Chapter 478 Extra: Winter Wheat and Yun Niang (Part 1)
While embroidering a handkerchief, Dongmai talked to Aunt Xin beside her.
"Tell me, Miss has asked you to leave the manor time and time again, but you just won't."
The young lady said you can come back whenever you want.
Why won't you listen!
Once you leave, you'll be Ye Da Dong Jia.
Within this household, you can only be Concubine Xin!
Dongmai is now forty-five years old, just like Aunt Xin.
Dongmai continued to do her own needlework; she made all the handkerchiefs, purses, and even the undergarments worn close to the skin for her young mistress.
No matter how well the outsiders do it, her young lady won't wear it.
This made Dongmai very proud; her young lady just couldn't live without her!
But what about Yunniang...?
Seeing that Aunt Xin was also holding a needle and thread, just like herself.
Although the embroidered peony flowers were no longer a single clump, it still seemed they wouldn't sell for many coins.
Dongmai couldn't understand why Aunt Xin insisted on staying at the Duke of Dingguo's mansion when she clearly had better options.
At the beginning, she came up with a reason.
She was brought in by the old Duke Dingguo, so when she leaves, the old Duke Dingguo should kick her out.
Later, when the old Duke Dingguo returned from the dead, she still didn't recognize him.
Later, she said that the lady had been kind to her and that she wanted to repay her.
If you leave, you'll be heartless.
Helpless, Madam Shen could only comfort her, telling her to stay as long as she wanted.
Aunt Xin, who was doing needlework with Dongmai, snorted.
"Why would I want to go out? Isn't it fine staying in the manor?"
"And the winter wheat, I've already paid the money!" Aunt Xin said earnestly.
Winter wheat...
Yun Niang initially thought that everyone wanted her to leave because she was incurring too many expenses in the mansion.
Then every year she would take out some money and give it to Steward Shen.
Butler Shen dared not accept it and reported it to the young lady.
Who knew that Aunt Xin would say that if they didn't accept the money, she would really be too ashamed to stay in the mansion any longer.
In any case, as Miss said, Aunt Xin's innocent and delicate personality only manifests intermittently.
Fortunately, everyone knew that Aunt Xin wasn't short of money; that little bit of money was really just a drop in the ocean for her.
"Dongmai, didn't Madam say that you can go out anytime you want? Why don't you go out?"
Aunt Xin tied the last knot in the embroidery thread on the purse in her hand, and then asked Dongmai with a smile.
Dongmai snorted.
"Can I be the same as you?"
I was born a lady, and I died a lady's ghost.
Since the young lady bought me, I belong to her.
"Wherever Miss is, I am!" Dongmai said earnestly.
Aunt Xin chuckled.
At first, she really thought Dongmai was the Duke's concubine!
She only realized this after spending more time with them.
It turns out that the winter wheat, like herself, was just a decoration in the mansion.
The Duke only loves his wife...
Even though Dongmai was vying for favor with her back then, she would always call the Duke away from her room.
That was really just watching the Duke sleep.
She would never sleep in the same bed as the Duke...
"Dongmai, have you ever thought about what kind of person you will marry?"
"I was referring to the time before you became the Duke's nominal concubine," Aunt Xin asked.
Dongmai shook his head without even thinking.
"I never imagined that after I became Miss's maid, my heart would only belong to Miss."
Aunt Xin was a little skeptical.
How could that be? Isn't there a saying that every young girl dreams of love?
Dongmai is a carefree person, so she must have thought about these things too.
Like her, even though she grew up in the palace, before entering the Duke of Dingguo's mansion, didn't she still have a sliver of fantasy...?
I hope that my future support will be a peerless hero...
Little did she know, the invincible hero in her heart didn't even think much of her.
"Really?" Aunt Xin was still a little skeptical.
Dongmai rolled her eyes at Aunt Xin.
"It's true! It's more real than pearls! I don't believe anyone but Miss."
Aunt Xin also put down what she was doing and looked at Dongmai with curiosity.
Over the years, her relationship with Dongmai has grown stronger, and the two are practically inseparable best friends.
However, she knew very little about Dongmai's past.
On the one hand, she was too embarrassed to ask.
On the other hand, it's something that winter wheat itself never mentions.
"Dongmai, did you really sell yourself into servitude to bury your father, just like in the storybooks?" Aunt Xin asked in a low voice.
Dongmai nodded generously.
"Yes, he sold himself into servitude to bury his father."
We were really poor back then, and we couldn't sell anything even after trying for several days.
Luckily it was cold then, otherwise my dad would probably have stinked.
Aunt Xin...
Don't you have any relatives or friends?
I know you've been literate since you were little, which means your family wasn't so poor that they couldn't afford to eat.
"Then why...did it come to that?" Aunt Xin asked in a low voice.
Dongmai paused for a moment, then quickly returned to normal.
"It's nothing serious, just that our family has fallen on hard times!"
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