Chapter 75: The mistress must miss her.

Teng Huang, still half asleep, heard a noise in the room and lifted the bed curtains to look outside, where he found Dan Sha quietly washing his face.

She didn't come home all night, so she's probably washing her face now so she can catch up on sleep before bed.

Gambo rubbed his eyes, grabbed the bed curtains and pulled them open, then lay back down, yawning as he asked, "How come you've been busy all night?"

Sunlight streamed through the window paper, not bright, but enough to tell the time.

It was probably past the end of the Mao hour (5-7 AM).

When not on night watch, even a senior maid like Teng Huang could sleep until the beginning of Chen Shi (7-9 AM) before getting up, because it was cold in winter and the masters would mostly get up around Chen Shi.

Dansha heard the sound and turned to look at the bed. "Did I wake you up?"

Fujiwara stretched and said, "No, it's just that it's time to get up anyway."

She looked at Dan Sha and saw that she was covered in cold air and was warming her hands in warm water. Her eyes showed heartache and she said, "Couldn't you do the accounting during the day? Why did you choose to do it at night again, mistress?"

Because the two of them grew up with the mistress, they naturally had a close relationship and spoke freely with each other.

Not only did Teng Huang complain about the mistress to Dan Sha in private, but she also dared to say these things to the mistress's face, and then clamored for the mistress to give her a raise.

If the mistress is in a good mood, she'll talk to her for a bit; if she's in a bad mood, she won't talk to her at all.

This is also how Fujiwara and his mistress interact.

Dan Sha: "...Yes, at night when the mind is calm, I can understand many things and see through many people's hearts."

Fujiwara thought he was trying to understand the people's hearts in the ledger.

Some managers develop selfish motives after a while.

Normally, it's forgivable for stewards to be a little greedy, and the mistress will turn a blind eye, since everyone wants to earn more. But if a steward dares to falsify accounts and embezzle too much, then it's not just a matter of money; it means he has ulterior motives and is treating his masters like fools.

For the mistress to spend so much time examining accounts with cinnabar, it must be a major problem.

Fujiwara hasn't seen the two of them for a long time; they've been staying up all night and not coming back.

Seeing Dan Sha rubbing his hands in the cold, Teng Huang chuckled and lifted the blanket with his other hand, revealing half of his chest. "Come into my arms, I'll warm you up."

cinnabar,"……"

Gamboge, "Why are you becoming more and more distant with me!"

She became unhappy and huffed, "If you're going to do this, then next time will I not let you help me warm my hands and feet?"

cinnabar,"……"

Teng Huang patted the quilt and said warmly, "Come on, come on, I've been warming you up all night. Before I get up and cool it down, let me hold your hands and warm them for a while so we can talk."

Dan Sha couldn't refuse, so he wiped his hands and went over.

She hadn't changed her clothes yet, so it wasn't appropriate for her to get into bed like that. She simply reached out and grabbed her own pillow, placing it on the footstool by the bed. She knelt down on the pillow facing the bed, her hands being pulled by Teng Huang and shoved into his warm embrace.

Dansha hesitated, "I can just soak my hands in water, you, you should get dressed."

It wasn't that she was being fake polite; it was just that Teng Huang was genuinely very welcoming to her.

From a young age, Garcinia had a habit of not wearing a shirt and trousers to sleep, saying that it would restrict his hands and legs and prevent him from sleeping freely.

Dansha didn't know why she was sleeping with her arms and legs spread out, but she was only wearing underwear and a bellyband.

This is true in summer, and it is also true in winter.

This is why gamboge doesn't keep the bedding warm in winter.

The blankets had barely warmed up when she kicked them off.

It was fine when we lived outside, as there was plenty of charcoal. But these past few years, we've moved to Quzhai, and we have to follow the rules.

The maids only had so much charcoal available, so Teng Huang cleverly moved some over to sleep with her. The charcoal for the two of them was enough to keep the bed and the room warm, and their legs weren't cold when they stuck their legs out from under the covers.

The main reason why Teng Huang moved in with Tan Sha was actually because Tan Sha had a good sleeping posture. Not only did she not share a blanket with her, but if Teng Huang kicked off the blanket, Tan Sha would cover her up again.

If it was Fujiwara who was on night watch, he would wash up, take off his undergarments, and climb into bed when he returned. He would then snuggle into Tansa's arms, curl up his legs, put his feet between Tansa's legs, and warm his hands in Tansa's arms.

Dansha always lay silently on his side, his legs clamping her feet, his hands pressing down on her wandering hands, silently acting as a human hand warmer.

Once her hands and feet were warmed up, Dansha got up, and she lay down in the spot where Dansha had slept to catch up on her sleep.

Gamboge stared intently at the cinnabar, then asked softly, "Is it warm?"

Dansha, "...Hmm."

The warmth and softness of jade are nothing compared to this; even the best hand warmer cannot compare to the touch of the palm of your hand.

Dansha felt particularly despicable, while Tenghuang was open and generous, but she thought of other things.

Dan Sha lowered his eyes, mentally calculating the accounts.

Gamboge, "I told you to cover your hands, and you're still being so polite with me."

Teng Huang lay on his side, arms wrapped around Dan Sha's hand, and asked, "Which workshop's accounts are you calculating?"

cinnabar,"……"

Let's go to the mill.

Because the mistress, like a donkey, pulled the millstone around the academy all night.

Dansha gently withdrew her hand and changed the subject, "You should get up. We still need to pick up Miss Yue'er today."

Gambo: "I know, I'm keeping track of the time. Just keep it covered for a little longer."

She pulled her arms tighter.

Because it's so tight, the already curved areas become even fuller and softer.

A bellyband is just one or two layers of cloth; what can it cover?

If you pay close attention, you can almost feel the fullness and protrusion of the cinnabar through the fabric of your bodice.

She couldn't keep it covered any longer; before her hands even warmed up, her face was already burning red.

Dansha pulled her hands away, clenched them tightly, and placed them on her lap. She stared straight at Teng Huang, and the words almost slipped out of her mouth.

Gambogi, “?!”

Gambo looked down at the things in his arms, then at the unusually serious-looking Cinnabar, and asked, bewildered and confused, "What are you doing?"

Dan Sha: "...It's nothing."

Dansha lowered her eyes. "I'll tell you next time I have time."

She had to let Fujiwara know what she was thinking.

To prevent Gamboge from unknowingly taking advantage of her.

She wasn't a gentleman, but she wasn't that despicable either.

Just because Teng Huang treats her like a close friend doesn't mean she can take advantage of that friendship to do those despicable things.

Dansha propped herself up on her thighs and said, "I'll get you some clothes."

Garcinia said, "Okay, you can sleep on my side after I get up. It's still warm inside."

Dansha, her ears red, pretended not to hear.

She wouldn't sleep where Gamboge had slept; she was afraid it would be too warm there, and the scent of Gamboge still lingered in the blankets, making her unconsciously have dreams of slippery, muddy things, just like the first time...

When she woke up, she realized something was wrong; otherwise, why would she have wet her pants in her dream?

Teng Huang got up, dressed himself, and saw Dan Sha lying back on the bed about to lower the curtains. Teng Huang came over.

She smiled and rubbed Dansha's face back and forth with both hands, taking advantage of Dansha's inability to retaliate, and did whatever she wanted, "I'll make you distance yourself from me!"

Gambo gritted his teeth, his fingers clamping down on Dansha's face like pliers, and swayed it from side to side. "If you do this again, I'll... I'll sleep on top of you every day and crush you to death."

cinnabar,"……"

I don't know if this is a threat or a reward.

Dansha smiled and pulled away Tenghuang's hand. "I understand. Go ahead and get busy."

Teng Huang rarely had anything on her mind, because the mistress and Dan Sha were always there to protect her.

Dansha was a year older than her, and the mistress was a few months younger, but the two of them always protected her in every little way, so that she never dwelled on anything that happened.

Now, however, Garcinia felt somewhat lost and troubled.

Cinnabar seems to be distancing itself from her.

Besides the hot spring incident last time, there's another recent thing—

Before, she could easily slip her hands inside Dansha's bodice, pressing them against her waist for warmth. Now, she couldn't. Dansha tucked the hem of her undergarment into her trousers and tied it tightly with her belt, guarding against her like a thief. So, if she wanted to slip her hands in like before, she would first have to untie Dansha's trousers.

Raphael scratched his earlobe, feeling that something seemed off about the cinnabar trousers.

She went to pay her respects to the mistress.

The mistress had finished her bath and was resting, but through the curtain she was reminded to go and fetch Miss Yue'er.

Of course, Gamboge would not forget this.

After finishing their meal, Teng Huang went to the backyard to find Lin Mu, and the two of them went to the academy together to pick up Yue'er.

When they arrived at the backyard, they saw the servants bringing in two new carts of charcoal. They looked at them with a puzzled expression, "Wasn't this month's charcoal already distributed?"

The charcoal is distributed at the beginning of each month without delay or shortage. In fact, compared to other households, the charcoal approved by the matriarch is more abundant and of better quality.

A maidservant stood nearby with paper and pen to record the amount of charcoal. When Teng Huang asked, she curtsied to her and said, "The mistress gave the order this morning, saying that it is unusually cold this year, so each person should receive an extra portion of charcoal."

Besides using charcoal to heat the kang (a heated brick bed), they also needed charcoal for hand warmers. During their rare moments of rest, they would especially like to light a charcoal brazier to keep warm.

So the more charcoal there is, the better it is for them!

It saves us from having to be so frugal and meticulous with money.

Fujiwara squinted his eyes with delight, “The mistress is truly a goddess. She descended to earth last night and sensed the suffering of humankind, and today she bestows blessings upon us.”

The maids thought so too, but they dared not say it, only smilingly praising, "The mistress is a fairy goddess."

They huddled together talking, their voices crisp and clear like the melodious chirping of birds in the early morning. After praising their mistress, they clamored for Garcinia to help them bring things.

Some menstrual pads were worn out from washing and they wanted to buy new ones. Others were short of needles and thread, and still others were craving fruit from outside. They all clung to Gamboge, acting all coquettish.

Teng Huang adopted the air of a head maid, "Let's make this clear first, I'll only give rides to those who are going the same way, and I can't go to those who aren't."

The maids said, "Thank you, Sister Tenghuang!"

Teng Huang took out his purse and accepted the money. He also wrote down what they wanted to buy on a piece of paper and handed it to them.

Garcinia climbed onto the carriage. "Huh, why didn't they use Daikoku today?"

Dahei was the name the mistress gave to the horse because of its glossy black coat and its two years of age, making it plump and strong. However, Teng Huang liked to call it General Black in front of Dahei, as it sounded majestic to the person and pleased the horse.

Lin Mu explained it to her.

He originally intended to tame Big Black, since Black General was young, strong, and full of energy. It would be good for it to get out and about more while it had work to do.

When he went over with the rope, he heard the horse feeder say that Big Black was in a bad mood today and was sleeping after eating.

Lin Mu was bored and tried to walk over, but before the rope even got close, Da Hei kept shaking its head and snorting, refusing to go out.

Humans need to take breaks, let alone horses.

Lin Mu simply harnessed another horse. There were three horses in the left and right stables, and if it didn't want to go, it could switch to another one.

Teng Huang didn't think much of it, "Then I'll have to trouble Ah Huang today."

The horse had a tuft of yellow hair on its forehead, and the mistress casually pointed to it and named it "Ah Huang".

The two went out.

Instead of buying things first, Teng Huang went to pick up Li Yue'er.

She thought that if Miss Yue'er also needed to buy something on the street, and if Aunt Ming also wanted to go to the street, she could take a carriage there and avoid walking too much.

After the Lantern Festival, the academy opened its doors, and students returned to the academy one after another for classes.

But no matter how many carriages and horses there are, that's a matter for the front gate, and has nothing to do with the back gate.

So Li Yue'er, clutching her bundle, looked at the countless wheel tracks outside the door with a puzzled expression, turned to Teng Huang and asked, "Did you come here early this morning to grind grain?"

Could it be that they wanted her to stay at the academy a little longer, and since she had nothing to do after arriving early, they let the horse walk around in circles outside?

Rattan Huang glanced at her and said, "I'm not a donkey."

Gambo said, "Even if I were a donkey, I wouldn't do such a meddlesome thing."

Li Yue'er became even more curious. "That's really strange."

The two sat in the carriage and discussed that perhaps someone had gotten drunk last night and encountered a "ghost wall," which was why the carriage was circling around the academy gate. Li Yue'er held the things in her arms and said, "When I see the mistress later, I'll tell her about this as a joke."

Teng Huang looked down at the bundle on Li Yue'er's lap and chuckled teasingly, "A mother's thread in her hand, clothes on Yue'er's body~"

She asked, "What nice clothes did Aunt Ming make for you? Let me see."

Teng Huang had seen Li Yue'er's needlework, and it was first-rate. She was also a student of the Ming family, so the things made by the Ming family were even more exceptional.

Li Yue'er's eyes darted around, "You insisted on watching it."

She opened the bundle, revealing two mats folded together, one indigo and the other mauve. One light, one dark; one resistant to dirt, the other not.

I've never seen gamboge before. I picked it up and looked it over. "Is this for wrapping babies?"

Li Yue'er corrected her, "...for wrapping the buttocks."

Gambogi, "?"

Fujiwara's eyes widened; she clearly remembered seeing children wrapped in cloth of this size.

The fabric is soft and won't irritate the skin, and it's also quite absorbent.

Teng Huang realized what was happening, and with a flushed face, he neatly folded the cushion and handed it to Li Yue'er.

Li Yue'er smiled and leaned closer to look at Teng Huang, "Isn't it in the storybooks?"

Gambo: "...Who looked at that so closely!"

She skipped over these parts.

Li Yue'er: "Me."

She looked very carefully, after all, she initially read these kinds of storybooks precisely to learn these little things from them.

Li Yue'er wrapped the cushion up, planning to take it back to wash and burn incense, and then use it interchangeably with the two she had sewn.

Sometimes, when she and the mistress were in a good mood, the two of them were indeed not enough.

She wasn't picky, but the mistress was. Once the cushion got wet, the mistress refused to use it again, so she had to remove it and replace it with a dry one.

Li Yue'er had originally planned to make two more when she had some free time, but her mother had already prepared them for her.

Her mother used the fabric the mistress had given her last time to cut two cushions, sewed them up, and embroidered them. This time, she asked her to take them back to the Qu residence. The mother and daughter were of one mind.

But she's still menstruating, so she can't use it tonight.

However, once the mat is washed and dried, she will be able to use it.

Knowing that Teng Huang was going to the market, Li Yue'er went with her. While Teng Huang was bringing things for the maids, she would queue up at the pastry shop to buy almond tofu for her mistress.

When Li Yue'er returned to the Qu residence, Teng Huang told her, "The mistress is sleeping. She took Dan Sha out to settle accounts last night and didn't sleep all night."

Teng Huang reached out to help her down from the carriage. "When I got up this morning, Dan Sha had just returned. I suppose the mistress also returned to the inner quarters around that time."

Thinking about it, Teng Huang belatedly realized that she had clearly asked Dan Sha which shop she went to to settle accounts last night, but Dan Sha had given her a vague answer.

That stinky cinnabar, he's becoming increasingly perfunctory with her!

Gamboge puffed out his cheeks and stomped his feet in anger.

Li Yue'er asked suspiciously, "What's wrong?"

Teng Huang pouted, feeling inexplicably down and aggrieved. "It's nothing."

Is Garcinia Kimura troubled?

Li Yue'er looked up at the sky in a daze, then at the Lantern Festival lanterns hanging in the courtyard. If she hadn't just gone back yesterday and returned today, she would have thought she had been gone for a long time, to the point that Teng Huang had grown up and started to have worries.

Seeing that Teng Huang was unwilling to talk, Li Yue'er smiled and didn't ask any further.

Upon learning that the mistress was sleeping, she handed the bundle to the maids to clean and scent the incense, while she herself carried the almond tofu and quietly pushed open the door.

Standing at the door, Li Yue'er suddenly remembered something and whispered to Teng Huang, "If Sister Su comes, tell her to wait for me. I'll be there in half an hour at most."

She was so eager to see the mistress that she forgot about it!

She had bought several pastries out of her own pocket so that she could spend more time with the mistress. Needless to say, she gave some to Aunt Qiu and Xiaoxiao, and this time she also bought an extra portion for Su Rou.

I'm just hoping that Sweet Sister Su will be allowed to be more affectionate with the mistress.

I almost forgot!

Yesterday was the Lantern Festival, and Sister Su gave her a day off. Today, all the students have returned to the academy for classes, and she is not exempt from it either.

It's only 9 AM at the latest, so half an hour of class in the evening won't be a problem. At worst, she can just leave half an hour later.

Fujiwara nodded and said softly, "I understand."

Li Yue'er's eyes crinkled into a bright smile as she carried the tofu through the door, then quietly closed it behind her.

The thick cloth curtain separating the inner and outer rooms was lowered, serving both to block others from peeping into the inner room and to keep the room warm.

Li Yue'er slipped through the gap in the curtain into the inner room, almost tiptoeing, and slowly placed the oil paper package on the table with both hands, her eyes always fixed on the direction of the bed curtains.

The mistress took a nap during the day, with both curtains drawn to completely cover her.

Li Yue'er took off her outer garment and hung it up. She carefully lifted the curtain, climbed over her mistress, held her breath, picked up a corner of the quilt and lay down, and then unceremoniously snuggled into her mistress's arms again.

She lay on her side, hugging her mistress's waist and abdomen, biting her lower lip as she looked at her mistress's face.

Seeing that her mistress was still asleep, she breathed a sigh of relief, leaned forward slightly, and kissed her mistress on the corner of her mouth.

Just as Li Yue'er was about to lie back down, the mistress raised her hand and held the back of her head, deepening the kiss with the mistress on the bottom and her on top.

Li Yue'er's heart softened, and she relaxed and responded warmly.

The mistress must miss her.

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Moon: What a coincidence, me too! [yellow heart]