Maidservants

By the time he returned from the Song residence, it was the You Hour.

Song Yuan had intended to have him stay the night, but Jia Heng declined, leaving him no choice but to send yesterday's carriage to take Jia Heng home.

Though Jia Heng reeked of wine and his cheeks were flushed, his mind was even clearer than usual. He stepped down from the carriage, stopped the old man who had climbed down to help him, and said with a smile, "No need to support me, sir. I can walk over myself."

"Are you quite all right, young master?" the old man asked worriedly.

Jia Heng smiled and waved a hand. "It's only a few steps. You should head back, sir."

"Then take care, young master," the old man said.

Jia Heng answered him, then carried his lantern toward the courtyard where he lived.

The night was deep, punctuated now and then by barking dogs.

Jia Heng pushed open the gate and entered the courtyard. As usual, he hung his lantern beneath the eaves and went to fetch water. Before he could, Aunt Cai emerged from the inner room with two maidservants who looked around eleven or twelve and bore some resemblance to each other. "Young master, don't trouble yourself with that. Let them do it."

Jia Heng knitted his brows. "Who are these?"

"Your servants greet you, young master." The two maids dropped to their knees with a thump, their heads bowed against their chests.

Aunt Cai smiled. "Brother Heng, I've been looking carefully these past two days, and finally found a pair that suited. They're sisters."

Then she said, "Get up, both of you. Raise your heads and let the young master have a look."

Jia Heng frowned slightly and said as he washed his hands, "Get up. The ground is cold."

Then he took the towel hanging from the line, dried his hands, and asked Aunt Cai beside him, "Aunt, how old are they? Where are they from? Do they still remember their home?"

Before Aunt Cai could answer, the two maids had raised their eyes to Jia Heng. In the lamplight, their youthful, pretty faces looked freshly washed, though somewhat malnourished, with what seemed to be traces of tears.

A girl with ram-horn braids and well-formed features said, "Young master, my name is Bi'er, and I'm twelve this year. This is my elder sister. She's thirteen, and we called her Yan'er at home. We fled here from Shandong. Mother starved to death on the road. Father had our little brother with him, and to keep them alive, he sold my sister and me to a child broker for five taels of silver."

The girl named Bi'er seemed rather articulate. Raising her thin, pale face, she recounted everything in full.

Neither sister was an exceptional beauty, but both had regular features. Perhaps because of malnutrition, however, they looked rather haggard.

Jia Heng fell silent for a moment, then looked up at Aunt Cai and asked, "They aren't all that young anymore. How did you come to buy them?"

Generally speaking, older maidservants already remembered things and had settled temperaments, making them difficult for child brokers to sell. And if they ran away elsewhere...

Aunt Cai sighed and explained, "You don't know the story, Brother Heng. These sisters had been stuck with a child broker in the Eastern Market for over half a year... The elder sister is mute, so the younger one refused to be sold alone. She would only go to a household if they took her sister too. She was sold several times, but each time she refused to work properly for her master, ran away, and returned to the broker. She suffered plenty of savage beatings. When I heard about it, I felt sorry for them and decided to buy them both. The broker asked for twenty taels at first. It took all my pleading and persuasion to bargain him down to ten."

Jia Heng glanced at the elder sister. Her face had handsome, spirited features and a slightly dark complexion. Tears welled in her eyes, and her lips moved as though she wanted to say something, but only inarticulate sounds emerged.

Perhaps she thought the young master before her meant to send her away.

Just then, the girl named Bi'er lifted her pale, gaunt face, her eyes reddening. "Young master, if you don't want my sister, please send me back with her."

Jia Heng was silent for a moment, then told Aunt Cai, "Keep them both."

Tears of excitement spilled down Bi'er's face. "Thank you, young master. My sister and I will serve you well."

Aunt Cai smiled. "Go and prepare the bathwater."

"Yes..." Bi'er answered, joyfully tugging her sister along to the kitchen to scoop up hot water.

Watching the two girls' retreating backs, Jia Heng sighed softly and thought, This is only the tip of the iceberg.

As far as he knew, ever since the eighth year of Chongping, Shandong, Henan, and other regions had suffered failed harvests year after year from floods and droughts. With military reorganization and preparations against bandits added to the burden, those two regions had virtually become bottomless pits for the Chen Han Court's finances.

It was something of a coincidence that Chen Han, too, had imposed a border defense levy and a military training levy on top of its regular taxes to guard against the Eastern Barbarians.

The border defense levy had originated more than twenty years earlier. After the loss of Liaodong and the rise of Later Jin, the garrisons in the strategic strongholds of the Nine Frontiers had expanded enormously, and the additional levy was imposed to fund provisions, fodder, and military pay.

As for the military training levy, natural and man-made calamities had struck throughout the land, and bandits had risen like swarms of bees. Provincial governors and governors-general used it to train troops, prepare against bandit attacks, and restore peace and order.

Yet after a century of the dynasty, abuses had accumulated by the hundred. Imperial princes, landed gentry, and wealthy merchants amassed fields and property, annexing land with a frenzy that bordered on madness. The central treasury spent more than it took in, running deficits year after year.

After lamenting inwardly for a while, Jia Heng suddenly sensed something was amiss and asked, "Aunt, where's Qingwen?"

He turned and saw candlelight shining in the side room.

Aunt Cai pursed her lips toward it and lowered her voice. "I don't know what's gotten into that girl. I called her this evening, but she wouldn't even come out for supper. I suppose she's in there embroidering something now."

Jia Heng's expression paused. With a thoughtful look in his eyes, he headed toward the East Window Side Room.

Upon reaching the room and stepping around the curtain, he saw Qingwen sitting on the bed, seemingly embroidering by lamplight. Yet her needle and thread were still; she was plainly only putting on a show.

Jia Heng found it amusing.

The girl seemed to hear him. She put down her embroidery and lifted a face as enchanting as a spring blossom, gazing at him wistfully. Jia Heng paused, then smiled. "Qingwen, still awake?"

"How would I dare sleep before you came back, young master?" Qingwen said in her clear voice. Turning her lovely head aside, she gave a little huff, then could not resist adding, "You reek of wine, young master. You ought to have someone attend you while you bathe before coming inside. Now the whole room smells of it."

Clearly, the pretty maid had heard every word of the conversation in the courtyard.

Her voice was bright and clear, rising and falling with a lilting cadence, as lovely to hear as an oriole emerging from a valley.

Jia Heng walked to the small table and leisurely poured himself a cup of tea. Closing his eyes slightly, he said mildly, "I visited a gentleman's home today, so I returned a little late."

He briefly considered what might have brought on Qingwen's sudden dejection.

One possibility was that he had promised to teach Qingwen to read and write, but after drinking and coming home so late today, that would probably no longer happen.

The other possibility was that Aunt Cai had brought home two maidservants.

Having finished speaking, Jia Heng lifted the cup and drank. Hmm, the tea is still warm. The leaves seem freshly changed, and it's a little sweet. Has honey been added?

At his words, Qingwen trembled slightly. Lifting her radiant, oval face, she looked at Jia Heng as he rested with his eyes closed and asked wistfully, "Why did you stay out drinking so late, young master?"

Jia Heng opened his eyes and chuckled. "I meant to return early, but that gentleman kept me a while longer. Once I've bathed, I'll teach you to read. Oh, and review those characters today. I'll be testing you later."

Qingwen pressed her cherry-red lips together and said softly, "I've memorized all dozen or so characters."

Jia Heng set down his teacup and smiled. "Whether you remember them or not, we'll only know after the test."

Seeing Jia Heng reach for the teapot to pour another cup, Qingwen rose and approached him. "Let me, young master," she said gently.

Jia Heng's smile vanished, and he said in an indifferent tone, "How could I dare trouble Miss Qingwen?"

As he spoke, he kept hold of the teapot.

Qingwen's face went white in an instant. "Young master, you... I was..." she said urgently.

Seeing this, Jia Heng gave a soft chuckle and said helplessly, "All right, I won't tease you anymore. Just don't go adding honey or whatever else to the tea in future. Who did you learn that from, anyway?"

Only then did Qingwen's worry turn to delight. She lifted the teapot and poured with a splash into the blue-patterned white porcelain cup. Pouting slightly, she smiled. "That's how they drink tea in the Old Madam's rooms. I saw honey in the cupboard, so I added some. I thought you might like it."

Jia Heng picked up the cup, took a sip, and chuckled. "Wine already leaves me terribly thirsty. Honey tea only makes me thirstier the more I drink."

Qingwen's eyes curved with her smile as she laughed softly. "Then you'll simply have to drink it all, young master."

Jia Heng: "..."