Chapter 6 006: The only person she needed to please and serve was the mistress.
Dansha stood at a distance without approaching. When his gaze met Li Yue'er's, he gave her a slight nod of respect and then waited for her there.
Suddenly being caught talking to Aunt Qiu in private, Li Yue'er instinctively looked at Aunt Qiu with concern.
Aunt Qiu smiled and patted Li Yue'er's hand to reassure her, "The fact that the mistress sent a doctor to your house proves that she has thoroughly investigated our relationship. It's too late to pretend we don't know each other now, so we should be open and honest and do what we should do."
Aunt Qiu said, "Alright, the mistress must have sent Dansha to find you for something. Go ahead and do your work. I'll have your brother Mu visit Xing'er often, so don't worry about her."
After saying this, Aunt Qiu nodded to Dan Sha, then left to attend to her own business.
After Aunt Qiu left, Li Yue'er nervously walked towards Dan Sha.
The mistress had two head maids. The one who loved to wear scarlet clothes was Dansha. She was the most like the mistress in temperament, with a distant and indifferent gaze and a cold and indifferent tone.
The other is Gamboge, who prefers orange-yellow clothes, always has a smile on his face, and is most clever and playful when his eyes are darting around.
Although Li Yue'er had never interacted with either of them, she instinctively felt that Teng Huang was closer to her.
If it had been Teng Huang who came today, she could have subtly inquired about the clinic's affairs and confirmed with her whether the doctor who took her younger sister's pulse was sent by the mistress.
Unfortunately, Dansha, who was aloof and strictly businesslike, didn't give her a chance to chat casually.
Seeing her come over and wait for her to stop, Dansha said, "The mistress asked if your clothes are dry. If they are, I will personally deliver them to her after 7 a.m. tonight."
To Li Yue'er, these words meant that the mistress needed her to go and serve her at night.
What she did last night wouldn't have been hidden from the maidservant serving the mistress, but after Dansha told her, Li Yue'er felt that she was still a bit too thin-skinned and didn't dare to meet Dansha's eyes.
At this moment, she was glad that Dansha was calm and composed, because there was no extra emotion in the tone of the other party's message, let alone any contempt or disdain. After speaking, he turned around and left with a curtsy, showing her, the nominal concubine of the master, the utmost respect.
After seeing Dansha off, Li Yue'er breathed a sigh of relief and then cheered herself up!
Why should she care about other people's opinions? After all, other people's opinions can't cure her sister's illness or allow her and her sister to live a good life in the future.
The only person she needed to please and serve was her mistress.
Li Yue'er went to the back kitchen for dinner. After dinner, she pulled Meng Xiaoxiao along. She spoke softly and gently, while Meng Xiaoxiao looked pitiful with her big, clear eyes. Together, they coaxed the cook to boil a pot of bathwater for them separately.
They don't do any work, and they don't sweat at all in this cold weather. It's already a luxury for them to have enough hot water to wipe their faces, wash their bottoms and feet every day. Where would they find extra hot water to bathe every day?
The cook was initially unwilling, but she only did it yesterday because of Aunt Qiu, so how could she make an exception today?
Can……
These two children are so beautiful and adorable.
The cook couldn't help but reach out and pinch Meng Xiaoxiao's round face, "You're just a fool with a lucky face."
Meng Xiaoxiao could tell that although the words contained the word "foolish," there was no malice in them. Her eyes crinkled as she let the cook rub her face. "Please."
Li Yue'er followed suit, clasping her hands together in a gesture of respect, her eyes glistening with tears.
The cook conceded, "I really can't do anything with you two. I don't have time to boil water for you. If you want to use it, you'll have to fetch the water and boil it yourselves."
So, it means you can burn as much as you need?
Li Yue'er's eyes lit up, and she and Meng Xiaoxiao each grabbed one of the cook's arms, saying, "Thank you, Aunt Zhou!"
Li Yue'er fetched water, and Meng Xiaoxiao stoked the fire; each of them took half a bucket of hot water.
Meng Xiaoxiao pinched the collar of her clothes, lifted it up, and sniffed it. Then she pulled the sleeve down and sniffed it again, concluding, "Sister Yue'er, it still smells nice to me, so I don't need to wash it."
If Li Yue'er weren't going to the mistress's place that evening, she wouldn't need to take a shower. "I'll take a shower while it's still not that cold, otherwise I won't be able to shower when it gets cold later."
Although their house had a heated kang (a traditional heated platform bed), it lacked underfloor heating. In winter, even simple cleaning made them shiver with cold, let alone a proper wash.
Meng Xiaoxiao thought for a moment and nodded, "Sister Yue'er is right."
Li Yue'er smiled, then remembered something and told her, "I'm going out tonight, and I'm not sure when I'll be back. You can go to sleep; you don't need to keep watch for me."
Meng Xiaoxiao tilted her head to look at Li Yue'er.
Li Yue'er thought she was going to ask what she was going to do, and although she hesitated, she still decided to tell the truth.
Meng Xiaoxiao asked, "What if Xu Xinmei comes looking for you?"
Li Yue'er paused, looked at Meng Xiaoxiao quietly and gently, her heart softening a little.
Meng Xiaoxiao puffed out her cheeks, looking unhappy, and muttered, "She's definitely waiting for you to show your true colors again."
Li Yue'er laughed and rubbed Meng Xiaoxiao's cheeks with both hands. "Let her wait, you go to sleep. No matter what she says or asks, just ignore her."
Meng Xiaoxiao's eyes were bright. She covered her ears with her hands, tilted her head back, closed her eyes, and shook her head. "I can't hear anything she says. If I can't hear her, of course I don't need to answer."
Li Yue'er said, "Xiaoxiao is so smart."
Meng Xiaoxiao said smugly, "Of course, I'm worth three taels of silver."
Li Yue'er's eyelids twitched, and sure enough, the next moment, Meng Xiaoxiao chuckled, "Sister Yue'er is smarter, so she's two taels more expensive than me."
She held up her index and middle fingers, making a two.
Li Yue'er pressed her raised finger back down expressionlessly.
Meng Xiaoxiao stubbornly held up her finger again and showed it to Li Yue'er.
Li Yue'er felt helpless and amused, suppressing the smile on her lips and turning her face away.
She was bought from her family, while Meng Xiaoxiao was bought from elsewhere.
When Li Yue'er first entered the manor, she inquired with Aunt Qiu and learned that although the human trafficker who sold Meng Xiaoxiao was not a good person, he treated Xiaoxiao very well. He had carefully selected a manor for her with a quiet backyard, a cold-hearted mistress, and a handsome master.
The slave trader thought that as long as Meng Xiaoxiao stayed in such a family, regardless of whether she was favored or not, she wouldn't suffer any grievances or too much hardship, so he stuffed her into the family at a cheap price.
It just so happens that the old lady doesn't like people who are too smart, so she actually picked Meng Xiaoxiao to join the team.
If the master hadn't run away and the situation in the mansion hadn't been unclear, Meng Xiaoxiao could have lived a peaceful and stable life in the Qu family's backyard, just as the slave trader wished.
Li Yue'er lowered her eyes, the firelight reflecting off her face in a dim and intermittent manner.
She had only known Meng Xiaoxiao for six or seven days, but after entering the manor, she took her everywhere she went and was willing to share a piece of candy with her. Meng Xiaoxiao followed her like a tail and she opened her heart to her.
The fact that her younger sister was alive and that Meng Xiaoxiao was sincere made Li Yue'er even more determined in her choice.
Meng Xiaoxiao didn't know why Sister Yue'er suddenly seemed a little down. Puzzled, she poked Yue'er's face with her finger and playfully, yet annoyingly, called out, "Sister Wuliang~"
Li Yue'er glanced at her sideways and scolded, "..."
Meng Xiaoxiao shrank her neck and giggled.
Having no other choice, Li Yue'er deliberately opened her mouth as if to bite Meng Xiaoxiao's hand, which scared Meng Xiaoxiao back.
Unlike Li Yue'er, who had to boil water for her own bath, Qu Rong only needed to give an order, and hot water would be available for her to wash up, not only at dusk but also in the middle of the night.
Qu Rong stood in front of the open window of the study, and could see Dan Sha enter through the round door and walk towards her.
Qu Rong took the book and walked a few steps before sitting down behind the desk. As Teng Huang heard the footsteps outside the door, he poured tea and handed it to her.
Dansha Blessed: "Madam, the message has been delivered."
Qu Rong didn't even lift her eyelids.
Dansha silently stepped aside and continued to help the mistress organize those messy and useless account books.
Teng Huang looked left and right, and finally broke the silence in the study, saying curiously, "Mistress, Li Yue'er doesn't seem like a spy that the old lady and the Zheng family arranged."
Just last night, after Li Yue'er left, the mistress asked for water to take a bath.
A hazy warmth filled the space behind the screen, and even the mistress's voice seemed to be tinged with moisture, carrying a languid quality, "I let her climb onto my bed because I wanted to see what she was up to."
The three people, master and servant, initially thought that Li Yue'er must be a member of the Zheng family or the old lady.
The Zheng family wanted to find out about the master and control the Qu family's information. After sending that idiot Xu Xinmei, which proved useless, they sent the even more beautiful and harmless Li Yue'er instead.
The old lady also wanted to know about the master, after all, she had always suspected that the master was being hidden away by the mistress, and that she might have sent someone to get close to the mistress, hoping to take advantage of the moment when the two were enjoying their lovemaking and letting Li Yue'er pry information out of the mistress.
Regardless of which family sent her, Li Yue'er's purpose in climbing into bed was not simple, so it was best for the mistress to play along.
However, she went out early this morning and thoroughly investigated Li Yue'er, including the fact that she used the steward of the mansion, Aunt Qiu, to abuse her power and let her go home for one night.
But no matter how they investigated, Li Yue'er's motives seemed quite simple, just as she told the mistress, that she wanted to save her sister because she had nowhere else to turn.
"The mistress has already asked the doctor from Bianque Hall to save her sister today. She has achieved her goal. After delivering the clothes and expressing her gratitude tonight, she probably won't come again."
Seeing the mistress's expression and realizing that she didn't care and ignored him, Teng Huang dared to speak his mind, "If there were no other way, even a girl like Li Yue'er, who has been exposed to the world of books, wouldn't be able to put aside her pride and do this."
Li Yue'er's father passed the imperial examination at a young age and voluntarily married into the Ming family, marrying the only daughter of his teacher, Ming Shi. Therefore, Li Yue'er studied with her maternal grandfather until she was ten years old, until her maternal grandmother and grandfather passed away one after another.
After the passing of her two elders, Li Yue'er's father, Li Jucai, slowly revealed his true colors.
Over the course of two years, Li Juren tricked Li Yue'er's mother, Ming, into becoming pregnant again and handing over the ancestral home's land deed. Not only did he seize the Ming family's wealth, but he also began to drink heavily and beat Ming, and forbade Li Yue'er from going to the academy to study.
Li, a scholar who had just passed away, used his teacher's reputation to amass wealth. He not only stopped taking the imperial examinations but also began engaging in prostitution, keeping mistresses and having several lovers in brothels.
He wouldn't give Ming a single penny of money. When he was in a bad mood and had been drinking, he would come back every few days and beat the mother and her two daughters, cursing Ming for not being able to give birth to a son and blaming Ming for being unlucky and affecting his path to the imperial examinations.
Ming had considered divorce countless times, and even faked suicide to cause a scene at the county government. However, in public, Li, the scholar, was quite the convincing imposter, a refined and cultured man who was nothing like the violent beast Ming described.
Li, a scholar who had only managed to secure a teaching position at the academy thanks to the Ming family, was naturally unwilling to divorce.
After all, it was a family matter, and the county magistrate, mindful that Li was a scholar who had passed the imperial examinations, could not force the two to divorce. He could only send constables to Li's house every now and then to check whether Li was secretly taking action against Ming.
Unable to fight back, Li Juren refused to give the Ming family, mother and daughters, a single penny. In fact, in an attempt to retaliate against the Ming family, he took them to court and ruined their reputation. He even sold his own daughter, Li Yue'er, to a wealthy family as a concubine at a low price.
He was the one who decided to sell the woman, and afterwards he even turned around and cried everywhere, saying that Ming had changed her mind and insisted on divorcing him, but he refused. So Ming sold their beloved daughter to a merchant's family in an attempt to ruin his future.
Outsiders may find Li Juren's hypocrisy disgusting and would not believe his words, but these are ultimately matters for the Li family. They can only smile and not get involved, lest they be entangled by Li Juren and suffer a lifetime of unrest.
After hearing this news, Teng Huang finally understood why Li Yue'er, despite her beautiful appearance, had only sold for five taels of silver.
Now I understand where her gentle and submissive temperament came from; it was clearly because she had been worn down by villains and had no other options.
Teng Huang clicked his tongue and blurted out, "She's quite pitiful, though. If she weren't broke, she wouldn't have had to go to such lengths."
Which step? Naturally, it's the step I took last night when I used my looks to please him.
After speaking, Teng Huang belatedly realized that the mistress was glancing at her sideways. Startled, she blinked rapidly and quickly changed her words, "It is her blessing to be able to serve such a divine person as the mistress!"
Qu Rong: "Heh."
Gamboge, "..."
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Gamboge: [It's melted]
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