Chapter 241 - Solving the Traitor (3)

This caused her to frown, but she reasoned that her Master was probably there if this servant was there. He followed Wangye around like a dog. 

She checked her appearance once again, without a mirror before donning her smile and lightly pushed open the door with her head bowed. 

"The Assistant Head Maid is here." She announced again, peeking up to make sure her master was indeed in the room. He was sitting at his desk, looking through papers with his servant standing to his left. His left hand was hovering over an ink brush in the ink palette. Next to his right hand was his jade seal, the top shaped like a tiger. In front of that, close to his side of the table, was a stack of papers, probably work he needed to got though.

There was a pause as he said something that only the servant beside him could hear, neither his eyes nor his face moving away from the paper he was reading. When the servant turned back, she quickly looked back down at the floor, as if she had been analyzing the carpet rather than marveling at her master since she came in. 

"Where is the Head Maid?" He asked her from his place next to Zhu Wangye.

"Answering gong-gong 1  , the Head Maid is currently unwell and has given the duties of the inner courtyard for me to take care of temporarily. She should be resting in her room right now. Is there a problem?" She answered the question concisely and seriously, not a single unusual tone or word. She even followed up with a question of her own, making it seem like she thought it was because something had happened to the Head Maid and not something else. 

"What sickness ails her?" He asked without answering her question, merely looking straight forward not even looking at her.

"I believe it is a cold. The temperature has been rather low lately." She responded again but her smile was becoming more strained, not that they could see her with he face parallel to the ground. 'Master isn't looking at me at all, just doing his own business as if I'm not here and the gong-gong is looking off into the distance like I'm not even worth the edge of his gaze. Hmph! Once I become Wangye's woman, see how I'll deal with you for your rudeness today!' She thought to herself but was practiced enough not to show it. Dealing with her master's many pursuers, many of them being from noble families, she learned how to hide her thought to a certain extent. Even if she wasn't the Head, she was still the Head's assistant. She's seen a fair share of them enough to quickly learn the skills herself. Sadly, it was just these small skills. Sure enough, the more stupid women could get by with just this because they had backing from their families to some extent, but her family was nothing. Her family wasn't even connected to any noble families in any way, so how could this little skill be notable? The more qualified women were smart enough to scheme for their man and even they were abandoned for a younger and fresher woman, more often than not. 

"Then, why has this not been reported to Wangye?"

"This is really just a small matter and the Head Maid is sure to recover within a few days so we discussed it and deemed that it was not necessary to trouble Wangye with such a minor matter of the inner courtyard." She pushed half the blame onto the Head Maid since she couldn't take all of it. There was no discussion, the Head Maid had ordered her to report the matter to Wangye because she couldn't get out of bed but she never did. It was only for a few days and during this time, she could increase her foothold in the inner courtyard while getting close to Wangye without anyone stopping her. How could she miss this opportunity now? She may have cowered so many years but look how well Wangye was treating that wild woman from god knows where, she was even associated with Lavender Palace. Though that place was an information hub, it was also a brothel! That reputation would forever remain with the brand even if they stopped doing the sex business. Wangye was so good to that unworthy woman despite turning away so many other noble ladies, wouldn't she be treated well if she entered Wangye's eyes also? She didn't have some dirty background that other people can't know like that woman he brought back, nor was she fake and power-grubbing like those other rich and wealthy ladies. 

However, now, Wangye seems to be mad at her for not reporting, and for the sake of her desire, she can't take all the blame. In fact, it would be better if she could make the Head Maid look bad in front of Wangye. Then, she might even be promoted to take her place at the very least, if not becoming his woman. She was fine with that it meant she had more time to get close to her Wangye.

"Daring Assistant, what audacity you're have to decide such important matters of the inner courtyard? Looks like Wangye has been too lenient on you, causing you to act out of place." The servant raised his voice but there wasn't as much emotion in his voice as if he was shouting.

Without responding, the Assistant Head Maid immediately knelt down on the carpeted floor with a thump. She kowtowed on the floor, hitting her head against the carpet in apology. "This subject apologizes. This subject doesn't dare. It was the Head Maid who told me to do it like this. Please investigate, Wangye!" She yelled as she continued to hit her head against the floor but her highly admired Zhu Wangye never lifted his eyes from the papers he wa looking through. He had went through half the stack already since she entered. He was indeed a fast worker. No wonder he could stay with Shen Tianyu for so long without hurry or worry. Despite the amount of paperwork that had piled up, he was still able to go through them quickly when Shen Tianyu was busy with her own matters.

It's what they use to call eunuchs in high positions back in imperial China. It's technically not grandpa and I have no idea how to properly translate this into English. If I do find a translation for it, I'll change it though.