Upon hearing the voice, Mother Liu came out and smiled when she saw Yu Jiao, "The third young lady is finally back. The old lady asked someone to leave some food for you in the stove." After she said that, she told the maid in the room to go to the small kitchen to serve the food.
"Grandma." Yu Jiao knelt down and saluted.
Old Mrs. Liu, who was sitting on the couch, had a kind look on her face. She waved at Yu Jiao and asked her to sit down beside her. She felt Yu Jiao's cold little hand and held it in her palm to warm it for her. "Why did you take so long?"
Yu Jiao snuggled up to the old lady. Every time she saw the old lady, she felt a sense of admiration in her heart, probably because she was a kind old lady like her grandfather.
"The peach blossoms in Chiyuan Lake are very beautiful. Master Cheng asked me to accompany him to appreciate the flowers, so I came back a little late."
Old Madam Liu held her little hand, and her palm was scratched. She looked down and saw that Yu Jiao's nail was split. She hurriedly called Madam Liu to get a pair of scissors, "Does it hurt? How did your nail split into the flesh?"
Yu Jiao felt warm in her heart. She shook her head and said, "It doesn't hurt. I wasn't paying attention when I was playing the pipa and got scratched by the string."
Mother Liu brought a pair of scissors. The old lady's eyesight was not very good now, so she asked Mother Liu to trim Yu Jiao's fingers. After trimming, she handed Yu Jiao a handkerchief and asked her to wrap her fingers.
"Don't touch the pipa with your hands these days. Tomorrow I'll ask Madam Liu to find you a pair of tortoise-shell nails. If you want to play the pipa again, wrap them with tortoise-shell nails." Old Madam Liu said distressedly, "You are young and your nails are tender. You can't play with bare hands."
Yu Jiao nodded quickly, "Granddaughter understands." The pipa that Su He played in the Plum Garden had silk strings, which did not hurt the nails much. But the pipa that Cheng Ying prepared today had wrought iron strings. Without nail covers, it would cut the nails if you were not careful. Men with thick and hard nails could play it with bare hands.
The maids had prepared the food, and Old Lady Liu urged, "Hurry up and eat something."
Yu Jiao sat down at the table. Mother Liu served her a bowl of chicken soup. Yu Jiao drank a spoonful. "This chicken soup is very delicious. Grandma, would you like some more?"
"Grandma is old now. You can't eat too much at night. It's easy to get indigestion." Old Madam Liu looked at her with a smile and suddenly asked, "Third girl, is Master Cheng treating you well?"
Yu Jiao nodded hesitantly.
To be honest, the wound on her neck was indeed caused by him. To be honest, even though she attacked Cheng Ying, Cheng Ying did not turn against her or take her life.
"So what do you think of Master Cheng?" Old Lady Liu asked again.
Yu Jiao held the spoon and thought for a moment, "He has a strange personality, moodiness, and great power, so he doesn't value human life very much."
Old Madam Liu nodded. "People outside say the same thing. When dealing with a person like him, you have to be cautious and careful about everything. It's just what outsiders say. It's all spread from other people's mouths. What kind of person is Cheng Zhangyin? The more you get along with him, the more you will naturally understand his temperament."
Yu Jiao nodded, "Grandma is right."
Old Madam Liu smiled and said, "The reputation of the East Jishichang is far-reaching, and all the civil and military officials are afraid of him. But I have an old story to tell you."
Yu Jiao was eating while listening to the old lady say, "There was once a censor named Song in the Censorate. When the late emperor was in power, Censor Song saw the eunuch bullying a young eunuch who had just entered the palace. He rescued the young eunuch and reported the eunuch to the late emperor. The late emperor called the young eunuch to the imperial study and asked him if this happened. The young eunuch said that he had just entered the palace and didn't know the rules. The eunuch was just teaching him how to do things and there was no bullying."
Yu Jiao thought for a while and said, "The eunuch holding the pen is a high and powerful official, second only to the eunuch holding the seal in the palace. The young eunuch said this because he knew that even if Censor Song made a suggestion, the late emperor would not severely punish the eunuch holding the pen who had served him for many years because of such a small matter. And the young eunuch will have to stay in the palace in the future. If he offends the eunuch holding the pen, his life in the palace will become more and more difficult."
Old Madam Liu was satisfied with Yu Jiao's intelligence. She nodded with a smile and continued, "Many years later, Censor Song and several other censors directly advised the current emperor to take elixirs and practice Taoism instead of attending to state affairs, which led to the eunuchs taking power and manipulating government affairs. This angered the emperor and confiscated their property and interrogated him. The other censors were all imprisoned and executed, but Censor Song escaped. He was dismissed from his post and his family moved back to their hometown. This was because he had protected the young eunuch, and the young eunuch is now in a high position and has repaid his kindness."
Yu Jiao bit her lip and asked subconsciously, "Could the young eunuch that grandma was talking about be Cheng Zhangyin?"
Old Lady Liu nodded. "Grandma is telling you this not because she wants to tell you that Cheng Ying is not what people say. People can be good or evil, but it is not absolute. People who are purely good are not always good, and evil people are not only evil. You have to judge the degree of your dealings with Master Cheng by yourself. Grandma is telling you this just to tell you that you don't need to be so nervous when you meet Master Cheng."
The old lady even knew such an old story, so Yu Jiao asked, "Grandma, what is the origin of Cheng Zhangyin? How did he go from being a small eunuch to the current Zhangyin of the Silijian?"
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