The Legend of Concubine's Daughter Minglan

Chapter 138

The weather was starting to get hot and dry in June. Luckily, last night it rained heavily. Lots of the flowers on the branches which had just bloomed were knocked down and scattered on the ground. The air after the rain was fresh and fragrant, giving people a pleasant feeling early in the morning.

Qinsang raised her hand to roll the bamboo curtain as high as possible. Then she turned around and said with a gentle smile, "We should let more air into the room before the sun goes higher, in case the room gets too sweltering."

A young maid stood beside her with a wet bamboo basket in her arms. There were colorful little fruit plates on the table, including the white porcelain ones, the famille-rose porcelain ones, the crystal ones, the octangular ones and the sunflower-shaped ones, which all looked beautiful and delicate.

Xiaotao rolled up her sleeves and then put all kinds of fruits which had water drops on the surface into the plates while grinning with her head raised, "The heavy rain last night really was scary. When I heard the crashing sound, I felt like someone was whipping or spanking the ground with a board. Even my heart was trembling."

Ruomei had been showing a calm look on her pretty face the whole time. Hearing Xiaotao's words, she frowned slightly and said, "It's not scarier than Master. I... I've never seen Master fly into a rage like that. It's terrifying."

"They deserved it!" Lvzhi stepped into the room while saying that. After she put down the tea tray, she stepped to the table and fetched some water to drink.

Qinsang glanced at her and then said smilingly, "Madam has finished eating? Hey, take it easy, drink slowly, no one is going to grab the water from you."

Lvzhi put down her cup and still felt thirsty. Then she poured another cup of water, saying, "This morning, the fried quail eggs with spiced salty sauce served to Madam truly was delicious. Madam gave that dish to me, then I couldn't help but eat a lot. It's too salty... Eh, only when Sister Cuiwei and Sister Danju arrived did I have the guts to leave."

"You deserve it." Xiaotao glared at her and said, "Why don't you share the dish with us?"

Lvzhi put down the cup and goggled at Xiaotao with her arms on her hips, saying, "This morning Madam asked Young Madam Xian to have breakfast with her. Young Madam Xian ate a lot. Even if I didn't eat anything, there wouldn't be anything left for you."

"All right, all right, it's not worth fighting for a few quail eggs. Doesn't Madam provide us with tasty food all the time?" Ruomei waved her hand and then asked in a low voice, "Tell me, last time Madam ordered you two to send a meal to Master. What happened then? When I went there, I only saw Wu'er being dragged away with her body covered with blood. That's so scary."

Lvzhi wiped her mouth with her handkerchief and took a glance outside the door and the window. Then, after she walked inside and sat down, she said leisurely, "Nothing special. Last night, when that woman in the House of Cardamon Fragrance learned that Master entered the study straightly without coming to our yard, she got a lousy idea in her mind again. She sent Wu'er to bring food to the study to 'take care of' Master. Shunzi stopped Wu'er from going into the study. That girl then raised her coaxing voice on purpose in order to let Master hear her. But she didn't know that..."

She covered her mouth and chuckled, continuing, "She didn't know that she would irritate Master by doing that. Master ordered someone to beat her thirty times with a board. Huh, she deserved it!"

"So that's what it is. She only has herself to blame." Ruomei showed a disdainful look on her face and said scornfully, "The two pretty maids who work for Concubine Gong always come to our yard after gorgeously dressing themselves up. See how they have shuttled in and out of Madam's room and craned their heads to peek at us. They just want Master to see them! Those girls have no self-respect at all!"