Qizhang remained in the room and gave his instructions: "In that case, you will all sweep the courtyard. Clear the snow first; the rest can wait until the snow is cleared, and then I will give further orders. Xu Yu, you have just recovered from a serious illness, so rest for a few days. Once you are fully well, you can join them in the sweeping."
"This servant was assigned to serve Lord Nie. That he treated this servant's illness is more than this servant could ever be grateful for—this servant dares not rest any longer. Besides, this servant already feels much better. Please allow this servant to sweep along with the others," Xu Yu pleaded softly.
Qizhang nodded. "Since you put it that way, I will not stand in your way. But your health has only just improved—you must not catch cold again. Very well, then you go sweep the main hall."
Liu Shanyue's eyes darted, and she spoke up at once: "The main hall is large and full of ornaments—it will surely take considerable effort to clean. Xu Yu alone may not be up to the task. Why not let me help her?"
"Everyone knows it's coldest when the snow is melting. You're just trying to shirk the work," Xiang Yuxue said.
"Sweeping the main hall is no easy task either…"
"In that case, how about you and Rusu sweep the courtyard, while Xu Yu and I take the main hall?"
Qizhang was getting a headache from listening to them. Frowning, he said, "Enough. It's not as if this can be finished in a day or two. All three of you will sweep the courtyard, and Xu Yu will sweep the main hall alone. That is final—no more discussion."
The door sounded softly as Qizhang left, and the women rose to their feet.
Liu Shanyue looked at Xiang Yuxue and said through gritted teeth, "Are you satisfied now? None of us can go sweep the main hall."
Xiang Yuxue lifted her chin slightly. "That's still better than you going to the main hall alone. Everyone knows that when Lord Nie returns, he goes to the study—and the study is right beside the main hall."
"You…" Liu Shanyue glared at her and swept out of the room.
Xiang Yuxue and Qin Rusu followed her out, one after the other.
Since orders had been given, they had to set to work at once. Xu Yu dressed neatly and went out as well.
The cold wind hit her face, and she shivered, pulling her clothes tighter as she hurried along the corridor toward the main hall.
The hall was empty. She glanced inside, hesitated a moment, then knocked on the door anyway.
"What is it?" A gentle voice came from the inner room.
Xu Yu froze, then quickly lowered her head. "This servant has come to sweep the main hall."
"Enter."
Xu Yu swallowed, quietly stepped over the threshold, and walked inside. She picked up the feather duster in the vase and was about to start cleaning when a voice came again from the inner room, startling her.
"Come into the study."
It was Lord Nie's voice again.
Xu Yu paused, then asked softly, "Is Lord Nie giving this servant an order?"
"Yes."
She set down the feather duster and carefully pushed open the door to the study. Seeing the man seated at the desk, she immediately lowered her head, hurried over, and knelt in salute: "This servant pays respects to Lord Nie. What are your orders?"
"It has been snowing these past few days, and things inevitably get damp. There are many bamboo scrolls on the shelves, and I worry they may have absorbed moisture. The sun is fine today—take them down for me and spread them out on the floor to air."
"Yes." Xu Yu rose slowly and went to the bookshelf behind him. Carefully, she took down the heavy bamboo scrolls, gently unrolled them, and laid them flat on the floor, asking in a low voice, "Lord Nie, is this how it should be done?"
Nie Huiming glanced over, then returned to his writing. "Yes."
Xu Yu felt a bit more at ease, taking down scroll after scroll and spreading them out one by one on the floor. Before long, she had covered most of the study's floor.
She reminded him softly, "My lord, the floor is almost full."
"Then stop laying them out." Nie Huiming set down his brush and looked toward her. "Xu Yu?"
She hadn't expected him to look at her. Caught off guard, their eyes met, and her heart gave a flutter. She quickly lowered her gaze. "Yes?"
Nie Huiming's lips curved slightly. "Xu Yu, your elder brother is a scholar. Do you know how to grind ink?"
Xu Yu answered quietly, "A little, though not very skillfully."
"That's fine. Give it a try."
Xu Yu shuffled forward on her knees and knelt diagonally across from the man, picking up the ink stick and grinding it gently.
Nie Huiming picked up his brush again but did not write. His gaze fell on her hands, and he asked softly, "The chilblains on your hands are quite severe. They don't look like they appeared just this year."
She didn't know why he would suddenly ask about this, and she felt a little nervous, her lashes trembling slightly as she answered in a low voice, "Yes, this servant has had chilblains on her hands for some time."
Nie Huiming rose, the jade pendant at his waist chiming softly. He walked toward the wooden cabinet by the wall, pulled open a drawer, took out a snow-white porcelain bottle, and set it on the desk.
"I've long heard that Dingyuan Prefecture is bitterly cold. Before I set out, my family prepared chilblain ointment for me—I hear it works very well. But in the days since I arrived, I haven't developed any chilblains myself. Take it and try it."
Xu Yu was utterly astonished, her heart pounding. She immediately prostrated herself and kowtowed. "This servant thanks you, my lord, but this servant was ill not long ago and has already troubled you greatly. I truly dare not accept this medicine as well."
"Medicine exists to treat injuries. You have an injury, so naturally you should have it. Take it and use it—it will also let me see whether this medicine truly works."
"Then… then…" Xu Yu bit her lip and said in a low voice, "Thank you, my lord."
Nie Huiming continued, "That day I heard you say that the owner of this villa keeps beautiful women here to curry favor with the powerful. If that's the case, this is hardly a good place. Your brother is a scholar—your family could be considered one of learning. Why would he let you come to a place like this?"
"My brother knew nothing of it…" Xu Yu pressed her lips together, brow furrowed. "My brother's studies cost the family a great deal of money, but he made something of himself—his learning was fairly well known even in the county town. After my father reached out to connections far and wide, he finally secured a minor clerk's post in the county. But who could have imagined that before he could take up the post, my father passed away suddenly. The court has always prioritized filial piety in selecting officials, so my brother had no choice but to hold a lavish funeral, spending all the family's savings. And because of the mourning period, he couldn't take up his post. So this servant, keeping it hidden from my brother, asked my sister to find me work here."
"I see. Your sister and her brother-in-law work at a restaurant, don't they? Why didn't they find you work there?"
"Restaurant work is grueling—you can only earn two hundred coins a month. My sister felt sorry for me. She heard the treatment here was better, and that the work was in the back kitchen, and thought I might even get to eat some of the master household's leftover delicacies, so she introduced me here. It was only after I arrived that I learned what really went on in this place."
"By rights, your sister and her husband have met important people before. They shouldn't have been ignorant of what went on here."
"Before I came, my sister did tell me not to get involved with the villa's affairs and to focus on my work in the kitchen. She'd spoken with the steward, who promised I wouldn't be made to serve those people."
Nie Huiming looked at her. "And what about now?"
She looked up in shock, caught the glimmer of amusement in his eyes, and lowered her head in embarrassment.
"If it bothers you, I'll have someone send you back."
"This servant…" Xu Yu paused, then said quietly, "If it weren't for my lord saving me time and time again, this servant would likely never have had the chance to see my brother and sister again. This servant is willing to serve here."
Nie Huiming withdrew his gaze and picked up his brush to write. "This room is more or less tidied. Go clean the main hall."
Xu Yu looked up in confusion, stared at his hair crown for a moment, then quietly rose.
"Take the ointment with you," he said suddenly.
Xu Yu froze briefly, accepted the ointment, and said softly, "Thank you, my lord. This servant takes her leave."
She withdrew from the study, gently closing the door behind her. She stared down at the jar of ointment in her palm for a moment, tucked it into her sleeve, picked up a feather duster, and quietly set about cleaning.
As dusk approached, Qizhang dismissed them. Xu Yu put down her rag and quietly withdrew.
The moment she stepped out the door, Liu Shanyue and the others blocked her way, dragging her back to their room and surrounding her with questions.
"You went to the study today, didn't you?"
"I…"
"Don't even think about lying. Qin Rusu saw you enter the study."
Qin Rusu said softly, "Xu Yu, I'm sorry. I really did see you by accident—I was just telling the truth. Please don't be angry."
Liu Shanyue continued her interrogation. "What did you go into the study for?"
Xu Yu lowered her eyes. "My lord said the weather was clear today and told me to lay out the bamboo scrolls from the bookshelves to air."
"Only that?"
"My lord also had me grind ink. I said I wasn't very good at it, and he said it didn't matter, to just try."
"And then?"
"There was no 'then.' That was all."
Xiang Yuxue pinched her chin and asked threateningly, "Really? His lordship didn't say anything else to you?"
"Really. I'm just a servant—what could his lordship possibly have to say to me? Nothing more than giving me tasks." Her heart was pounding, but her eyes remained remarkably calm. She knew these women were not to be trifled with. Perhaps they had even come with a mission—the master of this residence wanted to win over Lord Nie.
Xiang Yuxue studied her carefully for a moment, then released her and warned in a low voice, "Xu Yu, I advise you not to get any ideas. Otherwise, it won't end well for you."
"I'm just a servant. I do whatever my masters tell me to do. I wouldn't dare think otherwise."
"See that it stays that way."
The women turned away together.
Xu Yu breathed a sigh of relief, took her portion of food from the table, sat on the edge of the bed, ate it in small bites, and hid under the covers.
She now shared a room with these three women. The conditions were much better—the bedding was thicker than before, the charcoal fire warmer—but she still had to be extremely careful not to offend any of them.
The candle went out and the room grew quiet. The others seemed to have fallen asleep, and Xu Yu relaxed.
She quietly took out the porcelain jar from her robes, opened it, and sniffed it gently. She dabbed a bit of the ointment with her fingertip and carefully applied it to the back of her hand.
The sting she had expected never came. The ointment felt like nothing at all on the wound—remarkably gentle, just like… Lord Nie himself.
She pressed her lips together, recalling Nie Huiming's words.
Lord Nie had asked her—did she want to go back?
She didn't want to go back. This place was much warmer than the servants' quarters by the kitchen, and Lord Nie was easy to get along with. The only trouble was the three women in this household—but at the end of the day, they were all servants too. If there really was a conflict, she could always go to Lord Nie and plead her case.
Lord Nie would surely handle things fairly, wouldn't he?
She thought of those three beautiful, distinctive faces and felt a flicker of doubt. The owner of this residence had sent the three of them here precisely to win Lord Nie over—what if Lord Nie were seduced by their beauty?
Surely not, right?
Lord Nie had a beard and looked to be well along in years. Besides, he seemed entirely without airs, gentle and courteous in his dealings with others, and very fair-minded. He surely wasn't the kind of man whose judgment would be clouded by lust—he wouldn't lose his senses over a few pretty women.