The east courtyard of Meditation House, which had been quiet for a long time, was particularly lively today. The servants carried hot water into the bathroom, and Zi Su was busy taking out several newly made clothes for Su Lei to choose from. www~ Ziyuan Huo
He handed a pile of dirty clothes to the little girls and told them to go and wash them quickly. The young boy Lu Feng packed up Su Lei's belongings. Silk silk and others carefully swept the courtyard again and again. While everyone was busy,
Only Yin Ruxing couldn't find anything to do, so she hid in her room alone and practiced calligraphy.
There is a small table under the south-facing window sill, which is the area with the best light in her room. Holding ink in her bare hand, she rubs it clockwise on the inkstone. Her back is straight, and the fragrance of ink floats. This is before practicing calligraphy.
An essential step to calm your mind.
The ink gradually smudged from light to thick, until the thickness was just right. She was holding the pen and turning the tip of the pen on the paper. The hustle and bustle outside the window seemed far away.
The writing was in small regular script. The strokes and strokes were exactly the same as those of Chinese characters, but the structure was different. What she copied was a collection of poems written by elementary school students. The content was simple and catchy.
By the time the courtyard became quiet, one-third of the poems had been copied. In the inkstone, the ink had dried.
In the main room, Su Lei had already finished taking a shower, changed clothes and went to the west courtyard. He had not been in the house for many days and he had many things to deal with.
The matter was almost settled, and it was time for dinner. He had been away for several months before returning home. Mrs. Liu had told her early in the morning that the family would have dinner together in the evening.
Su Lei took Lu Feng and Zi Su to Mianyun Residence. Lu Feng was a young boy waiting outside. Zi Su followed him into the inner hall. Liu glanced behind him and said with a smile: "Second uncle,
Why didn’t you bring Ru’er with you?”
Generally speaking, for a man who has not yet married, the status of the maidservant is always higher than that of the other maids. Even if Su Lei uses Zi Su and the other old men, he should bring Ru'er with him. Of course,
If Su Lei is dissatisfied with him, he doesn't have to take him with him. Liu asked this mainly because he wanted to test his attitude towards the new Tongfang.
Su Lei was stunned for a moment: "Who is Ru'er?"
Mrs. Liu was stunned: "Second uncle, you don't remember? It was the one who bought it four months ago. (·~) I sent it to your courtyard at that time."
Su Lei suddenly realized: "It's her." Isn't her surname Yin? Why did she get such a strange name? He asked: "Is she still in our hospital?" He didn't see anyone today, so he thought he had been transferred away.
.
Mrs. Liu looked at Zisu meaningfully: "Second uncle is telling a joke. Now that she has been promoted to be the girl in your room, why is she not in your courtyard?"
"Girl?" Sulehuo was startled, "When did it happen?" Of course he knew what the name girl meant here. But the question was, why didn't he know? Isn't Yin Ruxing serving in the east courtyard room?
?
Liu's smile became more reserved: "Second uncle, the second day after you went to the military camp, your brother promoted her. The clothes and jewelry I ordered Mother Qiu to reward are known to all the servants in the courtyard. Why don't you know it?
?”
Su Lei's face suddenly changed. He turned around and stared at Zi Su sternly: "Is this possible?" There was suppressed anger in his voice. My sister-in-law would not talk nonsense about this matter, so it is true. Let's not talk about intercourse and so on.
He said that he still didn't know anything about the personnel changes in his hospital for three months, which was a big problem.
Zi Su was so frightened that she hurriedly knelt down: "Forgive me, Ru'er went to the military camp two months ago. The slaves thought she had already talked to you. That's why they didn't say anything."
"Bastard!" Su Lei was furious and his eyes were cold: "Who do you think she is? She is. How could a girl from her place be willing to degenerate and become a concubine? Of course she wouldn't mention it, how could she say it!"
Chinese girls never share the same husband, and Chinese girls would rather divorce than take concubines. Although Yin Ruxing is not a serious-browed girl, she is still an ordinary Chinese girl. To her, being a maid in the same house is not a noble thing but a shame. No wonder one day I didn't even see her, I think I was too embarrassed and angry to express my feelings.
"Sister-in-law, this is inappropriate." He no longer looked at Zisu who was kneeling on the ground, and said to Mrs. Liu: "I have no intention of doing this, please ask sister-in-law." He paused, remembering that Yin Ruxing was currently selling himself to the family, With nowhere to go, he said: "Let her be a girl again."
Mrs. Liu smiled and said, "That's not good. ~Second uncle, you know that in our house there are always people who look down on others and praise those who are superior." At this point, his eyes glanced at Zisu intentionally or unintentionally: "Here you go. Once she is demoted, I'm afraid her life in the mansion will be difficult in the future."
Su Lei's face was gloomy. Although he had no intention of Yin Ruxing, he couldn't watch her being bullied. Judging from the horse riding that day, she was also a man of character, although she was a little weaker. After thinking about it, he said: "Then let her be the maid and take care of the house affairs."
Mrs. Liu smiled and narrowed her eyes: "Okay, that's what I said originally. The monthly schedules are the same regardless of the vertical and horizontal conditions." The maids in the house are also maids, and some who are not favored are not as good as the personal maids. Only the monthly schedules of the concubines are the same. The maid is different. Such a transfer makes sense. Furthermore, the words "specially in charge of house affairs" are clearly meant to protect her. She is on the same level as Zisu Shiyuan, but the affairs are separated. Therefore, no one can boss her around.
"Ru'er will definitely be happy." Ms. Liu said with a smile, "When she came back two months ago, she told your brother that she wanted to learn to read and learn martial arts. Your brother asked her to stay with Jing'er and Qian'er. Go to school. That's all Mr. Wei. What's rare is Master Guo. She didn't miss it all day. It's really rare." As she said this, she asked her uncle to come to the east room, where a banquet table was set up. The hot dishes were not served, but several plates of cold dishes were placed neatly along with five sets of dishes and cutlery.
"Learning martial arts?" Su Lei was surprised. He knew that Yin Ruxing wanted to learn to read. He also knew that she wanted to learn to ride a horse. But it was strange that she wanted to learn martial arts: "How old is she?"
"That's not what you're saying." Mrs. Liu whispered to him in a low voice, "I'm also confused..."
Cai Sang knelt down and pushed Zi Su, whose knees were numb: "How long are you going to kneel down? If you don't want to go and serve me, the second master will bring you a girl."
Zi Su raised her head and saw her smiling eyes, feeling ashamed: "Picking mulberry, I..."
"Okay." Caisang rolled his eyes at her, "This is not the first day you have served the Second Master. You don't know his nature yet? You just got up. Even if you are punished, I have to go back before we start. Come in quickly."
Zi Su burst into tears: "Cai mulberry, I really didn't know Ru'er didn't say anything."
Caisang sneered: "Even if she didn't say it, how big a deal would it be for you to mention it? As long as you put your mind at ease, who would go out of your way to make things difficult for you? Do you think Madam doesn't know about the things in your courtyard? Every time During the day, she was asked to go to the kitchen to eat, boil water and serve tea without even instructing a little girl. The second husband is a grown man and I don’t care. When you marry the second wife later, will you and Ziyuan try this again? I’m afraid you don’t want to live. That's it." After saying that, she stood up and left. It's a good thing for a maid to be motivated, but it also depends on where she puts it. To think of fooling the master is really a disaster.
****************
After dinner, when Su Lei returned to Meditation House, the first thing he did was to tell Ziyuan: "Call Ru, Ru'er, come and see me." This name is really awkward.
A trace of displeasure flashed in Ziyuan's eyes, and she turned around. Su Lei looked at her with a deep look.
Yin Ruxing was about to fall asleep, but when she heard Ziyuan knocking on the door and calling, she got dressed in surprise: "Call me?"
"I'm not calling you." Zi Yuan's eyes wanted to eat her up. If he called someone so late at night, could it be that he wanted her to serve him all night? Thinking of this, her heart felt as uncomfortable as a cat's paw being scratched.
When he arrived at the main house, Su Lei sat in the outer room of the bedroom and had simply washed up. He told Zisu and Ziyuan, "You all go out and have a rest." He never needed anyone to stay on duty at night, and no one was left in the main house at night.
Zi Su looked shocked, then quickly lowered her head: "Yes."
Ziyuan bit her lip, her watery eyes filled with tears.
Su Lei was impatient: "Why don't you leave?"
Zi Su quickly pulled Zi Yuan away, all the way away from the main room. When they were far away, Su Lei said in an indifferent tone: "I told my sister-in-law that you will still be a maid in the future. First-class maid,
Specially in charge of housing matters.”
Yin Ruxing asked curiously: "Can the housekeeper also be a first-class maid?" She was not surprised. In fact, Su Lei's room only had three rows of beds and one couch. It had a very small area and few furnishings.
Just to add a first-class maid to such a place, what did he tell Mrs. Liu?
"Why not?" Su Lei asked, and after a while he suddenly realized: "The small rooms in the east courtyard are small, and the formal rooms are in the west courtyard. I will take you to see it tomorrow and you will know."
Yin Ruxing was also enlightened. It turned out that she was a wealthy person and had two houses. The one on the east side was for recreation and the one on the west side was for business. It was because she was ignorant.
"Move your residence, too." Su Lei added, "There are a lot of empty rooms at the west end of the courtyard. You can pick one and move there later. It will be more convenient. Do you mind?" Men were coming and going in the west courtyard during the day.
Most of them, a few young men also live there. Of course there are some mothers-in-law. It can't be said that there are no girls, but she is the only young and beautiful girl. This arrangement is also to avoid suspicion. The two of them do not live in the same courtyard at night. Otherwise, they will not be harmed.
The routine remained the same, she just changed her job casually. Others would still regard her as their maid.
Yin Ruxing shook her head: "I don't mind." The kitchen and waiter's wife and a few maids all lived in the back row of the west courtyard. It wasn't like there were no women. What did she have to mind.
Su Lei nodded: "Then we will move there tomorrow. By the way, I heard that you studied with Jing'er and the others and also practiced martial arts?"
"Yes." Yin Ruxing nodded and admitted.
Su Lei frowned: "Why do you suddenly want to practice martial arts?"
Yin Ruxing sighed: "There is no way, the security here is not good. Anyone with strong strength can snatch the orphan girl and sell it, and the government doesn't care. I have no one to rely on here, who else can I rely on besides myself?"
She spoke calmly, but sounded sad. It was actually illegal for Chen Wu to buy her. First, she is an adult and has autonomy. Second, the villagers in Shoujia Village are neither her relatives nor her.
According to the laws of Tianyuan, Su Chen's family had no right to sell her. As the supreme rulers of Dongzhuyun, Su Chen's family not only refused to pursue the case, but even bought her legally, confirming her status as a slave.
In other words, she, Yin Ruxing, was actually forced into slavery by the Shoujia Village, Chen Wu, and Su Mansion in Tianyuan Prefecture.