Gu Wanyue secretly shot Youli a glance, wanting her to go along with what she had said.
Youli had to quickly gather her words and said, ”The Heir is incomparably elegant, unmatched in talent and looks by anyone. It’s only the recent drop in temperature that has left your complexion slightly off. In any case, please do eat a little more, Heir.”
Gu Wanyue chimed in, “Yes, yes!”
Youli served him food. “Heir, you should eat more of this fish—it nourishes the skin and sharpens the mind. This pigeon soup regulates the blood and qi, and will restore your radiant glow…”
Under Youli’s barrage of flattery, the Heir ended up eating half a bowl more than usual.
Gu Wanyue smiled in satisfaction.
With Youli there, she could rest easy.
Youli let out a long breath of relief inwardly.
Heh heh—this is what you call the self-cultivation of a first-class maidservant!
When the meal ended, Gu Wanyue took the water a maid handed her, rinsed her mouth, and spat small mouthfuls into a little spittoon before bringing up the matter of Lv Liu to her Heir brother.
“I had intended to report to Madam and have Lv Liu sent out of the residence, but when I went, I saw that Madam had already had her beaten with the rod and sent to the Miscellaneous Courtyard to do rough work, so I thought I might as well let it be…”
The Heir’s expression was indifferent. “Is that something of any importance to me?”
He never cared about such trivial matters—as long as they didn’t cross his path.
Youli, however, was thinking: Lv Liu had always loved looking pretty, and she used to be a second-class maidservant at the very least, only ever doing light, easy work. When had she ever done dirty or heavy labor? Now that she’d been sent to the Miscellaneous Courtyard to do rough work, how would she ever endure it?
It wasn’t that Youli was overflowing with sympathy.
Rather, seeing the fates of Hong Tao and Lv Liu gave her a certain fellow-feeling, a sense of kinship in their suffering.
Living in this deep, walled compound, one had to be careful at every turn. In the eyes of the masters, a servant’s life was no heavier than a feather.
This served as a warning to Youli: she must never grow arrogant from favor, forgetting her place and losing her sense of propriety.
As dusk gradually closed in, Gu Wanyue led her maids away, and Youli had an old woman carry a lantern to see them off.
As a personal maidservant, she had to think of everything for the Heir, down to the smallest details of seeing guests off.
Night fell completely.
As always, Youli made the Heir’s bed. By then, the Heir had emerged from his bath in the inner chamber, dressed in a moon-white sleeping robe, walking slowly. Youli kept her eyes lowered, standing respectfully to the side.
Just because she had become a Bedchamber Maid didn’t mean she should let any improper thoughts arise.
When serving a fastidious master, one had to maintain a proper sense of boundaries.
If he had no such intentions and you threw yourself at him anyway, you would surely earn his disgust.
Don’t be fooled by how Youli usually kept her ears deaf to everything outside and focused only on her embroidery—she was extremely skilled at reading people’s expressions, and she knew her master’s habits especially well.
Only by satisfying the master in every way could one rise quickly.
Heh heh.
He gave her a look, and Youli immediately went to fetch tea for him. He took a sip, then handed it back. As Youli took it, her grip slipped for a moment, and some of it spilled onto his sleeping robe…
Youli’s eyes went wide in an instant.
The first mistake of her maidservant career had appeared!!
Unforgivable!
The Heir too looked at her in disbelief.
“This slave-servant deserves death! This slave-servant will wipe it for you right away…” Youli hurriedly took out her handkerchief to wipe him, and then—quite accidentally—pressed it against a certain place on him. The man let out a muffled groan.
But Youli was completely oblivious, focused only on fixing her mistake.
The Heir seized her wrist in one grip, restraint written between his brows, the tips of his ears flushing red. “That’s enough!”
Facing the Heir, who was already tinged with irritation, Youli felt her dark hour was upon her.
The picky Heir would drive her away!
What should she do?
She had only made one tiny mistake—was she really to be driven out for it?
“That night was my lapse. From now on, harbor no improper thoughts toward me,” the Heir warned.
Youli: ??
Looking at the stunned Youli, the Heir turned his face away and said, “I do not indulge in debauchery at the expense of my studies. If you have such notions, you may speak of them when I raise you to concubine—but not now…”
The Spring Imperial Examination would be held in March of next year. If it went smoothly, he would advance to the Palace Examination, so from now until the exams, he could not let down his guard. His goal, naturally, was to rank among the top three graduates of the imperial examination.
If he were to obtain merely an ordinary Jinshi Degree, it would be a great regret in his life.
Thus, he could not allow feminine charms to hinder his advancement.
Youli, meanwhile, was utterly baffled: We’re both speaking the same language, so why can’t I understand a word you’re saying?
Her mind raced, straining to grasp the meaning behind the Heir’s words, lest he think her stupid for failing to understand even this much.
Finally, Youli reached a conclusion and began to explain softly:
“Heir, you’ve misunderstood. This slave-servant would never harbor any improper thoughts toward you. This slave-servant knows that that day, it was because Hong Tao used some vile trick that you were not in your right mind when this slave-servant took advantage of your body. If anything, it was this slave-servant’s fault for failing to protect you. If it happens a second time, this slave-servant will detect it at once and quickly summon a physician to treat you, sparing you any suffering.”
This heartfelt explanation turned the Heir’s handsome face dark.
What did she mean, “took advantage of your body”?
What… a strange choice of words!
Youli was helpless too.
As a maidservant, how could she plainly remind her master that her body had been taken by him?
He might well think she was using it to blackmail him!
A proper maidservant must never cause her master the slightest displeasure.
The Heir released her wrist and looked at her with a strange expression.
In Youli’s eyes, that look was as if he were guarding against a lecherous woman.
Youli took the hint and assured him repeatedly: “Heir, rest assured, this slave-servant is not a lustful person. If I ever scheme against you, then punish me by sending me to the Family Ancestral Temple to take vows as a nun. I would have no complaints whatsoever…”
You don’t want to, and I want it even less!
Hmph!
The Heir: “…”
His words had left even the Heir speechless.
Though he sometimes quite liked this girl’s simple honesty, she was a bit too simple.
They could not keep talking, or she would only say more and more astonishing things.
The Heir lay down on the bed, looking somewhat angry.
Youli didn’t know what it was about. Could he still suspect her?
Oh well. She had explained and promised so much already; if he still didn’t believe her, she didn’t know what else to do.
The more one says, the more mistakes one makes.
So be it!
Just as she was about to lower the bed curtains for him, he suddenly said stiffly, “Recite the Dao De Jing for me.”
Youli nearly blacked out.
What the—?
“Heir, this slave-servant doesn’t know it…” Youli could only answer honestly.
Facing the brilliant Heir, as a slave-servant she absolutely must not play the clever fool and pretend to understand what she didn’t. Sometimes, honestly admitting one’s shortcomings meant he wouldn’t blame her.
The Heir got up, took a copy of the Dao De Jing from the shelf, and said, “Read it aloud from the book. Ask me about any characters you don’t know.”
Youli: Did I say something wrong just now? Is this how you punish me!
So in the middle of the night, she still had to sit on the footstool, stumbling through reading the Dao De Jing to the Heir as a lullaby.
Youli felt that the two taels of monthly allowance she received truly fell short of compensating for her efforts.
Who knew that the Heir lying on the bed would speak up in a low voice at that moment, “Come to think of it, your monthly allowance is due for a raise…”