maidservant

Chapter 11: Yan Yugang gets married and is raped by Gan Qing

Once the world falls into chaos, women who are powerless and suppressed by the Three Bonds and Five Constant Virtues will be like withered flowers in the wind, shaky and unable to find a place to survive in this chaotic world.

War, famine, turmoil, each one is like a ruthless blade, pointing directly at their fragile bodies.

The well water overflowed the hem of Madam Shen's pomegranate skirt. Gan Tang knelt on the slippery bluestone slabs, his hands immersed in the biting cold water.

She took out the purse she had hidden close to her body, and five taels of silver weighed heavily on her palm, which she gave to the shop assistant.

"The girl is kind-hearted," the waiter whispered in tears.

When I returned to the mansion, the light was still on in Miss Yu's embroidery room.

Gan Tang stood in the corridor, looking at the silhouette reflected on the window paper - Miss Yu was trying on the mandarin duck wedding dress.

During the night shift, Gan Tang stayed outside.

The spring rain was beating against the window lattice. She listened to Miss Yu's even breathing and her eyes fell on the wedding dress hanging on the hanger.

The moonlight shone through the window paper onto the wedding dress, and the mandarin ducks embroidered with gold thread glowed faintly.

Gan Tang remembered the silk handkerchief that Madam Shen was clutching before she died. It had the same pattern embroidered on it.

Gan Tang did not sleep all night.

At five o'clock in the morning, Gan Tang gently pushed open the window of the side room. She turned and walked to the dressing table, placing the silver she had saved at the bottom of the makeup box.

She no longer asked for the grace to redeem herself. She wanted to stay with Miss Yu and accompany her to get married, just like she was guarding this night light.

On the fifteenth day of March, the spring sun is so warm that it makes people sleepy.

Gan Qing and Gan Tang have been preparing for the young lady's ordination these past few days. They have to memorize a lot of etiquette and are exhausted.

Miss Yu's dowry was placed from the west wing to the hanging flower gate. The twenty vermilion lacquered boxes gleamed in the sun.

The third concubine leaned against the pillar in the corridor, and the bracelet on her wrist reflected the copper lock on the box, making a jingling sound.

The fourth concubine came over in small steps, paused for a moment and said:

"According to the rules, the mansion should have given Yujie 800 taels, and added 30 mu of land and two shops." The fourth concubine twisted her handkerchief, her voice getting lower and lower, "but the account is really..."

"I don't need to know what's going on in the mansion." The Third Aunt interrupted her and took out a bunch of keys from her sleeve. "I've saved some money over the years, so I'll just take it as a way to help my master share his worries."

There was a slight "click" sound when the key was inserted into the lock, and a corner of the lid was lifted up, revealing a whole piece of shimmering brocade inside.

Tang Wenyao came to meet the bride on a red chestnut horse, and his moon-white robe made him look even more handsome.

When Gan Tang helped Miss Yu into the sedan chair, he caught a glimpse of the mutton-fat jade pendant given by the master hanging around the groom's waist, which was shining with a warm luster in the sunlight.

Before the curtain of the sedan chair fell, Miss Yu suddenly grabbed Gan Tang's hand, her fingertips were cold.

"Don't worry, Miss. Gan Qing and I are with you."

"Um,,,"

Miss Yu got on the sedan chair, and the group left the house at noon, carrying twenty boxes of dowry, eight of which were the private property of the Third Aunt, two were porcelain in the house, and the remaining ten were just empty gifts.

The sedan chair entered the Tang family's house at dusk.

The Tang family courtyard is indeed not big, but it exudes the elegance of a scholar everywhere.

There are vines climbing on the blue brick wall, and the vines are winding their way up to the roof along the eaves.

The yard was hung with red silk, which was quite festive.

At night, Gan Tang and Gan Qing waited outside the bridal chamber. Moonlight shone on the bluestone slabs, like a thin layer of frost. Gan Qing suddenly spoke, his voice as soft as a falling leaf: "What are your plans for the future?" Gan Tang gazed at the crescent moon in the sky, remembering the same moonlight on the night Madam Shen drowned herself in the well.

"As for me," Gan Tang stroked the honeysuckle pattern on his sleeve, "I'll just stay by your side."

The night breeze blew by, bringing with it the fragrance of wisteria from afar. Gan Qing said nothing more, simply tilting the lantern in his hand toward Gan Tang.

The moonlight was like water, sprinkling on the bluestone slabs under the corridor.

Gan Tang looked at Gan Qing's profile, and vaguely recalled the year when they first entered the Shangshu Mansion.

Gan Qing was only ten years old, with two buns on her head, standing under the big locust tree in front of the mansion gate.

Although Gan Qing loved to talk at that time, she became much quieter after Gan Sui left the house.

She was very caring towards Gan Tang, and would always secretly slip her a piece of sugar cake when she was on duty, or work an extra half hour for her.

Now, ten years have passed, and Gan Qing has become more and more aloof, with a sense of alienation between his eyebrows. Only when he looks at Miss Yu and Gan Tang, a hint of warmth appears in his eyes.

"You and I are the dowry," Gan Qing's voice was particularly clear in the night. "If one day, we are needed to be the concubines of the brother-in-law, what do you think?"

Gan Tang clenched her sleeves, remembering how Tang Wenyao's eyes lingered on Gan Qing for a moment as he helped Miss Yu out of the sedan chair. That look was so familiar to her, just like the way the master looked at the Third Concubine back then.

"I"

"You don't want to either." Gan Qing's voice was as light as a feather. "I'm afraid it's not up to us. I've saved some money over the years, enough to rent a small courtyard in the east of the city. I wanted to ask for mercy to redeem myself." She turned and looked at Gan Tang, the moonlight illuminating the determination in her eyes. "But Miss Yu..."

Gan Tang was about to speak when he heard the voice of his son-in-law in the house: "Fetch water."

The two of them hurried away.

Two months after Miss Yu got married, Tang Wenyao treated her gently and considerately.

On the day of returning home, he helped Miss Yu get out of the sedan chair and personally handed her the snacks prepared by the Third Aunt. He even tested the temperature of the teacup before handing it to Miss Yu.

The Third Aunt saw this, and the jade bracelet on her wrist swayed slightly with a smile, "Finally, I didn't make a mistake."

But Gan Tang always felt something was wrong. Although the son-in-law always protected Miss Yu, his eyes were not very gentle, but rather more flattering.

The day before yesterday, the mother-in-law complained that Miss Yu was a few minutes late for the morning visit. Before she could finish her words, Tang Wenyao interrupted her coldly: "If you have nothing to do, why not go to the Buddhist temple and chant sutras?"

The chill in the tone reminded Gan Tang of the frozen wellhead in winter.

"My son-in-law's temperament is not as gentle as he was when he first entered the Shangshu Mansion." Gan Tang whispered while combing Miss Yu's hair.

Gan Qing's figure was reflected in the bronze mirror. She was tidying up her dressing box. After hearing this, she paused and said, "But after all, he is protecting the young lady, so the son-in-law can be considered reliable."

The incident happened suddenly. That evening, Tang Wenyao returned home with a sullen face and kicked over the flower stand in front of the door.

The sound of porcelain breaking spread from the study all the way to the backyard. Gan Tang wanted to go in and ask what was going on, but was stopped outside the door by the old nanny of the Tang family.

"I guess the assignment didn't suit my husband's wishes," Miss Yu said with a frown, and she personally went to the kitchen to cook a bowl of lotus seed soup. "Gan Qing, please take it to the study."

Gan Qing went with the tray, which took her half an hour. When she returned, she was spotted by Yuan Gan Tang. Her hair was disheveled, her cuffs were stained with ink, and her left arm was red.

In the moonlight, the tear marks on her face shone faintly. "Uncle, uncle..." Before she finished speaking, she covered her mouth and ran away.

Gan Tang chased to the ear room and helped Gan Qing to dress up.

The night wind lifted the window paper, bringing with it the sound of shattering porcelain from the distant study, mixed with Tang Wenyao's angry curses: "They are all bastards, bullying me!"

(End of this chapter)