After the coming-of-age ceremony, Jiang Li’s Fangfei Courtyard returned to its former tranquility.
Although the facts had proven that Jiang Li was wrongly accused in the matter of the gemstone jewelry, not a single person came to comfort her. Tong’er secretly inquired from outside and learned that Old Madam Jiang had summoned Ji Shuran to Wanfeng Hall and severely reprimanded her. Because Jiang Youyao’s coming-of-age ceremony had been entirely organized by Ji Shuran, yet in the end such an incident had occurred, making the visiting guests witness a joke and causing the Jiang family to lose face.
“This time, Madam Ji’s ability to manage the household will be greatly questioned by others,” Tong’er said with great satisfaction when discussing this matter.
Jiang Li smiled. Old Madam Jiang’s reprimand of Ji Shuran was probably not because Ji Shuran had ruined the coming-of-age ceremony. Old Madam Jiang was, after all, a veteran who had been immersed in inner household struggles for many years—how could she not understand the twists and turns within the household? Moreover, this time Ji Shuran’s attempt to frame Jiang Li had truly been rather clumsy. Although Old Madam Jiang didn’t particularly like Second Miss Jiang, she could barely be considered fair. She should be using this matter as a warning to Ji Shuran.
However, although Jiang Li’s actions this time had preserved herself, they had also exposed the fact that the Jiang household’s inner quarters were in disorder. To some extent, she would be blamed by others. For instance, she was still being neglected now, which was the Jiang family’s punishment of Jiang Li.
However, Jiang Li herself didn’t care.
Tong’er smiled and said: “The three new maids are still outside. Does Miss want them to come in now?”
Xiangqiao and Yun Shuang had already been taken away. Jiang Li had Tong’er as her personal maid, and under the guidance of a matron, she had selected three more. This way, including Tong’er, there would be two first-rank maids and two second-rank maids. After selecting some more for outdoor cleaning duties, it would be just right.
“Let them come in,” Jiang Li said.
All three maids entered the room. The two second-rank maids—one called Mingyue and one called Qingfeng—were about Tong’er’s age and appeared to have lively and clever personalities. They greeted Jiang Li crisply and had never served in the Jiang household before.
There was also a first-rank maid called Bai Xue. She was slightly older than Tong’er. Unlike the first two maids who were lively, although her name was Bai Xue, her skin was dark, and her physique could be described as sturdy. Wearing the specially tailored apricot-red uniform of the Jiang household, she looked somewhat incongruously comical.
Tong’er stared at Bai Xue, examining her, feeling puzzled. Generally speaking, a young lady’s personal maid was the young lady’s face. Setting aside character and ability, appearance definitely had to be sweet and delicate. This Bai Xue—never mind her capabilities—with this appearance, even in other households, she would never hope to become someone’s first-rank maid in this lifetime.
When the matron was making selections, she had mentioned Bai Xue, saying she had great strength and could do outdoor cleaning work. Jiang Li had originally planned this as well, but at the very end, somehow it had changed and she became a first-rank maid.
That matron had repeatedly questioned Jiang Li, probably thinking Jiang Li didn’t understand the principles involved, but Jiang Li had been quite stubborn. Tong’er looked at Bai Xue but really couldn’t see anything particularly special about her.
Jiang Li exchanged a few simple words with the three maids, then Qingfeng and Bailu went out to work. Bai Xue remained in the room. Jiang Li looked at her and smiled, asking: “I heard your hometown is Zaohua Village?”
Bai Xue had originally been standing quite formally, but hearing Jiang Li mention her hometown, she relaxed somewhat and said: “That’s correct.”
“I once knew a maid who was also from Zaohua Village,” Jiang Li said with a smile.
The household registry recording Bai Xue’s background stated that Bai Xue came from Zaohua Village, not far from the capital. She had two older brothers and one younger sister at home. Her parents were both farmers, cultivating about one and a third acres of land. Bai Xue had become so dark and sturdy precisely because she had worked the farm with her parents since childhood. However, with many mouths to feed in the family, and as her two older brothers married and had children, life became even more difficult to sustain. To earn a living, Bai Xue had come to Yanjing to work as a maid.
Maids like Bai Xue were looked down upon by the wealthy official families of Yanjing, who disliked her unattractive appearance. The matron from the Jiang family had selected her only because Bai Xue was strong enough to do heavy labor. Who knew that Jiang Li would specifically choose Bai Xue to be a first-rank maid—perhaps it was just Bai Xue’s good fortune.
Although Bai Xue was new, she knew that the monthly wages for first-rank maids and cleaning maids were completely different. She was very grateful in her heart to Jiang Li who had selected her. However, before coming she had also heard many rumors about Yanjing’s Second Miss Jiang. She had originally thought she would be a fierce and evil person, but unexpectedly she was so amiable and even cared about her hometown. She secretly thought that rumors truly couldn’t be trusted—they were all fabricated gossip spread through hearsay.
Bai Xue said: “What was the name of the maid Miss knows? Perhaps this servant knows her.”
“Called Haitang,” Jiang Li said with a smile. “That maid should be in her early twenties now. She has two younger brothers at home and lives next to the rice shop on the west side of Zaohua Village. Haitang is tall and thin, fair and clean, very good-looking.”
Tong’er listened from the side with confusion. She should know all the maids Jiang Li knew, but she had never heard of a maid called Haitang. Was she from the Jiang household?
Bai Xue thought for a long time before scratching her head and laughing: “This servant can’t remember such a person. Zaohua Village isn’t large, but it isn’t small either. However, if Miss wants to inquire about news of that Miss Haitang, this servant can write a letter home to ask her parents.”
Tong’er couldn’t help but ask: “You can write?”
“I secretly learned a little from the village’s private tutor,” Bai Xue said with an honest smile.
Tong’er looked at Bai Xue with newfound respect. She should know that there weren’t many maids in the Jiang household who could write. Her own miss truly had a discerning eye for talent. This Bai Xue might look unremarkable, but she had real ability—serving as a first-rank maid was no loss.
Jiang Li was somewhat surprised that Bai Xue could read and write, then immediately smiled at Bai Xue and said: “Then I thank you.”
The reason she had chosen Bai Xue as her personal maid was not only because of Bai Xue’s loyal and honest character, but more importantly, because Bai Xue came from Zaohua Village.
When she was still Xue Fangfei, she had a personal maid named Haitang who also came from Zaohua Village. Of Xue Fangfei’s four personal maids, two had been beaten to death, and the remaining two had been secretly released from the household by Xue Fangfei. One was Dujuan and one was Haitang. Dujuan had no family and didn’t know where she would go afterward. But Xue Fangfei knew about Haitang—her hometown was Zaohua Village, and she still had two younger brothers.
Shen Yurong didn’t know about Haitang’s background, so she wouldn’t investigate Zaohua Village. And Haitang was smart and clever, meticulous and careful. Having thought it over thoroughly, she felt Haitang very likely had returned to Zaohua Village.
To expose the ugly faces of Shen Yurong and Princess Yongning, she would inevitably need to find witnesses from back then. Unfortunately, she currently had no way to approach the Shen family. Even if she could approach them, the Shen family members might not be willing to help her come forward to testify.
But Haitang was different. Haitang had grown up with her since childhood—they were as close as sisters. If she asked Haitang to step forward and become a witness in Xue Fangfei’s case, Haitang would definitely agree.
And all of this—Jiang Li looked at the honest girl before her—would have to rely on this Bai Xue from Zaohua Village.