Chapter 63 Borrowing People
But how could the Eldest Princess lend a maid to the Fifth Miss? Has the Fifth Miss already gained such a high status in the Eldest Princess's eyes?
She expressed her gratitude with tears in her eyes, but her mind was wandering. Now that the Fifth Miss had the Princess's favor, wouldn't she be able to find a better marriage in the future? Maybe she could also rise in status and become a concubine of some prince or grandson!
The more she thought about it, the more excited she became. She no longer felt the pain from the slap on her face. Looking at the two maids from the Princess's residence, she felt an unusual sense of kinship.
Anyway, they won't stay long before going back, so they don't threaten my position.
Lost in her own thoughts, she didn't notice that the gentle-looking Fifth Sister had a faint hint of murderous intent flashing in her eyes.
"By the way, since you said you had an upset stomach at noon, why don't you go see the imperial physician and get some medicine? I'll give you two days off, and you can come back to work for me after you've recovered."
Hearing what the Fifth Sister said, Chunwen felt a little uneasy.
She was just being lazy; she didn't actually have an upset stomach. Why would she really go to the imperial physician? Wouldn't that give her away?
However, she still expressed her gratitude and said she would go to see the royal physician later.
At worst, we can just throw away the medicine and not drink it.
Unexpectedly, in the following days, the round-faced maid named Cheng Yan, with dimples, always watched her finish her medicine with a sweet smile.
"Sister Chunwen, medicine is only effective when drunk while it's hot. Besides, this is a token of Fifth Miss's good intentions. Don't you want to recover quickly so you can serve Fifth Miss?"
Chunwen felt bitter inside, and could only comfort herself that it was just medicine for diarrhea, and it wouldn't kill her, would it? At worst, she could just vomit it out herself after Chengyan left.
She deftly tilted her head back and drank it down.
To everyone's surprise, Cheng Yan stayed until the medicine was completely swallowed and could no longer be spat out, before leaving with a smile.
But that's a story for another time.
Xiao Yuxuan had just sent a maid to fetch Chunwen when Lanxin came again, bringing two young maids with her.
One was tall with almond-shaped eyes and was named Qin Yuan, while the other had a round face and dimples and was named Cheng Yan.
“Princess Minying said that when she lost her memory and became a servant, Miss Xiao was kind-hearted and never asked her to do those rough jobs. She treated her almost like a younger sister. Now that Miss Xiao has fewer people to serve her and another maid has been beaten, the princess thought of borrowing two maids to help Miss Xiao in this emergency.”
Xiao Yuxuan didn't know how to describe her feelings at this moment. She was moved, bittersweet, and perhaps a little bit of inexplicable anticipation. She said:
"It is truly admirable that Your Highness has considered everything so thoroughly. I will certainly go to express my gratitude to Your Highness tomorrow!"
Lanxin smiled and gestured for Qinyuan and Chengyan to bow, then said softly:
"The Princess said that Miss Xiao is a blessed person and will surely have a smooth journey ahead. Please do not let down the Princess's good intentions. Only by establishing yourself can you repay the Princess properly."
Qin Yuan and Cheng Yan were both servants of the Princess's household, and had learned to serve the Princess since childhood. Although they were only temporarily serving Xiao Yuxuan, they did not slack off at all.
The servants in the mansions of princes and nobles were more noble and respectable than the young ladies from humble families.
They carefully memorized the rules of the Xiao family and confirmed the details of the Lanting Pavilion with Xiao Yuxuan.
Having quickly accomplished all this, the two of them won over the maids of Lanting Pavilion, sent them many nice gifts, and even found the key to today's matter concerning Bihui.
"According to the maid, Chunwen went to Baozhen Courtyard at 1:15 am and returned beaming, saying she had received another reward. This shows that Chunwen has been there more than once, and I found this in Chunwen's trunk."
Qin Yuan's expression was cold as she meticulously recounted what she had learned, her hand holding a heavy money bag.
"A maid's monthly allowance is only half a string of cash, and her holiday bonuses never exceed five taels of silver at a time. But here are two neatly arranged ten-tael silver ingots, with the official stamp on the bottom in the style commonly used by the government. They are new silver from this year and are mostly used to pay officials' salaries..."
After all that had been said, Xiao Yuxuan's suspicions were finally put to rest.
Chunwen was indeed bribed by Baozhenyuan. No matter what kind of accomplice she was, her betrayal was a foregone conclusion.
Qin Yuan and Cheng Yan's expressions weren't much better. Before they came, they had heard that Miss Xiao was favored by the Princess, but it seemed that she wasn't doing well at home. They never expected that even her head maid could be bribed. This was truly unbelievable...
The next day, Xiao Yuxuan went to the Princess early in the morning to kowtow and express her gratitude.
The eldest princess was dressed formally today, indicating that she was going to the palace. She beckoned Xiao Yuxuan forward and asked:
"Did you like the headdresses and silks I sent yesterday? Some of them were tribute items, but I'm too old to use them, so they're perfect for you to wear and play with."
Xiao Yuxuan then realized that she hadn't really looked at the rewards carefully. She knelt down solemnly, kowtowed deeply, and said:
"No matter how precious the reward, it cannot compare to the protection of the Princess. I will never forget the kindness of her. I have nothing of value now, but I wish that the Princess will be healthy and happy every year. If I am fortunate enough to repay her kindness in the future, I will definitely do so without hesitation."
The princess was startled by her appearance, and only then did she realize that she had only been kinder to her than Wen Yue, yet the latter was so grateful and repaying her kindness.
"Get up, kid! What do you think your knees are? You just kneel down whenever you want. Be careful when you get older, or you'll end up like me, with knee pain every time it rains!"
She beckoned to Aunt Meng to help Xiao Yuxuan up and sit down next to her for breakfast.
Xiao Yuxuan said solemnly, "The Princess is the person who treats Yuxuan the best, and therefore the person Yuxuan should kneel before the most."
As she spoke, she secretly noted down the fact that the princess's knees hurt in the rain, and planned to ask Doctor Pei and others if there were any folk remedies that could alleviate the pain.
Upon hearing this, the eldest princess felt a pang of sadness in her heart.
They had only met a few times, and she had helped them out because she couldn't stand seeing them like that. She was already the best person she could be to Xiao Yuxuan.
"In two days, there will be a palace banquet. You will come with me to the palace. His Majesty and the Empress would like to see you."
Xiao Yuxuan thought for a moment and decided that it was better to comply than to be disrespectful, so she agreed.
Since she had already decided to rely on the Princess as her patron, she had no reason to refuse such a good opportunity to get along with her.
Besides, she was also curious to see Princess Min-young, wondering if she had fully recovered her memories and whether she was still adapting to life in the palace.
Chunwen hasn't come to work these past two days. When she does occasionally appear in public, her face is pale and she looks like she's been through a lot.
"Chunwen? Why do you look so pale? Didn't your fifth young lady tell you to go see the family physician?"
Caihe laughed at her with schadenfreude.
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