Chapter 13 Leave Behind
The monthly allowance of ten taels of silver was a fixed amount, and even if Aman protested in his heart, it wouldn't change anything.
After all, she was just a servant.
Madam Liu sent someone to give money to Aman, and then, feigning a headache, sent everyone away.
Madam Fu turned and left, followed by her four maids standing in a row, their imposing presence startling the servants who had been peeking out. They scattered like birds and beasts, afraid of being caught in the crossfire.
Aman followed behind them, limping, looking extremely out of place.
Madam Fu only stopped when the group had walked out of the West Garden and reached the center of the garden.
Aman looked up and saw Madam Fu waiting for him, so he quickened his pace.
But her legs were in terrible pain, especially her knees; even the slightest movement was excruciating. The short walk felt incredibly long to Aman.
Madam Fu was quite patient. She waited until Aman approached before finally speaking, her tone gentle, "I didn't feel comfortable asking in the West Garden. How are you doing? Are you settling into the Wutong Garden?"
Before Aman could answer, she continued, "You don't need to take what I said in the West Garden to heart. Now that she is in charge of the Marquis's mansion, even I have to be humble and subservient."
Her gaze fell on Aman's legs. "And you, how badly is your leg injured? Should we call a doctor to take a look?"
Aman didn't know how serious it was, since she hadn't seen a doctor, but it really hurt. Even just standing there, her legs were trembling slightly. But she still shook her head, "It's okay, it's not serious."
"It's good that you're alright, it's good that you're alright." Madam Fu nodded, then sighed, looking helpless. "There have been many things going on in the manor lately, and I haven't had a moment to myself. You'll have to keep an eye on Yunxiu. If you encounter any difficulties, feel free to come to me. Since you're going to cook for yourselves, you still need to know some of Yunxiu's dietary restrictions. I'll have Yuxiang go to the kitchen to ask and pass on the message to you."
"Yes." Although Aman didn't understand why a mother wouldn't even know her son's dietary restrictions and had to ask around, she still answered softly.
"In addition..." Madam Fu turned and glanced at Yuqiu. Yuqiu understood and took out a beautifully embroidered money bag from her sleeve and handed it to her.
Madam Fu stuffed the money pouch into Aman's hand. "I know that ten taels of silver will probably be a stretch in Wutong Garden. It's just a pity that my family is not good enough, and Liu Yu is in charge of the household affairs. I am also short of money myself. Take this money for now. If it's not enough, have Mantou come to the Marquis's residence to find me."
As for why it was steamed buns, it's because Aman's identity wouldn't sound good if it were revealed.
Aman looked at Madam Fu's exquisite headdress adorned with jewels, especially the two heavy-looking phoenix hairpins in her hair. Although she didn't know much about jewelry, she had often seen wealthy young ladies boasting about how expensive their newly acquired hairpins were when she went with her grandmother to rent embroidery from embroidery shops.
Those were far inferior to the one on Madam Fu's head in both appearance and craftsmanship.
It's no surprise that all of these items on Madam Fu's head are incredibly valuable.
As for this money bag, Aman estimated that it contained at most two taels of loose silver.
Aman felt a sense of irony, which only strengthened his resolve.
Madam Fu's kindness towards the young master was always just lip service.
But she accepted the money anyway.
She wasn't stupid. By setting up a separate kitchen in Wutong Garden, Madam Liu lost one of her leverages against the First Madam. Although the money was given readily today, the future was uncertain.
As for finding the First Madam, Aman felt that given how much she valued the young master, she would only find it troublesome. If that were the case... what should she do then?
Aman felt as if she had dug a hole for herself and for the young master...
Despite her worries, at least Aman received her monthly allowance.
Once outside the Marquis's residence, Aman realized that a strong wind had suddenly started blowing outside. The cold wind, accompanied by flying dust, made it difficult for people to open their eyes.
Aman's leg, already slow due to injury, moved even slower in the strong wind. After entering the alley, he practically scrambled across, leaning against the wall.
In Wutong Garden, Fu Yunxiu was reclining on a soft couch reading a book. The window beside the couch was wide open, and the cold wind made the steamed buns serving him grimac.
"Young master, let's close the window, or you'll catch a cold."
"Boring." Fu Yunxiu uttered a single word with his thin lips, his gaze never leaving the book from beginning to end.
Mantou thought to himself, "You usually won't let me open the window, but today I just feel stuffy."
He turned slightly to the side, and from Fu Yunxiu's angle, he could see the main entrance directly in front of him.
Mantou glanced at her young master, who claimed to be reading but hadn't turned a single page in ages, and couldn't help but expose him, "Young master, are you actually worried about Miss Aman?"
"Hmph, why should I worry about her?" Fu Yunxiu turned a page of his book.
"I'm worried that she'll be bullied by the Second Madam. You know what kind of person the Second Madam is."
Fu Yunxiu turned another page of his book. "She brought it on herself; she went there voluntarily. I didn't force her."
In the blink of an eye, he's already turned two pages of the book, which shows how guilty he feels.
Mantou understood, but didn't expose him. Instead, she asked something else, "Young master, if Aman doesn't bring back her monthly allowance, are you really going to send her away?"
"Why are you talking so much today?" Fu Yunxiu looked up from between his books, his clear black and white eyes showing obvious displeasure.
Mantou stopped talking, but couldn't help shrugging, and then heard a knock on the door.
"It seems like Aman is back?" Mantou's face lit up with joy, and he hurriedly ran out to open the door.
The door was opened by the wind as the bolt was pulled, revealing Aman's pale face. She was hunched over, her hands gripping the door frame, swaying precariously in the cold wind.
"Oh my, what happened?" Mantou was startled and quickly helped Aman inside before locking the door.
"Did the Second Madam have you tortured?" Mantou asked, supporting Aman as they walked.
"No." Aman shook her head. "Is the young master here?"
She was feeling cold all over, spoke weakly, and her voice was extremely hoarse.
"Young Master is reading in his room. Don't worry about anything else for now, go back to your room and rest."
"No, I must go see the young master first."
As soon as Aman finished speaking, the door to the main room suddenly opened, and Fu Yunxiu pushed his wheelchair out of the room.
When Aman saw Fu Yunxiu, she broke free from Mantou's support, took two quick steps to Fu Yunxiu, and showed him the silver she had received as if it were a treasure, "Young master. Look, I've received my allowance."
Fu Yunxiu neither took the money nor looked at it. His gaze first fell on Aman's knees, which were particularly dirty on her dress. Then he looked at her pale face and her dry, chapped lips, snorted coldly, and turned his wheelchair to go inside again.
Aman stared blankly at the closed door, then suddenly smiled and said, "Young master, you've let me stay."
"Yes, yes, you should go back to your room and rest!" Mantou couldn't stand it anymore. He half-dragged and half-pulled the person to the west wing, pushed open the door and shoved the person inside. He stood at the door and said, "Wrap yourself in the quilt and warm up for a while. I'll go boil some hot water for you."
Aman went in and closed the door. She was instantly enveloped in warmth, but that wasn't enough. She took off her dusty clothes and wrapped herself tightly in the blanket.
A little while later, Mantou brought over a full kettle of hot water and knocked on the door. "Aman, I've left the water outside for you."
Due to the strict separation between men and women, Mantou didn't dare to linger. After hearing a response from inside, he put down the pot and left.
Aman just gave him the silver he brought back, and he has to go and report to the young master.
She went back to the kitchen to brew a pot of tea, then took the steamed bun to find Fu Yunxiu. When she opened the door, she found that the window, which had been wide open, was now closed, and her young master was staring blankly out the window.
"Young master," Mantou placed the teapot on the table and handed Fu Yunxiu the purse that Aman had given him, "Young master, is this something that Miss Aman asked me to give you?"
Fu Yunxiu took the purse containing the money, glanced at it casually, and felt it looked somewhat familiar, but he didn't think much of it. He tossed it onto the table and asked, "How is she?"
"Who?" Mantou didn't react for a moment until she met her young master's slightly angry eyes, then she understood and hurriedly explained, "Oh, oh, oh... Young master means Aman. She's fine, she must have caught a chill. I asked her, and she said that no one is bullying her from the Second Madam's side."
Fu Yunxiu remembered the obvious stain on Aman's knee and knew she wasn't telling the truth, but he couldn't ask any more questions now. "In that case, let her rest well. Go out and buy some steamed buns for dinner."
"Alright!" Upon hearing that the meal would be improved, Mantou immediately beamed with joy and reached for his purse, but then remembered the bet between Aman and the young master and asked, "Young master, did Aman stay here on purpose?"
"You seem to really want her to stay?" Fu Yunxiu couldn't help but frown, and he kept calling her Aman. When did the two of them become so familiar?
Fu Yunxiu, of course, had no idea that during the two days he hadn't gone out to eat, Mantou had already been won over by Aman. Of course, Mantou didn't dare to tell the truth, so he could only make up an excuse, "I was just thinking that it would be good to have another person to serve you, young master, and besides, Aman is quite good at cooking, her food is delicious."
The last two sentences, however, are what Mantou truly felt.
Thinking of the meals he had eaten over the past two days, Fu Yunxiu didn't say anything more, just snorted coldly and pushed his wheelchair away.
Seeing that Aman's decision was final, Mantou raised an eyebrow, unsealed his purse, and took out a few copper coins. "Young master, how many buns do you want to buy?"
Before leaving, Mantou also told Aman to rest assured and not to worry about dinner.
Aman washed her face and feet with hot water and felt much better. After drinking two cups of hot water, she felt warm all over and wanted to sleep.
Upon hearing Mantou say that she didn't need to prepare dinner, Aman instantly understood that this was the young master's intention. She smiled knowingly and quickly drifted off to sleep.
Perhaps because she had been forced to kneel and frozen during the day, Aman slept very soundly. Even when Mantou called her to eat, she responded unconsciously until she was woken up by the urge to urinate.
Aman opened his eyes and found the entire room pitch black, so dark that he couldn't see his own hand in front of his face.
The wind seemed to have stopped, and it was completely silent outside, with only the occasional chirping of birds, which came from a great distance.
Aman stirred her body, which had become somewhat limp from sleeping, and stretched languidly. As the blanket slipped off, a chill swept over her, making her urge to urinate even stronger.
No, no, she couldn't hold it in any longer.
Aman got up, and his eyes, adjusted to the night, quickly found his coat in the closet. He put it on and went out, not caring whether he was afraid or not, and ran to the outhouse in a few steps.
Emerging from the outhouse, Aman felt completely relaxed and even had the leisure to admire the night view.
Unfortunately, the sky is covered with dark clouds tonight, and there isn't a single star in sight.
As Ah Man exhaled a breath of stale air and was about to go back to her room for another nap, she suddenly heard a strange sound.
Low, muffled, intermittent, like a man's soft moaning and panting.
"!?!"
Aman couldn't help but prick up his ears to determine the source of the sound.
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