Flowery Hair: A Maidservant

Chapter 57 Confinement of Lanting Courtyard

Meng Shu had been keeping an eye on Fu Zi, so by sheer coincidence, she noticed everything the Fourth Miss did. The maids and young ladies who had been gathered under the eaves scattered like birds upon hearing of the poison.

The third young lady was closest to the fourth young lady. Hearing the sound, she anxiously went over and saw the bright red juice and leftover red fruit fragments on her sister's hand. She immediately realized what her sister had done.

Without a second thought, she gave a wink to the maid beside her, then moved to hide the fallen flowers and leaves under her skirt. The maid obediently moved the damaged flowerpot in the corridor to a new location.

The fourth young lady was crying bitterly by herself. Fu Zi, who was standing next to her, was so frightened that she had stayed far away and did nothing. It was the third young lady who comforted her and took out her handkerchief to carefully wipe the fourth young lady's hands.

However, it was too late.

The fourth young lady blinked her swollen, red eyes and jumped up and down, crying out, "Sister, waaaaah, I'm going blind! My eyes hurt so much, waaaaah!"

This is the scene when the second young lady and the eldest young lady arrived. The second young lady hurriedly instructed Mengzhu to call the family doctor. Soon, Madam Yun also arrived with the concubines. After a flurry of activity, the fourth young lady was sent back to Lanting Courtyard. Concubine Wen and the third young lady also went back to take care of her.

In such a hasty situation, how could the traces on the ground be completely concealed? It was just a pot of flowers. Madam Yun noticed it but didn't say anything. However, she was also worried about whether the flower was poisonous.

Guangbai quickly led the gardener to the octagonal pavilion. The gardener, with a bitter face, knelt down under the pavilion and explained tremblingly.

"Reporting to the old lady and the madam, the chili eggplant is not poisonous. This old servant personally went to the grain shop to inquire with Manager Fan, and it has been cultivated for some time now."

(In the past, people in Zhejiang called chili peppers "fanjiao" or "laqie".)

"What happened to that fourth girl?" The old lady was still shaken.

The gardener, familiar with the plant's habits, said, "The flowers and leaves of the solanum are not poisonous, but the fruit, when chopped, has a pungent smell. If it gets into the eyes, it will cause intense redness and pain. Miss Four must have gotten some sap on her skin and then touched it with her hands and eyes, which caused the irritation. My grandson has also done this when he's being naughty. Manager Fan mentioned that rinsing with water can relieve the irritation."

Meng Shu's lips curled slightly; the word 'nonsense' was quite apt.

Madam Yun was relieved and casually assigned a maid to deliver a message to the Orchid Pavilion. Aunt Liu said, "Fourth Miss is really naughty. How could she pick flowers randomly to play with and almost cause trouble?"

There are usually some taboos about calling a doctor on festive days, and even when the old lady was feeling unwell, she endured it. Aunt Liu's words were a direct way of saying that the fourth young lady was being unreasonable.

"It's just childishness; as long as the flower isn't poisonous, that's good."

Madam Yun spoke calmly, quickly changing the subject to a cheerful one, and began talking to the old lady about the list of plays they would be ordering later.

When the maid who delivered the message returned, Meng Shu thought the matter would be over, but the maid's face turned pale and she looked frightened. Guang Bai then asked what had happened.

"When I went to Lanting Courtyard to deliver the message, the imperial physician also said there was nothing wrong. I saw..."

She calmed herself down, knelt on the ground, bowed her head, and hesitated, saying, "...I saw that the Fourth Miss had punished the maid beside her. If the Third Miss hadn't stopped her, the maid's face would have been slashed...I was terrified just now. I should die for disturbing the old lady."

The room was completely silent.

Meng Shu looked meaningfully at the little maid kneeling on the ground, trembling. She was a second-class maid of Fu'an Residence, serving in the old lady's courtyard. Her manners and etiquette were impeccable. How could she not even be able to handle such a small matter?

Madam Yun leisurely sipped her tea, showing no intention of speaking. Aunt Liu opened her almond-shaped eyes, about to speak, when the eldest young lady stopped her from behind. Aunt Lu, seemingly invisible, sat on the embroidered stool at a distance, constantly gazing towards the main house, looking as if she was worried sick if she couldn't see the second young master.

The old lady's face darkened slightly. After a long while, her hand holding the walking stick tightened slightly. She was angry at her distant niece, Aunt Wen. At first, Aunt Wen was somewhat clever and shrewd, but in recent years she had become increasingly unbearable. She was only focused on seeking medical treatment and medicine to have another child, completely forgetting her responsibility to raise her daughter.

Years ago, Aunt Wen was almost betrothed by her father to a retired high-ranking official as a concubine. It was through her connections that Aunt Wen managed to get her help from the old lady. The older the old lady got, the kinder she became, and she genuinely pitied the poor mother and daughter, so she had always treated them well.

“Aunt Wen has failed in her duty of parenting, and Fourth Sister… is behaving inappropriately. Tell her to be confined to Lanting Courtyard and not allowed to leave.”

To disfigure a woman is tantamount to blocking her future; whether intentional or unintentional, such an act is despicable.

However, the reputation of the fourth young lady was also very important. The old lady did not say the words "ruthless" out loud. She glanced at the little maid kneeling on the ground, and Guangbai's already tense heartstrings tightened even more. He personally took the little maid away.

It was Guangbai's duty to discipline the maids under her command. Regardless of whose instruction or other reasons this maid was given, she dared to expose the Fourth Miss's shameful deeds in public, which was also Guangbai's fault.

Meng Shu watched a huge show, and after she came to her senses, she suddenly felt something was strange. The Fourth Miss was usually the best at pretending to be clever and charming. Although Fu Zi had failed in her duty just now, was it necessary to punish her so recklessly in front of the family doctor and the maids of Fu An Ju?

Seeing that the old lady's expression was not good, Madam Yun beckoned to Meng Shu and instructed her to go to the small kitchen and have Steward An make some calming soup to be sent to the flower hall.

Meng Shu responded crisply, then said something to Meng Zhu, who was beside the second young lady, before heading to the small kitchen.

At this moment, the courtyard of the small kitchen was bustling with activity. Manager An personally directed several servants to place baskets of river crabs in a shady place. Eating crabs during the Mid-Autumn Festival is a delicacy and tradition that the people of Lin'an cannot give up. Donggua was eager to get started and, along with several young ladies, set out several large wooden basins filled with clear water.

Seeing Meng Shu come over, Dong Gua picked up a plump crab with his bare hands. "Come on, come on, Master said we'll each get two crabs for lunch."

Manager An irritably knocked the crab out of her hand. After Meng Shu told him her task, he immediately led people to make a calming soup.

Meng Shu stayed in the courtyard watching the 'spreading claws' of the winter melon, round and innocent like a lucky doll, which aroused the playful spirit of the little girls in the courtyard. Seeing this scene, Meng Shu was happy for her from the bottom of her heart.

That girl, whose hands and feet were covered in chilblains, saved up reeds for several winters just to sew herself a cotton-padded coat. When it was finally finished, her mother ruthlessly stripped away the reeds that had brought her so much suffering when she was sold away from home. In Fu'anju, she transformed into a vibrant and fragrant winter melon.

The cotton-padded jacket that was stripped off by her closest relative was like the past that Donggua was unwilling and no longer willing to mention. She trampled it on the ground and then strode away with her head held high, never looking back.

Perhaps that's why Meng Shu was more willing to get close to her. She and Green Willow were like two sides of a drum; Winter Melon could strike out its own rhythm, while Green Willow would only stay close to the ground, bearing the heavy blows.

Meng Shu also loved coming to the small kitchen. In the turbulent Tang mansion, the small kitchen was always vibrant, filled with jars and pots, firewood, rice, oil, salt, and the lively atmosphere of everyday life.

After laughing and joking with Donggua for a while, Meng Shu returned to the main courtyard of Fu'an Residence with light steps.

There were only a few young ladies in the flower hall. The second young lady and the absent-minded eldest young lady were playing chess, while the fifth young lady and the usually quiet sixth young lady were playing cat's cradle. No one spoke, and the atmosphere was eerily quiet.

Looking at the young ladies with their different expressions, Meng Shu suddenly felt that perhaps only the Fifth Miss, who was smiling with her lips pursed, was truly happy.