Sweet Tea

Chapter 48

"I'm glad to see that you all are doing fine"

"M-mistress...." a girl bowed her head towards her.

Xiu smiled, as if guessing what the girl was going to ask, "do not worry, the only reason I asked you three to be here....tis....hah..." Xiu sighed and lifted her sleeves to wipe at her eyes.

She turned sideways and counted to 10 in her mind. At the corner of her eyes, she watched the three girls turn to look at each other with worry. Xiu quickly intercepted when she saw one of them opening their mouth, "The only reason I called you three here tis to find a helping hand"

"A helping hand?" one of the girls asked.

"Sigh...yes..." Xiu said sadly, "as you all know, my personal maid, Ai Chun....was injured during the incident. Now....tis just Meiling attending to me and in truth, she seems to require more help. That is why I called you three here...please..... decide if you would like to be one of my personal maids or not" Xiu smiled sadly.

The three girls looked at each other. Xiu saw their hesitation and decided to throw in the final statement, "It would've been great if all three of you accepted the position...but if not....at least one of you..." Xiu said and lifted two fingers to massage her right temple.

"Ah...and yes you may consider it amongst yourself, uh...Caihong..." she said and tilted her head towards the girl on her left then continued from the middle to her right, "Qinyang and Xiulan...?"

"Yes...that is correct, Mistress" Caihong answered.

Xiu smiled weakly, "I'm glad, I've got all of your names correct. I've heard that you three are the most dedicated and hard working hands at Liu's Manor"

"T-thank you Mistress" the girl in the middle, Qinyang replied. If Xiu's memories served her right, this is one of the girls she had chosen to be her husband's concubine and no less, the fainting one with beautiful long silky hair.

Mayhaps...she'll have to find fairer women for her husband. At the thought, she felt a quick twinge at her chest. Xiu quickly shook the sudden pain from her mind and instead smiled at the good fortune. As soon as Xiu realized her lifting grin she covered her mouth elegantly, "cough, cough..." she pretended to cough.

"You girls are excused, please give me your reply as soon as you can...cough.,cough...ah please do call Ai- ah I meant Meiling in here...cough, cough, cough"

The girls quickly nodded their heads and jumped out of the slow moving carriage.

Xiu stopped coughing and put her hand down once the girls left. Now what was that feeling she felt in her chest earlier? It was most certainly new. Twas as if....as if she could see other women with her husband....and she felt discomfort over it....

"Mistress?" Meiling came in and asked.

Xiu came out from her thoughts, "Ah...yes, now which one did that bundle belong to?"

"Please, do excuse me," Meiling said and moved towards her mistress and whispered in her ears.

At the name Xiu stopped and a smile slowly radiated from her face.

Meiling watched her mistress's smile. If Meiling was anyone, she would be none the wiser and thought that it was the most affectionate smile one could have witnessed. But...unfortunately, Meiling knew what lies behind it....and if she were that person she would be in a different province by now.