Chapter 109 The Duties of a Servant
No matter how Zhan Xingzhuo thought about it, he couldn't imagine that Yao Qingling would look at other men the way she looked at him.
Back then, Yao Qingling's heart and eyes were only for him!
But the thought of Yao Qingling looking at other men with the same gaze she used when she looked at him made his anger rise.
He read the letter over and over again, making sure he hadn't misread it.
Every stroke of the brush seemed to twist and turn, transforming into aquatic insects that burrowed into his eyes and squeezed into his heart.
The insects swarmed and crawled in his heart, causing him both pain and itching, making it difficult for him to sleep.
If you close your eyes, you can see Yao Qingling's affectionate gaze.
Who is she looking at?
It was as if a woman's powerful and passionate voice could be heard in his ears, every word of which was speaking for Lin Shiyuan.
A moment later, her voice turned cold and unfeeling as she urged him to sign the divorce papers.
When they divorced, she refused to even see him and sent a maid to take all his belongings with her.
"Phew—" The man suddenly sat up, utterly annoyed.
"Yao Qingling, you really are ungrateful. Have you forgotten me so quickly?"
He muttered it angrily, but what was even more profound was an indescribable sense of dejection.
He stared blankly at the simple tent curtains.
It was raining outside, and the room was almost dark, but he could still see several mosquitoes clinging tightly to the white curtains.
It immediately reminded him of the feeling of aches and itch in his heart, yet he couldn't grasp or scratch it.
He irritably clutched his chest, then abruptly pulled back the bed curtains, only to hear a soft female voice from the doorway: "Master, are you having trouble sleeping?"
As soon as she finished speaking, the woman pushed open the door and came in, holding a candle in her hand.
The woman was the street beggar that Zhan Xingzhuo had taken in before, and now she was his maid, Hongying.
She was able to eat her fill after following Zhan Xingzhuo, and she visibly gained weight, no longer just skin and bones.
The candlelight illuminated her face, making her appear gentle and considerate, her movements soft and graceful. She lit the lamp on the table, blew out the candle, and turned to look at Zhan Xingzhuo.
"My lord, have any mosquitoes gotten into the bed curtains? Shall I drive them away again?"
Zhan Xingzhuo was extremely agitated and got up with a furrowed brow.
Hongying took small steps to the bedside, picked up a palm-leaf fan from the cabinet, lifted the bed curtains with one hand, knelt on one knee by the bed, and fanned herself to drive away mosquitoes.
The wind lifted one side of her hair, revealing half of her gentle face.
In the musty-smelling room, a faint floral fragrance drifted in with the fan.
Zhan Xingzhuo stared at the woman's back.
She was a bit taller and thinner than Yao Qingling, but it was just that conditions in Luozhou were not good.
Like Yao Qingling, she was able to live such a good life because he raised her; it was all because of him.
However, Yao Qingling is ungrateful!
The man gritted his teeth, his eyes turning fierce.
After chasing away the mosquitoes, Hongying turned around and saw the man's burning gaze. The lamplight reflected in his pupils, making them look like two flames.
The woman wasn't afraid. She lowered her head slightly and said shyly, "Master, there are no more mosquitoes. You can continue..."
Zhan Xingzhuo walked up to her, hooked her chin with his fingers to make her raise her head, and Hongying trembled slightly as she continued, "You can go to bed now."
She lowered her eyes, her eyelashes trembling slightly.
Zhan Xingzhuo: "Raise your eyes and look at me."
The woman's eyelashes trembled even more violently, but she bravely lifted her eyes and looked directly at him.
This time, she was much bolder, staring straight at the man: "Master..."
"Don't speak." Zhan Xingzhuo looked into those eyes.
She grew back to her former size, but apart from her eyes, she bore no resemblance to Yao Qingling.
But those shy, timid eyes reminded him of their wedding day, when he used a scale rod to lift Yao Qingling's red veil, and she had her eyelids down, not daring to look at him.
Only at his command did she raise her eyes to look at him, going from shy to daring to look him directly in the eye.
Hongying was stared at by the man, so nervous that she dared not breathe loudly or speak, yet she also looked forward to him.
Her eyes were filled with tenderness, and her pupils reflected only his image.
She gently bit her lip, suppressing the tension in her heart, but her anticipation was about to burst forth.
What's so good about being a slave?
Hongying was originally the illegitimate daughter of a local gentry, but due to the sudden disaster, she was unable to escape in time.
She survived by the skin of her teeth.
She also believed that those who survive a great calamity are destined for good fortune.
Zhan Xingzhuo looked at her and asked, "Minglu is on night duty every night, why are you outside?"
Hongying's voice was soft: "Brother Minglu is not feeling well. I was thinking that you worked so hard during the day, and if I didn't take good care of you at night, it would delay your work tomorrow. So I told Brother Minglu to go and rest, and I will take care of you."
Her eyes flickered slightly, shy yet bold, passionate and sincere.
Zhan Xingzhuo's breath hitched.
Yao Qingling had looked at him like that before...
The man's throat tightened, but he calmly asked, "You want to be my woman?"
Hongying's cheeks flushed even more. She lowered her eyes shyly and whispered, "Serving my master is also my duty... Ah!"
With a gasp, she was pushed into the tent by the man.
Then, the man covered her.
The curtains fluttered and swayed, and clothes were thrown out from inside.
...
Zhou Zhining had an easy job at the Sinong Temple because someone looked after her.
She didn't have to work in the fields like other government slaves, nor did she have to spend her days washing clothes by the well.
Every day, all he had to do was stand at the warehouse door with his ledger to count the cloth that had been moved in.
At the Ministry of Agriculture, all newly arrived slaves had to do hard labor before being selected from various places to go elsewhere.
Zhou Zhining became an exception, and naturally became the target.
"...We were both implicated in family crimes, so why is she able to do such easy work? I've heard that her family's crimes are much more serious than ours."
Someone found out about Zhou Zhining's background and cornered her in the bathroom after work one day.
Conditions here are harsh. The servants work all day and are covered in sweat, but they can't bathe every day, so they are always disheveled.
Zhou Zhining sought special treatment, but this left her isolated and vulnerable to being taken advantage of.
Shouldn't they bully him severely and vent their anger?
Those men held Zhou Zhining down, preventing her from moving or seeking help.
A woman who appeared to be the leader went to take a bath first and told the rest of them to "act on behalf of Heaven".
Zhou Zhining was bullied terribly.
In her entire life, she had never been beaten by anyone except Wang Xuan.
Hatred spread through her heart.
Wang Xuan was the son of an official, and the Wang family was a prestigious clan. She could still endure being beaten by such people; but these women were all the lowest-ranking servants.
They actually hit her with their dirty hands!
"What are you glaring at? If you glare again, I'll gouge your eyes out!" The woman who had pinned her to the ground stomped on her hard, and Zhou Zhining screamed in agony.
They all took a shower.
By the time the last person finished washing, the bathwater was incredibly filthy, like muddy water.
Zhou Zhining was thrown into such dirty bathwater.
"Glug glug..." Zhou Zhining thrashed around a few times, thinking she was going to drown. She stood up from the bathtub in a panic and spat out the dirty water she had swallowed.
The woman in the lead sneered, "Don't you love taking baths?"
"Heh, you really should go and see those people who drowned. Now you're tasting the bitter fruit of their suffering?"
Several women worked together to push the bathtub over.
With a loud bang and a splash, Zhou Zhining and the dirty water were thrown out together.
The scene was a mess, and Zhou Zhining lay sprawled on the ground in a disheveled state.
The women laughed for a while, feeling satisfied, and then left.
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