Volume 1, Spring Lock in the Garden, Chapter 11: Different Handwriting
Hot water bottle and locust flower stopped arguing at the same time, turned their heads to look in the direction of the door, and for a moment they couldn't figure out who was coming, so neither of them dared to go over and open the door.
Outside, someone shouted, "The second young lady is here! Open the door quickly!"
The three people in the room all changed their expressions at the same time.
Granny Tang rushed forward, pulled the bolt off the door, and as soon as she opened it, she was slapped across the face. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the second young lady, dressed in silver and red, standing outside the door with two maids, their faces grim. Not daring to say a word, her legs went weak, and she knelt down. "Second young lady, spare me! This old servant knows her mistake."
Chunyun kicked her aside and said, "You ungrateful thing, you can't even kneel properly and are blocking the young lady's way."
Tang Pozi knew that it was she who had slapped her earlier, and she was seething with hatred, but she dared not show it.
The second young lady, her pretty face dark, strode into the room. Seeing Huaihua and Chamei, the two girls were terrified and immediately knelt down. The second young lady sneered, saying, "Fine, fine, are you all itching for a beating? What kind of place is the Ruan mansion? Does it tolerate your noisy shouting and arguing? Do you even respect your master or the rules?"
The three women immediately kowtowed repeatedly, saying, "Second Miss, we know we were wrong, please forgive us this time."
The second daughter gave them a disgusted look and said, "You can go to Mother He's to receive your punishment later. If you do it again, you'll all be thrown out."
"Thank you, Second Miss, thank you, Second Miss."
The second young lady asked again, her face cold, "Where is the fifth young lady?"
As soon as she finished speaking, the curtain was lifted, and Ruan Bi stood at the door of the inner room and bowed to her. "Greetings, Second Sister." The weather was getting warmer, and today she was wearing a slightly worn plain white high-waisted ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress), with only the collar, cuffs, and hem embroidered with lotus flowers in silver thread. Her long, jet-black hair was loosely tied with a white ribbon.
The second young lady stared at her, unable to look away for a moment.
Ruan Bi then said, "Second sister, please sit in the inner room."
The second young lady finally came to her senses. She had intended to scold her, but she hesitated and couldn't quite get the mood right. After a few seconds, she put on a stern face and said, "What kind of mistress are you? Letting the people in the house make such a fuss." She had recently been learning how to manage the household from the first mistress, so she had also picked up the tone of a mistress of the house.
“Sister… Sister, I…” Ruan Bi looked ashamed and speechless.
The second daughter said with disgust, "You should change your temperament. You're so timid and always let those ugly servants ride roughshod over you."
"Your sister is right, I will definitely change."
The second girl glanced at her with disgust, thinking to herself, "I thought she was different from before, but it turns out she's still a hopeless case."
Little did she know, the conflict between Huaihua and Tang Pozi was orchestrated by Ruan Bi. Back in her days at the company, she knew that if subordinates were united, they would be a monolithic entity, making them difficult for superiors to control. Therefore, she always created disputes, conflicts, and antagonism among subordinates—for example, favoring one person while suppressing another, letting them fight amongst themselves. Huaihua was bold and greedy, so Ruan Bi tempted her to steal. Huaihua got a lucrative prize but refused to share it with Tang Pozi, naturally causing Tang Pozi to resent her. Then Ruan Bi pretended to "favor" Tang Pozi, only assigning her tasks and giving her all the rewards. This made Huaihua feel resentful, and that's how the conflict was created. Once there was conflict, it was only natural for the dogs to fight each other.
If these three people joined forces and didn't give her enough food or water to wash without paying her a reward, given Ruan Bi's meager resources, it probably wouldn't last a month. With her delicate constitution, she couldn't possibly win a physical confrontation. In the end, she would likely only be tortured to death; many concubines and mistresses, driven to desperation, either swallowed gold or hanged themselves.
"Sister, please sit in the inner room."
"No, I still need to go see my fourth sister," the second young lady said calmly, then turned and left.
"Then take care, Second Sister. Come over again when you have time." Ruan Bi quickly saw her to the door, acting very obsequiously.
As she reached the door, the second young lady couldn't help but turn back to look at Ruan Bi again, thinking to herself, "I've seen her wear such a white dress before, and I never thought she looked outstanding. Why does she look like a white lotus today?"
Ruan Bi was puzzled as to why she suddenly turned around and looked confused, so she could only smile at her again.
The second young lady's face turned cold again, and she walked away, her skirt trailing on the ground.
There was nothing she could do; the other party was in a powerful position, and in such a large mansion, the title of "嫡子" (legitimate son) trumped everything. Even though Tang Pozi and Huaihua were so arrogant, they cowered at the sight of her, kneeling on the ground like wilted eggplants. However, the Second Miss had unintentionally lent her a helping hand; Tang Pozi and Huaihua would probably be subdued for a while.
Since that's the case, I should lend her my help again. Ruan Bi thought to herself, and said softly, "Grandma Tang, Huaihua, and Chamei, get up. Let's all learn from this incident. We all work in the same house, and arguing like this is too hurtful and will damage our reputations if word gets out. From now on, let's all get along well and not cause any more trouble like this."
Granny Tang and Huaihua had just been scolded by the second young lady, and their arrogance had completely vanished. They obediently lowered their heads and said, "Yes."
"Grandma Tang, your face is injured. I have medicine in my room. Come with me." Ruan Bi said as she walked into the inner room. Grandma Tang glared arrogantly at Huaihua and followed her in.
Ruan Bi took out a tube of ointment from a black lacquered wooden box and handed it to the hot water bottle.
The hot water bottle took it and quickly applied it. She felt her burning cheek instantly cool down and breathed a sigh of relief, saying, "Thank you, Fifth Miss. This Chunyun is really ruthless. I have no grudge against her, yet she keeps kicking and hitting me."
"Is Grandma going to He Mama's to receive her punishment later?"
Tang Pozi reluctantly nodded and said, "I have no choice but to go over there, otherwise if the second young lady asks, she might really throw this old woman out." Seeing Ruan Bi looking at her thoughtfully, she asked ingratiatingly, "Is there anything you need my help with, young lady?"
"It's nothing serious."
"Please give your orders, young lady."
Ruan Bi hesitated before saying, "I heard that my second sister has written a beautiful piece of calligraphy, so I'd like to borrow her old calligraphy copybook to practice it..."
Tang Pozi hesitated, then shook her head and said, "Young lady, this second young lady is quite formidable... You saw it just now, this old woman wouldn't dare to wander around in front of her."
Ruan Bi stood up, took out five hundred coins from her makeup box, and placed them in the hot water bottle's hand. She then stopped talking and started making up a story: "Grandma, my second sister and I grew up together. That's just how she is. She's like a lightning storm, but it'll pass quickly. Go and do it. If it works, I'll reward you handsomely."
Upon hearing the last four words, Granny Tang was tempted. She pretended to hesitate for a moment, then said, "Since you've said so, I'll have to make the trip for you." She left the Liaoyuan Garden, exited through the hanging flower gate, and went to the back room in the front courtyard to find Granny He. She recounted what had happened and said ingratiatingly, "Good sister, please don't punish me too severely."
Granny He's face darkened. She said, "I sent you to guard the gate because I knew you had the ability to turn unruly people into docile ones. But instead, you got into a fight with someone. And the Second Miss caught you. This time, the punishment isn't severe enough. What am I supposed to say if the Second Miss asks about it?"
The hot water bottle smiled awkwardly.
Granny He ignored her and told the strong woman next to her, "Take the hot water bottle to the back and whip her twenty times with a thorn stick."
Upon hearing all this, the old woman was startled and pleaded, "Good sister, you can't torture people like this!"
Granny He glared at her and said, "Don't shout. If you're not satisfied, go and plead with the Madam yourself."
Upon hearing this, Granny Tang was speechless and obediently followed the strong woman to the back, taking out two hundred coins from her bosom and handing them to her. The strong woman took them without a word, raised her thorny branch high, whipping it with a whooshing sound, but when it fell, it was as light as a feather. Although Granny Tang's body was unharmed, her heart bled for the two hundred coins, secretly vowing to get them back from Ruan Bi.
After being beaten, she returned to the inner courtyard and headed towards the second young lady's courtyard. The second young lady's courtyard was behind the first lady's courtyard, connected by a covered walkway. The courtyard was named "Shaohua," and there was a row of rose trellises at the entrance, with buds that had not yet bloomed. The old woman guarding the gate said that the second young lady was not in the courtyard, and seeing that the old woman was unfamiliar, she wouldn't allow her to enter the courtyard, only telling her to wait at the gate.
Granny Tang cursed the gatekeeper in her heart. After waiting for about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the Second Miss returned with Chunyun and Chunliu. Granny Tang quickly stepped forward to greet her, but the Second Miss frowned and asked, "Why aren't you staying in the east wing of Liaoyuan Garden? What are you doing here?"
"Second Miss, I just went to ask Granny He for punishment, and I came here specifically to tell you."
The second daughter was annoyed and ignored her, walking straight into the courtyard.
The old woman wanted to follow, but Chunyun pushed her away. "You old woman, you're really brainless. You have to come back and report such a trivial matter to the second young lady. Do you think the second young lady has nothing better to do?"
Tang Pozi looked at Chunyun, and the slap on her face seemed to sting again. She was filled with hatred, but she put on a smile and said, "Miss Chunyun, you have misunderstood. It was actually Fifth Miss who asked me to come."
"The Madam assigned you to guard the east wing of Liaoyuan Garden. When did you become a errand girl?"
"This is unavoidable, there are few people in Fifth Miss's room." Granny Tang called out to Second Miss's back in the hallway, "Second Miss, wait a moment, Fifth Miss needs to see you."
Chunyun pushed her again and said, "What are you shouting for? Hurry up and leave, or you'll anger the second young lady and get another beating."
Before she could finish speaking, the second young lady suddenly turned back, a hint of curiosity in her eyes, and asked, "What does the fifth young lady want you to come to me for?" Ever since she had caught a glimpse of Ruan Bi in the east wing, a strange curiosity had suddenly arisen in her heart.
With a beaming smile, Granny Tang said, "It's like this. Fifth Miss said she had nothing to do and wanted to practice her calligraphy. She heard that Second Miss's calligraphy is good, so she asked me to ask if she could borrow an old calligraphy book for her to copy."
The second young lady immediately turned cold, said nothing, and turned to leave.
Chunyun spat at the hot water bottle and said, "You old hag, you're really brainless. You dare to agree to anything. You even lent the Second Miss's old writing book to the Fifth Miss. How could you even think of that?" After saying that, she ignored the hot water bottle and went into the courtyard with Chunliu.
The old woman dared not follow them inside, thinking to herself how unlucky she was. The second young lady had such a temper; she would definitely ask Ruan Bi for more money when she got back. She vowed never to do anything like this again, no matter how much money it cost.
As the second young lady stepped out of the passageway, she suddenly remembered something, stopped in her tracks, turned to Chunyun and said, "Quickly find that hot water bottle for me, she almost tricked me."
Chunyun responded, turned and left the courtyard. A moment later, she returned, dragging a hot water bottle with her.
The hot water bottle was puzzled and looked flustered.
The second young lady sat down on a chair in the hallway, glaring at the old woman with a cold look, and said, "You audacious servant, confess honestly, who wrote that letter that was delivered to the First Madam's room this morning?"
The old woman said, "It was written by the Fifth Sister."
"Are you still trying to lie to me? That's clearly not her handwriting. I went to school with her in a little while; don't I recognize her handwriting?"
Tang Pozi grew anxious, thinking, "Could it be that Ruan Bi deliberately tricked me and framed me?" "I'm innocent, Second Miss. This was indeed written by Fifth Miss. If you don't believe me, just ask Fifth Miss."
"That's exactly what I was thinking." After saying that, the second young lady suddenly stood up and immediately led her two maids and the hot water bottle toward the Liao Garden.
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