Chapter 168 Yao Niang's Future
Ever since he told her that her parents and family members had been murdered, Song Qingci hadn't seen her for a long time, except for sending someone to deliver medicine to her.
When I saw her this time, she looked much better than before.
He no longer looked that decadent.
It seems that she has completely come out of it.
Not bad, very good!
As expected of someone who could survive in such a situation. This vitality is really not inferior to that of weeds.
"Yao Niang greets the young lady." When Yao Niang saw Song Qingci approaching, she knelt down and bowed deeply.
Before, Song Qingci might have felt that kneeling and bowing all the time was a bit overwhelming.
But it has been so long, and she has become accustomed to the people around her kneeling.
Adhering to the principle of joining if you can't beat them, Song Qingci is now very calm when seeing others kneeling and paying respect to her.
Environment really changes people.
"Get up. Your body is not well yet. You should get more rest."
Yinxing helped Yaoniang up. When Yinping saw the young lady coming back, she bowed and went down. She was also very busy and really didn't have much time to sit with her.
Song Qingci chose a seat closest to Yao Niang's original seat and sat down. Then he took her hand and felt her pulse.
Recently, Doctor Zhang has been taking care of her, and I just sent her special medicine a few times.
After a few moments of silence, Song Qingci withdrew his hand and said, "It seems that you have recovered well recently. If you continue to take care of it for another ten days or half a month, you will be no different from an ordinary person."
Judging from her pulse, her physical condition is much better than before.
Song Qingci was very happy. She had saved Yao Niang from the brink of death.
No matter how badly she was injured, if someone else had treated her, the grass on her grave would probably be very tall now.
In addition to the herbs, the reason why she was able to recover to her current state is her inner will to survive.
This person must have the will to live in order to meet someone who can help him live. Just like her a long, long time ago.
"Thank you very much, Madam, for saving my life. If it weren't for you, I would have died long ago." Yao Niang expressed her gratitude sincerely.
But these words of thanks still sound too simple.
"Don't thank me, thank yourself. If you didn't have hope, I wouldn't have the chance to save you." Although she is not a bodhisattva who saves people from suffering, she is willing to lend a hand if she really encounters someone.
"What are your plans for the future?" Song Qingci asked.
Yao Niang is now recuperating in the general's mansion under the name of a relative of her mother-in-law's distant relative.
This excuse cannot be used forever.
And her health is improving. It's time to think about the future.
"To be honest with you, Madam, Yao Niang came here today for this matter."
Yao Niang has accepted the death of her family members.
The dead are gone, and what she can do now is to live a good life and help her family live their share of life. In addition, she wants to earn more money.
If the imperial court's arrest warrant cannot catch the murderer who killed her entire family, then she will offer a reward herself.
She believed that as long as she had enough money, she would be able to find the person who killed her entire family.
These are the only two things she has to do in the rest of her life.
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Song Qingci was not surprised by Yao Niang's initiative. A woman like her, unless she was thinking wrongly or getting stuck in a dead end, would not disappoint others with her choices.
A strong vitality can sometimes transcend everything.
"Tell me what you think." Song Qingci waited calmly.
After taking a deep breath, Yao Niang said, "I would like to ask the young lady to take me in."
As soon as she said this, Yao Niang seemed to feel much more relaxed. Seeing that Song Qingci had no intention of interrupting her, she continued, "Young Madam also knows that Yao Niang has lost all her family members and is now homeless. Therefore, Yao Niang is shameless and wants to ask Young Madam to give Yao Niang a place to stay. Yao Niang will do her best to repay Young Madam for saving her life."
Having said that, Yao Niang stood up and knelt directly in front of Song Qingci.
Yinxing habitually wanted to help her up, but was stopped by Song Qingci's eyes.
"Give me a reason to keep you." Song Qingci didn't say yes or no, but asked her to give a reason to keep her.
"Yao Niang is willing to sell herself as a slave, serve the young lady as her master, and work for her for the rest of her life without any second thoughts." Yao Niang knew that she had no bargaining chips at all.
The only bargaining chip is herself.
A family like the General's Mansion would definitely not be short of servants. All she could offer was a loyal heart.
"Yao Niang knows that what she said now has no evidence and it is hard to convince people. However, a journey of a thousand miles can reveal a person's true character. Please give Yao Niang some more time to prove her loyalty."
"Have you ever been to school?" Song Qingci listened to the words she used and thought that she must have been to school. Otherwise, ordinary girls would not be able to say such a thing as "a journey of a thousand miles reveals a horse's strength".
Yao Niang nodded, "My brother is a student in the village and taught me for some time."
In fact, when her brother was studying, Yao Niang followed him and studied together. She could memorize the books that her brother needed three to five days to memorize in just one day.
If women were not prohibited from participating in the imperial examination, she might have passed the examination and become a student earlier than her brother.
Song Qingci was very happy. In this era, it was not easy to meet an educated woman.
Most of them were girls from wealthy families who had to learn to read and write. The maids who followed them also had a certain chance to learn along with them.
Girls from other common families had no chance to learn to read and write. They probably couldn't finish all the housework.
"Besides a place to stay, what else do you want?!" Song Qingci looked into Yao Niang's eyes, staring straight into hers, as if he wanted to see through her eyes and see into her heart.
Being asked this question, Yao Niang was also shocked. After thinking for a long time, she finally said what she thought in her heart, "I want to make a lot of money."
Song Qingci raised his eyebrows, motioning for her to continue.
"My family members were killed by a thief. The imperial court has issued arrest warrants for a long time, but he has not been caught. So I thought of offering a reward to catch him. A big reward will always bring a brave man. As long as the money is big enough, I believe I can catch him one day."
After listening to Song Qingci, it seemed that Yao Niang believed in what he said.
This is also good. If you have a goal in mind, you will not lose your direction.
"There's no need to sell yourself into slavery." As soon as Song Qingci said this, Yao Niang's face changed.
Is this the last chance?!
"I will sign a long-term contract with you."
It only takes a moment to turn sadness into joy.
Yao Niang looked at Song Qingci, and she didn't have time to retract the expression of disbelief on her face.
At this time, Song Qingci gave Yinxing a look, and Yinxing, who received it, quickly helped Yao Niang up from the ground.
"You heard me right. I don't need you to sell yourself into slavery. I want to sign a long-term contract with you." Song Qingci repeated what he said before.
A literate person would be buried if he sold himself into slavery.
Besides, she really has no shortage of servants around her.
Be it Yinxing who serves her personally, Yinping who is in charge of general affairs, or Yinling who prepares various meals for her every day in the small kitchen, she is currently getting along well with them.
There are no plans to add more people for the time being.
The triangle is still very stable. Don't destroy it at will.
However, you can sign a long-term contract with her.
What she lacks now is someone who can help her outside. And didn't she say she wanted to make money? How much can a slave earn in her lifetime?
"But you have to think about one thing clearly." After Song Qingci finished talking about the things that made her happy, she was about to say something that would spoil her mood.
"I signed a long-term contract with you because I hope you can help me with things outside. You are a woman, so you should first think about whether you can accept being in public and working with men. These are things that affect a woman's reputation. But if you can accept it, then I guarantee that you can earn more money than you can earn as a slave in your entire life."
"I can do it!" Yao Niang said without any hesitation.
After going through hell and coming back alive, she has nothing to fear.
Things like showing up in public and working with men, in her eyes now, are not worth mentioning at all.
"Okay." Seeing her firm attitude, Song Qingci decided to trust her for the time being.
"Go back and prepare today. When I have drafted the contract, you can come back tomorrow to sign it. You can change your mind before you sign it."
Although signing a long-term contract is a very good job, it is still a bit difficult for women. After all, in this era, women's reputation is more important than anything else.
"Yao Niang will never regret it."
I thought being able to sell myself into slavery was good enough. Who would have thought there was a better option?
For Yao Niang now, everything else is not a problem. As long as she can achieve her goal faster and better, it is the better choice.
As for things like reputation, she no longer cared about them.
When you are alive, if you think reputation is important, then it is very important. It is so important that you can even go bankrupt for it and do anything for it.
But if you think it's not important, then it really isn't important at all.
It is not even as good as a bun when you are hungry, or a bowl of cold water when you are thirsty.
For Yao Niang now, reputation is not important at all.
She needs to live well, make more money, find the murderer and avenge her family. All of these are much more important than that crappy reputation.