After the rebellion was successful, I realized that this place was the Red Mansion

Chapter 155 Qingwen, Xiangling

Meanwhile, when Xiren returned to Yihong Courtyard, she saw Qingwen, Sheyue, Qiuwen, Bihen, and others cracking melon seeds:

Several people tossed a bunch of round pebbles onto the table, tossed them up, quickly picked up a few pebbles, and caught them with their hands, without touching the other pebbles.

When it was Qingwen's turn, she saw Xiren come in and, distracted, accidentally moved another pebble with her long, bright red fingernails. Musk Moon and Autumn Pattern immediately clapped and laughed at her for breaking the rules.

"Humph."

Qingwen was still quite angry, but she had no choice but to put down the stones and say to them, "It was Xiren who came in and caused me to lose my hand... I'll keep an eye on you, and if any of the stones move, I'll hold you responsible!"

Musk Moon was tossing a pebble into the air when Xi Ren caught it and smiled at them, saying, "Stop being silly. I just passed by the garden gate and the Third Miss was arranging for people to do things in the council hall to welcome the Emperor. The mansion is short of people, so the Third Miss assigned me and you to clean the villa for the Emperor's visit."

"We're going to sweep the floor?!" Qingwen was the first to object, saying, "We're from Master Bao's household, so these kinds of chores aren't our responsibility."

Qiuwen, Bihen, and the others were also not very happy. They were second-class maids in Yihong Courtyard. Washing clothes, cooking, watering and sweeping were the work of rough maids and servants, and they were never required to do them.

Xiren hurriedly tried to persuade them: "I just heard that the eunuchs from the palace said that things are not the same in the mansion as before. Without the emperor's bestowal of titles, everyone is a servant in the Yeting Palace, including the mistress, let alone you and me?"

He added, “His Majesty will be visiting the residence in a few days, and there are many things that need to be done. If the residence is not properly managed and preparations are not made properly, wouldn’t that be disrespecting His Majesty?”

With a combination of coaxing and intimidation, her words managed to subdue the many second-class maids in the Grand View Garden.

"The whole garden is full of maids and servants, and there are hundreds of eunuchs and palace maids outside, yet they insist on ordering us around!"

Qingwen muttered to herself, but she still threw down the curtain and went out to call Xiaohong, Zhuier, and the others in the corridor, instructing them to prepare all the necessary cleaning supplies.

When she returned, she went inside to change her clothes, wearing some old clothes so that the dust wouldn't get on her nice clothes when she was cleaning.

Musk Moon changed her clothes and went to her room. As soon as she entered, she saw that Qingwen had just taken off her clothes and was only wearing a bodice. Her waist, back and hips were as white as jade. Her waist was slender and her hips were round and perky, just like two big white peaches. No wonder some old women cursed her as a vixen behind her back.

"Why aren't you doing your work? What are you doing here?"

Qingwen bent down to pick up her undergarment and put it on; her two slender legs were straight, like white jade chopsticks.
Musk Moon walked over, took her hand, looked at it, and then smiled.

Qingwen guessed what she was going to say, flung her hand away, and stubbornly said, "I can do the work of a rough maid even with long nails, you don't need to laugh at me!"

Musk Moon laughed even harder.

Qingwen was a little different from the others. She and Xiren were both people in Jia Mu's room, assigned to serve Bao Er Ye. However, Xiren was only there to serve, while Qingwen was chosen by Jia Mu to be Bao Er Ye's concubine in the future.

Therefore, Qingwen kept her fingernails long and did not do rough work. Musk Moon only came to tease her because of her fingernails.

Sure enough, she got angry.

After joking around with her for a while, Musk Moon said, "There are about twenty maids and servants in the Grand View Garden, so it won't make a difference if you sweep the floor. I was thinking that since the Emperor is coming, the trees in the villa for the imperial visit should be decorated with silk and gauze, folded into banners and other styles and hung up. You are skillful, so you can do this job."

Qingwen said, "The maids outside have been so lazy this month. When I get there, they'll definitely still be dawdling. I'll go and keep an eye on them first."

After putting on her old clothes, Musk Moon watched her leave. A moment later, she heard Qingwen's cursing voice: "What kind of hussies are you? You've been lying around day and night for two months, and you still try to shirk your responsibilities when the young lady gives you instructions. If you keep this up, I'll prick you with a needle!"

Musk Moon was startled and hurriedly went out to try to mediate the fight. Qingwen had a fiery temper, and in the past, with Master Bao's protection, the maids were all afraid of her.

Now that Master Bao is gone, Qingwen has no one to support her, so how can the maids still obey her?

Sure enough, Zhui'er retorted, "It's just a little slow, who are you trying to scare with that toy?!"

Before they could start arguing, Musk Moon pulled Qingwen aside, and Little Red pulled Zhuier aside, and the two groups called a truce.

After a while, Xiren came out and instructed everyone to take the cleaning supplies and go out, leaving only an old woman to watch over Yihong Courtyard.

Just as I was about to leave, a girl's voice suddenly came: "Why are you all going out?"

Xiren turned her head and saw that it was Xiangling, a maid bought by Aunt Xue's family, followed by two maids.

She was originally bought to be Xue Pan's concubine. Now that Xue Pan has been punished to do corvée labor, she only serves in the rooms of Aunt Xue and Baochai, and often runs between Aunt Xue's house and Hengwu Garden.

As Xiangling approached, everyone saw that she was beautiful, with a red mole between her eyebrows, and had an indescribable charm. The old women felt sorry for her pitiful background and thought to themselves that it was fortunate that her face had not been opened yet and that she had not been ruined by Xue the Fool.

"What brings you here?" Xiren asked with a smile.

Xiangling smiled and said, "My mistress sent me here because she saw that Yihong Courtyard had mugwort for the Dragon Boat Festival a few days ago. She wanted to ask if you still had any, so that we could fumigate the house again to prevent mosquitoes, snakes and ants from crawling around when the emperor arrives."

Xiren nodded and smiled, "Auntie is so thoughtful. There's some mugwort next to the flowerbed on the west side. When you go to cut it, please hang it up for us too."

Xiangling agreed and led the maid into the Yihong Courtyard.

After she left, Musk Moon said, "It's admirable that she wasn't saddened by the passing of Miss Bao's brother."

Qingwen sneered, "You're not even married yet, and you haven't even drunk the nuptial wine. What's there to be sad about?"

Musk Moon blushed and fell silent, choked by her words.

The group went to the villa for the family visit and began cleaning and decorating. After half a day of work, a group of palace maids came over and said that they should do as they were told. Qingwen was naturally furious and wanted to argue with them, but was stopped by Xiren.

Another eunuch arrived, looked Qingwen and the others up and down, and suddenly laughed, "There are quite a few pretty maids in the Jia family. Which household are you from?"

Qingwen glanced at him sideways but didn't say anything.

Xi Ren quickly said, "We are maids from the Yi Hong Courtyard. My name is Xi Ren."

"Where are they?" the eunuch asked, pointing to the group.

Qingwen was already furious, and seeing his arrogant and bossy manner only made her more annoyed. She threw down the broom, clapped her hands, and retorted, "Are you asking us to do chores or what? Do you expect us to do something like check our family tree just to sweep the floor?!"

A young eunuch standing nearby sneered, "The Jia family really has no manners. Even a sweeping maid dares to shout like that. In my opinion, we should kick them all out to avoid angering the emperor!"

Xi Ren, Qiu Wen, She Yue, and others were all startled and hurriedly apologized to them, and then tried to persuade Qing Wen.

"Who do you think you are, daring to tell me to get rid of you?!"

Qingwen, however, was unconvinced and sneered, "The garden is managed by the young ladies. You're just here to help with the arrangements, yet you dare to act like guests and boss us around!"

A group of eunuchs got angry and said, "Who's turning the tables? This mansion belongs to the Emperor, and we are his servants. You are the guests!" The commotion alerted the others, and someone hurried to inform Miss Ping.

After Ping'er arrived, the group of eunuchs stopped their commotion. Ping'er then persuaded Qingwen to stop.

As the storm subsided, Xiren thought to herself that if it were back in the manor when Bao Er Ye was still in Yi Hong Yuan, who in the manor would dare to quarrel with Qingwen? Even the old women would give her some leeway.

Then she thought that Ping'er had returned from the palace and received a reward from the emperor, making her practically a concubine. That's why the eunuchs respected her. Others might not have had such influence, and even the Second Mistress Lian couldn't change that.

Ultimately, the Rongguo Mansion had become the emperor's temporary palace, and was no longer the Jia family's residence.

Seeing that Qingwen still had a cold face, Xiren advised her, "The young ladies haven't returned yet. The person in charge of the household is the Third Miss. Even if you argue with someone, can you still go and plead with her in the end? You have to be more patient."

Qingwen lowered her head and remained silent.

She didn't get along well with Tan Chun, Baochai, and others. Although they often came to Yihong Courtyard, they didn't chat with her much. Only Daiyu could talk to her.

She had just argued with the eunuch because she hoped Miss Lin would help her, and she was also feeling distressed, having watched helplessly as the Grand View Garden had become what it is today.

After Baoyu left, the girls all went to the palace, and even Ping'er was favored by the emperor. The emperor was also about to come and stay at the Grand View Garden.

The people in this garden will eventually leave...

-

Xiangling cut some mugwort by the flowerbed and returned to Yihong Courtyard with two maids. She first helped them hang some up, and then took the rest of the mugwort back to the Xue family.

Before Xue Pan was conscripted for corvée labor, Xiangling, Xue Pan, and Aunt Xue lived together in a two-courtyard house in the northeast corner of the mansion. Xue Pan lived in the study outside, while they lived in the inner courtyard.

Now that her future husband Xue Pan has left, Xiangling still lives in the inner courtyard with Aunt Xue. When she has nothing to do, she goes into the garden to play with Xiaoluo, Fangguan, and Ruiguan.

With the emperor's arrival imminent, the household is incredibly busy.

"Madam, I've hung the mugwort everywhere, just like I did during the Dragon Boat Festival."

Xiangling went to report back to Aunt Xue.

Aunt Xue glanced at her, nodded and smiled, "It's good that you've hung up. Come and sit down, I'd like to chat with you for a while."

Xiangling was startled and quickly said, "How dare I sit in front of Madam? I'll just stand and answer your questions!"

Although she was serving the mistress, she was ultimately going to be Xue Pan's concubine. In the future, the mistress would be her mother-in-law, so she would have to be even more disciplined in front of her.

Aunt Xue laughed and said, "If I tell you to sit, then sit down. Would I punish you for this?"

Xiangling then sat down, daring only to sit on one side, her pert and delicate buttocks half-sitting and half-empty, leaving a rounded mark.

Aunt Xue looked at her, then couldn't help but raise her hand and stroke her face.

Xiangling opened her eyes, puzzled. She had not yet been married, so she knew nothing of these things, let alone the illusory phoenixes and fake dragons among women.

Fortunately, Aunt Xue was not a dissolute person. She stroked Xiangling's face and asked with pity, "How long have you been at my house?"

Xiangling thought for a moment and smiled, "It's been about four or five years."

Aunt Xue nodded and said, "Originally, we wanted to let you grow up before giving you to your uncle, but when news spread that something was going to happen in Jinling the year before last, he rushed back to check on the family business and fled back. He was so worried that he never gave you a proper ceremony."

Xiangling blushed, lowered her head, and fiddled with the hem of her clothes without saying a word.

Aunt Xue said, “My poor son has been punished to do corvée labor. I don’t know how many years it will take before the emperor pardons him. You are also of marriageable age. I am worried that you will have difficulty finding a husband when you grow up.”

Xiangling thought for a while before slowly shaking her head.

She didn't know how to say it.

She was kidnapped and raised by a kidnapper, and then bought by the Xue family. Originally, it was a good thing, as the Xue family was quite wealthy and they bought her as a concubine, so she could become a mistress as soon as she entered the family.

But who would have thought that the kidnapper had sold her to two different families, causing Xue Pan to make enemies and accidentally kill one of them.

Although the lady and the young lady did not blame her, the maids and servants in the house were gossiping. Xue Pan also had a bad temper, and having been mistreated in Jinling, he beat and scolded her several times.

But if she were to say that the Xue family was bad, she wouldn't know what was good about them.

Aunt Xue said, "I was thinking that the Emperor will come to visit your residence in a few days. You will inevitably see the Emperor then, and with your outstanding looks, you will probably attract his attention... At that time, you can serve the Emperor in bed and no longer worry about things at home!"

"……what?!"

Xiangling was stunned for a moment before exclaiming in surprise.

She never imagined that the lady had stroked her face just now to admire her beauty and persuade her to serve the emperor!
Aunt Xue blushed, a rare sight for her. Xiangling suspected she was ashamed, but little did she know that Aunt Xue was thinking of what the eunuchs had said: "When the emperor is in a good mood, whoever he wants to summon must obediently serve him!"

Aunt Xue cut to the chase, telling her, "Just remember this: the emperor may not necessarily favor us!"

"……we?!"

Xiangling was stunned for a moment.

Aunt Xue blushed even more and quickly covered it up, saying, "I was talking about you and Ying'er."

"Oh……"

Xiangling blushed, and after thinking for a while, she finally managed to say, "Then I won't be your concubine anymore?"

Aunt Xue said, "Let's talk about it when the Emperor arrives at our home!"

"How did you know the Emperor would come to our house, Madam?"

Aunt Xue couldn't explain why, so she sent Xiangling to do some work, leaving her alone in the room, worrying.

(End of this chapter)