Wei Tu stopped in his tracks at the door.
He pulled back his right foot, which had been suspended in the air as he stepped over the threshold, and turned around to look at the maid kneeling in the hall.
It was already evening. The oil lamp in the hall stood on a side table near the south wall, right beside Li Yaozu and his wife. The light shone through their robes and hairpins, casting a massive shadow that stretched from the table all the way to the threshold outside, covering the weeping maid kneeling on the floor.
After stopping, Wei Tu stepped onto the shadow on the floor tiles and walked back into the living room, standing beside the maid without saying a word.
Having been in the Li residence for many years, Wei Tu was familiar with all the maids and servants. Even without seeing their faces, he could generally guess who someone was just by their stature.
If this maid were merely an acquaintance, he would have turned around and left immediately, as was common with such trivial matters in wealthy households.
He did not yet have the strength to challenge the social order.
But as for Caixia…
No matter what, he found it difficult to take that step, to choose to ignore the situation and leave the Li residence’s living room.
Although Caixia’s kindness toward him was not enough to make him "go to war" with the Li family, it was enough to make him stand up for her.
Back then.
If not for Caixia’s warning, which prompted him to redeem his own indenture early, he would not have avoided Li Yaozu’s "trouble."
At this moment, he might have already turned to banditry, hiding in the mountains as a cutthroat.
Or even—
His head might have already fallen, dying miserably under the blades of government soldiers.
...
"Why did he come back?"
In the living room of the Li residence, Li Yaozu and his wife felt deeply conflicted upon seeing Wei Tu standing beside Caixia. They did not know how to continue handling this "small matter."
Although the law of the Zheng Kingdom strictly prohibited masters from molesting their maids, the penalty for such an offense was merely a small amount of silver. Therefore, in the eyes of Li Yaozu and his wife, the so-called law was nothing more than a scrap of paper.
According to custom.
After such an incident, Li Tong-shi, as the mistress, would reprimand Li Xingye a few times, punish him by confining him to reflect on his mistakes, and then compensate Caixia with some money; that would be the end of it.
If the two of them were so inclined, they could even have Li Xingye secretly take Caixia into his chambers, which would also be acceptable.
But the trouble now was that Wei Tu had stood up for Caixia. Even if he hadn't spoken, his stance was clear.
Wei Tu’s own strength, combined with the backing of Shan Wuju and the Huang family in the county seat, forced Li Yaozu and his wife to carefully consider how to provide a perfect answer to both Wei Tu and Caixia.
"Caixia, what is done is done. Even if I, your mistress, were to scold Xingye further... it would be of no use."
"State your request, and I will consider it at my discretion."
A moment later, Li Tong-shi finally spoke in the quiet yet tense living room.
"Aside from the position of Xingye’s legal wife, which I cannot give you, I will consider anything else."
She added this as a caveat.
Caixia was Li Yaozu’s personal maid. Although Li Yaozu had never touched her under her supervision, the title existed. Having Li Xingye take Caixia as a concubine would go against ritual and propriety, making it highly inappropriate.
By saying she shouldn't covet the position of legal wife, she was actually warning Caixia not to think about becoming Li Xingye’s concubine, which would make things difficult for her.
"Caixia..."
Caixia’s weeping stopped. She pressed her lips together, uttered these two words, and then fell silent again.
"Mother, she’s just a maid. Father doesn't use her anyway, and I haven't taken a wife yet. Taking her into my chambers is no big deal," Li Xingye interjected, rubbing his sleepy eyes.
Hearing this.
Caixia seemed to have made a decision. She looked up at Wei Tu first, then turned her gaze to Li Tong-shi and said, "This servant asks for the mistress's mercy: grant me my freedom and provide me with gold to return to my hometown."
"That is all?" Li Tong-shi was somewhat incredulous, her face showing surprise at the request.
If Wei Tu hadn't stood up for her, this request would have been considered extremely excessive, and she wouldn't have even considered agreeing to it.
A master choosing to favor a maid was a form of grace; after all, everything a maid owned belonged to the master.
But things were different now. Li Tong-shi had already prepared herself to be extorted by Caixia.
Giving up a little money to keep the family scandal from spreading was exactly what a mistress should do.
Once the scandal spread, it would not only affect the Li family’s reputation in the village but also hinder Li Xingye’s path in the imperial examinations.
"I hope the mistress will grant this."
Caixia kowtowed twice.
"Since your mind is made up, I will grant your request," Li Tong-shi said, feeling a sense of relief.
Before long.
Li Tong-shi brought out a lacquered wooden tray from the inner hall, on which sat two ingots of silver and an unsealed envelope.
"These two ingots are each five taels, totaling ten taels of silver. Keep them well."
"Inside the envelope is your indenture, as well as a letter of manumission written by the master..."
Li Tong-shi said, word by word.
"Thank you, Mistress."
Caixia continued to kowtow, her face showing gratitude.
Seeing this, Wei Tu felt there was no need for him to stay. He sighed inwardly and prepared to leave.
Everyone has their own choices.
In his view, Caixia’s choice was not bad—getting her indenture back and ten taels of silver, rather than staying in the Li residence.
With her freedom and money, as long as her parents weren't scoundrels, Caixia could have a decent life ahead of her...
However—
Just when everyone thought the matter was settled, Caixia suddenly stood up.
She rose, walked quickly to take the two ingots of silver from the lacquered tray, and said, "Mistress, Sister Xinghua and I have always been close. She has helped me a great deal in this house. I would like to use these ten taels of silver to redeem Sister Xinghua’s indenture. I wonder if the mistress would allow it?"
As her voice fell.
Every eye in the living room turned toward Wei Tu, who was standing beside Caixia.
Xinghua was Wei Tu’s wife.
For Caixia to redeem Xinghua’s indenture, and for the Li residence to return it, there was no way to bypass the man standing before them...
Li Yaozu and his wife looked at Wei Tu, wanting to see his reaction.
They knew full well that with Wei Tu’s current status and standing, if he had wanted to borrow money to redeem Xinghua’s indenture, he could have done so half a year ago.
The reason he hadn't was not because he had forgotten his wife, but because borrowing money to redeem her would have meant owing a debt of gratitude too heavy to bear.
Now, Caixia wanting to use her money to redeem Xinghua’s indenture from the Li residence was undoubtedly an act of kindness toward Wei Tu.
However.
To the disappointment of Li Yaozu and his wife, Wei Tu seemed to tacitly approve of this, remaining silent after hearing Caixia’s request.
"Redeeming an indenture requires the consent of the person involved..." Li Yaozu said, carefully choosing his words, looking for a way to refuse.
—He still wanted to use Xinghua to manipulate Wei Tu. If Caixia redeemed her, the debt of gratitude would fall entirely on Caixia.
"A wife follows her husband."
"On this, I, Wei, consent on Xinghua’s behalf."
At this moment, Wei Tu spoke.