Chapter 41: Caixia's Decision (Please add to favorites and follow for updates)

Wei Tu halted before the doorway.

He retracted his right foot, which had been suspended in mid-air as he stepped over the threshold, turned around, and looked toward the maid kneeling in the hall.

It was already evening. An oil lamp stood on a half-table near the southern wall inside the hall, beside Li Yaozu and his wife—the light filtered through their robes and hairpins, casting massive shadows that stretched from the table all the way to the threshold outside, covering the kneeling, weeping maid.

After stopping, Wei Tu stepped through the shadows on the floor tiles and moved back into the living room, standing beside the maid without saying a word.

Having lived in the Li residence for many years, Wei Tu was very familiar with the Li family's maids and servants; even without seeing their faces, he could roughly guess who they were just by their silhouettes.

Had this maid been a mere acquaintance, he would have turned around and left immediately at the sight of such a common occurrence in wealthy households.

He did not yet possess the strength to challenge the social order.

But Caixia’s words...

No matter what, he found it difficult to take that step of choosing to ignore it and leaving the Li residence.

While Caixia’s kindness was not enough to make him "wage war" against the Li family, it was more than enough to make him stand up for her.

Back then, if not for Caixia’s warning, which had prompted him to redeem his own indenture early and avoid Li Yaozu’s "outburst," he would likely be a bandit hiding in the mountains by now.

Or perhaps—

His head would have already fallen, and he would have died a tragic death under the blades of the government soldiers.

...

"Why has he come back?"

Inside the Li residence's living room, Li Yaozu and his wife felt a surge of inner conflict upon seeing Wei Tu standing beside Caixia, unsure of how to continue handling this "minor matter."

The mistreatment of a maid by the master of the house was strictly forbidden by the laws of the State of Zheng, but even after violating these laws, the punishment was merely a fine. Thus, in the eyes of Li Yaozu and his wife, the so-called laws were nothing more than scraps of paper.

Under normal circumstances, after such an incident, Lady Li would, as the mistress, scold Li Xingye a few times, punish him with confinement to reflect on his actions, and then compensate Caixia with some money to let the matter pass.

If the two were inclined, it would also be feasible to have Li Xingye secretly take Caixia into his chambers.

But the trouble now was that Wei Tu had stood up for Caixia; even though he hadn't spoken, his attitude had made his position clear.

Wei Tu’s own strength, along with the influence of the martial scholar Shan and the Huang family of the county town, forced Li Yaozu and his wife to carefully consider how to provide a perfect response to both Wei Tu and Caixia.

"Caixia, what has happened has happened. No matter how much I... reprimand Xingye, it will not change the outcome..."

"State your request, and I will consider it and grant it as I see fit."

After a moment, Lady Li finally spoke in the quiet yet tense living room.

"Aside from the fact that I cannot give you the position of Xingye's primary wife, I will consider everything else."

She added a clarification.

Caixia was Li Yaozu's concubine-maid. Although Li Yaozu had not touched her under Lady Li's supervision, she held that status nonetheless. For Li Xingye to take Caixia as a concubine would violate ritual propriety and be highly inappropriate.

By telling Caixia not to covet the position of primary wife, she was actually reminding her not to think about becoming Li Xingye's concubine, which would make things difficult for her.

"Caixia..."

Caixia’s sobbing stopped. She pursed her lips tightly, and after uttering those two words, she fell silent again.

"Mother, she's just a maid, and Father doesn't use her anyway. I happen to not be married yet, so taking her into my house isn't a 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 Lady Li and said, "This servant requests the Mistress's mercy to grant me my freedom and provide gold to return to my village."

"Is that all?" Lady Li asked, looking somewhat incredulous and surprised by the request.

Had Wei Tu not stood up for her, Caixia's request would have been extremely excessive, and Lady Li wouldn't have even considered agreeing.

For a master to favor a maid was a grace bestowed upon her, as everything a maid possessed belonged to the master.

But this time was different; Lady Li was already prepared to be extorted by Caixia.

Sacrificing a little money to prevent family scandals from spreading was what a mistress ought to do.

Once a family scandal went public, 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, then I shall grant it," Lady Li said, feeling a sense of relief.

A moment later, Lady Li brought out a lacquer tray from the inner hall. On it were two silver ingots and an unsealed envelope.

"These two ingots are each full five taels, totaling ten taels of silver. Keep them safe."

"Inside the envelope is your indenture, as well as the letter of redemption written by the Master for you..." Lady Li said, word by word.

"Thank you, Mistress."

Caixia continued to kowtow, her face filled with gratitude.

Seeing this, Wei Tu saw no further need to stay. He sighed inwardly and prepared to step away.

Everyone has their own choices.

In his view, Caixia's choice was not bad; she had secured her indenture and ten taels of silver instead of staying in the Li residence.

With her freedom and money, as long as her parents back home were not ruffians, Caixia would have a decent life...

However—

Just as everyone thought the matter was settled, Caixia suddenly stood up.

She rose, quickly took the two silver ingots from the lacquer tray, and said, "Mistress, Sister Xinghua and I have always been close. Sister Xinghua has helped me greatly in this household. I wish to use these ten taels to redeem Sister Xinghua's indenture. I wonder if the Mistress will allow it?"

As her words fell, everyone's gaze in the living room turned toward Wei Tu, who was standing beside Caixia.

Xinghua was Wei Tu's wife.

Whether Caixia redeemed Xinghua's indenture or the Li residence released it, no matter what, it could not bypass the man standing before them...

Hearing this, Li Yaozu and his wife looked at Wei Tu, wanting to see his reaction.

They knew well that with Wei Tu's current status and position, if he had wanted to borrow money to redeem Xinghua's indenture, he could have done so six months ago.

The reason he hadn't redeemed her was not that he had forgotten his wife of many years, but because the debt of gratitude incurred by borrowing money to redeem a wife was simply too great.

Now, Caixia wanting to use money to redeem Xinghua's indenture was undoubtedly performing an act of kindness for Wei Tu.

However, to the disappointment of Li Yaozu and his wife, Wei Tu seemed to tacitly permit this; he remained silent after hearing Caixia speak.

"Redeeming an indenture requires the consent of the person involved..." Li Yaozu began, searching for words to refuse.

He had hoped to use Xinghua to manipulate Wei Tu; if Caixia redeemed her, all the gratitude would fall upon Caixia instead.

"A wife follows her husband."

"On this point, I, Wei, consent on behalf of Xinghua," Wei Tu spoke up.