"Will the head nanny find us another place to go? I see that all the places are full right now, and there's nowhere else to go for the time being!" Shuang'er said.
“Even being a third-class maid in the South Courtyard would be much better than staying here. This mistress is a stern and ruthless one. She usually looks gentle and kind, but when she gets angry, just you wait and see. She’ll definitely be harder to serve than that mistress who usually looks fierce,” Shanzhu said.
"Oh dear, who knows how long we'll have to kneel like this!" Shuang'er said, a little scared. "We've gone a bit too far; we really shouldn't have lit the brazier."
"Following her, there's not a single benefit to be gained. In the dead of winter, it's freezing cold. What's wrong with lighting some of her charcoal? It's not like she has nothing else to burn," Mangosteen said angrily.
Meanwhile, the charcoal fire had been lit again in Wuya's room. Cuiyun had already brewed a cup of red date and sugar tea and handed it to Wuya.
"Master, how dare these two maids steal your charcoal roasting?" Cuiyun asked, glancing outside.
“I caught them red-handed. You wretched hussy, you think you can humiliate me like this because you think I've lost face in front of the master? If I don't teach them a lesson, they'll think I'm easy to bully!” Wuya’s eyes were full of ruthlessness, completely different from the gentle Wuya who dared not raise her voice in the past.
"But we still can't let these two maids get sick. We still need them to fetch food, do laundry, and sweep the floor!" Cuiyun looked at the sky outside. The north wind was howling, and if you stood outside for even a moment longer, you would be completely chilled, let alone kneeling on the cold bluestone ground.
"They won't die! They'll think I'm a good-for-nothing if I don't make them kneel down a few times." Uya refused to back down.
Seeing that she couldn't persuade her otherwise, Cuiyun had no choice but to go along with them. Besides, she didn't particularly like the two maids kneeling outside anyway.
After the two of them had been kneeling outside for about an hour, Shuang'er could no longer hold on. She felt that her whole body was no longer under her control and was stiff.
"Shuang'er!"
Suddenly, she stumbled forward and fell, landing on the cold stone platform.
"Madam, Shuang'er has fainted!" Cuiyun looked up and saw two people outside; one had already collapsed, and the other was calling out.
"Alright, let them get up." Uya didn't want anyone to die.
When Cuiyun went out to take a look, she saw that Shuang'er's lips were so cold that they had turned purple. Shanzhu pulled her up from the ground, but she still didn't wake up.
"Come on, carry her inside, and give her a bowl of ginger soup, and she'll be fine," Cuiyun said.
Shanzhu and Shuang'er were always together. When they saw Shuang'er like this, they were terrified and quickly helped Shuang'er back to her room with Cuiyun.
"Sister Cuiyun, could you please call a doctor to take a look at Shuang'er? She looks so frightening!" Shanzhu had no choice but to ask Cuiyun for help. They were all maids, their lives were worthless, and once they fell ill, they had to endure it. If they had a good master, the master could call a doctor to take a look, or at least get some medicine in the master's name.
“What are you saying? She’s just cold. Once she’s warmed up, she’ll recover. A mere servant girl wants to fetch a doctor? Do you think our mistress already has enough to do?” Cuiyun said.
"But looking at Shuang'er's condition, dear sister, please go and talk to Madam. If someone dies, it will be difficult for Madam to save face." Shanzhu was also anxious.
"How dare you threaten Madam!" Cuiyun said angrily, but in her heart she actually agreed with what Madam said.
"This servant wouldn't dare!" said Shanzhu.
"Alright, luckily Gege still has some of the medicine that Doctor Liang prescribed last time. I'll get some and boil it for her to drink," Cuiyun said.
"Thank you so much, sister!" Shanzhu said quickly, expressing her gratitude to Cuiyun for her help.
After Cuiyun left, she immediately changed Shuang'er's clothes, covered her with a blanket, and then went to Wuya's place to wait for Cuiyun's medicine.
Meanwhile, when Wuya learned that Shuang'er was unconscious, she was slightly surprised and murmured, "She only knelt for an hour. Is this girl made of paper? She can't even withstand such torment?"
Cuiyun said, "Shuang'er is young and her health is already weak. Madam, it's not good for us to have another murder case here right now. Why don't we give that girl the medicine that Doctor Lin gave you last time?"
After a moment's thought, Uya nodded. She didn't want any murder case to occur at this time. After all, the New Year was approaching. It would be very unlucky if the girl died.
Shuang'er fainted because she was frail and had caught a chill. After being given medicine, she woke up.
"Mangosteen, where did this medicine come from?" Shuang'er asked.
"It was Sister Cuiyun who begged for it from the Madam. Luckily, she was able to get this medicine, otherwise your life would have been in danger," said Shanzhu.
“Oh. It seems that Madam is a kind-hearted person, otherwise she wouldn’t have been willing to give me the medicine,” Shuang’er said.
“She didn’t want to see you die here,” said Mangosteen. “In this freezing weather, she made us kneel there for an hour. Is that what you call kindness?”
“Then we have been disrespectful to her. After all, she is our master,” Shuang’er said.
"Alright, alright, you should rest well. Once you're better, you can take good care of this master." Shanzhu rolled her eyes at Shuang'er.
When Wuya learned that Shuang'er had woken up, she said to Cuiyun, "See? She's not awake. What do you mean by 'someone died'? You're all making a big fuss over nothing."
Cuiyun said, "Madam, our image in the master's eyes cannot be changed. Now, you are only resting because of your menstrual problems. Why don't you recover and then find a way to lure the master over? Although the two maids outside are not loyal to you, they can still be of some use."
Uya nodded and said, "That's right, we can't give up. How is the Fujin (principal wife) doing? Has Lingxiu come to see you?"
Cuiyun shook her head and said, "It seems that the Fujin has been depressed ever since that incident. I wonder what she's thinking about."
Uya said, "I'm afraid the Fujin (Prince Consort) is pinning her hopes on the Fourth Prince."
Cuiyun said, "But the Fourth Prince is in the front courtyard now!"
Uya said, "The Fourth Prince was raised by the Fujin before, so the two must still be connected. Now that the Prince's status is different from before, the Fujin is bound to have more thoughts. Who knows what the Prince's future will be like?"
Seeing this, Cuiyun said, "Now that our master is Prince Yong, taking another step forward would be even more incredible!"
Uya gestured for silence, shook her head, and said, "It's good that you know. Our master's future is still uncertain. So we can't give up."
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