Chapter 8: Many Buildings
It was already late at night when we arrived at the Governor's Mansion.
Watching Jiaoran enter the city gate on the mountainside, Bu Yue and Xu Mengchou drove back to Xiutu Capital.
The three of them were divided into two directions, walking further and further away.
Jiaoran was brought into the palace by a servant. The governor's mansion was too big, with numerous roads and buildings.
Water flowed by, creating an eerie movement in the dark night.
It was too dark at night and she could hardly see around her. She could only see the buildings in the night like monsters with huge mouths open. The further she walked in, it was like she was getting into the monster's belly.
This boy was a servant in the young master's garden, and he was waiting here specially. It was originally said that Jiaoran would arrive that afternoon, but he waited and waited, but Jiaoran still didn't show up. Until then, he saw a young girl jump out of the carriage, walk up to him, hand him a card, lower her head, fold her hands in front of her chest, and bow.
"My lady, you are late." The servant asked in a blaming tone.
She was so nice in front of her companions just now, but now that she has lost her backer, her expression has changed again.
"If there's a next time, you'll definitely get a beating."
If they were at Huiying Inn, she would spit in his face and say, "Bah, who do you think you are to dare to teach me a lesson?"
But this is the Governor's Office.
When Monkey King left the Flower-Fruit Mountain, he had to carry his golden cudgel with him to go on adventures, but she didn't even have a golden cudgel.
Not hearing Jiaoran's response, he turned around and asked angrily, "Did you hear that?"
Jiaoran was unfamiliar with the place and was just walking forward, which caused him to be knocked off his feet.
"You wild girl!"
Jiao Ran said quickly, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry."
He originally wanted to bully her, but considering that this was her first day in the Governor's Mansion and she was taking over Ran Hong's task, if he scared the person away, it would be difficult to report to the young master.
So he suppressed his temper and said, "Why don't you go quickly?"
"Yes." Jiaoran clenched his back teeth in the dark night, wishing he could kick him.
They had just eaten one meal during the day, and after walking for half an hour, Jiaoran's stomach was already growling.
She was so hungry that she felt a little dazed. As she passed through a large rockery, she asked, "Are we going to see the Master?"
He snorted, "It's already late, the master has gone to bed long ago. The young master is not feeling well and goes to bed early. Let's wait until tomorrow. Tomorrow he summons you, and you can go."
"yes."
After climbing a few stone steps and passing through the pavilion, there was a gurgling stream below. At the end of the wooden corridor were two large blue and white porcelain fish tanks. Jiaoran walked past them and saw a small yellow and white flower with closed buds and small fish swimming under the leaves.
Jiaoran looked at the fish in the fish tank, and for a moment she felt like a fish in a tank being stared at. She subconsciously looked around, but no one was looking at her.
After passing through the pavilion, the two of them climbed up another wooden staircase. As they went up, they heard someone talking.
"Upstairs is the small kitchen of Siyu Garden. The waiters are eating in there. You came late, and there's nothing to eat now. Go and ask them to bring you a steamed bun to fill your stomach."
Jiaoran endured it again and again, and really wanted to go back home, thinking, "This is for my mother, for the sake of meeting Yingmen, I can't lose the big picture for the sake of small things."
She knocked on the door and an old woman opened it for her.
"Are you the maid who came to take over Ran Hong's job?"
Jiaoran nodded. Although she knew that her job was to replace someone, she didn't know that the woman's name was Ranhong at Huiying Inn.
Phoenix Chick said the woman was seriously ill and had returned to her hometown to recuperate. Young Master Mu Jin was nostalgic and wanted to find someone with her appearance, someone he could keep in his room so he could occasionally glance at her without feeling awkward.
Jiaoran thought this sickly young man was strange at the time. He had already returned home. If he was nostalgic, he could have given her more money for the journey. But he had to find a woman with a similar face to replace her. Young men and women from aristocratic families just have so many problems.
However, if he wasn't surprised, Phoenix Chick wouldn't have had the chance to insert her.
When they saw Jiaoran's face, several women came over to look at him.
"Grandma, look?" A woman in brown raised her eyebrows at the nanny.
Jiaoran understood what she meant. She wanted them all to see if her face looked like the woman named Ranhong.
After looking at it, several people shook their heads.
Jiaoran had just stuffed the steamed bun into her mouth when she heard them whispering. She couldn't hear clearly, but she thought they were talking about her.
"Look, she doesn't look like Sister Ranhong at all. The young master won't keep her in the room."
"But the young master is a kind person, he will definitely not drive her away."
"She's a little prettier than Ranhong, but she's not a true beauty either. She's not as pretty as Sister Xiaoju."
"Her eyes are darting around, and it's clear she's restless. She'll definitely be kicked out in a couple of days."
"I guess the young master will let her help grandma in the kitchen."
"Grandma has Susu to help her, and the small kitchen is not short of manpower. In my opinion, the young master will definitely let her work at night and wait outside the house to serve."
"The young master doesn't like to see strangers at night, so I guess he won't let her get close to him and wait for the summons."
"It's so cold out here. If we ask her to keep watch all night, can she stand?"
"You still worry about her?"
…
The next day, when Jiaoran woke up, he was still in a daze and was about to call his mother.
Seeing that the bed was no longer the one she had used at the Huiying Inn, she suddenly woke up. She hadn't slept well the entire night, and the bedding was so thin and damp, like a thin sheet of cold skin, and she felt uncomfortable.
The room was filled with a musty smell and the sour odor of human breath. The master had not yet arranged a place for her to stay, so she could only squeeze in with other servants in the mansion. More than twenty girls slept in one small room.
Being a servant is so miserable. The servants in such a wealthy family also have such a miserable life. Alas, Jiaoran couldn't help but sigh.
A maid brought a basin of water and asked her to wash her face.
"You came at an untimely moment. It's been cold these days, and the young master caught a cold while reading by the window and fell ill," she said.
"Then should I still go to see the young master?" Jiaoran asked.
"No need to formally greet him. Whenever the young master sees you, just kneel down and pay your respects to him," Shao Feng told her. "The young master likes quietness, so don't make too much noise while you're working, or you'll disturb his rest."
"Yes, I understand." Jiaoran put on his clothes.
Shao Feng turned around and was stunned to see her dressing so quickly. "I... I'm here to bring you some clothes. When you enter the Governor's Mansion, you can't wear all kinds of weird clothes. You have to dress according to your master's wishes. This cotton-padded coat is the style I once wore. I saw your waist yesterday and altered the stitching tonight. Try it on."
Jiaoran thought she was really considerate, just as nice as Zhuxing, "Thank you very much, sister."
But what she was thinking was that if other people in the garden saw her wearing clothes that didn't fit her, they would definitely laugh at her for being so poor and stingy.
"Aren't you going to be sixteen after the New Year? You're exactly the same age as me. You don't have to call me sister. Just call me Shao Feng. Shao means time, and Feng means the maple leaves outside." She wanted to gesture the words to Jiaoran.
Seeing Jiaoran remained silent, she took a moment to react and asked, "You...can't read?"
Jiaoran hesitated and felt ashamed for the first time, "Yes." There were many illiterate people in his sect. What was the point of learning so many words when there were fighting and killing? This was what Jiaoran thought before.
Shao Feng sighed, "If the young master knew, he would definitely feel sorry that such beautiful hands of yours were wasted only doing rough work. Sister Ranhong used to serve in the study. She would chat with you whenever you wrote or drew. You can't read, so you can't understand poetry and songs. Maybe the young master would find it boring."
Jiao Ran was a little anxious when she said that. "Will the young master kick me out?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
