Chapter 40: The Turnaround of a Salted Fish

  New Book Recommendation:

  Chapter 40: The Turnaround of a Salted Fish

  Su Ying put down her chopsticks and suddenly thought of something. She pursed her lips: "Later, call in Liu Yiniang and Liyue. The old lady's birthday is not far away, and many things need to be helped with."

  She nodded slightly, looked up at Su Ying and hesitated, Su Ying looked at her and said: "If you have something to say, just say it."

  I glanced at the south courtyard and asked, "Madam, someone from the south side sent a message saying that their master has recovered from his illness and wants to come pay respects to you. What do you think about this?"

  "Is the illness much better?" Originally Fu Yeyang was worried that the eldest daughter wouldn't say unpleasant words out loud, saying it was to let Wei Niang rest quietly, but in reality, she just wanted to cold-shoulder her for a few days. However, keeping her locked up like this wasn't a solution either. Truly, none of them made things easy for others. "Luhui go take a look," Su Ying said after a pause, "When the old lady has a birthday, you'll also know to greet her, and if you coax the old lady into being happy, then the eldest daughter's side will also have some face."

  I'm a bit more clever than you, the two of us took the little girl and walked out, I curled my lip: "It's come to this and you're still not being honest, just watch, if she sees Master again, who knows what kind of trouble she'll stir up for our wife."

  Lü Huì glared at her: "You're silly, looking at these days the old master hasn't mentioned her at all, it's clear that she was annoyed by the eldest daughter's affair, if she wants to mess with those rascals again, she'll probably lose everything."

  "It's not just her who is being pinched." The servant girl from the Liu family's household nodded and pulled on the sleeve of the aloe vera plant, "You come with me to Aunt Liu's place."

  As they passed by the South Wing, their eyes still glanced over there. The South Wing was no longer as lively as before, with all the doors closed tightly. Lu Hui frowned and said, "How did Nan Bian's words get to the main house?"

  As soon as I heard that, my face fell and I muttered to myself: "I'll have to ask the gatekeeper's wife about this when I get back."

  Compared to the others, Liu Yiniang and Liyue's courtyard was much more lively. Originally, Liyue, a low-ranking concubine, wasn't qualified to live in a separate courtyard, so she lived in the wing room of Liu Yiniang's courtyard. This was also because there were not many servants attending to Fu Yiyang's household. Otherwise, like the second house, several concubines would be squeezed into one courtyard. As the weather started to warm up, all the masters' clothes needed to be remade, and the lower-ranking people received their share according to their rank. These tasks used to be Su Ying's responsibility, but now they were assigned to Liu Yiniang and Liyue, so Su Ying no longer had to worry about these details.

  The gatekeeper's wife saw Lu Hui and Bi, and she bowed her head and smiled on her face: "Miss Lu Hui and Bi has arrived."

  Lu Xiang and Bi exchanged a glance, she didn't rush to follow him in, smiling and saying: "You go find Liu Yiniang and Li Yuemei, tell them clearly about the old lady's birthday arrangements."

  The servants who were going in and out stopped in their tracks, pricked up their ears. The old lady didn't look at them, but continued to talk to the gatekeeper: "Old Lady's birthday is coming soon," she said in a voice that was neither loud nor soft, just right for the little maids under the eaves to hear, "Let's all have some fun too. The mistress said that each of you will get an extra month's wages, and if you do well, there will be a reward. The whole house needs to perk up."

  The doorkeeper's wife listened with a smile and said, "Alright, alright."

  The slaves who went in and out also followed with joy, the servant girl pricked up her ears to listen to them say that they were still satisfied with the mistress's generosity, smiled and did not follow them inside, turned around and went to the south wing.

  The gatekeeper's wife looked listless, but upon seeing Lu Hui, she hastily opened the door and approached with a smile: "Old lady vaguely heard there was a commotion outside, is there some good news?"

  Lü Huì again helped Sū Yǐng spread the word, then headed towards Wèi Jiān Niáng's house. Jasmine lifted the curtain, but it was unclear whether she intentionally ignored Lü Huì or simply didn't see her. She suddenly scolded the several young maidservants chatting in the corridor: "I think you've all been blinded by greed! You've forgotten how good Mistress has been to you, haven't you? If you were a diligent person, why didn't you climb high early on? Aren't you afraid of getting a sore tongue from talking like this?"

  Lu Xi smiled coldly in her heart. Who was this for? Even if Wei Niang had become a fallen woman now, Su Ying wasn't foolish enough to beat a fallen person and hand over the handle to Wei Niang. So, the allowance in Wei Niang's courtyard hadn't been deducted by a single penny. However, it was inevitable that the lower-ranking people would flatter those above them while trampling on those below, and secretly slack off and complain behind their backs. This Jasmine really had a big temper.

  The little girls who were scolded by Jasmine were trembling with fear, like quails, and it was probably not the first or second time either.

  Lu Xiang raised her hand and only then did she see Lu Xiang. Her face twisted for a moment before she put on a smile and said: "Sister Lu Xiang has arrived, I'm really sorry. My aunt has been ill these past few days and hasn't had the energy to discipline these little maids, so they've become unruly and won't be careful unless scolded. It's laughable for Sister Lu Xiang to see this. What instructions does the mistress have? Our aunt is eagerly awaiting the mistress' benevolence, hoping that our aunt can go out and take a look at the young lady."

  As expected, the kind of master there is, the kind of big servant girl there is. Now that things have come to this pass, they still want to hoodwink the mistress. In the past, Zhengyuan had not suffered less from such secret losses at the hands of Nanyuan. Before Lu Xiang could open her mouth, that clever little maid behind her spoke up in a shrill voice: "Is big sister all right? The old lady and the mistress are fond of her and she's no longer falling ill every three or four days."

  Lü Huí turned around and scolded the little maid: "You're the only one who knows how to talk, as if we're in front of Wei Niáng's face trying to curry favor with the eldest young lady." Turning around again, she said to Mò Lì: "This maid is right, Niáng is still ill and worried about the eldest young lady. Now that she's heard this, she should be at ease. You should advise Niáng well, what's most important now is to take care of her own body, not like what that doctor said about being melancholic in heart, that wouldn't be good."

  It all boils down to mocking Wei's aunt for being too cunning. When the eldest daughter was in the south wing, she would fall ill every other day, but now that she's left the south wing, her health has improved, which raises a big question.

  Jasmine is Wei's personal maid. In the past when Wei was favored by her husband, Jasmine naturally benefited from it and had a relatively high status among the servants in the main house, almost on par with Lotus and others. Now even a young servant girl can talk back to her, making her feel extremely humiliated inside, but she cannot show her anger and has to force a smile: "Madam must be delighted to hear this, originally Madam was worried about Eldest Miss, but couldn't send someone out to ask about it, now it's all good."

  Lu Xiang didn't like hearing Mo Li's words. It wasn't as if the courtyard was sealed off and no one was allowed to leave. Otherwise, how could there still be maidservants who didn't know any better peeking out? At this point, she walked over with a forced smile to comfort Mo Li, who was wiping away tears, and said: "Didn't you say that your aunt had recovered? What are you crying about? The mistress heard the news and is delighted for your aunt. She especially sent me to take a look at your aunt."

  She didn't say much more, and Jasmine's heart lifted with her. Seeing this, the smile on her face almost froze: "Sister Luhui, you've worked hard, Auntie can't do without your reward." She went to Aunt Wei's room first and told Aunt Wei, who was anxiously waiting for the result. Aunt Wei had no choice but to take out a purse and let Jasmine count it out. Except for Luhui getting a silver bangle, the two little maids who followed her each got a pair of earrings. Only then did Luhui follow Jasmine into the room to see Aunt Wei and tell her in detail about what she had said to Jasmine earlier about Big Sister.

  Wei's aunt's face was pale with a mixture of red and white, she glared at Jasmine and asked hesitantly: "Is there anything else I can do for you, madam? Although you excused me from paying my respects, I still feel uneasy about it. If the master finds out that I haven't been paying my respects to you all this time, who knows what he'll think of me?"

  Jasmine said that Su Ying was harsh to her maidservants, good at being jealous and cruel, deceiving those above and below, and even brought up Fu Yeyang, which is a clear threat. Unfortunately, Wei Niangniang didn't know that letting her rest was entirely Fu Yeyang's own decision, and had nothing to do with Su Ying.

  Also, Wei Yiniang has been spoiled by the smooth sailing in the main house. She has been with Fu Yeyang for the longest time and even gave birth to a daughter for him. In front of Fu Yeyang, she is gentle and considerate, with a delicate appearance, which makes Fu Yeyang very fond of her. However, when it comes to Su Ying, she kicks an iron plate, losing everything, and even gets abandoned by Fu Yeyang.

  To this day, Wei Yiniang still insists that all of this was Su Ying's doing, stirring up trouble in front of Fu Yeyang. Not only that, but she also doesn't know what kind of tactics were used to keep Fu Yeyang under control, or else he would have calmed down by now and thought of her.

  Wei's aunt was resentful in her heart. Now that she had the opportunity to turn over a new leaf, she would seize it! After Mo Li finished speaking, she stared at Lu Hui with a fierce gaze.

  Lu Xiu said with a hint of disdain in her heart and a respectful tone on her lips: "Madam said that it's not urgent for you to pay your respects, after all, one's health is the most important thing. Moreover, Old Madam's birthday is a joyous occasion for the entire manor, how could it be without your presence, Auntie?" Then she curtsied and bid farewell to Wei Niangniang.

  Jasmine sent her out, and Aloe still smiled and touched the silver bangle on her wrist: "I just passed on a message, how can I be worthy of being rewarded by my aunt?"

  Jasmine was eager to snatch the bangle back: "What's the big deal? There will be even better rewards in the future."

  Luhui looked at Jasmine with a smile that was not quite a smile, making Jasmine feel uneasy in her heart. Only then did Luhui say, "Well, we can wait." Wait till next life!

  Jasmine watched as Aloe strode away with her head held high, her face fell, and after Aloe was far away, she let out a loud "hmmph" and turned back into the inner room.

  The angry Wei Niang pulled over Ying Zhen and scolded her severely, her face twisted in anger, making even Mo Li feel uneasy. After a while, she went up to persuade her: "Niang, I think the old lady has never gotten along with the madam, and the madam's situation is difficult, so she doesn't dare disobey the old lady's wishes. So no matter how tolerant the madam is, she wouldn't want to be known as a jealous person in front of everyone, except for being childless. You see, the madam won't bother you again, will she?"

  "Crossing a Single Reed" is an author's novel "One Reed Crossing", latest.

  Hot Recommendations: