The thin candle flame was blown from side to side by the wind, flickering on and off.
The girl with her bun tied in a bun climbed onto the stool and struggled to pull down the heavy window valve.
This is the third year since Jiang Ling'er was sold into the Li Mansion as a maid.
During the six years of Qianzhi's reign, wars continued outside, and civilians rioted. Poverty and hunger forced them to take up arms.
These days, there are not many families selling their girls for food. Many girls have been sold into the Li Mansion this year. Two of the four maids responsible for sweeping the west wing are like this, and Jiang Ling'er is one of them.
"Aling, come down quickly, don't fall." An anxious voice came from behind. It was Li Huarui, the leader of the maids, and the niece of the manager of the Li family.
"Look at how precious you are to her. What can you do to her if you close the window?" The maid on the other side holding her lipstick rolled her eyes. She was eleven or twelve years old like a flower bud waiting to be bloomed, facing the copper View in the mirror.
"Li Xinran! She is only seven years old. Don't order her to do things all day long. Can't you act like a sister?" Li Huarui glared at her.
"You were punished to kneel down this afternoon. Do you have a long memory? That place is the eldest lady's courtyard. People like us must never go there. Fortunately, our nun here caught you. If you change it, another nun can do it. It's not just as simple as being punished by kneeling." After saying that, he broke off half of the steaming white steamed bun in his hand and handed it to her.
The girl's fingers were swollen like radishes, and she was tightly holding the steamed bun wrapped in white cloth, trying to absorb the little bit of warmth.
Her round face was so dry that it was cracked, and her big eyes were clear and lively. She nodded hard at Li Huarui.
Back in her room, she poured the boiling hot water into the chipped porcelain bowl, flipped the palms and backs of her hands back and forth in the rising steam, and swallowed the warm steamed buns carefully.
The steamed buns with fine white flour have a sweet aftertaste, which is perfect for Chinese New Year. My mouth and tongue are satisfied, but my stomach is still growling.
She sighed, but did not regret her eavesdropping today.
"Ling girl, your father has gone to become an immortal. He hasn't been back home for the past three to five years. It's really hard for me, a widow, to take you with you." The woman in the impression wiped away tears. It was her father. In order to take care of her continued relationship.
In the second year after her father left, the woman remarried.
Four years old is just the age of enlightenment, and Jiang Linger has taken on the burden of housework for the entire family.
Even if she had to boil water, chop wood, and feed chickens and ducks every day, she didn't feel bitter. What hurt was the indifference and contempt of not being treated as a relative, and the loneliness of being alone in this world.
After being sold to the Li Mansion, she breathed a sigh of relief. The work was not that heavy, and there was a fixed allocation of food and accommodation.
She thought her future would be like that of the old nuns in the house, until today she heard the maids in the eldest lady's courtyard talking about immortals.
"Have you heard that there will be an immortal master coming to our house soon?"
"What kind of immortal master is he? He is just a charlatan who deceives people. Do you believe this?"
"Hush! Why don't you have a good mouth? This immortal master is the imperial master personally appointed by the emperor in the court! I heard that he has taken a liking to the eldest lady in our house..."
Later, there was no later because Jiang Linger was caught.
She closed her eyes lightly, and the thick eyelashes formed a shadow under her eyes.
…
Early the next morning, Jiang Ling'er carried two buckets of water and poured them into the jar as usual.
It was quite a long journey to carry water from the well halfway up the mountain to the courtyard. The other maids either leaked a bucket or the water line was about to pass halfway, but she was the only one who kept the two big buckets steady. How was it when fetching water? When she came back That's it.
The nun in the main courtyard valued her and asked her to carry water to the main courtyard.
"Ling'er, you are too strong. I see that you don't exercise much." Tian Zhu, a maid from the same hospital, looked at her curiously and chewed melon seeds without stopping for a moment.
She was taught Qi-nurturing Kungfu by her father since she was a child, so she is stronger than her peers.
"She's destined to do rough work!" Li Xinran held the beaded flower on her head and snorted coldly.
Jiang Ling'er stroked the red mark on her palm and remained silent, then picked up the firewood on the ground and prepared to light the fire.
Li Huarui frowned and shouted angrily, "Tian Zhu! Li Xinran! Do you two want to eat? Hurry up and help me, look at how lazy you two are, I will let grandma see you two carefully later!" "
The two reluctantly put down their melon seeds to help.
Jiang Ling'er is particularly good at burning firewood. She can easily control the size of the fire, which greatly reduces Li Huarui's burden.
Li Xinran was washing the dishes when he suddenly remembered something and started biting Tian Zhu's ear.
"Immortal Master...National Master..."
The rustling words penetrated into Jiang Ling'er's ears like ants, making her feel itchy and she couldn't help but say, "Second sister, what kind of immortal master?"
Li Huarui's expression changed and she threw the spatula on the stove.
The three of them were stunned.
"Why are you eavesdropping on our conversation?" Tian Zhu said dissatisfied.
"Li Huarui, don't think that I have to let you go because you have a backer. Do you really think I'm a fool if I don't say anything?" Li Xinran looked sullen and stared.
Li Huarui took a deep breath and asked, "Where did you hear this?" As the niece in charge, she naturally heard about this important event.
"You don't care where I heard it from, who are you to yell at me?" Li Xinran sneered and said disapprovingly.
"The Immortal Master is here to take a fancy to the eldest lady. Don't think that I don't know what you are thinking. He is a golden nobleman sent from the Heavenly Palace. If something good happens, he must stay close to the main courtyard. No matter what happens, he will not get his turn. We are a bunch of maids carrying water and sweeping the floor!”
Li Xinran's face suddenly turned red as if she had been stabbed in her mind. She slammed her chopsticks and dropped them to the ground with a clatter. She got up and left without looking back.
Tian Zhu and Jiang Ling'er didn't dare to move, and their breathing became thinner.
"Let's eat. Your second sister is very angry. Let her think about it." Li Huarui looked calm and forced a smile.
Jiang Ling'er lowered her head to eat without moving her chopsticks into the meat dishes.
The sky was as dark as ink, so thick that I couldn't see my fingers.
Candlelight was still burning inside the carved window lattice, and there were many shadows of people.
The beauty turned her face sideways, and her black hair poured down like a waterfall.
With a faint blush on her jade-white cheeks, she softly responded to the woman who was combing her hair.
"Because of your incident, your father was so happy that he stayed in the ancestral hall all night, saying that our ancestors were smoking, and our Li family was going to have an immortal."
"He only glanced at it from a distance. Maybe...he might have seen it wrong." As soon as the soft voice sounded, Jiang Ling'er felt that half of her body was numb.
At this time, she was curling up and wrapping herself in a black cloth, as if she had melted into the night.
"Silly boy, it has to be the case now. My child is the king of the country. Is it possible that the immortal master came to the house to say that he was wrong?" The woman smiled and put down the comb gently.
"Mom, don't make fun of me. I just heard that immortals can move mountains and seas, fly into the sky and escape from the earth, and I yearn for it." This time there was a hint of shyness and yearning in the voice.
"Of course, otherwise how could you be called an immortal?"
The candle was extinguished, but Jiang Ling'er's eyes were astonishingly bright, her heart was pounding, and a small seed was planted in her heart.
