He Deping looked at the children as they were eating happily while praising the taste of the food. He was deeply touched.
It was considered rare to witness such innocent and pure emotions in the mansion.
He would not have thought so if he saw the seriousness on Shen Xiangwan and Ruyue’s faces when they were in front of others.
After their meal, Xiaoqi pestered He Deping to teach him again.
Xiaoqi had already studied the San Zi Jing, so he would be learning poetry next.
Initially, Murong Xiude wanted to stay and listen to the lecture with Xiaoqi, but He Deping didn't seem to be happy, so he turned and left.
Instead, he stood in the corner of the courtyard and listened to He Deping’s analysis of the poems.
Shen Xiangwan and Ruyue came out of the house when they had finished cleaning up. As they saw from a distance that their true Master could only stand in the corner to listen to the lecture, they felt sad for him.
Ruyue whispered to Shen Xiangwan, "In this mansion, even the ba*stard sons and daughters have lessons at home. At least they had decent education, but poor Ninth Young Master, he could only listen to lectures with the slaves."
Shen Xiangwan gently squeezed Ruyue’s hand, "This is the reality. All humans… are the same."
Ruyue frowned. "Yes, this is... reality."
Not only Murong Xiude, but the slaves could be equally miserable if they were to make a mistake.
Some time ago, Ning Saner, who had been robbed of his wife, couldn’t help but visit his wife in secret. His wife was forcefully taken to their master’s house to become a concubine. The woman in charge caught him and beat him fiercely. After that, he lay on the bed with pus oozing out from all over his body. They said that he passed away some time ago. When he was dead, they wrapped his body in a torn mat and threw him away.
"It is not our place to feel sympathy. His fate depends on himself. He will eventually achieve success if he is determined enough," Shen Xiangwan said calmly. Then, she turned her head to ask her, "Are you going to be busy tomorrow?"
"Ah, yes. I'm going to do some stuff with the other servant girls."
Shen Xiangwan no longer had doubts for Murong Xiude. Apparently, the reason for his invitation earlier was indeed because Ruyue couldn't come because of work.
Shen Xiangwan felt pity as she thought of Murong Xiude's nervousness when he invited her earlier.
It was really hard to always be careful while trying to please others.
Shen Xiangwan thought she should make him a gift.
But what should she make?
She inadvertently glanced at the poorly embroidered napkin beside the bed and suddenly had an idea. She decided to give him a napkin.
She recalled that when he was hit, he was holding a clean napkin in his arms. However, after repeated washing over the years, it seemed to be very damaged.
Shen Xiangwan put away the napkin.
In the end, she also tied a big lucky knot which can be worn on the wrist.
The reason for this was that his wrist beads had been taken away.
She had nothing valuable to replace his wrist beads, so she could only give him this instead.
After packing these two things together, she thought that she could go to the stove the next day to buy some food ingredients. It would cost her a small amount of money.
As a servant, she had to pay for the ingredients.
She spent a hundred coins for some simple ingredients and seasonings. Then, she brought them to Jiaochi Garden.
The autumn wind was chilly, and fallen leaves twirled in the air. Occasionally, a few of them landed in front of her. Stepping on the fallen leaves, she entered the courtyard. Even though the scenery looked a little sorrowful, when she saw those two little eager faces, her mood lifted immediately.
She waved the fish and the ingredients in her hands. "I will make fishball soup for you two later."
"Wow! That's great."
Although Xiaoqi couldn’t eat pork, he could still eat fish.
As for Murong Xiude, although he had suffered a lot when his illness exacerbated, his health was slightly better than Xiaoqi.
"I will cook it together with you." Murong Xiude stepped forward and offered to help, but Shen Xiangwan shook her head.
"No, you are the birthday boy, just watch me do it. Xiaoqi, teach him all the poems Mr. He taught you yesterday."
"Sure," Xiaoqi answered excitedly, then grabbed Murong Xiude's hand and ran into the house.
Despite their status as master and servant, Xiaoqi and Murong Xiude were getting along like brothers. Shen Xiangwan smiled contentedly and began to prepare the fish and vegetables.
She mixed the fish with some meat and kneaded them into balls while adding condiments into it. The strong aroma wafted in the air, and even the two boys could smell it in the study room.
"Sister Wan's cooking is really impressive," Xiaoqi sniffed, drooling.
Murong Xiude glared at him. "Yes, she did it for me."
Xiaoqi blinked. "But I want to eat too."
"Yes, you owe me," Murong Xiude corrected him.
Xiaoqi fidgeted. "It turns out that I was only benefiting from my master." Then, he wondered why Shen Xiangwan didn't cook for him.
"Today is my special day, and because you served me, you got the opportunity to taste delicious food. Will you let Sister Wan stay back after?"
"Of course." Xiaoqi was excited.
His master had already given him the order, so he certainly would ask her to stay.
Then, he recalled that when he was young, every time after he took a bath, Shen Xiangwan would dress him. Should he ask to enjoy this treatment today?
He hasn't really enjoyed his life since he came to this mansion. Especially when the food that Shen Xiangwan was preparing was not for him either.
So he wanted her to do something different for him.
Xiaoqi giggled when he thought of this. When he looked at Murong Xiude again, he thrusted his chest forward.
Murong Xiude was taken aback by Xiaoqi’s smug look.
"Ah, Xiaoqi, have you thought of how to let her stay?"
Xiaoqi looked extremely smug.
"Sister Wan had already made the food for you. So after thinking about it, I should request her to bathe me. Haha! I like it when she bathes me."
"What?" Murong Xiude was dumbfounded.
He stared at the skinny six-year-old.
"You...you are not a toddler anymore, why would you still want Sister Wan to bathe you?"
Xiaoqi lifted his chin. "I don’t care, I like it. You’re older, so what? You have never enjoyed the feeling of Sister Wan washing your bum."
Sister Wan washing his bum.
Murong Xiude blushed.
He felt that it wasn’t appropriate to do so.
Ignoring Xiaoqi, Murong Xiude continued to read.
But he couldn't help thinking what would happen if Shen Xiangwan also bathed him. Would it be... very comfortable? He liked the feeling of her rubbing him. His eyes lit up in excitement at the thought, and he couldn’t concentrate on his reading anymore.