Chapter 5: Dislike
"Is it your turn to empty the night bucket? Have you had breakfast?" Mother Liu asked softly.
"No, don't worry, I'll carry the flowers for you later before you go eat." Su Qing regretted her meddling. Why are the flowers so heavy? From yesterday to now, the bowl of noodles has been digested so much that not even the residue can be seen.
"If you go too late, I'm afraid there won't be anything left in the kitchen. You can come to my place later. Qingrui had someone bring some snacks over a while ago. You can try them."
Su Qing knew that Qing Rui was Mama Liu's niece, and she was a servant beside the Crown Prince's wife. Because of her, Mama Liu became the second in command of the inner courtyard of the West Mansion.
Su Qing agreed, and her hands seemed to have more strength. Look, this is the magic of dim sum. I wonder if it tastes as good as they say in TV dramas.
From a distance, a courtyard appeared in front of her. It was already light at this time, and a sharp-eyed woman in the courtyard came to greet Liu Mama when she saw her.
"Oh, it's such a heavy thing, how can mom carry it here by herself? Just ask us to do it." As he said this, he took it from Mother Liu.
Su Qing rolled her eyes in her heart. What kind of look was that? It was clearly her and Mother Liu who were talking about him together, but in her mouth it was just one person. Flattery is a fine tradition whether in ancient times or modern times.
"I found it for the fourth young lady. Let Miss Jiaohong take a look. Is it useful?"
As they were talking, a girl came out from the main room, wearing a long blue-green cloth gown with a red vest on the outside, with a pair of spiral buns and a pair of white pearl flowers in her hair. She looked very clean and pretty.
"It's my aunt who's here. I'm still cleaning up. It's a mess everywhere. I thought I'd come to see you once I've cleaned up everything. These flowers are really beautiful. Our fourth young lady likes these flowers in the wild. But it's such a heavy job. If someone had told me, I would have asked them to pick them. Why do you have to do it yourself?"
Judging from the tone of her voice, this beautiful girl should have a very good relationship with Mother Liu.
While they were talking, Su Qing looked up at the courtyard. This was the third courtyard of a five-courtyard house. It was very spacious and the largest one. It should be where the Marquis' wife was staying temporarily. The walls were repainted, and the columns were also newly painted. The most eye-catching thing was the glass inlaid on the windows of the main living room.
When I looked up, I saw several strings of pendants with small bells hanging in the corridor of the main house, tinkling in the wind. They must belong to the fourth young lady. I knew she was naughty and smart without seeing her in person.
"Since my aunt is here, please wait for a moment. Sister Qingrui asked me to bring some things with me. I wanted to go find you after I had packed up." Jiaohong said as she went back to the house.
Su Qing took advantage of this opportunity to step forward and said to Mother Liu, "Sister Wanxiang has arranged a lot of work for me to do early in the morning. I have to hurry back and do it."
Mother Liu was stunned at first, then nodded, thinking that she was a sensible girl.
As they walked out, servants and maids came and went, carrying boxes of all sizes. Su Qing used to be confused when she read novels, as these ladies from wealthy families wanted to move their houses when they went out. She had always thought that the authors were exaggerating, but now it seemed to be true.
She just saw someone carrying several chairs into the yard.
When I was almost at the back garden, I saw Cai'er coming over. "Where have you been? Everyone is looking for you all over the yard."
"Looking for me? What's the matter?" Su Qing asked puzzledly.
Cai'er looked around and whispered, "I don't know what exactly happened. My son and mother are in our room now. You should go back quickly." After saying that, Cai'er took Su Qing's hand and continued as they walked, "Be prepared. It doesn't seem to be a good thing."
Su Qing was confused. What could have happened?
As soon as I opened the gate, I saw four or five people standing under the eaves, chattering about something. When they saw Su Qing coming in, they all shut up and just looked at her.
Su Qing was frightened by their stares, and looked at herself, but nothing was wrong. She wanted to ask what happened, but seeing their expressions, she was determined not to tell them, so she lifted the curtain and went into the room.
As mentioned above, the room where Su Qing lived was a side room, with only two windows next to the door. The room inside was getting lower and lower, and it was dark. When one walked into the room from outside under the sun, one could not adapt to the environment at all in an instant.
Su Qing closed her eyes and then slowly opened them. She saw Wanxiang standing beside her bed, next to her was the girl called Ruchun, her eyes were red, as if she had been crying. Sitting on the only stool in the room was a woman who looked to be about 40, with a broad forehead, drooping eyebrows, and an extremely large mouth.
Su Qing searched for the woman in her memory. It was Yu Mama, the woman who bought her and the housekeeper of the inner courtyard of the west house. She had called her up to learn the rules before she had fully recovered. In the original owner's memory, she was a very strict woman.
When Su Qing saw this, she didn't know what was going on, but she knew something was wrong. It was obviously aimed at her. She imitated the original owner, shrank her shoulders, lowered her head, stood in front of her bed, and said to Wanxiang:
"I haven't finished cleaning the flowers and trees in the garden yet. I wonder why Sister Wanxiang called me back so anxiously?"
"You are really pretending. I don't usually see you talk so much in one breath, but you spoke before your son asked you." Ruchun said viciously, and Su Qing sounded a little gnashing his teeth.
Su Qing didn't respond, and no one spoke in the room for a while. Only Wanxiang and Ruchun were heard whispering something. Ruchun, who wanted to say something else, remained silent.
After a long while, Yu's mother picked up the tea on the table and took a sip, then said, "I called you back because I have something to ask you." It was impossible to tell whether she was happy or angry. She stopped talking and just winked at Wanxiang who was standing at the door.
But before Wanxiang could say anything, Ruchun asked hurriedly, "You were the one who emptied the night bucket this morning, right?"
"Have you forgotten what Sister Wanxiang just told you to do? Didn't you say you were tired from running errands yesterday and asked me to fall down?"
"Of course I remember, I just want to confirm it again." Ruchun straightened her hair and looked at Yu's mother, saying unnaturally.
"Ruchun has a pair of pearl earrings, you know. She put them on the day before yesterday. They were given to her by her aunt who came back with the madam to scout out the way. They were a reward from the madam to Aunt Ruchun." Wanxiang took over the conversation.
"I never care what Ruchun wears. Let alone her, what you wear every day is none of my business."
Su Qing was right. During these days, when she was in good health, she only worked and talked to Cai'er. Later, when she was sick, she didn't even go out, and didn't pay attention to what others wore.
"Why is it none of your business?" Before Wanxiang could say anything else, Ruchun rushed over again and said, "It disappeared this morning. I have been wearing it on my ear. I have looked for it everywhere since you left, but I couldn't find it. It was worth five hundred copper coins, wuuuu..." After saying that, she laid on Wanxiang's shoulder and started crying.
Su Qing was confused by what they said and sneered at Wanxiang:
"This is really strange. The earrings are missing, so why did everyone in the room come to find me? Besides, you said you went out early in the morning. I can't have gone into your bed and pulled them off your ears."
Mother Yu sat there quietly. She didn't expect that Su Qing would still be eloquent once he woke up.
"It's you, it's you..." Ruchun said while wiping her tears, "Later, Sister Wanxiang reminded me, and I remembered that I was tired yesterday, and it must have fallen into the toilet when I went to the toilet at night. You must have seen it when you went to empty the toilet today. You knew that the earring was mine, but you didn't come back to return it to me after such a long time. You must have thought that the earring was good, so you took it away privately."
Oh my god, Su Qing's son now has the urge to hit someone. What kind of wild beasts are these?