The Little Bedmaid Just Wants to Get By - Chapter 2
“Shut up!” Butler Feng bellowed at her. “Another word and I’ll rip off your skin!”
The maid immediately covered her mouth.
“Somebody, seize them both. The rest of you stay where you are.”
“Yes!”
The butler left, the two maids dragged along behind him. Guan Yuan heaved a sigh of relief. She could not resist asking Mu Hui, “Who would be so daring as to poke the hornet’s nest?”
Mu Hui shook her head. “Who cares, you should be worried about yourself. Who knows where you’ll get assigned to.”
“Where do you want to go?”
Mu Hui raised her eyes to glance at the house, obviously unhappy. “I haven’t decided.”
Again, she asked Shui Ling, who answered unreservedly, “Of course it’s the First Master’s court. One day he’s going to be in charge of the family. The earlier I get there and get a proper job, the more certain my future will be.”
Guan Yuan shook her head. “Serving these young masters is too exhausting. I want to go to the Grand Lady’s court, work leisurely until I’m twenty, then get released and live my own life.“
Shui Ling turned her charming tapered eyes to her. “When you leave, you have your good gege* to take care of you. When single ladies like us leave, we have to endure poverty and harassment. I would rather stay here. Even if I’m a servant, I don’t have to worry about food or clothing. Much better than outside.”
Guan Yuan recalled that her gege promised that he would buy a small house when she left, and they would live out the rest of their days peacefully as family. Her heart felt warm, and she could not hold back her smile. “That’s true. It doesn’t matter where we are, as long as we live well.”
As they spoke, the Lord emerged together with the Lady, the Second Master, and a throng of maids.
Lord Dou’s gaze swept over the servants in the court. To Lady Zhen, he said, “I’ll leave it to you to deal with these. If any unsavory talk spreads out from this court again, I can only hold you responsible as the woman of the house.”
Lady Zhen paled. Since becoming the legal wife, the Lord had never spoken to her like this in front of the servants before. Seeing that he was truly livid, she hurriedly said, “Don’t worry, my Lord, I was too lenient before. Something like this won’t happen again.”
Lord Dou harrumphed as he left, flicking his sleeves.
Lady Zhen turned to Dou Zhao somewhat awkwardly. “Since it’s like this, Bi Xin can stay behind as a first class maid and oversee the duties in your court with Guan Hai. Let’s also leave behind four second class maids to serve you, and replace the rest of the lower-ranked servants, so that the old and new staff don’t form cliques and cause trouble. How does that sound?”
Dou Zhao replied lazily, “As long as they serve me well, my lady can arrange it however you want.”
There wasn’t much of a reaction to his words. Only Mu Hui furrowed her eyebrows and stared at him with teary eyes.
Dou Zhao was one of the most beautiful men in the upper city. His features were a work of art, his deep eyes seemed to contain the galaxy. Today, he wore a white tapered-sleeve robe with silver embroidered flowers and floating patterns, and his lustrous black hair was pinned up with a white jade hairpin. It accentuated his height, and made him look devastatingly handsome.
This was the Second Master that she had served for five years. She had cared for this pin and this robe with her own two hands. How could he replace them all so easily?
Guan Yuan, however, was in a completely different state of mind. She had served the Second Master for even longer. She started working for him when she was six. It had been a whole ten years since then. Although it was thanks to him that she managed to escape from the filthy scullery, she had suffered enough over the years because of him. Especially in the last few years, it seemed that everything she did was wrong. Even the way she breathed was wrong. It was as if he would feel uneasy if he couldn’t find at least one thing wrong with her everyday.
She had truly had enough of these anxious days. Her heart felt light as a feather. She just hoped that the Lady would assign her to the Grand Lady’s court.
At this moment, Granny Zhao, who was standing next to Lady Zhen, opened her mouth. “Second Master, you should address her as mother instead. Others will laugh at you if you act this way.”
Dou Zhao’s face froze over. He stared straight at her. “What did you say?”
Granny Zhao hastily slapped her mouth while smiling. “Aiyo, this old woman has spoken out of turn. Don’t be angry, Second Master, it’s just the small worry of an old woman.”
Dou Zhao’s face cracked into a smirk. “Is that so? Why don’t I address you that way as well?”
Horrified, Granny Zhao fell to her knees. “You’re tormenting this old woman! Your old servant knows her mistake and will never bring this up again. Please let go of this old servant just once, Second Master!”
Lady Zhen smiled. “Let’s leave this here. She’s said too much as well. I don’t mind if you call me mother or not, all is well as long as Zhao-er** is well, and Song jiejie below doesn’t begrudge me.”
Dou Zhao wanted to make a few more scathing remarks when the doorman reported, “The Grand Lady has arrived.“
They hurriedly descended the steps to welcome her.
Dou Zhao supported Grand Lady Dou with both hands. “Why are you here, grandmother?”
The Grand Lady was advanced in age, and had gotten plump in her late years. She was panting heavily after walking for just a while. Two maids brushed her back to ease her breathing, but it still took her a while to catch her breath. “I heard that you were replacing your maids. I happen to have trained a few quite satisfactorily. I’ll give them to you as well.”
Do Zhao said, “There’s no need, if you find them satisfactory, then you should keep them for yourself. The Lady has already sent some people to me, so grandmother need not worry.”
The Grand Lady shook her head. “That won’t do, if you replace them all, and there’s nobody meticulous to care for you, how could I not worry?”
Thus, she called out, “Cai Ju and the rest, come over here.”
The four girls standing behind walked forward neatly to greet Dou Zhao. “This servant greets the Second Master.”
Dou Zhao frowned involuntarily. His gaze shifted from the four maids to the five maids left behind by Lady Zhen, then inadvertently to the maids who were originally part of his court.
As his gaze shifted, he saw Guan Yuan standing right in front, staring at him with her large, watery eyes, her face brimming with agitation and anticipation.
She looked like a bunch of grapes under the morning light, full of juice and bursting with sunshine…Dou Zhao was a bit annoyed. He had clearly let her get tanned, how could she still be so eye-catching?
Meeting her master’s eyes, Guan Yuan was so stunned that she lowered her head and did not dare to look up.
Dou Zhao harrumphed coldly. I thought she was good at acting. In the end, she still can’t bear to leave this place.
In line with his thoughts, he chided out loud, “Are you all dead? Why are you just standing around? Hurry and prepare some tea for the Grand Lady.”
Forget it, since she was pitiful, he would keep her around for a few more years.
Ever since the Grand Lady arrived, Guan Yuan’s heart was in her throat. She heard that the Grand Lady’s court was the most laid back in the entire Dou manor. As long as you didn’t have to serve her personally, she didn’t care if the maids in the court lazed around and gambled. She had been envious of them for a long time. Since the Grand Lady had given out four people, she would need to take at least two back. Her chance of returning with the Grand Lady had increased significantly.
She was overjoyed, her gaze darting between the Grand Lady and the gorgeous maids. Indeed, every one of those maidens were thinner and fairer than her. Even she liked them. She wondered which one the Second Master would fancy.
As she wondered, she couldn’t resist sneaking a glance at Dou Zhao to see if there were any hints.
But the moment she turned her gaze to him, she realised that he happened to be looking over as well. She was stupefied for a long while before she could react. She lowered her head quickly, not daring to look any more. Then came Dou Zhao’s command, “Hurry and prepare some tea for the Grand Lady!”
Guan Yuan was in charge of tea making. Once she heard the words ‘prepare some tea’, her conditioned response was, “Yes, right away, master.”
But she immediately came to the realisation that, at this time in the morning, the water wouldn’t have been boiled yet. From the Lady’s bearing, it looked like she wanted to resolve this immediately. By the time she finished boiling the water and preparing the tea, there wouldn’t be any good assignments left for her.
This wouldn’t do. She had prayed to the stars and moon for this day, she couldn’t just miss out on it in such a muddle-headed way.
She gathered her courage, intending to divert the task to one of the new maids, but Mu Hui cut in and said, “I will go with her, to watch the stove.” Without waiting for a response, and ignoring Guan Yu’s resisting eyes, she shoved her out.
Dou Zhao waited for them to leave before continuing, “Your grandson understands your good intentions, grandmother, but the Lady has already given me five maids. I want to keep some of my old ones as well. If you give me another four, even if we ignore the fact that we can’t fit all of them in my court, it’s not proper. Even your court doesn’t have that many staff, so how could your grandson?”
Lady Zhen approached to offer her greetings, and smiled. “That’s right. My lady should keep the maids that you so painstakingly trained. The ones that I sent over are enough for Zhao-er.”
Grand Lady Dou surveyed Bi Xin and the other maids. After a pause, she said, “Then let’s do this. I’ll leave two of my best behind. As for yours, don’t give them all to him. Just leave the first class and two second class ones. Then we’ll let him choose two of his own maids. It would be more convenient since they already know where everything is.”
Lady Zhen smiled in response. “That works, we’ll do as the Grand Lady says.”
Satisfied, the Grand Lady held Dou Zhao’s hand and started nagging. “Zhao-er, you need to listen to your elders this time. If you don’t like any of them, I’ll find more for you. And don’t put off your marriage any more. You can’t really…”
She stopped speaking and looked at Lady Zhen. “As his mother, you mustn’t laze around. Starting tomorrow, you must start looking for every noble lady who is of a suitable age. How can a mother be like you? Your son is already grown, yet you aren’t anxious at all.”
Lady Zhen lowered her head guiltily. “Yes, mother is right. Your daughter-in-law will begin preparations immediately.”
After a thought, she smiled again. “Speaking of which, Zhao-er is really popular. Why, in just the past two years, I can’t even count how many families have come by to ask about him. I’ve asked the Lord for his opinion on each of them. If Zhao-er is willing, I can bring him to Duke Gao’s manor tomorrow. He has a daughter whose age is…”
“My Lady, are you trying to just marry me off to some random person again? Like you would to one of your maids?” Dou Zhao interrupted her sarcastically.
Lady Zhen smiled awkwardly and did not reply.
Grand Lady Dou sighed. “Forget it, fate can only be determined by the heavens. Don’t be anxious, Zhao-er. Let’s deal with this rotten rumour first. As for you, you should do your role as a mother and find some good families. We’ll let Zhao-er choose for himself.”
“Yes, your daughter-in-law understands.” Lady Zhen agreed respectfully.
Seeing that the matter was settled, Grand Lady Dou claimed that she was tired. Ignoring Dou Zhao’s requests for her to stay for tea, she left the court with her servants, leaving Cai Ju and Cai Mei behind.
After sending off Grand Lady Dou, Lady Zhen returned and picked out Bi Xin, Xiang Tao, and Xiang Xin. She handed them to Dou Zhao. “The five of them will serve you from now on. Who do you want to retain from your court?”
Dou Zhao said casually, “It doesn’t matter. Let’s keep the two that went to make tea.“
“Alright. We’ll demote them to third class maids. They shall remain outside and follow orders.””
Lady Zhen turned to speak to Bi Xin. “From now on, it’s your responsibility to lead the rest to serve Second Master well, do you understand?”
“Yes!” Bi Xin answered. Shrewdly, she said in a gentle tone, “Now that we have a new master, we should have new names. Would Second Master please bestow us names?”
Dou Zhao glanced at her, and gave a smile. “All my people have simple names. The day is hot and stuffy, without even a hint of a breeze. Why not have the four of them choose from the four winds: North, South, East, or West. As for you, as their head, what wind should we call you?”
Bi Xin paled. Lady Zhen glared at her. “Why are you showing off, girl? Bi Xin is such a good name. It was given by the Grand Lady, how could you change it so easily?”
Bi Xin took the chance to step down. “Ah, that’s right! I was so happy to see the Second Master that I forgot that this name was given by the Grand Lady. I can’t change it so casually.”
Dou Zhao harrumphed coldly, but did not push the matter. “If that’s the case, then just go with your original names. Does my Lady have any other business? Otherwise, allow me to take my leave.”
Lady Zhen smiled and replied. “There’s nothing else. I’m leaving now. Zhao-er should hurry and leave as well, you shouldn’t be late when tutoring the Crown Prince.”
Dou Zhao left without sparing her another glance, bringing Guan Hai with him.
Guan Yuan had put in a lot of effort to boil water and brew tea, but when she returned, she discovered that the crowd in the court had dispersed. Only Bi Xin remained, her face stern as she directed her underlings.
Guan Yuan felt her eye bags grow darker. She sat heavily on the steps.
It’s over, it’s over. She must have been an arsonist and a murderer in her past life, to be punished this way.
Mu Hui, however, was ecstatic. Her face eased into a smile. “That’s great! Does this mean we’re staying behind?”
Seeing them approach, Bi Xin signalled to Xiang Tao and Xiang Xin with her eyes. The two of them stepped forward to take the serving tray from their hands as they said arrogantly, “The two of you have already been demoted to third class maids. From now on, you’re only worthy of taking orders outside. You don’t need to wait on the master anymore.”
Demoted to third class maids?
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* Male form of ‘jiejie’, used to refer to an older male, can be translated as ‘older brother’, but blood relation is not necessary. Can be used by both male and female speakers.
** Adding -er to a name is a form of endearment. ‘Dou’ is Dou Zhao’s family name. His given name is just ‘Zhao’, which is why she calls him Zhao-er.
More character name meanings!
- Cai Ju: Gathering chrysanthemums ಸ‿ಸ
- Cai Mei: Gathering plums!
- Xiang Tao: Fragrant peach
- Xiang Xin: Fragrant almond