Chapter 42 Stunning
After returning to Muxiangyuan, Jingzhe and Lixia, who had disappeared for a day, came back.
The Jingzhe period was okay, but the Lixia period was a little unsteady.
"What's wrong?" Zhuang Wan asked, "Where did you two go?"
When she came back from the street yesterday, she hadn't seen the two of them. She heard that they were called away by Pei Xingju. Zhuang Wan thought they were assigned another task, until she saw several dark bruises on Lixia's forehead, and then she realized that they were punished.
"Why did he punish you?"
Jingzhe didn't say anything.
Lixia endured it, but couldn't help her eyes reddening, but still said: "Masters have their own reasons. As a servant, I didn't do a good job and I should be punished."
Zhuang Wan frowned and took the two men into the house to check their injuries.
When they pulled open her clothes, they discovered that her back was covered with crisscrossing whip marks, which was shocking.
Zhuang Wan was in disbelief; the punishment was too severe.
"Does it hurt?" Zhuang Wan hurriedly asked Qiu Tan to call a doctor.
"Miss Zhuang," Lixia said with a smile, "No need. I've already applied medicine. Besides, this is just a minor injury. It will be healed in two days."
"Is this just a minor injury?"
Jingzhe nodded and said calmly, "I'm sure Miss Zhuang has also realized that we are not ordinary maids. For people like us, making a mistake is equivalent to losing our lives. Now that you are only being whipped, it is considered a special mercy from your Excellency."
Zhuang Wan was in mixed mood.
This evil old society is full of strict hierarchy, and the hierarchy of masters and slaves is engraved in its bones. No matter how capable Jingzhe is, in her eyes, he will always be a subordinate and a slave.
"Anyway, now that I've seen it, I can't just ignore it." Zhuang Wan turned around and ordered, "Qiu Tan, let's go get a doctor. Spend some money and get the best."
Hearing this, Jingzhe's lips moved and his expression changed slightly.
Perhaps out of a desire to stand up for the two maids, Zhuang Wan delayed delivering the afternoon snacks to Pei Xingju.
Whenever Pei Xingju was at home, Zhuang Wan's snacks would always be included in his three meals a day, and she would make them for him in different ways.
But Pei Xingju had been reading official documents for a long time today, and he didn't see any snacks sent by Muxiangyuan.
After a while, he asked, "What's going on in Muxiang Garden now?"
Muxiang Garden refers to Zhuang Wan, and everyone has long known this.
Guard Lu said, "Sir, I heard that Miss Zhuang has been busy in the kitchen since lunch."
Pei Xingju nodded when he heard this.
Then let's wait a little longer.
But after waiting for a long time and reading a pile of documents, there was still no sign of Zhuang Wan.
He asked again, "Is Muxiangyuan still busy?"
Guard Lu wiped his mouth hastily and came in to reply, "Miss Zhuang is not busy now."
"What is she doing?"
"I heard he was taking a nap."
Pei Xingju remained silent. Seeing that Guard Lu still had some cake crumbs on the corner of his mouth, he asked, "What did you eat just now?"
"Oh, I'm eating mud date cakes," Guard Lu said honestly, "Miss Zhuang's maid Qiu Tan brought them to me not long ago. She said everyone in the backyard gets a share, including me."
He praised sincerely: "Miss Zhuang is really kind. She actually cares about her subordinates."
“…”
After a moment of silence, Pei Xingju said, "I understand. Go ahead."
Guard Lu scratched his head. His master didn't look happy. Did he say something wrong?
.
Two days later, Zhuang Wan received a letter from the Marquis of Xiayang's mansion, inviting her to have tea and appreciate the flowers the next day.
She sat in the chair and thought for a long time but couldn't remember any relationship between her and the Xiayang Marquis Mansion.
Finally, Lixia said, "The eldest daughter of the Xiayang Marquis's family is Jiang Baohe, the one I met earlier in the Nanshan Villa's painted boat."
Zhuang Wan suddenly remembered that this post must have been given to her by Jiang Baohe.
"But I don't have any friendship with Miss Jiang, why did she invite me to tea?"
Lixia asked back, "Do you want to go, girl?"
To be honest, Zhuang Wan didn't want to go. She came to the Pei Mansion to survive, not to enjoy herself. How could she have the leisure to drink tea and appreciate flowers?
But then she thought, having more friends means having more paths, and maybe it would be helpful to her in the future. The last time they met at Nanshan Villa, she had a very good impression of Jiang Baohe. Since she had posted the invitation, it would be okay to go.
"Then go ahead."
Zhuang Wan agreed, and Qiu Tan was very happy.
In Qiu Tan's opinion, her young lady's life was already miserable enough. Now she was living in Pei's mansion. To put it nicely, she was just staying there temporarily. But to put it bluntly, she was living under someone else's roof.
The young lady is going to a banquet, and she cannot let people look down on her. She must try her best to dress Zhuang Wan up as a great beauty.
At the hour of Mao the next day, Zhuang Wan was still playing with her lovers in her sleep when she was forcibly pulled awake by Qiu Tan.
"Miss, don't sleep any more. Get up and pack quickly, or you won't be late for the banquet."
Zhuang Wan's sweet dream was disturbed and she wanted to curse.
Why do people these days hold banquets so early? Is there no such thing as afternoons anymore?
Qiu Tan forced her to fiddle with the dressing table.
Drawing the face, drawing eyebrows, combing hair... everything is tedious.
"The young lady is so beautiful." Qiu Tan couldn't help but sigh.
Zhuang Wan laughed: "Wasn't she good-looking before?"
"She was pretty before, but..." Qiu Tan thought for a moment and said, "I don't know why, but although the young lady's appearance was impeccable, I always felt like something was missing. But the young lady now is different. She has a good appearance and a good temperament. She looks like she's glowing all over."
After hearing this, Zhuang Wan smiled.
The young lady of the Zhuang family used to be timid, taciturn, and felt constrained in every way. From now on, let her live out the rest of her life for her, and she must live a wonderful and free life.
Immediately, Zhuang Wan stood up and said, "Qiutan, go get that cloud satin silk embroidered lily skirt from the closet."
Qiu Tan said "Oh" and left happily.
By the time I finished dressing up, it was already two quarters past noon.
"Young lady, you look so beautiful!" Qiu Tan stood behind the mirror, full of confidence in her cooking skills. "I guess at the tea party, our young lady was the most beautiful among all the girls."
"Do you like me so much for being the most beautiful among all the girls?"
"Of course!" Qiu Tan raised her chin, her ambitions high: "I want to let everyone see that although my young lady has fallen on hard times, she is still a beauty that they can't compare to."
Zhuang Wan laughed and pinched her cheek: "Alright, let's go, go get someone to prepare the carriage."
.
After going out, he unexpectedly ran into Pei Xingju at the gate.
I heard that the emperor had recently caught a slight cold, so Pei Xingju and other ministers had not attended court, but had gone to the government office every day at noon. At this moment, Pei Xingju was about to leave for the Ministry of Justice when he heard the noise and turned around.
The girl was wearing a light purple silk long dress embroidered with lilies, and a moon-colored cloud-shaped shawl was casually draped over her arms. Her slender waist was tied high, which perfectly showed off her tall figure.
Her eyebrows were dark and her hair was made of rosy pink, a beauty that could not be described as unattainable. As she walked slowly and gracefully, her figure swayed gracefully. Her every frown and smile was charming but not indulgent, and she was seductive but not ostentatious.
This kind of dress is dazzling, and it is in line with the saying "There is no beauty that can surpass the beauty in the world, and beauty is pleasing to the eyes."
Zhuang Wan noticed the surprise in his eyes, turned around proudly, and smiled at him with her head tilted.
"Yuzhi, do I look good?"
Pei Xingju withdrew his gaze and stepped onto the carriage with an expressionless face.
“.......”
Zhuang Wan turned around and asked Jingzhe, "Who offended him?"
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