The Glory After Rebirth

85 - 87

C85: Are You Beginning to Regard Your Uncle as an Outsider?

“The mine director is a discreet man but has a lust for women. Apart from his wife, he has several concubines and is also a regular customer of various brothels. That Lady Jingwu in the Pear Blossom Garden is his new sweetheart, but somehow she managed to gain the trust of the mine director, which is very surprising.”

“If she’s just a common prostitute, Ling Zhaowen wouldn’t have dispatched her to manipulate the mine director.”

“Second Master Ling also wants the account book of Jia family. We…”

“Now that he has already figured out a way to get the account book without alarming the mine director, which will spare us a lot of needless trouble, I’ll consult with Ling Zhaowen after Little Liu arrives tonight and send him to the Pear Blossom Garden.”

“I see.”

It was almost dusk. All households were in the busiest hour, and Ling family was no exception. Masters had returned. Servants were either serving their masters or bustling around in the kitchen, not having a moment they could call their own.

The back door of Ling family was also opened. A hunter who had just returned from hunting on this day came to deliver game. There was also a fisherman who specially brought a big bucket of fish which were still alive and kicking.

The game and the big wooden bucket required quite a few men to carry. Servants were going in and out of the back door, yelling constantly. The butler of Ling family was doing accounts with the hunter and the fisherman, making the next deal.

It was a sight of busyness and uproar with all kinds of sounds and voices.

A servant in a blue gown was dragging a handcart laden with firewood, which had just been sent here by a firewood seller, into the backyard. After that, he was bidden to help carry game, sweating buckets. It was not until all work at the back door was finally done and the door was closed that he got some time to have a rest. He raised his hand to wipe off the sweat and took a sip of water.

Out of force of habit, the man stretched out his hand intending to fish a towel out of his clothes to wipe his face but touched something else. After a brief change of his countenance, he stood up and hurriedly left.

“Wu Er’niu, where are you going?” someone called from behind.

“To the latrine.”

“Bah. You’re such a frequent latrine-goer.”

Wu Er’niu hurried to the latrine and took a piece of paper out of his clothes. As he read it, his face paled visibly, but his eyes were fixed on one of those lines for quite a long time.

After a while, when he came out of the latrine, his face had returned to normal.

It was getting dark. Masters’ meals had already been served. Chefs also prepared a meal for servants with a cauldron. There were meat dishes, vegetable dishes and also soup. Servants, who had had another hectic day, sat down to enjoy the supper, chatting and laughing. Some were bragging and some others were telling dirty jokes. Everybody was talking whatever it was that they felt might perk up their spirits, which made the kitchen an uproarious sight.

It was not until night fell and all oil lamps had been lit that the group of people finished the meal and returned to their respective rooms.

After going back to his bedroom, while nobody was paying attention, Wu Er’niu secretly broke his finger with his teeth, hastily and messily wrote a couple of words on a piece of cloth torn off from his clothes, then quickly stuffed it into his front inner pocket for fear that somebody might notice. He kept looking left and right, a thinly disguised nervous look on his face.