Chapter 5 — Qi Yun"s Daughter (2)
Like the calm before the storm, everything was quiet after Su Xin"s confrontation with Ta Yan; its repurcussions had yet to rear its head. And Su Xin had foreseen it was bound to be ugly. so she was not surprised when Shu Juan came barging in like she was being chased by the devil himself.
"Young lady! Young lady! What did you do to the mama?" Shu Juan was pale, eyes wide in fear, "The mama is livid!" Her words signified how immensely rattled she was at the moment.
A nonplussed Su Xin was sitting by the window observing the sights. An absolute contrast with the frightened, trembling girl leaning on the doorway.
"What"s the matter?" Su Xin slowly pulled her gaze from the scenery outside to look at the girl in front of her.
It seems the storm has arrived.
“Mama is going to send you to the second floor! Oh, heavens!" Shu Juan slumped down, the myriad of emotions finally hitting her and leaving her drained.
"How is this even possible?" Shu Juan whispered and glanced at her master. Seeing her unfazed reaction, she was struck dumbfounded.
How could she still be so calm?
In this brothel, the girls who had status, even just a little bit, all reside on the third floor and Su Xin was the cream of the crop—having the best room. The second floor, on the other hand, was mediocre. It served as the place for those who had little money and maintained no reputation. Some even had to take in patrons.
For Su Xin, who was from the third floor and was Ta Yan"s favorite, to be swiftly demoted to the second floor would be a big controversy and surely a topic for everyone"s schadenfreude.
But Su Xin knows her moves are limited for the meantime. Patience was her only friend at the moment.
She needed to be wise with her decisions and ride out the storm.
“It"s all right. Just let it be. I"ve got plans." Su Xin gave Shu Juan what could be called a rea.s.suring smile to appease the panic-stricken girl.
“Young lady, how can I not be anxious! Obviously—obviously after a few days..” Shu Juan"s words faltered and she looked at Su Xin, tears gleaming in her eyes.
“I am only worried for the Young lady." She whispered, voice breaking.
Su Xin knelt beside Shu Juan and carefully wiped her tears with her handkerchief. Afterwards, helping her get to her feet.
“Shu Juan, listen to me. I am planning to take part in the Banquet of the Four Countries.”
“What?" Shu Juan"s mouth was agape. Her disbelief with her master was growing by the second.
The Banquet of the Four Countries! Never has it crossed Shu Juan"s mind, nor the ladies in the establishment. Not even in her wildest dreams. For the Young lady to suddenly have this far-fetched idea was beyond her!
Su Xin could see the incredulity in Shu Juan"s eyes and hastened to say, “Even if I fail, I still must give it a try.”
She looked steadily at the girl before her. Shu Juan didn"t know her reasons and she couldn"t tell. She couldn"t blame if the girl thought she was being delusional. However she knew she had to be firm.
She was no longer the Xue Yao she knew. This was for her mission and not from some fanciful impulse.
“Shu Juan, I won"t be resigned to this fate."
Shu Juan stopped weeping. It seems like there was no stopping her master. The best she could do was to support her.
She gave Su Xin a determined smile.
“Yes, Shu Juan will always have Young lady"s best interests at heart. This servant intends to follow Young lady regardless of any circ.u.mstance.”
No matter what decisions the Young lady makes, she would still be Shu Juan"s favorite person to serve all her life.
Su Xin"s eyes were unreadable. She could see the girl"s unwavering loyalty to the body"s original owner and she didn"t know what to make of it. "Foolish girl."
The room returned to its former stillness, to which Su Xin was grateful for. It gave her s.p.a.ce to think.
Su Xin unconsciously returned her eyes to the window. Inadvertently on the same line of sight was a person. As if on cue, that person also returned Su Xin"s stare.
Su Xin stifled a laugh.
Even from afar, she could directly tell that the person was a female clad in clothes for a young man! What even made it more ridiculous was that she was not alone in this charade. A small girl, dressed haphazardly just as she was, was following beside her.
What could these two runts be up to?
[That one is Qi yun"s daughter. Befriending her might be favorable to your mission.]
Why?
[She is this world"s protagonist.]
Su Xin"s eyes widened at this statement. Protagonist, huh? She studied the girl whose gaze was still fixed at her.
Su Xin smiled—a smile that was so bright she was sure would leave an impression on the girl. She turned her back and disappeared from the window.
A plan steadily formed in her mind.
—
“Miss, what are you looking at? We should go back. This place is very strange." Hong-er nervously tugged at He Yunshu"s sleeve incessantly, wanting to get her attention.
She still didn"t know what had just happened today. Out of the blue this morning, the deranged Eldest miss woke up as if she were a different person. She ruthlessly got rid of her evil servants who had been tormenting her for some time now.
It shocked everyone to their core. And for the unfortunate ones who had slighted her—fear.
The servants couldn"t believe the once meek Miss, who would only cower when they abused her, would one day become so ferocious, s.n.a.t.c.hing back her authority and had them grovelling for their lives.
After the ordeal, she put on men"s clothes without shame and took off to the streets saying that she was going to pay a visit to the brothels. Hong-er was obliged to come, forgetting her initial shock. She was afraid that her master was going crazy!
The brothel, ah! No lady from a respective family should even dare to be of close proximity.
He Yunshu was not paying attention to the small servant girl beside her. She was transfixed by something, more specifically, someone.
The girl was a beauty, extremely seductive but there wasn"t a trace of vulgarity in it.
He Yunshu"s heart stirred — like a pebble falling into a calm lake, disrupting the surface and making ripples.
She was a true beauty of the ancient era.
However, a fact made her pause in her musings. The girl was inside the premises of a brothel which probably makes her a pleasure worker.
He Yunshu felt disprited.
Such a young girl and already robbed of her future, it was too unfortunate. While she was thinking such thoughts, the girl had beamed at her like the sun and then she was out of sight.
As if a spell had been broken, He Yunshu was now aware of the anxious servant beside her.
“Goodness Hong-er, stop nagging me.” He Yunshu stopped walking and looked at Hong-er, annoyed.
As if she didn"t hear a thing, Hong-er resumed in pestering her. "Miss, we should really go back!"
Playing the same antic, He Yunshu asked, “Hong-er! Do you know who lives in that room?" She pointed at the window where the beautiful girl was before.
“Huh? The one on the third floor.. that room is Young lady Xue Yao"s."
"Hong-er, didn"t you say that unmarried young misses of the family are not allowed to talk about such things? How did you know who lives in that room? Hmmm?” He Yunshu"s tone was accusatory and she looked at Hong-er teasingly.
Immediately, two red spots appeared on Hong-er"s small face, “What! No, miss! Young Lady Xue Yao is very proper. She has helped many people."
..Weren"t they digressing? This Miss of hers has just craftily turned the conversation around, ah!
"This servant has heard that Young lady Xue Yao will be… but the rumours are uncertain anyway. In short, Miss, we should now return to the manor!”
"Okay, okay, you go back.” He Yunshu made a shooing motion with her hands.
To transmigrate to the ancient times—how could one not visit the brothel?! It would be incredulous to pa.s.s off this opportunity.
He Yunshu was looking forward to the evening as the brothel was definitely more interesting in this time.
Xue Yao… Snow Shake. The name rolled off He Yunshu"s tongue interestingly.
T/N: This chapter is more like the masters driving their poor servants crazy ?