Chapter 039
Chapter 39: The Household Quake Triggered by the Mandarin Duck Pillows
After receiving the Old Madam’s order and the waist token, Xiu He shoved the task into Dong Chun’s hands and urged: “Hurry! The storeroom! Fetch the Mandarin Duck Pillows! They are for Xiao Man.”
Xiu He had been the first to see the Eldest Grandson Young Master carry Xiao Man in his arms. She was eager to share in that joy, clear as day and full of smiles.
Dong Chun took the order and rushed off, flying into the storeroom.
Auntie Zhang was bent over the ledgers, her abacus clacking away.
Dong Chun lifted the curtain and burst in, calling: “Auntie Zhang, the Old Madam wants the Mandarin Duck Pillows sent to the Auspicious Cloud Residence!”
Auntie Zhang did not lift her head or even raise an eyelid, still marking the ledger as she asked, “Which courtyard wants them?”
Catching her breath with hands on her hips, Dong Chun replied, “The Auspicious Cloud Residence, for the Eldest Grandson Young Master and Xiao Man.”
There was a soft plop.
Auntie Zhang’s brush dropped straight onto the ledger, spreading a blot of ink.
She moved like someone pressed a pause point, then slowly lifted her head.
Her usually sharp, strict face was filled with shock and doubt as she asked with a trembling voice, “…Sent where? For whom?”
With innocent eyes, Dong Chun repeated, “The Auspicious Cloud Residence, for the Eldest Grandson Young Master and Xiao Man.”
Auntie Zhang sucked in a breath of cold air.
It stuck in her throat, and she almost fainted.
Lightning flashed through her mind in an instant, setting off bursts of scenes: the First Madam raging and selling off Xiao Tao; the Eldest Grandson Young Master galloping home; the Old Madam, in a rare move, personally checking on Xiao Man’s injuries; and now… even the brand new Mandarin Duck Pillows were being sent over.
This… this meant they were going to consummate right away.
Hands shaking, Auntie Zhang dug into the deepest part of the cabinet and pulled out a pair of Mandarin Duck Pillows wrapped in red silk. The fine stitching showed they were newly made and top quality.
She passed the pillows to Dong Chun, still trembling, and could not help asking again, “Are they really for the Eldest Grandson Young Master and Xiao Man? You did not mishear?”
Dong Chun nodded hard, eyes bright: “The Old Madam said it herself. It cannot be fake.”
Auntie Zhang swallowed with difficulty and watched as Dong Chun ran off with the pillows.
Only one thought filled her heart: the Lin Manor was about to change.
As soon as Dong Chun left, she locked the storeroom with a clack, lifted her skirt, and hurried off to gather a few old sisters.
Heads close together, Auntie Zhang lowered her voice, her face showing both excitement and fear, as she said, “A big thing has happened. Our Eldest Grandson Young Master is about to Return to Secular Life.”
The room erupted. Everyone stared, stunned.
“What?!”
Looking mysterious, Auntie Zhang dropped her voice even lower: “The Old Madam has even granted Mandarin Duck Pillows. That girl Xiao Man is about to soar to a branch and turn into a phoenix.”
One Old Granny looked doubtful: “B-but she is just a maid, right?”
“So what if she is a maid?” Auntie Zhang slapped her thigh, words flying fast. “Have you ever seen a maid personally cared for by our Buddha’s Chosen? Have you seen a maid who, after the First Madam suffered a loss, made her sell someone else just to vent? Have you seen a maid personally given Mandarin Duck Pillows by the Old Madam?”
She fired off three questions in a row, and everyone fell silent.
Auntie Zhang swept them with her eyes and concluded in a low voice, “Hurry and think if you ever offended that girl. There is still time to apologize.”
Her words dropped like a stone into a pond and stirred up waves.
Several Old Grannies turned pale all at once.
They had not been shy about gossiping before, calling Xiao Man a flirt who seduced the Master and would not behave herself.
The news grew wings and spread to every corner of the Lin Manor in less than half a day.
Outside the Auspicious Cloud Residence, it suddenly became lively.
Many Old Grannies and maids “just happened” to pass by.
Each held either fresh baked pastries or newly picked fruit, and all of them said the same thing: “We heard Miss Xiao Man was hurt, so we came to see her.”
But their eyes were like hooks, stealing every chance to peek inside, wanting to see what kind of three-headed, six-armed person this future “madam” could be to pull that otherworldly Buddha’s Chosen down to earth.
Chun Yan was one of them.
She had been a third class maid in the Old Madam’s courtyard. When she worked with Xiao Man, she leaned on seniority and often tripped her up.
Later, when Xiao Man was promoted to second class, Chun Yan even mocked her in public.
Now that she heard Xiao Man might leap up in one step and become the Master, Chun Yan was scared out of her wits.
If Xiao Man held a grudge, would Chun Yan end up like Xiao Tao, sold straight out of the manor?
Gritting her teeth, she asked the gatekeeper Xiao Dun Zi to spend half a month’s wages to buy the most expensive fruit basket outside the manor, then dragged the simple-minded Dong Chun along to bolster her courage.
They called it a “visit,” but their guilty hearts were pounding at their throats.
Chun Yan forced a flattering smile as she set the huge basket on the table and said: “Xiao Man sister, we heard you were hurt, so we came to see you.”
Lying on the bed, Xiao Man stared in confusion at Chun Yan’s sudden over-enthusiasm, then at the small mountain of gifts piled on the table, and a big question mark popped up over her head. She could not help saying: “…Are you here to visit a patient or to pay tribute?”
Dong Chun snorted with laughter.
Chun Yan’s smile looked uglier than a cry as she said: “Sister is joking, we are just worried about you…”
Xiao Man eyed her, feeling like something was off.
Just then, a small stir sounded at the door.
Lin Qing Xuan had returned.
He was still in plain white monk’s robes, his brows and eyes as cool as snow, carrying no scent of the human world.
But when his gaze swept over the crowded room of “visitors,” the pressure in the room dropped at once.
The people who had been chirping just a moment ago fell silent, heads drooping, hardly daring to breathe.
Someone began weakly: “Eldest Grandson Young Master…”
Lin Qing Xuan spoke in a cool tone: “Xiao Man needs quiet rest; idlers, leave.”
To the crowd, it felt like a royal pardon.
They bowed and backed out in a rush, faster than rabbits.
Chun Yan ran at the front, wishing for two extra legs, terrified that Lin Qing Xuan would remember her face.
Xiao Man finally let out a breath and muttered: “What is with these people? Today they all act like they took the wrong medicine, their enthusiasm is scary…”
Lin Qing Xuan glanced at her and said: “They fear you will settle accounts in autumn.”
Xiao Man was stunned and said: “Huh?”
The corner of his thin lips curled a little as he said: “Everyone in the manor knows you are going to be my concubine now.”
Xiao Man froze: “…???”
She snapped her head toward the blinding red pair of Mandarin Duck Pillows at the head of the bed, and her mind exploded with a buzz.
She finally understood.
The Old Madam was setting her up.