Liu Ya’s situation was not any better too. Whenever Second Old Mistress saw her, she would recall her husband’s embarrassing act and thus wishes to never see her anymore. Concubine Shui and Concubine Fang both saw her as an eyesore and a thorn in the flesh, and thus, they thought of many ways to toss her around. In less than a year, Liu Ya was tortured into a soulless husk and would often fall ill. Thereafter, she was sent to the farm and no news of her was ever heard since then.
In this lifetime ever since Sang Wan entered through the main doors of the Shi family, she had always stressed upon not easily letting Liu Ya leave Ning Garden1Ning GardenSang Wan & Shi Fengju's place of residence, and if there was a need for her to leave, she would always be accompanied by a young servant; all to prevent the incident from happening again.
But who would have thought that there was no escape from fate? The wheel of fate was truly biased, where a slight twist to the route still led her back to the checkpoint!
In the end, Liu Ya had once again caught Second Old Master’s eyes.
Today, Second Young Mistress did not open her mouth to speak of the topic, but who knows maybe tomorrow it would be Second Old Mistress’s turn to speak about it.
On that thought, Sang Wan’s eyes reddened and she asked, “Nanny, what do you think should be done?”
Nanny Li frowned, “This isn’t a task that’s easy to handle. Young Mistress may not know, but even Second Old Mistress is afraid of the Second Old Master and his temperament. Whatever catches his eye, even if it were just a brief moment, he would want to get his hands on it! Second Young Mistress may not have spoken today, but tomorrow, it may be Second Old Mistress’s turn to ask for Liu Ya personally! It will be difficult to refuse since she is an elder in the end! What’s more, although the matter isn’t clear, but many of the maidservants had already caught wind of it. If Second Old Master insists on having Liu Ya, then I’m afraid that in the future——who would dare to enter into a relationship with her?”
As Sang Wan’s personal servant, her only way out were three options. One, was to attain the highest position a maidservant could get by closing the deed with Shi Fengju; and once she lived up to her expectations, her position can be raised to become his concubine. Two, she could marry to a head servant from the Shi household; And three, to receive her master’s grace and be released from her position, allowing her to roam free and search for her own husband!
But now that Second Old Master had already opened his mouth, Shi Fengju would not likely take her in in any case. And even the family’s servant would not dare to marry her. It would also be the same for those not within the household!
Sang Wan’s heart instantly sank and she trembled slightly.
The meaning behind Nanny Li’s words was to tell her to compromise. After all, if Second Old Mistress were to open her mouth to ask, her being the younger member of the family had no rights to go against an elder. If an argument were to spark, Nanny Li also wishes for that to not happen.
“Liu Ya that lass!” Nanny Li sighed deeply, “How unfortunate!”
That meaning was to have Sang Wan fully give up on her personal maidservant.
“Nanny,” Sang Wan reluctantly relaxed her facial muscles. Clenching her teeth, she spoke with great difficulty, “But, I’ve already spoken with Liu Ya privately that I would hand her over to Lord in the future. As for that matter, Lord has already known! If I were to hand her over to Second Old Master, how am I supposed to tell Lord? I’m afraid that he might——”
“There was such a thing?” Nanny Li became surprised and frowned, “That,”
Since Sang Wan said so, and Lord had already known, then Liu Ya was already considered as one of the young master’s people, so of course Second Old Master could not have her.
For those who belonged to the young master, Nanny Li was determined to never compromise.
“Then things are now made simpler!” Nanny Li cut the chase and spoke, “Since the matter has already gotten to such a point, Liu Ya definitely cannot go to Second Old Master. Young Mistress just needs to Liu Ya to be in the same room as Young Master! Since the matter with Second Old Master isn’t openly disclosed, then we’ll act as if we didn’t know. When tomorrow comes, there’ll not be any way for Second Old Mistress to ask for Liu Ya!”
“That——” It was Sang Wan’s turn to be taken aback. Nanny Li truly was talented!
The more Nanny Li thought, the more she felt that her idea was good and gave a firm confirmation, “Let’s just do that!”
Seeing that Sang Wan’s expression was a little off, Nanny Li thought that she was being jealous. Warmly, she persuaded, “Young Mistress, since you’ve already told Young Master that Liu Ya will belong to him, then it is just a matter of time only! You ah, should be more open-minded! From what I see, Liu Ya isn’t frivolous and would one way or another feel extremely grateful towards your actions! If in the future, a storm really stirs up, this old servant has many means up my sleeves to handle her! So long as this old servant is present, no one in the entire Ning Garden will dare to show disrespect to Young Mistress!”
The matter had already reached this point and Sang Wan could only dodge the bullet by agreeing for Nanny Li might otherwise begin to doubt her words.
“Then it seems that’s the only way!” Sang Wan sighed deeply and continued, “Lord should still be in the study room, right? Then I will have Liu Ya accompany me to bring him supper and conveniently have her stay to serve him!”
“That’s good! A logical way of thinking!” Nanny Li laughed and praised, “Young Mistress truly is both intelligent and courageous!”
Sang Wan smiled bitterly to herself. Intelligent and courageous? She wasn’t worthy of those words! At the very least, she wasn’t for now with all the lies she was telling. Shi Fengju and Liu Ya, being the two affected parties; even they did not have the slightest clue.
“Since things have ended up this way, Nanny, I’ve got a few words to give to Liu Ya.”
“Of course you do!” Nanny Li nodded. “Smoothing out the uneven surface would definitely save you a lot of trouble in the future! Young Mistress, please take your time then, this old servant shall go and call for someone to prepare the supper!” With that, she left.
Sang Wan gently sighed and ordered for Liu Ya to enter.
“Young Mistress, this servant is here!” Liu Ya grinned. Her black eyes were clear and brilliant, and her cheeks were a little red. The vibe she gave as she smiled was no doubt a peaceful one.
Sang Wan could not help but felt a little sad. Sang Wan was extremely certain that Liu Ya’s behavior clearly showed that she was unwilling to go with Second Old Master. Therefore, the words she spoke just then, though little, was her trying to make her stand. However, the problem now lies in whether Shi Fengju would be willing to help her! If he doesn’t——no, he has to help her!
In accordance with the agreement between them, in the future when she leaves the Shi family, she will be taking Liu Ya away with her. The Shi family cannot take away her own personal maidservant.
It was not reasonable for her to leave without her own maidservant, was it not?
“Liu Ya, I would like to speak with you.” Sang Wan gazed at Liu Ya with an expression full of seriousness.
“Young Mistress?” Liu Ya could not help but tense up and put her grin away. Feeling somewhat uncomfortable, she twirled her fingers around each other.
“No need to be afraid,” Sang Wan smiled before telling her the whole story regarding how Second Old Master Shi wishes to have her.
Before even asking for Liu Ya’s opinion, Liu Ya had already fallen onto her knees and crying in front of Sang Wan’s feet. “Young Mistress, Young Mistress, please save this servant! This servant doesn’t want to, this servant doesn’t want to ah!”
“Keep your volume down, quickly, get up!” Sang Wan put her finger onto her lips to gesture Liu Ya to be a little softer before leaning forward to help her up. Gently, Sang Wan asked, “I’m telling you these because I would like to hear your opinion. Since you refuse to go, I have other plans to handle this. However, you must think carefully; are you sure you do not want to? As Second Old Master fancies you, the moment you go over to him, you’ll become his concubine. Are you really sure you do not want to?”
“I don’t want to, I don’t want to!” Liu Ya shook her head desperately and quickly expressed herself, “Second Old Master already has two concubines and three maidservants who’ve done the deed with him! This servant even heard from a servant serving there that those three maidservants were nothing but just a front. In fact, there are several other girls who’ve slept with him but were not given any title! This servant would rather not marry in this lifetime than go over there!”
She truly was well-informed!
“Are those words from your heart?”
“Yes, if this servant is lying, this servant deserves to be punished!”
“Well,” Sang Wan nodded. “We’re sisters so it’s natural for me to help you. You just have to listen to me and follow my instructions. When this matter is over, the events in the future are just events which we’ll overcome in the future, how about it?”
Liu Ya wiped her tears and repeatedly agree, “This servant will listen and follow everything Young Mistress says!”
Sang Wan then revealed her solution to Liu Ya before sighing, “Lord’s heart only has Cousin Fangzi. Me suffering on my own is already enough and I do not wish to implicate you. I’ll request for him to help us and confuse others to let this matter pass. Once that is over, I’ll give you a sum of silver to help you marry officially to a foreign land. This idea is better than letting you become a person of low standing! With this kind intention, I hope you will not blame me for keeping any selfishness, right?”
In Sang Wan’s past life, even though Liu Ya was suffering under the Second Shi family, she still remembered Sang Wan and would occasionally visit her stealthily, send her food, help her with several tasks, and would once in a while comfort her. Just by that goodwill, Sang Wan could not ignore the disaster that was about to befall upon her. However, what Sang Wan was even more afraid of was her thinking that she was reluctant to let her become Shi Fengju’s concubine and would end up holding a grudge against her. Only when the disaster was imminent did Sang Wan realize how difficult it was to put them into words, but if Liu Ya were to actually fancy Shi Fengju, then all she would be doing was welcoming resentment!
Still, what had to be done had to be done.
That was because Sang Wan was clear. She was clear that even if she were to willingly let Shi Fengju take in Liu Ya, he would refuse her. Chances were, he might even think that she was trying to break his relationship with Gu Fangzi. But since what they were doing was just an act, then it all ends up to forcing him to help!
And instead of letting Shi Fengju outright refused Liu Ya, it would be better for her to give a thorough explanation first. Otherwise, once an ally would become an enemy.
“Young Mistress,” tears flowed down from Liu Ya’s eyes as she spoke, “this servant never had feelings for Young Master! This servant has this saying in her heart and wishes to tell Young Mistress: ‘Rather a poor man’s wife than a rich man’s concubine’. This servant would never, this servant would never… This servant would rather serve Young Mistress for a lifetime and not get married than become a person of low standing! Those are words from the heart, may Young Mistress discern!”
Sang Wan’s heart could not help but ache. Holding onto Liu Ya’s hand tightly, she blinked her wet eyes and nodded, “Liu Ya, if there’s a bowl of rice for me, half will always be yours! Rest assured!”
Liu Ya desperately nodded as her tears continued to fall.
“Enough, quickly dry your tears!” Sang Wan lifted her handkerchief and dabbed her eyes dry before giving a smile, “if Nanny Li were to see us now, it’ll definitely be met with suspicion. Pretend to be a little happier, en, with a little bit of bashfulness.”
“Young Mistress!” Liu Ya broke into laughter. Hearing Sang Wan’s words, it was difficult for her to continue hanging her head low, and sure enough, there was a little bashfulness in her.
The master and servant gaze at each other and smiled.
Not too long later, the supper Nanny Li had someone prepared was ready. Sang Wan opened the food box and took a look inside. It was steaming and the fragrance inside the food box was excellent. There was a large bowl of noodles with chicken soup, accompanied with several other side dishes such as leafy vegetables, mushrooms, ham, scallops, etc. Both color and smell complimented each other perfectly.
Sang Wan placed the lid back onto the food box and handed it over to Liu Ya. Two servants lit the lanterns before leading the way forward to Shi Fengju’s study room.
In order to show enough concern towards Shi Fengju, in front of Nanny Li, so long as he had to remain in the study room until late at night, Sang Wan would either have someone send food over or have that done personally by herself. Seeing that Sang Wan had arrived, Shi Fengju did not mind her and nodded to have her place the food at a side.
Having sensed that Sang Wan did not have any intentions to leave, Shi Fengju finally raised his head and gave her a puzzled look.
After listening to what Sang Wan had to say, Shi Fengju became furious and shouted ‘absurd!’. That word was however not meant for Sang Wan but for his own uncle.
Second Uncle Shi was lecherous and liked to raise goldfish and birds which Shi Fengju already knew but did not mind. That was because it was after all a personal hobby which a rich family like the Shi family could sustain. Compared to other families whose elders knew nothing of business but insists in being part of it just for the gains, Second Uncle Shi was already considered good!
Note: The word ‘Second ~’ is referring to the Second family.
Additional Links:
Read advance chapters on Patreon
