Chapter 588 Try to Get Close to Qing’er without Being Noticed
Qing’er became active after receiving the pouch. Even before Shao Wanru’s maid brought her lunch back, she had brought Shao Yanru’s lunch back and it seemed to be a big meal. Seeing her come in with a hamper, which was bigger than usual, Shao Yanru showed a gentle smile.
She didn’t care about how many dishes Qing’er brought for her, but only cared about having Qing’er’s favor. Making Shao Wanru’s maid work for her in secret was beneficial to her, she might be able to make great use of Qing’er at a critical moment!
“First Miss, I’ve brought your lunch. Sister Shuqi asked me to do it before she left!” Qing’er placed the huge hamper in front of Shao Yanru, wiped her sweat, and said.
“Thank you.” Shao Yanru said with a smile, put down the writing brush in her hand, and then looked at the huge hamper and asked, “Why are there so many dishes today?”
“I don’t know what you like, so I specially brought you a few more dishes!” Qing’er reported with a smile while taking out the dishes from the hamper neatly and placing them on the table one by one.
“The number of dishes for each one is limited, isn’t it? Why can you take more dishes?” Shao Yanru said in surprise. The long-staying guests in the Yuhui Nunnery like Shao Yanru had ordered their dishes long before, so there couldn’t be extra dishes.
“First Miss, I found out your dishes after an inquiry. After that, I saw some other dishes on one side, so I took a few more dishes at random!” Qing’er said with a flattering smile.
She meant that she didn’t care about whether others had fewer dishes and only wanted to choose a few dishes that Shao Yanru liked!
Shao Yanru couldn’t help laughing and said, “You can’t do that next time. If you take more dishes, others must have fewer dishes. It’s unfair for them!”
“Yes, First Miss. I got it.” Qing’er said. Seeing Shao Yanru put down the writing brush, she smartly fetched the basin and filled it with water, and then held it in front of Shao Yanru for her to clean her hands.
After Shao Yanru washed her hands, Qing’er handed her a handkerchief and then poured the water.
“Qing’er, have you served my Fifth Sister in the room?” Shao Yanru asked with a smile when she saw Qing’er serve her with smooth movements.
“I saw Sister Yujie and Sister Qu Le serve the Fifth Miss in this way. As an inferior maid, I can’t enter the room at will and can only watch them in the yard!” Qing’er lowered her head and said with a little envy,
As an inferior maid, she was definitely envious of the personal princ.i.p.al maids, which meant both a higher monthly salary and being respected. A princ.i.p.al maid always enjoyed more respect than an inferior maid. Even many personal princ.i.p.al maids had their little maids to serve them except in front of their masters.
“Qing’er, do you also want to be a princ.i.p.al maid serving in the room?” Shao Yanru sat down and asked with a smile.
Seeing a teapot and some cups on the table, Qing’er lost no time in reaching out and pouring a cup of tea for Shao Yanru neatly, and then nodded hard and said shyly, “Yes!”
“Work hard, and you will probably be promoted to my Fifth Sister’s personal maid!” Shao Yanru couldn’t help laughing and said.
Qing’er opened her eyes wide, looked at Shao Yanru, and said in surprise, “First Miss, do you think I can be promoted to the Fifth Miss’s princ.i.p.al maid?”
“Why not? Qing’er, you are such a smart maid that you learn how to serve a master after watching other maids do that in the yard. My Fifth Sister will definitely promote you to her personal maid if she notices that!” Shao Yanru picked up the teacup, took a sip, and said with a gentle smile.
“Really? That would be great!” Qing’er said with a pleasantly surprised look, but she immediately lowered her head and said with disappointment, “The Fifth Miss will not promote me to her princ.i.p.al maid!”
“Why?” Shao Yanru asked in a soft voice with interest.
“There are so many capable maids around the Fifth Miss, and I’m just an inferior maid, who can only do some menial jobs and is of little use.” Qing’er said in an aggrieved tone, “Besides, I can’t show up in front of the Fifth Miss!”
“Why can’t you show up in front of my Fifth Sister? Sometimes she allows you to serve her, doesn’t she?” Shao Yanru asked in confusion with an increasingly gentle smile.
Probably Shao Yanru’s gentle smile gave Qing’er the courage to say, “Sister Yujie and Sister Qu Le will not allow me to approach the Fifth Miss. Even if the Fifth Miss occasionally instructed me to go over, they stopped me intentionally or unintentionally. The Fifth Miss trusted Sister Yujie and Sister Qu Le the most, so she won’t see me!”
Qing’er lowered her head even more and looked aggrieved as she said.
“Well, if my Fifth Sister clearly says that she doesn’t need you anymore, you can be my maid. I like you a lot, so I can make you a princ.i.p.al maid of mine!” Shao Yanru said softly with a smile.
“Really?” Qing’er asked, suddenly raised her head and looked at Shao Yanru in surprise.
“Of course it’s true. Would I lie to you?” Shao Yanru looked her up and down with a smile, nodded, and said.
“Thank you, First Miss. Thank you, First Miss. I will devote myself to work for you! I’m quite diligent!” Qing’er said in excitement with a sparkle in her eyes.
Of course, Shao Yanru clearly knew what Qing’er meant. She smiled slightly at once, stopped talking, picked up her chopsticks, and began to have lunch slowly.
She had always kept silent when having a meal and going to sleep. After she finished her lunch quietly, Qing’er began to clean up the bowls and chopsticks.
“You are a maid sent to serve my Fifth Sister by Great Elder Princess. During this period of time when you stay on the mountain, you should take serving my Fifth Sister as a priority. After you leave the Yuhui Nunnery and return to Duke Xing’s Mansion, I’ll ask my Fifth Sister for you. When the time comes, you can directly come to my courtyard and work as my princ.i.p.al maid!” Shao Yanru wiped her lips with a handkerchief and gave an order.
“First Miss, rest a.s.sured. I understand!” Qing’er, who was excited at the moment, became increasingly excited about hearing Shao Yanru’s words.
The Fifth Miss was going to stay on the mountain for a few months at most. After she went down the mountain and returned to Duke Xing’s Mansion with her master, she would be a member of Duke Xing’s Mansion. When the time came, as long as the First Miss asked for her, she could be promoted to a princ.i.p.al maid from an inferior maid at once, which was obviously an excellent thing.
Any inferior maid would have the same reaction as Qing’er on hearing such news.
The princ.i.p.al maids of a Miss from an aristocratic family should be selected carefully. It was an excellent thing for her to win Miss’s favor as an inferior maid.
Shao Yanru was quite satisfied with Qing’er’s reaction. This was what she expected.
“I’ll stay on the mountain for the time being!” Shao Yanru paused and then continued saying, “But I’ll probably leave. But in any case, I’ll remember what I’ve promised you. Rest a.s.sured and continue working for my Fifth Sister. You can help me occasionally when I need help and you’re available.”
“First Miss, rest a.s.sured. Tell me what I can do for you, and I’ll do it at any risk!” Qing’er said. She almost wanted to pat her chest to ensure that she could definitely do anything for Shao Yanru.
“That’s good. It’s no big deal, but just a small errand. There are some water lilies in the vat. How about pus.h.i.+ng the vat closer to my room so that I can see the water lilies as soon as I open the window!” Shao Yanru rolled her eyes slightly, stood up, pointed at the outside, and said slowly.
It was an extremely trivial errand, which was used to test Qing’er. In fact, Shao Yanru did care about admiring the water lilies but just intended to test Qing’er’s loyalty to her.
Although Shao Yanru thought that since she had said that, any smart maid should know how to choose a master between her and Shao Wanru. Nevertheless, she had always been cautious, so of course, she still had a little doubt.
Thus, she tried to test Qing’er’s loyalty to her with the vat of water lilies.
“Okay, First Miss, wait a minute. I’ll push the vat to your window right away so that you can admire them when you get tired.” Qing’er rolled up her sleeves and said, “Sister Yujie said that the Fifth Miss wanted to draw the water lilies, but I think it’s more important to enable you to admire them when you get tired!”
As Qing’er said, she was in no mood to clean up the leftovers on the table, turned around in a hurry, and was about to leave without any hesitation.
“Wait a minute!” Shao Yanru stopped her with a smile.
“First Miss, what’s wrong?” Qing’er stopped and asked in puzzlement.
“Since my Fifth Sister wants to draw a painting of them, you certainly should move the vat after she finishes painting. If you rashly push the vat over, my Fifth Sister will be unable to draw.” Shao Yanru said with a gentle smile. Of course, she did not care about the vat of water lilies. She was very satisfied with Qing’er’s att.i.tude, but she would not really ask Qing’er to the vat, which had attracted Shao Wanru’s attention!
It was not easy to hide something from Shao Wanru, so she had to be cautious when dealing with Shao Wanru!
“First Miss, you are so nice!” Qing’er said.
“My Fifth Sister is still young, so I should take care of her. Clean up the leftovers, see if there’s anything you like, and eat what you like!” Shao Yanru said with a smile and pointed to the dishes on the table.
“Thank you, First Miss!” Qing’er said, looking cheerful. She seemed to have a heartfelt admiration for Shao Yanru and began to clean up the dishes neatly.
Shao Yanru went into the inner room for a rest, leaving Qing’er alone to clean up the dishes. When Qing’er was done, she said to the inner room, “First Miss, I’m going to the kitchen now. Do you need me to fetch anything else?”
“Nothing else. You can go now!” Shao Yanru’s extremely gentle voice came from inside.
“Yes, First Miss!” Since Shao Yanru didn’t give another order, Qing’er came out of the main room with the hamper. When she arrived in the corridor, she saw Yujie. They exchanged glances quietly and then separated.
After entering the inner room, Yujie opened the hamper in her hand, took out a few simple dishes, put them on the table, and then looked at Shao Wanru, who was standing in front of the window and admiring the water lilies, and said, “Miss, it’s time for lunch!”
“The water lilies look in good shape!” Shao Wanru said. She happened to be able to see the water lilies, which stood gracefully erect with some in the bud, through her window. Suddenly, she recalled that she had intended to plant a vat of water lilies. When she was in Jiangzhou, she was unable to do that because she only had an empty fish tank. After she moved to the capital, Chu Liuchen gave her a fish tank, but she still didn’t plant water lilies in it.
After she came up the mountain, it was even more inconvenient for her to plant water lilies. She did not expect that there would be such a vat of water lilies, which were in good shape. It was a rare chance indeed.
“They are sent here by Prince Chen in the name of Pushan Nun so that you can admire them!” Yujie saw the water lilies after turning around and replied with a smile.
“Qing’er has gone there?” Shao Wanru raised the corners of her mouth slightly, unconsciously said with a pleasant smile, and turned around to leave the window. Yujie hurriedly helped her sit down at the table.