Breakup money

Su Yuhe answered blankly, "I don't know."

Liuxin's smile remained unchanged as she lowered her eyes, concealing the disdain in them. "You were born in the countryside, miss, and don't understand the rules. Anyone who trespasses into a man's chambers is treated as a flower thief and taken to the authorities. At the very least, you'd be locked up for ten days."

"And that's if the man hasn't lost his chastity. If you caused him to lose his chastity, you might not escape with your life."

Su Yuhe nodded to show she understood. "Thank you for the lesson, Nurse. I still have things to attend to, so I'll take my leave."

"Take care, miss."

She hurried away. When she reached the courtyard gate, a male voice came from the second floor. "Wait a moment, miss."

Su Yuhe looked back. Xubai stood fully dressed at the window in a green brocade robe, a golden necklace hanging around his neck. It looked as though it was made of gold, and she gave it a couple of extra looks.

Resting his head on one hand, Xubai watched her with a beaming smile. She hastily lowered her head, catching his nurse's piercing gaze out of the corner of her eye.

Lanxin ran down from the second floor, panting. "You haven't had breakfast yet, miss. Take some back with you. It's getting late, and cooking after you get home would be a bother."

She glanced at Xubai upstairs and quietly agreed. "Sorry for the trouble."

The gatekeeper had seen her enter empty-handed. Now she carried a three-tiered carved rosewood food box in one hand and a basket brimming with vegetables on the other arm, with Lanxin, the young master's personal attendant, following behind her. The gatekeeper inwardly marveled at her luck in latching onto Lanxin.

Carrying two vegetable baskets, Lanxin followed her home with the utmost reluctance. He truly had no idea how his young master could have taken a fancy to someone like her.

In the past, he had been able to sample all the tasty things the young master didn't want. Ever since she appeared, all the young master's pastries had ended up in her pockets. It was difficult for him, Zhuxin, and the others to get even a single piece.

The entire route from the estate to Su Yuhe's home was paved with bluestone slabs, far easier to walk on than the countryside's dirt roads. It had all been done so the young master could have a smoother carriage ride.

Who could have imagined that no sooner had craftsmen been hired to pave the road than this pauper would ask for those same craftsmen and the leftover bluestone slabs to build herself a house?

Lanxin followed Su Yuhe through the gate and grew angry at the sight of the bluestone paving in the courtyard.

He set down the vegetable baskets, walked over to the three youths kneeling in the courtyard, and lifted one's chin for a closer look. "Not bad-looking," he muttered.

The youth he praised showed not a trace of pleasure. He looked fearfully toward Su Yuhe, then shuffled over to her on his knees once Lanxin released him. "Wife, this slave doesn't eat much. Please don't sell me."

The other two youths shuffled over on their knees to plead with her. She hurriedly moved away and told Lanxin, "Take them away quickly."

Seeing how uneasy the three youths were, she reassured them, "I'm not selling you. I'm only having you work on the estate to earn some food."

"Really?"

"Really."

Lanxin snorted. "Get moving. If you're late, you'll have a bitter fruit to swallow."

Lu Mingyi was eighteen that year, the oldest of the three. He was the first to kowtow and declare his resolve. "Mingyi will work hard and earn some money for you, Wife."

Su Yuhe wanted to correct how he addressed her, but on second thought, they were leaving anyway. Why waste her breath?

She nodded perfunctorily. "Off you go."

Lu Mingxi and Meng Zhixian followed his example, kowtowing to her and saying a few pleasing words.

They had been kneeling for quite some time. When they tried to rise, their frail bodies fluttered back to the ground like willow catkins. Su Yuhe instinctively reached to help, but, afraid Lanxin would tell Xubai, sheepishly tucked her hands behind her back.

Lanxin's tongue seemed steeped in poison. "Still think you're pampered young masters? Who are you putting on this act for? Hurry up and follow me. If you hold things up, I'll make you regret it."

The three forced themselves to their feet and followed Lanxin away, supporting one another.

Su Yuhe withdrew her gaze, shut the gate, and took all the vegetables from the three baskets down to the cellar to stack neatly. Bit by bit, she had fleeced an entire cellarful of vegetables from the estate, enough to feed her alone for nearly half a year.

The food box she brought back contained three dishes, a sweet soup, a cold dish, and a plate of pastries. She couldn't finish it all alone, but could split it into two or three meals.

Having just been warned by his nurse, she couldn't very well visit Xubai over the next few days. With her habit of eating twice a day, these dishes would barely last two days.

Once she poured the sauce from the braised pork hock over her rice, she didn't need to spare the other dishes a glance. It was already noon when she finished eating. She put away the leftovers and returned to her room to sleep.

The midday sun had dispelled the spring chill, making it the perfect time for a nap. She fell fast asleep the moment she hit the bed.

An unknown amount of time passed. As the sun slanted westward, another irritating knock sounded outside the gate.

Knock, knock, knock. Knock, knock, knock. It simply wouldn't stop.

Su Yuhe picked up her cloak, draped it over herself, and went outside. She opened the gate with narrowed eyes, and the morning's scene played out again.

Lanxin had returned with the three he had taken away at noon. He handed her a pouch. "My young master is going home. Before leaving, he told me to give you this."

She took it and opened it for a look. It was packed with silver, roughly ten taels.

She asked, "When will he be back?"

Lanxin looked at her contemptuously. "What are you after? My young master is returning to the imperial capital. Unless something unexpected happens, he won't come back for the rest of his life."

Got it. Breakup money.

She guessed the nurse had intervened. Then there was nothing to say. It was good enough that no one had been sent to kill her.

Su Yuhe asked no further questions. Finding no satisfaction in her silence, Lanxin left.

The three youths at the gate watched her intently. Three hot potatoes had turned into three burdens and landed back in her hands.

She sighed and headed inside, tossing out, "Come in."

She sat in the bamboo rocking chair in the courtyard. The three slowly approached and knelt at her feet, their heads drooping.

Lu Mingyi said guiltily, "This slave is useless. I failed to earn any money."

Since the matter was settled and she couldn't send the three away, she could only support them herself.

She waved a hand, her tone unruffled. "No need to say more. Go wash up first."

Her brick house with its blue-tiled roof could be called incomparably grand in Reed Flower Village. But when she designed it, she hadn't expected three more people to join her household. Every room had a purpose, leaving no spare living quarters for them.

Inside the gate, a coop built against the wall on the left housed five chickens, while a shed on the right held firewood.

A bluestone path ran from the gate to the entrance of the main house. She had divided the main house into three sections: a reception area in the middle, a study on the left, and a summer bedroom on the right.

To the west stood a grape arbor with a small table beneath it, where she ate and cooled off in summer. The cellar was underneath, and this was also where she envisioned building new rooms after marrying a husband and having children.

The eastern side served more purposes. Starting from the entrance, there were the kitchen, the bathing room, and the winter bedroom, in that order.

There was also a small privy in the northeastern corner.

She was currently staying in the eastern bedroom. After she cooked dinner on the stove, the residual warmth from the firewood in the firebox traveled into the heated brick bed, allowing her to sleep much more soundly through the night.

Su Yuhe thought it over and over, unsure where to settle them.

There was only one quilt in the house, the very one she was using now. If she put them in the main house without a quilt, they would probably freeze.

If the cold made them ill, she would be done for. Treating illnesses was expensive here.