Grandma Qin saw Qin Junyao secretly smiling and slapped her granddaughter. "What are you laughing at? Are you listening or not? If not, I won't tell you anymore."
"I am, I am. Grandma, please tell me properly," Qin Junyao suppressed her smile and hugged one of Grandma Qin's arms.
She had a feeling that Grandma Qin's story would be very interesting.
"Alas, I wasn't a household servant in the manor. Because of my stubborn temper, I did all sorts of chores, from sweeping to tending the fire."
"Later, I met Miss," Grandma Qin looked up slightly, recalling what her Miss looked like back then. "Our Miss was beautiful, but her fate was unfortunate."
"She taught us to read, hehe, while she read, we slept."
"She took us out of the manor to play everywhere, to eat delicious food. What I know now, Miss taught me."
"She, ah, loved the Empress Dowager the most..."
In Grandma Qin's narrative, Qin Junyao saw an official's daughter, raised within the strictures of feudal etiquette and rules, who, yearning for the freedom of women a hundred years prior, sought it wantonly in the imperial city with her group of mischievous maids.
They ate and drank and played like men.
But this official's daughter was ultimately trapped by love and married into a grand, deep mansion.
She watched the man she wanted to spend her life with bring women into the household one by one, and her own maids become concubines or secondary wives by his side.
"What happened later?" Qin Junyao listened to Grandma Qin recount the power struggles among the women in the inner chambers, which was more realistic and cruel than any modern film or television drama.
She couldn't help but want to know the aftermath.
"Later, ah, later on her birthday, my Miss hanged herself wearing the clothes the Madam had made for her when she was a maiden."
Grandma Qin's tone was light as she reached this point, with no sadness or lingering regret.
Qin Junyao felt a sense of melancholy and a bit of confusion. "Then my father was from that family..."
"No, your father's father was worse than a dog."
"Alas, you just need to know that your Grandma here can truly broaden your horizons."
"Move further away, I want to lie down for a bit," Grandma Qin said and slid into the covers, turning her back to Qin Junyao.
She didn't tell Qin Junyao that on the morning of her Miss's suicide, she had asked Qin Junyao to style her hair in the "chui huan fen xiao ji" (垂鬟分肖髻), the hairstyle she often wore as a maiden, and that Qin Junyao had personally helped her Miss change her clothes.
Although Qin Junyao found it a bit strange at the time, her mind was filled with thoughts of where she would go to play on the day off her Miss had given her, and what she could bring back to make her Miss happy.
Upon returning to the manor, Qin Junyao discovered that her Miss had left something for her before her departure.
Her deed of servitude and fifty taels of silver.
Subsequently, Qin Junyao used most of the silver and her clean body to purchase an abortifacient.
The day before her Miss's funeral, she sneaked into the kitchen and added the medicine to the meals of the male master and the various concubines.
Since her Miss had lost her child and her life, no one else should have children.
Qin's father was conceived when the medicine was being changed. Old Man Hou and his wife were rescued by her on her escape. They were the only ones who knew that Grandma Qin was pregnant out of wedlock and not a widow.
And what she hid under her headscarf was the "chui huan fen xiao ji" (垂鬟分肖髻) her Miss wore on the day she died.
.
The carriage carrying Qin Junyao and her grandmother to Northwest City traveled smoothly. Along the way, two warhorses swiftly overtook the carriage, also heading towards Northwest City.
"Hammer, slow down, ptooey," Suozi spat out a blade of grass that had blown into his mouth and yelled at Zhao Liangcai as he rode behind Xiao Fei.
"The Northwest Grand Camp isn't going anywhere. Do you want the horse to die?"
Suozi's reminder made Zhao Liangcai ease the reins slightly, and Xiao Fei's galloping speed decreased.
There weren't many pedestrians or carriages on the road. Suozi rode his horse abreast of Zhao Liangcai. "Hammer, are you crazy? You've been acting weird these past few days. Did Qian Duo go to your room again last night?"
Zhao Liangcai turned to look at Suozi. "How did you know Qian Duo was in my room last night?"
"Fu Zi told me. Didn't Fu Zi sleep with you when you went back?"
"Who else did he tell?"
"How would I know?"
Zhao Liangcai glanced at Suozi and then turned his head back, his eyes fixed straight ahead, ignoring him.
"Hey, Hammer, I'm asking you what's been going on with you these past few days. There's so much going on in the camp, and you keep running to the village every day. Did Qian Duo give you any more news?"
"Hammer?"
Zhao Liangcai sighed. If he didn't explain himself, Suozi would keep asking.
"Qian Duo did give me news, but I didn't go back to the village because of her. It's because that liar Qin Junyao..."
Then, Zhao Liangcai told Suozi about his actions and what had happened between him and Qin Junyao.
He couldn't understand why Qin Junyao hadn't kept her appointment, and what she and her grandmother were doing going to Northwest City.
After listening to Zhao Liangcai's narrative, which was a mix of complaint and grievance, Suozi burst into laughter on his horse.
"Oh my, this is hilarious! You actually told the girl directly that you are her future husband, and you even suspected that her money was obtained through improper means?"
"If I were Miss Qin, I would have fought you to the death. On such a cold day, you thought about sending her wolf pelts but didn't think about her practicing the zither on the mountaintop being cold? Do you think you're practicing your great hammer?"
Zhao Liangcai pondered Suozi's words. They made sense, so he slowed Xiao Fei down again.
Before he could ask, Suozi continued, "I say, you should let Miss Qin go, and let yourself go too."
"Besides, with Qian Duo lurking menacingly by her side, if Miss Qin were to marry you, do you think she could survive a few rounds under Qian Duo's control?"
Zhao Liangcai frowned again and looked at Suozi. "Grandma Qin said she would often come to stay after the wedding."
When Suozi heard his childhood friend mention Grandma Qin, he rolled his eyes. "What can that old woman do besides curse and fight? Your stepmother's bought servants are not just for show."
"The old woman and her niece have clashed. Your household will be the old woman fighting all the maids every day." Suozi flicked his chin, letting Zhao Liangcai ponder his words.
"I don't care. I'm going to marry Qin Junyao. If not, you figure out a way for me."
"Giddy up!" Zhao Liangcai pondered for two seconds, leaving Suozi with a difficult problem, and then spurred his horse forward.
"Hey, are you sick? You're getting married, and you want me to figure out a way? What's so good about that Qin Junyao? What the heck, why are you running so fast again? Are you in a hurry to reincarnate..."
.
The carriage was fast, and the inn and coachman were well-arranged. Qin Junyao and her grandmother only took ten days to reach Northwest City.
Northwest City now was somewhat different from their first visit. The number of guards at the city gate had increased, and the checks on incoming and outgoing people were stricter.
The changes within the city were not significant. What was noteworthy was that the grain stores were operating normally. Apart from a limit on purchasing grain, prices had not soared as they had in Yan County, which was rather strange.
After finding an inn, the Qin grandmother and granddaughter rested for a day. Qin Junyao went to a nearby pharmacy to get medicine, as the medicine from Doctor Sheng had run out on the road.
Qin Junyao felt the medicine was very effective. She clearly felt stronger and didn't get tired as often.
Doctor Sheng had told her that after taking the medicine for twenty days, her period could come at any time, and that one's appearance also depended on one's clothing.
Therefore, after resting well in Northwest City, their first destination was the cloth shop.