"Becoming a cook?"
In the west wing, Zhao Jingyu was having dinner. When he heard Wei Jun say that Xiu'er took over someone else's job out of spite because she was slapped in the face, he put down his chopsticks and raised his eyebrows without comment.
In his opinion, it was true that Xiu'er was beaten, and it was also true that he stole someone else's job. But it was not true that he stole someone else's job out of spite because he was beaten.
It was just like she wanted to come to the Marquis' Mansion with him in the first place, but it was definitely not because she loved him.
She asked the fourth aunt to send her to the kitchen, but she definitely didn't really love cooking.
She stopped Xie Nanfeng from killing Zhao Jingping, but it was definitely not to save Zhao Jingping.
Therefore, the reason she wanted to be a cook was definitely not just because the cook slapped her.
Every step and every decision she makes has a purpose unknown to others.
The reason why he ignored her was that the closer he was to her, the harder it was to tell. Only by standing farther away could he see her true purpose from the perspective of an outsider.
He wanted to see what this treacherous girl was up to.
"I know. Have someone keep watching." He waved his hand, and the maid brought him some tea for rinsing his mouth. He took a sip, then spit it out and said slowly, "I don't want to see that woman who beat people again."
“…” Wei Jun thought, you’ve never seen it before!
The west wing and the old lady's courtyard have independent kitchens, which usually have no intersection with the big kitchen. The only intersection is that the same person collects the slop.
He said it in his heart, but Wei Jun understood that Zhao Jingyu meant to expel him from the house, so he replied "yes" and went out.
After a while, Wei Jun came back to report that everything had been done.
Zhao Jingyu nodded, leaned on the chaise longue, and said lazily after a full meal: "Can you ask Mr. Hu not to come tonight? I want to sleep."
Wei Jun said: "I'm afraid not. The teacher doesn't like lazy students."
"Ah!" Zhao Jingyu sighed and turned over. "Then I'll take a nap first."
Wei Jun covered him with a thin blanket, bowed and walked out the door.
The night gradually fell silent.
Xie Nanjia no longer had to light the fire, and was able to relax two quarters of an hour earlier than usual. These two quarters of an hour were enough for her to take a trip to Qingqu Garden.
There is a full moon tonight, as bright as a jade plate. Xie Nanjia walked carefully under the moonlight to Qingqu Garden.
Qingqu Garden is probably the only garden in the entire prefecture that does not need to be locked after curfew. Not to mention locking it, the open gate does not even need to be closed for years, because there is nothing inside except a not-so-fresh smell and some washing tools.
The servants working here are the poorest, and thieves are too lazy to come here and waste their time.
Xie Nanjia entered the garden without any effort. People in the garden got up early in the morning and went to bed early. While other places were still brightly lit, it was dark and silent here.
She was not familiar with the terrain and was afraid of alarming others if she rushed in, so she groped her way along the wall.
Fortunately, there was a moonlight, and she successfully approached the row of houses on the north side.
There were many rooms in the house, and she didn't know which one was Hualou's residence. She was thinking about how to find someone when the door of the room at the end suddenly creaked. She quickly hid behind a pile of neatly stacked toilets and looked over there through the gap.
The smell of the toilet is really unpleasant. Even if it is fumigated with incense, it is still unbearable.
Fortunately, she didn't have to wait long. When the door over there opened, a man walked out, walked to the side of the yard, and untied his belt to relieve himself.
Xie Nanjia was not interested in watching this and withdrew his gaze.
She thought that the man just came out to relieve himself, but he did not return to his previous room after relieving himself. Instead, he walked to the door of the westernmost room and stopped. He listened to the door for a while, then took out a sharp knife from his waist, inserted it into the crack of the door, and began to creak and pry the bolt.
Xie Nanjia’s first reaction was that this person wanted to steal something, but she didn’t want to alert the enemy, so she just stayed there quietly without saying anything.
After a while, the man finally unbolted the door, slipped into the house, and closed the door gently.
Xie Nanjia breathed a sigh of relief and quickly left the pile of toilets. The next moment, she heard a suppressed female voice coming from the room. It stopped as soon as it sounded, as if someone covered her mouth.
Xie Nanjia suddenly realized that this man was not trying to steal anything, but was trying to do something illegal.
She was not sure if the female voice inside came from Hualou, but even if it was from another girl, she could not just stand by and watch. She probed the ground with her foot, picked up half a brick, held it in her hand and rushed into the room.
She listened to the sound and walked inside. With the help of a ray of moonlight, she saw a shadowy figure in front of the bed trying hard to subdue the person on the bed. She walked over quietly, but accidentally stepped on something, making a slight noise.
The person in front of the bed suddenly turned around and asked "Who?" Xie Nanjia raised his hand without hesitation and hit him on the forehead with a brick.
The man groaned and fell to the ground.
The person in the bed sat up and started shouting.
Xie Nanjia couldn't see her movements, but she knew she would scream, so she spoke up to stop her: "Don't make a sound, I'm here to help you."
The person on the bed held back the "Help" that was about to come out of his mouth and fumbled to turn on the light.
The light was not much bigger than a soybean, but it was enough for Xie Nanjia to see her face clearly.
"Hua Lou!" Xie Nanjia called her out loud, feeling a little scared.
Hualou grabbed her clothes in a daze and asked in a trembling voice, "Who are you?"
Xie Nanjia's throat tightened, and she walked quickly to her: "It's me, I'm Xiu'er, have you forgotten?"
"Xiu'er?" Hualou was startled and the first thing he thought of was his own young lady. Then he realized that the young lady would not call herself Xiu'er and that she was already dead.
Hua Lou's tears fell: "Where are you from?"
Xie Nanjia couldn't help but blurry eyes: "I am Xiu'er from the kitchen. We met in the reception room of the Marquis in the front yard that day."
"It's you?" Hualou slowly remembered her and asked, "Why are you here so late?"
Xie Nanjia said: "Now is not the time to talk about this. It seems that this man was beaten to death by me. Let's deal with him first!"
"Beaten to death?" Hualou cried out in a low voice, and got out of bed tremblingly, without wearing shoes, holding the light to shine on the man.
The man lay on the ground motionless with blood all over his face.
"Ah!" Hualou was so frightened that he almost threw the lamp away. "Is he really dead?"
Xie Nanjia bent down and sniffed his breath to make sure he was really dead.
She really used all her strength at that time because she was afraid that if she missed the attack, she would be captured by this man.
"What should we do?" Hualou asked in panic, "Should we report this to the manager?"
"We can't report it. If we do, we'll be sent to the authorities." Xie Nanjia said, "Little girls like us, if no one takes care of us, we won't be able to get out once we go in."
"What should we do then?" Hualou was completely at a loss.
Xie Nanjia said calmly, "Don't panic. The more you panic, the more confused you will be. When I came in, I saw a large pool in the middle of the yard. Let's drag him out and throw him in. Just pretend that he fell in by mistake."
"Ah?" Hualou looked at her anxiously, "Is this possible?"
"Okay, no problem." Xie Nanjia made up his mind and became calmer. He instructed Hualou, "Put down the lamp and find something to wrap his head to prevent blood from flowing onto the ground when we carry him out."
Hualou didn't know what was going on, but he instantly regarded her as his backbone. He was no longer panicked or afraid. He swiftly found a torn sheet, tore it into several strips, and wrapped the man's head tightly. He did not stop until he was sure that the bleeding had stopped.
Xie Nanjia asked her to blow out the lights, and the two of them used all their strength to carry the person out of the house.
For fear of making too much noise and alerting anyone, the two men didn't even dare to breathe. They gritted their teeth and held their strength to carry the man to the toilet sink. They untied the sheet wrapped around the man's head and carefully pushed him face down into the water without making any sound.
After doing all this, both of them were sweating profusely. They were so focused that they forgot to be afraid and sat by the pool gasping for breath.
Only then did Hualou remember to ask Xie Nanjia why she came to Qingqu Garden.
Xie Nanjia said, "I have only been in the mansion for a short time. I finally had some free time tonight, so I wanted to walk around and take a look. As I was walking, I got lost. The more I walked, the more remote the place was. I accidentally walked here. I wanted to come in and ask someone for directions, and I happened to see this person enter your room."
"…" Although Hualou was simple-minded, he didn't believe everything she said. He looked at her suspiciously in the moonlight, "Isn't this too coincidental?"
"Yeah, it's just a coincidence." Xie Nanjia quickly changed the subject, "Who is this person? Has he bullied you before?"
"No." Hualou said, "He is indeed a man of bad character. He molested a little girl in another courtyard before and was sent here by the steward. Although he usually touches me, he doesn't dare to be too presumptuous. There are two people living in my room. The other one took leave and went home today. He must have thought that I was the only one left, so he had the evil intention."
"Is that so?" Xie Nanjia secretly thanked herself for arriving just in time. "You'd better be careful next time. If your roommate asks for leave again, you can go and squeeze in with other girls. Even if there is no room, you can sleep on the floor. It is safer than sleeping alone. Remember?"
"I've got it." Hualou responded subconsciously, then froze in a daze, not understanding why he agreed so smoothly.
Xie Nanjia saw her stunned and knew that she was going to ask her the purpose of coming here again, so she hurriedly said before her: "It's not easy to stay here for long, I have to go first, you go back to the house and carefully check the bloodstains on the ground, and make sure to wipe it clean everywhere. Rinse the brick with water and throw it outside. I will take these pieces of cloth and help you burn them. Remember not to get up too early tomorrow. Wait until others find the body before you get up, understand?"
"Got it." Hualou became nervous because of what she said and forgot everything else.
"Okay then." Xie Nanjia rolled up the cloth in her hand, stood up and left. Before leaving, she asked her again, "Are you afraid of sleeping alone?"
Hualou wanted to say that he was afraid, but he didn't have the nerve to do so.
Xie Nanjia said: "If you are afraid, think about why you came here."
Hualou straightened up all of a sudden, clenched his fist and said, "I'm not afraid, just go!"
The reason she came here was to stay in the mansion and wait for an opportunity to kill Lvliu. Lvliu killed the young lady in order to get to the top, and was afraid that she would avenge the young lady, so she tried to drive her out of the mansion. She begged the housekeeper so hard that her head was broken. Only then did the housekeeper show mercy and arrange her in Qingqu Garden.
She had witnessed the young lady's death with her own eyes. Now, Lvliu was still alive and the young lady's revenge had not been avenged. What did she have to be afraid of!
Xie Nanjia looked at her and instantly mustered up her courage. She was relieved and whispered, "Then I'll leave. Be careful. I'll find time to come and see you. If I don't come, you must not look for me."
Hualou nodded in agreement, and the two of them said goodbye.
Xie Nanjia hurriedly left the garden, avoiding people all the way back to the big kitchen, threw the cloth ball into the stove, burned it all with a fire, and used a fire poker to mix the ashes with the wood ash in the stove. He did not lock the door and left until there was nothing unusual.
Fortunately, she was the last one to finish work every day as the fire-making girl, so she always had a key to the kitchen with her. If the incident happened tomorrow, her key would have been given to someone else, and it would not be so easy to deal with the bloody cloth.
After doing all this, she quietly returned to her residence, took a simple shower, and washed her clothes as well.
She couldn't describe the feeling in her heart after killing a person with her own hands. Although the man deserved to die, there was a difference between dying at the hands of others and dying at one's own hands. She was not like Qin, who could kill a few servants without even frowning. Her hands had never been stained with blood.
Tonight is the first time.
She knew that this would not be the last time, and her hands would be stained with blood on the road to revenge.
But so what, God let her live her life again, not for her to live a romantic life. There is no shortage of Bodhisattvas in this world, so she wants to be a Rakshasa!
She hung the clothes up, knelt down in the moonlight, bowed three times to the sky, then got up and went back to the house to sleep.
She thought she would have a nightmare at night, but unexpectedly she slept until dawn.
Her roommate Jiuer woke her up and asked her where she had been last night.
She said she didn't go anywhere, just sat outside the kitchen for a while. Because she was going to be a cook today, she was very excited and talked to her parents facing the moon.
Jiu'er's parents had both passed away. She was very sad when she heard the news. Before Xie Nanjia could do anything, she started crying first. She also encouraged Xie Nanjia and told her to work hard and strive to become the chef as soon as possible.
Xie Nanjia tried to comfort her and finally managed to stop her from crying. They both fetched water to wash their faces, tidied their clothes, and went to the kitchen together.
During the entire breakfast time, Xie Nanjia kept an eye on the movements outside, but until breakfast was over and the sun was high in the sky, he did not hear anyone mention the death in Qingqu Garden.
Xie Nanjia felt strange. People in Qingqu Garden always got up early, so it was impossible that they hadn’t discovered anyone in the pool yet!
Could it be that the person disappeared out of thin air
(End of this chapter)