His Peasant Wife : Yao Ling

"I will go back home first. Don’t forget to come to ’Fu Rong’ tomorrow, if you want to have a better salary." Yao Ling reminded Ning jie which earned her an excited nod. Yao Ling smiled in return.

"Xiao Xia, Xiao Li, can you send Yao gong zi back to the main street?" Ning Qing Xue asked for the kids’ help. Even though Yao Ling was in disguise, it didn’t sit well for Ning Qing Xue to let Yao Ling go back alone. After all, Yao Ling is still a woman. At the very least, if something did happen, the kids could help her. They knew the road better than Yao Ling.

Yao Ling accepted their help and she safely arrived at the main street. After saying goodbye to the two children, Yao Ling went back home leisurely. She was disappointed because she didn’t have the chance to play around. She sighed inwardly. If it wasn’t because of the long conversation with Ning jie, she would have the time to look around. Next time then...

Yao Ling went back to her own room just like how she previously went out. When Xiao Yu saw her young mistress, all of her wariness was gone. "Young Mistress, you’ve finally arrived!"

"Did someone look for me?"

"Yes! The three concubines came. They visited young mistress after they heard that young mistress are sick! Maybe trying to curry favor, but this servant managed to drive them away by saying that young mistress was sleeping." Xiao Yu told her.

"Do you think they feel suspicious?"

Xiao Yu shook her head. "No, this servant doesn’t think so. They just went back after knowing that young mistress was sleeping."

"Was there any maids that tried to come inside my room?"

"Only Qiu Qiu ah~ She said that she wanted to help me clean the room, but this servant flatly refused her and stick to the story that young mistress needed rest and slept." Xiao Yu didn’t feel something wrong with it. Qiu Qiu was in charge of cleaning young mistress’ room and she didn’t want to implicate other people – just in case someone found out about young mistress’ disappearance.

Yao Ling took note about this maid called Qiu Qiu. The other servants were obeying her order and not disturbing her, and yet she was trying to get inside. Was she trying to check out whether she was really inside or not? Or she was just too kind? Yao Ling sneered to herself. She believed that Qiu Qiu was up to no good.

"Ah~ I see."

Listening to her young mistress’ reply, Xiao Yu felt that something wasn’t right, but she didn’t know what and she didn’t dwell on that matter. She decided to change the subject and asked her young mistress’ activities when she left ’Wang Fu’.

"Young Mistress, what did you do just now?" Xiao Yu looked at Yao Ling with a face full of curiosity.

"Visiting Xiao Xia. One of the children is sick, so I helped them by buying and brewing the medicine. That was why it took me a long time to go back. At least, I came back within the designated time," Yao Ling explained briefly.

"Young Mistress... did you give them money again?" Xiao Yu asked.

"Yes. They didn’t have money to buy the medicine and I helped them buy it."

Xiao Yu felt that young mistress was too kind. "Young Mistress, with the rate of how Young Mistress helps people, I think your money will be depleted in no time ah~"

Yao Ling laughed at what Xiao Yu had said. "Indeed, I used up almost half of my pocket money. At least, I could save people. Fortunately, Father is quite generous when giving us pocket money, otherwise, I could only look at them without any power to help."

"Young Mistress ah~ you are too kind!" Xiao Yu pouted.

Yao Ling tapped Xiao Yu’s forehead in amusement. "I’m not that kind, but I actually have a soft spot for little children. I can’t help it," Yao Ling helplessly explained.

Before they continued talking, they heard the sudden knock on the door. Xiao Yu whisper-yelled at her young mistress, "Young Mistress! Quick changes your cloth!"

They were too excited talking and forgot that Yao Ling needed to pretend that she was sick. Yao Ling removed her disguise and let her hair down, flowing down to her back. She put the Yao Ying’s clothes under her bed and kicked it until she couldn’t see it anymore. Yao Ling quickly jumped into her bed and dipped herself into her blanket.

Yao Ling gave a signal to Xiao Yu, telling her that she was ready. Xiao Yu nodded and opened the door. At the same time, Yao Ling closed her eyes, pretending to be asleep.

Xiao Yu looked at Qiu Qiu who was once again coming. "Why are you coming here again? Young Mistress already gave an order that no one should bother her." If it was only once then Qiu Qiu’s offer to help her was out of kindness. But twice? Did she try to find out something? Xiao Yu couldn’t hold back her annoyance toward Qiu Qiu.

Qiu Qiu answered while her eyes kept darting inside the room. Xiao Yu started to feel that this Qiu Qiu wasn’t putting her young mistress in her eyes. Since when did a maid was allowed to behave unruly like this?

Xiao Yu snapped her fingers in front of Qiu Qiu’s eyes, "Qiu Qiu, why are you here? And why are you keep peeking inside?"

What Xiao Yu said confirmed Yao Ling’s suspiciousness. Yao Ling cleared her throat and asked in a hoarse voice, "Xiao Yu, who is it?"

"Young Mistress, it’s only Qiu Qiu."

"Let her come in."

Xiao Yu beckoned Qiu Qiu to follow her and go inside the room. Qiu Qiu’s eyes flickered to where Yao Ling laid.

"Why are you here?"

Qiu Qiu quickly found an excuse. "This servant heard Young Mistress is sick. Somehow this servant didn’t see Xiao Yu Jie Jie prepare medicine for you. This servant is concerned about Young Mistress’ condition, that’s why this servant wants to ask Xiao Yu Jie Jie if she needs my help."

Yao Ling smiled and praised Qiu Qiu, "How kind of you! No need to worry about it. I was asleep, that’s why I don’t drink any medicine. I just need some rest."

"This servant feels relieved. Then, this servant will leave first. Young Mistress, please take a rest," Qiu Qiu bade farewell.

After Qiu Qiu left, Yao Ling asked Xiao Yu, "Which courtyard did she work before?"

Xiao Yu shook her head. "This servant doesn’t know. I think she was newly bought before she serves here."

Yao Ling frowned. If she didn’t work anywhere before, then it was a dead end. At least, she knew that this Qiu Qiu was a spy. Qiu Qiu’s hastiness made her stand out than the rest of the servants. If she felt it was kind of hard to find the masters, it was better if she changed all the servants and maids in one killer move.

"Xiao Yu, if you have something to do, you can go. I will sleep and wake me up when Young Master come, okay?"

"This servant will do this servant’s chores then. Young Mistress, please rest."

Yao Ling only nodded, turned around, and fell into deep sleep. She was too tired because of the lack of sleep previous night. She needed to catch up to her beauty sleep.

Xiao Yu knew that her young mistress was tired, so she didn’t bother her anymore. She looked around and then went out in a hurry.

It was accidentally seen by Xiu. He just went back from ’Fu Rong’ and he was going to go back to the young master’s room after running an errand. Xiu saw Xiao Yu in a hurry, feeling curious. He decided to follow her because he could see the anxiety on her face. ’Is there something wrong with her?’ He thought to himself.

Xiao Yu kept walking in a hurry. She turned her head left and right. It seemed like she didn’t want anyone to know where she went. Xiu started to feel suspicious. What happened to Xiao Yu? Why did she behave like that?