Chapter 108 Chapter 108 Update.
This day was the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. There was no such thing as the Lantern Festival at that time, but it was also an important day. The county magistrate set up an altar on the outskirts of the city and organized the people to offer sacrifices to the silkworm god to bless the mulberry and silk farming.
The county magistrate's kitchen made bean paste and sent it to each courtyard. Zhuo also went to the warehouse to get some poplar branches that had just arrived that day, moved a ladder, and he and another servant put them on the door.
"The wind is blowing!"
They saw the branches of the willow trees pointing to the southeast with the wind, as if it was a signal from heaven. So they set up a table in the southeast of the yard for offering sacrifices. On the table were meat soup, fruits, and most importantly, a bowl of bean paste, which they used to offer sacrifices to the silkworm god.
The Silkworm God likes high places, so he said, "Who isn't afraid of heights? Let's go to the roof to offer sacrifices. Someone come quickly!"
"I'm not going. I almost fell down last year."
Xing said, this roof is not higher than the door, you need a long ladder to climb up, and the second master's yard is built high, so the roof is naturally high.
He is a quiet person and doesn't want to go.
"Stop hesitating! If I weren't afraid of heights, I would go."
"Xu, are you afraid? We'll hold the ladder for you."
Because the Second Master believed in gods very much, these sacrificial works had to be done by their hands, because it was not convenient to ask the servants to climb up and down.
"I'm not afraid."
Ji Xu said, "I saw the ladder supporting the eaves of the main house. Ji Xu was holding a lacquered flat plate with bean paste and meat soup on it, and he climbed up to the roof step by step."
The wind was strong at high altitude. She was wearing a lotus-colored padded jacket and a pine-green pleated skirt made of seven pieces of cloth. The skirt was tied at the waist. When she stepped on the tiles, her sleeves fluttered in the wind and she looked radiant, like a fairy.
"I'm climbing a mountain, carrying a rat brain. Do you want to come? Wait until my three silkworms are old."
I only heard her pleasant voice reciting a prayer to welcome the gods and drive away the rats before she climbed down the ladder.
The bean paste and meat soup were left on the roof as a sacrifice to the gods and would be taken down tomorrow.
The Second Master had just returned from the Alchemy Building. He was dressed as a sorcerer in a white robe and a tall crown, and looked tired. Seeing that the Silkworm God was being welcomed here, he perked up and looked down. There was a change in his eyes, as if a silkworm god had descended on the roof.
That night, Zi Gu came to the courtyard again.
Legend has it that Zi Gu was a concubine in a family. The wife was jealous of her and often ordered her to do things like cleaning toilets. Over time, she died of anger on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.
Later, people welcomed Zi Gu next to the toilet on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.
Ji Xu holds in his hand a peach wood carving of a woman in tattered clothes, symbolizing Zi Gu.
Everyone around the toilet fell silent. Yu said to the empty space:
"Zi Gu, your husband is not here, and Madam Cao is not back from her mother's home yet. You can come out now."
Maids on both sides were seen holding fruits, wine and food, waiting to offer them to Zi Gu. Beside the toilet, there was no movement except for the flickering candlelight and the rustling of snow beads.
Whether each family can welcome Zi Gu and ask her to predict family affairs depends on luck. The maids couldn't help but look at the peach wood statue in Ji Xu's hand.
The second master in the middle was also waiting. He caught a cold last night and his complexion wasn't very good this morning. It was already difficult for him to go to the Alchemy Building today, but he went anyway because the red-clothed maidservant in the building invited him.
I heard Yu again pouring water with a ladle towards the candlelight, washing the way to greet him, and saying:
"Auntie Piao Piao, God of Piao Piao, please ask the spirit of the first month of the year. My family invites you for nothing, but to ask about family matters."
Just then the candlelight flickered, and Ji Xu said, "The statue is heavy."
"It's Zi Gu who's here!"
"Second Master, it was Zi Gu who invited us here!" Xing said to the Second Master.
The statue in his hand felt heavy, which meant that Zi Gu had arrived. The Second Master's expression changed. He said to the statue in Ji Xu's hand:
"Zi Gu has suffered."
Facing such a deity who was said to have prophetic powers, he did not ask her about the future. Instead, he ordered everyone, "Set up an altar to welcome and worship Zi Gu."
Ji Xu placed the statue on the table, and the maids all placed wine on the table. The second master bowed to the statue of Zi Gu at the bottom of the table and offered a toast.
Yu advised, "Your kindness is all you can do. Second Master, please come inside. It's so cold outside. You'll freeze to death."
As soon as he left, the maids came to bow before Zi Gu one after another and told her their daughters' worries, most of them asking for advice on marriage.
Ji Xu had a respectful attitude towards gods and Buddhas, believing in their existence rather than their non-existence, but this time she did not go to worship, and the statue in her hand did not become heavier at all.
At that time, Yu gave her a look and said it tacitly, "It's because this second master believes in gods. If he hadn't invited someone, he would probably have been standing in the snow forever."
That night, when making the bed for the second master, he was in a good mood because of the day of praying to the gods, and told her about how he wanted to leave the city but was stopped by the city gate guard.
The second master, who was reading on the couch, asked, "Why are you leaving the city?"
Ji Xu also thought of an excuse and said, "I heard that there is a Sikong Temple outside the city, where the Four Seasons God is enshrined. I want to go there to worship and pray for good luck in the four seasons."
The Second Master glanced at her, not sure whether he believed her or not, but he said:
"I'll write you a paperwork certificate."
Ji Xu immediately ground the ink, and according to what the city gate officer said, the second master wrote briefly on the wooden slip and stamped it with his private seal. The next day, Ji Xu successfully stamped half of the official seal in a street room near Pingshui Lane. In this way, he was allowed to leave the city.
But after finally climbing halfway up the mountain and standing there for half a day, they still didn't see Tian. The miner who knocked the iron block to wake everyone up for dinner turned out to be a strange man. Tian was not among those miners.
Ji Xu returned to the house feeling uneasy. Qing got angry at her in the room:
"I told you about my troubles before, but you didn't help me. Now you're the one who's taking my place."
At this moment, Ji Xu thought that what she said was just about how she served the Second Master personally. Ever since she came, Qing always had a cold face in the same room.
Yin said, "If I want to work in the county governor's mansion, the master will decide where I will go. How can I influence that? I have no other thoughts about the Second Master. I just want to serve him well and earn more money. I will have to leave the mansion one day."
"That's a nice thing to say. Second Master wants you to serve in the Alchemy Building!" Qing said.
Later, when she left the house, the maids in the yard praised her a lot.
"Xu, you can enter the Alchemy Building. I really envy you."
"Yuan has served the Second Master for so long, yet he is not allowed to enter the building. You are the only one who can."
"What are you thinking about? You didn't even respond when Second Master called you."
At dinner, He pulled her,
"You left the city to worship the gods today, and left your soul at Sikong Temple?"
Ji Xu cupped his hands and said, "I'm really worried about one thing. I'm just a cook, clumsy and weak, so I'm afraid I can't accompany the Second Master into the Alchemy Building."
As soon as these words came out, Tuan, He and Xing were all eager to try. The Second Master said:
"If you can invite Zi Gu to coax me, what else can't you do?"
As soon as these words were spoken, Yu glanced at Ji Xu quietly, lowered his head and said nothing.
The Second Master meant that he still wanted Ji Xu to go to the Alchemy Building to serve him the next day, and he had not changed his mind.
On the one hand, he was uneasy because he had not seen Tian, and on the other hand, Mrs. Lai's words of advice were still ringing in his ears.
The Alchemy Building in Jixu's house might be a place to find out the whole story, but it's also like a den of dragons and tigers. Once you enter, you'll inevitably get deeper and deeper into trouble, and it will be even more difficult to escape from the house in the future.
Early in the morning, when the three older maids, including Xing, brought in hot water, a wash basin, and other things to help her wash up, they found her still lying on the couch.
Xing said angrily:
"Knowing you're going to the Alchemy Building, you're so arrogant? Don't you see that the Second Master is awake, and you're still sleeping soundly?"
The light was dim, and the Second Master was already sitting beside the bed, staring at the bulge in the quilt on the couch, wondering what he was thinking.
"Look, I'm going to pull this lazy bone up. Why is his face so hot?"
Seeing that she was motionless, Xing went over to her and lifted the quilt. He felt her cheeks burning hot, so he shook her awake. Seeing that she had opened her eyes dazedly, he said:
"You're a servant, but you didn't know you were sick?"
"She can't lie here any longer. Let her recover from her illness. Help her back to her room to rest."
As Yu came to support him, Ji Xu's body was limp and weak, and it was Xing who put the padded jacket on him. He got off the bed and just pulled his shoes along.
After a while, the Second Master ordered someone to invite the medical officer. The medical officer felt the pulse and stroked his beard and said:
"The pulse is tense and the tongue is red with yellow fur. This indicates internal heat and dryness. Have you been exposed to a cold recently?"
He said, "She went out of town yesterday. When she came back her shoes and socks were soaked. Maybe she caught a cold."
"Yes, it's due to external wind-cold and internal fire congestion in the heart, which is why there are such repeated chills and fever, and feeling unwell. He will vomit violently afterwards. I will prescribe a dose of Longdan Decoction, which should be boiled for seven days and taken to induce sweating. In addition, you should rest in peace and avoid overwork, and you will see recovery." said the medical officer.
"Doctor, please stay and have some tea in the hall. Our Second Master has returned and has something to ask you."
He kept the medical officer, and later when the second master came back from the alchemy building, the medical officer replied in front of him.
"Second Master wants to come here."
Hearing the sound of the water lily, she came here first, ordered Qing and He to pack up the things, and sent someone to sweep the house.
Ji Xu only felt people swaying in front of him. Later, a charcoal stove was carried in to the middle of the room, and a jade couch was moved in next to the stove. A brocade mattress was brought in to spread it out, and a side table was set up.
There is a screen between the couch and the bed.
Yu directed them to arrange the items and said:
"Don't pass on your illness to the Second Master."
After everything was arranged, Yu followed the Second Master in.
"Just lie down."
Seeing the shadow behind the screen struggling to get up, the Second Master said, "Let me help him sit on the couch."
"Have you taken the Longdan Decoction?"
Hearing the Second Master's question, Yu said, "I just asked the little girl to fry some for her to eat. How do you feel about it?"
Then he asked Ji Xu through the screen.
Ji Xu said, "After drinking it, my body feels warm and I feel like I'm sweating, but my bones are still weak. I'm afraid I won't be able to serve you well."
Yu said, "You are the only one we need. Take good care of you. We are here to help you."
The Second Master ordered, "The Dragon Gall Decoction tastes bitter. Go inside and bring her that plate of preserved plums. Press it down when she takes the medicine."
Yu looked back and forth between them and left as he was told. After he left, only Erye and Ji Xu were left in the room.
I could see the shadow of the Second Master standing up, and using a fire stick to stir the charcoal, but it went out instead.
The room was getting colder, and Ji Xu could only curl up tighter in the quilt, saying:
"You don't know how to do it, so put it down."
The Second Master lowered his head and remained silent for a moment before saying, "Even if you are well, you still can't escape."
When Ji Xu heard this, he knew that he had guessed right. He felt hot and cold because he had been frozen in the snow last night. He thought he was asleep and it was not a big deal.
But at this moment, he still insisted not to go, saying, "I heard that there are too many rules in the Alchemy Building. I don't want to go to such a place. Why don't you choose someone else, Second Master?"
"What if I tell you there's someone you want to see inside?" said the Second Master.
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The author has something to say: From now on, the update time will be changed to 10 p.m. Good night, my dears.
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