Chapter 1087: The loyal maid promoted to concubine (7)
Shi Chu walked to the back door of the Anding Marquis's mansion and said to the gatekeeper, "Uncle Wang, I have recovered from my illness and will be back to serve the master. Please open the door for me and let me in."
"Who are you?" The gatekeeper, Old Wang, was shocked when he saw a face full of scars, which was almost unrecognizable. He thought he saw a ghost. After a while, he realized that it was a living person and asked in a bad mood.
"Uncle Wang, I am Du Xiang, the girl beside the Crown Prince's wife." Shi Chu showed her disfigured face in front of Old Wang without any concern.
"Are you Du Xiang?!" Old Wang was so surprised that he spoke loudly, attracting people not far away to hear it and come over to watch the fun.
"How did you become like this now? You are disfigured. What should I do? You are still young and haven't married yet. Sigh..." Old Wang had seen Du Xiang, the maidservant who used to be beside the Crown Prince's wife. Now seeing her disfigured face, he sighed with extreme pity.
"Old Wang, you said this is Du Xiang? Du Xiang, the first-class maidservant beside the Crown Prince's wife?" A burly servant woman beside him shouted sharply, "Du Xiang was very beautiful, how could she become like this?"
"I heard that she was infected with the plague before. Now she has recovered, but the scars on her face cannot be cured. Isn't she disfigured?" Another maid said gloatingly, "It's pitiful, but Du Xiang, you look like a wretch now. It's impossible for you to return to serve the Crown Prince's wife. You may be able to serve as a night incense burner, but even if you do that, you have to cover your face with a cloth first. Otherwise, if you scare passers-by, it will be a sin, hehe..."
"Mr. Chen, you are going too far by saying that!" Old Wang couldn't stand it anymore and glared at the maid. Then he comforted Shi Chu, "Du Xiang, don't listen to her nonsense. You have been serving the Crown Prince's Consort for so long. Even if you have no merit, you have worked hard. The Crown Prince's Consort will definitely not treat you unfairly."
Shi Chu nodded: "I think so too, that's why I came back. Why? Mother Chen, in your eyes, is the Crown Prince's Consort a heartless and disloyal master who doesn't care about feelings at all? She even abandoned the maid who had been by her side for more than ten years?"
"I don't think so! Don't talk nonsense! The Crown Prince's Concubine is kind and gentle, and I admire her the most!" Mother Chen was so frightened that her face turned pale, and she retorted hurriedly. If the Crown Prince's Concubine heard what Shi Chu said, what good would she get? Mother Chen didn't think that the Crown Prince's Concubine would be kind to her.
Shi Chu snorted lightly and ignored her. This Mother Chen had wanted to arrange a marriage for the original owner and let her marry her son. After all, the original owner was the maid of the Crown Prince's wife at that time and had a promising future. Didn't Mother Chen want her to be her daughter-in-law?
But the original owner had no intention of getting married, so she rejected Mother Chen without hesitation. Of course, even if the original owner had the intention to get married, she would not look down on her fat and big-eared son who had everything he wanted, including eating, drinking, having girlfriends and gambling.
Mother Chen felt that the original owner was ungrateful, so she bore a grudge against him. Now that she saw Shi Chu's face was disfigured, she was eager to add insult to injury. However, she did not expect that Shi Chu would fight back without mercy.
Lao Wang felt sorry for Shi Chu, and knowing that she had recovered and was no longer contagious, he let Shi Chu in.
Shi Chu walked towards Gui Yunlai's courtyard without stopping. Along the way, she met many servants coming and going in the Marquis of Anding's Mansion. Everyone who saw her face was shocked. After the chaos, everyone knew that Du Xiang, the top maid beside the Crown Prince's Concubine, was disfigured.
Shi Chu asked for a meeting outside Gui Yunlai's yard. The maid guarding the gate saw her and didn't dare to recognize her. It was only after Shi Chu repeatedly proved her identity to her that the maid went to report to the people in the inner courtyard with a dazed look on her face that Du Xiang had returned.
When Rendong heard that Du Xiang had returned, she was so excited that her eyes turned red. Gui Yunlai also looked very happy and quickly asked someone to bring Du Xiang in.
Shi Chu's face was not covered with cloth, and the scars on her face were exposed, so the former owner's old friends soon found out that she was disfigured.
"Du Xiang? How did you become like this?!" When Rendong saw Shi Chu, she asked in disbelief, and her eyes were suddenly filled with tears.
Gui Yun was also shocked when she saw Shi Chu's horrible face, but she quickly regained her composure. She looked at Shi Chu with a distressed expression and said, "Du Xiang, you suffered a lot. Fortunately, you have recovered now, otherwise I would always feel uneasy."
"Thanks to you, my master, I have recovered. Although I have a scar on my face, my life is safe and I can still work. As soon as I recovered from my illness, I hurried back to the mansion, thinking of continuing to serve my master..."
Gui Yunlai's expression froze for a moment. She changed the subject and said, "Didn't you see a doctor to treat the scar on your face? What did the doctor say?"
"The doctor said it's normal to leave scars, but it's impossible to completely cure them. At most, they can be slightly reduced. Unless I can find some miracle doctor or get lucky, it will be possible to restore my appearance." Shi Chu replied with a disappointed look. While saying that he was destined to be disfigured, he also did not forget to leave an excuse for himself to heal his scars in the future.
"Du Xiang, what will you do in the future? Why is your life so miserable?" Rendong said to Shi Chu sadly. She was the only one who truly sympathized with Shi Chu.
Shi Chu smiled bitterly and comforted her: "Ren Dong, don't be sad. I am already very grateful that I can keep my life. I dare not expect anything else."
Rendong looked at Gui Yunlai eagerly. She hoped that her master could give Shi Chu a guarantee so that she would not be too miserable in the future.
Gui Yunlai had a headache, as she had indeed felt that Shi Chu was loyal to her, easy to command and very much in her favor, but that was before she was disfigured.
Now, she only felt that the disfigured Shi Chu was hideous, which put her in a dilemma. She did not want to see a maid with a horrible appearance around her. She was the prince's consort and could have any kind of servants she wanted. There was no need for her to have a disfigured person.
But if she abandoned Shi Chu without mercy, how would others see her? They would definitely think that she was heartless and ruthless, abandoning even a maid who had been with her for more than ten or twenty years, and was cold-blooded and heartless.
Therefore, Shi Chu had posed a difficult problem to her.
"Du Xiang, what are your plans? Do you want to come back and serve me?" Gui Yun said with some embarrassment, "Of course I want to keep you by my side. After all, you have been my favorite over the years. I am not used to it without you by my side..."
Seeing that her master was in trouble, Rendong wanted to say something, but when she saw the disfigured face of Shi Chu, whom she regarded as a sister, she held back what she wanted to say.
(End of this chapter)
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