maidservant

Chapter 13: Gan Tang is redeemed and follows Lin Yu
"It would be fine for other families, but the children of Minister Yan Jing went to school with the children of Imperial Censor Li and have been together for several years.

Lord Li is Prince Jing's right-hand man, and he's honest and loyal. I heard Prince Jing intends to nominate him for the position of Minister of the Central Secretariat. "We'd better not have any evil intentions towards this Yan family member!" He was nominated by Yan Jing a few years ago.

On the ninth day, the chains rattled.

The chief came in holding a lantern, the soles of his boots stained with the cinnabar soil unique to the imperial prison.

During the nearly ten days he was detained, the people in the mansion had already learned the whole story from him.

"Your Highness Prince Jing has made great contributions to the cleansing of the imperial court, and is now the crown prince."

While delivering the meal, he stuffed a piece of meat pie into Fourth Aunt's hand.

Gan Tang listened intermittently.

"On the day of the Chongyang Palace Banquet, the Crown Prince forced his way to the palace. Prince Jing's personal guards sneaked in through a secret passage and rescued the Emperor from the warm chamber. When the old Emperor saw his son approaching with a sword, he vomited blood and fainted on the spot. Now, the Imperial Hospital's golden needles are constantly being used in Chengqian Palace."

"Lord Li was promoted to Minister of the Central Secretariat."

"Lord Li's wife's family, the Fengzhou Lin family, is the same family that stripped Lord Lin Gong of his title twenty years ago for failing to properly oversee disaster relief funds. This time, they accompanied Prince Jing in protecting the emperor and performed a great deed, earning them the title of Marquis and a large mansion on Suzaku Street."

"Minister Yan, Yan Jing was beheaded yesterday."

Gan Tang saw the fourth concubine turn her face away and cry silently.

After Yan Jing was dismissed from his post, he was found guilty of several crimes:

He had a close correspondence with the prince;
He also secretly kept a woman sent by the crown prince as his concubine, and this concubine was found to be a government slave.
A few years ago, he abused his power to arrange official positions for the two sons of Wudingbo Zheng's family, who were also his eldest brother-in-law's brothers.

Furthermore, high-end porcelain, only used by the royal family, was discovered in the Su family of Yangzhou. The Su family directly attributed it to Yan Jing, which further aggravated the charge that the Yan family was plotting rebellion.
"Yan Lie suffered a lot in the first two days in prison, but he has been peaceful these past few days. Perhaps someone of high rank has given instructions to the jailer."

The chief continued,

"It seems that the Su family in Yangzhou was also implicated, but no one was killed."

Gan Tang moved forward, bowed to the headmaster, and asked, "Sir, do you know what's going on at Tang Wenyao's home in the suburbs of Beijing?"

He sneered, "Master Yan's good son-in-law, Tang Wenyao, was just promoted to the Minister of Personnel yesterday."

"The court has recently promoted several meritorious officials. The Yan family's servants will probably be redistributed to various families in the next few days."

The chief said in a low voice, his eyes lingering on the fourth concubine for a moment, as if he was about to speak.

The fourth concubine lowered her eyes, her fingertips unconsciously stroking the Buddhist beads on her wrist. The beads slid past one by one, making a slight "click" sound.

She knew what the chief had not finished saying - the Yan family had fallen, and she and Yan Lie were in the most difficult situation.

Although Yan Lie did not participate in Yan Jing's crimes, as the eldest son of the Yan family, his fate had long been tied to the family.

Sure enough, the next morning, there was a chaotic sound of footsteps outside the cell.

Several officers' boys, holding the list of household slaves, followed by several officers and soldiers, began to call out the names with stern faces.

Gan Tang huddled in the corner, listening to names being called out one by one, feeling uneasy.

It was not until the official read the word "Gantang" that she suddenly raised her head and heard that she was assigned to the Lin family of Yong'an Marquis Mansion.

The official urged Gan Tang and several second-class maids to get up, pushing them.

Gan Tang looked back at the Fourth Aunt. She still had her back straight and her eyes calm. Gan Tang felt a pang of pain in his heart, but he didn't dare to stay. He could only follow Guan Yazi and leave.

On the street, the sunlight and the people's gazes were so bright that Gan Tang couldn't open her eyes. She squinted her eyes and looked at the familiar streets in front of her, but she felt that everything had become unfamiliar.

The official brought them to the corner gate of the Yong'an Marquis's Mansion and pushed them in.

Gan Tang staggered across the threshold, his heart filled with fear of the unknown and the certainty of having survived the disaster.

It was as if I was back to the day when I first entered the Shangshu Mansion.

Inside the corner gate, several maids from the Marquis's mansion had been waiting for a long time. They looked at the new maid with cold eyes and whispered to each other.

Gan Tang lowered his head and saw Mammy suddenly walk up to him. "Are you Gan Tang?"

"Yes."

"You are lucky. Go and serve in the eldest lady's courtyard."

She followed an elderly maid through the corridor, her ears filled with the maid's nagging instructions: "The Marquis's Mansion has many rules, you must be careful in what you do, and don't make the master unhappy..."

Gan Tang listened silently, but his eyes involuntarily swept around.

The courtyard of the Marquis' Mansion is more exquisite than that of the Shangshu Mansion, with rockery, flowing water, and lush flowers and trees. It is obvious that it has been cleaned and decorated recently, and it exudes a sense of wealth and luxury everywhere.

The nanny took her into an exquisite courtyard, "Mulanju".

Gan Tang was waiting in the yard. After a while, he saw several maids in gorgeous clothes accompanying a young woman walking towards him.

The woman was wearing a lavender skirt, her eyebrows and eyes were picturesque, and her every move exuded nobility.

Gan Tang's heart moved. This should be his master, the eldest daughter of the Lin family, Lin Yu.

Seeing Gan Tang in a daze, the nanny scolded him in a low voice, "Keep your head down. Wait until the young lady calls me and I'll take you in."

Gan Tang lowered his head quickly, but his heart was filled with waves: Lin Yu, Yan Yu, Miss Yu, Miss Yu... Maybe it was fate.

Gan Tang followed the nanny into Miss Lin Yu's main hall.

The eldest lady only left a personal maid dressed in elegant clothes and asked, "You are Yan Yu's personal maid, right?"

"Yes, my servant Gan Tang."

"From today on, you will be working in my courtyard. You can no longer use the name Gan Tang. What did your parents call you before?"

"Ashan" "Ashan, then you should be called Yunshan,"

"Yes. Your servant Yunshan thanks Miss."

The maidservant next to the eldest lady was called Yunjin. She took her downstairs and explained some things to her. She received the clothes of a second-class maid and went to the ear room to wash up.

Outside the window, the moonlight was like water, sprinkling on the courtyard of the marquis's mansion.

Gan Tang closed his eyes and silently said in his heart: "Miss Yu, Gan Qing, you must be safe..."

She knew that her new life had just begun.

A few days later, Yunshan was embroidering the edge of a window screen when she suddenly heard someone calling her, "Gan Tang."

(End of this chapter)