When Yaoniang heard her mention Master Su, she was stunned for a moment before realizing she was referring to her eldest brother.
Her brother wanted to see her?
She couldn’t help but glance at Jin Wang and Jin Wang turned to look at Fucheng. Fu Cheng lowered his head and pretended not to see Jin Wang’s gaze.
Jin Wang suddenly had the illusion that his closest servant was no longer obedient, so he could only open his mouth and say, “Why don’t you go take a look?”
This immediately made Yaoniang suspicious. She asked, “Did something happen?”
At this point, Fucheng finally couldn’t act like he couldn’t hear her. He hurriedly said with a smile on his face, “This old servant heard from the people below that Lancao’s family came to redeem her. This is why she went home, and a different maid replaced her. This servant isn’t sure but could it be because of this?”
“Lancao? My elder brother wouldn’t come to me for a maid, would he?” Yaoniang had a feeling that the name ‘Lancao’ was familiar, but she couldn’t remember where she had heard it.
With a completely serious face, Jin Wang said “I’m not sure either.”
Without knowing the specific situation, Yaoniang could only go to meet Su Yucheng and see what was going on.
She deliberately changed her clothes and brought only a single young maid with her.
Su Yucheng appeared very haggard and unshaven. His injury also didn’t seem to have fully healed yet. As soon as he saw Yaoniang, he wanted to stand up, but he lost his balance and fell back onto the seat.
“Brother, what’s the matter with you? Why are you walking around before your injury fully heals? Did something happen at home?”
“Everything is fine. Everything is fine at home. It’s me…” Su Yucheng seemed a little embarrassed to speak. After hesitating for a while, he still said, “I want to look for Lancao, but I don’t know where to find her. I saw that the manor sent another maid to our house, so I wanted to see if she has returned to the manor. I…”
Su Yucheng’s appearance made Yaoniang suspicious. She could only tell him what she knew and said, “I heard from Head Steward Fu that someone from Lancao’s family came to redeem her freedom. After she left with her family, another maid replaced her.”
“Redeem her? Who came to redeem her? Where does she live?”
Yaoniang frowned. “Brother, what’s wrong with you?”
Su Yucheng seemed to realize that he couldn’t hide it any longer, so he told her about how he liked Lancao, but Lancao was unwilling to accept him.
“She kept saying that she was not good enough for me, but I feel that I’m the one who’s not worthy of her. Our family has no money, and I was fortunate enough to find a job thanks to His Highness. It had only been a few days before I was injured and sent home. I gradually recovered thanks to her for taking care of me day and night. I’ve thought about it. Even if she is a maid, she’s still a young woman. I can’t take advantage of her for nothing, but she’s unwilling. I originally planned to come to beg His Highness after I’ve recovered from my injury, but who would have thought that she would leave so abruptly and quietly…”
After listening to him, Yaoniang was speechless for a moment.
“Brother, answer my questions first. Is it because the other party is a young woman and she personally took care of you so you want to be responsible? Or do you actually have feelings for her?”
“This–”
Yaoniang continued, “If brother wants to marry her out of a sense of responsibility, forget it. Lancao is a maid. Serving others is what she ought to do. If everyone thinks like you, wouldn’t all those people in rich and noble families need to marry their maids? There’s no such thing, so don’t think too much about it. Don’t take it to heart.”
A maid brought some tea in, and Yaoniang took a sip of the tea, before looking at Su Yucheng again.
Su Yucheng, a large man with his head half lowered, seemed to have something to say but couldn’t say it. Yaoniang continued to act ignorant, drank a few sips of tea, and then said: “Brother, there are other matters that I need to attend to. If there’s nothing else, I’ll send you off. Since your injury hasn’t completely healed, be careful not to tear the wound in this hot weather. Otherwise, it will be hard to take care of if it gets infected.”
Ever since Su Yucheng met Yaoniang, he felt that his sister’s tone and demeanour when speaking were very different from before. As for what exactly was different, he couldn’t tell. At this moment, he was feeling very awkward, so he couldn’t care less about it. After hearing Yaoniang’s words, he seemed to come back to his senses all of a sudden, and said, “Don’t be in such a rush to leave yet! I…”
Under Yaoniang’s gaze, Su Yucheng finally couldn’t hide it anymore, and said, “Brother has feelings for her. I want to marry her back to be your sister-in-law.”
Hearing the word “sister-in-law”, Yaoniang felt overwhelmed with an emotion she couldn’t name.
She thought of Zhu-shi and many of the other things that happened in the past. Now she was no longer the little girl who was ignorant of many things like she was back then. Now she understood the saying that the eldest sister-in-law is like a second mother. For families like the Su Family, whether they could marry a good eldest daughter-in-law depended on many, many things.
Yaoniang could see that Su Yucheng was likely sincere to Lancao, but Yaoniang herself had no impression of Lancao. This was because everything that happened to the Su Family back then was arranged by Jin Wang.
For a while, she remained silent as she decided what to say. She couldn’t decide on this matter because she needed to ask Jin Wang about his intentions first.
Su Yucheng felt a little guilty. “Sister, brother is sorry to have caused you trouble again.”
“His Highness happens to be here today, so I’ll go and beg him. I’m not sure if it can be done. Brother, you must know that His Highness needs to watch his image, and Lancao is only a maid after all.”
“Your brother understands. Your brother knows. I just… I…”
Seeing Su Yucheng like this, Yaoniang also felt very emotional, and hurriedly said: “Big brother, don’t worry. I’ll come back soon.”
She returned to Rongxi Courtyard. Jin Wang was still there waiting for Yaoniang.
He looked at Yaoniang. Yaoniang looked at him. The two looked at each other a few times, as Yaoniang hesitated about what to say.
In fact, what she had said to Su Yucheng just now was not a lie. She really wasn’t sure whether Jin Wang would agree to it. Now that she was promoted to Consort Jin, the Su Family was now naturally Jin Wang’s in-laws. Now, his older brother-in-law wants to marry a maid, who used to work in his household, as his wife. Almost everyone would protest at this.
With a particularly guilty conscience, Yaoniang recounted everything with an extremely courteous and flattering tone.
When Yaoniang heard her mention Master Su, she was stunned for a moment before realizing she was referring to her eldest brother.
Her brother wanted to see her?
She couldn’t help but glance at Jin Wang and Jin Wang turned to look at Fucheng. Fu Cheng lowered his head and pretended not to see Jin Wang’s gaze.
Jin Wang suddenly had the illusion that his closest servant was no longer obedient, so he could only open his mouth and say, “Why don’t you go take a look?”
This immediately made Yaoniang suspicious. She asked, “Did something happen?”
At this point, Fucheng finally couldn’t act like he couldn’t hear her. He hurriedly said with a smile on his face, “This old servant heard from the people below that Lancao’s family came to redeem her. This is why she went home, and a different maid replaced her. This servant isn’t sure but could it be because of this?”
“Lancao? My elder brother wouldn’t come to me for a maid, would he?” Yaoniang had a feeling that the name ‘Lancao’ was familiar, but she couldn’t remember where she had heard it.
With a completely serious face, Jin Wang said “I’m not sure either.”
Without knowing the specific situation, Yaoniang could only go to meet Su Yucheng and see what was going on.
She deliberately changed her clothes and brought only a single young maid with her.
Su Yucheng appeared very haggard and unshaven. His injury also didn’t seem to have fully healed yet. As soon as he saw Yaoniang, he wanted to stand up, but he lost his balance and fell back onto the seat.
“Brother, what’s the matter with you? Why are you walking around before your injury fully heals? Did something happen at home?”
“Everything is fine. Everything is fine at home. It’s me…” Su Yucheng seemed a little embarrassed to speak. After hesitating for a while, he still said, “I want to look for Lancao, but I don’t know where to find her. I saw that the manor sent another maid to our house, so I wanted to see if she has returned to the manor. I…”
Su Yucheng’s appearance made Yaoniang suspicious. She could only tell him what she knew and said, “I heard from Head Steward Fu that someone from Lancao’s family came to redeem her freedom. After she left with her family, another maid replaced her.”
“Redeem her? Who came to redeem her? Where does she live?”
Yaoniang frowned. “Brother, what’s wrong with you?”
Su Yucheng seemed to realize that he couldn’t hide it any longer, so he told her about how he liked Lancao, but Lancao was unwilling to accept him.
“She kept saying that she was not good enough for me, but I feel that I’m the one who’s not worthy of her. Our family has no money, and I was fortunate enough to find a job thanks to His Highness. It had only been a few days before I was injured and sent home. I gradually recovered thanks to her for taking care of me day and night. I’ve thought about it. Even if she is a maid, she’s still a young woman. I can’t take advantage of her for nothing, but she’s unwilling. I originally planned to come to beg His Highness after I’ve recovered from my injury, but who would have thought that she would leave so abruptly and quietly…”
After listening to him, Yaoniang was speechless for a moment.
“Brother, answer my questions first. Is it because the other party is a young woman and she personally took care of you so you want to be responsible? Or do you actually have feelings for her?”
“This–”
Yaoniang continued, “If brother wants to marry her out of a sense of responsibility, forget it. Lancao is a maid. Serving others is what she ought to do. If everyone thinks like you, wouldn’t all those people in rich and noble families need to marry their maids? There’s no such thing, so don’t think too much about it. Don’t take it to heart.”
A maid brought some tea in, and Yaoniang took a sip of the tea, before looking at Su Yucheng again.
Su Yucheng, a large man with his head half lowered, seemed to have something to say but couldn’t say it. Yaoniang continued to act ignorant, drank a few sips of tea, and then said: “Brother, there are other matters that I need to attend to. If there’s nothing else, I’ll send you off. Since your injury hasn’t completely healed, be careful not to tear the wound in this hot weather. Otherwise, it will be hard to take care of if it gets infected.”
Ever since Su Yucheng met Yaoniang, he felt that his sister’s tone and demeanour when speaking were very different from before. As for what exactly was different, he couldn’t tell. At this moment, he was feeling very awkward, so he couldn’t care less about it. After hearing Yaoniang’s words, he seemed to come back to his senses all of a sudden, and said, “Don’t be in such a rush to leave yet! I…”
Under Yaoniang’s gaze, Su Yucheng finally couldn’t hide it anymore, and said, “Brother has feelings for her. I want to marry her back to be your sister-in-law.”
Hearing the word “sister-in-law”, Yaoniang felt overwhelmed with an emotion she couldn’t name.
She thought of Zhu-shi and many of the other things that happened in the past. Now she was no longer the little girl who was ignorant of many things like she was back then. Now she understood the saying that the eldest sister-in-law is like a second mother. For families like the Su Family, whether they could marry a good eldest daughter-in-law depended on many, many things.
Yaoniang could see that Su Yucheng was likely sincere to Lancao, but Yaoniang herself had no impression of Lancao. This was because everything that happened to the Su Family back then was arranged by Jin Wang.
For a while, she remained silent as she decided what to say. She couldn’t decide on this matter because she needed to ask Jin Wang about his intentions first.
Su Yucheng felt a little guilty. “Sister, brother is sorry to have caused you trouble again.”
“His Highness happens to be here today, so I’ll go and beg him. I’m not sure if it can be done. Brother, you must know that His Highness needs to watch his image, and Lancao is only a maid after all.”
“Your brother understands. Your brother knows. I just… I…”
Seeing Su Yucheng like this, Yaoniang also felt very emotional, and hurriedly said: “Big brother, don’t worry. I’ll come back soon.”
She returned to Rongxi Courtyard. Jin Wang was still there waiting for Yaoniang.
He looked at Yaoniang. Yaoniang looked at him. The two looked at each other a few times, as Yaoniang hesitated about what to say.
In fact, what she had said to Su Yucheng just now was not a lie. She really wasn’t sure whether Jin Wang would agree to it. Now that she was promoted to Consort Jin, the Su Family was now naturally Jin Wang’s in-laws. Now, his older brother-in-law wants to marry a maid, who used to work in his household, as his wife. Almost everyone would protest at this.
With a particularly guilty conscience, Yaoniang recounted everything with an extremely courteous and flattering tone.
