Chapter 11

Yaoniang looked at the clothes on the table and her eyes were full of joy.

She was just worried about that she didn’t have clothes to wear.

In fact, she came out from home with only a few clothes. She used to like pink and delicate colors, but now she didn’t want to be so attractive. So instead she took some dark colored clothes. The clothes sent to her were exactly all dark.

One was stone blue; one was green, and the other two were bronze mist and sandalwood color. These colors were not suitable for Yaoniang’s age, but for her identity. A wet nurse was in charge of feeding babies and she didn’t need to wear too fancy.

In the last life, Yaoniang just arrived at the small lateral yard, and she received several clothes given by the top. But she thought that the color of clothes was too ugly so she wore her own clothes. Obviously it was the same thing, but she had different state of mind. It had to let people lament the impermanence of the world.

Yaoniang tried on clothes behind the folding screen. Because it was not tailor-made, it was a little bigger when she wore. But what she just wanted now was loose clothes.

Yaoniang put on her new clothes and went out.

First she asked a little girl where she could do a laundry. When she learned that the well in front of the room was available, she returned to take the clothes to wash.

Going out from the small side door next to the small building, there was a courtyard about the same size as the front one. There was a row of rooms for family dependent on the front, and on the sides there were a utility room, a kitchen, and a few dwelling houses.

There were tubs, buckets, and soaps for laundry in the utility room. These were told by Lvyao. In fact, Yaoniang knew it. It just seemed to be a little abrupt without asking.

After getting what she wanted to use, Yaoniang went to the well and threw the bucket into it to fetch water. She didn’t have much strength, so she could only get half bucket of water.

With half bucket of water, she soaked her dirty clothes into a tub.

Lvyao had been watching her silently by the side, seeing that she was really ready to do some laundry, then she left without talking.

At the same time that Yaoniang was doing laundry, Cuizhu also received the clothes sent by Lv’e.

But she gave a rather dismissive glance and threw it to the side.

The material was good, but the color was a bit plain. Although she was a widow, she didn’t want to be a widow all her life.

Since it was the first day they came here, Yaoniang and Cuizhu didn’t need to work. There was half a day for them to settle down. However, Cuizhu was not a quiet person. So she changed her clothes and went out to talk with someone.

She always had a lively temperament. She was outgoing and kindly greeted to people in the small lateral yard. Soon she became familiar with them.

Yuyan reported the incident. Mammy Mu was calm and there was no expression on her face.

“Regardless of them, we only need to take good care of the little princess.”

Yuyan nodded.

*

Yaoniang finished washing her clothes and drying them on the rope.

She went back for fetching some water and wiped around her room. The room seemed to be cleaned in advance, but there was still some dust could be seen at the corners.

Since Yaoniang wanted to stay in this yard, she put on a posture. Although what she was doing now seemed to have nothing to do with it, she was showing her attitude to everyone.

These truths were the insights that Yaoniang knew since she had stayed in Jin Wang Mansion for a long time in her last life. She could only do these things. As for other things, it depended on whether other people give her opportunities or not.

For the next few days, life in the small lateral yard was dull and boring.

Compared with her last life, people in the lateral yard seemed to treat her and Cuizhu with kindness, but in fact they were full of estrangement in kindness.

Although Yaoniang and Cuizhu also went to serve the little princess, they could only watch from a distance. Even there was no chance to do a favor, let alone to serve the little princess in person.

Within a few days, Cuizhu became bored and began to run outside frequently.

The excuse was to find her aunt, and more often she cottoned up to people in Liuchun Pavilion. But Yaoniang was still the same as usual.

The weather was gradually getting hot, but it was fickle. Maybe it’s sunny today, summer shirts can also be worn. It started to rain in the middle of the night, and it needed to change a jacket the next day.

It rained yesterday. The sky was still gloomy in the morning, but it’s sunny in the afternoon. It immediately became hot and made people panic.

In the twilight, the small lateral yard was usually quiet, and at this time it was even quieter as if no one was here.

There was also the benefit of not being taken into account: no one cared about what you do. Yaoniang went to the kitchen and took her dinner. Because it was so hot that she had no appetite, she put it there first and planned to take a bath.

After a while she finished washing. It may be going to rain and it was very hot in the house. Yaoniang’s hair was not dry and she sweated again. She came out of the house with her wet hair. It was much cooler outside than in the room. The breeze was blowing slowly and it was very comfortable.

As soon as Yaoniang stood still, she heard voice from the side, then Cuizhu came out.

Seeing a little sweat on her pink face, it seemed that she was too hot then went out.

Recently, Cuizhu changed her personality and treated Yaoniang well. Maybe it was someone who instructed her. She was very enthusiastic to Yaoniang.

The two lived next to each other, and from time to time Cuizhu also came to find Yaoniang and stayed in her house to talk with her. Yaoniang was clear, and she was very kind from her appearance. Cuizhu only thought that she was timid and she didn’t think much. Occasionally she asked Yaoniang to help her wash clothes or something.

However, if Yaoniang helped her, she wouldn’t be unrequited. She brought a plate of pastries for Yaoniang from time to time.

Cuizhu’s aunt, Madam Cao, was a steward in the large kitchen, and these things were obtained from her by Cuizhu. Cuizhu often brought back some snacks for maids and madams in the lateral yard. Some of maids and madams were greedy for snacks. So Cuizhu was much more welcomed than Yaoniang in front of people in the lateral yard, and even in the Liuchun Pavilion.

Everyone else saw her with a smile, but Yaoniang looked much bleak and had almost no sense of existence.

Cuizhu saw that Yaoniang was standing outside the door then she walked and stood on her side.

“It’s too hot today.” she said and holding a fan in her hands.

Yaoniang said: “Yes, I just bathed and sweated again.”

Cuizhu wiped her sweat and saw a white mark on her hand. She immediately lifted her palms and pulled out a sweat towel from her sleeve, then pretended to press her face. At the same time, she immediately took a glance at Yaoniang and her face was like a peeled egg. Then she shouted: “Oh, no. I have to wash now. It’s really too hot today.”

She wanted to ask Yaoniang to help her to fetch water, but now Yaoniang had already sat down on the stone platform of the veranda, and her other hand was holding her long hair. She could only shut her mouth and turned into the house.

Yaoniang glanced at her back, and she looked back again.

It was dark gradually. At this time, there were some mosquitoes. Yaoniang’s long hair was almost dry, so she planned to return to the house for dinner.

As soon as she came to the table and sat down, she heard a cry of a baby. The voice was sharp, and she became tense subconsciously.

It’s not scary. But as a mother, she was inherently sensitive to the crying of a baby.

Yaoniang realized that the little princess was crying. Since she came to the small lateral yard, the little princess would cry every night. She held up her rice bowl and planned to fetch some water to wash and sleep after dinner.

The dishes were a bit greasy. The meals of wet nurses were more plentiful than other servants, and most of them were meat. Because it can produce breast milk after eating a lot of meat. But Yaoniang was agitated and the food was a little cold, so she thought that she would feel uncomfortable after eating.

She put down her chopsticks and cleared the table, and carried the bowl to the kitchen. When she returned, she brought half bucket of warm water. The hot water in the kitchen was constant, because the little princess should use all the time. There were much hot water, so servants could also use.

Yaoniang wiped herself and poured water out.

During the period, the little princess kept on crying even more and more sharply. Especially it blew suddenly. The sound of humming wind was against the cry of the child in the quiet night. It seemed extraordinarily gruesome.

Yaoniang couldn’t sit still. She could not help but went to the door and looked over to the small building.

At this time, the candlelight was already lit in the small building, and people came in and out from time to time. People from Liuchun Pavilion also came and after asked the details then they left.

Cuizhu stepped out of the room and leaned on the door then said to Yaoniang, “Isn’t that two very capable? How can’t they even coax a child?” She smiled and schadenfreude showed on her face obviously:

The two she said refer to the wet nurses Wang and Qian who were now serving beside the little princess. The reason why Cuizhu and Yaoniang would be pushed out and no chance to take care of little princess in person was because two wet nurses who came first had great achievements. The two teamed up to run against Cuizhu and Yaoniang. Yaoniang didn’t care, but Cuizhu hated them in her heart.

Unfortunately, Cuizhu had no way to tackle with them. On the one hand, they had a higher qualification than her. On the other hand, the two were very dedicated to the little princess and it was almost impossible for them to make a mistake. The most important thing was that these two people were subordinated to side consort Hu. It’s not worth to bother them. She could only bear them and would laugh at them only in private in front of Yaoniang.

Seeing this kind of movement, Cuizhu knew that wet nurses Wang and Qian would definitely be reprimanded by side consort Hu tomorrow. Then she laughed extraordinarily brightly.

However, Yaoniang was very silent and didn’t know what she was thinking.

Suddenly Yaoniang reached out and slammed the door then went outside.

Seeing this, Cuizhu asked, “Where are you going?”

“I want to have a look.”

“Come on. Don’t get in the way. You have been there last time and don’t you forget you’re pushed out by them?”

Cuizhu did not sympathize with Yaoniang, but it was a way of venting her dissatisfaction. Because she went there last time but was pushed out.

For the time being, Yaoniang and she were still on the united front, which was one of the reasons why she was now treating Yaoniang with kindness.

Yaoniang ignored her and walked towards the small building.

“You’ll be fooled!” Cuizhu yelped behind.

Yaoniang was thinking about her last life.

In her previous life, Cuizhu was proud and not stable, but she could still stay in the lateral yard to be a wet nurse. The reason was that she made great achievements.

At that time the little princess was crying, but Yaoniang didn’t take it seriously. She had just left her son Xiaobao. When she heard such a cry, she couldn’t help but thought of Xiaobao. After Xiaobao didn’t stay with her mother, would he cry like this?

So she became more and more sad. The little princess cried, and she cried too, crying from day to night.

Some people said that she was unlucky. She felt very wronged and even became more sad. Originally, there were many wet nurses around the little princess, so she was excluded. But the little princess cried abnormally, and she couldn’t help paying attention.

After a few days of observation, she almost knew what was going on.

She volunteered to solve the problem, but she was blocked out. Not only did she not see the little princess, she could not even enter the small building. She was anxious and really cared about the little princess. She couldn’t bear the little princess crying all the time. So she found Cuizhu who could only talk with her and she wanted to tell the person who took care of little princess how to do through Cuizhu.

Cuizhu used her method and cured the night crying disease for the little princess.

However, Cuizhu did not tell others that this method was from Yaoniang. Cuizhu had a bad plan and said some bad words of her in front of the top when she was completely unprepared, that made Mammy Mu who was already very dissatisfied with her sent her back.

On the contrary, Cuizhu gained power and respect in the lateral yard. The little princess couldn’t live without her. Her position became more and more stable and even side consort Hu looked at her quite differently.