Against the Current - Chapter 38

Chapter 38 - Yindie

Yindie took in everything at a glance, and the moment Chunling left, she immediately picked a bed by the window. This bed was relatively secluded and closest to the vanity table, making it much more convenient for combing her hair or storing odds and ends. However, after sitting on the bed and looking closer, she saw that the bedding and pillows looked rather worn and dated, which displeased her. Stealing a quiet glance at Xianglan, who was lost in thought staring at the painting hanging on the wall, Yindie lightfootedly gathered up the quilt and pillow from her bed and swapped them with the ones on another bed.

Xianglan had already caught Yindie's little maneuver out of the corner of her eye, but she simply pretended not to see it and shook her head inwardly. After looking over the room, she picked a bed near the door and pulled back the light, soft bed curtains. She saw that the bed was spread with dark greenish-blue money-patterned brocade bedding and a celadon-colored silk pillow. Beside the pillow lay a semi-worn sachet embroidered with broken branches of flowers, stuffed with medicinal herbs meant to calm the spirit and ward off impurities. Lifting it to her nose, she caught a faint trace of jasmine fragrance mingling within. Touching the tassels of the sachet, Xianglan thought to herself, "The provisions and living quarters here are a huge step up from the Luoxue Lodge. No wonder everyone says the Lin family is a land of wealth and luxury. To me, this room is even nicer than an ordinary young lady's bedchamber, yet it's actually provided for maids to live in."

Seeing that the furnishings in the room were exquisite, Yindie's eyes shone with excitement as she looked all around, full of sighs of admiration. But upon hearing Xianglan's remark, she put on a look of disdain and said, "What's so special about this? You're acting this shocked over a place meant for coarse-working maids to live in. Just wait until you see the main bedchambers where the masters live—your eyeballs will fall right out of your head... Well, it's to be expected. Since you used to serve the cousin, what kind of truly wealthy rooms have you ever seen?"

Xianglan frowned slightly. Unwilling to pick a petty quarrel with Yindie over trivial matters, she simply pretended not to hear and unpacked her bundle, taking out her belongings one by one.

Suddenly hearing footsteps, Lin Jinlou lifted the door curtain and walked in. Xianglan and Yindie hastily stood up, hands by their sides, looking rather constrained. Lin Jinlou swept his gaze across the room and saw Xianglan standing beside her bed, looking down submissively with a docile expression, which drew an involuntary smile from him. Naturally striking and handsome, his face lit up with radiant charm when he smiled. Yindie raised her eyelids for a peek and was momentarily dazed. Previously, Chunyan had kept things so strict that whenever Lin Jinlou visited, none of the maids were allowed to approach, and they usually stayed far away. When had she ever laid eyes on the master from such close quarters? Yindie's face instantly flushed red.

Catching sight of Xianglan, Lin Jinlou found his voice softening unconsciously as he said, "There's no need to be so restrained. From now on, you will live here. Serve your mistress properly according to the rules, and I will certainly reward you."

While Xianglan was still hesitating, Yindie had already chimed in crisply, "Don't you worry, Eldest Master. We will surely serve Mistress Lan with all our heart; it is only the duty we are bound to fulfill."

Lin Jinlou glanced at Yindie, nodded, and then looked back at Xianglan, seeing that she was still keeping her head lowered without a single movement. He wanted to coax a couple of words out of her, but with other people present in the room, he figured there would be plenty of time in the future, so he rattled off a few casual instructions and turned to leave.

With no outsiders left in the room, Xianglan had no heart to unpack further. The various twists and turns of the day had left her physically and mentally exhausted. Collapsing onto the bed, she felt she could no longer get up. Remembering how she had nearly been violated earlier, her legs still trembled slightly, stirring a mix of hatred and terror within her. Her performance and plea before Old Mistress Lin had drained the last of her energy, while Cao Lihuan's subsequent banishment and her own surreal transition to the Zhichun Pavilion to serve Mistress Lan—along with her inexplicable promotion to a second-class maid—brought a touch of joy. With this day of contrasting grief and joy, sudden and bizarre events, Xianglan harbored an inexplicable sense of lingering unease, but she was simply too tired right now to dwell on it any longer.

Yindie clearly seemed in high spirits, taking out her belongings one by one. She was the type to get familiar quickly, and with a chatty stream of questions, she tried to pry into Xianglan's family background. Hearing that Xianglan's father was merely a third manager at an antique shop, Yindie immediately put on airs again, covering her small mouth with a giggle as she boasted, "My father is the second estate manager at that manor on the western outskirts. With his status, if he were serving directly inside the mansion, he'd easily be a second steward at the very least, or a supervisor at worst. The Eldest Master thinks very highly of him... My older cousin Hanfang serves in Miss Ling's quarters and is extremely influential. Which little maid wouldn't have to respectfully call her 'Elder Sister' the moment she sees her?"

Xianglan found Yindie's bragging truly wearing on her patience, but wanting to avoid offending her, she simply offered an occasional "mhm" without really engaging.

Yindie suddenly sighed. "I originally thought that once Chunyan left, I'd be able to get a change of assignment—even serving a young lady would be a respectable and face-saving post. Who would've thought I'd still end up serving a concubine... Tsk tsk, I'm afraid there won't be much of a future for us here."

Reclining on the bed with a faint smile, Xianglan said, "I'm quite content. It would be even better if Mistress Lan happens to have a gentle and accommodating temperament."

Yindie consoled herself as well. "That's true too. I heard that Mistress Lan was personally elevated by the Mistress and comes from a good family. Chunyan was nothing more than a Tongfang maid who only occupied a single room in the west wing. But Mistress Lan is a proper secondary wife who has an entire east wing all to herself. If she manages to bear a son in one go, our days of living might even be more glorious than those serving in the young ladies' quarters."

Xianglan only smiled without answering, thinking to herself: "This is merely a temporary place to stay anyway. No matter how glorious a servant girl's life might seem, how far can that glory really go? The sensible thing is still to settle my mind, quietly inquire, and plan a way to get my household registration released so I can regain my freedom."

For a moment, neither spoke further. Having finished tidying her things, Yindie also lay down on the bed, tossing and turning. Recalling how she had spent a fortune in silver tips, relied on her cousin Hanfang at home, and curried favor with an influential elderly servant woman before Chunling finally relented—accepting a gold hairpin to transfer her from the coarse-working tearoom into Mistress Lan's quarters—she realized that while she had initially felt some reluctance, she was now starting to harbor high ambitions. Thinking of Lin Jinlou's striking handsomeness, tall and upright stature, and distinguished, romantic bearing—along with the smiles playing across the corners of his eyes and brows that very day—she felt as though a little mouse was scratching back and forth inside her heart. The sensation was indescribable, yet upon closer reflection, it felt rather embarrassing. Finding herself unable to lie still any longer, she finally blurted out, "The Eldest Master smiled at us today, didn't you see? He was so handsome."

Half asleep and half awake, Xianglan answered sleepily on autopilot, "Indeed he was handsome. Only a great beauty like the Eldest Mistress is a match for him."

Remembering Zhao Yuechan's breathtaking, glamorous countenance and seductive allure—qualities she could never hope to match—Yindie felt a twinge of vexation and retorted, "The Eldest Master and Eldest Mistress do not get along at all. Even with all her beauty, she doesn't win the Eldest Master's favor."

Xianglan murmured, "The Mistress Lan we're serving must surely have captured the Eldest Master's heart. Being with child and making the Eldest Master so happy, she must certainly be a great beauty. We shall have to take a good look at her later."

Yindie sneered, "No matter how pretty she is, she's still just a concubine. The Eldest Master is pampering her now, but who knows how long this favor will last?" Lowering her voice into a soft coo, she continued, "I think the Eldest Master ought to find someone much sharper and more understanding—even a maid from within the mansion would do. Ideally, she should be skilled in needlework so she can make shoes and clothes for him, and she should know how to speak sweetly to coax him, obeying his every whim. Only then could she truly win his heart."

Hearing Yindie stray further and further off into such inappropriate talk gave Xianglan goosebumps all over. Snapping wide awake, her mind whirled for a moment before she understood what was going on. Amused, she thought to herself: "I was wondering why she suddenly had the enthusiasm to drag me into conversation. So it's a case of 'unable to obtain what one desires, tossing and turning in sleepless yearning'. Pondering for a moment, she said, "After all, the Eldest Mistress and the Eldest Master are a proper, wedded couple, while any other women the Eldest Master takes in are merely concubines... I'm afraid some of them don't even get raised to the status of secondary wife. Among all the maids the Eldest Master has taken into his chambers, which one was ever raised to a concubine?"

Her heart newly awakened to the flush of romance and filled with romantic fantasies, Yindie had her fine dreams brutally shredded by Xianglan's words. In a huff, she turned her back and fell silent.

With her face toward the wall, Xianglan listened as the noise from Yindie's side ceased. She peacefully closed her eyes, the corners of her mouth curving upward in a slight smile.

Presently, Chunling stepped into the room and announced, "Mistress has returned. She wants the two of you to come over."

Xianglan hastily stood up, smoothing down her clothes and hair. Yindie hurried to the mirror to adjust her temples, dabbed a bit of rouge onto her lips, and feeling it was too bright, pressed her handkerchief against them to tone it down.

Chunling led the two of them into the adjacent side chamber.

To their surprise, Xiao Juan and an elderly woman were already standing inside. Sitting by the long side table was a woman of about eighteen or nineteen. Due to her pregnancy, her figure was somewhat full, boasting dark hair, snow-white skin, almond-shaped eyes in an elongated face, and features that, while falling short of Zhao Yuechan's dazzling glamour, still made her a rare beauty. She wore a snow-blue bordered, teal-green winter-plum dark-patterned satin front-opening beizi. On her head she wore only a single gold hairpin, from her ears hung agate pendants, and a pair of jade bracelets adorned her wrists. Aside from these, she wore not a single other piece of jewelry, making her look exceptionally plain and unpretentious. This person was none other than Qinglan.

Chunling said, "Mistress Lan, these two maids are the ones I mentioned earlier—one is called Xianglan, and the other is Yindie."

Being exceptionally quick at reading expressions, Yindie immediately dropped to her knees, and Xianglan hurriedly knelt beside her, speaking in unison, "Greetings, Mistress. May you be blessed with peace and well-being."

Qinglan said, "Rise." Observing them closely, she saw that both girls were exceptionally beautiful, which left her feeling somewhat unsettled. She then noticed that the one called Xianglan was dressed in old clothes, her hair bound simply with two white strings into twin buns adorned with a small white mourning flower, whereas Yindie wore a brand-new green silk outfit with her face seemingly touched up with powder, looking as though she had carefully dressed up. This Xianglan looks honest, she thought to herself, while Yindie loves to dress up. I wonder if either of them is truly well-behaved. Aloud, she instructed, "Since both of you are now with me, as long as you observe the rules and serve diligently, that is all. I don't demand anything extra from you."

Chunling added, "Mistress Lan is the most generous and kind-hearted master. You two are truly fortunate to be serving her."

Xianglan calmly swept her gaze across the room, noting that the east wing chamber was impeccably tidy, with furnishings so lavish and luxurious that even Madam Qin's rooms barely matched them. Feeling that this exceeded proper boundaries, Xianglan knitted her brows slightly. On second thought, however, she remembered that Qinglan had entered the household with the proper status of a commoner's daughter to become a concubine, making her standing different from ordinary concubines, and now that she was with child, her status carried even greater weight. Yet as her gaze swept over several precious antiques, she felt that displaying such items so openly was perhaps a bit too glaringly ostentatious.

Before long, feeling fatigued, Qinglan dismissed everyone. Chunling led Xianglan, Yindie, and Xiao Juan into the side room and instructed, "My name is Chunling, and I was originally a maid in the Third Mistress's quarters. Because Mistress Lan is with child, I was assigned here to serve, and if you have any matters in the future, you may come directly to me." Pointing to Xiao Juan, she continued, "Her name is Xiao Juan, and she arrived a couple of days earlier. The older woman in the room is surnamed Wu; you may simply call her Mother Wu." Following this, she explained the rules of service and arranged a few simple tasks. She ordered Yindie to make a sachet filled with calming medicinal herbs, told Xiao Juan to go outside and water the flowers and then embroider a handkerchief, and finally turned to Xianglan. "Follow me," she said, leading Xianglan into Qinglan's bedchamber.