A Maid's Survival Story in a Noble Family Mansion? Rich Landlords Are More Appealing.

As night deepened, the lights in the Chen family courtyard were already off. Chen Wanxing was lying on the kang (a heated brick bed), engrossed in the storybook she had bought in the county town the day before, when a series of urgent knocks on the door suddenly broke the silence of the night.

"Grandma Chen, Uncle Chen, open the door quickly." It was Tian Chuan's voice, low but urgent.

The urgent knocking immediately woke the Chen family. Chen's father and Chen Yancheng were the first to get up, put on their clothes, light the oil lamp, and open the courtyard gate.

Tian Chuan stood outside the door, his body damp with night dew, his face pale, and he was half-supporting, half-carrying a nearly limp person on his shoulder—his second aunt, Liu Shi.

"What, what's going on?" Mr. Chen was shocked and quickly helped the person inside.

The lights in the house were quickly turned back on, startling everyone. Grandma Chen's face was grim. Chen's mother and third aunt rushed forward and saw that Liu's eyes were closed, her face was pale, her lips were purple from the cold, her body was covered in grass clippings and mud, her clothes were thin, and she was curled up and shivering. She had already lost consciousness.

"Xiao Chuan, where did you find her?" Chen's father asked anxiously as he watched his wife wrap Liu in a thick quilt.

Tian Chuan wiped the sweat from his forehead and said with lingering fear, "This morning I set a few traps in the reed marshes to the west, hoping to catch some wild animals."

I remembered it before going to bed, so I went over to take a look. When I got near the woodpile, I heard a rustling sound. I thought it was a stray dog, but when I got closer, I found it was my second aunt.

She was huddled in the woodpile, frozen stiff, and unresponsive. I was afraid something might happen, so I quickly carried her back…”

Upon hearing this, everyone exchanged bewildered glances, their hearts filled with shock and complex emotions. Liu had returned, so why had she gone there again? And hidden in the woodpile? Judging from her appearance, she had clearly been out in the cold for quite some time.

Hui Niang and her third aunt hurried to the kitchen to boil water, while Chen's mother found some ginger to make soup. Grandma Chen walked to the bedside, looking at her second daughter-in-law's disheveled and unconscious state, her brows furrowed, and the anger on her face finally turned into a heavy sigh.

Looking at his wife's state, Uncle Chen's expression shifted uncertainly. If Tian Chuan hadn't happened to discover this today, he dared not imagine the consequences. If Liu was already like this, he wondered what would happen to Chen Wanxing...

Chen Wanxing stood to the side, frowned, and watched quietly.

She hadn't expected things to turn out this way. She thought her second aunt would be hiding at her parents' home, but she never imagined the Liu family would be so cold-hearted.

Looking at Liu's pale face and trembling body, Chen Wanxing felt a growing sense of pity and coldness towards the Liu family's actions, replacing the initial annoyance she felt towards Liu's foolishness and cowardice.

Soon, hot water and ginger soup arrived. After a flurry of wiping and feeding, Liu finally let out a weak groan, her eyelids fluttered a few times, and she slowly woke up.

She opened her eyes in a daze and saw a room full of people. Memories flooded back, and tears rolled down her cheeks silently. She buried her face in the blanket, and for a moment, only sobs could be heard.

The night was exceptionally long. Liu was freezing outside and developed a fever in the latter half of the night. Her cheeks were burning red, and she kept mumbling that she was cold.

Chen's mother and third aunt stayed by her bedside, constantly wiping her body with cold water to lower her temperature. Zhang searched through the night to find the herbs that were always kept at home, carefully boiled them in front of the stove, and pried open her teeth one spoonful at a time to feed her, but it had little effect.

Seeing that Liu's breathing was becoming increasingly rapid and her forehead was alarmingly hot, Grandma Chen made a quick decision: "Go and fetch your Grandpa Wu. Although he's not a proper doctor, he has some folk remedies for treating acute illnesses caused by colds and fevers. Go quickly!"

Without a word, Chen Yancheng put on his coat and rushed into the dark night. About fifteen minutes later, he hurriedly returned with an elderly man with gray hair and beard.

He carefully examined Liu's condition, rolled his eyes, felt her pulse, and with a solemn expression, took out several thin silver needles and inserted them into several acupoints on Liu's body. He then instructed Zhang to boil another, stronger herbal decoction as he had suggested.

After all that fuss, as the first hint of gray appeared on the eastern horizon, Liu's breathing gradually calmed down, her high fever subsided a little, and she finally fell into a deep sleep. Grandpa Wu wiped his sweat, left a few packets of medicine, collected the consultation fee, and gave a few more instructions on taking good care of herself and avoiding any further exposure to cold or fright before Chen Yancheng took her away.

Meanwhile, in Shuangmiao Village, two figures quietly left, quickly disappearing into the pre-dawn mist. Afterwards, from inside a tightly closed house, suppressed cries of pain and a woman's terrified sobs continued intermittently for a long time.

The next morning, the Chen family was having breakfast, feeling tired from the night's commotion, when suddenly a noisy commotion and urgent knocking came from outside the courtyard gate.

"Open the door! The Chen family's! Open the door! You heartless bastard, come out!"

"The Chen family assaulted someone! Is there no law anymore?!"

Chen's father and Chen Yancheng's faces darkened. They put down their bowls and chopsticks and went out to open the door. As soon as the door opened, they saw Liu's mother leading the way, followed by Liu's father, whose face was still filled with panic, as well as two or three men from the same village as Liu's family, and Liu Yaozu, who was being supported by two people. His face was bruised and swollen, and one of his arms was still in a sling in front of his chest. He was grimacing in pain.

Liu Yaozu's face was covered in bruises, one eye was swollen shut, his mouth was cracked, and he was standing on one leg, clearly having suffered a great deal the night before.

Upon seeing the Chen family, Liu's mother immediately slapped her thigh and wailed, "Oh dear! I can't live like this anymore! The Chen family is heartless! Last night, they actually broke into our house and beat my Yaozu like this! My poor son..."

"We're in-laws, how could you resort to such underhanded tactics? Is there no justice or law left?"

She cried and pointed at Chen's father and Chen Yancheng, looking as if she wanted to pounce on them and tear them apart. The men from Shuangmiao Village who came with her also glared at the Chen family with unfriendly expressions, clearly having been persuaded by the Liu family to come and seek justice.

Hearing her wailing, Chen Yancheng angrily retorted, "Stop making baseless accusations! Who hit your son? What evidence do you have that our Chen family did it?"

"Evidence?" Liu's mother jumped up and down, pointing at her son's horrific state. "Isn't this evidence? My son was sleeping peacefully at home, how could he be beaten in the dark? Our Liu family is law-abiding, besides your Chen family, who else have we offended? How could we suffer such a disaster for no reason? If it wasn't you holding a grudge and attacking us in the dark, who else could it be?"

Her words practically spilled out in a fit of anger, and Grandma Chen's eyes suddenly sharpened.

"Liu family, tell me, what did your Chen family do to deserve our wrath and lead us to attack you in the dead of night?"