Chapter 13: Luring A Snake From Its Nest (Part I)
Taking advantage of the bright afternoon sun, Lian Qiao brought the blankets out from their residence to air out in the courtyard. As the cotton that lined the worn blankets was sparse, they were just thin layers. They seemed extremely unsightly when placed next to all the thickly-stuffed, bright-colored blankets of the main residence.
Chun Ying commanded a few lower-ranked maids to hang the cotton blanket from Zhang Lan’s room on the clotheslines. Compared to the dull colors in Lian Qiao’s hands, the blanket in front of Chun Ying depicted an exquisite embroidery of peonies. It was so fully stuffed with that year’s new fluffy cotton that it was bulging. It was obvious from a glance that it was an extremely thick blanket as the weight of the cotton blanket made the clothesline sink gradually. Chun Ying roared her orders, “Be more careful. Pay more attention so that you don’t scrape its reverse side. It has top-notch embroidery.”
Lian Qiao did not even bother sparing her a glance and walked to the other side of the courtyard by herself and raised her arms to drape her blankets over the clothesline. The light cotton blankets did not seem to possess any weight so it was easy to hang them in the sun. Upon watching Lian Qiao, Chun Ying laughed, “Goodness, Senior Lian Qiao has also personally come to air out the blankets.” She swept her eyes over the hung blankets, “Everyone, you should learn from her. Can you see how capable Lian Qiao is? She is able to hang the blankets all by herself and it seemed so effortless too. Unlike the few of us that were needed to carry ours and felt tired because of them.”
The few maids sniggered before one of them spoke, “Maybe only the cotton of the highest quality was used in our young lady’s blankets. They do not seem to bear any weight at all. It must be very comfortable being covered by this type of blanket. It is not like our cotton blankets, which are thick and large. They are just too heavy.”
Ignoring their mockery, Lian Qiao smoothed over the creases on the cotton blankets. In response, Chun Ying unrelentingly continued, “Lian Qiao, how can you only air out your lady’s blankets but not yours and Bai Zhi’s too? You should let us see if your blankets are different from ours.”
Another bout of laughter broke out amongst the lower ranked maids. She was implying that as a young mistress, Jiang Ruan’s standards were not even at the level of a servant. It was really too much for Lian Qiao to hear. Her long, shapely eyebrows narrowed. She almost exploded when a maid, who was smiling sweetly, rushed hurriedly to her, “Senior Lian Qiao, the item that you instructed me to find-”
“Lu Zhu,” Lian Qiao interrupted her, “Wait for a moment.” She made sure that the last blanket was hung properly before turning around to pull the young maid away by the hand, “Come here and discuss it.”
The two of them walked to the side and huddled together where no one could figure out what they were speaking about. After a while, Lian Qiao picked up an empty wooden basin and left. After her departure, Chun Ying summoned the maid who was about to leave, “You must be Lu Zhu.”
Lu Zhu eyed Chun Ying timidly, “Yes.”
“Don’t be afraid,” Chun Ying spoke, “What were you and Lian Qiao talking about?”
“No- Nothing,” Lu Zhu shook her lowered head, fixated on her feet.
“What are you afraid of? I won’t eat you,” Chun Ying’s voice became fiercer, “Why did Lian Qiao find you without a good reason? What were you discussing so secretly just now? You should understand who is the decision-maker here. If you cannot provide a clear explanation, you don’t need to stay in this residence any longer.”
“Don’t,” Lu Zhu raised her head suddenly, her pair of helpless eyes reddening, “Senior Chun Ying, please don’t chase me out.”
“As long as you explain this matter clearly, I will definitely not do anything to you,” Chun Ying continued, “I am not someone who is unreasonable. Your face looks extremely new to me so you must be a newly recruited maid. If you perform your duties properly, I won’t let anyone bully you in the future.”
“Really?” Lu Zhu raised her head, her face alight with hope.
“I would not deceive you.” Chun Ying’s tone became progressively gentler. She believed there was something fishy about this matter related to Lian Qiao.
“Actually, Senior Lian Qiao just sought me out for an insignificant matter,” Lu Zhu replied. “She just heard that my embroidery skills were decent and asked me to embroider a water lily on our young mistress’s ripped jacket so that a tear is not visible.”
Chun Ying looked at her suspiciously, “Is that all?”
“Yes,” Lu Zhu nodded.
“But this is really odd. Usually, young mistress would not concern herself over a jacket. Why would she suddenly want a water lily embroidered on it?”
“This-” Lu Zhu hesitated slightly.
“Is there something else?” Chun Ying asked impatiently.
Translated by : togekiss
Edited by : Anks ~ Ely ~ Minodayz
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