After hearing this, Aunt Yang was furious and had to keep a low profile for a while.
I really didn't expect that a little maid could cause such a commotion, so I sent Hanqiao to bring that little hussy over.
Liu Xiang'er was criticizing the presentation of the food. It wasn't exquisite, it didn't look good, and why it wasn't prepared according to her requirements.
Before Hongye could reply, Hanqiao arrived.
As soon as she turned around, she saw her sister Hanqiao with a stern face, speaking in a low voice, calling her to her aunt's courtyard.
Liu Xiang'er was so startled that she jumped and looked at Hongye, who nodded almost imperceptibly.
Knowing there was no way to avoid it, Liu Xiang'er followed Han Qiao with a dejected expression.
Hanqiao turned her head and said to Hongye, "You take the food box and come with me."
When they arrived at the concubine's courtyard, Aunt Yang did not rush to punish or scold them.
Instead, she picked up a piece of red amaranth cake with her hands, which had just been dyed with cardamom.
I tried it, and it really tasted good. "She certainly knows how to eat."
She said these words with a smile, which made Xiang'er even more frightened. Her knees buckled and she knelt on the ground.
Aunt Yang neither told her to get up nor how she would be punished. Xiang'er felt increasingly uneasy.
Hongye knelt from 3 PM to 11 PM, and Hanqiao even gave her a stool to sit on while she waited.
When Liu Xiang'er came out, her legs were so weak that she could barely stand. She had to rely on Hongye for support as she slowly made her way towards Moyuan Pavilion.
The same pattern continued for the next three days; Liu Xiang'er arrived early and left late.
It's almost 5 a.m., and we have to kneel until 9 p.m. before we can leave. If we keep kneeling like this, our legs will be ruined.
Even Wang Ying, the "enemy" in the courtyard, couldn't bear to see it. All he did was greed for a bite to eat, and he was punished like this.
Fortunately, on the fourth day, the second wife heard about this and when she arrived at Yang's courtyard, she saw that the maid was indeed being punished.
Madam Zheng laughed in exasperation, "Why are all the people in the Third Young Master's courtyard so restless?"
"I see that punishing just this one isn't enough. Zijing, go get a rattan cane. Regardless of age, everyone who serves in Moyuan Courtyard, give each of them three strokes."
Aunt Yang panicked. The Third Young Master had gone out, and everyone in the courtyard was being punished. If word got out, who knew what people would say about Gu Ting?
But the second wife didn't care about her at all. Wasn't she just venting her anger and deliberately making trouble for others, trying to embarrass her as the mistress of the house?
Since she's so willing to embarrass herself, let her embarrass herself to her heart's content.
Wang Ying and the others suffered an undeserved misfortune; their hands swelled up for seven or eight days after being hit with three strokes of the cane.
Even the gatekeeper, Granny Shi, had such swollen hands that she had to close the door at night by rubbing her elbow against it.
After this incident, Aunt Yang fell into complete silence, truly realizing how incredibly foolish she had been, and dared not cause any more trouble.
Even when he hated Liu Xiang'er, he wouldn't openly punish her like this.
He gave Xiang'er dozens of handkerchiefs and told her to stay inside and do embroidery. She could go out and stretch her legs when she finished embroidering.
Liu Xiang'er learned her lesson and, except when she needed to use the outhouse, she never stepped out of the house again.
So although Wang Ying and the others were injured, they felt much better now that they didn't have to see her sullen face.
Chun'er, however, encouraged everyone to pool their money to buy a good medicine for Liu Xiang'er's injuries.
Xingzi was speechless. She was too tired to talk. She couldn't explain the same thing twice.
Seeing that everyone was ignoring her again, Chun'er felt that the world was truly cold and indifferent.
They bought the medicinal oil themselves and delivered it to Xiang'er with heartfelt sincerity.
Liu Xiang'er diligently embroidered handkerchiefs for a month, and her leg injury was almost healed, so she went to ask Fang Li for leave.
“I haven’t been home for several months. The other day, Yezi from our courtyard wrote to me saying that my younger brother is sick, and I have to go back to see him.”
Fangli smiled, "What kind of logic is that, young lady? If you want to go home, you can just walk away. Why bother telling me?"
Liu Xiang'er was extremely embarrassed. "We should always inform someone first, otherwise wouldn't that be against the rules?"
After saying that, he took off a wide silver bracelet with a plum blossom pattern from his hand and put it on Fangli's wrist.
Fangli knew she was scared. "Then I'll go and inform the nanny next to Auntie. She'll be back with a reply in no time."
Liu Xiang'er let out a heavy sigh, and after Fang Li left, she breathed a long sigh of relief.
The concubine seemed rather unwilling upon hearing this, but it was her maidservant who persuaded her.
"Let the young lady go out. If she faints from exhaustion in a few days, it will be a problem for her to stay in the manor."
Aunt Yang nodded, but then had Fangli take away a bag of handkerchiefs.
"She's not a doctor herself, so she might not be able to help much when she gets home. She might even get sick from being so anxious while she's idle."
So I decided to find her something to do and have her embroider these handkerchiefs, then send them over in ten days. Having something to do will keep her from worrying too much.
Fangli took the large bundle of handkerchiefs, speechless with astonishment. No wonder the old woman had said she was overworked.
She dared to say that even the most experienced nanny in the manor's sewing workshop might not be able to finish embroidering the simplest pattern in ten days.
But Liu Xiang'er dared not object again. With a frown, she accepted the embroidery work and went home.
When Xiang'er's mother saw her return, she was naturally happy. She hugged Xiang'er and called her her darling.
She even had her son run to the main kitchen to cut two ounces of meat, and then went outside to buy a basket of shepherd's purse.
It's the perfect time to enjoy fresh spring delicacies, so I'm making shepherd's purse wontons for my daughter.
She had only eaten two or three wontons when she couldn't hold back any longer; her face became chapped.
"Now that you're practically a master, it's really inappropriate for you to use these coarse cloth blankets and quilts in the house anymore."
Your father and I have saved up some money, and we're planning to make you a silk quilt. You can choose the pattern.
After hearing this veiled request for money, Liu Xiang'er paused for a moment, then turned and took out two three-tael gold ingots from her makeup box.
"This is a gift from the young master, you can take it and use it first." After saying this, she couldn't even eat the wontons. She only said that she had a headache and wanted to go back to her room to rest.
Her mother was overjoyed to receive the money, and she no longer cared whether her headache was real or feigned.
"Alright, alright, then you rest for now. When you wake up tonight, I'll make you some pear and honey water."
Without waiting for her reply, he happily took the two gold ingots and went out to borrow a small scale to see if they weighed properly.
Liu Xiang'er went back to her room to embroider a handkerchief. When her two younger sisters saw her, they went back to their rooms and refused to eat the bowl of wontons.
Hesitantly, she leaned closer and said, "Since Sister doesn't want the wontons, shall we share them?"
Liu Xiang'er was feeling choked up, unable to vent her anger, when she heard the two of them talking incoherently outside.
She threw down the handkerchief and came out scolding, "Eat, eat, eat! Your mouth is always so greedy! You have no sense of propriety at all! Bring your needle and thread and come in to do some work for me."
After saying that, he narrowed his eyes coldly and snorted. The two men didn't dare to eat anymore and hurriedly went back to the house to get their needles, thread, and winnowing basket to help with the work.
It wasn't until evening that the family prepared a new meal. The bowl of wontons that had been soaking in water at noon was reheated, and the two of them shared it.
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