Translated by Gumihou

Please read this at kitchennovel dot com

"Kill! Kill it now!" Feng Xian shrieked, pointing at the flapping rooster, offended beyond all reason on her mistress' behalf. Therefore, she was shocked when Xu Ran Yun's cold voice commanded, "Wait."

"Ah?"

All the servants paused in their activities as they stared at Xu Ran Yun under their sweaty brows. Hey, they thought, this c.o.c.k had committed a 'grave sin' against Madam Yun, was she actually going to spare it? Since when did their mistress turned into this kindhearted person? Furthermore, didn't you just coldly banished Ms. Xue to the laundry house just for siding with someone other than you, ah?

However, the mystery was soon cleared up when Xu Ran Yun gave a sinister laugh, and said, "Did I not hear that first madam wants lots of fresh ingredients? This rooster looks pretty good to me, fat and magnificent, very good for soup or roasting. Make sure you send it to Chun Feng Court."

Having had the last word, Xu Ran Yun turned her back on the kitchen drama, and stalked off with as much dignity as she could muster. How embarra.s.sing, ah, she was rather afraid that the longer she stayed, the more stupid she would become.

Her departure was so swift that the rest of the maids weren't quite sure what to do with the basket of rooster in their hands. They looked at each other, trying to use eye signals to make someone volunteer to send the rooster over to Chun Feng Court when Ms. Xue appeared. She said calmly, "The laundry house is just past Chun Feng Court, let me take this rooster to first madam, alright?"

Everyone knew that this was basically a pretence to see first madam, but let the matter go. Most likely she intended to warn first madam about the rooster, so that it won't cause as much trouble when sent over to Chun Feng Court. Everyone knew that this really went against Madam Yun's true intention. On the other hand, who really dared to stop her? If Ms. Xue wanted to tattle to first madam, well… she of all people should know that Madam Yun was not someone easy to dealt with, on the other hand, first madam was not one to take things lying down either, ah.

Therefore, everyone could only step back and watch as Ms. Xue left with the rooster. As for Xu Ran Yun, she had completely forgotten about Ms. Xue, and the imagined chaos at Chun Feng Court never happened. Well, that's the thing about schemes, isn't it? You can plan for it, but luck could sometimes over turn things just like that.

"Your master is definitely harbouring some evil intentions up his sleeves. Who knows how many eyes are stabbing at me right now thanks to this warehouse key, hehe! Very good, a sign had been painted on my back, now. Your Madam Yun must really hate me now."

Feng Chun Court. Su Nuan Nuan stared bitterly at the string of keys in her hands.

Hong Lian couldn't stand to look at her madam's expression now. This set of keys represents how great the master's trust and love is for you, ah. The thing that most people couldn't even hope to achieve is now in your hands, ah. She shook her head, and said, "Missy, you've schemed and plotted for these keys for so long in the past, to think that you're now treat it like some sort of threat. Since you dislike it so much, why didn't you reject it when the master handed it the keys to you earlier?"

"I… I, that is… wait, did I just accidentally stepped into your master's trap?" Su Nuan Nuan poked at the keys on the table, before saying bitterly. "He made a great speech about how much gold, silver and precious stones was in the warehouse, how full of precious old books and artefacts and other things… humans are endlessly greedy, ah. I am human too, you know? To tell the truth, I managed to resist the lure of gold and silver. Then, he he launched into a grand lamentation about n.o.ble houses being as deep as the sea or something with special focus on the suffering poor he simply had no time to help.

There was some flattery about how I did a good job helping people, and some random excuses about how I have too much free time in my hands, and how he had made sure I had all I could eat and wear or whatever. There was even something about how he was unsure what would happen to me if he were sent out for long term work, how the poor would suffer here while he's away, and before I knew it, the blasted, cursed key was in my hands."

The more she spoke, the more angry she became. Then, Xiang Yun just had to open her stupid mouth, "But, Missy, the master is not wrong, ah. If master really didn't mean all the nice things he said, he wouldn't really have handed over the key, right?"

"That's true, however, he only described all the good things about having these blasted keys, not a single word about the evils of it. I… I had been too greedy, and did not think things through at the moment." She was ashamed and angry at the same time, and slapped the table, "You are not to address him as 'master' in the future, just call him a Big Liar… ow, my hand, ouch, ouch, ouch, ugh, it hurts."

Hong Lian found herself crossed and amused at the same time, she looked over where Cong'er was humming to herself as she practised her lucky knots[1] before shaking her head, "Missy, you are the mistress, ah.It's your duty to be a good example for us, right? Aren't your words a little inappropriate? You might accidentally influence the younger servants, you know? Cong'er is still young, what if she really treated your jokes as the real thing…"

Without waiting for her to finish, Su Nuan Nuan cut in, "So what? It's true isn't it? Your b.l.o.o.d.y master is a Big Liar, am I not allowed to say the truth now?"

Xiang Yun said in a small voice, "But, Missy, to be honest, you really did lucked out this time. No matter what, the key in your hand is really a good thing. Master even said that you can freely use whatever you find the warehouse, especially after how you've looked after second miss. This is also a way of showing his love for you, ah. For you to talk bad about him now, this maid really felt that it's kind of unfair, ah."

Su Nuan Nuan was not a truly hard-headed person. After being presented with all these arguments, she sat back to ponder upon the matter more closely, and had to admit that her behaviour had been a little unreasonable. A really good thing had fallen onto her lap, and here she was sneering at the gift horse. If this was truly a novel, with herself as the main character, readers would probably start to unsubscribe out of sheer indigence and frustration, ah.

Only… she sighed, and gave a bitter smile, "But I really don't want to deal with those women, ah. My greatest dream in this life time is not men, not power, but peace and quiet so that I could conduct my food experiments, ah. Time spent b.u.t.ting heads with those women is time taken away from my precious eating time, don't you think so?"

"But, Missy, even if you did not have the warehouse key, do you think you'll be able to live a peaceful life now? From what this maid knows, it's really kind of unlikely, right?" Hong Lian smiled as she cheerfully burst Su Nuan Nuan's dream bubble. "You're born into a rich family, and married into one of the most powerful family in the Capital. Now that you've gotten the master and old madam's approval, more than a few people have developed green eyes over your good fortune.

Do you think that if you tell people that you're content to be left alone to your research they'll really believe it? Even if they do believe it, it did not change the fact that you have already gained the elders' approval, and became the obstacle for other people's ambitious rise to power. Would the others really not bother you? Isn't this a kind of day dream?"

"Hong Lian…" Su Nuan Nuan wailed, she glared at the maid for a moment, before saying. "Can you please not be so honest? Are you the mistress of me? Just what the heck are you doing?

"Please be at ease, Missy. This maid is just helping you to recognise the real situation." Hong Lian quickly held out a handkerchief for Su Nuan Nuan. "So, please, don't say things like this anymore, otherwise you'll really die without leaving a corpse, ah."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_knotting

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Translated by Gumihou from kitchennovel dot com.

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