Chapter 62: Cold Eyes

(1/3)

(In the past few days, some friends have complained that I haven't updated enough, and today someone even urged me to post more. But with 9000 words, it's hard to deliver during the New Year. I'm posting another chapter as a small compensation—please forgive me.)

Lingran hurried along, running all the way to Spring Ze Manor. She was afraid she’d again miss the evening meal—for ever since arriving at the prince’s residence, she always seemed to be starving. Fortunately, the maids ate later than their mistresses, and the Liang sisters were still away at the temple outside the city conducting rituals. Lingran managed to snatch more than half a bowl of rice, devouring it ravenously. She wanted to get a bit more, but it was already gone.

With the exception of Yanyan, the other three maids in the room were uniformly unfriendly to her. Even when sitting at the same table, they disdained to speak, though their eyes kept flicking sideways, secretly sizing her up. After the meal, seeing Lingran remain in the room, those maids gathered just outside the door to whisper among themselves.

Lingran didn’t know what they were up to, but since they made no effort to be congenial, she felt no need to reach out either. After a long day, all she wanted was a bath and a good night’s sleep. Yanyan stood near the oil lamp, glancing at Lingran several times as if wanting to say something, but hesitated and remained silent.

“What is it, Yanyan?” Lingran rummaged through her bedding, suddenly recalling that the clothes she’d tidied away in the morning at Lanzeshanfang had been left behind in Young Master Hongxiao’s room.

Yanyan said, “You came back wearing those clothes—aren’t you afraid of people gossiping?”

Lingran looked down and realized she’d followed Chu Yu back in such a rush that she’d forgotten to change. No wonder the other maids were looking at her so strangely.

“You went to the Prime Minister’s residence this morning to deliver some fruits and vegetables, and ended up being taken out by Young Master Hongxiao. Everyone knows about it now—they’re just waiting for the Sixth and Seventh Ladies to return and report to them,” Yanyan said, her gaze peculiar.

“There’s nothing wrong with that, is there? Even His Highness knows about it,” Lingran replied, thinking she’d better clarify matters early, lest the Liang sisters use it as a pretext to make trouble.

“His Highness knows?” Yanyan was confused. “Isn’t it common knowledge that His Highness detests Young Master Hongxiao? He didn’t punish you after learning this?”

Does wanting me as his thirteenth little concubine count as punishment? Lingran thought to herself, but instead she took Yanyan’s arm and said, “Dear sister, why don’t you come with me to the Prime Minister’s residence? I left my clothes there in my hurry this morning.”

Yanyan was about to agree when suddenly a maid’s voice rang out loudly from outside the window, “Already climbing the social ladder, and still asking after a maid’s clothes? But being fancied by Young Master Hongxiao may not be such a good thing—don’t expect any real position.”

Lingran shot to her feet, intending to explain, but the words caught in her throat—she truly didn’t know where to start. So instead she turned to Yanyan, “Will you come with me or not?”

Yanyan quickly shook her head and ran off as if afraid that associating with Lingran might bring her trouble.

Fuming, Lingran found a lantern, intending to visit the Prime Minister’s residence while the Liang sisters were still out.

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Just as she stepped outside, the second-rank maid Silver Vase, who had assigned tasks that morning, appeared with Qumei and Cai’er, blocking Lingran’s path with a confrontational air. “Where are you going?”

Lingran noted their posturing, like little street toughs spoiling for a fight. She kept her composure and replied calmly, “My clothes are still at the Prime Minister’s residence. I’ve been running around all day and need to bathe and change. I’m going to fetch them—is there a problem?”

Silver Vase flared up. “Who do you think you are? Is there no discipline in Spring Ze Manor? Does a mere maid come and go as she pleases?”

“What would you have me do? Go around in these clothes?”

The maid was momentarily speechless. No matter who had made her wear them, it was certainly someone they couldn’t afford to offend. Silver Vase recalled that she herself was supposed to deliver vegetables to Young Master Hongxiao that morning, but had only met a few maids in his rooms. Somehow, this newcomer had found him and even gone out with him—a turn of events that might easily have been her own good fortune, now snatched away. The more she thought about it, the angrier she became, nearly wanting to tear Lingran’s clothes off her.

Lingran saw their faces full of resentment, but also noticed they dared not act. With a cold expression, she squeezed past them.

Behind her, the maids’ voices rose with veiled insults—vivid, if nothing else.

“She thinks she’s latched onto Young Master Hongxiao—like a goose foraging in the water, her tail’s up in the sky!”

“I say she’s a fish no one wants to buy in the dog days—just a stinking thing!”

“Does Young Master Hongxiao really fancy her? More like a shameless ghost putting on powder and flowers!”

Lingran shook her head, marveling at the richness of her people’s language, and at the uneducated maids’ facility with maxims and innuendo. She wasn’t truly angry, and went her own way toward the Prime Minister’s residence. She remembered Young Master Hongxiao had said he’d bring that child back—she wondered if he really had. The child had dared to step forward and explain the situation for them today; if she’d returned to the Earl’s household, she’d surely be in trouble. Seeing her again would set Lingran’s mind at ease.

But when she reached the garden gate, the guards stopped her.

Lingran hurried to explain, puzzled—normally they wouldn’t question her, so why today?

One of the guards said, “Ah, so you’re from the Seventh Lady’s rooms! Someone from His Highness’s quarters came earlier with instructions—starting today, you are no longer permitted to go to the Prime Minister’s residence. We’ve all been told to remember your face.”

This was outrageous. Lingran hadn’t expected Chu Yu to play such petty tricks. Furious yet helpless, she argued with the guards, but they were immovable. She was about to turn back when she saw a maid hurrying from the Prime Minister’s residence—the very one she’d seen in Young Master Hongxiao’s room that morning.

(3/3)

The maid was carrying a bundle Lingran immediately recognized as her own. She silently praised Young Master Hongxiao’s thoughtfulness.

The maid was also blocked by the guards. When they heard she was sent by Young Master Hongxiao, they shook their heads emphatically. “You can’t go in either. His Highness has decreed that neither Young Master Hongxiao nor his people are allowed inside the prince’s residence.”

The maid was not to be outdone. Seeing Lingran, she flung the bundle to her. “I have no desire to go in, either! If not for my young master sending me to return her things, I wouldn’t have bothered with this trip!” Without waiting for thanks, she turned and left.

Being forbidden from visiting the Prime Minister’s residence was a grave matter for Lingran. It meant she could no longer go to Madam Tao, either—how would she accompany her out in the future? It was truly vexing. That wretched Chu Yu was indeed a petty man!

Dejectedly, Lingran picked up her bundle and returned to Spring Ze Hall.

Just then, the Liang sisters came back with a large retinue of maids. They had been chatting and laughing, but upon seeing Lingran’s unusual attire, Liang Qingcheng immediately stopped and frowned. “What’s this? Where did those clothes come from? Who told you to dress like that?”

Lingran quickly explained.

Liang Qingcheng was surprised and turned to Liang Hengbo. “How peculiar.”

“If Young Master Hongxiao gave them to you, that’s one thing, but you should change out of them quickly here in the manor! His Highness has never liked Young Master Hongxiao—make sure he doesn’t find out!” Liang Hengbo warned. She supposed Lingran must be tired after a day out and said nothing more, instead discussing with Liang Qingcheng whether they should rest first or deliver the items they’d obtained to His Highness. The two of them headed toward the main house.

Lingran breathed a sigh of relief, but saw that several of the maids who’d accompanied the Liang sisters cast her the same scornful or suspicious looks as the second-rank maids in her own room had done. She stopped an older servant to ask where she could bathe.

The woman answered impatiently, “Do you think you’re a mistress? Where would you bathe? Just fetch a small basin and wash yourself in your room, isn’t that enough?”