Chapter 39 Rouge 2
After returning from the market, Aman had something on her mind.
Now she spends all her time in Wutong Garden. Although she can practice calligraphy and painting to pass the time, she still feels bored out of her mind.
She still wanted to find a way to make a living with her own hands, at least to redeem the jade pendant that the young master had pawned.
She was indeed envious of the small amount of silver that Hongxing had earned today.
Thinking back to when she first arrived in Yongzhou, Hongxing threatened her and slandered the young master, and when she was forced to kneel by Fangyi, who was by the Second Madam's side, Hongxing made sarcastic remarks. Suddenly, Aman had an idea.
If she could obtain the method to make rouge from red apricot blossoms, she might be able to redeem the young master's jade pendant sooner.
Knowing that the rouge recipe was Hongxing's livelihood, she certainly wouldn't reveal it easily. But Aman thought, what's the harm in giving it a try? What if it works?
The man who sold her the rouge said they would meet again in three days, and she could try her luck then.
With this thought in mind, Aman felt like each day was an eternity.
After finally waiting for the third day, after having breakfast early in the morning, Aman made an excuse to go out and sell vegetables, and waited at the usual place.
After waiting for about fifteen minutes, Hongxing finally arrived late, just like before, looking around furtively.
Aman hid in the shadows and watched as Hongxing made a deal with that man.
Because the lady has been at home these past two days, Hongxing has hardly had any time to secretly make rouge. These two boxes were made by her staying up all night.
The man, upon receiving the rouge, still complained about the small quantity. Then, glancing at the box containing it, he became even more dissatisfied, exclaiming, "Why use such a cheap box? It looks so low-quality, how much can it sell for?" Hongxing knew the rouge boxes were of poor quality this time. But there was nothing she could do; she had searched everywhere in the Marquis's mansion, and even these two boxes were only given to her after she had begged Haitang.
Although it wasn't as luxurious as the previous ones, it was still a gift from the lady, so it wasn't too bad.
“This is the best I could find,” Hongxing said. “If it really doesn’t work, you can find rouge boxes for me and I’ll make the rouge. It’s okay if the price is lower.”
Because she's been going out at night a lot lately, Haitang, who lives with her, has become a little suspicious of her. This time, when she asked her for the rouge box, Haitang asked her all sorts of questions, but luckily she managed to make up an excuse to get away with it.
But she estimates she will have to be extremely careful to avoid being discovered.
The man knew that Hongxing had brought out a lot of good stuff these days, and was probably running out of money. Hearing her suggestion, he pondered for a moment and said, "Troublesome. Okay, I'll go look for it."
He was in charge of reselling rouge, and he frequented brothels to sell rouge to the women there.
With these fine rouge boxes, you only need to offer a slight discount compared to regular rouge shops, and the women there will rush to buy them.
As for rouge itself, whether it's expensive or cheap, it all looks pretty much the same on the face. As long as your skin doesn't break out or cause other problems, no one can tell the difference.
So the most important thing is still that rouge box.
Now that Hongxing is telling him that rouge boxes are hard to find, it means that their deal is over.
But even if the deal falls through, goodwill should remain, so he couldn't say it outright and could only agree for the time being.
Hongxing was unaware of his true intentions and thought he had really agreed to her request, which made her overjoyed.
In this way, she would avoid the trouble of finding the rouge box. Although she would earn less money, at least she wouldn't have to worry about being discovered.
The man looked at her smiling face, subtly slipped the rouge into his sleeve, and then took out his purse to pay her.
Looking at the string of copper coins in the man's hand, Hongxing couldn't help but frown. "That's all?"
This is significantly less than before.
"That's already a lot. These white porcelain boxes are so common now, people don't even want them if you give them away."
Thinking this was the last time he would do business with her, the man frowned, but still reluctantly took out two more copper coins from his purse and gave them to her. "That's all. Take it or leave it."
At least the other party made a concession, and although Hongxing was unwilling, she had no choice but to accept it.
Watching her stuff the money into her sleeve, the man turned to leave, but Hongxing grabbed him, saying, "Hey, you haven't told us when we'll meet next!"
The man turned around, a hint of impatience in his eyes. "I'll contact you once I get the rouge box. What's the rush?"
Hongxing sensed something was wrong with the other person, but couldn't quite put her finger on it, so she let go of his hand. "Alright, then find me as soon as possible. Don't go to the Marquis's residence, lest you be discovered. Just leave a message here, and I'll come over every three days."
The flowers in the garden are in full bloom now, making it the perfect time to make rouge. Once this season is over, it will be difficult to find fresh and suitable flowers.
The man clearly didn't want to talk to her anymore, gave a perfunctory "hmm," and turned to leave.
Hongxing touched the copper coins in her sleeve, pouted, and still felt it wasn't enough.
Not far away, Aman saw all of this.
She wasn't sure if it was just her imagination, but she felt that the man's attitude towards Hongxing today was a bit strange, and he seemed somewhat perfunctory.
As for why she was being perfunctory, Aman didn't want to delve into it. Right now, she was more interested in getting Hongxing's rouge recipe.
Seeing Hongxing approaching, Aman emerged from the shadows and called out to her.
Hongxing was startled to find other people in such a remote place. She instinctively wanted to take a few quick steps to leave this troublesome place, but stopped when she saw that the person was Aman.
"It's you?" Hongxing's furrowed brows relaxed a little as she looked Aman up and down. "Why aren't you serving the young master at Wutong Courtyard at this hour? What are you doing here?"
“I should be asking you that too!” Aman raised an eyebrow at her and asked her the same question, “At this time, instead of serving the Second Madam in the West Garden, what are you doing here? Also, who was that man who just passed by? I saw you two talking for quite a while.”
Aman asked the question knowing the answer already.
Unexpectedly, she had seen it all. Hongxing's heart, which had just settled down, jumped again. But looking at where Aman was standing, she quickly calmed down.
She was so far away, she might not have seen or heard everything, and maybe she was just bluffing.
Yes, we can't admit it, we absolutely cannot admit it.
"What man? What nonsense are you spouting?" Hongxing looked at her as if she were slandering someone.
"Oh, still won't admit it?" Aman looked at her. "I heard and saw everything. That man, he's a rouge seller, isn't he? You're secretly making rouge to make money behind the Second Madam's back!"
"..."
Hongxing was a little embarrassed that she knew all this, but she still stubbornly said, "So what?"
"What's wrong? Tell me, if I tell the Second Madam about this, what will she do?" Aman asked, fiddling with her fingers, pretending not to care.
However, Hongxing was feeling very guilty. Hearing Aman's words, her heart pounded even harder, and a thin layer of sweat appeared on her forehead. She argued, "I only do these things after I finish my shift. I haven't missed any work. Second Madam won't do anything to me."
Although the second wife was tough in managing the household, she was relatively lenient with the servants. Even if she found out, she would only scold them a couple of times and wouldn't do anything else.
Hongxing comforted herself.
However, Aman directly exposed her self-deception.
“What if I tell the Second Madam that you not only secretly made rouge behind her back, but also stole the rouge box?” Aman asked again. “Or, I can tell the First Madam about this and let her talk to the Second Madam.”
Aman deduced from the conversation between Hongxing and that man that Hongxing's rouge box was of dubious origin.
As the saying goes, taking something without asking is stealing. Regardless of which courtyard Hongxing's rouge box was looted from, whether it had an owner or not, it ultimately belonged to the Marquis's mansion.
The Marquis's mansion has its own rules. If a servant is dishonest, he or she will be beaten and kicked out of the mansion at best, and at worst, he or she will be sent to see the authorities.
Moreover, if, as Aman suggests, this matter is told to the First Madam, and she then speaks to the Second Madam…
The East and West Gardens were already at odds, and the reason why Aman was punished so severely last time was also inseparable from the Second Madam's sarcastic remarks.
If this were to come out of the First Madam's mouth, Hongxing couldn't even imagine what she would suffer.
Putting everything else aside, Aunt Fangyi is definitely not going to let her off the hook.
Thinking about all this, Hongxing was truly terrified. All the bravado she had shown in front of Aman vanished, and she could only resign herself to her fate. "Tell me," she said, "what do you want?"
She didn't believe that Aman was telling her all this just to scare her or to complain to the second wife.
Seeing that the other party had fallen into the trap, Aman felt a little relieved. "It's nothing, just your rouge recipe."
“No,” Hongxing refused before Aman could finish speaking.
She asked her for money or anything else, except for the rouge recipe.
This is her lifeline; how could she easily give it to someone else?
"Apart from the rouge recipe, you can make any other requests."
“Alas, but I am only interested in your rouge recipe,” Aman sighed, feigning regret. “In that case, I can only tell the First Madam the truth. I don’t know if you will still be able to make rouge in prison.”
After saying that, she glanced at Hongxing with sympathy in her eyes and then resolutely left.
Seeing Aman leave so resolutely, as if he was going to tell on someone, Hongxing's mind was in a complete mess, about to explode.
She knew, of course, that she couldn't agree to Aman's request, but if she didn't, and she really told the First Madam, the consequences would be...
If she is really sent to jail, she will probably be severely injured even if she doesn't die.
Moreover, which family would dare to use or marry a woman who has been to prison?
But if I say it...
Hongxing was unwilling to accept it, but she was powerless to do anything about it.
...
On the other side, Aman also pretended to leave.
Of course, she wouldn't actually tell the First Madam about this.
Although Hongxing and she had a bad relationship before, she wouldn't actually do something like this.
If the First Madam adds fuel to the fire with her accusations and makes sarcastic remarks, given the Second Madam's temperament, Hongxing will likely suffer the consequences.
She was just bluffing; if she really didn't want to, she would have no choice but to give up.
Aman deliberately slowed down, waiting for Hongxing to figure things out. However, even though she was almost out of the alley, there was still no sound behind her.
It seems her wishful thinking is going to fail.
Aman sighed and was about to turn the corner towards the market when Hongxing suddenly called out to her.
"Stop right there."
Aman paused, her cherry lips curving slightly upward.
Hehe, it's done.
Hongxing quickened her pace to catch up with Aman, standing face to face with her. Her eyes were filled with resentment, and her tone was even more furious, "If I tell you the rouge recipe, you really won't tell Madam and the others about this anymore?"
This "Madam" naturally includes both the First Madam and the Second Madam.
“Of course,” Aman replied sincerely, “A gentleman’s word is his bond.”
That's something the young master often says.
Upon hearing this, Hongxing sneered, "Tch, what kind of gentleman are you?"
More like a villain.
Aman knew that her coercive and enticement tactics were indeed somewhat despicable, so she accepted Hongxing's mockery without question. "So, are you willing to tell me the rouge recipe?"
Hongxing raised her eyelids, looking as if to say, "That's obvious." She said, "Listen carefully. I'm only doing this once. Whether you remember it or not is up to you. Don't come asking me later."
"Hey, hey, hey, no!" Aman exclaimed anxiously. "How can I remember everything you say? Why don't you write it down for me?"
"Are you deliberately making things difficult for me? Do I look like someone who can write?" Hongxing said, somewhat irritably.
I must have had the worst luck of the day, not checking the almanac before leaving home. Not only did I not make much money selling the rouge, but I also got ripped off. And to make matters worse, the person who ripped me off seemed a bit dim-witted.
When she has time, she will definitely go to her ancestors' graves and have a good talk about why they accepted her paper money but did not do anything to bless her!
Aman hadn't thought of that for a moment either. Seeing Hongxing's expression as if she were looking at an idiot, he could only scratch his head awkwardly and say, "Then tell me, tell me."
"Then listen carefully."
Although Hongxing was resentful that Aman had extorted the rouge recipe from her, she had already promised to tell him, so she naturally told him everything without reservation.
She spoke in detail, and Aman listened attentively.
Fortunately, the method for making rouge wasn't too difficult. As Aman listened, she simulated the process in her mind and managed to remember it fairly well.
“You can’t lie to me. If something goes wrong, I’ll come after you,” Aman said.
“Who’s like you?” Hongxing sneered and said fiercely, “Don’t forget what you promised me. If I find out you’re two-faced, I’ll drag you down with me even if it kills me.”
After leaving the alley and parting ways with Hongxing, Aman's first action was to run back to Wutong Garden, rush into her room, and carefully write down all the steps Hongxing had described for making rouge.
In the east wing, just as Mantou finished grinding the millstone for Fu Yunxiu, they heard hurried footsteps outside, and the door to the west wing was suddenly opened with a whoosh.
What's wrong? Why are you in such a hurry to go out and buy groceries?
The steamed bun thought to itself.
Thinking that Aman would definitely come in soon, Mantou didn't go out to look. After a while, he heard the door across the street open again.
Aman's voice came from outside the window, carried by the morning breeze, and was exceptionally pleasant to hear, "Young master, I'm going out to buy groceries."
"...!?" Mantou wondered if he had misheard. He remembered that Aman had just gone out to buy groceries. Why was she going out again now?
Could it be that he misremembered?
“Young master,” Mantou hesitated, “didn’t Aman just say that?”
Fu Yunxiu didn't speak, but just chuckled, looking like he saw through it but didn't say anything.
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