Chapter 14

Yueming stayed in the Tusi Mansion that night. As it was late, it was not convenient for Lan Yingde to go in and out of the inner house of the Tusi Mansion in the middle of the night. Yueming had to send Lan Yingde and Changsheng out of the Tusi Mansion, and then returned to her new residence with her new maid.

Changsheng had packed everything except her suitcase. She had a half-finished painting with its easel by the window. When she was packing up, she'd confiscated it because it was too cumbersome. Changsheng must have gone back to get it.

Lan Yingde's newly purchased mansion still had some Han influences, but the decor was entirely in the style of a prime minister's residence. The room had teak floors, and shoes had to be removed outside the door before entering. The bed was a four-poster with a carved peacock on the headboard, its tail inlaid with various colored shells, making the peacock look vivid and shimmering.

There were brass oil lamps with long legs in the four corners, each taller than the moon. One had to use a long stick specially used for extinguishing oil lamps to reach the wick.

What surprised Bao and Dai most was that the dressing table not only had a vanity mirror but also a large standing dressing mirror next to it, both mirrors made of mercury. The Tusi Mansion was truly extravagant. While such items were commonplace in Kunming, affordable for anyone with a little money, they were inherently fragile. The road to Yunxiang was long and difficult, so transporting these mirrors must have been a considerable expense.

Yueming was sitting on the couch by the window, staring blankly at the furnishings in the room. She called Ye Nan's new maid to bring in a basin of water, held it high, and knelt beside her, saying, "Miss, wash."

Yueming had never seen such a scene. In Kunming, Commander Long’s wife was afraid of having to have someone hold the water for her to wash her face.

She said to Ye Nan, "Put me down and I'll wash myself."

Ye Nan didn't know whether he didn't understand or was afraid, so he didn't move. Yue Ming had no choice but to splash water on his face and quickly wipe it dry with a towel.

Throwing the towel back into the basin, she said to Ye Nan, "Okay."

Ye Nan put down the basin. Because she had taken off her shoes when she entered the door, Yueming was only wearing socks on her feet. Ye Nan reached out and grabbed her ankles, preparing to take off her socks.

Yueming couldn't help it this time. She retracted her foot and said to Ye Nan, "I'll do it myself." Her voice sounded a little sharp because of her impatience. Ye Nan was frightened and thought that she had done something wrong to make Yueming unhappy. She rubbed the corner of her clothes helplessly.

Seeing this, Yueming quickly took off his socks, put his feet in the basin, and said to her in a slow voice, "I can do it myself."

Ye Nan understood that Yueming just wanted to take off her socks by herself. As Yueming's tone became softer again, she became bolder and reached into the basin to help Yueming wash his feet.

Yueming instinctively wanted to struggle, but was afraid of spilling water on the floor. It would take another long time to clean up, so she could only endure the discomfort and let Ye Nan wash her feet.

Ye Nan washed her feet and wrapped them in a cloth, then placed them in her arms and dried them carefully, wiping one foot before the other, doing it all on her knees.

Yueming changed into her pajamas and saw two pillows on the bed, one prepared for her by the Tusi Mansion, and one she brought from home. As soon as she lay down, Ye Nan immediately pulled the quilt up to her chest, covering her stomach to prevent her from catching a cold, while also leaving her shoulders exposed to prevent her from getting too hot.

Ye Nan carefully tucked the curtains behind her and went out with the basin. Yueming turned over to face the wall, reached out and pulled the pillow she had brought from home, hugging it in her arms. The familiar scent gradually soothed the discomfort in her heart.

Just as she was dozing off, she heard Ye Nan return, rustling around making the bed. The Third Young Lady had told her that for ease of service, the maids would sleep on the floor of the young lady's room. She could sleep if she wanted to. Ye Nan wouldn't leave even if she said no.

Just as Yueming was about to fall asleep, a cool breeze blew in from behind, neither fast nor slow, light and gentle, making her feel very comfortable. However, she wasn't sleeping on the terrace, and her bed wasn't facing the window, so how could there be a cool breeze in the room? Yueming opened her eyes suddenly, hugged her pillow and jumped up, startling Ye Nan, who was kneeling outside the tent and fanning Yueming, so much so that he fell backward to the ground.

Seeing Ye Nan fall to the ground, Yue Ming quickly opened the curtains and got out of bed. She helped Ye Nan, who had fallen hard, to the ground. She said helplessly, "Why are you fanning me so late at night when you're not sleeping? I'm not that hot."

Ye Nan didn't understand a word she said, but she knew she had frightened the young lady. Feng Er, the housekeeper, had said that if she didn't serve the young lady well, he would whip her with a bamboo stick. She looked at Yue Ming with tears in her eyes, afraid that she would call Feng Er to beat her.

Yueming had no idea of ​​the worries in her heart, so he said to her, "Go to sleep by yourself, don't worry about me."

Seeing that she was still looking at him with a puzzled expression, Yueming pointed to the made bed at his feet, then clasped his hands together and placed them on his cheeks, saying, "Go to sleep."

After all these words and gestures, Ye Nan finally understood that the young lady let her sleep and would not let the second housekeeper come to beat her.

She nodded happily after escaping a beating.

Seeing that she understood, Yueming turned and climbed back into bed. After covering himself with the quilt, he took the pillow back into his arms. He was originally lying with his back to Ye Nan, but then he thought about it and was afraid that Ye Nan would do something surprising in the middle of the night, so he turned over again. In case she did something and he saw it as soon as he opened his eyes, he would be mentally prepared.

Ye Nan helped her close the curtains again and blew out the tall standing oil lamps in the four corners of the room, leaving only one oil lamp on the small table beside the bed. This lamp had a short wick and a patterned shade. The light was like a firefly's tail and had almost no lighting effect. It was just there to prevent Ye Nan from calling for help on a bright night so that he could quickly light the lamp based on the light of the firefly's tail.

Seeing Ye Nan lying down, she breathed a sigh of relief. She could finally sleep well. She didn't want to go to see Lan Yingde off with dark circles under her eyes tomorrow.

The next day, Yueming and the others from the Tusi Mansion were going to see Lan Yingde off. The Third Miss had told her yesterday that they should get up, have breakfast, and then meet in the Flower Hall.

In order to avoid communication problems, Ye Nan accepted whatever Ye Nan served Yue Ming. If she handed him a toothbrush, he would brush his teeth; if she handed him a towel, he would wash his face.

The breakfast was particularly rich, with glutinous rice, dried meat, pickles and pork, rice noodles and bean flour. There were also beef, pork and chicken noodles for the rice noodles, filling the table.

Yueming was in a hurry to meet Lan Yingde and had no appetite at all. She wanted to make a cup of milk powder and be done with it. When she asked Ye Nan for hot water, she just stared at her with wide eyes, not understanding what Yueming wanted. Yueming had no choice but to grab a ball of glutinous rice and pickles and started eating. The rice was dry and the pickles were salty in the morning. Yueming stopped eating after a few bites and sprinkled chopped green onions into the broth that was originally intended for rice noodles. After a few gulps, she felt better. She put down the bowl, wiped her mouth with a handkerchief and said to Ye Nan, "Let's go!"