Xianglan peeked out and saw maids and matrons walking back and forth in the distance. Suddenly, she spotted Xiaojuan wearing a white cloth around her waist, carrying a large box in the distance. Xianglan’s heart leaped with joy, and she was about to call out when she saw Xiaojuan turn into the corridor with the box. Xianglan felt disappointed but could do nothing about it.
She stood by the window for a while, then worried about being discovered, returned to find an old cushion, and sat against the wall. An ordinary woman would have been frightened out of her wits by such events. However, having experienced great ups and downs in her previous life—including family property confiscation, exile, and separation from loved ones—combined with her resilient nature, Xianglan pulled herself together and began checking her possessions one by one.
She found over ten copper coins, a small piece of broken silver, an old silver hairpin from her head, and finally removed the jade pendant from her neck. This pendant was the jade frog that Song Ke had given her. She had originally kept it in a box and intended to give it to her parents during her last home visit, but she hesitated and inexplicably ended up wearing it around her neck for quite some time.
Xianglan gently stroked the jade frog, thinking to herself, “I don’t know when Zhao Yuechan plans to sell me. With my face injured like this, I probably won’t fetch a high price or be sold to a decent place. If I can’t find anyone to rescue me, I must keep these items safe—perhaps they could help buy someone’s help to save my life.” She carefully hid the items close to her body and leaned back to rest, silently reciting scriptures in her mind.
After an unknown amount of time, Xianglan dozed off curled up on the cushion. When she awoke, she felt famished, and her face was unbearably painful. Peering through the door crack, she realized it was past noon. Everyone had finished their meals, and the courtyard was quiet, with bright sunlight flooding the ground and not a soul in sight.
Xianglan sighed quietly, walked to the water vat, and scooped up a ladle of cold water to drink. Looking down at her reflection, she saw her face was even more swollen, with both cheeks now grotesquely purple. While she was lost in thought, she suddenly heard someone calling softly at the door, “Is anyone in there?” Then a handkerchief with several pieces of cake was pushed through the gap under the door.
Xianglan hurried over and peeked through the crack to see Tinglan standing at the door, looking anxious. Tinglan had heard the commotion the night before and knew that Xianglan had been beaten and was to be sold by Zhao Yuechan. Though she pitied Xianglan’s situation, she feared her mistress’s tyranny, but remembering their friendship, she secretly brought some food.
Like a dying person seeing a ray of hope, Xianglan quickly pressed against the door and pleaded softly, “Tinglan, Tinglan, I beg you for something. I have a jade pendant here that you can take…”
But Tinglan was already terrified and interrupted, “Xianglan, bringing you food is already an enormous risk. I can’t help with anything else. Take care of yourself—I must go.” She hurried away.
Xianglan banged her head against the door, and the spark of hope in her heart suddenly extinguished. She slowly crouched down, picked up the cake, and put a small piece in her mouth, letting it soften before swallowing, as tears welled up in her eyes. She understood that Tinglan taking the risk to bring her food was already quite remarkable, and her refusal to help further was natural. Still, she couldn’t help feeling disappointed, tasting the bitter saltiness of tears in her mouth.
She had initially entered the mansion because her parents wanted her to marry the son of a respectable servant in the Lin household. Utterly unwilling, she had entered service to seek opportunities for manumission. However, once in the Lin family, she discovered she had no control over her fate. As a servant without support, she had to sacrifice her pride and endure everything silently. First, she suffered Cao Lihuan’s endless persecution, carefully plotting to escape that tiger’s den. When she finally moved to Concubine Lan’s quarters, hoping for some peace and planning to find a well-connected female servant as a backup while waiting for manumission, unexpected troubles arose again.
Sometimes she felt she couldn’t endure anymore and thought death would be cleaner, but after gritting her teeth, she discovered she could somehow swallow all these bitter experiences, humbly clinging to that thread of hope.
She hugged her knees and thought carefully for a long time, suddenly remembering that Chunling had been coughing these past two days and would go to the small kitchen to brew medicine after meals. Chunling, taking the shorter route, always passed by this small room. Though Chunling wasn’t particularly friendly with her and even showed some hostility, Xianglan had to try regardless.
Xianglan huddled in the corner, waiting patiently. As dusk fell, Chunling indeed walked by. Xianglan’s heart leaped with joy, and she quickly moved to the window, throwing small pieces of coal she had found in the cabinet. Two pieces hit Chunling.
Chunling jumped in surprise and stopped to look around. Xianglan quickly threw another piece, hitting Chunling’s shoulder. When Chunling looked in her direction, she called softly, “Chunling, Chunling, come closer. It’s me, Xianglan.”
Chunling’s eyes widened in shock, and she hesitantly approached, whispering, “Xianglan? Yingshuang and others said you were sick and went home…” Coming closer and seeing Xianglan’s severely swollen face through the torn window paper, she was startled and exclaimed, “You… what happened to…”
Xianglan quickly gestured for her to be quiet and said tearfully, “Dear sister, I’ve been wrongfully accused and locked up by the First Madam. I’m about to be sold. Please help save me.” She handed out the jade frog and continued, “Please take this to Woyun Court and give it to Young Master Song, asking him to buy me… There are two taels of silver and a hairpin in the box under my bed—take them all. I just beg for your help this once. I’ll never forget your great kindness, even if I’m ground to dust!”
Chunling hesitated, “You say you were wrongly accused—what’s wrong?”
Xianglan bit her lip and said, “My wrong is that when the Young Master wanted to favor me, the First Madam decided to sell me.”
With these words, Chunling understood everything and felt the weight of a great responsibility. While she hesitated, Xianglan continued, “Dear sister, I only ask you to give this jade pendant to Young Master Song Ke, so he can buy me and prevent the First Madam from selling me to a brothel…” She then knelt. Though Chunling couldn’t see what she was doing in the room, she could hear the “thump, thump” sound of Xianglan kowtowing.
Just as Chunling was about to speak, she saw Yingshuang and others approaching from a distance and quickly grabbed the jade frog before hurrying away. Back in her room, Chunling sat on her bed, her heart still racing.
She indeed didn’t like Xianglan much. Priding herself on her capabilities, she had always wanted to stand out among the maids. In Madam Qin’s quarters, there were too many talented people for her to rise, but now besides Qinglan, she was relied upon for everything. Then Xianglan appeared out of nowhere, and though she didn’t compete with Chunling, her easy-going nature made her popular with the young maids. She had also caught Lin Jinlou’s eye, which made Chunling somewhat jealous. But now, seeing Xianglan’s condition… Chunling shuddered slightly, thinking that an innocent person could be harmed for possessing something valuable—it was better to be an ordinary-looking maid like herself. Not being cruel-hearted by nature, her previous jealousy of Xianglan had turned to pity. Even she had to admit that Xianglan was likable in both personality and temperament, humble and gentle, avoiding petty disputes and gossip, and always helping others wholeheartedly when asked.
However, taking the jade frog to Woyun Court… Chunling hesitated, truly afraid of Zhao Yuechan and not wanting to invite trouble. But then she remembered Xianglan’s tearful plea “Don’t let the First Madam sell me to a brothel,” and her heart wavered. She couldn’t sleep well all night, and early the next morning, she finally gritted her teeth and thought, “Xianglan is truly hateful! She annoyed me in the quarters before, and now she’s given me such a difficult problem. If I don’t help her this time, how could my conscience ever be at peace!” She grabbed the jade frog and went to Woyun Court.
Entering the courtyard, she saw a maid watering flowers and asked, “Where’s Suju?” The young maid knew Chunling and was aware that she and Lin Jinting’s concubine-maid Suju had entered the mansion together and were close friends, so she smiled and said, “The Third Young Master just woke up, and Sister Suju is attending to him.” She went inside to call Suju out.
Suju smiled, “What wind blew you here?”
Chunling approached with a smile and said, “I’ve come to ask for your help. Concubine Lan just passed away, and there’s much work in the quarters. I was hoping you could help with some needlework when you’re free.”
Suju replied, “That’s no trouble. Just wait a bit—once the Third Young Master goes to the academy, we can talk in detail.”
Chunling quickly asked, “Is the Third Young Master going to the academy with Young Master Song?”
Suju nodded, “Indeed, Young Master Song just arrived, and they’re both inside.”
Just then, they saw Song Ke walking out while turning back to say, “Xiuhong, hurry up, I’ll wait for you outside.”
Seeing him, Chunling felt as if she’d found a precious treasure. She pushed Suju, saying, “Quick, go attend to your master. I’ll wait for you.” After Suju went inside, she quickly moved to Song Ke’s side and presented the jade frog in her palm, speaking softly, “Young Master Song, Xianglan asked me to bring this to you. She says the First Madam has wrongly accused her and locked her up. She’s to be sold to a brothel in a few days, and she begs you to buy her.”
Song Ke’s face immediately darkened as he took the jade pendant. These days he had only heard that Lin Jinlou had taken a liking to Xianglan and wanted to claim her, but Lin Jinlou had left town. He never expected to receive such news today. He asked, “Where is she locked up?”
Chunling replied, “In a small room at Zhichun Hall… Young Master Song, this servant risked her life to bring this message—please pretend I was never here!”
Song Ke quickly said, “Of course, I won’t say a word about this.” Chunling curtseyed and walked away.
Song Ke thought for a moment, then beckoned his servant Ludou over, took out a token, and instructed, “Go to the accounts office and withdraw one hundred taels of silver.” After a pause, he added, “Make it three hundred taels, go quickly and return quickly.” With his orders, Ludou left with the token. Let’s leave them for now.
As for Huamei, she had returned home with the account book and spent an uneventful night. The next day, her father urged her to return to the Lin mansion, saying, “You’ve stayed home for a night without reason, you should go back now. Even though the Young Master isn’t there, staying at home will cause gossip in the mansion. Now that our family’s circumstances have improved and your brother is receiving Young Master Lou’s favor in the military, you must serve diligently.”
Huamei sneered, “Our family is doing well now, but don’t forget this came from selling your daughter.”
Hearing this, her father shrank his neck and fell silent. Huamei’s original surname was Du, and her father was named Du Yu, formerly a seventh-rank military official who was impeached for corruption. The case also involved negligent homicides, and though he spent his entire fortune to save his life, the whole family was sentenced to become military households. For the family’s future, Du Yu sent his elder daughter from a concubine to be a concubine in a high official’s family, who later transferred her to Lin Jinlou as a concubine-maid—this girl was Huamei.
Du Yu felt guilty toward Huamei, and since the whole family depended on her, he pretended not to hear when she talked back to him.