Chapter 4: Delivering Medicine
"Chun Xing, do we have mothballs here?"
Wen Ning knew very well that abortion pills were not a top priority, but the most pressing issue at the moment was the problem of her body odor. She had to find a way to cover it up, otherwise she would definitely not escape the punishment from Nanny Li tomorrow.
In the past, she could just go up the mountain to pick some herbs and make a sachet, but now she couldn't leave the mansion and didn't have anything useful on her.
Chun Xing was tidying up two wooden boxes when she turned around and said, "Sister Wen Ning, you're afraid of mosquitoes, right? These mothballs are not for servants like us to use. Only the first-class maids by the master's side can get such rewards. But we have a row of mint and mugwort planted in front of the servants' room, which is also very effective in repelling mosquitoes."
Wen Ning pushed open the fir door and saw mint and mugwort at the base of the wall. It seemed that no one took care of them on a daily basis, so they grew sparsely and were almost covered by weeds.
She picked a handful of old leaves, returned to her room, asked Chun Xing for a piece of old cloth, sewed it into a small cloth bag with needle and thread, and put the mugwort and mint into it.
Pick up the sachet and give it a sniff; it should cover up the scent on your body.
She lied that she was particularly attracted to mosquitoes, so she was used to wearing this kind of sachet. Chun Xing did not suspect anything and took the initiative to help her tie it to the innermost layer of her lapel.
The next day, the head cook explained the rules to Wen Ning and gave her a general idea of the residences of the masters.
The kitchen is located in the southwest corner of the mansion. It is divided into a hot stove area, a cold dish area and a white counter area, and there are corridors connecting the various courtyards.
Yifu Hall is the old lady's residence. She fasts on the first and fifteenth days of every month. She does not eat meat and does not like quarrels on these two days.
On the east side is the Marquis's Tingsong Courtyard, which is divided into two parts. The outer courtyard has a study and a martial arts training ground; the inner courtyard is the Marquis's bedroom, and servants are not allowed to enter or leave at will.
There is also a Danyue Residence in the backyard, which is the residence of the eldest daughter Xie Wan. The eldest daughter is married and her husband is the prince of Cheng'en Duke's Mansion, Chen Lin. Recently, she has been living in the mansion temporarily because she is accompanying the old lady to pray to the gods.
The kitchen lady reminded her to work harder and talk less in the house, and not to ask about things that were not her business.
From then on, she went to the woodshed at the hour of Yin every day, split and arranged the firewood according to the characteristics of pine wood that burns vigorously, jujube wood that is resistant to burning, and willow wood that removes fishy smells. Then she carried the firewood to the kitchen on a rattan shoulder pole, started the fire, divided the stove, watched the fire, cleared the ashes, and was always ready to boil hot water for the masters. She was busy for more than half a month while enduring the pregnancy reaction, and did not dare to slack off for a moment.
…
That day, in Yifu Hall, the old lady and Xie Wan had finished their dinner and were discussing the matter of arranging a maid for Xie Jinglan.
The old lady leaned on the couch, while Xie Wan sat upright on the embroidered cushion in front of the couch. A small mahogany table inlaid with mother-of-pearl separated the two of them. There was a hint of thought in their eyes.
"It's all my fault. When he was away at war, he always said he wasn't in a hurry to marry or take concubines, so I agreed. A daring maid in the mansion took the opportunity to get close to him while serving tea, and he ended up giving her twenty strokes of the cane and banishing her from the house. I thought he had a cold temper and didn't like having a maidservant, so I didn't mention it again.
Who would have thought that he would be poisoned less than two months after returning to the capital? I don't know who the accursed person is, but he wants to cut off the incense of our mansion!"
The old lady became more and more excited as she spoke, and she wished she could find the person who poisoned her and cut him into pieces right away.
Xie Wan stood up and helped her grandmother calm down while comforting her: "Grandma, don't blame yourself. Take care of yourself. Jinglan is at the age of full vigor and vitality. As long as there is a woman in the house, he will have tasted the sweetness and will definitely think about marrying a wife and taking a concubine.
Even if...even if he can't have his own children in the future, it would be good to have a few close friends around him.
Tangli is the daughter of Nanny Li from the kitchen, and also a daughter of our Marquis's family. It's perfect for her to be a maid in the main room. Nanny has trained Tangli well over the past two days, and she's waiting to be sent to Tingsong Courtyard. I'll go and tell Jinglan about it later, so don't worry."
Mrs. Xie nodded after hearing this, but she was still indignant in her heart. Other families had children of this age crawling on the ground, so why did their Xie family have to suffer this hardship?
On one side of the kitchen, Wen Ning was guarding the medicine stove, gently waving the palm-leaf fan in his hand to control the heat just right.
Chun Xing accidentally knocked over a pot of hot soup today, causing blisters on half of her arm. She's afraid she won't be able to work for the next few days.
The kitchen lady saw that Wen Ning was very steady and never made mistakes when adding firewood and controlling the fire, so she assigned her the task of boiling the medicine.
Seeing that the time was almost up, Wen Ning picked up the coarse cloth pad in her hand and carefully took the medicine pot off the stove. The brown-black medicine soup poured out and fell into the white porcelain bowl, and then she gently placed the bowl on a sandalwood tray.
Wen Ning couldn't help but shudder when she thought of Xie Jinglan's murderous aura. She secretly encouraged herself in her heart, then picked up the tray and walked towards Tingsong Courtyard.
As he passed through the corridor, he saw a maid holding a gauze lantern in the hallway. Half a step behind the maid was a well-dressed young woman, whose eyes and brows bore some resemblance to the Marquis. He must have guessed that this woman was the eldest daughter of the mansion, Xie Wan.
Wen Ning immediately stepped aside to the side of the corridor pillar and knelt in greeting: "Greetings, my lady."
Xie Wan stopped, his eyes swept over her, and then fell on the tray in her hand, "Is this medicine for the Marquis?"
"To answer my aunt, yes." Wen Ning replied with her head down.
Xie Wan pondered for a moment, then suddenly took out a booklet from his sleeve and placed it on the tray next to the medicine bowl.
"Send this as well and tell him it was the old lady's wish. The Marquis will understand when he sees it."
As his younger brother, he shouldered the responsibility of a military family since he was young, and followed his father into battle at the age of twelve.
When he was a child, he would still pull her sleeve to ask for candy, but they have always become distant over the years.
After years of fighting on the battlefield, his eyes had become sharper, and the way he looked at people seemed to be able to penetrate the skin and flesh and cut through the bones.
She felt both distressed and afraid of her younger brother. Sometimes, if she tried to persuade him too much, he would give her a cold look.
She didn't know whether her brother was ignorant about matters between men and women or just too lazy to care.
But as an older sister, how could she explain such things to him? Should she point to each word in the picture book and ask him to learn it carefully, just like teaching a child to recognize words?
Thinking about it this way, it would be better to just use my grandmother's order to put pressure on him.
She would ask the teaching nanny to send Tangli directly over later, as she didn't believe that he could reject his grandmother's kindness.
Wen Ning only saw the blue silk cover of the booklet with gold-stamped corners. It was only the size of a palm and very exquisite.
I thought that the eldest daughter actually treated the Marquis like a child and even chose such cute books for him, which showed the deep love between the siblings.
She quickly replied, "I'll take it to the Marquis right away."
In front of the study in Tingsong Courtyard, Qingfeng noticed that the maid carrying the medicine bowl was not the usual round-faced maid, so he asked cautiously, "Why is she different today?"
Wen Ning replied truthfully, "Chun Xing burned her arm and she might not be able to work for the next few days, so Madam Shangshao ordered me to bring medicine to the Marquis."
Qing Feng nodded, then raised his hand and gently knocked on the door: "Master, the medicine is here."
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