Chapter 29 Reminiscing
Of course, Li Xiaoxiao would not admit that she had given Magistrate Meng medicine. She lied through her teeth: "No, the magistrate's medicine was all prepared by Sister Yingchun in Madam's room. Besides, where would I get the money to buy medicine?"
You should know that the medicine that Magistrate Meng used when he was critically ill cost nearly ten taels of silver per dose. Li Xiaoxiao was a poor girl, and after searching all her clothes, she had less than five taels of silver. There was no way she could afford such expensive medicine.
These words cleared up the last bit of doubt surrounding Li Xiaoxiao. Even Doctor Xie felt it was unreasonable to continue attributing the miraculous recovery of Magistrate Meng to Li Xiaoxiao.
He had no more reasons, so he could only cup his hands and congratulate Magistrate Meng: "In that case, it must be because of your great fortune that you have recovered without medicine. I will certainly keep my promise and offer a salute to your esteemed residence."
After Doctor Xie returned home, Huichuntang indeed arranged for people to come to his door to set off firecrackers and deliver a generous gift. As a result, everyone in Biyang County knew that Magistrate Meng had recovered.
Magistrate Meng officially returned to work the next day. He had been ill for half a month, and the backlog of matters in the yamen had piled up like a mountain. The problems of the displaced people after they settled down also urgently needed his help.
With Magistrate Meng fully recovered, the gloom that had been hanging over the county government office dissipated, and Liu was finally able to free up her hands to manage the backyard.
The first thing she did was call Li Xiaoxiao in and look the girl up and down.
Meng Guanqi had not forgotten her contributions and had reminded Liu twice to reward her.
After all, he felt that Li Xiaoxiao deserved great credit for enabling Magistrate Meng to drink that bowl of porridge. Although the process was a bit rough and Magistrate Meng suffered a bit, at least his father had been saved by a twist of fate.
Meng Guanqi never interfered in matters in the backyard, yet he reminded Liu Shi about Li Xiaoxiao twice. Looking at her son's handsome face, Liu Shi immediately felt alarmed.
No girl had ever made Meng Guanqi care so much, after all, his son was already fourteen years old.
Liu couldn't wait any longer and immediately called Li Xiaoxiao in.
To be honest, she didn't have much of an impression of this girl, only that she was incredibly strong and that Madam Mao had strongly recommended her to help in the kitchen, which showed that she was capable of doing chores.
The Meng family mansion now is not like the capital. They can't keep so many idle people. They only keep those who are useful. So, her limited impression of Li Xiaoxiao was that she was very strong.
Now that I've examined it closely, the tension in my mind has immediately eased.
The young girl, around fourteen or fifteen years old, wore the uniform light green narrow-sleeved dress of the manor, with a crimson belt around her waist and a moon-white skirt. Her eyes were bright, she was full of energy, and she stood up straight. When she saw her looking at her, she not only did not avoid it, but also chuckled, revealing a set of big white teeth.
Liu felt a lump in her throat upon seeing this: "Come here."
Li Xiaoxiao stepped forward without the slightest fear.
Liu reached out and touched her face, making sure it wasn't from the smoke from tending the fire under the stove. She couldn't help but sigh, "So it wasn't just dirt, it was really dark!" It was even shiny and dark. Even Mao Mama, who was nearly fifty, was much fairer than her. You know, in Dawu, fair skin is considered beautiful, and even men with dark skin aren't very popular. For a young girl like her to be so tanned, even Liu couldn't bear to look at her like that.
To everyone's surprise, Li Xiaoxiao's eyes lit up, and she touched her face excitedly, asking, "Really? Am I really that dark?" This dog world doesn't even have a mirror, and she still didn't know that her skin color had darkened. It's really disappointing.
As for the bronze mirror in Mao's mother's room, it's all blurry and you can't see anything clearly at all. Sometimes it's not as clear as when she looks at the lake water in the sunlight.
Liu was speechless when she heard others say that she was dark-skinned: "Why are you so happy when people say you're dark-skinned?" She seemed so carefree.
Li Xiaoxiao chuckled and said, "Madam, you don't know, but in my hometown, the darker the skin, the more beautiful you are! My skin is actually quite fair!" Moreover, she looked at her hands and feet and realized they weren't dark at all; at most, they were a healthy wheat color, not dark at all. Besides, this skin tone was very beautiful, okay? She didn't understand why Liu Shi, Luo Shi, and Miss Meng all liked to make themselves look deathly pale, like plucked chickens.
What? Liu's eyes widened. The darker the skin, the prettier? She looked at the little dark-skinned girl with a complicated expression, but at the same time, she was relieved that Meng Guanqi might have taken a liking to her.
The thought of her handsome, elegant, and refined son being compared to this dark-skinned girl sent a chill down her spine. Standing together, one looked like a celestial being descended from heaven, while the other resembled a rustic village woman. She must be crazy to believe that Li Xiaoxiao would earn her outstanding son's special treatment.
Having lost her desire to probe and intimidate, her attitude became much more amiable. She gestured to Yingchun to give her a purse: "Master's recovery this time is thanks in part to you. This is a reward for you, please accept it."
Li Xiaoxiao accepted the purse without any qualms. She weighed it in her hand and knew that there were about four or five taels of silver inside, which was almost as much as her money for selling herself into servitude. Although the bottle of medicine that saved Magistrate Meng was definitely worth more than just a few taels of silver, she didn't intend for anyone to know, so five taels of silver was already extra income. She could buy a lot of delicious food!
She perked up: "Thank you for your kindness, Madam!"
Madam Liu nodded in satisfaction: "Alright, I know you're a good person. Mama Mao has already told me that the master hasn't been feeling well these days, and I haven't had the heart to take care of things in the backyard. For the past half month, you've been the one gathering firewood from the mountain. You've been running around in the scorching sun every day, so it's understandable that you've gotten so tanned. But now that the master has gone to the government office, there's no reason for the kitchen maids to be in charge of firewood. I'll hire someone else to deliver firewood, so you won't have to go out to chop firewood every day anymore."
Huh? They won't let her go out to chop firewood? Does that mean she won't have a chance to go to the mountains and fields? Li Xiaoxiao was immediately disappointed.
To be honest, she quite likes going to the mountains, mainly because she can occasionally encounter wild game, which she can hunt and have her mother help her prepare, giving her a treat.
Now that the lady has taken over the household management and reinstated the curfew, it will be difficult for her to go out in the future.
In her dying struggle, she pleaded, "Madam, I won't go to gather firewood, but I have a cow that needs grass..."
Liu frowned: "This is outrageous. Who raises cattle in the backyard? I'll have Yu Dayong take the cattle to the front yard and raise them with the horses. You're a maid in the inner courtyard, so don't go out there unnecessarily. That's all, you can go now."
Li Xiaoxiao left dejectedly.
Yingchun couldn't help but say, "Madam, you only reward her and don't punish her? She has such poor manners..."
Liu looked at Yingchun and said, "She has helped the household so much, how do you want me to punish her? Forbid her from coming to the main room again? But the master has been awake for so many days, when have you ever seen her come to the main room? It was just an emergency, a last resort, why do you insist that I punish her?"
Yingchun was startled and immediately realized that her behavior had displeased Madam Liu. She immediately knelt down and said, "This servant has overstepped her bounds. Please punish me, Madam."
Madam Liu sighed. She was not unaware of Yingchun's thoughts, but she couldn't bear to think of how Yingchun had given up her promising future in the capital to come to this barren land with her. "Get up. Li Xiaoxiao is a person of upright character. You can tell from her eyes. She comes from the countryside and doesn't understand the intricacies of the inner quarters. There aren't many people in the family to begin with, so you should try to get along with her and not make enemies everywhere."
Yingchun bowed in response, feeling that her inner clothes were soaked through.
Granny Qi glanced at her subtly, a hint of displeasure flashing in her eyes.
Seeing that Li Xiaoxiao was still looking worried despite holding the purse that the lady had given her, Madam Mao couldn't help but tease her, "Didn't the lady give you some money? Do you think it's not enough?"
Li Xiaoxiao looked as if she had lost her parents: "You gave me money, but you took my cow away!"
Mao's mother couldn't understand: "Isn't it good that you don't have to herd cattle? Look how tanned you are! If you get any darker, it'll be hard for you to find a husband in the future."
Marriage? How old is she? Fifteen! She retorted to her mother, "In our hometown, people usually get married after the age of twenty. I'm still young."
Mother Mao looked at her strangely. Getting married at twenty? What kind of custom is that? In the whole of Da Wu, twenty-year-olds are already mothers of several children. She wants to get married at twenty? Who will want her then?
She said irritably, "Don't talk nonsense. If you were born into a better family, you would have started looking for a husband at the age of twelve. After spending two or three years embroidering your dowry, you could be married by the age of fifteen. By the time you are twenty, it will be too late."
Li Xiaoxiao was shocked: "A twelve-year-old is already getting engaged? My God, that's way too young!"
Her mind was particularly sharp at that moment, and she instantly thought of Meng Liniang, the young lady who lived in the west wing. She must be twelve years old this year, right?
Her surprised gaze met that of Madam Mao, who glanced towards the west wing and nodded subtly: "If it weren't for Master's illness, Concubine Luo in the west wing would have already been arguing with Madam about making arrangements, after all, we only have one young lady in our household."
Magistrate Meng only had one daughter, and even though she was born out of wedlock, she received almost the same treatment as a legitimate daughter. As a result, Aunt Luo couldn't help but think that her marriage was the most important thing in the world.
Seeing Li Xiaoxiao's mouth agape in astonishment, Madam Mao couldn't help but tap her forehead: "Do you think arranging marriages in official families is the same as for you country folk? If there aren't families who've been interested in a marriage since childhood, just searching and inquiring can take a year and a half. Even if there are interested families, they still need to find out about the future son-in-law's family background and character, lest the girl suffer after marrying into such a family. While we're inquiring about others, they'll also be inquiring about our young lady. Once both sides are interested, they need to arrange a meeting, and only when both are satisfied can things be considered settled." After discussing and agreeing to a small engagement, and then going through the formalities of marriage, the bride had to embroider her dowry, and her family had to prepare the dowry. Two or three years would pass in the blink of an eye. For wealthy families, three years would still be considered short. You've come late; you haven't seen the dowry of the Duke of Zhenguo in the capital. It alone was 128 loads, prepared for a full six years. On the wedding day, the servants carrying the dowry carried the first load into the Marquis of Pingxi's mansion, and the last load hadn't even left the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion yet. It was a spectacle known to everyone in the capital..."
Her eyes were filled with pride, and a hint of nostalgic longing. Having witnessed that marriage that shook the entire capital, she seemed to have basked in the glory, making it a qualification worth boasting about.
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