Green Mountain
Chapter 260 - 204, Xiao Man

Chapter 260: 204, Xiao Man

At 3 AM, it hadn’t yet dawned.

Before even the crowing of roosters commenced, the maids of Qunfang Garden were already chirping and giggling as they stepped out the door.

The Chen Mansion belonged to an official’s family, and the old master, Chen Liqin, had to leave for the government office at 5 AM before dawn, so the maids had no choice but to rise even earlier to boil water, sweep, and cook.

Hearing the bustling of the maids, Ji’s eyelids fluttered slightly, and he turned over to continue sleeping.

In the brief moment of turning over, Wu Yun fell off his chest. It quietly climbed back onto Ji, stuffed its paws under its body, and closed its eyes.

The Silver Silk Charcoal in the brazier had burned to white, only a gentle warmth slowly radiating, peaceful and quiet.

"Thud, thud, thud."

The sound of knocking came.

Ji sat up with some resignation, "Who is it?"

And then he muttered quietly, "What’s with all the trouble in this Chen Mansion? Some people don’t sleep and kneel at the door in the middle of the night, some don’t sleep and knock on the door early in the morning—is it some kind of conspiracy to torture a hawk?"

From outside the door came a crisp voice, "Young master, Open Door, it’s me, Xiao Man."

Ji was taken aback. Who was Xiao Man?

He got dressed and got up to open the door. With a creak, the door opened, revealing a young girl standing outside with a round face, delicate features, and two small canine teeth shown when she smiled, looking about sixteen or seventeen years of age.

Xiao Man held a copper basin in her hands, with a white cloth draped over the edge, and steam rising from the hot water within.

Ji stood doubtful within the threshold, "As I said yesterday, there’s no need for servants or maids in Mingquan Garden."

Xiao Man widened her eyes, "Young master, I had such a hard time convincing the old master to let me come back to serve you. I’ve served you for three years; are you going to dismiss me just like that?"

Ji scrutinized Xiao Man without betraying his emotions.

This girl before him was supposedly ’his’ maid from before... all the more reason she couldn’t remain.

At Taiping Medical Hall, it was his master and Li Qingniao who had smuggled him down from the Forty-nine Heavens, so it didn’t matter if he behaved differently than before.

But this was the Chen Mansion; if people started to notice the discrepancies, trouble could arise.

Xiao Man, carrying the basin, attempted to step inside, but Ji moved to the left, blocking the doorway, "You don’t need to serve me anymore. Go back."

Xiao Man stopped in her tracks and pleaded, "Young master, please show some kindness and let me continue to serve you. I could get a raise of 300 cents in monthly salary if I move up a rank."

Ji thought for a moment, "I’ll give you three taels of silver. Go back."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Man stubbornly pushed her way in with the basin held high. Just as the basin almost bumped into Ji, he sidestepped to avoid it.

The corners of Xiao Man’s mouth turned up slightly, a sly look flashing in her eyes.

With the basin in hand, she walked into the room, "Hurry and wash your face, young master. You still need to pay your respects to the old master and Lady later."

Ji frowned, the rules of the Chen Mansion were too many.

Xiao Man placed the copper basin on the rack and then turned to tidy up the bed. The young girl worked efficiently and swiftly folded the quilt neatly, stowing it away in the wooden cabinet.

At that moment, she saw Wu Yun lying on the windowsill and exclaimed with joy, "Ah, the cat!"

Xiao Man moved closer to pick up Wu Yun, but the cat contemptuously balled up its paws and thumped them onto the back of her hand.

"Ouch!" Xiao Man withdrew her hand in pain, yet she wasn’t angry and turned to look at Ji, "Young master, didn’t you use to dislike the cat? I wanted to adopt one for the yard before, but you wouldn’t allow it."

Ji felt somewhat of a headache and covered it up, "I like it now. In two years, people change."

He pondered inwardly, considering what excuse he could use to send this maid away. Being so familiar with him, she would inevitably discover the truth sooner or later.

Before he could come up with an excuse, Xiao Man was already looking at the ground, "Eh, Silver Silk Charcoal... Did the mansion finally agree to provide you with Silver Silk Charcoal?"

Ji hummed a response, "Brother Wenzong sent it."

Xiao Man suddenly sounded nostalgic, "Back in the day when we were in the Imperial Capital, the Housekeeper intentionally gave us trouble, delivering cheap bamboo charcoal to our room, and we got so smoked out we couldn’t even open our eyes. I went and had a big argument with him. Later on, after you were sent to the Medical Hall, I got demoted to a third-class maid, and he’s given me quite a hard time these past two years..."

As she spoke, the young girl’s voice carried a strangely adult timbre as she advised, "Young master, now that you’ve finally returned to the mansion, you mustn’t let others bully you like before."

Ji’s thoughts stirred; Xiao Man was considered an "old acquaintance" within the Chen family. Perhaps keeping her could help him understand the situation of the Chen family in the capital.

He found a chair to sit on and asked casually, "Do you want to follow me back to the capital?"

Xiao Man replied with a smile, "Have you forgotten? I told you I don’t want to go back to the capital. I’d rather stay in Luocheng City to avoid seeing the second branch of the Chen family’s faces every day. But since you’re returning, I must come and serve you."

Ji calculated the time—Xiao Man had been by ’his’ side for three years, two of which must have been spent in the big Chen mansion in the capital.

He inquired, "Do you remember Chen Yu?"

Xiao Man blinked, "Chen Yu? Of course, I remember. When we were in the big mansion, he and you were the only ones who associated with each other."

Ji was startled. Oh no!

When Bai Long asked whether he was acquainted with Chen Yu, he had said they ’weren’t close.’

The Ritual Supervision had eyes and ears everywhere and would certainly know the truth. At the time, Bai Long had looked at him deeply but did not call him out... How could he wriggle out of this?

But the question was, if Chen Yu was indeed close to him, why hadn’t he written even a letter? Could Mrs. Liang have intercepted them?

Meanwhile, Xiao Man fetched a broom from the corner of the room and silently started sweeping the floor.

Ji, watching her work, said, "Having been in Luocheng City for two years, I’ve almost forgotten what Chen Yu looks like."

Xiao Man chuckled, "How can you forget what Chen Yu looks like, young master? He’s quite handsome. Such looks are rare even in the Imperial Capital... albeit, still slightly inferior to you."

Chen Ji sighed helplessly, "There’s really no need to flatter me; I know what I look like."

Xiao Man breathed a sigh of relief, "As long as you’re aware."

Chen Ji: "..."

Xiao Man quickly added, "You’re not bad yourself, it’s just that compared to Chen Yu, you’re slightly less impressive."

Chen Ji pondered; his relationship with Xiao Man must have been very good when they were master and maid, allowing Xiao Man to speak so freely.

However, Bai Long had sent him to infiltrate the Chen family mainly to get close to this Chen Yu, yet Chen Ji had no impression of Chen Yu and didn’t know where to start.

After contemplating for a moment, Chen Ji said, "From now on, you’ll stay by my side, but there’s no need to serve me; just take good care of yourself. I’ve got hands and feet and can take care of myself."

While sweeping the floor, Xiao Man replied, "That won’t do, a maid has to do a maid’s work. Earning a monthly salary means doing the work; that’s how it should be."

Sitting in a chair, Chen Ji lightly tapped his fingers on the tea tray beside him and pondered for a while before asking, "Speaking of which, what happened to the things I left at the mansion during the two years I was away?"

Xiao Man’s expression tightened, "I didn’t take them!"

Chen Ji couldn’t help but smile wryly; what kind of reaction was that?

He asked, "I’m asking where those things ended up, were they thrown away?"

Xiao Man said, "Some were thrown away by the housekeeper and some were taken by Nanny Li."

Chen Ji was confused—who was Nanny Li, and when had the interpersonal relationships at Chen Mansion become so complex?

Carefully, he inquired, "Nanny Li... is she doing well?"

With a look of dejection, Xiao Man said, "Not very well. She suddenly started having fits of hysteria last year, always saying the Aunt died under mysterious circumstances, insisting she was harmed by someone."

Chen Ji’s fingertip tapping the tea tray halted.

It took him a long while to realize that the ’Aunt’ Xiao Man mentioned was his birth mother in this world.

Speaking softly, Xiao Man said, "Nanny Li mentioned that during a visit home, she went to offer incense at the Aunt’s grave. A landslide had crushed that plot of land, exposing the coffin, but there was no one inside. When she reported this back, the master reassured her and said he would send someone to check. However, the servant who was sent returned saying the Aunt’s burial plot was intact, suggesting Nanny Li had gone to the wrong place. Afterwards, no one believed anything Nanny Li said, and she slowly succumbed to hysteria."

Chen Ji’s pupils contracted, "Where is Nanny Li now?"

Xiao Man replied, "The Lady found her to be a lunatic and planned to sell her, but the master, remembering that she was your wet nurse, instead had her sent to a rural farmstead."

Chen Ji felt a surge of suspicion—had Nanny Li already been silenced by the Chen family?

And what of his birth mother—was she alive or dead?

If she were already dead, why would the Chen family bury an empty coffin? If she were alive, why had she left without saying goodbye?

And where could she be hiding now?

Chen Ji asked calmly, "Do you know which farmstead Nanny Li was sent to?"

Xiao Man shook her head, "I’m not sure."

Chen Ji wondered if Nanny Li could have been silenced by the Chen family.

Looking at Xiao Man, he realized he indeed needed to keep this maid around; the things she mentioned in passing were extremely important to him.

At that moment, the crowing of a rooster finally arose in Chen Mansion.

It was 5 to 7 AM.

Xiao Man glanced outside at the sky and urged, "Young master, hurry up and wash your face. You need to pay respects to the master and the Lady; if you break the rules, someone will find fault with you again."

Saying so, she dipped the white towel into the copper basin, wrung it out, and handed it to Chen Ji.

Chen Ji wiped his face and then walked out of the courtyard.

Xiao Man stood by the door on tiptoe and stealthily sized up Chen Ji’s retreating figure, making sure he was far enough away before hastily retracting her head and starting to rummage through the room.

She lifted the pillow and then the mattress, not sparing the space beneath the bed.

Undiscouraged, Xiao Man brought a chair over to the table, climbed up quietly, and tiptoed to peek at the beams above—nothing there either.

She put the chair back and paced around the room with her petite figure, muttering to herself, "Strange, where did the Young Master hide the silver? Could it be exchanged for Buddhist Treasure and carried on his person? But there’s no Buddhist Treasure on his wrist."

Wu Yun lay silently on the windowsill watching her. When Xiao Man turned and caught Wu Yun’s gaze, she felt a sudden inexplicable sensation, as if the cat seemed to be hiding a sneer in its eyes.

Xiao Man thought she had seen it wrong. She rubbed her eyes and looked again, only to find Wu Yun’s gaze had cleared, still watching her.

Feeling guilty, she said, "What are you looking at me for? I... I’m just worried that the Young Master has been swindled out of his silver again. I’m not trying to steal! The Lady swindled away all the money and property left by the Aunt back then. This time we must be careful, or what will he use to arrange for my dowry, oh wait—why am I discussing this with a cat?"

Xiao Man resumed wandering around the room.

She approached the table, her eyes greedily fixed on the plate of cave cucumbers, "The Young Master never remembers things; one less cucumber shouldn’t be a problem, right?"

Xiao Man glanced surreptitiously outside to make sure no one was around, then snatched a cucumber and bit into it with a crunch.

Looking up at the beams, she chewed slowly, and after a while, murmured, "It’s not that tasty anyway, and yet they sell it for so much, what a rip-off."

Xiao Man finished the cucumber in two bites and then eyed the sugared plums on the table.

She picked one up, pretending to offer it to Wu Yun, "Do you want one?"

Wu Yun: "..."

Xiao Man laughed, "You don’t want it, so I’ll have it."

With that, she popped the plum into her mouth, stuffed several more until her cheeks bulged, and then picked up the broom again to resume sweeping.