Chapter 106: This Girl Is the Cure in Qing Xuan’s Fate

Lin Qing Xuan returned to Auspicious Cloud Residence and went straight into the study.

He set the brocade box he had brought back from Treasures Pavilion on the rosewood desk, lifting the lid with care.

Inside, a Lotus Jade Pendant lay on the velvet lining. Its soft glow looked even colder and prouder under the dim candlelight.

He reached out to pick it up several times, then drew back his hand again and again.

His mind kept replaying how Xiao Man dodged his hand in the carriage, along with her careful warning: “Young Master, there are too many eyes on us.”

A dull frustration lodged in his chest and would not move.

How was he supposed to give her this little thing?

Should he press it into her palm?

She would lift her chin and say: “This maid cannot accept it.”

Should he make up a reason and reward her?

She would likely think she had made a mistake and that it was a warning.

He rubbed his brow and, for the first time, felt that giving a gift was harder than explaining the Dharma.

He waited a long while, but the familiar figure never appeared in the courtyard.

As soon as Xiao Man stepped through the gate, Xiu He from Green Reed Court hurried up behind her, breathless.

Xiu He clutched her sleeve and said, panting: “Xiao Man! Xiao Man! Thank goodness you’re back!”

Xiao Man steadied her and joked: “What happened now? Did the sky fall?”

Xiu He stomped her foot and blurted: “Almost! Old Madam hasn’t had any appetite these two days. She won’t eat anything and keeps asking for the scallop custard you make!”

Hearing it was about Old Madam, Xiao Man didn’t waste a second. She stuffed the storybook she had been hugging into her own room, then ran for Old Madam’s small kitchen.

She asked as she worked, hands moving fast: “Tell me slowly. Besides the poor appetite, is Old Madam uncomfortable anywhere else?”

While Xiu He talked, Xiao Man rinsed the dried scallops, beat the eggs, soaked the scallops till soft, then shredded them and mixed the fine threads into the beaten eggs. She set the bowl to steam.

The custard turned smooth and tender, every spoonful carrying the light, briny sweetness of scallop.

When it was done, she also steamed the new yam, mashed it into a silky puree, and drizzled a bit of honey on top.

She explained as she plated it: “Old Madam’s spleen and stomach are weak. Yam soothes the stomach. She will like this.”

Xiu He’s eyes lit up as she watched: “You always have a way!”

Xiao Man shook her head and said, thinking fast: “Having a way isn’t enough. We have to switch it up. Eating the same few things gets old. Come on, let’s go ask Physician Wang if he has recipes to strengthen the spleen and ease the liver.”

They hurried off to the house physician, Physician Wang, and came back with several recipes.

Once home, Xiao Man pulled Xiu He to the table. Heads together, they planned the menus for the next few days: “Tomorrow we’ll serve yam and gorgon seed porridge, the day after let’s do sea bass with dried tangerine peel, and the day after that…”

They had just finished planning when a junior maid from First Madam’s courtyard arrived with a message that First Madam wanted to see Xiao Man.

“Me?” Xiao Man’s heart skipped.

The girl kept her head down and said carefully: “First Madam heard you went out of the manor with the Eldest Grandson Young Master today and has some questions.”

Xiao Man understood at once.

What had to come would come.

First Madam had never liked how close a mere maid stood to the Eldest Grandson Young Master.

Flirting in the manor was one thing, but daring to go out with him in public?

Unforgivable.

She could already imagine First Madam’s lines about propriety and keeping one’s distance.

Maybe there would even be a soul-searching question: “My son Qing Xuan’s future and reputation cannot be ruined by a little maid like you. Name a price and leave him.”

At that thought, Xiao Man felt a tiny spark of glee.

[If she really pays me to go, that would be perfect. The worker’s ultimate dream: early retirement with severance!]

She followed the junior maid with a spring in her step to Blooming Years Court.

Once she entered, the heavy mood hit her like a wall.

Servants held their breath as they walked on tiptoe. No one dared to make a sound.

Xiao Man quickly tucked away her smile, lowered her eyes, and put on a well-behaved, nervous face while she worked out her replies.

She curtseyed by the book and said: “This maid greets First Madam.”

She was about to report the Eldest Grandson Young Master’s meals and rest today to show she had done her job well when First Madam spoke first, her voice cool and flat.

First Madam asked, teacup in hand, skimming the foam with the lid: “You went out with Qing Xuan today?”

Xiao Man had prepared for this and answered calmly: “Reporting to First Madam, I accompanied the Eldest Grandson Young Master to Cloud Resonance Bookhouse.”

First Madam’s gaze kept measuring her from the corner of her eye. After a few days, the girl stood straighter, her brows and eyes looked finer, and a calm grace hung about her.

First Madam asked, as if offhand: “To buy books?”

Xiao Man kept her head lowered and answered obediently: “Yes. He bought some travel journals.”

Inside, her thoughts griped at high speed: [I cannot say we bought fifteen storybooks where a domineering Young Master falls in love with me. That would be asking to die!]

Silence stretched. Xiao Man felt First Madam’s gaze sweep over her again and again, like blades peeling her apart with a look.

Just when she braced for the storm, First Madam set the cup down and gave the Nanny a signal.

The Nanny turned and brought out a neat stack of folded clothes.

First Madam said, still mild: “If you are to go out with the Young Master, you cannot dress too plainly.”

She added, each word tidy: “It is not just your own face you lose. You shame Qing Xuan, and people will say the whole Heir Apparent Manor is small and ungenerous.”

Xiao Man’s head snapped up, eyes full of surprise.

[What in the world?]

[Did I mishear?]

[No scolding? No long lecture? She is gifting me clothes instead?]

[Did the sun rise in the west? Did something possess First Madam?]

She quickly lowered her head to hide her shock and reached out to take the clothes.

They were soft and smooth to the touch, made of fine cloud brocade.

Compared to her washed-thin cotton-linen dresses, they were worlds apart.

First Madam opened her mouth to add a few more warnings, but the Nanny sent a quick look and a tiny shake of the head.

First Madam sighed so softly it was almost nothing and waved her hand.

She said only: “That is all. You may go.”

Xiao Man’s heart churned like roaring waves.

[That’s it?]

[That’s all?]

Hugging the clothes, she bowed and turned to leave, still dizzy.

Just as she stepped over the threshold, First Madam’s voice came again.

She said, short and clear: “Take good care of Qing Xuan.”

Xiao Man jolted, turned back at once, and bowed low: “Yes, First Madam. I will do my best to care for the Eldest Grandson Young Master.”

Only after she left Blooming Years Court and the cold wind hit her did her head clear.

She looked down at the new clothes in her arms and then up at the sky.

[My boss didn’t scold me and even gave me a bonus. That means my work got top marks!]

[This must raise the odds for my perfect worker exit plan!]

In high spirits, she hummed a tune all the way to Auspicious Cloud Residence.

Inside Blooming Years Court, First Madam was speaking quietly with her trusted Nanny.

First Madam complained, frustrated: “Nanny, did you see me just now? Words on my tongue and I had to swallow them. It nearly suffocated me.”

The Nanny said gently: “It is because the Heir Apparent sent a message.”

First Madam knocked back her tea as if she were drinking her worries.

She said, weary: “He told me to find a way to keep that girl. He said she is Qing Xuan’s love tribulation, and also his cure.”

She went on with a crease between her brows: “He warned me not to set up more blind meetings with noble ladies for Qing Xuan. He said Qing Xuan would not thank me and would only blame me as his mother.”

She sighed again: “He gave me such a long analysis: better to guide than block, a heart sickness needs a heart’s own medicine. I understand the logic, but Nanny, should our Lin Clan’s large family and a hundred years of good name really rest on a little maid?”

The more she spoke, the less right it felt.

She asked flatly: “Is this truly good for Qing Xuan, or for our Lin Clan?”

The Nanny thought and offered a plan: “Madam, why not get the girl’s Four Pillars of Destiny and send them to Azure Cloud Temple? Ask Abbess Xuci to read them. They say she is very accurate on fates and marriages.”

First Madam’s eyes brightened.

She said with relief: “Good idea. If the Abbess says their Four Pillars do not match, that it is a doomed bond, I will have iron proof to face Qing Xuan with, and he can give up completely.”

She added after a pause: “If they are truly fated, we can decide what to do next.”

She made up her mind at once: “Let’s do that. Pick a good day. I will take the girl to Azure Cloud Temple myself and ask the Abbess to ease my worries too.”

Back at Auspicious Cloud Residence, Xiao Man was about to collapse on a small stool when Shi Tou, the yard sweeper, spotted her.

He called, pleased: “Sister Xiao Man, you’re back! The Eldest Grandson Young Master said to come to his study as soon as you returned. He saved you some treats!”

[Well now, Lin Qing Xuan is getting the hang of this. He knows how to care for his people. Promising!]

Her empty stomach rumbled. Suddenly her legs didn’t ache, her back didn’t hurt, and she felt full of energy.

She straightened her clothes and knocked on the study door.

He answered at once: “Come in.”

Xiao Man stepped inside.

The study smelled of the sandalwood Lin Qing Xuan always used, cool and solemn.

But her eyes went straight to the three small dishes on the desk.

One held golden sugar oil cakes dotted with thin red and green shreds.

Another held soft rice rolls covered in soybean flour, the kind called donkey rolls.

The last held translucent green mung bean cakes, which were Lin Qing Xuan’s favorite for their mild taste.

A cup of steaming rose tea sat to the side.

The calm sandalwood mixed with the rosy perfume. It was an odd pairing, but surprisingly pleasant.

Xiao Man’s eyes curved like two small moons.

She teased, grinning: “Young Master, your retreat room smells like sandalwood all year. People might think they walked into a temple by mistake. If you ask me, you should switch the fragrance in here. Otherwise this home will feel like a shrine, and that is dull.”

As he read, his hand paused.

Lately, whenever Xiao Man spoke, one word or another would strike him just right.

This time it was the word home.

He looked up at her, his gaze deep.

He said very simply: “If you want to change it, then you change it.”

Xiao Man didn’t notice his expression and answered cheerfully, already picking up a sugar oil cake: “Are all these for me?”

He nodded, the corner of his mouth lifting without his notice: “You have been running around all day and must not have eaten. I will ask Granny Chen to cook you a bowl of noodles and top it with two eggs. Will that do?”

Her mouth full, she mumbled with delight: “Perfect. Add a spoon of pickled vegetables!”

[Serving you every day, Young Master, I deserve to order you around once in a while.]

Watching her satisfied face, the gloom in his heart blew away.

Being ordered around by her felt sweet.

He stood, stepped out, and called Granny Chen in person, repeating each of Xiao Man’s requests with care.

Hearing the Young Master’s gentle voice, Granny Chen understood perfectly.

She muttered on her way to the kitchen: “Heavens, what blessings Miss Xiao Man has, to catch our Young Master’s eye so easily.”

She scurried off, still muttering with a smile: “Looks like our Young Master will be a husband who dotes on his wife.”

Now everyone in Auspicious Cloud Residence knew that Miss Xiao Man was as good as half a Master.

No one dared slight her.

With her soft temper and lack of airs, they all liked her for real.

Many thought privately that if Miss Xiao Man became the Eldest Grandson Young Master’s honored concubine one day, it would be a fine match indeed.