Sécurité

Chapitre 9

Xiao Yuan's heart sank at first, not expecting that even her only relative in the city would be so restless. Then she clicked her tongue in amazement, wondering why Shui Cong'er wasn't standing with the three of them.

When Shui Cong'er saw Xiao Yuan looking at her, she looked up and said, "My name is Xi Qing. Now that I'm with the young master, I'm his person."

Xiao Yuan was overjoyed and almost burst out laughing, and even Cai Lian couldn't help but smile.

“I can’t refuse a gift from an elder. You were sent by my second aunt or my eldest sister, so of course I have to give you special consideration.” Xiao Yuan spoke slowly, but when she saw the smug look on their faces, she changed her tone. “But this courtyard can’t accommodate so many people. Why not choose the best ones? Let’s pick one from each of the people sent by my second aunt and my eldest sister, and send the rest out to be married off. That way, we won’t waste your youth. I think my aunt and eldest sister will have no objections.”

Upon hearing this, everyone except the cheerful one started complaining. Xiao Yuan picked the one who complained the loudest and asked her, "Do you really think you're not as good as the others? Then you might as well give up your spot now."

Upon hearing this, the girl immediately shut her mouth, and the others also quieted down, respectfully bowed, and left.

Seeing that Xiqing was still standing there, Ayun pushed her and said, "You don't need to serve me here, so hurry up and get down."

Xiqing twisted his body and said, "Madam hasn't specified what criteria she will use to choose."

Xiao Yuan asked curiously, "You all want to serve the young master, so of course the young master should choose for himself."

Seeing that Xiao Yuan spoke so frankly, Xi Qing blushed and asked, "Does Madam really mean what she said?"

Xiao Yuan nodded emphatically, her heart finally at ease. She thought to herself, "As long as you don't stand in my way, with my good looks, I'm sure I can outshine them."

Cailian and Xiaoyuan dismissed the maids and asked her, "Madam, today is your first meal in this mansion. Will you cook it yourself?"

These words startled Xiao Yuan. She reached out and touched Cai Lian's forehead before she felt relieved. "Cai Lian, do you not recognize me or do I not recognize you? How could your fourth aunt know anything about cooking?"

Cailian lowered her voice and said, "Madam, you can just go to the kitchen and give instructions. Why do you have to do it yourself? Master has a business dinner tonight, so the whole family will eat together at noon. Even if you just pretend to make a scene to please him, it would be fine."

Xiao Yuan patted her forehead and stood up: "You're absolutely right. It was my oversight. Go to the kitchen and let the cooks go home and rest for a day. Then ask Aunt Ren and Aunt Tian to come and serve in the kitchen."

Cailian laughed and said, "We were afraid they would gossip, so we replaced them with our own people a long time ago. The wives of Aunt Ren and Aunt Tian are all excellent cooks."

Cai Mei asked worriedly, "Aren't we afraid of what people will say if we attack their people as soon as we arrive?"

Ayun said, "What's there to be afraid of? There's no mistress in the house besides the madam. At most, I'll just get a few scoldings from the master."

Xiao Yuan walked to the desk and called Cai Lian over to remove her hairpins and jewelry, saying, "A Yun's personality is even more straightforward than A Xiu's."

Cailian remained calm: "A lady needs someone like this by her side."

Xiao Yuan smiled but said nothing. She changed into casual clothes and went to the kitchen, washing her hands and directing everyone to make soup.

Aunt Ren and Aunt Tian led several daughters-in-law in chopping vegetables and washing rice. Although they were busy, they were not in a chaotic manner. Xiao Yuan nodded slightly, indicating that they did not need to come over to greet her. She then told them to make some of the dishes that Cheng Mutian liked, which she had obtained from A Xiu.

She had been sitting for a short while when Aunt Ren ordered someone to slaughter a few chickens and came over to ask her what kind of food she liked. Xiao Yuan thought for a moment and asked, "I remember that one of your families moved here from Fujian?"

Aunt Ren laughed and said, "That's right, we came to Lin'an from famine years ago, and it's been many years."

Xiao Yuan then asked, "Can you still cook Fujian cuisine?"

Aunt Ren replied, "How could we forget? We still love the taste of our hometown, and we make it for every meal."

Xiao Yuan was overjoyed and hurriedly ordered her to prepare several Fujian dishes. Upon hearing the lady's order, Aunt Ren hurriedly told her daughter-in-law to go back and fetch dried mustard greens. She rolled up her sleeves and made a dish of braised pork with dried mustard greens, and then made a dish of drunken chicken with the freshly slaughtered hen. She still sighed that without seafood, she couldn't make any better dishes.

Chapter Twenty: The Girl as Delicate as Spring Onions (Part 2)

Xiao Yuan watched for a while, then suddenly remembered that she knew how to make cold dishes. She quickly asked Cai Lian to tie an apron for her and went upstairs to get sesame oil to mix a small bitter melon. As she added sugar and vinegar to the bitter melon, she thought about how Cheng Mutian liked to eat this, and the corners of her mouth gradually turned up.

Suddenly, a figure flashed by at the kitchen door. Cai Mei, quick-witted, shouted, "Who is it?" Xiao Yuan gave Cai Lian a wink, and the latter quietly went to the window and peeked out: "Oh, it's Cheng Fu."

Xiao Yuan coughed, and sure enough, Cheng Fu poked his head in from the doorway, gave her an awkward smile, and said, "Madam, I didn't know you were cooking, so I took the liberty of coming here. I'll be going now."

Xiao Yuan noticed that he had his hands behind his back and didn't dare to come in, so she became suspicious and took Cai Lian out to ask him, "What are you carrying in your hands? Take them out."

Cheng Fu had no choice but to take out the items and hand them to Xiao Yuan. They turned out to be a few wrapped Chinese medicines. Xiao Yuan became even more suspicious upon seeing them, but said, "These are not anything shameful, but is the young master feeling unwell?"

Cheng Fu was on tenterhooks, but seeing that Xiao Yuan had taken the initiative to start, he immediately followed up, saying, "That's right, the young master probably caught a cold last night, so I went to get some medicine for him. I was thinking of finding a sister-in-law in the kitchen to brew it for him, but I didn't expect that Madam was here. I can't delay Madam's business, so I'd better take it back and ask A Xiu to light the stove."

That's a ridiculous lie. How could someone catch a cold in June? Besides, Cheng Mutian was perfectly fine when he left today. Xiao Yuan, holding the medicine, wouldn't give it back to him and asked, "Young Master is back too?"

Cheng Fu shook his head and said, "No, because this medicine needs to be decocted for an afternoon, so I came back first."

Xiao Yuan smiled and said, "Let's just leave the medicine to brew here, so no one can say I haven't served my husband well."

Xiao Yuan had already said "sir" aloud, and Cheng Fu couldn't think of any excuse to get the medicine back. He was so anxious that he scratched his cheeks and ears. Xiao Yuan said, "Looking at you like this, are you afraid that the young master will find out and scold you for being lazy? I'll let you take it over after I've brewed it. I won't steal your credit."

Cheng Fu hurriedly said, "Good madam, the young master doesn't want anyone to know he's sick. Please give me the medicine as soon as it's ready."

Xiao Yuan nodded. Afraid that Cheng Fu would immediately tell Cheng Mutian, she asked Aunt Ren to call her son to accompany Cheng Fu to the banquet.

Thankfully, the cooks were all sent home today. Otherwise, with so many people gossiping, who knows how much the news would spread that the young master of the Cheng family fell ill on the second day of his marriage. Xiao Yuan bit her lower lip. She picked up the medicine packet and looked at it. It had the character "Cheng" printed on it. So it was medicine she got from her own shop. She felt a little relieved. She turned to Cai Lian and instructed, "This medicine is missing an ingredient. Go to the shop and ask."

Cailian took the medicine and quietly left through the side door. Xiaoyuan pretended nothing was wrong and went inside, only saying that the maid in the room had caused trouble. Cailian went back to her room to discipline her.

She had only made up an excuse on the spot. Unexpectedly, Aunt Tian felt indignant upon hearing it. She whispered to Aunt Ren, "They're all taking advantage of our mistress's good nature. Even the maids want to be bosses around." Aunt Ren laughed, "You haven't seen our two cake beauties, so you don't know how cunning the mistress is. You really underestimate her." Aunt Tian was about to ask more, but Aunt Ren stopped her, saying, "It's wrong to talk about the mistress behind her back. I think you only said that because you were worried about her. Don't mention it again." Aunt Tian was an honest woman. She had overstepped her bounds in her haste. Hearing Aunt Ren's words, she blushed deeply and got up to go to the bamboo basket to pick vegetables.

Just as the dishes were finished, Cailian returned. Blushing, she pulled Xiaoyuan outside and whispered, "Madam, that medicine is actually an aphrodisiac." Xiaoyuan blushed as well. She tossed out a curt, "Don't mention this again," and dashed into an empty room.

She pondered why Cheng Mutian would order these aphrodisiacs: although he was somewhat inexperienced last night, he hadn't been with any women, which was normal; or perhaps he already had a concubine? Thinking of those nine arrogant maids, Xiao Yuan's heart began to race.

When she finished thinking and went to the hall, the rented concubine Ding had already served the dishes for Master Cheng. The new bride was late for her first homecoming banquet, and her face turned red again.

Cheng Mutian was afraid that his father would blame her, so he quickly scolded her, "Why did you only arrive at this time? You made your father wait."

Master Cheng was already uncomfortable eating at the same table with his daughter-in-law. He coughed twice and said, "She's busy in the kitchen. She's quite virtuous. From now on, you can eat in the room. There's no need to come to the front to observe the rules."

Xiao Yuan responded softly, asked him if the food suited his taste, and was about to take over Aunt Ding's job of serving the dishes when she saw Cheng Mutian shake his head slightly at her. She quickly changed her mind and sat down next to him.

Just as she picked up her chopsticks, she heard Aunt Ding laugh and say, "Madam, you have such a thoughtful mind, knowing that Master likes to eat hometown dishes." Xiao Yuan was about to say something modest when she saw Master Cheng and Cheng Mutian frowning at the same time. Her heart pounded, wondering if the dishes had violated any taboos. However, she couldn't ask since they were at the table, so she could only nervously eat a few bites.

After lunch, as usual, Master Cheng wanted to take a nap. Cheng Mutian took Xiaoyuan to see him off at the courtyard gate before turning back. He saw that Xiaoyuan looked worried, so he asked her what was wrong. Xiaoyuan asked, "Is it because the Fujian dishes I made didn't suit Father's taste?"

Cheng Mutian shook his head and said, "It has nothing to do with you. It's Aunt Ding who is breaking the rules. When the masters are talking, she has no right to interrupt."

"Can't even a concubine speak? This father and son are truly extremely particular about rules." Xiao Yuan shrank her neck. "Then is it proper for me to go and talk to her in my spare time?"

Cheng Mutian remained expressionless, and Xiao Yuan knew he had agreed. However, she was annoyed by his stubbornness and dragged him into the inner room, pinching his ear and asking, "I heard you caught a cold, are you better now?"

Cheng Mutian was quite frightened and didn't bother to argue with her about whether it was proper for a wife to pull her husband's ear. He blushed and went to find Cheng Fulai to ask him questions.

Xiao Yuan was filled with regret. She was usually a very cautious person, so why had she become so reckless in front of him? She should have been more subtle in this matter. What if he was hiding something? Wouldn't that have caused him trouble?

Thinking of this, she quickly grabbed Cheng Mutian and said, "Who told you to be so careless yesterday... even though it's June, you can still catch a cold if you're not wearing clothes..."

After Xiaoyuan finished speaking shyly, Cheng Mutian's face was so red it looked like water could be drawn from it.

"Actually...actually..." Cheng Mutian stammered a couple of times, too embarrassed to say it out loud. He walked around the round table again and again, and then suddenly, as if he had made up his mind, he rushed to Xiao Yuan's side and whispered a few words in her ear.

Xiao Yuan wanted to laugh after hearing his story, but fearing he would get angry, she suppressed her laughter and asked, "So Cheng Fu was also not very good on his wedding night and took aphrodisiacs?"

Cheng Mutian nodded, tilting his head back, and said in a low voice, "Last night... I disappointed you, didn't I?"

Xiao Yuan couldn't hold back any longer and collapsed onto the bed laughing: "Cheng Fu really deserves a beating. He's corrupting his master. Only inexperienced men act like this; it's not a problem at all."

She laughed for a while, then looked up to see Cheng Mutian staring at her with a strange expression. "How did you know all this?"

Xiao Yuan was so remorseful that she wanted to slap herself a few times. How could she reveal her true colors as soon as she was in front of him? But since the words had already been spoken, she had no choice but to cover them up: "My aunt naturally taught me about matters between men and women before I got married. These are the rules."

Cheng Mutian's expression darkened, and he sighed, "Since Mother passed away, Father has hardly cared about me anymore, otherwise I wouldn't have made such a fool of myself." After sighing, he sat down next to Xiao Yuan by the bed and asked softly, "Is what you said true?"

Xiao Yuan raised an eyebrow: "Don't you believe me?"

"Then I'll give it a try." Before he finished speaking, Cheng Mutian had already put one arm around Xiaoyuan and pulled down the curtain with the other, and they rolled into the canopy bed together.

Xiao Yuan was both surprised and curious: "In broad daylight, aren't you the most rule-abiding person?"

Cheng Mutian removed the hairpin from her hair and chuckled softly, "Rules are for women to follow."

Xiao Yuan felt frustrated again upon hearing this, and punched him a few times, but she was no match for Cheng Mutian's strength, and he grabbed her wrist and pressed her down.

For a moment, the room was filled with the warmth of spring.

After the two finished, Cheng Mutian couldn't hide his smile. Xiao Yuan deliberately asked, "My lord, now that you've regained your husbandly authority, will your wife take in a few concubines for you? Those maids outside are eagerly waiting."

Chapter Twenty-One: The Girl as Delicate as Spring Onions (Part 2)

Cheng Mutian's reaction to Xiaoyuan's words far exceeded her expectations. He flung away Xiaoyuan's hand from his chest, threw on his clothes, rolled out of bed, and roared, "Don't mention these things to me. The things I hate most in this life are concubines and maids."

After saying that, she ignored Xiaoyuan, pushed open the door, and stormed out.

Cailian, who was guarding the gate in the courtyard, was extremely uneasy. She had learned such a big secret about the young master and his wife. If it was just a false alarm, that would be fine, but if it was true, how should she face the wife? As she was lost in thought, she suddenly saw the young master angrily slam the door and come out. She was so flustered that she almost lost her footing.

It took her a while to calm herself down and walk into the room. She lifted the curtain of the inner room and went in, only to see Xiao Yuanyuan smiling and calling to her: "Cailian, of those nine maids, keep one of the least attractive ones, keep Xiqing, and send the rest out to find servants to match them with."

Cailian carefully examined Xiaoyuan and saw that her eyes and brows were full of smiles. Only then did she feel relieved, but she still hesitated and asked, "Madam, why do you want to keep Xiqing? Is it because the young master likes it?"

Xiao Yuan recalled Cheng Mutian's angry expression earlier and shook her head with a smile: "Young Master hates concubines and maids the most. Don't mention it again in the future, lest he yell at me again."

After saying this, he stopped smiling, beckoned Cailian to come closer, and said, "I took a close look yesterday. Those who are not good-looking were all sent by Second Aunt. Since it's a festive occasion, it's just right to keep one on each side."

Cailian still didn't understand, "Of all the maids my elder sister sent, Xiqing is the most outstanding, so why keep her?"

Xiao Yuan sneered, "That girl has the highest pride. Let me keep her so I can borrow the knife again and clear myself of any wrongdoing."

Cailian had never seen Xiaoyuan act like this before, and asked blankly, "The maids that the old lady sent over there are all of average appearance. Why would the young master find one he likes?"

Xiao Yuan said, "You noticed that too? If you're here to seduce the young master, why not send someone with good looks? You probably have other motives. There are quite a few sons in the Second Uncle's family."

Cailian was startled. She felt a chill run through her body. Although she was clever and quick-witted, Aunt Chen's family was small and simple. They had never seen such intrigue and backstabbing.

Seeing her like this, Xiaoyuan comforted her, saying, "Don't be afraid. Second Uncle separated from us a long time ago. He's an outsider after all. Just keep an eye on things in private. Pretend you don't know anything. Don't go and tell those maids yourself, lest you get into trouble. You should coax Xiqing and have her go with the housekeeper to tell them—I heard from Axiu that the housekeeper was also sent by Eldest Sister."

Cailian nodded in agreement. Just as she was about to turn and leave, she looked up and saw the bed in disarray on the floor. She was about to go and tidy it up when Xiaoyuan hurriedly grabbed her, saying, "Speaking of which, the housekeeper hasn't paid her respects yet. Why don't you hurry up and go?" Cailian was a little confused by this. She was about to ask a question when she suddenly remembered that the bed was in the same state when she came in this morning. She quickly blushed and swallowed her words.

Although she was in a difficult situation, she finally felt a great weight lifted from her heart. She went to the side room to inform Cai Mei, and then went to find the nine maids.

The maids were playing in the garden. Cailian stood behind a tree and beckoned to Xiqing, calling her over. She said, "Madam sees that you are born with good looks and wants to keep you here, but she is afraid that others will not be satisfied. Why don't you go and find the stewardess and go with her to handle this matter?"

Xiqing was a simple-minded person. Thinking the lady intended to elevate her status, she asked without hesitation, "Alright. But I wonder who else will stay?"

Cailian replied, "According to Madam's rules, one of the maids sent by the old lady must also be kept. That maid is Zhilan."

Xiqing scoffed, "Born like that, yet insisting on having such a literary name."

Without even saying thank you, he turned and went to the courtyard of the stewardesses.

Cailian shook her head as she watched her retreating figure, then went back into the house and asked Xiaoyuan, "Madam, why is it that even our housekeeper was sent by our eldest sister?"

Xiao Yuan also shook her head and said, "Go and call A Xiu over to ask her."

Cailian accepted the order and left. Soon after, she helped Axiu over. Xiaoyuan thought that Axiu would tease her first, but seeing that Axiu's expression was normal, she guessed that Chengfu was tight-lipped and had not mentioned the aphrodisiac. She was completely relieved and asked, "Axiu, you only told me that the housekeeper's wife was sent by my elder sister, but why did the young master accept it?"

Ah Xiu replied, "It wasn't the young master who accepted it; it was the master who made the decision. The master sold my eldest sister's concubine, but then he pitied her for losing her birth mother, so he spoils her."

Xiao Yuan asked curiously, "Third Sister and Eldest Sister are in the same situation, so why doesn't Master love her?"

Ah Xiu laughed and said, "I was also puzzled at first, but it's perfectly normal to make it clear now—eldest sister's birth mother was favored back then, while third sister's birth mother wasn't very popular with the master when she was alive."

"This is really..." Master Cheng was an elder, so Xiao Yuan couldn't say anything even if she had feelings. She could only sigh, "Fortunately, my eldest sister just didn't want me to be the only one in power. She didn't have any bad intentions towards Erlang."