Ru Yue vigorously nodded her head and wiped away her tears before looking up again. Then she moved and stayed far away from her young lady that she loved the most.
From now on, she had to get used to tolerating this torture of watching her loved ones from far and not being allowed to be close. Simply because, no one was willing to buy a slave with his relatives for the house. Moreover, according to the conclusion drawn from the analysis of Master Jiang and the mistress, it was better not to recognize each other. After all, as a household slave, if anyone was wronged or charged for something, it would also implicate the slave’s acquaintances...
Seeing her calm down, the little fat girl only closed her eyes again and leaned in the arms of the most trusted Grandpa Jiang. Her eyes slightly reddened, and recalling the circumstances of her two lives, she turned melancholic before letting out a sigh.
The first seven years of her both lifetimes were the same, as in these years, she was the fifth miss of the Shen family. Not only did she have parents who loved her, but she also had an affectionate companion like Ru Yue, who always accompanied her like a sister by her side. What’s more, Master Jiang, who treated them like his grandchildren, taught and accompanied her and her ailing brother. Unfortunately, once Father Shen lost power, the entire household was reduced to slavery. The men were sentenced to the border as army slaves, while the women were taken away by the officials’ trusted brokers. Some of them were sold to the brothels for prostitution, while most were sold to various places to become slaves.
If it wasn’t for the fact that her mother had bribed the daring broker lady with the jewels hidden close to her body, the mother and children would have been sold and scattered around.
After all, no one would buy a servant with the family.
Being confined in the broker’s courtyard, waiting for the time to be picked away, was extremely difficult. It was their own mother who said good things, endlessly flattered and unwillingly did some tasks to please the broker. Finally, in exchange for their private care, the broker divulged the news heard from the other broker; it was very likely that some people from the capital’s Ouyang mansion would come to pick the slaves. The capital’s Ouyang residence was a Marquis family. Wasn’t it useful for their future to have access to the Marquis house?
And, it was one of the few chances by which they could still survive and stay together.
Today, in order to stay together with her relatives, the young lady Shen Xiangwan had to play the role of a slave who flattered the master like a clown. Now thinking about it, her small body was still taut and tense. Her face was still burning hot, filled with nervousness. Her mind quietly floated to the memories of her past life.
In the previous life, because she was unwilling to be a servant, she did not obey the arrangement of her mother, Yi Xuan. Instead, she took the initiative to hook up a seemingly nice and handsome young official when he was choosing a servant, and she followed the man to fight for the world, obeyed him, and did everything according to his arrangements.
But who would have thought that after supporting that man to the top, she would be sold by the others with a cold smile to the Spring Fragrance Courtyard to receive guests every night?
“As long as I am with you, I’ll think of you accompanying other men. I wouldn’t be able to tolerate a lowly woman like you even just as a concubine.” Thinking of that man’s heartless words, Xiao Xiangwan trembled all over. She was really blind in that life. Why did she take her own decisions and didn’t follow her mother’s arrangements? So even though she was reborn in the servant’s courtyard of the broker, she honestly obeyed her fate and let her mother arrange to enter the Marquis mansion, to fight for the road to freedom. It was just that, although she was prepared in her heart, it was not easy for her to adapt to this humble life.
Jiang Ye seemed to know what she was thinking in her heart and comforted her with his hands. He told her with his actions that later she would have to suffer more of this humiliation. As a slave, she would have to go through a lot of things like this… Generous and powerful caressing smoothed out her inner humiliation and unwillingness; she finally returned to calm.
The little girl slowly closed her eyes, and her hands softly hung beside master Jiang’s legs.
He gently took the little girl in his arms and sighed softly.
The little lady had been so smart and well-behaved since her childhood. He was afraid that from now on, she must learn to endure.
*
Along the way, the instructor lady was very satisfied with the group.
Originally, she was worried that she would have to teach them for a long time on the stay during this trip so that she could arrange them to do errands around the masters.
But who would have thought that with just a little teaching, this group of people would be able to do the errands.
Many things such as etiquette, she just taught them for once, and they followed without making any big mistake. Therefore, when they reached over, she sighed in front of Concubine Mei.
“Earlier, I’ve heard about the fact that the brokers of this Northwest land are very good at educating their slaves, and that is only what this servant just heard. I’ve never thought that it would really be like this. Especially the two little girls, they are even more well-behaved and sensible than the others, making people really happy. It seems that the concubine will also get a lot of face this time, because of these errand persons.”
Concubine Mei was still rejoicing at this moment that she personally went to get the slaves this time. Hearing her talk about the fat girl her son had picked at the beginning, she was very interested. “Cultivate these little girls and boys well. In the future, these people will be the backbone of the courtyard.”
Earlier, she had people secretly observing the fat girl, and these days she hadn’t heard anything wrong.
‘If there is really such a good person, you have to think about where to arrange such talents.’ Thinking about it this way, she thought about seeing the person, “Call that fat girl for an errand.”
“Yes, concubine.” The lady instructor who just got the reward went down to call people with joy.
Soon after, HanXiao brought people in by herself.
“This little servant-girl has met the lady. May the lady be very lucky and blessed.”
The little girl crisply greeted, then raised her head and gave a respectful salute. She looked at Concubine Mei with a sweet smile on her face. Her dark eyes were full of innocence, but she could not hide her joy and smile.
Facing the little girl’s black, bright smiling eyes sinking into the two beautiful dimples beside her lips, Concubine Mei was a little dazzled. She almost wanted to take the little girl into her arms and gently pinch and squeeze her round face. When her son Ming’er was a child, he also used to look at her this way. It was just that she didn’t dare to approach him anymore as whenever she got near him, he always cruelly left her alone....
This time, it was rare for the mother and son to be able to return home together. Therefore, it was not in vain to give the Pearl of the night!
“Come here and comb this concubine’s hair.”
Hearing this, Han Xiao’s eyes turned wide with surprise. Combing hair was not a small matter. Generally speaking, these jobs were only to be done by first-class maids like her. Now, the concubine actually let a few years old girl do the job. ‘What is the concubine thinking by fooling to this extent, ah!’
Still, she stood there motionless, as if she did not know that combing the concubine’s hair was a matter of first-class maids.
“Here…” Shen Xiangwan took a deep breath and swept her long eyelashes lightly, hiding the fleeting surprise in her large eyes. ‘Very good, the first step is to hug Concubine Mei’s legs so that you stay in the house without being bullied by ordinary minions.’
The little girl went forward and lightly grabbed the comb, and began to comb deeply from the scalp to the hair ends. The intensity was neither light nor heavy, it was just right to let Concubine Mei squint her eyes and let her perennial serious face relax now.
“Han Xiao, ah! this little girl’s strokes are more in place than when you combed my hair for the first time.”
On one side, Han Xiao was also curiously looking at the little girl who was seriously combing the concubine’s hair to the end. Moreover, all strokes were close to the scalp. Combing little by little, her little round face turned serious, and it looked like she was doing something extremely important. When Han Xiao saw her like this, she finally commented with a smile, “It’s indeed impressive. Looking at the little girl’s appearance, it looks like she is seriously handling something big. As a slave, it’s only good when you share your master’s worries like this.”
Shen Xiangwan took a step back and respectfully replied.
“Replying to my lady! Sister Han Xiao! Working for the master is no trivial matter. For every big to small matter, the servant-girl has to do her best. If not, then masters will pay a lot of money to support the slaves, in vain.”
Concubine Mei nodded to herself. It was really a sensible person. What’s even rarer was that she was so clever at such a young age and had much room for growth.
Han Xiao thought that the more you would look at the little girl, the happier you feel. If it had been someone else who had been so pleasing in front of Concubine Mei, she would have thought it was a competition for a favor.
But she couldn’t get disgusted by such a little girl. On the contrary, there was a touch of pity. After all, the child was a slave, and she heard that the child belonged to an irrational official’s family. What a pity!
“It’s a well-behaved girl, but this concubine must remind you kindly that I’m just a concubine in the house, not a lady. If anyone else hears you saying this, I’m afraid they’ll nitpick you as well.”
Shen Xiangwan’s swept her long eyelashes lightly, her chubby little hand gently held the comb handle, and she responded, “Yeah! This servant girl will remember it well and will not make mistakes indiscriminately by calling wrongly in front of people, and let them pick a thorn. However, here, the concubine is a lady-like existence.” While saying this, she gestured to her heart.
Concubine Mei chuckled and lightly poked her on the forehead.
“You are truly devilish! It’s no wonder that you’ve got into the eyes of the Ming’er child. However, girl! Would you like to come to this concubine’s side?” Although she lightly asked such a question, her narrowed eyes flashed with a sharp light.
Han Xiao felt a chill in her heart.
She felt that from beginning to end, the concubine was just trying to test the little chubby girl.
If the little girl turned ecstatic, it meant that she was very likely to be a spy sent by other people, moreover, it was aimed at Concubine Mei.
If not, this was even more unreasonable. With this girl’s brain, how could she not know that working under Concubine Mei was for the best? If such a question was asked to herself when she was eight years old, she might not be able to give a satisfactory answer.
After a moment, Han Xiao nervously turned to look at the little fat girl.
What surprised her was that the little girl was bowing deeply to the Concubine Mei and then looked up with a touch of joy on her face. The pair of eyes was so bright that people could not move their eyes.
“This servant-girl is willing from the heart. However, for this matter, it is good for the lady and sister Han Xiao to arrange it properly. This matter is not for the girl to choose. When I was selected by the young master, I was very grateful to him. The reason for such gratitude was that when I was being trained at the broker’s house, my grandpa had taken care of me many times. Even if the old man is not this girl’s real grandfather, he is even better than a real one. Thinking that the old man would be sold as a domestic slave to somewhere else, I brazenly begged the young master. Therefore, how can I be impolite enough to be capricious and choose out the place on my own.”
The little girl bit and clearly said without swirling around with the words. She seriously said, “But even if I don’t get arranged to be here by the concubine today, this girl will try her best to come to the concubine’s side. I will work for you, and please you, so that you won’t be as depressed as you are now.”
This was not a joke!
Concubine Mei immediately stood up. The elegant and calm face changed its color in an instant, and the beautiful bright pupils of her eyes were tinged red with hostility.
“Bold slave! Who gave you the guts to say this? Get down and slap yourself.” She denounced.
“Don’t hurry to plead guilty to the concubine yet?” Han Xiao yelled at the girl. It was a common knowledge in the house that the concubine had not been favored over these years. But such a matter, even though she knew it in her heart, was not something that a little slave girl could say easily.
‘This little girl, ah! I’m afraid there will be a bloodbath today.’