk tsk tsk, truly worthy of being a young master who has received a higher education since childhood." She clicked her tongue in admiration, then folded the Letter of Divorce, stuffed it casually into a bundle, tied the large bundle with a strap, and slung it onto her back. Bai Kou and Bai Wei hurriedly followed suit, but these three bundles were truly too large. As they carried them on their backs, they looked like small mountains, pressing down on them so much that they almost bent over.
"Alright, leave the tomb, head toward a new life, let's go." Xia Qingyu waved her hand and walked out the door first like a leader, only to find no movement behind her. Looking back, she saw Bai Kou and Bai Wei looking at each other, neither willing to take a single step.
"What's wrong?"
Xia Qingyu was puzzled. After a long while, she heard Bai Kou say hesitantly: "Grandmother, this... this appearance, how can we show our faces? We... we are too disheveled, it's like we're fleeing from a famine."
"So what if we're fleeing from a famine? We almost lost our lives, and you're still worried about face?" Xia Qingyu held her head high: "Besides, once we walk out, who will know who you are? Let's go, let's go, don't dawdle. Don't let them come to kick us out; that would be even more embarrassing. We must walk out of here on our own and head toward a new life."
Bai Kou and Bai Wei couldn't help but smile. They felt that this Master was too interesting. How could there be such a person? It seemed like nothing could knock her down or bend her. Being divorced from the family—if it were any other woman, she would have already hit her head and died. A divorced woman would be looked down upon wherever she went; what other path to survival could there be? How could she still be so full of energy?
Although they were confused, the two of them stepped forward in unison and followed Xia Qingyu out of the room.
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