“Come in.” Like jade pearls falling onto a plate, the laziness was gone. The voice’s owner had truly awakened.
Mo Zi responded, holding the tea, and was just about to lift the curtain.
But Lu Ju reached out to hold it open for her, smiling and calling inside: “Young miss, I’m here too.”
The two entered the inner chamber—one drawing back the gauze and fastening the bed curtains, the other pouring water and tea.
Layer upon layer of gauze curtains lifted, and light streaming through the cloud-paper window illuminated the graceful figure rising from the bed. Dark moon-shaped hair bun, fresh willow-leaf brows, almond eyes, pink lotus lips. Her face was like a peach blossom, her skin like jade clamshell. Her pale wrists lifted lightly, her beautiful eyes turned once. Truly a moonlit beauty arrived, extraordinarily gorgeous.
Qiu Shuiyun, Third Miss of the Qiu Mansion, also called Third Mistress, was the master of this courtyard.
Mo Zi sat on the edge of the bed, passing over the jade cup filled with water.
Third Mistress Qiu carefully rinsed her mouth, then took the warm tea Mo Zi had prepared, drinking half a cup before feeling her sleep-weary body could finally stretch.
“Lu Ju, you came in—who’s still guarding the gate?” Third Mistress Qiu draped on an outer garment and got out of bed, walking to the bronze mirror and picking up a wooden comb to slowly and methodically brush her hair.
Mo Zi walked to the clothes chest, taking out a set consisting of a rosy-gold pink cloud-wave skirt and a wide-sleeved robe embroidered all over with clustered flowers in brocade, and brought them before Third Mistress Qiu.
Third Mistress Qiu glanced at them, her brow faintly furrowing. “I’m not even going out—why choose something so flashy? Get me a different set.”
“Young miss, there’s a guest by the gate, and most likely they’ll be asking you to go to the mistress’s place in the front courtyard. This spring outfit was sent by the mistress just a few days ago. When the weather gets any hotter, you won’t be able to wear it.” Mo Zi kept her eyes lowered and compliant, still holding that set of clothes without moving an inch.
Lu Ju thought to herself that this Mo Zi truly wasn’t afraid of the young miss’s temper. If it were her, she wouldn’t dare say more. But strangely, from what she could see, every time Mo Zi made decisions on her own, the young miss never said anything about it.
“Sending it only after the solar term has passed—what a fine mother she makes. If I don’t wear it, she’ll have another excuse to speak ill of me.” Third Mistress Qiu smiled with thick sarcasm. “Lu Ju, I know you’re uncomfortable keeping watch at the gate. Right now in front of me, when I ask you questions, you’re not as quick to answer as before. How about tomorrow I have Bai He guard the gate and transfer you back inside?”
Lu Ju gave a start. Bai He was the top first-class maid by the young miss’s side, so naturally the young miss was speaking ironically.
“Good young miss, please spare me!” She hurried to smile apologetically, stepping forward to take the comb from Third Mistress Qiu’s hand and skillfully arranging her cloud-like hair. “A moment ago, Nanny An came knocking at the door, saying she wanted to see you. I told her you were taking your afternoon nap, but she insisted I come inside to check, saying it couldn’t wait. Nanny An is an old servant from the mistress’s side—I didn’t dare casually dismiss her, so that’s why I came in.”
“No wonder you were chattering away in the outer room, disturbing my sleep by two ke.” Third Mistress Qiu loved Lu Ju’s skillful hands at hairdressing, and besides, who would truly lose their temper over such a small matter? The four maids in this courtyard were her trusted confidants. Except for Mo Zi, who had only been with her for half a year, the other three had followed her since childhood. Setting aside their capabilities, they were absolutely trustworthy.
“Young miss, you heard everything?” Lu Ju’s hands didn’t stop moving.
“Hazily—I only heard your voice.” Third Mistress Qiu spoke to Lu Ju, but glanced at Mo Zi through the bronze mirror.
Mo Zi seemed to notice immediately, saying: “Young miss, from what Nanny An said, I’m afraid an honored guest has arrived at the gate.”
“Excellent.” Third Mistress Qiu smiled again, bright and radiant as spring sun.
Lu Ju was full of confusion, not understanding what riddle the two were playing, yet she kept to her proper place. What shouldn’t be asked, she didn’t ask. In terms of cleverness and capability, she was the least among the four maids. In terms of following rules, she was the most honest, never scheming, never harboring ulterior motives, obeying only the young miss’s orders.
After Third Mistress Qiu spoke these words, the room suddenly fell quiet, with no one else speaking.
When Lu Ju finished the hair, she said it was done.
Only then did Third Mistress Qiu say: “Lu Ju, go out and tell Nanny An to wait a bit longer, and say I’m changing clothes.”
Lu Ju hurriedly agreed and left.
Third Mistress Qiu took the skirt from Mo Zi’s hands and dressed herself.
Mo Zi stood beside watching, with no intention of stepping forward to help. Although she hadn’t been following Third Mistress Qiu long, what she should know, she knew no less than the most attentive Bai He.
Third Mistress Qiu didn’t like having maids serve her for such personal matters as changing clothes. After several years traveling as a merchant outside, she had formed the habit of taking care of herself.
“When Bai He and Xiao Yi return, go find out clearly.” Third Mistress Qiu took out a jade token. “If necessary, you may leave the mansion.”
Xiao Yi was another first-class maid by Third Mistress Qiu’s side.
“Young miss, rest assured.” Mo Zi received the jade token, placing it in the inner pocket at the side of her vest’s waist.
“Since I’m entrusting this matter to you, naturally I’m quite assured. Don’t forget what I said when I saved you.” Not needing anyone to help her, Third Mistress Qiu moved very efficiently, no longer showing the delicate fragility of a wealthy young lady just risen from bed.
“Mo Zi also said that since my life was saved by the young miss, I must repay this debt even if it means tying grass rings in the afterlife. Whatever concerns the young miss is Mo Zi’s own concern—I will do everything in my power.” How could Mo Zi not remember? This Third Miss Qiu had forcibly pinched her awake from unconsciousness, making her sign and seal a document agreeing to become her maid to repay the life-saving debt, and only then was willing to let Xiao Yi fetch a physician.
This matter, apart from herself, Third Mistress Qiu, and Xiao Yi, the other two—Bai He and Lu Ju—didn’t know the full story, only thinking she had been bought from outside.
She had thus retrieved a life, but her gratitude toward Third Mistress Qiu, who demanded repayment for favors granted, was not deep.
Coming from a thousand years in the future with a soul that took freedom for granted, she originally had no real intention of fulfilling that contract. From the moment she regained consciousness, she had repeatedly thought through methods of escape. But very quickly, she discovered her transmigration seemed somewhat complicated. She thought she had soul-traveled into this severely injured body, but as the injuries gradually healed, she actually recalled scattered fragmentary memories from after arriving in this era. They weren’t remnants from the original body—she could completely confirm they were her own personal experiences, from childhood onward, some faces, some scenes, jumping into her mind from time to time. Though these memories were real, they were pitifully few. Using her general knowledge, it truly seemed like amnesia.
Simply put, she could remember everything before transmigrating, but couldn’t recall what had happened in the years between transmigration and the severe injury that left her unconscious. Whenever she grasped a fragment and tried to dig deeper, her head would ache as if about to split open.
With her eyes completely darkened, utterly unclear about what kind of situation she was in, she had no choice but to postpone her original plans.
The place where Third Mistress Qiu rescued her was right at a border area called Yuling, so she lied that she was from Yuling, having lost her family in the war. She took the two characters “Mo Zi” engraved on a pair of earrings in her tattered bundle as her name, casually made up an age of eighteen, saying she didn’t want to speak of past matters anymore.
After following Third Mistress Qiu for two months, she witnessed what it meant for a woman to be no less capable than a man. Even without understanding folk customs, Mo Zi knew that women going out to conduct business in this era was extremely rare.
Yet Third Mistress Qiu, starting from age twelve, had followed her father in business for eight years already. Having lost her mother early, though the second wife Zhang Shi—a concubine elevated to fill the position—didn’t mistreat her openly, she employed many underhanded tactics in secret. Third Mistress Qiu relied on her clever tongue to win her father’s affection, which allowed her to frequently accompany him on trips. This cultivated in her a nature that valued profit over emotion and paid no heed to the three obediences and four virtues. Being exceptional herself, her requirements for the maids around her were also exceptional. First they had to be able to handle affairs for her, and only then would she consider status and position.
So Mo Zi thought that at least encountering such a merchant’s daughter who didn’t care much about propriety was better than falling into a poor household or an official’s grand mansion.
Because the specialized skills she learned in modern times couldn’t be put to great use, at most her excellence in science allowed her to calculate and write, making her countless times sharper than ordinary maids and old servants, so she quickly gained Third Mistress Qiu’s important trust. All troublesome matters were handed to her to handle.
Lu Ju thought it was the master’s trust; Mo Zi saw through that Third Mistress Qiu was trying to squeeze out the consultation fees and medicine costs spent on her.
So let her squeeze. Meanwhile, Third Mistress Qiu had to fight her mother above and her younger brothers and sisters below, competing for family property, hiding private savings—how busy she was.
And she, borrowing the identity of a maid, enjoyed the cool shade beneath a big tree.