บท 10: Chapter 0010 Suspicion
Ye Zao was to serve the bedchamber again the next day.
When Xiao Guizi arrived, she was putting her hair into a thick braid while practicing her calligraphy.
"Then let's go," Ye Zao said, her shoes fitting well and her clothes appropriate.
"Miss, aren't you going to do your hair first?" Xiao Guizi asked in surprise.
"I can't... This will have to do," Ye Zao said with an embarrassed look.
Xiao Guizi thought to himself, it's your own fault if you've fallen out of favor.
Without another word, he headed towards the front courtyard.
Ye Zao was thinking that she hadn't eaten dinner again tonight.
But Fourth Master wasn't that cruel; he hadn't eaten tonight either.
When Ye Zao arrived, Fourth Master was sitting at the desk. He glanced at her and said, "Come and attend to me."
Ye Zao didn't have to kneel; after giving a curtsy, she went over and said, "Servant doesn't know the Master's preferences."
As she came closer, Fourth Master noticed her hair: "Have you been sleeping?"
"Servant hasn't... Servant... Servant doesn't know how to do hair, I'm afraid I will displease Master," Ye Zao said hurriedly, kneeling.
"You don't know how to do hair? Who used to do it for you?" Fourth Master looked at her, his expression inscrutable.
"Servant was unwell for quite some time after entering the residence. Sister Sun arranged for Hong Tao to take care of me for a few months. Now that I am better, Hong Tao has gone to work in the laundry room after seeking Sister Sun's permission. I haven't had the chance to learn hairstyles yet..." Ye Zao said awkwardly.
"You didn't know how to do hair even when you were at home?" Fourth Master asked, surprised.
"When at home, servant... had someone... someone to serve me," Ye Zao said, indicating that indeed she did have a maid at home.
"Get up. Su Peisheng, find someone who knows how to do hair for her," he said and then looked at her again, noting her clothes, which were neither new nor old, "Could it be you don't know how to sew either?"
Ye Zao glanced quickly at Fourth Master, her eyes wide with shock—a look of 'how did you know?'—and then fiddled with her fingers. "Servant is... servant is clumsy."
Fourth Master looked deeply into her eyes for a few moments. "Nevermind."
"Let's find two then, one who can do hair and another who can sew." Fourth Master seemed to have suddenly taken an interest.
Normally, someone with the status of a concubine would come from either a merchant family or a poor one.
This Lady Ye wasn't of merchant origins, Fourth Master knew that. Was her family actually not too bad off?
Su Peisheng responded and went out to give the instructions.
Ye Zao thanked him eagerly and with a hint of delight, "Servant thanks the Master!" her voice clearly betraying her overwhelming joy.
Fourth Master didn't need Ye Zao to serve him this evening and bade her sit down to eat with him.
Ye Zao gratefully took her seat at the lower end of the table.
Whatever Fourth Master ate, she followed suit, and after a few times, Fourth Master noticed this pattern. "What kind of eating habit is this?"
"Servant thought... what Master has eaten must be delicious," Ye Zao said, her face blushing with embarrassment.
Fourth Master was about to ask more but stopped upon seeing her like this.
Let it go, she's just a young girl.
After dinner, they both freshened up and Fourth Master stood to write in large characters.
Ye Zao, not having anything to do, was asked by Fourth Master, "Do you know how to write?"
Ye Zao quickly nodded, "Servant can."
Hmm, don't talk to me about music, chess, calligraphy, painting, but I do have a special skill.
"Then write a few characters," Fourth Master said with interest.
Ye Zao agreed, walked over, took the brush from Fourth Master's hand, and after a moment of thought, she began to write Tao Yuanming's "The Peach Blossom Spring."
With the first character, Fourth Master's eyebrows twitched slightly.
Her writing, unlike her persona, was full of strength and character.
Even so, it didn't seem like it was written by a young girl.
After finishing, she saw the Fourth Master watching her. Ye Zao's face reddened, "Servant... Servant's handwriting was taught by father. I started learning at the age of four."
The Fourth Master hummed and looked at her writing.
It was indeed very good.
Upon looking up again, he saw the scar on the left side of Ye Zao's face.
It was intentional on Ye Zao's part; from the beginning, she had purposely avoided it, not letting the Fourth Master see, just for this moment.
The Fourth Master lifted her chin, "What happened to your face?"
"Servant... It was scratched by a tree branch, servant was careless..." Ye Zao looked at the Fourth Master with panic, her eyes starting to well up with tears.
The Fourth Master's hand tightened, and Ye Zao's expression grew even more frantic, "Servant... dare not deceive the Master."
The Fourth Master turned her head to the right to take a closer look at the wound.
It didn't seem serious, "Did you apply medicine?"
"No... No..." Ye Zao's expression was both innocent and frightened.
"Go to bed, serve me by washing hands." The Fourth Master released her, speaking softly.
Ye Zao hastily complied, even letting Fourth Master hear her sigh of relief.
After washing up, the Fourth Master called her into the inner room, but he summoned Su Peisheng for himself.
It wasn't that he was taking Ye Zao's side, rather, the Fourth Master disliked being kept in the dark about things happening in the inner courtyard.
"What has happened in the past few days? How did Lady Ye get her injury?" the Fourth Master asked indifferently.
"Servant... Servant is unaware, but just yesterday, Miss Ye and Consort Fujin Li met in the garden. It was said that Miss Ye was punished to kneel. It was in the main courtyard, Consort Fujin gave the order. Oh right, the first time Miss Ye served in your bedchamber, she was also punished to kneel by Consort Fujin Li, right there in the main courtyard," Su Peisheng knew inside that while Lady Li was favored, the Master also respected Fujin.
Although Fujin might not be favored, she is the legitimate wife after all.
For a Consort Fujin to punish someone in the legitimate wife's main courtyard, this is improper.
"Hmm, go to the storeroom and deliver that pair of peony hairpins to the main courtyard," said the Fourth Master, his fingers gently tapping the tabletop.
"Yes, servant will go now. Does Master have any other instructions?" Su Peisheng looked on, seeing the Fourth Master still had more to say.
"Investigate the Ye Family. Also, find out how she came to be sent here by her uncle." She did not seem like the daughter of a downtrodden family.
Unable to do hair, unable to sew, yet she writes a beautiful hand. This is the manner of a well-bred young lady.
If there is any filth in this matter, he will not spare Qi Tai (Ye Zao's uncle).
"Understood, servant will take care of it," Su Peisheng responded.
When the Fourth Master entered, he saw Ye Zao stand up suddenly, her fox-like eyes looking over in some panic.
The Fourth Master felt a bit amused.
Although her face was enticing enough to captivate souls, the look of naive panic she wore was amusing in its own right.
"Go to bed."
Ye Zao complied, and without calling anyone else, she first blew out the candle, then let down half the bed curtain before getting on, and only after that, let down the other half.
As she lay down, the Fourth Master casually embraced her waist, "Serve the Master."
Ye Zao rolled her eyes, quickly showing eagerness once on the bed...
Nevertheless, she served the Fourth Master with still a hint of clumsiness.
The Fourth Master enjoyed it very much, and before long, they were engaged in passionate lovemaking.
Afterward, Ye Zao pretended to be asleep, while the Fourth Master unconsciously reached out, touching her face.
During the darkness, the scar on her smooth face was evident. The Fourth Master's eyes narrowed slightly, thinking to himself that Lady Li's heart was becoming increasingly venomous.
A concubine has nothing but her beauty to rely on. If her face were ruined, what could Lady Ye expect?
This was as cruel as harming one's own children.
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