Chapter 284: Untitled

Translator: Henyee Translations  Editor: Henyee Translations

After bidding farewell to Su Mu, Zi Su returned to her room.

Ban Xia had just laid out the blanket for her. When she saw her return, she quickly asked, “How is it? Did Su Mu accept your hairpin?”

Zi Su shook her head.

Ban Xia was not surprised. “I knew it. She definitely won’t accept your hairpin. She’s not that kind of person! Speaking of which, Miss Su is really a good person! She’s capable and kind-hearted. Even the three little masters like her so much! Sigh, if we had known that she was so good, we should have stayed in the same room as her and let Fu Ling stay with Tao’er and Li’er.”

Zi Su also felt that Su Mu should be a good person. Perhaps she had misunderstood her before, or perhaps she was simply guarding against her and was worried that she would rely on the little masters’ love to ride on her head. However, tonight, she had saved her without caring about the past.

However, for some reason, the expressionless face she saw by the pond kept appearing in her mind.

At that moment, Su Mu was terrifyingly cold.

Uncle Wan entered the palace when he was young and stayed in the Capital for twenty years before following Prince Yan to Yan City to build a manor. After that, he took root in Yan City. There was nothing good about Yan City, but it was near the sea and the humidity was a little heavy. Uncle Wan did not know when he contracted the illness, but his knees hurt badly on rainy days.

“It’s going to rain again.” Uncle Wan dragged his painful knee back into the house.

“Little Quan!”

Uncle Wan found a chair to sit down and poured himself a cup of cold tea.

A smart young eunuch walked in. The young eunuch was a servant of the Yan Manor. He had followed his master into the Capital on this trip. After the Young Master Manor welcomed the mistress, the original pageboys and guards had all moved to the outer court. However, because he was a eunuch, Little Quan could stay.

“Manager Wan, are you finally done? Are you hungry? I asked the kitchen to leave some food. I’ll bring it over now!” Little Quan said with a smile.

“It’s fine. I’m not hungry.” Uncle Wan waved his hand. “Go get a bucket of hot water.”

Little Quan looked at Uncle Wan’s hand that was rubbing his knee and said in surprise, “Your leg hurts again?”

“It hasn’t hurt in a long time.” The climate in the Capital was dry. He had only felt pain a few times in the past few months, and the symptoms were much lighter than in Yan City. “The weather is going to change. Alright, hurry up and go. Remember to keep your voice down. The little masters are asleep. Don’t wake them up.”

“Aye!” Little Quan carried the wooden bucket to the kitchen to fetch water. Halfway there, he met Su Mu, who was also heading to the kitchen with a basket of cherries.

In terms of qualifications, how could Su Mu compare to him who had been working in Prince Yan’s Manor for several years? But who knew that Su Mu was favored by the little masters? So Little Quan had long put this person on his list of people he could not offend.

Little Quan smiled and greeted her. “Sister Su, what a coincidence. You’re going to the small kitchen too.”

Su Mu nodded slightly. “I’ll go make some cherry juice. Do you want some hot water?”

Su Mu’s gaze landed on his wooden bucket.

Little Quan sighed. “Steward Wan’s old habit is acting up again. I’ll get some hot water for him to soak.”

“Then go,” Su Mu gestured to him.

“Manager Wan is waiting anxiously. Sister Su, I’ll go first!” Little Quan smiled awkwardly and walked away with the wooden bucket.

Uncle Wan did not leave Little Quan to serve him. He let Little Quan leave. He put his feet into the hot bucket and twisted a cotton cloth to warm it up. However, he was old and it was not very useful. He was still in great pain.

Suddenly, someone knocked on the door.

“Who is it?” Uncle Wan asked.

“It’s me, Su Mu.”

“W-wait a moment!” Uncle Wan quickly raised his leg. It was already in great pain, so when he moved, he gasped a few times.

He put down his pants, put on his shoes, and carried the bucket to the ear room before opening the door for Su Mu.

“It’s so late. Why are you looking for me?” Uncle Wan asked in surprise.

The sky was already dark. The servants who did not need to be on night duty had all rested.

Su Mu handed two cloth bags the size of a hand to Uncle Wan. “I heard from Little Quan that your leg hurts again. Try this.”

“This is…” Uncle Wan hesitated.

Su Mu said, “The local recipe in my hometown. It has salt, ginger slices, and scallion white inside. The old people in our village use it when their legs hurt. It doesn’t hurt anymore after they use it.”

Uncle Wan took it skeptically. His knee had hurt for many years, so it was too naive to stop his pain with just these few things. However, she had good intentions, so Uncle Wan still thanked her. “Thank you.”

“I’ll leave first,” Su Mu said quietly.

Uncle Wan was stunned. Was it an illusion or something else? He felt that the person who spoke to him just now was not Su Mu, but Young Madam.

They clearly didn’t look alike, but there was a trace of the Young Madam in her calm temperament. Perhaps it was because of this that the little masters were willing to get close to her.

Uncle Wan could not help but think of Su Mu’s background. According to Steward Hu, Su Mu was from Wan City. Her parents had passed away early and she was raised by her grandfather. When she was thirteen years old, her grandfather had also passed away. She was thrown to the countryside farm by her aunt. A few years later, her aunt’s family fell into dire straits and they sold her to a brothel. The brothel brought her to the Capital and sold her to the Silk Music Hall.

“She’s also a child from a poor family.” Uncle Wan sighed.

Unfortunately, they had different lives. As the children of a poor family, Su Mu was not as lucky as Young Madam. Not only could she have a husband like Young Master, but she could also give birth to three children for him.

“It’s a pity that she’s such a good child.” Uncle Wan shook his head and limped back to the bed. He opened the cloth bag. Just as Su Mu had said, it was salt, scallion white, and ginger slices. Perhaps because it had just been cooked, it was still hot. Uncle Wan casually placed it on his knee.

He didn’t try everything he could. He only used it as an ordinary hot compress. Unexpectedly, fifteen minutes later, something unbelievable happened. His knee really didn’t seem to hurt that much anymore.

In the upper room, Yu Wan quietly guarded the three sleeping little fellows. It was already so late, and Yan Jiuchao and Shadow Thirteen had not returned. They probably would not send her sons to the countryside tonight. Coincidentally, she could not bear to part with them.

It was not good for her to let her imagination run wild in front of so many people during the day. Now that she was alone and quiet, she had to admit that she was jealous. However, when she thought about it, it seemed normal. Who asked her to be so busy recently that she neglected them? They were lonely and coincidentally, there was Su Mu who could coax them. Naturally, they would get close to her.

However, this Su Mu… kept giving Yu Wan an uncomfortable feeling. Could it be because of jealousy? But why should she be jealous of a maidservant?

This really didn’t make sense.

“Young Madam.” Tao’er entered the house. “Sister Zi Su was frightened when she fell into the water just now. I’m afraid she can’t come over to be on duty tonight.”

“Why did she fall into the water?” Yu Wan asked.

Tao’er said, “She went to Nanny Fang’s place and slipped when she passed by the pond. In the end, she fell into the water. At that time, Su Mu and Ban Xia were nearby and heard a cry for help and saved her.”

Yu Wan frowned. It was Su Mu again. Why was she everywhere?

“Call Su Mu over.”

“Yes.”

Tao’er called Su Mu to Yu Wan’s room.

“You can leave,” Yu Wan said to Tao’er.

Tao’er tactfully left, leaving Yu Wan, Su Mu, and the three sleeping little fellows in the room.

Su Mu stood on the shiny floor without looking sideways. Yu Wan put down the curtain and slowly walked to the official hat chair to sit down.

“Kneel,” Yu Wan said.

Su Mu obediently knelt down.

If an ordinary person were to be punished to kneel the moment they arrived, they would more or less show a trace of surprise. However, there was not a trace of abnormality on her face, as if she was born to submit. However, if one looked at her carefully, it was not difficult to notice that she was neither servile nor overbearing.

Yu Wan’s gaze landed on her face without blinking. “Do you know why I want to punish you?”

“I don’t know,” Su Mu said.

Yu Wan added, “Do you really not know or pretend not to know?”

Su Mu remained silent.

Yu Wan continued, “On the first day you entered the manor, the back room was on fire. On the second day you entered the manor, Zi Su fell into the water. You happened to be there both times and were saved by you. Do you think this is a coincidence?”

Su Mu said, “It doesn’t matter what I think. What’s important is what Young Madam thinks.”

Yu Wan said indifferently, “You mean if I don’t believe you, I’m slandering you?”

Su Mu said, “I wouldn’t dare.”

Yu Wan said, “I think you would.”

Su Mu bent down and knelt on the ground.

As the saying goes, catch two people in the act and catch the thief in the act. Even if she really wanted to punish Su Mu, she had to have a reason. Su Mu had saved the lives of so many servants and had won her sons’ favor. If she had dealt with her without a word, not only would she anger everyone, but she would also fall out with her sons.

She wasn’t that stupid. Moreover, Su Mu might really be innocent. If that happened, she would have wronged a good person.

Yu Wan said calmly, “You can leave first. I think you’re quite agile. You even know how to tie a swing. Why don’t you move to my second brother’s Zhuyue Pavilion tomorrow and take care of the flowerbed there? You don’t have to return to the Qingfeng Courtyard to serve me for the next few days.”

This meant that she was sending Su Mu away.

This was to better observe Su Mu. If Su Mu was really a good person, then she would know her place in the Zhuyue Pavilion.

Of course, Yu Wan also had her own selfish motives. Her sons would have less contact with Su Mu, so their enthusiasm could fade.

Su Mu did not say anything and left the room with her head lowered.

Zi Su could not be on duty at night, so Ban Xia stayed behind to take care of her. Tao’er and Li’er had already been on duty for a night, so only Fu Ling and Su Mu were left.

“Get Fu Ling to come over,” Yu Wan said to Tao’er.

Yan Jiuchao asked the guards to pass on a message. He and Shadow Thirteen would leave the Capital overnight and would not be returning tonight. He told Yu Wan to rest early and not wait for him.

Yu Wan nodded and called Fu Ling in, letting her sleep behind the green gauze cabinet. With Fu Ling’s height, it was really difficult for her to sleep on a girl’s small embroidered bed. She curled up and did not sleep well all night.

In the middle of the night, everyone fell asleep.

Su Mu, who was beside Tao’er, suddenly opened her eyes.