Chapter 10 Chapter 10 "My life is my life too."...

Jasmine waved her hands, wanting to cry but unable to. "Jasmine really doesn't dare. Last night, the Duke was furious and nearly scared me to death. Madam, you don't know, but last night... Jasmine almost thought she was going to die. The Duke asked if she knew she was wrong, and I only said yes last night, and now she's making the same mistake tonight..."

Jasmine knelt down and said, "My life is also my life. Please, Madam, revoke your order!"

The eldest young lady was startled by her: "Get up first."

No matter how much Jasmine was considered the Duke's concubine, she was still his only wife. The eldest young lady didn't dare ask her to kneel before her.

Seeing that she couldn't get up, the eldest young lady was afraid of being seen, so she had to go and help her up herself.

Shancha stood aside and said, "Auntie, your makeup is smudged. If the Duke suddenly comes back and sees it, I'm afraid he won't be happy. How about I accompany you back to clean it up?"

The eldest young lady's wife hadn't finished talking to her yet, so she wasn't willing to let her go. She immediately said, "Madam, I'll pack it up here. Cuizhu, get out the new rouge I bought."

Jasmine: "It's not for Jasmine to use for the lady's use."

Jasmine suddenly remembered something and turned to Shancha, "Did the Duke say he'd be back at noon?"

Shancha: “That’s right.”

Jasmine looked at the eldest young master's wife with guilt and said, "I'm sorry, Madam. Jasmine has to go back quickly. If it's too late, I'm afraid it will be too late. Jasmine will come and have tea with Madam another day when I'm free."

Jasmine bowed and said, "Jasmine is leaving. Madam, please don't see me off."

"Ah..." The eldest young lady's wife looked at her walking away, feeling even more helpless. Without Jasmine, how could she think of a way to save the master?

Cuizhu looked at Jasmine's hurriedly departing figure suspiciously and whispered to the eldest young master's wife, "Madam, do you believe her?"

The eldest young lady's wife was now only anxious. If the master died, she would become a widow. If she became a widow, not only would everyone in the Duke's Mansion laugh at her, but she would also be unable to hold her head up when she returned to her parents' home.

The eldest young lady's wife asked absentmindedly, "What do you believe in?"

Cuizhu: "I'm wondering if Jasmine is pretending? Is she actually lying to us?"

The eldest young lady's wife understood and poked her with her slender fingertips, painted red. "What are you trying to trick us about? Did she ask the Duke to pretend to drop the vase? Or did she pretend to be injured to help her? What's wrong with your brain? Is a country girl worthy of your respect?"

Cuizhu wanted to defend herself, but then she thought about what the lady said last time, and it was true. That woman was just a country girl, how could she have such a brain? She must have been around the lady for too long and was too suspicious.

Cuizhu is always willing to admit her mistakes, and this is what the eldest young lady values ​​most about her. Cuizhu: "Madam, you are smart. I didn't think too much about it."

Cuizhu asked worriedly, "How are we going to save the master now?"

The eldest young lady's wife got a headache just thinking about that man, and she felt like going crazy. She said stubbornly, "If he dies, he dies. I don't care about him!"

Pacing back and forth, the eldest young lady's wife said bitterly, "It's not enough that he went to the brothel on weekdays without my knowledge, but he even went there while on duty! He wasn't caught by chance, he's been walking around at night so often, how could he not fall into a trap? Now that something's happened, it's me who's worried. Why? Tell me why?"

Cuizhu was sad with the eldest young lady. Having said that, the eldest young lady went to the old lady's yard again.

...

Having successfully escaped from the eldest young master's wife, Jasmine was extremely happy. She even smelled the fragrant dogtail grass she had just picked.

Jasmine did not forget to praise Shancha: "You cooperated well, this is a reward from your aunt." As she said that, she also picked two foxtail grasses for Shancha.

Camellia tried to throw it away, but looking at the grass reminded her of her home which she had not seen for a long time.

Shancha pinched the dogtail grass and taunted her angrily: "Next time you want to die, don't take me with you."

Jasmine bared her teeth and pinched her tight little face: "No. Auntie, I know my limits."

Shancha rolled her eyes and said stealthily, "How can you be so sensible? Who are we? We are just dogtail grass parasitic on this mansion. If you deceive the eldest young lady like this and you are found out, we will both die."

Jasmine looked at her seriously and replied in the same sneaky way, "If I don't lie to her, should I just agree to it? If I really have to go to the Duke and ask him to save my master, we might not be able to stay in this mansion anymore. Do you remember the first two days after we arrived, no one paid any attention to us. Not only the old lady and the young ladies, but even the maids and the people in the kitchen ignored us. On the third day, the Duke held a banquet to welcome me as a concubine. Suddenly, everything in this mansion changed. Now, Shancha, what can't you ask for in the kitchen?"

Shancha immediately understood what she meant. With the Duke's support, they could survive in the mansion. But if they offended the Duke, they would be worse off than when they first arrived.

Jasmine: "Even the eldest young lady doesn't dare to go to the Duke. She'd rather come to me, the Duke's concubine, for help. Can you guess why? She knows the Duke won't agree, and she doesn't want to offend him, so she wants to try me. If it succeeds, that's all that matters. If it doesn't, she won't lose anything. What happens to a concubine like me? She has nothing to do with me."

Shancha: "Then you can just refuse outright. No matter how tyrannical the Madam is, she can't possibly kill you. With the Duke around, she wouldn't dare."

Jasmine: "The eldest young lady wouldn't dare kill me, but she could secretly cause trouble for me. The Duke isn't in the mansion every day, so even if he finds out, the eldest young lady can deny it and say it wasn't her. In the Duke's heart, those are his eldest brother and his wife, and I'm just a concubine he picked up. Even if the Duke stands up for me once, what about the next time? It's better to be kind to others than to be enemies."

One thing Jasmine didn't say was that she was hiding from her own life. Someone outside was trying to kill her, and she had to offend people in the mansion. Her life was going to be too hard.

In order to make herself feel better, she could only keep a low profile and act like a dogtail grass.

Shancha looked at her in surprise.

Jasmine asked, "What's wrong? If you're not convinced, just say it."

Shancha: "I just found out that Auntie is not stupid at all." Not only is she not stupid, she's also a little smart!

Jasmine: "Thank you for the compliment. Come on, you don't have to beg the kitchen for anything today. Auntie will treat you to a good meal."

The meals in the Duke's Mansion are fixed every day. Except for the old lady and the Duke's personal orders, the other nobles in the mansion have to spend money to buy something else if they want to eat it.

Jasmine took out the living expenses her grandfather had given her and gave it to Xin Lai, the kitchen manager, hoping that he would cook a few of his signature dishes.

But Manager Xin refused to accept anything. He added, "It is a blessing for us to serve you, Auntie. You don't have to spend any money when you come to visit us in the future. No, you don't have to come in person. Just ask a maid to call me and I'll prepare it and send it to you right away."

Jasmine should not be too understanding of the idea of ​​taking from someone and then being obligated to return it. Besides, the three young ladies all wanted to pay her, and if she refused, word would spread that they would clearly be picking on her.

Jasmine couldn't refuse the kindness of the noble man in the mansion, but she didn't bother to care about other people.

But she also said in a nice way: "How can this be, this is absolutely not possible. It's not easy for everyone to earn a little money. I'm just a concubine in the backyard. I can't spend money on weekdays, but everyone else is different. If you don't accept it, then I'm leaving."

Jasmine left as soon as she said she would.

Shancha was afraid that she would really leave, so she stood there and stamped her feet anxiously.

Seeing that Aunt Jasmine was really unhappy, Manager Xin reluctantly accepted the money.

As Jasmine and Shancha were walking back happily with their lunch boxes, a young woman caught up with them.

Jasmine knew that she was the cook who cut vegetables for the chef in the kitchen, and was curious why she was looking for her.

The cook was panting, with a flattering smile, and saluted her: "Auntie, my name is Fuchun, you can just call me Chunniang."

Chunniang looked around and saw no one passing by, so she approached Jasmine and whispered, "I want to tell you, Auntie, that you don't really need to pay the steward. The Duke of Guo visited the steward early this morning and told him that from now on, the kitchen will prepare whatever Auntie wants."

a bolt from the blue!

Jasmine returned to the main courtyard with a pale face, one foot deep and one foot shallow.

Shancha: "Are you so sad? It's just half an ounce of silver."

"It's just half an ounce?" Jasmine shook her head, not wanting to talk to this girl anymore.

Half a tael of silver is enough for her to live outside for two months with food and shelter.

Jasmine understood that Chunniang wanted to please her, but she didn't say it earlier or later. She waited until she gave her the money and before she had a chance to eat the delicious food.

This is just to make things difficult for her.

Jasmine chewed on the big meat bone and felt a bit bitter in her mouth.

After a hearty meal, she finally felt a little relieved from the pain of having lost the money she had held onto for so many days.

Shancha took the lunch box to wash, and when she came back, she excitedly said to Jasmine, "Guess what I heard?"

"What?" I feel sleepy after eating. Jasmine had just laid down to take a nap when she heard Shancha's voice. She turned around and waited for Shancha to tell her a story.

"I heard that the eldest young lady went to ask the old lady for help, but the old lady didn't agree. The eldest young lady is making a scene with the old lady. The old lady is furious."

This matter had nothing to do with her. Jasmine didn't say anything else, only reminding Shancha: "Keep your ears open, but don't ask around."

Shancha: "Don't worry, I'm not stupid."

Originally, the eldest young lady went to the courtyard where the old lady lived. The old lady was embarrassed and insisted that she really had no choice. How could the eldest young lady compromise? Seeing that she couldn't drive the eldest young lady away, the old lady had no choice but to ask the other masters to help find a solution together.

After a while, everyone gathered in the left room of the living room in the backyard.

Before the eldest young lady could discredit her, the old lady was the first to speak, pounding her chest. "...It's not that I'm unwilling to save him. Although Ziming isn't my biological son, he's still my child. How could I bear to watch him die? But our Duke won't let him go, so what can an old woman like me do? If any of you have a solution, you can even take my life!"

Nanny Qian hurriedly helped the old lady with her back: "You can say whatever you want, but don't get yourself hurt by getting angry. If you collapse, the gentlemen will be heartbroken."

The old lady leaned in Nanny Qian's arms, looking as if she was barely breathing.

The fourth master said with red eyes: "Mother, please take care of yourself."

The Third Master followed up, "What Madam Qian said is true. This family cannot be without a mother."

The Third Master looked at the Madam of the First Young Master and said, "I hope that Sister-in-law will not embarrass Mother any further. Mother has already begged the Duke, but the Duke has refused. What else can Mother do?"

Fourth Master: "That is to say, if the eldest sister-in-law wanted to save the eldest brother, she could have gone to the second brother and asked him for help herself. Why ask mother for help?"