Yijuan cloud

Chapter 5
In order to save Xing'er, I sold myself.

The guarantor took the deed of sale and read aloud: "Lin Juanyun, at the age of twelve, voluntarily sold himself to the servant of Cao Shilang as a servant, and received a gift of ten taels. He must serve the master, father and mistress, and be responsible for a number of miscellaneous tasks, or nearly When you serve personally, it all depends on the dispatch. If there is any violation of the above, you will be punished according to the responsibility without any hesitation."

After reading it, he smiled but said: "Thanks to the girl's good looks and cleverness, the Cao family is willing to pay ten taels of silver. For the price you pay alone, others can buy two girls. Come on, take your fingerprints, and then You can go to the government to register."

A penny really stumped a heroic man. With only ten taels of silver, he bought my freedom.

I was thinking about the bag of money and thought, do I really want to be someone else's slave?

But without these ten taels of silver, Xing'er would have died, and I would have been left alone, unable to walk thousands of miles to find my relatives.

We can’t control that much anymore, Xing’er and I have to survive.

The person in charge of my comprador in the Cao family is called Hong Da.

On the way to Cao's house, he told me the rules along the way, how to salute, how to reply, and how to behave, lest I do anything inappropriate.

"Don't worry, Mr. Hong, I will remember every word of what you said."

In fact, how can I not know what it takes to be a slave and how to do it?At home before, I had five maids in my yard alone.It's just that now it's the other way around, and I'm asked to serve others.

Hong Da heard this and smiled and said: "Young lady is really good at talking. It's no wonder that Master Hong took off this dress for you and showed you the inside of it. This time, there is a shortage of people in the second young master's study. Madam personally told me to buy a good one." My girl, you are literate and clever, if Madam catches your eye, you will be a bad person in the future."

When I heard it, I suddenly felt less heavy.

Although I was prepared to endure hardships, I still found it hard to accept being a rough girl.

After entering the Cao family, I finally saw the style of a wealthy family.

Door after door, courtyard after courtyard, pavilion after pavilion, I lowered my head and followed Hong Da, not even caring about the surrounding scenery.

As I was walking in a daze, I suddenly heard a voice saying: "What are you doing in such a hurry?"

I was startled and looked up. I saw a pretty woman holding a lady standing not far away, followed by two little girls.

The pretty woman also looked towards me, and after looking at each other for a moment, I realized who I was and quickly lowered my head.

Hong Da walked a few steps over and said with an apologetic smile: "Greetings to Aunt You and Third Miss. I just came back from shopping outside."

"What did you buy?" the man asked.

"Lotus lamps, fabrics, things like that."

"Which house does this maid belong to? Why haven't I seen her before?"

Hong Da hesitated and said: "Go back to Miss Third, she is newly bought. The second master's study is short of someone, and the servant is taking him to give the lady an eye."

"Mom, you see, they are used to watching people order food. I want a maid, and they find some stupid ones for me. How can they find someone good when others say they want someone?"

The third young lady of the Cao family shook her mother's arm and acted coquettishly.

A faint fragrance approached, and two pairs of pointed embroidered shoes appeared in front of me.

"Raise your head," the lady said.

I raised my head and lowered my eyes for them to see.

I thought to myself, one of them is the aunt in the palace, and the other is the concubine, that is, the second-class master. No wonder the servants are so snobbish.

With the idea of ​​protecting myself wisely, I said meekly, "I have met Aunt You and Miss Third."

"Hey, how do you know about us?" Miss Third said.

I said: "Just now Master Hong paid his respects to the two masters, and my servant heard it."

"Well, you are quite clever," Aunt You said with a smile, "Can you read?"

I suddenly had a bad premonition and said, "Know a few big characters."

"That's enough to serve Yingshan, Hong Da, give this girl to Yingshan."

I screamed secretly, I just hoped that Hong Da would move out his wife and suppress them.

Unexpectedly, when Hong Dazheng said that it was originally given to the second young master, the third lady shouted: "Isn't it already given to me? There are many girls outside, why don't you just pick another one? Who told you to pick a fool for me? This time Just consider it as having made up for it!”

Somehow, I became the third young lady of the Cao family and the maid of Cao Yingshan.

Her mother is the fourth concubine of Mr. Cao. According to my opinion, this fourth concubine is very favored and has a high status in the palace. No wonder they dare to compete with Mrs. Cao. No wonder Cao Yingshan is arrogant and willful and has a bad temper.

I guess Cao Yingshan wanted me out of spite, just to cause trouble for Mrs. Cao.

She is so high-minded, how can she really think that a girl like me is smart?

Because of this, I was just a rough maid in her room, and there was no need for me to be near to serve her.

I had never worked before, so I was busy from morning till night now. I was so tired that I fell asleep at night, but I had no time to think about the grievances I had suffered.I woke up that night and looked at the bright moon in the purple-blue night sky, as if I was in my own yard, and I was still the idle young lady, always thinking about something interesting happening.

In autumn, when the cool breeze blew, I shivered, and I quickly put on my coat and went back to the house.

But the wind still blew, and I felt a stuffy nose and headache when I lay down.

The next day I woke up later than usual. I was dizzy, so I packed up and ran to the kitchen.

It was only a moment later that more and more people came to bring hot water to each room.

Finally it was my turn. A maid in green clothes opened the curtain and came in. While talking to the maid in the kitchen, she picked up a kettle that had just been boiled.

I was groggy, but I still had quick eyesight and quickly grabbed it with my hands, saying, "This pot is mine, I've been waiting for it for a long time."

"Which house are you from? Wait for the next pot. The eldest lady has to attend the governor's wife's birthday banquet, so there is no time to delay."

The little maid in green clothes took away the kettle again.

Mrs. Cao was very lucky. She gave birth to an eldest daughter and a second son in succession. As the eldest son and daughter, she was also a direct descendant, so naturally she could not be offended.

But, for one thing, I was already late, and if I let her go, the people behind me would see me as a newbie and would try to get past me. I would be scolded when I go back.

Secondly, I felt uncomfortable and in a bad mood, so I grabbed the kettle with my hands and said, "Whoever wants to tell me first come, first served! I won't wait for the next pot, you wait!"

The little maid had probably never been so depressed before. Her eyes widened with anger, and she rushed to block my way.

And all the grievances and hardships I suffered along the way came back when I was sick. My long-suppressed temper came up and I stared back at her.

Just when I was trying to see what else she wanted to do, someone pulled her hair violently from behind.

I gasped in pain, and all I heard was the maid in the kitchen saying in my ear: "You don't make it to the table, you son of a bitch, who do you think you are? I told you to wait a while, and you still persisted!"

It's okay to scold me, just hit me a little. Being a slave means being beaten and scolded, but this servant girl dared to scold my mother.

I slammed the kettle on the ground hard, turned around and slapped it away.

Hot water splashed everywhere, and several little maids around me screamed and jumped away. The servant woman was an old man from the Cao Mansion. She was stunned, her face became angry, and she wanted to slap me.

Did I let her bully me?He struggled with her in grief and anger.

The little maid in green clothes tried to distract her, but I reached out and grabbed her face, and she cried loudly and hid away.

Thanks to the days when I was a street beggar, I am much stronger physically and feel infinitely powerful even when I am sick.

Or maybe it's because I'm too frustrated.

Those little maids tried to break up the fight at first and watched the excitement, but soon became frightened and shouted: "Go and call the person in charge! Stop fighting! Stop fighting!"

When I walked back with disheveled hair and a bright face, the maid who had gone to the kitchen to urge me to get hot water told Cao Yingshan exactly what had just happened.

After hearing this, Cao Yingshan said in surprise: "Are you really such a bad guy? Did you beat up Cao Wenqing's people? Wow, good beating! Call them arrogant as usual! Don't be afraid. They are in the wrong for this matter. They can sue my father." Don’t be afraid!”

I thought I would be beaten and scolded when I went back, but I didn't expect Cao Yingshan to praise me.

After she finished speaking, she asked me to go back and have a good rest.

I went back to the room, dealt with the stains on my face in front of the bronze mirror, and changed my clothes. Just when I felt sore all over and wanted to fall down, Cao Yingshan excitedly pushed the door open, looked at me in a circle, and said: "Once you clean it up, you won't be able to see it anymore. Come on, come out with me."

Sitting on the carriage, Cao Yingshan said to her personal maid: "What do you think Cao Wenqing would do when he saw her?"

She turned to me again: "You stand next to me today, do you hear me?"

I said "hmm" in a low voice, feeling so angry that I had nowhere to go.

Cao Yingshan was in high spirits, so she didn't care about me and said, "By the way, what's your name?"

"Lin Juanyun."

"What Cirrus Cloud? It sounds awful. I want to think about what to call you. What should I call you?"

She opened a corner of the curtain, looked outside, and said to herself: "There are a lot of people on the street today." Then she seemed to think of something and said happily, "Just call me 'Duoer'!"

The governor's wife's birthday banquet was decorated with lanterns and colorful jewels, and the city was filled with ladies and ladies.

Cao Yingshan led me around for a few times. When I saw the eldest lady Cao Wenqing chatting and laughing happily, she didn't even look at me, so she lost interest. She also thought I was depressed and let me wait in the carriage.

When I walked out of the lively event and walked through the secluded garden, I felt like the world was spinning, and I fainted as soon as my eyesight went dark.

I felt a sudden chill on my face, and I woke up. I opened my eyes and saw a concerned eye, as bright as a star, on a face like a beautiful jade.

Only then did I realize that I was half-lying on a piece of bluestone. Next to me was a handsome man squatting in a moon-white robe. He was about 20 years old. Seeing that I was awake, he said warmly: "Girl, you have a high fever and you just fainted. I'll use it." I wet the veil with wine and put it on your face to wake you up. Whose family do you belong to? I'll call someone to pick you up."

(End of this chapter)