Chapter 17
Someone familiar’s back this chapter.
Chapter Seventeen A Woman's Heart, A Needle at the Bottom of the Ocean
The new winter clothes were distributed out in the fu. The servants found that this year's clothes, while made of the same cloth as in the past, were much thicker. Each person also got an extra robe. Everybody was cheerful, and thought that this fu was certainly different now that a mistress arrived. Even their living conditions, as servants, increased.
Xiao Gan Zi's hand held the little things that the people underneath him gave, a smile on his face as he said to the little taijian beside him: "Look at the happy faces of everybody, it's like new year's." He knew the truth inside. This wang fu looked golden and wealthy, but the servants at the very bottom only just managed to fill their hunger. If they were compared to the servants that were of significance to their zhuzi, it was the difference between the sky and the ground. No wonder these people were so happy when they received a little bit of goodness.
"It's just that wang fei is benevolent and that gege and the two main stewards are good managers," the little taijian carefully fawned from beside him, "The last few days, the stewards were punished by wang fei, but they didn't get angry, and became obedient. Now, this entire fu, who would make things difficult on purpose for those below them?"
"They're nothing. If wang fei wants to punish them, they should accept it. Even if she wanted their lives, they could only rage that their luck isn't good," Xiao Gan Zi said to here and looked at the taijian in front of him, "You're one of my subordinates, remember that the decision-maker of this houyuan is wang fei. If you do stupid things, they don't blame gege for not protecting you."
"Don't worry, gege, don't worry," The little taijian received Xiao Gan Zi's warning and said in gratitude, "I will listen to gege's words and definitely will not do stupid things."
Xiao Gan Zi nodded in satisfaction. Even if he wasn't relied on as much as Qian Chang Xin and Ming He, he was still one of those relied on by wang ye. Presently, wang ye was clearly desiring to support wang fei. Wang fei was like a storm. Those actions had been so fast, he hadn't managed to recover yet.
What warning, what talk before battle, all that wasn't used. It was first a storm of beating, to frighten people and then things became much easier. Those people had thought that wang fei would be constrained by wang ye's way of doing things, even he had thought so, so when the event had occurred, he had found an excuse to get out of the fu to avoid the storm. Who knew that wang fei directly punished the people, not even notifying wang ye. After wang ye resided another night at zhengyuan, he had energetically went to court the second morning. He just knew that this incident had allowed Qian Chang Xin and Ming He get a big freebie.
Not as skilled as others, no wonder those two were most influential with wang ye. Xiao Gan Zi sighed, he had a long way to go to be as clever. Even if he couldn't compete against the pair of Qian and Ming, at the very least, he had to make sure to not let others take over his position.
Inside the gardens of the wang fu, Huang Yan hurriedly walked. A yahuan with a sweet face came over and kept on yelling "Huang Yang gege", blocking him on the path.
Huang Yang was irritated inside but asked in a normal voice: "This jiejie, is there something?"
The little yahuan didn't dare accept his label of "jiejie". In the past, it wouldn't have matter, but now, who in this fu didn't know that he was the taijian that wang fei relied on the most? She smiled, refusing the title, and said: "Huang Yang gege, my mistress has been sick these past days, the doctor was called but didn't help. Please help my mistress by saying a few good words in front of wang fei, and get wang fei to send an invitation to the Imperial Hospital?" Finishing, she tried to push a pouch into Huang Yan's hand.
Huang Yang saw her face was unfamiliar and didn't take that pouch. He placed his hands behind his back, his tone became more serious: "Who is your mistress?"
The little yahuan saw Huang Yang wasn't accepting it. Feeling frantic and helpless, she could only say: "Good gege, I serve Yun Qing guniang. Could you help my mistress ask wang fei, I'll thank you here first." Finishing, she gave Huang Yang a deep bow.
"Who's yahuan is this?!"
The little yahuan heard the voice and turned to look. She saw wang ye, with Qian Chang Xin and Ming Ye, walk over. The one that spoke was Ming He. She instantly cheered up and knelt with a bang: "Nubi is Yu Er, a servant of Yun Qing guniang. Nubi greets wang ye."
He Heng slowly neared, slightly lowering his head to look at Yu Err kneeling by his feet. He then asked Huang Yang: "What's going on?"
Huang Yang bent his body and said: "Wang ye, this Yu Er guniang said Yun Qing guniang is ill, to let nucai tell wang fei to let wang fei send a notice to the Imperial Hospital and invite a taiyi to take a look at Yun Qing guniang."
He Heng frowned and, with no hesitation, walked away. Qian Chang Xin quickly followed behind.
Ming He, who had remained behind, looked arrogantly at Yu'er, and said in a tone of fake wonderment: "Yun Qing guniang must be confused due to her illness. Our fu, except for wang ye and wang fei, there is only the ce fei and proper qieshi that can request for a taiyi. Is her zhuzi one of the above that she could invite a taiyi?"
When she had been sent into the wang fu, wasn't it her, with a face full of virtue, that said she would rather be a poor person than a qie of a wealthy person? A brothel girl that had been given as a present who really thought she was a noble lady. With her birth, being made a tongfang would be giving the official that gave her a great honor. She didn't care to be a qieshi in this wang fu, what fantasy did she have? Now she was ill, and the doctors outside the fu wasn't worthy of serving her, she wanted a taiyi? She wasn't worthy!
Ming He scoffed and walked away. Huang Yang looked at the shocked Yu Er, his expression unchanging and said: "Go back and tell your mistress, if this doctor isn't useful then change the doctor. If you need something, then tell Mu Jin guniang. I have duties to do, I'm leaving first."
After Huang Yang was more than ten steps away, Yu Er finally managed to react. She looked in shock at the direction that wang ye had left and seemed to understand in part why the people around her had looked at her in sympathy when she had been ordered to serve in Cui You Yuan. So it was really the case that wang ye didn't care at all about mistress, and it wasn't like mistress said, that wang ye liked mistress in his heart. That was just mistress' fantasy?
If he really liked mistress, why would wang ye not even react? Yu Er slowly stood and slowly walked back. Ming He gonggong had said the facts so clearly that even if mistress was unsatisfied, she had tried her best.
When Huang Yuan reached zhengyuan, he told Qu Qing Ju what had occurred, reciting the entire incident from beginning to end.
"Yun Qing guniang?" Towards Yun Qing, Qu Qing Ju only remembered the white clothing and that virtuous attitude.
A honoured wang ye falls in love with a huakui. Due to the chasteness of the huakui, his love deepens. At the end, he overcomes all forces and lived happily ever after with the huakui. That kind of story was a fairytale.
Did that stupid woman really believe that He Heng was a character from a story?
"Send somebody to deliver some medicine and find a useful doctor," Qu Qing Ju smiled as she said calmly, "Just a sixteen year old girl. She has a long life ahead, we shouldn't let her lose her life."
"Wang fei is too kind. You are grown up now, why are you still so moved by others?" Yin Liu put a hot water bottle wrapped in cloth into Qu Qing Ju's hands, "At the beginning, her face and that mouth, they were so proud."
Qu Qing Ju smiled and held the bottle with both hands; "You dumb girl." Yin Liu wasn't as clever as Mu Jin, but people with this kind personality had their own uses as times. What was rare was her loyalty. She was used to this kind of nagging.
"This entire fu is watching," At one side, Mu Jin stood as she looked helplessly at Yin Liu, "This person isn't causing pain to wang fei. If she stood by and watch her die, what would it look like in the eyes of others?"
Qu Qing Ju didn't care for the two's discussion and waved at Huang Yang, saying: "This thing, you personally order somebody to do, just say I have an affection for Yun Qing guniang's appearance, and let others take good care of her." She didn't like Yun Qing personally, but not to the point of watching her die of illness. She didn't have such a twisted state of mind.
Huang Yang took his orders and retreated, thinking coldly, that Yun Qing guniang though she was so virtuous, but right now, it was only due to wang fei's pity that she could keep her life. If she had the skill, she could find somebody else. That was true virtue.
Inside Cui You Yuan, Yun Qing laid on bed with a yellow face. Hearing Ye'er, with a face full of happiness, say that wang fei was benevolent and on and on, the hate in her eyes grew deeper. Why was is that she could only live by the sympathy of other women who were much higher in position, why was it that she had both skill and looks but she couldn't beat the plain Jiang Yong Yu and others?
Drinking the bitter medicine, a strong desire to live infected her eyes. She couldn't die, she definitely couldn't die. She wanted to stand at the high position and see who dared to sympathize with her? And who dared look down at her?!
Qu Qing Ju heard that the Yun Qing in Cui You Yang cooperated greatly with the doctor and placed down the pen in her hand with interest. Looking at the butterfly in flight on the paper, she examined for a while before saying; "Heart higher than the sky, life thinner than paper."
Mu Jin placed a branching tree peony brazier onto the desk and said with a smile: "Wang fei had expected it?"
"This type of person, they can't hear words of pity," Carelessly throwing the paper to one side, Qu Qing Ju started to draw a vibrant peony, "Feng Zi Jin is too idle these days, otherwise how could she send the news of the fu over to Jing fei?"
"Why is wang fei sure it's her?" Mu Jin hesitated before saying; "It looks as though Jing fei looks down at the two of them."
"The type of person that Jing fei, she wants to suppress me who doesn't have her favor, but doesn't want a ce fei to really win over me. So she would try to understand me from a certain ce fei but she wouldn't want that ce fei to break etiquette. That was why that day in Zhong Jing Palace, she would easily release me from service and let the two ce fei stand from beginning to end," Qu Qing Ju wielded the pen, quickly sketching a peach blossom, "Jiang Yong Yu is a smart person, so she surely wouldn't do something that will offend me. Then the most suspicious is Feng Zi Jin." In this era, how popo treated erxi was the strangest mindset in this entire world. A lot of the time, they liked to bully their own erxifu, but they couldn't see others embarrass their erxifu. Otherwise, why would they say a woman's heart, a needle at the ocean bottom?
Mu Jin heard the words and thought carefully, finding that it was somewhat rational. But thinking about how Jing fei would sometimes make things purposefully difficult, Mu Jin still felt that Jing fei, as a popo, was hard to serve.
A simple daffodil appeared on the page. Qu Qing Ju didn't have the interest in drawing anymore and let Jin Zhan, who had been at the side, put it away. She smiled at Mu Jin who seemed to be in deep thought: "You don't have to be too worried, Jing fei might be hard to deal with, but she isn't impossible." To deal with those that thought too much, the most effective weapon was naivety. She wasn't naturally naïve, but she could pretend to be. The women in the palace preferred to use their mouths as blades to stab people. Pretending not to understand would enrage her. Since Jing fei wouldn't really move against her right now, what was she afraid of?