Flowery Hair: A Maidservant

Chapter 31 Something Was Lost

Meng Shu was speechless for a moment. After a brief silence, she comforted Lvliu first.

From her intermittent sobs, she learned that Green Willow's father had come to see her again today. Green Willow had intended to bring up the matter of signing the death contract, but instead found her father squatting on the ground with a distressed expression. It turned out that her mother had suddenly fallen seriously ill and had no choice but to come to Green Willow for money for treatment.

Today, the manor distributed monthly allowances. Because of the quarterly council meeting, the allowance for June was doubled. In addition, Manager Gong was very generous with his reward. Meng Shu estimated that Green Willow should have saved up about a string of cash.

A cold smile crept across Meng Shu's face. This illness came at just the right time; she knew the household was paying double her monthly allowance this season, yet she was still not satisfied.

"I have something to say, but as your sister, I have to remind you. I saw your mother at the corner gate last month. She looked healthy and radiant, and there was no sign of serious illness."

It's not that I don't want you to be filial, but have you found out exactly what illness he has and which clinic he went to?

Seeing that Lvliu was only crying and her little face was blank, Meng Shu couldn't help but sigh. Although she knew that her words were too profound, she was even more afraid that Lvliu would get stuck in the quagmire of being bound by filial piety.

So he suggested, "Your Majesty is kind. Why don't you ask Mama Cao for leave to go out of the manor, or ask a familiar young man in the front yard to inquire about the situation?"

Green Willow finally nodded. "I know you're doing this for my own good, but I was really panicked when I heard that my mother was seriously ill. Could you... lend me some money? I'll ask Aunt Cao for leave first, and I'll pay you back when I get back to the manor if my mother is alright."

This time, Meng Shu did not refuse. She took out three pieces of silver from her purse and gave them to Lü Liu. As Lü Liu hurriedly went to Steward Cao's residence, Rui Zhu stared blankly at Meng Shu. "You just lent out three taels of silver like that? Although it was for an emergency, do you know that Lü Liu is just a lowly maid, and her monthly salary is only a little over one tael of silver a year?"

"You said it yourself, it's for an emergency. If we don't lend it to her, she'll probably be even more heartbroken."

Meng Shu remained silent, offering no further comment.

After making one last deal with the peddler and buying three more peach blossom hairpins, she returned to Yunyi Courtyard.

Two days later, when it was the hottest time of the day, Green Willow came to see Meng Shu.

"You don't look well. Has something really happened at home?" Meng Shu led her to the room and poured her a glass of water.

When Green Willow picked up the cup, it was so cold that her thoughts were interrupted. "Why is this water so cold, and it smells so good?"

"A few days ago, during the Great Heat, the amount of ice used in the Second Miss's courtyard increased considerably each day. As a result, each room was granted the privilege of having an ice basin set up daily. I collected some crushed ice and put it into the tea to make a cold drink."

There are also dried chrysanthemums and icing sugar inside. Try some.

Green Willow took a bite, and as the summer heat subsided, her complexion improved. She flattered him, saying, "It's cool and sweet. You always have such clever ideas."

Then they talked about what had happened in the past two days.

Two days ago, she returned home for the first time since being sold. Her mother was indeed too sick to get out of bed and had already seen a doctor at the town clinic. "The doctor said that to fully recover, it would cost at least four or five taels of silver. I kept the three taels I borrowed from you, as well as the string of cash I had just saved. I also had my brother sell the gold ring that Manager Gong gave me. At least we managed to raise enough money for the medicine."

Green Willow was extremely grateful to Meng Shu, and swore an oath and said she would make up the IOU, stating that every month's allowance would be used to pay off the debt.

Meng Shu, however, felt that this whole thing looked like a clumsy scam.

"What exactly is the illness? You know, five taels of silver is the surplus of an ordinary farmer for two or three years. What expensive medicinal herbs are used in the prescription? You were at home for two days, did you prepare the medicine?"

Seeing that Lvliu was in a daze, Meng Shu asked again, "Your parents once said that they would save your monthly allowance for when you leave the manor. If that's true, the family should have money. Wouldn't they have gotten the medicine first?"

“I...I saw Mother lying on the bed, her face pale. I...I told my sister-in-law to have my brother go to town to get medicine before I returned home.”

"Sister-in-law?"

“My eldest brother got married a year ago, and my parents were planning to arrange a marriage for my second brother…” Green Willow’s mind finally started to move slowly, and then her face turned pale. She was only concerned about her mother’s illness and had overlooked the fact that there were signs of renovations in the house, and it seemed that two more main rooms had been added.

Meng Shu patted Lvliu's head, hoping that this experience would help the silly girl stand up. Lvliu's eyes were blurry, and she hugged Meng Shu and cried.

She never expected that her parents, who had raised her, would set a trap to deceive her, but in Meng Shu's opinion, the contract of sale from back then had already explained the situation.

Afterwards, the fragile Green Willow fell ill again. After recovering, she seemed like a different person. When Meng Shu accompanied the Second Miss to Fu'an Residence to pay her respects to the old lady, she met Steward Cao. In the flower hall, the masters and their children were chatting and laughing happily, while the servants gathered in the side room to wait. Steward Cao warmly pulled her aside to talk.

"Green Willow has been doing a good job lately, and her temperament has improved a lot. I don't know why she has caught the eye of Consort Liu. Several of Consort Liu's head maids have reached marriageable age this year, and she plans to take Green Willow to Fuliu Courtyard. Although she will still be doing menial work, she can be promoted to second-class in two years."

Aunt Liu's biological father was once the head manager of Yongchun Tea Shop. It is said that he had been kind to the head of the family in his early years, so Aunt Liu was always favored and even gave birth to the eldest daughter of a concubine. Logically speaking, it would be excellent for Green Willow to work in the Fuliu Courtyard.

But after the incident involving the young lady's tea cakes, Meng Shu couldn't help but suspect that the young lady's actions were being guided by this concubine, so she had some doubts in her heart, but she didn't say anything.

Not long after, news came that Green Willow was indeed going to be transferred to the Willow Supporting Courtyard.

Meng Shu and Dong Gua went over to offer their congratulations and help her pack her things. Because of her good personality, Lü Liu had been well-liked in Langya Courtyard for the past two years. When Meng Shu arrived, several of Lü Liu's close maids had already come as well.

However, some were jealous and envious. At this time, a maid said that Green Willow had picked up someone else's high branch and that she was shameless in order to climb up.

Green Willow blushed. "Sister, what you're saying makes no sense. That day in the garden, you accidentally bumped into Sister Peach, who was by the young lady's side. Afterwards, Sister Peach realized that the item was missing. How come I'm the one who kindly helped find it, and instead of thanking me, you're going around saying that I'm the one who picked up your high branch?"

The maid was quite sharp-tongued. "Who cares about your kind help? If I accidentally lost it, that's my own fault. If I find it, I might be the one serving at Fuliu Courtyard. What business is it of yours?"

He sneered loudly, "Our Green Willow is really going all out, lying on the ground for an hour, not caring about her dignity at all."

In truth, she was also secretly regretting that she had searched for a long time and how come she had gotten there first? It must be something extremely important, otherwise why would Green Willow have been promoted for no reason?

Meng Shu listened for a long time but was still confused. Bi Tao was the young lady's personal maid. What important thing had the young lady lost? Langya Courtyard was already considered the outer courtyard, which could only mean that Bi Tao had brought this item back from outside. Could it be that Green Willow was transferred because of this?

Donggua couldn't stand seeing Lvliu being bullied, so he waved his chubby hand and pushed the maid out the door. "After all this talk, Lvliu helped you and still got bitten. Don't you think you could escape a punishment if you couldn't find her? You ungrateful thing."

Meng Shu noticed that Lü Liu's expression was a bit off; besides being angry, she also seemed a little uneasy. So she quickly said a few words to defuse the situation. As the second young lady's maid, everyone in Langya Courtyard gave her face.

After the farce ended, the maids said a few more words of congratulations to Green Willow, left their gifts, and left. Green Willow smiled and saw them off, her expression returning to normal.

Back in her room, Green Willow finally relaxed and smiled as she invited Meng Shu and Winter Melon to sit down. Meng Shu took out three peach blossom hairpins and, under Green Willow's sparkling eyes, put them on her head. Winter Melon was surprised to find that she had one too and said with a grin that she would make some snacks to send to Meng Shu later. She also gave Green Willow some gifts to congratulate her on entering the inner courtyard.

The three friends chatted warmly for a while. Green Willow felt much more relieved when she saw that Meng Shu didn't seem to want to ask anything. She had indeed been ordered not to talk about what she had found, and she didn't want to lie to her friends.

After a while, Green Willow went to the bedside, took out a purse from the cabinet below, and handed a few pieces of silver to Meng Shu.

"I finally saved up enough money thanks to the young lady's reward the other day. Otherwise, I would have been thinking about it day and night, and the feeling of being in debt is really unbearable." Green Willow said with a smile, and then hugged Meng Shu affectionately to thank her again.

Meng Shu accepted the silver, feeling as if she were receiving hush money from the young lady for Green Willow.