For the rest of the night, Mrs. Zeng was either immersed in or confused by this inexplicable feeling.
When the Empress told a joke, she was no longer the first to laugh and the loudest. When the Prime Minister's wife talked about the interesting things in Chang 'an, she no longer added fuel to the fire. Instead, she stared at the skinny, dark-skinned handmaiden beside Princess Li Yu, and the more she stared, the more entranced she became.
Her different behavior naturally attracted some people's attention, especially when the noblewomen noticed that she was staring in the direction of Her Royal Highness. They felt even more strange. The wife of a minister sitting next to her reminded her several times. Seeing that she was still in a daze, she couldn't help but gently bump into her.
The wife of the minister lowered her voice and asked with concern, "Why are you so distracted today?"
Mrs. Zeng forced a smile and did not explain, because she really could not. She did not understand why the more she looked at the little handmaiden, the more she felt close to her, and the more she doted on her.
The Empress had gathered many people to chat and drink tea, but there was an inconspicuous little handmaiden among them. Moreover, she was sitting next to Her Royal Highness the Princess, which inevitably aroused many doubts in the minds of the Madams. After the teacups were changed twice, the Prime Minister's wife finally couldn't help but ask. The Empress smiled and briefly introduced Sangsang.
Only then did the madams know that this little girl was Sir Ning's personal handmaiden. Even though they still had many doubts, they did not ask further. Moreover, they were of noble status, and although they could not treat their own handmaidens like pigs and dogs, they were indeed people from two different worlds. They only asked about Ning Que casually for the sake of the Empress.
Mrs. Zeng looked at her companions talking to the little handmaiden and could not help but ask as well. However, she did not care about how many paintings Sir Ning could write every day. Instead, she asked about Sangsang's age.
Sangsang was not used to the atmosphere in the Imperial Palace. If not for the imperial edict and Li Yu's promise to accompany her, she would rather cook porridge in the Old Brush Pen Shop. Especially after having a meal served by the palace maids, she felt that Ning Que was right. The Imperial Palace was not a place to eat.
When those noble women asked her questions, she felt a little tired. Until someone asked her about her age, she thought it was a simple question and immediately answered seriously, "I was born in the first year of the Tianqi era."
Mrs. Zeng lowered her head and looked at her fingers stretching out of her sleeves. After a while, she realized that she was about to turn fifteen this year. After a slight pause, she said sadly, "If my child had lived to this day, he would be as old as you."
At this time, the noble ladies in the hall were all close to the Empress. Of course, they knew about the uproar in Chang 'an in the first year of the Tianqi era, where a fierce woman killed her concubine and son. Hearing this, they could not help but cast a comforting look at Mrs. Zeng.
The Empress comforted her with a few words.
Mrs. Zeng glanced at the little handmaiden behind the desk and smiled bitterly. She thought to herself that she must have missed her daughter who had passed away so much that she lost her composure when she saw a little girl of the same age as her. She really shouldn't have.
There were many things in the world that could not be erased by other means once they were triggered. Just like Mrs. Zeng's inexplicable pity for Sangsang. She wanted to convince herself that she was only thinking about her daughter who had died young, but she could not help but look up at the tea table and stare at Sangsang from time to time.
The more she looked at Sangsang, the more familiar she felt, especially the girl's slightly tanned skin and her willowy eyes that were not very beautiful in the eyes of ordinary people. She could not help but ask again, "I heard from you that you and Sir Ning had lived in the City of Wei in your early years. Is it because the sun at the frontier fortress is too hot that you are tanned like this?"
Sangsang was slightly startled and shook her head. "Young Master said that I have been tanned since I was young."
Hearing her answer, Mrs. Zeng became more and more restless. She no longer cared about the strange looks of others and stared at Sangsang intently, as if she wanted to see what was on her face.
The banquet ended and the people left.
Mrs. Zeng was guarding outside the hall. When she saw Li Yu coming out with Sangsang, she gritted her teeth and stopped the two of them.
Li Yu frowned slightly, not knowing what the wife of the Grand Secretary wanted to do.
Mrs. Zeng knew very well that as the strongest supporter of the Empress, she had not been nice to the Princess all these years. It could even be said that she had offended the Princess badly. Therefore, her tone was even more gentle and humble.
"Your Highness, I felt close to this girl today. And you also know my child … I want to send this girl home. Please allow me to, Your Highness."
Li Yu looked at her quietly. She even mentioned her daughter who died 15 years ago. It seemed that the wife of the Grand Secretary really wanted to go with Sangsang. But why did she do this? Could it be that the Empress finally realized the importance of the Academy entering the human realm and decided to take a roundabout way to get close to Ning Que?
Thinking of these things, she decided to reject her humble request. She smiled and said, "Sangsang doesn't like to get along with strangers."
This was the truth. Sangsang's character meant that she didn't like to get along with people. If they hadn't interacted frequently in the past two years, even Li Yu wouldn't have been able to enter her world, not to mention the wife of the Grand Secretary whom she had never met before.
However, at this moment, Sangsang, who had been standing quietly beside Li Yu, suddenly said, "Okay."
…
…
"You are Sangsang?"
"Yes."
"This name is interesting."
"It's alright."
"Who named you?"
"Young Master."
"Your Young Master is a contemporary calligrapher, so he must be very talented in poetry. The name he chose must be good, but I wonder what the meaning of 'Sangsang' is?"
"No deep meaning. Young Master said that when he found me, there was a leafless mulberry tree by the roadside. It looked very similar to me, so he called me Sangsang."
"Where did your young master find you?"
"Hebei County. He forgot the specific place. We went to look for it once after we left Min Mountain, but there were already green sprouts in the fields. The leafless mulberry tree had died and many other trees had grown, so we couldn't recognize it."
Tonight, Chang 'an City was brightly lit and full of tourists. The street to the Eastern City was completely blocked by people who came to watch the lanterns. Even the carriage of the Grand Secretary of the Imperial Library could not speed up and could only move forward slowly with the crowd. However, Mrs. Zeng, who was in the carriage, did not care. She was even a little happy.
The longer the journey, the longer she could stay in the carriage with Sangsang and ask more questions. Tonight, Sangsang was clearly a little different from usual. She answered every question the madam asked, and the number of words she spoke tonight seemed to be more than the number of words she spoke last month.
However, those stories were too vague in her memory. Most of them were told by Ning Que, so no matter how hard Mrs. Zeng tried, she still couldn't get the answers she wanted.
No matter how long the journey was, there would be a moment when they would reach the destination.
The carriage of the Grand Secretary's Mansion slowly stopped at the entrance of Lin 47th Street.
Sangsang politely bowed to Mrs. Zeng when she got off the carriage.
Mrs. Zeng stared at the slender figure in front of the shop and felt a twinge in her heart.
She couldn't confirm anything and even knew that she might be delusional. However, along the way, she had fallen in love with the little girl and thought how good it would be if she had a daughter like her.
Mrs. Zeng lifted the curtain and asked hesitantly and uneasily, "Are you willing to be a guest in the Grand Secretary's Mansion?"
Sangsang thought for a while with the key in her hand. She thought that Ning Que would only be home for a few days and the pine branches and bacon were already smoked. There was no need for him to look after them and there was nothing for her to do in the Old Brush Pen Shop. She nodded.
…
…
A few days later, a strange guest came to the Grand Secretary's Mansion of the Imperial Library.
It was strange because the guest was a little handmaiden. There were so many mansions of princes and ministers in Chang 'an City, but none of them would treat a little handmaiden as a proper guest. Therefore, when the housekeeper led the little handmaiden to the depths of the back garden, the servants and maids under the winter willow by the roadside pointed at them in shock.
When the servants in the manor saw the wife of the Grand Scholar Dowager welcoming them at the gate of the garden and holding the little handmaiden's hand affectionately, and the smile on her face almost overflowed from her temples and flew up to the rockery, they were shocked to the extreme.
It didn't take long for the servants in the Grand Secretary's Mansion to find out the identity of the little handmaiden and her background. They couldn't help but talk about it. Many of them held back their laughter and thought that their wife was indeed the most loyal one to the Empress in Chang 'an City. She was even willing to lower her status to make the Empress happy.
Grand Secretary Zeng Jing was not in the mansion. Perhaps he, like the servants in the mansion, felt that it was beneath his wife's status to specially invite a little handmaiden to the banquet. Therefore, there were only Mrs. Zeng and Sangsang at the luncheon. The dishes were extremely rich, and there were four or five maids serving them calmly at the table.
Sangsang had been serving others her entire life, or more accurately, serving Ning Que. She was not used to being served, so she was a little restrained and quieter than she was in the horse carriage on the night of the Lantern Festival.
Mrs. Zeng looked at her as she lowered her head to eat the food in the bowl. Pity flashed in her eyes occasionally. Then, she gave a look to the most capable maid beside her.
The maid understood. She lifted the curtain and went out to bring in a bowl of pigeon soup that had been prepared earlier.
Mrs. Zeng walked to Sangsang with the pigeon soup and said, "Look at your small figure. You need nourishment."
With that, her hand slipped and the bowl of pigeon soup fell at Sangsang's feet.
Sangsang stood up and looked down at her wet cotton skirt and shoes. She remained silent.
Mrs. Zeng panicked and said, "This is really … Hurry up and wash."
Her cotton skirt and shoes were stained with pigeon soup. They indeed needed to be washed.
But Sangsang did not move. She only looked down at her skirt and shoes in silence.
She realized that the lady had poured the pigeon soup on her on purpose.
Because at that moment, she clearly saw that the lady's fingers were holding the bowl of pigeon soup tightly and did not slip at all.
Sangsang was not angry because the bowl of pigeon soup had obviously been placed outside the curtain for a long time. It was already lukewarm. Not to mention being poured on her body, even if it was poured on her face, it would not cause any harm. Moreover, she could not feel the lady's malice. Instead, she could feel the lady's timid kindness. But why did she do that?
…
…
(Chapter Three. There are two more chapters. Those who don't want to stay up late can go to bed first. It's the same tomorrow. I will definitely write it before bed. Clench your fists and cheer for yourself.) (To be continued. If you like this work, please come to Qidian.Com to vote for me. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
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