The Marchioness had eaten her fill and rinsed her mouth before turning to Youli to ask about the Heir’s daily routine.
It was nothing out of the ordinary, and Youli gave a brief account.
The Marchioness said, “Now that the Eldest Young Master and the Second Young Master are both unmarried, and you have become women of their households, you must serve them carefully and know your place. Above all, you must not conceive a child before the proper wife enters the household…”
Then Nanny Cao brought in two bowls of contraceptive medicine and had them drink it.
Youli and Lv Liu exchanged a glance, then picked up their bowls and drank it all down.
Youli actually found it strange.
She had been the Heir’s bedchamber maid for some time now—why had the Marchioness only now thought to have her take the medicine?
After watching them finish, the Marchioness continued, ”I can’t watch you take this every day, so you’d best keep it in mind yourselves. If I find that either of you has conceived before the proper wife enters the household, you’ll know full well what your punishment will be.”
Any respectable noble family with proper rules would never allow a bedchamber maid to conceive before the proper wife came in, much less take a concubine early. Otherwise, word getting out would not only invite ridicule but also affect the marriage prospects of the young masters and young ladies of the estate.
Youli declared, “This slave-servant will know her place and follow your instruction, Madam.”
Lv Liu echoed her.
Then they withdrew together.
Lv Liu followed Youli out. “Little sister Youli, you didn’t expect me to leave the Miscellaneous Courtyard so soon, did you?”
Her voice was full of provocation and smugness.
Youli smiled. “Congratulations, sister Lv Liu…”
Lv Liu believed she had seen through Youli’s green tea nature, and her eyes showed contempt, though she kept her words restrained. “We’re the masters’ bedchamber maids now. From now on, we should serve them wholeheartedly…”
Since Lv Liu was being polite, Youli returned the courtesy in kind. “You’re right, sister Lv Liu. That is our duty as slave-servants.”
Lv Liu decided to walk the green tea’s path, leaving the green tea nowhere to go. “Who would have thought the Madam would love my hometown cooking so much, and even reward me with such fine earrings? It’s the fortune of three lifetimes. Little sister Youli, if you’d like to learn, I could teach you…”
Hmph—if the Dead Green Tea wanted to learn, she would certainly teach her “well,” and make her go scrub chamber pots in the Miscellaneous Courtyard too, so she could taste the hardships she herself had endured.
But Youli smiled and declined. “Thank you for your kindness, sister Lv Liu, but there’s much to be done at Songtao Courtyard, and the Heir doesn’t care for sweets anyway. Learning it would be of no use to me…”
Lv Liu smiled without warmth. “In that case, I won’t insist. If you ever want to learn, you can come find me anytime.”
“Thank you, sister Lv Liu.” Youli remained pleasant on the surface, giving no cause for complaint.
Lv Liu flicked her handkerchief and walked off.
She couldn’t be bothered to argue with a fool.
What mattered most now was winning the Marchioness’s favor and establishing her footing in the Marquis’s Estate—that would help her climb higher, step by step.
So over the next few days, she found all sorts of ways to make cakes and milk tea for the Marchioness.
Youli paid no attention to how Lv Liu curried favor with the Marchioness. In her heart, taking good care of the Heir was what truly mattered.
After finishing her daily chores, she would hide in her room practicing calligraphy and memorizing poems—the Heir had high standards for her in this regard.
Now that Lv Liu and Hong Tao were no longer by her side, Youli gradually opened up in her studies as well.
She practiced calligraphy using a copybook of delicate hairpin-style small script that the Heir had given her, and her writing was quite good—after all, it had earned the Heir’s approval.
The Heir had also given her a rabbit-hair brush and fine paper and ink, telling her to practice diligently when she returned.
One day, Gu Wanyue sent her maid Baocui to fetch Youli for a gathering at the waterside pavilion, explaining that the Old Madame had invited a hairpin artisan to teach the young ladies of the estate their craft, to add a bit of amusement to their boudoir pastimes.
Gu Wanyue thought Youli might enjoy joining the fun.
When Youli arrived, she saw that many young ladies of the estate had already gathered at the pavilion.
The daughters of both the first and second households had come; the girls of the estate, whether born of the principal or secondary wives, usually played together without much formality.
Here, Youli spotted Lv Liu.
Lv Liu had come along with Gu Wanying, the Marchioness’s own daughter. Gu Wanying was the third daughter, a year younger than Gu Wanyue, and lately she too loved the cakes and milk tea Lv Liu sent over. Through these exchanges, Lv Liu, a Bedchamber Maid, had inevitably been raised in standing.
Sure enough, now that the hairpin artisan had come to teach the young ladies to make hairpins, she had brought Lv Liu along as well.
Hoping to secure her footing in the Marquis’s Estate and win people’s favor, Lv Liu had also brought her signature dessert for everyone to enjoy.
Youli saw that Lv Liu had brought a very beautiful large cake, creamy and soft, decorated with flower petals and looking especially lovely. The young ladies all adored it at first sight.
Lv Liu cut the cake with a fruit knife and served pieces to the mistresses one by one.
Third Miss Gu Wanying deliberately carried a piece over to Gu Wanyue. “Second Sister, have a taste…”
Gu Wanyue’s expression was cold. “My throat is unwell today. I can’t eat sweets, so I’ll pass…”
Gu Wanying set the cake aside. “If you’re unwell, why not have some of the milk tea Lv Liu so carefully prepared? It’s quite delicious.”
“It doesn’t suit my taste…”
Gu Wanyue refused once again.
The other young ladies all cast glances their way.
Everyone knew that Lv Liu had once served in Songtao Court, but having been disliked there, she was sent back to the Marchioness. Later, the Marchioness had even planned to assign Lv Liu to serve in Gu Wanyue’s courtyard, but Gu Wanyue rejected her as well. In the end, Lv Liu was sent to the Miscellaneous Courtyard to scrub chamber pots.
All of this had spread among the servants at the time.
But Lv Liu had her stroke of luck—while scrubbing chamber pots, she happened to rescue the Eldest Young Master when he was drunk one night, and that was how she became a Bedchamber Maid.
Now Gu Wanying kept offering Gu Wanyue food made by Lv Liu, which carried a somewhat grating, needling quality.
But everyone saw through it without saying so.
Unwilling to get caught in the crossfire between the sisters, they simply sat back and watched the show.
These days, Lv Liu had nothing to fear from Gu Wanyue.
Because she knew she had found her backers—through her skills, she had successfully made the Marchioness and Third Miss Gu Wanying her patrons. If Gu Wanyue tried to trouble her again, well, even when beating a dog, one must consider its master.
Gu Wanying needling Gu Wanyue like this was clearly venting on her behalf.
Lv Liu felt secretly delighted.
Youli stared at Lv Liu, but Lv Liu only gave her a sidelong glance.
The hairpin artisan had already begun her lesson.
Today she was teaching them to make velvet-flower hairpins.
The materials had all been prepared.
Gu Wanyue and the other young ladies sat around a large rosewood table, while Youli and Baocui found a small empty table nearby to work at. Naturally, Lv Liu came and sat with them too.
Lv Liu was quite proud of herself these days and wouldn’t even look Youli in the eye.
Youli paid her no attention either, focusing instead on the artisan’s explanations before trying her own hand at the craft.
Speaking of velvet flower hairpins, Lv Liu remembered watching videos about velvet flower making before she transmigrated, and had even tried making a few herself. Now she had no patience for the hairpin artisan’s long-winded explanations, and just buried herself in the work.
She wanted to let these noble young ladies see for themselves—she might be a mere bedchamber maid, but her talent was enough to blind their eyes. Let’s see if they dared to look down on her again.
Youli only gave her a faint glance.
The hairpin artisan was mainly responsible for instructing the young ladies and paid no attention to the maids below.
Whenever the mistresses’ tables ran short of food or drink, the maids had to go refill them from time to time.
But Youli didn’t need to—she served the Heir, and since she wasn’t attending to anyone at the moment, she could focus on the lesson.
Only when the young ladies began working did Youli follow along.
Baocui hadn’t caught what the artisan said earlier either. After attending to the Second Young Lady, she came back and sat down, occasionally whispering questions to Youli, who explained in a low voice as she worked.
By now, Lv Liu’s creation had begun to take shape. Seeing Youli still puzzling over it with Baocui, she couldn’t help but sneer, mocking in a low voice, “Look how clumsy you are. Clumsy at everything you do. I wonder how the Heir ever took a fancy to you?”
Baocui got angry. “If you’re so capable, do you dare say that out loud?”
Lv Liu gave a snort.
She had suffered for it before—of course she didn’t dare.
She only dared mutter under her breath.
She kept whispering away: “We’re all slave-servants waiting on people, but some of us are different from others. Take me, for instance—so clever and skilled!”
Lv Liu gazed at the velvet flower hairpin she had made, her face full of smugness.
Youli pressed her lips together, then broke into a smile. “Oh my, Sister Lv Liu, what wonderful craftsmanship! How did you make it? Do teach me, quickly…”
Her voice, neither too loud nor too soft, immediately drew the attention of the young ladies at the main table.
Lv Liu had been fretting over finding a chance to show off her talents to the young ladies so they would favor her. She never expected Youli to push her into the spotlight, and she swelled with pride, secretly thinking how stupid Youli was.
Right after that, Lv Liu raised her voice a little and said, “Oh, it’s nothing. Anyone could learn it in no time…”
The hairpin artisan came over, saw it, and praised her endlessly. “Oh my, this young lady is truly clever and skilled—to have shaped it so quickly…”
Lv Liu feigned modesty. “It’s nothing, really!”
Third Miss Gu Wanying frowned slightly and asked Lv Liu to bring her finished piece over for a look.
Lv Liu was overjoyed, and couldn’t resist shooting Youli a glare. She rose and happily carried her creation over to present it…