Chapter 107 Chapter 107 Update.
Although she didn't know why the Second Master wanted her, a sheep cook, to serve in the house, the rewards she received were indeed more than before. This piece of embroidered brocade alone was sold for fifty taels.
But he would not directly say that he sold the master's reward, so he said:
"Not all the materials Second Master gave me were good. I've never seen such fine embroidery. I've kept it well and can't bear to use it to make clothes."
The Second Master believed what he said and said, "It's not worth it. I'll reward you if you serve me well. You should wear something new and brighter."
"Thank you, Master. This blue jacket was also made by the warehouse last year. It's brand new."
Ji Xu asked him to sit in the warm room and play guessing games with them. He then took the two strings of money he had won and returned to the lower house.
Although lanterns were lit in various places throughout the mansion, the servants' quarters were so remote that only two dusty vermilion lanterns from the storehouse were hung at the door to add to the festive atmosphere.
The surroundings were pitch black, far less bright than the lights in the master's courtyard.
A copper lamp burning oil was lit in the small kitchen, and a dim light shone through the window. Granny Sun, Feng, Zhu, Xiaoyao, Que, and Doufu, the five children, were sitting around the stove warming themselves by the fire.
The oven is surrounded by a circle of cracked chestnuts, large preserved red dates, and glutinous rice cakes. The skins are baked until golden brown and are best eaten when they are slightly cracked, while the inside is still soft and glutinous.
Grandma Sun used a fire stick to pick one for each of the children, and then picked some chestnuts to peel. However, her eyes were dim and her hands were not nimble enough, so she couldn't tear open a single one after half a day.
Ji Feng bit one open with her molars, peeled off the skin a few times towards the lamp, and handed it to Grandma Sun to eat.
Several children gathered together, eating food that they couldn't eat on weekdays, and chattering about all sorts of things.
"I got a reward of ten."
Doufu said proudly that the rewards given to them by their superiors were extorted from them layer by layer, and they were lucky to get some.
Ji Feng said, "We didn't receive any reward money from the kitchen, but my sister must have received some. I wonder if she can come back today to celebrate the New Year with us."
Hardly had he finished speaking when Ji Xu came in with a lantern in his hand, his blue jacket stained with freshly fallen snow.
The lantern was obviously an item from the Second Master's courtyard. It was a bronze lantern with a goose holding a fish in its mouth. The most exquisite thing about it was that it had a glazed lamp wall on top, so that the wind would not blow out the candlelight when she was walking outside. The Second Master gave it to her when she left, so that she could use it as a light to guide the way.
"Speak of the devil," Ji Xu said with a smile.
Ji Feng asked, "Who is Cao Cao? We were clearly talking about my sister, and the one who came in was also my sister."
"There's this guy. Oh, it's so cold outside."
As he said this, he hung the lamp on the wall, rubbed his palms, sat down, and placed his hands flat on the stove eye.
"Is it snowing outside?"
The conversation changed, and Ji Feng stopped worrying about who Cao Cao was. She saw the snow beads on her body clearly, and while brushing them off for her, she said,
"Sister, Grandma Sun's rice cake is so delicious and sweet. Come and try one."
"Everything else Grandma Sun makes tastes terrible, but this glutinous rice cake is incredibly delicious. Isn't that amazing?"
After Doufu finished speaking, Granny Sun gave him a slap on the forehead.
"The little bastard deserves a beating again."
Speaking of food, Que asked, "Xu, what did the masters eat at their New Year's Eve banquet?"
"I didn't serve at the banquet, so I didn't see it in person. I just discussed it with them. I heard that everything that runs in the mountains and swims in the water is on the table. There's deer antler soup, and there's also abalone soup."
They went out of the hospital to serve at the banquet. Ji Xu had not been there yet, so it was Lu, Xing and He who went. Lu also brought back a few roasted chicken legs, which the little maids scrambled to eat at the banquet in the warm room just now.
They racked their brains but couldn't figure out what the taste was like. They were happy just eating the dried chestnuts.
Later, the children kept asking for stories. Grandma Sun told them a story about Doctor Zhao catching a wolf, but they were not interested. So Nao Jixu told them another one.
"Sister, tell us one."
"Xu, just tell me one."
Ji Xu thought for a moment and told a story that the eunuchs used to tell in the palace to scare the young palace maids.
"It's the Lunar New Year soon, so I'll tell you something that fits the occasion."
They nodded their heads in agreement, listening attentively.
"It's said there's a bird called Guhuo that only comes out on the night of the first lunar month, making a 'Guhuo, Guhuo' sound that's incredibly creepy. Mr. Wang's son was a playful child who wouldn't return home even after dark. One day, the family waited and waited, but the child didn't return. More than a dozen people, including the owner, grabbed a large dog and went out to look for him. They saw the dog barking furiously at a tree. When they got closer, they saw a piece of clothing with blood spots on it. It belonged to Mr. Wang. There was no one around, only the sound of 'Guhuo... Guhuo...'
What do you think is going on? It turns out that the Guhuo bird is a ghost bird that likes to steal people's children to raise and mark them with blood on their clothes. If it sees a child alone outside at night, it will snatch him away.
Grandma Sun threatened, "If anyone dares to go out at night, the ghost bird will catch them away."
"Xiaozhu doesn't go out running around at night."
Xiaoyao also shook his hands vigorously.
Doufu was the most mischievous one, and his heart trembled when he heard it. He pointed at an oil stain on his clothes and said:
"Is this the blood spot marked by the ghost bird?"
The fighting man was so scared that his hair stood on end. At that moment, the wooden door was swaying in the wind, and it sounded like Guhuo, Guhuo...
At this moment, the door burst open, a gust of wind extinguished the lantern, and the fighter screamed:
"The ghost bird is coming! The ghost bird is coming! The ghost bird is coming to pick up the children!"
"What the hell are you yelling about!"
I saw Ying standing at the door. She was holding a lantern covered with oilcloth to protect it from the wind and snow. It would shine in.
"Do you want a beating or not? Be careful not to startle the Second Master!"
"It's a human, not a ghost bird." Dou Fu rubbed his eyes and didn't dare to scream anymore after he recognized it.
I heard about the Second Master again, “Second Master?”
Doufu and the others had never seen the real person before, so they looked out in surprise.
There was a sea of people outside. The second master, who was leading the group, was wearing a white fox fur cloak. A maidservant, Yu, was holding an umbrella for him to shield him from the snow. They were easy to distinguish in the darkness. No one dared to act rashly and they all retracted their heads.
"Who told us that we are clumsy and unfit to keep watch for the Second Master? The only people in the room who are smart and skillful are the ones who are best at serving the Second Master through the night."
Xing said angrily, "Second Master came to invite you, why don't you go back quickly or he will freeze to death again."
Ji Xu felt something was wrong, but it was difficult for her to refuse to go as she was just an employee. If the second master got frozen because he came to see her, the whole house would be filled with the chores of taking care of a patient, and Ji Xu would be complained about endlessly.
So he simply gave his two sisters a few words, put on his shoes and came out with a lantern.
Ji Feng said to herself in the middle of the night, "After seeing such a scene today, I realized that being a personal maid like my sister is not only glamorous, but also tiring. How could you call someone away in the middle of the night? It's not my sister's turn to be on duty today."
Ji Zhu heard this and said, "Second Master is bad, and Sister is good."
It is said that Ji Xu has been keeping watch every night for half a month since New Year's Eve. This is the order of the Second Master. From now on, only Ji Xu will be allowed to keep watch. Xing has been feeling uncomfortable recently, but Yu doesn't say much.
Because the Second Master came in person to invite on New Year's Eve, the servants all said that Ji Xu was valued by the Second Master and was about to surpass the status of the eldest maid, Yu.
"She was hired from outside. Why would he ask her to serve him personally for no reason? If she's good at cooking lamb, she should be working in the east kitchen. The Second Master must have taken a fancy to her a long time ago. Just wait, he's going to take her in as a concubine someday."
Ji Xu had also heard such words, but the more nights she kept vigil, the more she knew that the Second Master would suffer from colds more frequently.
Asking her to keep watch clearly meant that they didn't want other people to know about this, but she had no idea of the specific reason.
That day, after dinner, Luan brought some elixir to the study room to serve. Ji Xu took a look at it and found it slightly similar to the one that Madam Qu had given her as a reward.
But this one is darker in color, dark ochre, and I wonder what it is made of.
She remembered that the last time at the New Year's Eve banquet, the second master vomited out wine and it looked like this. This was the second time she had seen it.
The Second Master fixed his eyes on the bamboo scroll and said, "Put it down and leave. I will stay and serve you."
No matter how well-educated Yu was, a trace of loneliness flashed across his face, and he lowered his head and walked out.
"I won't eat it, you'll lose it behind my back."
After a while, the second master who was reading said that there was no one else in the room, so he could only give orders to Ji Xu.
Recently, she even has to serve in the study, grinding ink and moistening pens, which is a huge increase in workload. She agreed and hid the pill in her sleeve.
The snow stopped that day, and while the second master was at the alchemy building, Ji Xu asked Lu for half a day off.
"You go ahead. You're really tired these days. Take a good rest." Yu said.
Ji Xu actually wanted to leave the city and see from afar whether Tian was doing well this winter.
She first went to the East Market to have the ox cart overhauled. The news of retrieving the tripod from the Si River spread throughout the streets and alleys of Zhuo County.
Ji Xu had heard quite a bit in the carriage shop. "The Zhou Dynasty tripod, symbolizing the Nine Provinces, has been unearthed, right on the banks of the Si River where the First Emperor sought it. And the inscription was actually a forgery by the youngest son!"
"Your Majesty is the late emperor's youngest son. It is said that in the palace, your mother, Concubine Jieyu, was pregnant for fourteen months. Tell me, whose child was born after fourteen months?
"Are you saying that Your Majesty is not the late emperor's biological son?"
"Pfft, pfft, pfft, I didn't say that."
The man glanced around and said no more, but although he didn't say anything, he couldn't stop muttering in his heart.
Ji Xu listened to it but did not take part in it. He harnessed his carriage and tried to leave the city, but was stopped by the gatekeeper at the city gate.
"Sir, although I am a foreigner, I have also done a proper job and have a written employment contract. Look, it says that I work for the county magistrate's house in Pingshui Lane."
"Recently, rumors have been circulating that outsiders temporarily residing in Zhuo County must obtain a certificate from the Street Dance Room before they can pass. Since you work for the County Magistrate's household, you should go to your employer and write down your place of origin, name, age, appearance, the job you are employed for, and the duration of your employment. You should also state that you are not spreading rumors privately. Then, stamp your certificate with the employer's private seal, and then go to the Street Dance Room in Pingshui Lane and stamp it with a half-official official seal before you can pass."
The Street Bomb Room is similar to the police station in later generations, which is responsible for the public security within a radius of several miles. Ji Xu did not expect that traveling would be so troublesome nowadays.
Not to mention asking for the official seal of the Street Bombing Room, even if we have to ask the owner for his private seal, we have to think of a good reason and say it in front of the Second Master.
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