Chapter 6

Li was shocked, and she was almost choked by her saliva. She looked at Huiniang for a long time, and felt that Huiniang didn’t seem to lie to her. She couldn’t help but became curious.

“Where is she going to go?”

When Huiniang saw Li, she felt very disgusting. If it wasn’t because of her, Yaoniang wouldn’t go to Jin Wang Mansion to be a servant and serve other people’s child, but she had to left her own child.

But she didn’t want to quarrel with Li. She didn’t want to break peace for her younger sister. So she pulled the curtain down and entered the house again.

Li was very uncomfortable about Huiniang’s attitude. She wanted to rush into the door and quarrel with Huiniang, but was pulled by Yan’er who came out of the west chamber.

Yan’er pulled Li into the room.

“Mom, You don’t need to argue with her. She is annoyed for sending the fox bitch, her sister, away. If you quarrel with her, she will become so sad and cry to tell brother when he comes back. It won’t be good if he asks Yaoniang continue to stay here.”

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When Li heard what she said, Li felt she was right and gave her a glance then said, “You agreed with me before that you’ll do all housework after driving Yaoniang away. Where have you been in these two days? You don’t do anything everyday even you want to marry someone. Be careful that your future husband will divorce you if you don’t do housework.”

Li said this while stabbing Yan’er’s forehead with her fingers.

Yan’er felt painful, but she didn’t dare to resist and she was reluctant to say: “You said that I’m going to marry someone. I have to take good care of myself now. If not, I should be a joke after I get married. By the way, did you mention it to brother to go Chen family talking about the marriage between Chen An and I?”

Li was very angry and said: “Don’t be anxious. How can I mention it at this time? If I talk about now, your sister-in-law will quarrel with me again. After Yaoniang leaves, I’ll tell your brother later.”

“Then you should do it as soon as possible.”

Li glared at her daughter and returned to the room. Yan’er looked outside at the door. There was no movement on the other side of the main room, and there was no one in east chamber, then she went out quietly.

She walked out of the alley and turned into a remote alley.

As soon as she reached the door of a house, she was dragged in by a figure coming out of it.

He was a dark-skinned boy. He was not tall, but he was very strong and looked like a small hill.

This person was the black boy Feng Heizi said by Li.

Yan’er was startled by him and said: “Why did you ask Mao Dan to call me out?”

Feng Heizi smiled, “I haven’t seen you for a few days, I miss you.”

Yan’er looked at him with some disgust and said: “My mother doesn’t allow me to go out recently, and my brother has watched me very closely, saying that you taught me bad things.”

Feng Heizi said: “But you asked me to help you. You can’t put all the blame on me…” Seeing Yan’er staring at himself, he quickly turned the tone: “Okay, it’s me. But she bullied you, so I helped you to give a lesson to her. And you agreed at the beginning that if I do it for you, you have to kiss me.”

He said and grinned. Then he moved his face to Yan’er.

Yan’er pushed him away impatiently. “Go away. I’m going to marry someone in the future. How can I kiss you?”

“Who do you want to marry besides me?”

“It won’t be you anyway. I’ll go if you don’t have anything to tell me, lest if your mother come back and see me later.” There were only two people in Feng family. Feng Heizi and his mother widow Feng. Feng Heizi’s father died early, and he was raised by widow Feng who worked hard to wash clothes outside.

Before Yan’er took two steps, she was dragged back severely, raising her eyes to meet with the dark face of Feng Heizi.

“Mao Dan said that you like that man, but that man likes your sister-in-law’ younger sister. So you would…” Feng Heizi’s face and his eyes were a little scary: “Honestly, am I saying the truth?”

Inexplicable, Yan’er was a little anxious.

She remembered what Feng Heizi did usually. He gathered a group of young bastards on the street to swindle, cause trouble, and interrupt people. He even broke people’s arms and legs. Recently he became a hatchet man in a brothel. She suddenly realized that the man in front of her was no longer the black boy who had grown up with her and obeyed to her orders because he liked her.

“Mao Dan said nonsense. Don’t listen to him. I usually don’t go out, so I only know you and Mao Dan. There is no chance for me to know someone else and fall in love with other people.” She pretended to be impatient, and at the same time begged: “I really should go back. I secretly came out and my mother doesn’t know. If my brother knows, he will break my leg. I will come out to see you when I have time.”

Feng Heizi didn’t stop her again this time. She hurriedly stepped out of Feng family’s door.

However, Feng Heizi looked at her back with a grim eyes, and no one knew what he was thinking.

Li still couldn’t resist her curiosity and secretly asked Yao Cheng.

Yao Cheng couldn’t bear that his mother asked this thing so many times, so he told her the truth.

Li learned that Yaoniang would work in royal mansion and earned so much for a month. She was immediately jealous and asked Yao Cheng to send her sister to royal mansion as a maid.

Yao Cheng was very impatient: “It needs to sign a contract of selling oneself if working in royal mansion. Are you willing to let Yan’er be a maid for a lifetime? And now she is too old to be a maid, and they don’t want to agree such a big girl to work in royal mansion.”

“How can Yaoniang go?”

Yao Cheng said patiently: “Yao Niang is going to be a wet nurse.”

Li murmured: “It turned out that there are such advantages if not being a unmarried girl…”

Yao Cheng left without hearing what Li said next. He was afraid that he couldn’t help but kicked his mother.

After Li knew it, she walked around in front of Huiniang and Yaoniang the next morning. She was also very attentive. She prepared breakfast early in the morning and said that she knew that Yaoniang was leaving today and she prepared delicious food for her before going.

Yaoniang couldn’t help but glanced at her. But today she was leaving and she didn’t want to cause any troubles, so she ate breakfast in silence, only pretending not to see Li.

“Yaoniang, you will not be an ordinary people after you go to the royal mansion. You will get much more salaries. You put Xiaobao in our house and do you think it is necessary to give us some allowance.” At the time, Yao Cheng went out to see if Madam Liu’s horse cart was coming, and Li finally came to the point.

As soon as Huiniang heard what she said, she was so annoyed and said: “Mom, Xiaobao eats my breast milk, not yours. I am willing to raise my younger sister’s child. I am his aunt. You can’t ask allowance to my younger sister!”

Li reluctantly hummed: “That’s my Hong’er ration. I’m Hong’er’s grandmother, of course I should care.” She also knew that when her son came in, it wouldn’t be possible to say this kind of thing. So she didn’t talk to Huiniang and directly spoke with Yaoniang. She knew that Yaoniang was honest and easier to bully than HuiNiang.

“Yaoniang, do you think you should give the allowance or not?”

Yaoniang kept lowering her eyes. When she heard this, she raised her eyes without any expression on her face, but her hands resting under the table were clenched.

“Sure. Ma’am, don’t worry, I’ll give some money to you every month when I get the salaries.”

Li got a satisfactory answer and turned away. Presumably she was also afraid that Huiniang would quarrel with her.

Huiniang said anxiously: “Yaoniang, don’t care about what she said. Xiaobao is my nephew. I am willing to take care of him and I don’t want to ask money from you.”

Yaoniang took her hand and whispered, “Sister, listen to me. I’ve caused too much troubles to you. After all, she is your mother-in-law. If she is not happy. I can’t rest assured to let Xiaobao live here. I’m afraid that she will quarrel with you every day. You also know that after I work in royal mansion, I will have much more salaries. So I don’t care about such money that I will give to your family. I don’t know when I will come back. I can only rely on you about feeding and clothing Xiaobao. Only using money can buy food and clothes. If Xiaobao lives and eats here for free, I will feel uneasy.”

Huiniang was so sad, and didn’t know what to say.

She understood what her younger sister thought about. She didn’t want her younger sister was in a pickle. Her younger sister was so considerate and kind, why the god doesn’t love her?

This question had been asked countless times by herself, and she had not been able to get an answer. She could only hold her younger sister to cry.

Actually, Yaoniang did something on this day. She told herself to stop crying countless times. It’s no use to cry and still couldn’t solve the problems. She should try to make herself laugh. But at this time, she could not help but cried.

Yao Cheng walked in from the outside hurriedly and saw this scene.

“Why do you cry? Oh, Madam Liu’s horse cart is here.”

Yaoniang wiped her tears and the tears on Huiniang’s face, then she stood up and went to the inner house to see Xiaobao again. Xiaobao slept soundly, and his little mouth curled as if she was still eating her mother’s breast milk in his sleep.

Yaoniang didn’t dare to look any longer, then she grabbed a small bag next to her and turned her head to run out.

When she got into the horse cart, Huiniang grabbed the cart window and telling Yaoniang to take care of herself, and don’t worry about the family. She could come back to visit home if she was free. If she can’t work well in the royal mansion, she could come back and still stay at her home.

Yaoniang nodded again and again with tears in her eyes.

Madam Liu was impatient and interrupted by saying that it was not too early, and Huiniang stopped to grab the cart window.

The horse trot forwarded all the way, hitting a pleasant rhythm on the blue stone slab road.

Yaoniang poked her head out of the cart window, and said to Huiniang who was still standing outside the door: “Sister, don’t worry. I will take good care of myself. Please get into the house.”

Tears were in Huiniang’s eyes and she nodded.

Watching her elder sister and brother-in-law’s figures getting smaller and smaller, Yaoniang turned back and sat in the horse cart until she couldn’t see them. Madam Liu smiled and looked at her: “Well, wipe your tears. That’s really a good job that everyone else can’t find. You can still go home sometimes. If you work well in royal mansion, you will have a day off every month, and then you can keep the holidays and come back.”

“OK.”

There was a row of houses located at the back door of Jin Wang Mansion, covering a wide area. Most of the servants in Jin Wang Mansion lived here.

Madam Liu also lived here.

When she returned, her husband Hu Lai was not here. Then she cleaned up the messy house first, and changed new clothes to wear.

Madam Liu was in a good mood with a smile on her face and wind on her feet, and everyone was curious, “Hu Lai’ wife, do you pick up gold?”

Everyone was actually very curious. Since her husband Hu Lai lost his job and was addicted with gambling, she lost her temper every day and seldom went back home. Every time she came back, she had to quarrel with Hu Lai. This time Madam Liu returned to her parents’ home, and her man Hu Lei disappeared for a few days. People living here were next to each other. What happened nearby will be known to all the neighbors. It was obvious that this time Hu Lai was also obsessed with gambling and he wouldn’t go home until he lost all money in it.

People thought about Hu Lai’s wife would be very angry when she came back. But she was even looked very happy, which made people very curious.

Madam Liu gave a glance at the woman who wanted to laugh at her and said with a smile: “I didn’t pick up the gold, but step on a stinky shit. You see that the shit is so annoying, and it wants to stick on my heels!”

The woman were also clever. Naturally, she knew that Madam Liu was scolding herself. She became ashamed suddenly and yelled: “Don’t be proud. You probably don’t know that Hu Lai went to gamble again!”

After speaking, the woman retracted her head into the door.

Madam Liu’s face became so dark, and she scolded countless times in her heart. But when she thought that she would soon be appreciated by the consort of Wangye, she immediately swept the haze in her heart.

She entered into Jin Wang Mansion from the back door and walked along the trail all the way through the back garden to Siyi Yard.

When she arrived at Siyi Yard and crossed the shadow wall. There were seven main rooms with seven frames. There were a side room, a wing room on both sides, front and back rooms, which carved beams and painted buildings. It looked magnificent and very elegant.

There were several maids in green leather jackets standing under the porch of the main room. She walked next to the roots of the wall and said with a smile: “Hong’er Guniang, I have something to tell Madam Li. I wonder if she is here?”

The girl named Hong’er looked at her for a while before realizing that she was Madam Liu, who was in charge of flowers and plants in the royal mansion. Knowing that she and Madam Li knew each other and she also did some errands for royal princess, she said, “Wait here. I’ll go in and take your message.”

With a smile on her face, Madam Liu nodded and went to the side of the wall and drew back her hand to stand.

The author has something to say:

I know everyone is anxious to let Yaoniang get into the royal mansion soon, but there are a few important hints foreshadowing later developments in this chapter.

Notes: If you like this novel, maybe you can give a high rate on NU. Its rating is so low now and I’m afraid some readers will miss it.