It had been a long time since she had dreamed. She would wake up as soon as she closed her eyes and didn't know what was going on.
Maybe it's because she doesn't know who she is, so she doesn't even know how to dream.
She stood in the darkness, seemingly with nowhere to go and no way to escape. The surroundings were getting hotter and hotter, and the fire was overwhelming.
She woke up like this.
The strange thing is that there is no fear, only desolation.
Cheng Jiaoniang put her hand on her heart, which was so cold that she almost stopped beating.
There is no way to escape from such a fire, and death is inevitable, so there is no need to even be afraid, only desolation is left?
That shouldn't be desolate.
It was as if her heart had been ripped out, and this scene flashed through her again, and her heartbeat really stopped.
"Lady?"
A woman's low-pitched inquiry came from outside the curtain, and then it was pulled open, revealing a sixteen or seventeen-year-old maid with eyebrows as curved as the moon, silent and smiling.
Cheng Jiaoniang's heartbeat resumed and she looked as normal.
"Madam, have you had a nightmare?" The maidservant knelt down and asked softly.
The morning light in the room was dim. Cheng Jiaoniang looked outside and saw that it was not yet bright in the east.
"It doesn't matter," she said, "Banqin, I'm going to get up."
The maid responded and rolled up the curtain, while Cheng Jiaoniang entered the clean room by herself.
The maid turned on the lights in the room and warmed a glass of water on the small brick stove. After doing all this, she couldn't help but look towards the clean room.
At the beginning, that girl had told her that she should take good care of this lady because she was ill and had difficulty moving. Unexpectedly, in the past few days since she came, she had not been asked to dress, wash, comb her hair or even cook. It was all up to that lady.
Come alone.
This doesn't sound like a physical illness, except that he doesn't like to talk.
Oh, but that girl is right about one thing. This lady likes to name her maid Banqin.
She arrived at the Cheng family first, and then followed a Taoist nun named Sun. She later found out that the Taoist nun named Sun was the temple owner of the Xuanmiao Temple at the foot of the mountain and had a good relationship with the Cheng family.
This wife of the Cheng family was raised in Taiping Palace and was mostly taken care of by the Taoist nuns from Xuanmiao Temple.
I followed Sun Guanzhu to this lady. The lady looked at me for a moment, and the first thing she said was, do you have a name?
But for ordinary people, the rich have carefully chosen names, and the humble have simple pronouns. How could they not have names?
This lady is indeed ill and asked such silly things.
The maid has been instructed in advance on how to deal with it.
"The slave originally had a name, but that was a name that the lady didn't know, so the slave has no name," she said.
The corners of the mouth of the woman who looked a little dull in front of her curled up.
"How about I give you a name, Banqin?" she asked.
The door to the clean room opened, interrupting the maid's distraction. She quickly stood up and took the thick satin coat from the hanger and put it on Cheng Jiaoniang.
Cheng Jiaoniang sat down, took the water from the maid, and drank half the glass slowly.
"Madam, do you want to read or listen to a book?" the maid asked, picking up a book from the side.
"Listen." Cheng Jiaoniang said, sitting down on the couch.
"Yes." The maid said, sitting down on her knees and turning the pages of the book in front of the lamp.
"...The price of gas is only 100 yuan per catty. There are street signs in the alleys and lanterns hanging in Huanmen. From Longshan in the south to Beixinqiao in the north, there are lights for forty miles. There are millions of homes inside and outside the city, in the front streets and back alleys.
The same is true in remote alleys. The lanterns may be hung with jade grilles, silk, or paper lanterns, or they may be decorated with stories. You and I compete..." (Note 1)
A soft female voice sounded in the room. Cheng Jiaoniang leaned on her desk and listened carefully while writing on the table with her fingers.
"Slow down." She interrupted the maid occasionally.
The maid adjusted her speaking speed, and the two of them continued like this until the east was bright.
I have read this page seven or eight times.
Cheng Jiaoniang nodded towards the maid.
"Okay, that's enough." She said, sitting upright and rubbing her right hand.
The fingers are already red and may not take long to develop a thin layer of calluses.
"Madam, do you want to comb your hair?" The maid saw Cheng Jiaoniang picking up the comb on the side and hurriedly came over and asked, "I'll do it."
Cheng Jiaoniang was already combing her hair slowly.
"No need," she said.
Just listen to what the lady says, don't ask any more questions.
The maid thought of the girl's previous instructions. If it was just the girl's instructions, it would be fine. The old man also gave the same instructions.
This lady, leave her alone and do as you please.
The old lady thinks so highly of this lady, it's not just pity.
The maid stopped and watched the woman sitting in front of the screen combing her hair slowly. Her hair was well-kept, as thick and black as ink, and was never tied up. It hung loosely and was spread on the ground when she sat down, like brocade.
The furnishings of the house are simple. The place where the lady moves around is just a clean room, a couch and a table. There is basically no need to clean it up. There is only one book, which has been laid out. I brushed the water cup, put out the fire in the small brick stove, and the maid sat down.
I was where I was, not knowing what to do.
"There were two girls originally, but their horoscopes were not good and they were not good for the wife's health, so they were sent back."
When she met Guanzhu Sun at the Cheng family, she told herself this.
It is not good to be told by a Taoist nun that no one will dare to use these two girls in the future.
The maidservant comes from the Zhang family. She has read the calligraphy of Shu Shi and knows that in this world, light words can be as good as a murderous knife.
How did these two girls offend this Taoist nun?
But these have nothing to do with her. What she has to worry about is a sick woman who is raised alone and has only her own girl to take care of her. Wouldn't that mean she would be too busy to death?
Unexpectedly, he was so panicked.
It seemed like she was of no use except studying.
Cheng Jiaoniang quickly finished combing her hair and stood up.
"Madam, let me cook." The maid hurriedly said.
Cheng Jiaoniang looked at her and curled her lips.
"I'll do it," she said.
The maid followed a few steps with helplessness and anxiety, remembering the instructions and not daring to forcefully ask to stop her, until the lady who walked to the door said another word, completely shattering her self-esteem as a maid.
"Oh, what do you want to eat?" she asked.
"Madam." The maid hurriedly took a few steps, "These are the things that a maid should do. How can I deal with you like this? If I don't do anything, wouldn't I be a waste?"
Cheng Jiaoniang stopped.
"Yes." She seemed to think for a moment and smiled slightly, "It feels bad to be a waste, so okay, you do it."
The maid breathed a sigh of relief and felt the urge to shed tears of gratitude. She was finally able to do something. She was so happy.
At dawn, seven or eight riders appeared outside the gate of Jiangzhou City with two carriages.
There were two or three men and women waiting eagerly at the gate of the city. When they saw this group of people again, they were overjoyed.
"Guanshi Cao." They hurriedly greeted him.
The leader of the horse, a middle-aged man, reined in the horse.
"You are here," he said, looking back at the man beside him, "Four Masters, these are our housekeepers at the Cheng family."
This is Chen Shao's brother, the fourth master of the Chen family. Chen Shao could not come in person, so to show his solemnity, his brother came in person to seek medical treatment for his father.
Fourth Master Chen nodded and looked towards the city with some anxiety.
"Then let's go to Cheng's house quickly." He said, looking back at his entourage, "Are the gifts ready?"
The followers responded in unison.
"Wait a minute." Manager Cao quickly stopped him and said.
Fourth Master Chen frowned.
"Manager Cao, you are so slow. Dr. Li said that we can only hold on for two months. It will take more than a month for us to go back and forth. If we encounter another accident..." he said urgently.
"I know, I know." Manager Cao said hurriedly, comforting him while looking at the men and women, "Do you know where the lady is?"
Several men and women looked at each other. They suddenly received a call this morning saying that someone was coming to the house. They thought it was because the family disliked their poor performance and came to help, so they came over in a hurry. Unexpectedly, it was the lady who asked.
Which lady?
*********************
Note 1: Excerpted from "The Prosperity Record of the Old Man in West Lake" (to be continued)
