Transmigrated as the Villainess, She Made the General Blush - chapter 48

Chapter 48

The decoration work at Brocade Gate was in full swing, and Ruan Fuxin was there every day to oversee the process, rarely returning to the Prime Minister’s Mansion.

Now, when Xiao Wangshu went out, she only brought four guards with her. Even if one guard was missing, there would still be three left to rotate shifts. Overseeing Brocade Gate was a higher priority for him.

Today, Ruan Fuxin was checking the timber accounts with the craftsmen.

Suddenly, he heard some laborers say that Xiao Wangshu and her brother had arrived. He was a bit surprised, quickly gave the craftsmen some instructions, and got up to greet them at the entrance.

“Miss, Young Master.”

Ruan Fuxin had always used the fist salute before, but now he offered the cupped-hand salute instead.

Xiao Wangshu nodded to him, then stepped into the shop. She looked around at the arrangements, feeling fairly satisfied.

Ruan Fuxin gave her a brief update on the progress, which matched what Xiao Wangshu had expected.

After reporting on Brocade Gate, Ruan Fuxin glanced at the person behind Xiao Wangshu, hesitated for a moment, and then asked, “Is this someone new that Miss has taken in…?”

“Maid,” Xiao Wangshu answered, then gave her orders: “Yichun, Shuxia, Jiang Ji, Hu Tian, take her down to wash up and change her clothes. Clean her up before bringing her to see me.”

Yichun and Shuxia knelt and answered, “Yes.”

Jiang Ji and Hu Tian, two burly men, looked a bit puzzled. They didn’t understand why two men were needed to accompany a woman to change her clothes.

But because of their quiet personalities, they kept silent. They said nothing else, just offered a cupped-hand salute and replied, “Yes!”

Ruan Fuxin stood aside, watching the whole scene unfold.

Once Yichun and the other three had taken the woman to the backyard to wash, he led Xiao Wangshu and Xiao Fuguang upstairs.

–

In the backyard.

Perhaps because she sympathized with the woman’s situation, Yichun chatted with her for quite a while.

Shuxia, who was always quiet, just listened to them talking from the side.

Jiang Ji and Hu Tian stood guard outside the door, one on each side. From time to time, they shifted their legs or feet, looking rather bored.

Inside, after listening to Yichun for a long time, the woman finally asked, “So, you’re from the Prime Minister’s Mansion?”

“That’s right, the Prime Minister’s Mansion,” Yichun replied warmly. “Don’t be fooled by how cold and distant our Miss looks-she’s actually very good to us.

“Working at the Prime Minister’s Mansion, serving Miss is easy. As long as you serve her well and work carefully, the pay is good and the job is comfortable.”

The woman forced a smile, her voice thin: “It really must be a blessing from a previous life to find the Fourth Miss of the Prime Minister’s Mansion when looking for help.”

“Of course! That merchant or street vendor you mentioned would never dare go against our Miss!” Yichun said confidently.

At that moment, Shuxia, tidying up some clothes to the side, asked, “We haven’t asked yet-what’s your name?”

The woman replied, “Fei Ying. My name is Fei Ying.”

“Fei Ying,” Shuxia repeated, walked over, and set the clothes in her hands by the bathtub. “Change into these clean clothes later. Miss is like that-she can’t stand dirt. You should be careful about that in the future.”

Fei Ying nodded at once and said, “I understand. I’ll make sure to pay attention in the future.”

As the Fourth Miss of the Prime Minister’s Mansion, it was only natural for her to have a bit of a temper and be demanding.

“Alright, let her wash. Yichun, let’s wait outside,” Shuxia said, taking the lead out the door.

Yichun followed, and before leaving, reminded, “Be quick-Miss doesn’t like to be kept waiting.”

Fei Ying smiled in response, her shy expression lingering until Yichun closed the door.

The moment the door closed, the smile disappeared from Fei Ying’s face. She stood up at once, quietly stepped out of the bathtub, dried herself, and changed into the clothes next to her.

These clothes had been prepared ahead of time for the shop boy. The style was simple, but they were clean and tidy.

After changing, Fei Ying listened to the sound of Yichun laughing outside, sneered, and pinned up her hair with a pearl hairpin.

So much pointless chatter, wasting time.

If there hadn’t been two guards standing outside-and if there weren’t so many people around, making it easy for things to get out of hand-she would have dealt with those two maids long ago and left directly.
Lost in thought, Fei Ying walked to the window and gently pushed open the frame.

Just as she was about to climb out and leave, heavy, slow footsteps sounded outside the courtyard wall, moving along its length and stopping at the closest spot.

A sense of being surrounded struck her in an instant.

Hearing the laughter and chatter of Yichun outside the door, Fei Ying raised her hand to touch the pearl hairpin in her hair, as if making up her mind. She walked to the door, composed her expression, and pulled it open.

“I’m ready. Please take me to see the Young Lady.”

—

Second-floor tea room.

When Yichun and Shuxia brought Fei Ying back, Xiao Fuguang was clearly rather surprised.

She didn’t run after all?

“Didn’t you just say you were going to buy pastries from Chen’s shop for Seventh Brother? Go on then, bring me two boxes of Chinese Yam Cake and date paste cake as well.”

After Xiao Wangshu finished, she added, “Mother always tells you to bring two more guards when you go out, but you never listen. You just take a couple of servants and run all over the place. Let Li Ta and Li Jun go with you.”

“Sister, I’m a man, how could I be that delicate?” Xiao Fuguang stood up, hurriedly replying before Xiao Wangshu could speak again, “Alright, Sister, you can save a few words. I’ll take them with me.”

Only then did Xiao Wangshu fall silent, watching him leave.

After they were gone, she finally turned her gaze to Fei Ying, looking her up and down, and reminded her coolly, “Don’t bring the airs of a merchant’s concubine into the Chancellor’s Mansion. Maids here are not allowed to wear pearls or precious jewelry.”

Fei Ying immediately knelt and replied, “Yes, Miss. I accept your lesson and will remember it. I will never repeat this after entering the Chancellor’s Mansion.”

Hearing this, Xiao Wangshu said nothing, but turned to Yichun and Shuxia and instructed, “You two may go. I have questions for her.”

“Yes.” Yichun and Shuxia bowed and withdrew, closing the tea room door for Xiao Wangshu.

The tea room instantly became empty, leaving only Xiao Wangshu, Fei Ying, and Ruan Fuxin.

Sandalwood incense smoldered in the censer, curling out wisps of white smoke that calmed and focused the mind.

“Go check the account books over there. Report back when you’re done,” Xiao Wangshu said, pointing to the corner of the tea room.

“Yes.” Ruan Fuxin finished the tea in his cup, then picked up the account books and moved to the spot Xiao Wangshu had indicated.

Kneeling on the floor, Fei Ying shifted slightly toward Xiao Wangshu to make room for Ruan Fuxin.

Only then did Xiao Wangshu look at Fei Ying in earnest and ask, “Your name.”

“Reporting to Miss, my name is Fei Ying.” Fei Ying replied as she knelt, gently rubbing her legs, looking frail and weak.

But Xiao Wangshu made no sign of letting her rise. After taking a sip of tea, she continued, “When do you plan to bring your son back?”

Fei Ying looked somewhat dazed, hesitated for a moment, and then replied, “Tonight, when those searching servants are resting, I’ll bring my son with me to the Chancellor’s Mansion.”

“And your contract of indenture? Is it still in that merchant’s hands, or have you already gone to the Prefectural Office to cancel your yueji (music/performer registration) and restored your status as a commoner?” Xiao Wangshu asked carefully.

When Fei Ying didn’t answer right away, she pressed further: “Both nuji (slave registration) and yueji (music/performer registration) require a contract of indenture, meaning you are at your master’s mercy. If you don’t even know where your contract is, how am I supposed to save you?

“If my maid gets beaten or killed by a merchant and I can’t do anything about it, wouldn’t that be a blow to my reputation?”

In ancient times, there were five categories of household registration. The first was guiji (noble registration), like Xiao Wangshu’s, held only by the great clans.

The second was liangji (good/commoner registration), that is, ordinary commoners.

The third was shangji (merchant registration), exclusive to merchants.

The fourth and fifth were nuji (slave registration) and yueji (music/performer registration), the former for slaves, the latter for performers-both at their master’s disposal.

Such violence was lawful in this era.

Fei Ying furrowed her brow, squeezed her eyes shut, then opened them and said, “My yueji (music/performer registration) has already been canceled…”

“Is that so?” Xiao Wangshu responded, curling her lips in a slight smile. She said coolly, “I thought you didn’t even have household registration.”