Chapter 12: A Faint Thought

His father was a young master of a Count's manor, proficient in eating, drinking, and playing, but utterly ignorant of government affairs—a pure loafer. It went without saying that promotion was impossible; he might even be demoted. As emperors changed from one generation to the next, the status of the Ding'an Count's manor declined day by day.

His mother was in poor health and a muddled household manager. The meager family assets her father had been allocated had been squandered over the years, and they had begun to subsist on her dowry. With so many sisters in the family, looking at the families proposed by her two elder sisters, although they appeared to be local prominent clans, how could they compare to the powerful nobility of the capital?

She had been born in a different locality and had only returned two or three times, but those few visits were enough for her to envy the life of a Count's daughter.

She finally managed to persuade her parents to send her back, only to find that the life of a Count's daughter wasn't all that great either.

Setting aside the fact that her treatment was different from the Count's actual daughters, even the daily life within the Ding'an Count's manor was merely glamorous on the surface.

This became even more apparent once she became the adopted daughter of the Marchioness of Dongyang and experienced the food, clothing, and amenities within the Marquis of Dongyang's manor.

Despite the Marquis of Dongyang's ancestors coming from ordinary backgrounds, it was precisely because they were ordinary that they had accumulated their family wealth; their life was truly quite good.

Lu Jin's thoughts wandered as she walked, when suddenly, the sound of footsteps approached from ahead, and four or five dark shadows collided with her.

Cui'er leaned down to hold the lamp and was caught off guard by a kick. With an "aiyo," she collapsed to the ground, and the lamp rolled away.

The colliding shadows were also startled and began kicking indiscriminately.

"What is this! How dare you frighten this young master!"

Cui'er let out a miserable scream from the kicks.

"Brother Wenjie," Lu Jin hurriedly raised her voice to call out, "It's me."

The dark shadows stopped their kicking. One stepped forward, using the fallen lantern on the ground to see Lu Jin's face clearly, and Lu Jin also saw his.

This was the Count of Ding'an's fourth son, Lu Wenjie. He was eighteen years old this year and looked almost identical to the Count, with a round, chubby face. However, even the dim lamplight could not hide his swollen eyelids; his face lacked any youthful vitality.

Lu Wenjie squinted and looked at her, seemingly thinking for a moment before recognizing her: "Ah, Sister Ajin." He then frowned in dissatisfaction, "What are you doing in the middle of the night!"

Lu Jin said with a smile, "I just returned from my uncle and aunt's place; they were discussing some matters with me."

Hearing the word "uncle," Lu Wenjie became slightly nervous and muttered, "What could a woman possibly have to discuss with you?" Having said that, he straightened his back. "Move aside quickly, I have important business to attend to."

He prepared to walk past.

Lu Jin called out to him, "Brother, wait a moment."

Lu Wenjie turned back and glared, "What! It's not your place to manage me!"

Lu Jin leaned down, picked up a small box from the ground, and held it out toward him. "Brother, you dropped something."

Lu Wenjie froze, hurriedly snatched it, and stuffed it into his bosom. He spat at the kneeling Cui'er on the ground, "You caused this young master to drop his things. I'll settle the score with you when I get back."

With that, he turned and strode away. Two servants followed behind him with hunched shoulders, whispering in dissuasion, "Young Master, perhaps we shouldn't go." "That is the piece of chicken-blood stone the Old Madam loves most; what will we do if you lose it?" This was met with a spit from Lu Wenjie. "Stop talking such jinxes. This young master will definitely win today." "Everything belonging to Grandmother is mine; I'm just using it in advance." Their low, murmuring voices faded into the night.

Lu Jin stood in place, watching them go, her expression disdainful under the dim light.

A son of the Count's manor stole things from his grandmother's room, yet no one in the family knew—or rather, even if they knew, no one cared.

The brothers of this generation were even worse than the previous one.

Each generation was worse than the last.

One could only imagine what the future of the Count's manor would look like.

She would have to rely on her uncle's influence with the Emperor as soon as possible to secure her a status as a high-ranking concubine. Of course, who said she would be a concubine for the rest of her life?

A gift from the Emperor, born of the Ding'an Count's manor, and favored by her mother-in-law—if the legal wife died in the future, could she not be elevated to the primary position?

Besides, to Zhou Jingyun, she was currently an outsider and treated her with distance. But as a concubine in the future, she would be the person by his side. A person by his side is naturally different.

So, the key was to enter the household and become someone close to Zhou Jingyun.

Oh, as for how Zhou Jingyun's current wife might die...

Lu Jin pursed her lips. It was inevitable for people to fall ill from eating the grains of the earth; and when one falls ill, it is inevitable that treatment might be too late. If a lady of a Count's manor like the Third Sister could fall ill and pass away, then an orphan of low birth could certainly do the same.

It all depended on human effort.

"Miss..." Yaoqin's voice sounded beside her.

Lu Jin jolted slightly and snapped back to reality.

"Let's go quickly," Yaoqin whispered. "The Old Madam sleeps early."

Once the Old Madam was asleep, the matrons and maids liked to slack off, making them even more difficult to command.

Lu Jin turned around and almost stepped on someone with an "aiyo"—it turned out Cui'er was still sprawled on the ground.

"Truly blind," Yaoqin scolded, reaching out to pull Cui'er up. "Stop playing dead and hurry up and pick up the lamp."

Cui'er responded with repeated, tearful affirmations, groping around for the lantern.

The lantern that had fallen to the ground was already broken and was slowly self-combusting. Lu Jin frowned and shook her head. "Forget it, no need."

She glanced at Cui'er, who was lying on the ground.

"Get up. We can go back on our own."

Thinking of something else, she signaled to Yaoqin.

"Give her the gift sent by Lady Zhuang."

Having said that, she smiled at Cui'er.

"Thank you for your hard work."

Cui'er was both surprised and delighted, thanking her repeatedly. Lu Jin and Yaoqin had already passed her and were moving forward.

"We'll bring it to you in a moment," Yaoqin tossed back a sentence.

After returning, they went to see the Count's wife, and the items brought back from the Marquis of Dongyang's manor were sent to the rooms by the matrons.

Cui'er kowtowed again in thanks, watching the two disappear into the night. The lamp on the ground was about to burn out. Cui'er picked up the remaining carrying pole; she still had to go back and report, hoping her elder sister wouldn't scold her too harshly.

She stood up slowly, feeling a sharp pain in her abdomen. She figured it was from being kicked by Young Master Wenjie just now.

Cui'er recovered for a long while, pressing her hand to her abdomen, walking back slowly with a hunched posture.

After handing in the pole, she was lectured by the senior maids. By the time she returned to the servants' quarters, the night was deep.

In the cramped room, Xiang'er, a fellow young maid, was washing her hair.

"Cui'er," she greeted, "You haven't eaten yet, have you? I saved some for you."

When she had been called to fetch people, it was exactly the time the lower-ranking maids ate. She had rushed off with her rice bowl without taking a single bite, and now she was famished, but she couldn't worry about eating right now.

"Sister Xiang'er, I bumped into something and my stomach hurts terribly. Do you have any ointment I could apply?" Cui'er asked.

Xiang'er walked over, clutching her hair. "Let me see."

Cui'er stood before the oil lamp on the table and lifted her clothes, revealing a bruise on her abdomen.

Xiang'er's expression was complicated. This wasn't a bump; it was clearly a kick. But, sigh, so be it. For lower-ranking maids like them, being kicked by their masters was a result of their own poor service—it was their own fault.

"I'll have my godmother come take a look in a bit," she said. "She's very good at this. Don't worry, she has ointment."

Cui'er breathed a sigh of relief and thanked her repeatedly. As the two were speaking, a maid stood at the door and called out, "Cui'er, Sister Yaoqin has something to reward you with."

Ignoring the pain, Cui'er hurried to accept it with thanks. The maid, already impatient, dropped the box and ran off.

The surrounding maids heard this and expressed their envy. "Miss Jin is so kind; she's always being rewarded for serving her."

Cui'er kowtowed toward the direction where Lu Jin was, then carried the box back into the room.

"What is it?" Xiang'er asked curiously.

Cui'er picked up the box, placed it on the table, and opened it, revealing a lotus bud inside.

"What is this!" Xiang'er said in disappointment. "You can't eat it or drink it." As she spoke, she felt the box. "This box might be worth a few coins. I'll have my godmother sell it and exchange it for money for you."

Cui'er thanked her and took out the lotus bud. "I think it's quite nice. I like flowers very much."

She looked at the fresh bud and even found a broken porcelain vase, filled it with water, and placed it by her bedside.

"It'll wither in a couple of days," Xiang'er said dismissively, returning to washing her hair.

...

...

The night grew thick, and the servants' quarters gradually returned to silence as the exhausted servants fell into a deep sleep.

But from Cui'er's side, there came the sound of rustling as she tossed and turned, along with continuous moans.

"Cui'er?" Xiang'er looked at Cui'er on the bed and couldn't help but call out.

Cui'er's eyes were closed, her face pale as she slept heavily, letting out unconscious moans.

Xiang'er tentatively touched Cui'er's forehead; it was burning hot, like fire. She recoiled a few steps in fright.

Recalling the look on her godmother's face after she had visited earlier, Xiang'er's own expression turned grim.

"I'm afraid it's not good; the injury might have affected her internals," her godmother had whispered to her. "If the fever breaks, she'll pull through. Otherwise..."

Thinking of her godmother's shaking head, Xiang'er shuddered. Looking at the unconscious Cui'er on the bed, she swallowed hard and couldn't help but grab her quilt and run out.

She didn't want to sleep in a room with a dead person; she would rather squeeze into another room.

With one less person, the room felt even more desolate and eerie, and Cui'er's moans on the bed grew fainter and fainter.

After an unknown amount of time, in the darkness, the lotus bud in the broken porcelain vase by the bedside slowly bloomed.

The fresh, pinkish-white petals emitted a soft light like moonlight. The swaying, spreading glow enveloped the unconscious young maid on the bed.