Nan Xinlan was utterly astonished to see Tie Mingzhu. No matter how she tried, she could not understand why Tie Mingzhu had come to seek refuge here too.
She had chosen Wang Chong because he was poor.
A young master who did not come from a prestigious family was bound to have few social connections. By serving as his sword-bearing maid, she could naturally conceal her identity. Had she sought refuge with someone like Qin Han, she feared that if she arrived in the morning, she would become a laughingstock known throughout the world by the afternoon.
Tie Mingzhu looked as though she had nothing left to live for. She simply could not understand how she had fallen into such a plight. After all those twists and turns, how had she ended up in that lecher's hands again?
Sorrow suddenly welled up in Miss Tie. At the sight of Nan Xinlan, she threw her arms around her friend and wept floods of tears.
Yuzao had heard of Nan Xinlan and Tie Mingzhu, but as a maid with no wide circle of acquaintances, she did not recognize these two heroines. The little maid was thoroughly bewildered. She kept feeling that her young master had some explaining to do, but she decided not to ask and to be her master's most obedient little maid.
Wang Chong knew that neither of his two "new maids" should show her face in public. He left them with Yuzao and took Monk Xuangang to see Su Luoyan. By then, the sky was quite bright, so they would not be disturbing anyone's sweet dreams.
Su Luoyan had risen quite early. She and Lu Moniang had both washed and were playing a board game in the courtyard. Sun Mingke was practicing his sword elsewhere rather than staying beside