Chapter 24
Chapter 24: 209 Days Secured!
Xiao Man lay on the bed, staring at the unfamiliar ceiling beams. The little person in her heart was spinning in place like it had won a grand victory.
Last night.
She actually—
Had a dreamless night.
She slept straight through until morning.
No hateful fog. No lecher wearing Lin Qing Xuan’s face. No humiliating, tangled nonsense that left her waking up wanting to smash her head into a wall.
Only a heavy, long-lost darkness—quiet and complete, belonging to her alone.
“Thank heavens. Thank Guan Yin Bodhisattva. Thank God.”
She mentally bowed to every deity she could name, east and west. Then she climbed out of bed and made sincere little bows toward the four corners of the room.
The words were a mess. The gratitude was not.
So it was true: keep a safe distance. Hold the chastity fortress.
The strategy worked.
Day one—she decided to count it as day one—passed safely.
Day two brought rare peace to Auspicious Cloud Residence.
For one simple reason: Buddhist Scion Lin Qing Xuan was going to Fa Hua Temple.
As the revered Innate Buddha Child, he had fixed days every month when he went to the temple to teach the Dharma and explain the classics to the devotees.
Today’s topic, people said, was the Diamond Sutra.
“Xiao Man, sis,” Stone announced early in the morning, barely able to contain himself, “Young Master is going to Fa Hua Temple to give a lecture today. You don’t need to follow and serve. Just rest in the courtyard.”
Xiao Man’s eyes lit up like a lamp.
A day off.
No facing that mind-reading cheat of a Buddha. No watching him shut doors and windows like a trap. No lying awake at night, terrified of being dragged into filthy dream-talk.
It felt like rain on drought.
She watched Stone leave with Lin Qing Xuan, and even the air in Auspicious Cloud Residence seemed to breathe easier.
She hummed a crooked little tune, already planning her rare leisure—wash the old clothes she’d brought? Sneak to the kitchen and charm something tasty out of a familiar old servant? Or simply bury herself in blankets and sleep until dusk?
But Xiao Man had clearly underestimated the ecology of an ancient household.
The master of Auspicious Cloud Residence might have stepped offstage, but the undercurrents below were just beginning to churn.
Old Chen Tou and Granny Chen had received the First Madam’s “highest instruction.” Of course they wouldn’t dare make trouble for Xiao Man. If anything, they had to treat her carefully—almost reverently.
But not everyone in the manor knew the inside story.
And not everyone stayed calm.
Especially the maids who believed they had a little beauty and spent their days dreaming of perching on a branch and becoming a phoenix.
Why did Xiao Man—a nobody, quiet as a sealed jar, only a second-rank maid—get to move into Auspicious Cloud Residence and land the prized work of close attendance?
Jealousy and resentment grew wild like weeds.
Sure enough, the moment Lin Qing Xuan’s carriage wheels faded beyond the manor gate, Xiao Man’s door was pounded like a drum.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
The knocking carried open challenge, with no attempt at courtesy.
Xiao Man frowned and pulled the door open.
Outside stood a girl in a brand-new rosy-red vest, hair in twin buns, two bright silver pins flashing in the light. Fifteen or sixteen, slim and fair, her features decent—yet her lifted eyes were full of undisguised contempt.
Xiao Man recognized her at once: Second Steward Wang You Cai’s only daughter, Little Peach.
With her father’s position at her back, she counted as “somebody” among the young maids—arrogant, sharp-tongued, and always eager to prove it.
“Oh?” Little Peach crossed her arms and looked Xiao Man up and down like she was appraising cheap cloth. Her voice turned sharp and loud, as if meant for an audience. “Isn’t this Sister Xiao Man? Enjoying the good life in our Eldest Young Master’s Auspicious Cloud Residence? Young Master isn’t here today—planning to sleep until the sun’s high?”
Xiao Man’s brows drew together. Before she could answer, Little Peach’s mouth fired off like arrows.
“Tsk. Look at this room. Far better than what we get. Who knows what kind of luck you stumbled into—or what filthy tricks you used—to get Old Madam to shove you in here.”
“I’m telling you, Sister, you should know your place. Our Eldest Young Master is what kind of person? The bright moon in the sky. A golden child under Buddha’s seat. You’re a rough maid—how dare you crowd up to him?”
“Don’t think you’ve climbed a high branch just because you got into Auspicious Cloud Residence. Go piss and look at yourself. A dirt chicken is a dirt chicken—sitting on a branch won’t turn it into a phoenix.”
Little Peach’s voice climbed higher with every sentence, sour jealousy thick enough to taste.
“In my eyes, you’re a fox spirit. You’re good at seductive tricks, aren’t you? Otherwise how could Young Master move you in after only seeing you a few times? Pah! Shameless, lowborn trash. Don’t dirty Young Master’s place of cultivation!”
“Fox spirit” struck like three poisoned needles.
Xiao Man’s face cooled in an instant.
She’d dealt with workplace nastiness before, but this kind of crude slander—this kind of filthy label—still made her blood rise.
She looked straight at Little Peach, her gaze sharp and steady, ice over fire.
“Miss Little Peach,” she said, voice quiet but clear, cold enough to cut. “This is Auspicious Cloud Residence—Eldest Young Master’s place of cultivation. You came here shouting and spitting filth, disturbing the courtyard’s peace. What sense is that?”
She took one step forward.
“You say I’m a fox spirit. Where is your proof? Did you see me seducing Young Master? Did you hear me say anything improper to him? You accuse with nothing but your mouth. Under manor rules, what punishment is that?”
Little Peach wavered for a heartbeat, panic flashing across her face—then she forced her chin up again.
“Hmph. Don’t pretend to be noble. Everyone knows you—”
“I don’t know,” Xiao Man cut in, her voice rising, righteous and hard. “All I know is that I came here openly by order of Old Madam and the First Madam. My duties are judged by the masters. It is not your place—a little maid—to point fingers and invent stories.”
Her eyes flicked over Little Peach’s brand-new vest and shining hairpins. The corner of her mouth tightened into a cold, knowing smile.
“And you, Miss Little Peach—dressed up like this, running to a ‘place of cultivation,’ making a scene and calling me ‘fox spirit’ and ‘lowborn trash’—if someone didn’t know better, they’d think you came on a master’s behalf to ‘discipline’ me.” Her gaze sharpened. “Or are you performing for someone? Hoping the right ears will hear?”
“You—you’re spitting blood!” Little Peach’s face flared red. Her finger trembled as it pointed.
Xiao Man stepped closer, her calm turning dangerous.
“Spitting blood?” she repeated. “Then let’s go to the First Madam. Or to Old Madam’s matron. Let them listen to what kind of ‘rules’ Second Steward Wang You Cai’s daughter follows—calling people ‘fox spirit’ and ‘lowborn trash’ in Eldest Young Master’s courtyard.”
Her words landed like blades.
“Let’s see whether you’re protecting Young Master’s reputation—or dirtying the masters’ ears and ruining the heir apparent residence’s household honor.”
The moment she invoked Old Madam, the First Madam, and the manor’s honor, Little Peach’s arrogance collapsed like a punctured balloon.
Her father was only a second steward. In front of the real masters, he was nothing.
Little Peach’s face went from red to white, then white to sickly green. Her lips shook. No words came out.
“What?” Xiao Man’s voice cooled further. “Not brave anymore?”
“If you can’t speak, then leave. Auspicious Cloud Residence is a quiet place. It doesn’t tolerate filthy mouths.” She paused, letting the warning breathe. “And if there’s a next time…”
Little Peach’s scalp prickled. She didn’t dare stay another breath.
She stomped once, threw out a weak, angry “Just you wait,” and fled like a defeated rooster, her back as messy as her heart.
Xiao Man watched her disappear beyond the yard gate. Only then did the tension drain from her shoulders.
She leaned against the doorframe and let out a long, dirty breath.
Damn it.
First day off, and trouble still found her.
This chastity defense war wasn’t just guarding against the Buddhist Scion’s cheats. It was fending off the women of the household—open knives and hidden arrows.
She shut the door, and the day’s lightness vanished.
Auspicious Cloud Residence looked calm on the surface, but inside it was still all blades.
Two hundred nine days.
A long road.
And at that same moment, across several courtyards, on the lecture platform at Fa Hua Temple—
Lin Qing Xuan, dressed in plain white, lowered his eyes and explained the Diamond Sutra to the devoted crowd.
His voice was clear and distant, carrying a quiet power that soothed the heart.
Yet in the deepest stillness of his inner lake, a thin thread of irritation and anger from a certain direction landed like a pebble tossed into water.
A ripple—so small it was almost nothing.
His fingers paused on one prayer bead, just for an instant.