In the Xuan-miao Temple, Chun Lan waved her hand impatiently.
“What else do you need to ask? The things have been delivered, just tell Qing Mei that Chun Lan has come,” she said.
The child seemed a bit timid.
“Um, the lady wants me to ask you, what is your name, who sent you, and why did you deliver it?” she stammered, describing what she had just heard.
A fool who talked too much, Chun Lan shook her head.
“Why ask that?” she said.
Who knows, the child looked somewhat dazed.
“Why don’t you go in and reply to her yourself?” she said.
“I’m busy,” Chun Lan said impatiently, “I’m leaving.”
How could she reply to that lady without getting the questions answered?
The child simply ran over to block her path.
“You’d better clarify things,” she said.
Chun Lan was quite surprised, looking at the bold child in front of her.
“Hey, you really…” she was somewhat speechless.
“The lady asked, and if I don’t help her get things clear, the abbess will scold me,” the child said, though a bit timid, her expression remained resolute.
Serving a fool was indeed quite troublesome.
Chun Lan shook her head helplessly and had to follow the child inside.
The door to the room was half-open, revealing a lady sitting inside, holding a scroll.
A book?
Chun Lan was momentarily stunned, and then saw the lady look up.
It turned out that beneath the dark veil, she was so beautiful.
Chun Lan couldn’t help but be mesmerized.
“Who sent you to deliver this to me?”
A stiff voice interrupted Chun Lan’s thoughts, pulling her back to her senses.
She instinctively bowed, just as she would to other ladies in the household.
“It was Fourth Young Master and Third Young Master…” she said, not even realizing the respect in her tone.
“Why?” asked Cheng Jiao-niang.
“Nothing in particular. It’s just that with Mid-Autumn just passing, they were thinking of you,” Chun Lan replied with her head lowered. “There are some foodstuffs, dried fruits, and a bit of silver. The young masters said, with the cold coming, you should use it to buy what you need.”
After finishing this sentence, the person in front remained silent.
Chun Lan then came to her senses from her awkwardness.
This lady… was she not a fool?
How was it that there wasn’t a trace of foolishness to be felt?
She lifted her head again, meeting Cheng Jiao-niang’s gaze.
The interplay of light and shadow at the door made her strikingly bright eyes, one white and one black, stand out even more.
“Thank you, I’ll remember this,” Cheng Jiao-niang said slowly, lowering her gaze back to the book.
Remember what? And so what if she remembered?
Chun Lan was momentarily stunned and then found it somewhat amusing. Remembering a favor, to repay it in the future?
Chun Lan didn’t see the maid when she left Xuan-miao Mountain; instead, she encountered her when she entered the Cheng family’s door.
For a moment, Chun Lan didn’t recognize the maid. She usually had no dealings with such lower-ranked servants and only noticed her when she heard a young servant call out, “Ban Qin,” prompting her to look over.
“So you’re here,” Chun Lan said, looking at the maid. “Had I known earlier, I wouldn’t have made this trip.”
The maid, upon learning what had happened, expressed her gratitude.
“I wasn’t actually supposed to come here. I was called here halfway and was told that Second Master had something for me,” she explained.
Chun Lan responded with an “oh.”
The two of them walked together towards the inner courtyard.
“Thank you for sending us money last time, and for remembering us,” the maid said.
They were originally unfamiliar with each other and didn’t know what to say, so Chun Lan only responded with an “oh.”
“Jin Ge’er said thank you for taking care of him,” she continued.
“Jin Ge’er is very good. I’m at ease with him handling those matters,” the maid said.
Chun Lan was momentarily stunned, looking at the maid.
Was it just a polite remark, or did the maid really mean that she had taken care of Jin Ge’er?
By the time she was speaking, they had reached the intersection. The maid bowed and took her leave, and Chun Lan watched her walk away in the other direction.
“Could it be that it’s really because of her?” she muttered to herself.
A maid serving a fool?
Chun Lan shook her head; if it came down to it, it had to be because of the Cheng family.
“You’re back! Young Master is looking for that set of Dafu ink.”
As soon as Chun Lan returned to the courtyard, a little maid excitedly called out.
Fourth Young Master loved ink, and Chun Lan kept these. Hearing this, she smiled and went to find it and bring it to the study.
“Young Master, I’ve delivered the things,” Chun Lan said.
Cheng Si-lang didn’t immediately understand what she was talking about. The words from that day when they had drinks had slipped his mind, and he only remembered after Chun Lan’s reminder.
“Good, good,” he said nonchalantly.
Chun Lan hesitated for a moment.
“I also saw… the lady,” she said.
This lady didn’t have a rank in the household, and Chun Lan didn’t know her name, so she wasn’t sure how to address her.
Cheng Si-lang responded with an “oh,” his attention focused on the calligraphy and paintings in front of him.
“The lady can speak, and she’s really quite beautiful,” Chun Lan said to herself. “If you didn’t know, she really doesn’t seem like a fool.”
Cheng Si-lang smiled.
“She’s just mentally deficient, not unattractive,” he said casually. “My uncle and aunt aren’t ugly, so how could she be?”
Chun Lan responded with an “oh.”
“Earlier, Second Master called the lady’s maid back to discuss something. Do you know what it’s about?” she asked.
“Whatever it is, it’s their own business,” Cheng Si-lang said, putting down his brush and looking at Chun Lan. “Grind the ink.”
Chun Lan quickly complied, focusing intently on grinding the ink.
The maid was kneeling in the room, facing Second Master and Second Madam Cheng. Outside the door, an elderly couple knelt in the corridor, their joy barely contained.
“Sending me away?” The maid was shocked and somewhat panicked. “Master, Madam, I was wrong. I’ll change. Please don’t send me away.”
She anxiously knocked her head on the ground, tears welling up.
“Silly child, they’re sending you to live a better life,” the elderly woman outside couldn’t help but say. “Quickly thank Master and Madam.”
The maid remained anxious and unsettled.
“Old Master Zhang is someone you know; we’re sending you to his household,” Second Master Cheng said. “It’s rare that he values your skills. You’ll go to his household to work as a cook.”
“I, I, I just want to serve the mistress,” the maid said, kowtowing.
“You foolish child, have you become as foolish as the fool you’ve been serving for so long?” the elderly woman outside couldn’t help but scold quietly.
Second Master Cheng coughed heavily.
The elderly woman kowtowed and shrank back, daring not to speak further.
“You don’t know who this Old Man Zhang is, do you?” Second Madam Cheng said, looking at the maid in front of her.
Plain in appearance and simple in nature, a maid like this would just be a low rank servant in a household for her whole life, much like the elderly woman outside who was ecstatic, and her children would repeat this fate.
“Old Man Zhang is the father of the great scholar Zhang Chun. You might not know who Zhang Chun is, but anyone who has read books or held an official position in this world would know him. He founded a school with three thousand disciples, and even the emperor once came to seek his teachings. This is the famous Zhang Jiang-zhou. Our Jiang-zhou has many people, but he is the only one who is known by such a title,” Second Madam Cheng said.
This inconspicuous old man turned out to be such a person!
Second Madam Cheng smiled slightly as she said this.
“Qing Mei, would you be willing to go to such a household and become a highly esteemed cook under Old Man Zhang’s favor?” she asked.
