The maid opened the door, and the maid outside quickly greeted her.
The maid returned the greeting.
“Thank you for your hard work,” she said.
With a gentle, smiling tone, she spoke softly, truly cultured and polite, unlike the earlier image of someone with their hands on their hips, spitting and telling the elder’s maid to get lost.
“My mistress is ready to eat,” the maid said.
“Yes, yes, everything is prepared,” the maid hurriedly replied.
“There’s no need to cause any hassle,” the maid smiled and said, “Just a bowl of five-flavor meat porridge, some water radish shredded and mixed with pepper and salt, and salt-pepper orange stir-fried with a handful of yellow sparrows will do.”
The maids were stunned.
What? What kind of porridge? Shredded radish with pepper and salt? Can oranges even be stir-fried?
This is not a hassle?
A five-flavor meat porridge? A handful of yellow sparrows? And stir-fried with salt, pepper, and oranges? Good gracious, what kind of eating habits are these?
In Old Master Chen’s room, Chen Shao and his brothers were once again silent.
Old Master Chen had taken his medicine and fell into a light sleep. If it weren’t for Doctor Li standing nearby, checking his pulse and saying it was much better than before, they would have rushed to Lady Cheng’s place to ask her to come over.
She slept until the sun was high in the sky before getting up. Even then, she wasn’t in a hurry. With ready-made meals, she didn’t want to eat, and instead ordered new dishes to be made. This lady really has a lot of patience.
“Master, please don’t be upset,” Doctor Li said after thinking for a moment. “From what I observed yesterday, when this lady administered the acupuncture, it seemed to require a lot of effort. The depth and precision had to be perfect, not a hair’s breadth off, and with just one session, it was enough to wake the Old Master. So today, she must need to conserve her strength. As they say, a slow doctor for a quick illness, it really can’t be rushed. Moreover, she remains so calm, which shows she is confident in her approach. Master, you should be pleased.”
Everyone nodded upon hearing this.
If that’s the case, then this lady’s actions can be understood.
Just one round of acupuncture was enough to wake the Old Master, who had been in a deep sleep for so long, which clearly shows it took considerable effort.
“That’s true, but it’s only natural for a son to worry when his father is ill,” Chen Shao said.
Doctor Li nodded.
“Of course, of course,” he said, while stroking his beard and blinking his eyes. “Speaking of which, I’m a bit hungry myself.”
Indeed, Doctor Li had stayed up all night.
“Quick, bring some food!” Madam Chen quickly said.
“No need, no need,” Doctor Li hurriedly called out, then hesitated for a moment. “How about you also bring me a serving of what that Lady Cheng ordered? From what I heard, it sounds quite appetizing.”
A bowl of five-flavor meat porridge, water radish shredded and mixed with pepper and salt, salt-pepper orange stir-fried with a handful of yellow sparrows…
Everyone couldn’t help but mentally repeat the order, almost seeing the colorful, crisp, and flavorful dishes right in front of them.
It really looked quite delicious…
“We’ve all been up all night too, and just ate whatever we could last night and this morning,” Chen Shao said. “Go tell the kitchen to make a portion of that as well and send it over.”
When Zhou Liu-lang came to greet his parents in the morning, he saw four maids from the family being dragged away, crying.
“Utterly useless,” Master Zhou said with a hardened face, still furious.
“How could this lady be like this?” Madam Zhou also frowned and angrily remarked.
After greeting them, Zhou Liu-lang knelt and sat down.
“What happened?” he asked, though he already had an answer in his heart.
“That fool, she actually let Madam Chen kick these maids out,” Madam Zhou said. “How could she do such a thing?”
Why couldn’t she do it? It wasn’t the first time she had acted this way.
Steward Cao hadn’t told Master Zhou and his wife the full details, especially about how he was tricked by Lady Cheng and the maid, but he did explain everything in detail to Zhou Liu-lang and Young Master Qin.
Such a petty lady!
Zhou Liu-lang clenched his fist tightly in his lap.
“I’ll go find her now. If she’s angry, let her vent it on me, but there’s no need to disgrace our family,” he said, suddenly rising to his feet.
Master Zhou raised his eyebrows and sternly ordered him to sit back down.
“Now is not the time,” he said. “Old Master Chen’s illness is the most important thing.”
Zhou Liu-lang sat back down, his face tense.
At that moment, four people entered and knelt down—two old maids and two young maids.
“Go attend to the young miss. Be respectful and follow the rules. Do whatever you’re asked, without question or hesitation,” Madam Zhou said.
The four responded in unison, then withdrew, being led out by the steward.
Ban Qin, carrying a basket of clothes, was struggling to walk out the door when two maids quickly approached, almost bumping into her.
“Hey, watch where you’re going!” they said unhappily.
Ban Qin hurriedly stepped aside and lowered her head, apologizing.
“Why is that Lady Cheng so difficult to serve?”
“Nanny Song and the others are respected figures around the madam. If she says to dismiss someone, they just go.”
With a thud, the basket of clothes fell to the ground, startling the two maids. They turned around to see the maid who had dropped it.
“Sister, the Lady Cheng you’re talking about, is…?” Ban Qin asked in a trembling voice, tears unconsciously streaming down her face.
The two maids glanced at her, and one of them recognized her, whispering to the other.
“When the young master asked her if she wanted to leave, she followed him. She even said she was originally from the Zhou family.”
“Ah, it’s her. She doesn’t think about why the old madam bought her in the first place.”
“She knows what she’s thinking in her heart.”
They whispered without any concern that Ban Qin might hear them.
Ban Qin lowered her head even further, feeling uneasy.
“Hurry up and leave, don’t end up like Nanny Song and the others, with bad luck.”
“Yes, I don’t want to be kicked out and sent back to Shan-zhou.”
The two of them walked away quickly, hand in hand.
Ban Qin followed them for a few steps, tears in her eyes, but eventually stopped, watching the two maids disappear into the distance.
“Miss, Miss is not difficult to serve at all,” she murmured to herself. “She’s very easy to talk to. As long as… as long as you’re good to her, she’ll be good to you…”
Finally, she squatted down, hugging her knees, crying silently. In the narrow alley, her figure grew smaller and smaller.
Because it was something new that had never been done before, the Chen family’s kitchen was in a flurry of activity. Fortunately, it was early winter and there were plenty of sparrows, so the young servants hurriedly caught a large sack full in a chaotic frenzy. It took three or four tries before they finally sent the dish up.
Cheng Jiao-niang took a bite, then shook her head.
“Miss, is the taste not right?” the maid quickly asked.
“I thought this was a noble family in the capital, and their kitchen must be well-equipped,” Cheng Jiao-niang said. “Turns out, it’s just a newly wealthy family, still not at the level of fine dining.”
As she spoke, she looked at the maid and smiled faintly.
“It’s not as good as your house,” she said.
The maid giggled.
“Miss, isn’t my house your house?” she laughed.
Cheng Jiao-niang knew the maid understood, and she smiled again without saying anything more. Slowly, she finished the porridge and the shredded radish, setting down the bowl and chopsticks.
On the low table, the yellow sparrow remained untouched.
“Bring a few more yellow sparrows,” said Doctor Li, pointing to the empty plate, while a young attendant beside him was happily munching on a sparrow with his hands.
The maid responded and hurried out. Just as she went out, she quickly rushed back in.
“Lady Cheng is here!” she exclaimed happily.
Doctor Li didn’t have time to eat anymore. He quickly wiped his hands in a hurry, stood up, and kicked the young attendant. The child, reluctant to stop sucking his fingers, finally followed behind.
“Father, father,” Chen Shao called out tremblingly beside the bed. “Lady Cheng, she’s here.”
Old Master Chen opened his eyes from his drowsiness. His cloudy eyes turned to look, and he saw a lady in plain clothes kneeling beside the bed.
The room was dim, but the lady in plain clothes stood out brightly.
She knelt quietly, her expression calm, just as she had been when the curtain was lifted that day.
“Miss…” Old Master Chen propped himself up, trying to sit up. “Can my illness still be cured?”
Cheng Jiao-niang nodded.
“It can be cured,” she said, “but…”
Hearing the “but,” everyone present held their breath.
This lady took her time with everything—both her actions and her words—she truly drove people to despair with her slowness!
“It will be more expensive than before,” Cheng Jiao-niang said.
