Chapter 600: Making Arrangements for His Death
The maid's mother had been ill for some time. Previously, Niao Cui had heard the maid crying at night, so she gave her five taels of silver to treat her mother.
Even so, her mother's health, which had been depleted from years of hard work, did not recover for a long time. The doctor said it was because she had been completely drained. He said that if she could get some tonics, she might recover. But the maid's family was destitute and had no money to afford tonics.
Upon seeing the ginseng offered to her, the young maid's eyes reddened, and she immediately kowtowed several times to Niao Cui.
"I will never forget your great kindness, Aunt. From now on, I will serve you like a slave and obey your every command."
The young maidservant expressed her loyalty while shedding tears.
Niao Cui merely glanced at her and slowly said, "I don't even know how many days I can live with this frail body. If you want to thank someone, thank Miss. If she hadn't brought this ginseng, I wouldn't have anything to give you."
As she spoke, Niao Cui pointed to the sachet hanging not far away, "That was left to me by my mother. I should take it with me when I go to see my mother."
Niao Cui's words sounded like she was giving her last words, and the maid cried even harder after hearing them.
To be honest, Niao Cui had always treated her well since she came to this courtyard. Although it wasn't as wealthy as being with others, she had lived a comfortable life. Now, seeing Niao Cui so weak and frail, the maid felt terrible.
The maid took the sachet and personally hung it around Niao Cui's waist before she put the ginseng back in her arms.
"Qingxia, where are you going?"
Another maid entered and saw that the maid named Qingxia seemed to be leaving, so she immediately rushed in.
"I...I'm going home." Qingxia seemed a little afraid of the little maid. Seeing her fierce look, she couldn't help but lower her head.
"Going home? You're taking your aunt's ginseng with you? Just because your aunt isn't well, you think you can just dispose of her things as you please?"
The maid's arrogant demeanor frightened Qingxia even more. "No, this was a gift from my aunt."
Qingxia tried to explain, but the maidservant snatched the ginseng away, saying, "You're trying to take over your mistress's things. I'm going to tell Madam about this and see how she deals with you."
The little maid was about to leave when Niao Cui called out, "Qing He, that ginseng was for Qing Xia."
"What?" Qinghe looked over, somewhat displeased. "Auntie, this ginseng was a gift from my eldest aunt. How could you give it to Qingxia?"
Actually, Qinghe didn't think that Niaocui couldn't give the ginseng to someone; he just felt that it couldn't be given to Qingxia, since she herself wanted to exchange it for money.
Niao Cui had also worked as a maid, so she naturally knew Qing He's little scheme. Seeing Qing He's unhappy face and the ginseng tightly in her hand, Niao Cui's expression also turned sour.
"Qinghe, take the ginseng back to Qingxia. Come here, I have something to say to you."
For once, Niao Cui stood firm. Although Qing He looked down on Niao Cui's status as a concubine, she was still a mistress. Even if she was useless, he had no choice but to reluctantly give the ginseng to Qing Xia.
Qingxia took the ginseng, fearing that Qinghe would take it away again, and immediately turned around and ran out quickly.
Qinghe walked to Niaocui's side, but still couldn't help complaining, "Auntie only cares about Qingxia. She even secretly gave her money before. She's just a maid. She's not worth Auntie's concern."
At first glance, Qinghe's words seemed to be for Niaocui's good, but in reality, he was complaining that Niaocui was biased.
Niao Cui was very displeased with this, but in order to avoid trouble, she could only temporarily tolerate the little maid's nagging.
"Qinghe, take out the gold hairpin from under my pillow."
As Niao Cui spoke, she shifted her body slightly. Qing He, somewhat displeased, groped under his pillow before taking out the hairpin.
"What does Auntie want with it?"
This gold hairpin was a gift from Master Gu when Niao Cui first became a concubine, and it is considered the most valuable piece of jewelry in Niao Cui's collection.
After all, Master Gu was not wealthy, and later he had a falling out with the main wife's family, so he didn't really have much money in his hands. Later, he finally separated from the family and had some assets, but because He Yin controlled them and he himself liked to squander money, almost nothing was left in the hands of his concubines.
Niao Cui glanced at the impatient Qing He, not even bothering to lift her eyelids, and said, "Here you go."
"You...you gave it to me?"
Qinghe, who had just been looking unwilling, suddenly opened his mouth wide and stared wide-eyed, as if he had misheard.
“That’s right, it’s for you.” Niao Cui repeated, and Qing He finally snapped out of his surprise.
"Thank you for the gift, Auntie."
Qinghe was overjoyed. Compared to the ginseng Qingxia had taken earlier, this hairpin was far more valuable. With this, she could exchange it for countless amounts of silver.
No, she can't exchange it for silver; she has to keep it as part of her dowry so that no matter which family she marries into, they'll still look up to her.
Qinghe quickly started plotting something in his mind, carefully putting away the hairpin, afraid that Qingxia would see it and ask Niaocui for it again.
Little did she know that this seemingly heavy hairpin was not pure gold at all; apart from the outermost layer of gold plating, it was actually an iron hairpin.
After Niao Cui dismissed the two maids, she slowly took out the five hundred taels of silver notes that Gu Shuyan had given her. She knew that she was going to fake her death and leave the Marquis's mansion, and it was not safe to have the silver notes on her, so she thought of the sachet her mother had left behind.
After putting the silver notes into the sachet, Niao Cui finally felt at ease and lay down on the bed for a nap.
When Niao Cui woke up again in the evening, her body, which already looked like a tattered rag, finally coughed up blood.
Qinghe was already very happy to receive the hairpin today, but now that he saw Niaocui coughing up blood, he couldn't hide his joy any longer. He ran to find Heyin while shouting.
Qingxia was terrified by Niaocui's appearance. Remembering Niaocui's dying words, she immediately burst into tears again.
Upon receiving the news, He Yin naturally reported the matter to Master Gu and sent someone to fetch a doctor. However, after examining the patient, the doctor only told the Gu family to prepare for the funeral and then left.
They thought that since Niao Cui was about to die, Master Gu would consider their past relationship and come to see her, but to their surprise, he didn't appear until she breathed her last.
"Alright, since the person is dead, let's buy a coffin and bury her! Although Niao Cui didn't give birth to any children for the second son, she still served him for so long, so we can't just bury her like this."
In the old lady's courtyard, after hearing He Yin's words, the old lady immediately made her conclusion.
As clever as the old lady was, how could she not know that He Yin wanted to use public funds for the funeral? Although Niao Cui was from the second wife's family, the funeral could not be too shabby.
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