Battle Of The Maids

A gentle breeze blew outside the courtyard, passing through the green willows in the garden, sneaking in through the gap in the windows, and making the green curtains sway slightly.

The room was completely silent.

Song Caitang placed the book she was reading back onto the table. Her eyes were bright as she smiled and looked at her maid, “What’s the problem?”

Qingqiao’s face tensed up, and she felt embarrassed to speak, but her shyness disappeared when she saw that teasing look on Song Caitang’s face, “We don’t have enough money!”

Once that was out of the way, the rest was easy. She pointed at the drawings and said, “Look at how detailed your drawings are! It’s going to take a lot of effort to make each one of them! You want so many, and you want good material, too…it’s going to take at least a few dozen pieces of silver in total!”

Song Caitang teased her anyway, “So? I’m a Young Mistress, yet I don’t even have a few dozen pieces of silver to my name?”

“I mean, it’s not that we don’t have that money, but once we use it all, we’d really have nothing left!”

There wouldn’t be enough for snacks or tipping the servants anymore…

Song Caitang nodded, “Pay a deposit first. We’ll have enough by the time we need to pay the balance.”

Qingqiao got even more anxious. They didn’t have enough money now! How would they get more later?!

Could it be…

Qingqiao’s eyes lit up, then dimmed again. She bit her lip, then said, “The Guan family…is very rich, but this is your mother’s side of the family, and you carry a different surname. Uncle Song said before that, if possible, don’t ask them for money. We should have some pride…”

She suddenly remembered something and brightened up with a start, “Are you waiting for the Guan family to give you money voluntarily? You were ill before this and didn’t need any money, but things are different now. Your grandmother is ill, but you still have Eldest Young Mistress!”

The more she spoke, the more she felt that she had guessed it right.

Eldest Young Mistress was clearly not a stingy person. Based on what she sent over the day before, it was clear that Guan Qing cared for Song Caitang. She didn’t give her money directly, probably because she hadn’t thought of it. If they waited for a while more, she might send some over!

Song Caitang smiled at Qingqiao, “What happened to having some pride?”

Qingqiao blinked, then bowed her head and fiddled with her fingers, “Well…you need to eat too…”

Song Caitang laughed at how her maid looked so embarrassed and decided to let her off, “Don’t worry, we won’t need money from the Guan family.”

Qingqiao’s eyes lit up, “You have a secret stash?”

Song Caitang stared at her, “Wouldn’t you know best if I had a secret stash?”

Qingqiao hung her head again. That meant she didn’t have any money stashed away.

She took care of Song Caitang’s every need, so she would have known if Song Caitang had money hidden.

Song Caitang took a sip of tea and decided to stop making her poor maid guess again and again. Her pleasant voice was slow and calm as she said, “Have you forgotten about First Madam Wu?”

Qingqiao froze. First Madam Wu? The one from the coffin home?

“You think she’d really give you money?”

“You don’t have faith in your Young Mistress?” Song Caitang narrowed her eyes. Her face reflected the sun, and her aura was mesmerizing.

Qingqiao felt her heart pound wildly. Her Young Mistress was simply too pretty to argue with! Not fair!

She clutched the drawings and said through gritted teeth, “I’ll get you breakfast and get it done immediately!”

In the afternoon, Madam Zhang sent two maids over before Qingqiao had returned.

One was named Qinxiu, and the other Huamei. Just like their names, they had bright eyes and intelligent faces. They were also very pretty young women who were clearly capable of doing and saying the right things without being told.

The person in charge of the maids in the inner house, Auntie Wang, smiled as she praised Song Caitang to the skies, “Just look at our lovely Cousin Young Mistress! Her beauty is one in a million! Look at her eyes, her face – she doesn’t look like someone who’s just recovered from a major illness at all! Good fortune is definitely awaiting you! Madam dotes on you so much, she can’t bear to let you suffer at all, so she got me to pick two fairly sensible and obedient maids and told them that they had to serve you well, or they’ll die!”

“Go ahead and tell them to do anything you want. If they steal from you or try any tricks, go ahead and punish them all you like! You can even beat them to death if you fancy. If you don’t want to dirty your own hands, call for me, and I’ll take care of them for you. If you don’t like their faces or don’t like them for whatever reason, just tell me what you prefer, and I’ll keep picking a different one until you’re satisfied!”

Song Caitang ran a slim finger down the side of the book. She looked at the two maids with a mysterious smile on her face.

These were supposed to be good maids who could take cues from their employer’s expression and do the right thing at the right time.

That didn’t sound like a lie. The problem was whose expression they took cues from and who benefitted from what they did.

She waited for Auntie Wang to finish her spiel and didn’t respond immediately. She continued flipping through her book slowly and only spoke when the silence in the room was becoming unbearable.

“You talk about beating, killing, punishing – gosh, if anyone heard these words without context and had no idea that you were saying this out of the goodness of your heart, they would probably think that I’m someone who’s very nitpicky and difficult to please.”

She looked quietly at Auntie Wang with a little smile on her face. Her finely trimmed brows and high nose emanated an authoritative air. An air that made it hard for Auntie Wang to look straight at her.

Auntie Wang had an awkward look on her face, “Why would anyone say that? I was just really trying to…”

“Alright, I don’t have any instructions for you. If you need to attend to something else, please go ahead,” Song Caitang continued enjoying her tea.

Auntie Wang excused herself.

Once she walked out of the courtyard, she patted her chest in fear. That look from Cousin Young Mistress was so sharp, it was as if she could see right through her!

But she was only 16 and was an idiot for an entire year. How could she possibly be so clever?

She must have been mistaken.

Inside the room, Qinxiu and Huamei greeted their new mistress.

They kept their eyes on the floor and bowed properly.

Song Caitang could guess what these two were trying to do. She had just returned and wasn’t familiar around here; neither did she have the patience to play mind games with them. So, she waved her hand and told them to take a rest while waiting for Qingqiao to return and assign them work.

To her dismay, both refused to leave and even fell to their knees.

“We are here for Cousin Young Mistress to order us around. We wouldn’t dare to slack off and not do anything!”

“If Cousin Young Mistress needs anything, please instruct us!”

They were seriously not budging.

Song Caitang raised an eyebrow. There was a cheeky look in her eye.

If these girls really treated her as their mistress, then they would understand her instruction to leave the room as a command.

They didn’t want to leave?

Sure.

Song Caitang’s gaze flickered as it landed on the table. She paused for a moment, then said in a gentle voice, “In that case, I’ll go ahead. This pot of tea has been here for too long, and it doesn’t taste good anymore. Which one of you is good at making tea? Make me a new pot. If you make it well, I’ll reward you.”

The two maids, who had been so united in their responses earlier, immediately turned to look at one another.

This was their first chance to prove themselves. Of course, they were going to fight for it!

Qinxiu opened her mouth to speak, but Huamei was a split second faster. Her voice was sweet and pleasant, “I will make you a new pot right away! I learned this from the seniors who served Old Madam, so I’m sure you will like it!”

Song Caitang smiled at the two maids. A little conflict had arisen.

A little conflict was good.

What a person was like, their temperament, their personality, their upbringing, their social circle, whether they seized the chance to attack or scheme against others – these were things she couldn’t tell by just looking at them. She was too lazy to really use her brains now, but these two clever maids refused to leave, so she decided to have a little fun with them.

After the tea was done, Song Caitang turned herself into Little Miss Picky. She started picking on the color combination of her clothing, the matching of accessories, and so on. Part of it was for herself to try on the clothes, but the other part was to make the maids very busy.

After a while, she could see what they were like. Huamei had a glib tongue, so she was very good at complimenting others, and she was very competitive. Qinxiu, on the other hand, was more steady. If Huamei was faster, she didn’t try fighting with her. Instead, she got herself ready and found a chance to silently steal the limelight and push Huamei out of the picture.

Once Huamei got pushed aside, she would pull a long face. Her displeasure was written all over her face. Qinxiu, however, never got angry, even when Huamei snatched her chance. She was always gentle and obedient in front of Song Caitang.

After Song Caitang had familiarized herself with all her clothes and accessories, Qingqiao came back.

When she saw the two new maids, she was so angry that she puffed her cheeks out. She looked at Song Caitang with tears in her eyes, as though she were a sad little puppy that had been abandoned by its owner.

Thankfully for her, Song Caitang wasn’t a bad owner who abandoned her pets. She took the large bag of herbs from Qingqiao and headed back inside, “Alright now, you’re the only head maid here, so I’ll leave these two newbies to you. Split the work among them properly, and don’t disturb me.”

Qingqiao immediately straightened her back.

She wasn’t as clever as her Young Mistress, but she wasn’t stupid, and she could be pretty scheming, too, especially when her job was at stake. After asking them a few questions, she figured out what was going on. She couldn’t explain it well, but she knew these two were competing with her. She was certain of that!

And so, since she held a higher position than them and was trusted by the Young Mistress, Qingqiao gave the two new maids their responsibilities. She emphasized the fact that the Young Mistress liked peace and quiet. If she didn’t call for the two maids by name, they were not allowed to go anywhere near the Young Mistress by themselves without her!

After running around for several hours, Qingqiao was tired. But after she saw the two new maids, she was highly motivated, and she kept a close eye on the two of them. As long as it involved getting close to Song Caitang, she would attend to it. The two newbies were not allowed to even try!

Huamei and Qinxiu didn’t know what to say to that.

Qingqiao successfully stopped the two new girls from disturbing her Young Mistress’ peace, and she thought that she was very handsome indeed.

Yes, handsome was the right word!

She was smiling brightly even when she got Song Caitang’s bed ready for her to sleep in.

But…when she woke up in the middle of the night, she discovered that her Young Mistress had gone missing again!

She ran out to find her Young Mistress sitting along the corridor illuminated by the moonlight, reading a book with one hand and slowly rolling herbs into a black pill with the other!

Qingqiao’s eyes widened, and her cheeks were puffed in anger. She quickly ran into the room, grabbed a blanket, and came running out to cover Song Caitang with it, “Don’t you feel cold?”

“Ah, I forgot…” Song Caitang smiled embarrassedly in response.

For some reason, she really liked this moonlight that resembled water. She even thought about it in her dreams.

The night was as cold as water, the clouds faintly visible, and the wind blew gently as though they were afraid of disturbing the sleep of humans.

Qingqiao sat down next to Song Caitang, “Young Mistress, what are you reading?”

Song Caitang had just finished rolling one pill into shape. She pointed at the books on the floor one by one, “Travel diaries, medical journals, strange happenings…” Her long brows disappeared into her fringe, and her eyes gleamed intelligently, “As the saying goes, one type of rice could be eaten by a hundred different sorts of people. This world is a very interesting one…”

Qingqiao shook her head. She couldn’t really understand.

She washed her hands, then sat down next to Song Caitang and helped to roll the herbs into pills.

She couldn’t understand the books, but she could see that her Young Mistress wasn’t sleepy and didn’t want to sleep.

Young Mistress was too clever, so…she really couldn’t talk to her about the books she was reading. But there were other things she could talk about.

Like what happened in the house, for example.

Or what new things she saw when she went out earlier, or what new things she heard. Or how she haggled for a cheaper price with the craftsmen she ordered from and when the items would be ready.

And…

“Young Mistress, you’ve recovered, so I’m afraid you’ll have to go over to greet Madam tomorrow.”

Song Caitang glanced at the room in the next block behind her yard.

That’s where the two maids were staying.

Madam Zhang had sent two maids to remind her about this. Of course, she knew she had to go.

“Yep.”

Qingqiao looked up at the moon and sighed, “I really don’t want to go…every time I go, I feel like there’s something very weird about the place. Even the way Second Young Mistress laughs is weird. I’m worried that they’ll try to make you stay for a long time and make life difficult for you.”

“Don’t worry over nothing. They can’t make life difficult for me.”

Qingqiao looked up at Song Caitang with bright eyes, “Young Mistress has a way to deal with them?”

“Well…what do you think?” Song Caitang threw her a mysterious smile.