Chapter 86: Two Gossips
Li Xiaonan was in the same cart as Wan Jing.
Once in the cart, Li Xiaonan stretched out her arm and lifted the curtain to create a small gap.
Seeing her arm held there motionlessly, Wan Jing asked curiously, “What are you doing?”
“We have to guard against someone eavesdropping on our conversation.” Li Xiaonan pressed her eye to the gap, looking outside for Gu Yan.
Wan Jing looked at Li Xiaonan as if she were an idiot, “Who would eavesdrop on us? Who would dare?”
“Who do you think would dare?” Li Xiaonan glanced sideways at Wan Jing.
“There’s no one… What do you mean by that?” Wan Jing pointed at Li Xiaonan, “Are you saying our Young Lord…”
“Where is your Young Lord? I can’t find him.” Li Xiaonan poked her head out.
“Come back!” Wan Jing yanked Li Xiaonan back, “Don’t be so nosy and ill-mannered! Is it for you to pry into the master’s whereabouts?”
“He’s your master, not mine!” Li Xiaonan pushed Wan Jing’s hand away and boldly stuck half her body out, craning her neck to look around.
“What are you looking at?” Beside the cart, Gu Yan squinted at Li Xiaonan.
“You’re here.” Li Xiaonan leaned towards Gu Yan, checking how far his horse was from the cart.
Gu Yan glanced sideways at Li Xiaonan, saying nothing.
Li Xiaonan gauged the distance and breathed a sigh of relief. At this distance, as long as she and Wan Jing didn’t speak loudly, he definitely wouldn’t be able to hear.
Li Xiaonan pulled her head back, sat in the middle, and used her foot to block the gap between the two curtains. Looking at Wan Jing, who was speechless and glaring at her, she pointed outside, “He’s over there. Let’s speak softly; he definitely won’t hear.”
“Our Young Lord isn’t that kind of person!” Wan Jing said irritably.
Li Xiaonan eyed Wan Jing and snorted.
She decided not to tell this fool about the Young Lord eavesdropping last time, or she’d be unable to sleep for several nights.
“When did you start working like this? How long will you work? Your whole life?” Li Xiaonan chatted with Wan Jing.
“Our manor has strict rules. For those of us born into the household, we start studying at six. We spend half the day studying and half the day learning rules. After a year, we start learning a trade. By nine, we begin assisting our elder sisters in their duties. At twelve, we have our first assignment, and then we are officially assigned to various departments.”
“You started working at twelve? Do you get wages?” Li Xiaonan looked at Wan Jing with sympathy.
“I didn’t. Didn’t I tell you? I’m supposed to be an external manager. External managers have to study for two more years. We only get our first assignment at fourteen. If selected, we become apprentices, and I’m apprenticing under my eldest aunt.”
“How old are you this year? You’re apprenticing under your eldest aunt, so why are you here with him?” Li Xiaonan pointed in Gu Yan’s direction.
“Didn’t I tell you? Our Young Lord specifically requested me!” Wan Jing said with annoyance.
“Can you still go back then?” Li Xiaonan looked at Wan Jing with great sympathy.
Alas, going from an independent external manager to a head maid, that’s quite a drop!
“I was supposed to go back, but it’s because of your matching tokens!” Wan Jing sighed.
“Are there any other options? Can you beg your Young Lord?”
“You always come up with terrible ideas!” Wan Jing spat at Li Xiaonan, “That’s our Young Lord! To be chosen to serve by our Young Lord’s side, and to be personally requested by the Young Lord, is a great honor! If I told our Young Lord that I didn’t want to serve you and begged him to let me go back, would I be out of my mind?”
“Hey! So, do you want to serve by your Young Lord’s side or not?” Li Xiaonan asked, confused.
“Of course, I don’t want to, but being chosen to serve by the Young Lord’s side is a tremendous honor! I can’t explain it to you!”
“Oh~” Li Xiaonan drawled, “I get it. It’s like with your A Hu. In your heart, A Hu is definitely more important than your Young Lord, but you can’t say it, right? Is that it?”
“No! The Young Lord is definitely more important than A Hu!” Wan Jing almost jumped up.
“Alright, alright, I understand. How about I talk to your Young Lord for you?” Li Xiaonan suggested.
“No! If the Young Lord sends me back, that’s dismissal, do you understand dismissal? I’ll never get a good assignment again, maybe I won’t get any assignment at all, and it might even implicate my whole family. Don’t talk nonsense and make things worse!” Wan Jing warned Li Xiaonan.
Li Xiaonan sighed. As someone who had slammed a table at her boss and quit on the spot, she truly couldn’t understand the situation of someone like Wan Jing, who was born into the household.
“Let’s not talk about this. Let’s talk about something else. Did you go back to Kunshan County for New Year’s? Was it lively? Let me tell you, our manor was very lively this New Year!”
“From the time the Young Lord returned home until he departed after the first lunar month, for one month and eight days, guess how many flower viewing parties our manor held?” Wan Jing asked with a gossipy expression.
“How many?” Li Xiaonan leaned forward.
“Sixteen!”
“Why so many? What flowers were they appreciating? Your Capital City is such a cold place; how can there be so many flowers in the middle of winter?” Li Xiaonan thought about the location of the Capital City and wondered what flowers could bloom in deep winter. Perhaps only narcissus?
“It’s just using flower viewing as an excuse. Do you think it’s really about appreciating flowers? Well! It is about appreciating flowers, it’s for our Young Lord to appreciate flowers.” Wan Jing giggled.
“A beauty pageant?” Li Xiaonan reacted quickly.
“No!” Wan Jing denied, then immediately affirmed, “It’s not entirely no, it’s also a kind of beauty pageant.
“Our Young Lord was originally engaged to Miss Shi, the Eldest Madam of the Shi family. She and our Young Lord were childhood sweethearts. Miss Shi was beautiful, learned, kind, and virtuous; she was good in every way. But in the twelfth lunar month two years ago, our Young Lord…”
Wan Jing leaned close to Li Xiaonan’s ear, “Just like Shi Gun said, he had a fit!”
“He insisted on breaking off the engagement. Our Young Lord has always been decisive since he was young. If he said he’d break it off, he broke it off. Our Young Lord is already twenty-two this year!”
Wan Jing wiggled two fingers.
“You can imagine how anxious our Princess Consort must be!”
“I heard that since last June or July, our Princess Consort has been inquiring everywhere about families with unmarried young ladies, writing letters to invite them to the Capital City to see lanterns and appreciate flowers.
“Shi Gun said that this year in the Capital City, there are more young ladies than lanterns,” Wan Jing said, covering her mouth and laughing.
“Has your Young Lord chosen someone?” Li Xiaonan also couldn’t stop laughing.
“Shi Gun said our Young Lord doesn’t even look at them! Let me tell you,” Wan Jing leaned closer to Li Xiaonan, “Shi Gun said he thinks our Young Lord is just having a spat with Miss Shi, not a real breakup. You know, last year, when our Young Lord first arrived here, Miss Shi also came, and they returned to the Capital City together later.”
“The young couple had a fight!” Li Xiaonan summarized.
“Yes, yes! Just a young couple fighting!” Wan Jing nodded.
“Why did they fight? To the point of breaking off the engagement, they must have had a big argument,” Li Xiaonan said with great interest.
“That I don’t know. Shi Gun doesn’t know either. They communicate by letter, one letter from you, one from me. People like our Young Lord value keeping their emotions hidden; you can’t tell if he’s happy or angry.”
“You really can’t tell?” Li Xiaonan was surprised. It was obvious whether that Young Lord was happy or angry.
“Of course, it’s fake. If you really can’t tell, how can you do your job and serve? Shi Gun said he can tell if the Young Lord is happy or unhappy with just a glance.” Wan Jing chuckled.
Li Xiaonan covered her mouth and laughed heartily.
Alright, one more chapter owed. The debt will be repaid this week; I can’t delay it any longer tomorrow.
