Flowery Hair: A Maidservant

Chapter 9 Spring Breeze Pavilion

"If you're determined to give up, then you don't need to drink this medicine."

Seeing that she didn't move, Ying Chun put the medicine bowl on the ground and extinguished the stove by himself.

Meng Shu pursed her dry lips and spoke in a hoarse voice, "May I ask how Chun Ya and Sister Fu Zi are doing now?"

“You still have the leisure to worry about others? They’ve already been taken away by Mother. You have a high fever and have been talking nonsense for two days.” Ying Chun picked up the earthenware jar, and when she turned around, Meng Shu saw a faint scar on her face.

Ying Chun ignored Meng Shu's reaction and pushed open the door, leaving the woodshed directly.

Meng Shu gave a bitter smile. She had thought she could live a peaceful life as a maid in the Tang family, but she never expected to end up in such a predicament after only three days.

She forced herself to sit up against the wall. Fortunately, her bag was right beside her, and her dagger was sheathed and hidden on her calf. It seemed that the people from Chunfeng Tower had not searched her, which made Meng Shu feel a little relieved.

The medicine bowl was right next to her. She picked it up, took a sip, and then drifted off to sleep again. With her eyes closed, all she could see in her mind was Zhao Di's pool of blood and outstretched hands before she died.

Two more days passed, and it was the Dragon Boat Festival.

Early in the morning, Meng Shu heard a commotion outside. Unlike before, the liveliness at Chunfeng Tower usually lasted until after noon, when the madams would gather the girls in the backyard for a lecture, much like the disciplinary meetings held by a brokerage firm. Meng Shu, lying in the woodshed, had vaguely heard it before.

Ying Chun brought over rice porridge and a dish of pickled vegetables as usual, along with mugwort and calamus, which she casually hung on the lintel when she entered.

People were sweeping everywhere in the backyard. Ying Chun hadn't closed the door, and Meng Shu happened to see Chun Ya sweeping the yard in coarse cloth clothes. The other person also saw her. At this moment, Chun Ya's face was pale, like a walking corpse.

Putting down her breakfast, Ying Chun, with her usual expressionless demeanor, slowly said, "Now that you're much better, your mother will send someone over starting tomorrow. Today is the Dragon Boat Festival, so why don't you go outside and bask in the sun around noon to dispel your illness?"

Meng Shu responded, feeling grateful for Ying Chun's care over the past two days. However, Ying Chun was taciturn, and when Meng Shu tried to strike up a conversation, she was met with indifference, let alone any help in passing messages outside.

After finishing her meal, she stepped out of the woodshed for the first time, intending to chat with Chun Ya, only to find that she was no longer in the courtyard.

The Spring Breeze Pavilion was quite large. Beyond the woodshed were the livestock shed and the place to tie up the horse-drawn carriage. An old woman was guarding the side gate. Before Meng Shu even got close, the old woman swept her over with a gloomy look.

Meng Shu naturally dared not provoke bad luck. After walking fifty or sixty steps, she saw a row of back rooms, with mugwort and calamus hanging on the doors. Laughter came from the northwest corner of the courtyard, and Meng Shu smelled the fragrance of mugwort and glutinous rice.

"New here? Come here."

A girl dressed in a light blue spring dress walked out of the gate of the courtyard and waved to Meng Shu to come over.

As Meng Shu approached, the laughter inside grew louder.

"Oh, what a pretty young girl! No wonder Madam Wei has been all smiles these past few days. I'm busy right now, so go to the storeroom in the front and find Granny Bian. Bring her some more bamboo leaves and straw rope."

Before Meng Shu could reply, a timid voice rang out: "Sister Cai'er, she came with me. I'll take her there."

Meng Shu looked up and saw Fu Zi.

The woman named Cai'er responded and said, "Go quickly and come back quickly."

Fu Zi was also wearing the same spring dress, and her complexion looked fine. She pulled Meng Shu along and led her forward.

"Sister Fuzi, we..." Meng Shu hesitated before speaking.

"Forget about sending a message out for now. Outside the side gate is still the outer perimeter of Chunfeng Tower. There's a garden over there. Although the storeroom we're going to now is in the front yard, it's still quite far from the outside."

Fu Zi patted Meng Shu's head tenderly. "You're still young. Who knows, you might have another chance to go out and find somewhere else. Chun Ya and I... she offended Mother Wei and was punished by being made to do rough work in the backyard. You'll see that later."

Meng Shu followed behind in a daze, her vision somewhat blurry.

Along the way, Fu Zi talked a lot. Today there was a dragon boat race in Lin'an. From high-ranking officials to ordinary people, everyone in Lin'an crowded to the Changhua River to watch the excitement. Many girls in Chunfeng Tower went to socialize with Wei Mama.

She added that during the two days that Meng Shu was ill, the two of them had been learning etiquette in the front yard, but mostly about how to serve men. Fu Zi paused for a moment and then said nothing more.

Upon arriving at the front yard, Meng Shu realized that it was quite different from ordinary residences. Although it was called the front yard, it should actually be considered the back yard as well. In front of it were several courtyards that were divided into layers, and the Chunfeng Tower, which faced the street, seemed much smaller.

“There are two wells in this yard, so it’s easy to get water. The laundry room is over there.”

Fu Zi told Meng Shu to wait there while she went to the storeroom to find someone. Meng Shu took a few steps and, through the moon gate, saw many colorful clothes hanging out to dry. Two or three maids were swinging washing mallets by the well, and one of them, a young figure, looked somewhat familiar to Meng Shu. When the woman bent down to collect wood ash, Meng Shu realized that Ying Chun was working in the laundry room.

Soon, Fu Zi came out carrying a stack of bamboo leaves. Meng Shu quickly stepped forward and took the basket from her arm, which contained clean straw.

The two walked back in silence, neither of them saying a word.

Just as they were about to reach the kitchen, Fu Zi suddenly twitched the corner of her mouth and said, "Zhao Di is gone, that's all. But why would someone who can live seek death?"

Meng Shu didn't know how to respond, so she remained silent.

After placing the items in the kitchen yard, the girls who were wrapping zongzi suddenly fell silent. Then, a girl in a peach-colored dress with a mole on her lip suddenly spoke up out of the blue: "What a pity."

Everyone looked at Meng Shu in the direction of her words, and some people sighed with regret. After Meng Shu walked out of the kitchen, they vaguely heard the next young lady say something like that.

Back in the woodshed, Meng Shu opened the package, put the safety buckle around her neck, and stared blankly at her mother's handkerchief.

In the past few days, she had thought of several ways to escape, but she rejected them one by one.

Not to mention that there were old women guarding both the backyard and the front gate, in the Great Zhou Dynasty, runaway slaves were beaten to death without consequence, and even traveling required a household registration and travel permit. When she left the brokerage, the indenture was converted into a private contract and fell into Ju Chang's hands. Just as Ju Chang said, if she hadn't reported the list or had it stamped with the official seal by the government, she wouldn't be considered a servant of the Tang family. Ju Chang naturally had a way to secretly keep the indentures of Meng Shu and the other three.

At present, the only feasible solution may be to hope that one of the companions who went to the Tang residence will mention the four of them to the steward other than Ju Chang.

But this possibility is extremely small. The disappearance of four maids is probably not something that any of the Tang family masters would care about.

Meanwhile, the group of men finally arrived at the Tang residence.

They spent three days learning the rules of etiquette at the estate and were assigned tasks according to their abilities. As soon as they entered the Tang residence, people came from each courtyard, and everything was in perfect order. Dunzi and the other three followed the head maid through one courtyard after another, following behind according to the rules. They felt that every step revealed a new scene: the artificial hills were arranged in a pleasing manner, the corridors were winding and meandering, and the flowerbeds of various colors emitted a charming fragrance.

Dunzi was so nervous he didn't dare to breathe, suppressing his restless emotions. His fingers touched the purse at his waist, and he thought of Meng Shu.

She ultimately failed to find out Meng Shu's whereabouts from Xia He, and as for Ju Chang, she hadn't seen her for the past three days.

Finally, the head maid stopped in front of a simply decorated courtyard. The courtyard lacked elaborate decorations and was exceptionally quiet. The maids and servants who moved about were all serious and reserved, their footsteps barely audible. The flowers and plants in the courtyard were carefully selected and trimmed, giving them a particularly elegant and refreshing appearance.

"Ju Chang said that you all worked in the kitchen before. The small kitchen in front is the old lady's courtyard. The person in charge is An Mama. She is busy with the Dragon Boat Festival banquet and has no time to come over. You should go with Shi Liu to the servants' quarters to settle in first."

The head maid pointed to a chubby little girl. Shiliu was already waiting. She smiled and chatted with the maid for a while before calling out to Dunzi and the others after they had gone far away.