Chapter 97: Male Supporting Character, Please Help Me
Ye-mama kept her own counsel when it came to this matter. In order to not make life difficult for Madame Xiu, she decided to take it upon herself to wake the couple up to the realities of the world. She returned to the house and took out two bottles of leftover poison, then made her way quickly to Repentance Garden.
Unexpectedly, when she arrived, she saw Bao Yue sitting in front of the door. When she noticed Ye-mama, Bao Yue smiled and said, “Mama, why have you come here in the middle of the night?”
“Nothing much. I just wanted to teach the couple a lesson. They have really gone too overboard this time. They’ve shown their masters no face, picking such a time to fool around! What if the prince gets wind of this disgusting matter when he returns and blames your mistress?
It seems like this Madame Xiu has made up her mind to protect them. She even sent Bao Yue, the most honest and loyal among the maidservants here, to guard them.
Bao Yue nodded. She actually agreed with Ye-mama’s point of view. But she had been given direct orders, so she could only guard the door diligently. “Sorry Ye-mama, the mistress said that n.o.body should spread rumors or increase the severity of the issue. This is why no one can see them.
Ye-mama smiled and said, “But they still need to eat, right? Why don’t I serve some of these dishes I brought to them.”
“Ye-mama, please don’t make things difficult for this servant. My mistress’ wishes are very clear and she doesn’t want anybody to get close to them.” Bao Yue wasn’t the most intelligent person, but one of her strong points was that she was very honest. Or else, she wouldn’t have been handpicked to help Madame Xiu manage household affairs.
The old madame was very good at identifying the right talent. Even with clever and alert servants like Bao Qin and Bao Yu, one still needed someone who was loyal and honest. Bao Yue was such a person.
Ye-mama had no choice but to return. But at the same time, she started to see this Madame Xiu in a new light. Although she might seem honest, she certainly isn’t stupid. Otherwise, there would be no way she would’ve sent someone to guard the place. Ye-mama really didn’t know what Bai Xiangxiu was planning, but she felt that she definitely needed to write a letter to the old madame to inform her of this matter. Otherwise, if Bai Xiangxiu mishandled the issue and tarnished the name of the household, she wouldn’t know how to face her old mistress afterwards.
Soon after that thought pa.s.sed through her mind, she asked someone to send a letter to inform the old madame, but Bai Xiangxiu managed to learn of this as well.
Although Ye-mama had a very long tenure in the estate, Bai Xiangxiu had been hard at work capturing the hearts of people in the estate. For example, the maidservant who was always by Ye-mama’s side had grown quite close to Bai Xiangxiu.
Bai Xiangxiu learned of Ye-mama’s intentions during an idle chat with the maid. Bai Xiangxiu tugged on her hair as she thought furiously. She needed to keep this situation under wraps as long as she could. If the old madame caught wind and wrote back, Bai Xiangxiu would be forced to kill them no matter what her wishes were. There was no one she could ask for help in this world, nor did she have any other ideas. But wait… that wasn’t entirely true. One person did come to mind that could help her, even if she was extremely reluctant to nurture the idea. The kind-hearted male supporting character!
She remembered that he was an idealist in the novel, especially when it came to love. The scholars in the past all enjoyed pursuing love. They believed that love and l.u.s.t were entirely different ent.i.ties, and could be separated.
Song Jiaoyue was such a person. He had always separated things very clearly, but had always regarded love as extremely important. More important than anything else. Surely such a person would be able to sympathize with the couple who was currently locked away. Maybe she could ask him for help?
Yes. Of course she could ask him for help. She couldn’t think of anyone else other than him who could help her. But the question remained, who should she ask to send him a letter? After giving it some thought, she remembered how she’d snuck out of the estate last time. Maybe she could attempt that again.
After some discussion with Xiao s.h.i.+, she sent out word that she had fallen ill once again. Donning a maidservant’s attire again, she waited for trader Sun Si’er at the rear gate. She climbed into his cart again and quietly hid inside.
When Sun Si’er came back, he discovered that his cart was a little strange again. But since only that beautiful maidservant had used his cart in such a way before, he thought that it was probably her at it again. He really really didn’t want to bother with the matters of the estate. Nevertheless, he still threw a bunch of unwanted cabbage leaves on top of her to cover her up.
The only vegetables he could deliver into the estate currently were vegetables such as cabbages and carrots. He had nothing else. But unfortunately for Bai Xiangxiu, the cabbage leaves were rotten ones again! Bai Xiangxiu was speechless at her luck. All she wanted to do was to save some people. Did things have to be so difficult?
She finally arrived outside after suffering for quite a while under the rotten cabbage leaves. As soon as she realized where she was, she immediately cast off the leaves. Sun Si’er hauled back on the reins. “Miss, please get down from the cart!”
Bai Xiangxiu hastily clambered out of the cart. She messily put on her veiled hat in an absentminded manner. “Thank you. I have very urgent matters this time so I apologize, but I must take my leave now.”
She threw a silver tael in his cart with an audible thud and gave him a smile before she started running. She still remembered where the Song estate was located. It wasn’t too far from where she was, but it wasn’t exactly close by either. But time was of the essence, she had to return by tonight.
Once she arrived at the Song estate, the doorkeeper said that Song Jiaoyue had gone to the Moon Gazing Tavern and wasn’t in. She felt depressed when she heard that. She’d just pa.s.sed by that place earlier, and now she had to run all the way back there.
She stamped her feet and began running back to the place. But because she was in too much of a hurry, she actually knocked into somebody just as she turned the corner. Bam!. She had knocked into somebody at full force.
At the moment of impact, the only thing she could think of was how angry the other party was going to be. But she didn’t expect the other party to be so st.u.r.dy that she’d be the one bouncing away instead. Do I have to be so unlucky? She reached up to protect her head, but accidentally knocked her veiled hat away instead.
“Ah…” This fall is going to hurt.
Unexpectedly, the other person reached out to hug her waist, and her body fell into his warm embrace. A strong and powerful heartbeat, a refres.h.i.+ng smell and a flat chest. Based on the height and the chest, the person that was hugging her must be a man. Moreover, it was a very young man. This young man also seemed to be an extremely shy person. Because, just an accidental hug like this was making his heart beat so quickly that even Bai Xiangxiu could feel his nervousness. However, shouldn’t he be observing propriety and helping her up by now? Why was his hug lasting an eternity??
He could afford to spend a lifetime hugging her, but she couldn’t! She still had people to save!
She quickly regained her balance and stood up to say, “Thank you. And uhhh… sorry for that. I have other things to attend to so I apologize for taking my leave so hastily.”
She bent over to pick up her veiled hat, but the mysterious man’s hand had already beaten her to it. He returned the hat to her and said, “Are you really okay?”
This voice. Can it be him? She lifted her head to check and sure enough, it was him! She grabbed Song Jiaoyue’s hand in excitement and said, “It’s you! Song Jiaoyue! It’s so good to finally see you!”
Song Jiaoyue had happened to be sitting by the window of the Moon Gazing Tavern when he saw a girl’s figure quickly flash by on the street. Although he’d only caught a glimpse of the figure, he’d had a good guess of who that was. He’d chased after her on a whim, and to his surprise, it really was her! She’d actually come looking for him, a fact which surprised him and made him feel a little at a loss as well. But hearing that she needed to see him so urgently, he couldn’t help but go wild with inner joy. He couldn’t care less anymore either so, he held her tiny hands and said, “You…”
“Please help me.” Bai Xiangxiu as she blinked her eyes. She didn’t know why, but his gaze seemed extremely pa.s.sionate for some reason. Because of that, it subconsciously made her want to escape. So, she just hastily withdrew her hand and said, “Sorry, I was panicking a little just now.”
“Don’t worry about it.” Her small hands feel so warm, just like her. Song Jiaoyue looked at her gently, as though he was looking at a precious treasure. He really wanted to caress her little face that was tilted downwards, but such thoughts shouldn’t have existed in the first place.