"Master Chen," Zhuo Lengping suddenly called Chen Tongpao, and he slowly turned around.
"A civilian girl doesn't want to leave Taizhou." She knelt down and said.
"Then what should you do? This place is desolate, and I'm afraid there's nothing you can do." Chen Tongpao asked.
"A civilian girl wants to make a living in your house," Zhuo Lengping raised his head and glanced at Chen Tongpao, but saw that he didn't respond. She was a little scared, but she continued, "No...it doesn't matter what kind of dirty work it is, as long as you are willing to pay me my wages."
Chen Tongpao didn't speak at first and looked at her with sharp eyes. She also raised her head, and the moment the two looked at each other, Leng Ping felt as if he had seen through her at a glance, and she shuddered all over.
At this moment, Tongpao Chen may have known that she was not Zhu Qiuguang, and that Zhuo Lengping's identity was recognized by him at a glance. Therefore, he took a fancy to Leng Ping's unique characteristics and said slowly: "Okay. If you are not lying, come with me now."
"Thank you, Magistrate Chen!" She felt that she had taken a big step, and she didn't know how she should feel, and her eyes suddenly filled with tears.
Zhuo Lengping entered Chen Tongpao's mansion again. She first went to the accounting room to meet a housekeeper, and made a monthly payment in person, for a total of one hundred pence. Although it is slightly disadvantageous, it is enough for daily use, so I don’t dislike it.
The housekeeper only arranged for her to do some chores such as cleaning and laundry, and Leng Ping did it very efficiently. Her colleagues occasionally caught a glimpse of her and praised her very much. The Chen Mansion is not very big inside and outside, but there are two large courtyards in the north and south. It is also much more laborious to work on, and it takes two or three hours to work.
However, Leng Ping still had some time left to chat with other slaves, and gradually became familiar with them. She was cleaning the doors and windows of the main hall. When she saw an old slave walking outside, she smiled and said, "Old man, please go and have a rest. It's inconvenient for you to clean here. I've done a lot of menial work, so I'm not afraid of getting tired!"
"Miss Zhu is so diligent! As an old man, I can't compare to you..." He laughed loudly, walked to the table, took a cup of tea, crossed his legs on the armchair, and sipped the tea.
"Miss Zhu, it's easy for dust to accumulate under the flower window. It's best to wipe it." He blew the hot tea while directing Leng Ping to work.
Leng Ping saw that he was diligent and conscientious on weekdays, and would not hesitate when encountering problems. But today he was so leisurely, and he understood in his heart. Then he asked: "Is County Magistrate Chen out?"
"Well, we're out." After saying that, he took another sip of tea loudly.
"I guess I'm going to the Yamen. Mr. Chen is so busy at the end of the day that he can't go back to his house to see..."
"Oh, he didn't go to the Yamen. He went to Yizheng to have a drink with Lu Zhengfu. He will be back in the evening. But I believe that the girl is an honest child and will do everything right!"
The old servant thought that Zhuo Lengping couldn't bear to see him resting and was deliberately threatening him with Chen Tongpao, so he said a stinging remark in his mouth.
When Leng Ping heard the name 'Lu Zhengfu', his heart skipped a beat and the cloth slipped from his hand.
The old servant glanced at her.
"Ah... I missed it, I missed it..." Leng Ping laughed and quickly lowered his head to pick it up.
Leng Ping started cleaning the windows again, but her messy thoughts made it impossible for her to concentrate anymore. Lu Zhengfu? What is the relationship with Tongpao Chen who is far away in Taizhou? She thought about it over and over in her head, and she couldn't help but shudder when she thought about it or it might be some shocking conspiracy.
She finished her work hastily, packed up her things and walked out the door. She walked a section of the stone road and saw a ray of sunlight coming through the crack of the door. She took a closer look and found that the door was ajar. She pretended to lift her hair, but actually wiped the sweat from under her ears, feeling a little guilty. The old servant was sitting in the hall drinking tea, and the steward was fiddling with the abacus in the accounting room. No one would know about his escape now.
Leng Ping sat on a big rock next to him, staring blankly at the door, breaking out in a cold sweat.
"Miss Zhu, Mr. Chen's bedroom hasn't been cleaned yet... Damn it, where's the broom!..." The old servant's voice gradually came from the distance.
Zhuo Lengping stopped in the middle of the road and took another look at the ajar door. Before he could make up his mind, he turned around decisively and shouted: "Here we come!" and then hurried over.
In the evening, the rays of light were shining in the evening, and the lights were gradually lit in the mansion. The old servant and the housekeeper filled the porridge, took some yellow flour pancakes, and were eating dinner in the room.
"Master Butler, what do you think of that girl?" the old servant asked while chewing the cake.
The butler raised his eyes and asked with a smile: "What? You are a lot older..."
"That's not what I meant!" His face suddenly turned red, "I meant Mr. Chen!"
"Master Chen?" The housekeeper snorted coldly, "Master Chen doesn't want to debase himself by marrying a woman like this!"
"Then why is Mr. Chen still willing to allow her to enter the mansion?" the old servant asked.
"How could he be so cautious and willing to tell me?" the housekeeper said and took a big sip.
"Master Butler, after you finish drinking, I'll serve it to you next..."
Leng Ping was so flustered that he broke half a piece of cake in the fire room and drank three or four mouthfuls of porridge before eating any more. He happened to bump into the old servant, so he stood up in a hurry and said, "I'll help you scoop it up."
He walked to the stove, took out a bowl of porridge from the pot, and handed it to his hand.
The old slave took a sip, stuck out his tongue, and frowned: "It's cold."
She hurriedly squatted down, took the fire stick, and stirred up the firewood. She saw that it was all burned, leaving only black residue on the ground.
"Add more fire," said the old servant.
"I'm going to get firewood. Where is the firewood shed?" Leng Ping wiped his blackened hands with a rag and asked.
"East, by the door."
Zhuo Lengping didn't dare to say anything more, so he closed the door and went straight to the woodshed.
She walked to the door and suddenly heard someone knocking on the door three times, and asked, "Who is it?"
No one responded.
Leng Ping stood on tiptoes, his hands trembling, and opened the door slightly.
"You...you're back." When she saw it, Chen Tongpao was blushing and drunk. He was leaning on the door panel and spitting on the ground. There was a strong smell of alcohol in his face.
"Go...go to Yizheng and have a...drink with the Lu family." He staggered over and bumped into her, his tongue curled up.
Zhuo Lengping's face suddenly turned green: "Really..."
Before she finished speaking, she saw Mr. Chen's robe was askew and quickly held him up.
"Call the housekeeper to come over." Leng Ping asked timidly.
"No need. It's just you, just help me back to the bedroom." Tongpao Chen lowered his head and waved his hand.
Leng Ping was afraid that the two people would think she was clinging to Mr. Chen and cause resentment, so he said, "The housekeeper asked me to carry firewood..."
"Zhuo, Zhuo, Zhuo Lengping... Do you think my words are not as effective as theirs?"
Leng Ping was shocked when he heard this long-lost name, as if his heart had been pierced by a sharp sword. She wanted to dig out more words from this 'gaffe'. After all, he was mumbling in a daze and was indeed not 'sober'.
