Chapter 543 - Feeling Inferior (2/2)
“Furthermore, you were the one who offered yourself to become a maidservant of our estate, yet you couldn’t even pa.s.s a small test. I wouldn’t take you in as my maidservant even if the villagers asked me to do so, solely because of your att.i.tude and temper. I need a loyal, obedient, and capable maidservant by my side. I don’t need a young lady with an att.i.tude!” In just a few short words, Yu Xiaocao was able to turn Wutong’s deliberate mocking words into a test of Zheng Xiaocui’s character.
Zheng Xiaocui took a deep breath and summoned up the last strand of courage and said, “Fine, I was wrong! I just didn’t like the way the maidservant standing beside you trampled on my dignity as she wished…”
“Dignity? I don’t think you understand your place. A servant has no dignity in front of their master. When the master gets off the horse carriage, the servant has to act like a stool, so that their master can step on them when getting off the carriage. If the master’s shoes become dirty, the servant will have to kneel on the ground and wipe the shoes clean. If the servant makes a small mistake, then the servant will be stripped of his or her pants and whipped in public… Although these actions that you speak of don’t have any dignity to them, they're what a servant is required to do! Zheng Xiaocui, if you want to keep your dignity, then don’t talk about offering yourself up to be a maidservant!”
Chunhua had quickly rushed here when she heard some shouting. Yu Xiaocao picked up a hazelnut and casually handed it to Chunhua when she rushed in. Zheng Xiaocui was stunned——the thin and weak looking maid gently pinched the hard hazelnut sh.e.l.l with her hands, and the sh.e.l.l easily cracked under the pressure.
Xiaocao put the hazelnut that Chunhua had peeled for her into her mouth. Her mouth bulged slightly when she popped the hazelnuts into her mouth; she looked like a squirrel with her bulging cheeks. She loved eating delicious and savory nuts, but she hated peeling them herself. When Royal Prince Yang was by her side, he was in charge of peeling the nuts for her.
“I’m thirsty...Wutong, go brew a pot of the Da Hong Tao that was bestowed by the empress, and then bring it here so Sister Huifang can have a taste!” Yu Xiaocao suddenly instructed after she ate a few hazelnuts.
“Yes!” Wutong curtsied obediently and retreated out of the room. She had been a servant for her master for many years, so she immediately understood what her master was planning.
Wutong took out a complete set of Kung Fu Tea. Her movements were elegant, smooth, and natural as she washed the tea, added water to the tea, brewed the tea, closed the lid, poured the tea, and served the tea... The fragrance coming from the tea was extremely fragrant. The scent tickled their noses and made it impossible for people not to enjoy the pleasant scent of the tea.
Qius.h.i.+ took out a zither and started playing with it with her bare hands in the corner of the room. The elegant and gentle sound from the zither filled the room. Yingchun fetched an incense burner and blended her master’s favorite scent, which was a gentle lotus scent...
“Sister Huifang, have a taste of this. This is top-notch Da Hong Pao. It was picked from a century-old tea tree on the steep cliff from Wuyi Mountain. This tea has a strong orchid scent, and the fragrance from the tea is long-lasting. This old tea tree only produces two to three catties of tea leaves in a year. All of the tea leaves will be given as a tribute to the Imperial Palace, so it’s very difficult for others to have a taste of this tea!” Yu Xiaocao picked up the teacup with three fingers. She lowered her head and sniffed the fragrance in the cup and sipped the tea slowly, finis.h.i.+ng the tea in three sips.
Her beautiful fair hands were as white as jade and her movements were graceful when she lowered her head to drink the tea. Xiaocao’s sweet-tempered and charming movements made her fairy-like figure even more beautiful. Liu Huifang stared at her with a blank look on her face. She was so caught up with staring at Xiaocao that she neglected to take the fragrant tea that was offered to her by Wutong.
It was impossible for Zheng Xiaocui to be jealous and resentful towards Yu Xiaocao after seeing her served by four maidservants because she knew that their statuses were very different. She could never reach the status that Yu Xiaocao had reached. Zheng Xiaocui could only stand in admiration and watch the scene from a distance. She didn’t dare to have any other thoughts.
Zheng Xiaocui was too embarra.s.sed to ask Xiaocao if she could be her maidservant again. Perhaps this was because she had already secretly acknowledged what Wutong said to her. She was nothing compared to the four maidservants serving Yu Xiaocao. Perhaps she didn’t even qualify to even become a maidservant that did rough work around the estate.
The maidservants serving Xiaocao, whether it was their appearance or temperament, were more elegant and graceful than the so-called wealthy young maidens in town. Even with their beautiful appearance and good-natured temperament, they were still willing to serve Xiaocao. They sincerely treated her as their master. By now, she realized that Xiaocao was different from the Xiaocao she knew before!
However, if she didn’t fight for an opportunity, then she will be sold to an old man that was older than her grandfather as a concubine. Zheng Xiaocui clenched her hands into fists and made her final attempt to avoid being married off to an old man. She didn’t try to act smart or tried to come up with a sly plan. Instead, she directly told Xiaocao about her current situation, hoping that Xiaocao could point her in the right direction.
Zheng Xiaocui had tears when she slowly shook her head and said, “My father only wants to sell me off right now. This way, he can save up some money for my brother to marry a wife and take over the family business. Unless I can raise the equivalent amount of money that they planned to sell me for, then I can only accept my fate and marry an old man who is almost 60 years old. I will have to become his 12th concubine.”
She didn’t expect Zheng Laojiu to be such a greedy person! Yu Xiaocao frowned lightly, sighed, and said, “There is a limit to how much other people can help you. You can only rely on yourself for this matter.”