The Sleuth of Ming Dynasty (ENGLISH TRANSLATION)

CH 14

Meanwhile, Ah-Xia returned to the courtyard Mistress Li resided in, a heavy load on her mind. By coincidence, Ah-Chun was lifting the curtain to leave, catching sight of her. “Why did it take you this long to deliver snacks?” she admonished. “The Madam’s waiting for your report!”

Madam Li’s surname was Zhang. She was a full fifty years of age and had taken good care of herself — at the very least, she wasn’t as bad in comparison to the widespread early aging of her peers. Even so, there were still many hard-to-prevent wrinkles climbing out the corners of her eyes, and she stooped slightly, despite her kindly face. Noticing Ah-Xia walk in, she smiled and asked, “You delivered it?”

Ah-Xia gave a blessing-bow.[1] “Yes. Sir Tang is pleased, and had me thank you for your trouble, Madam.”

“He’s helped us out a lot, as well. All we do is just send some food everyday, how could that be any trouble? Come here, Ah-Xia, I have something to say to you.”

Ah-Xia quickly stepped over. Seeing that Lady Zhang was watching her the whole time, she became somewhat uneasy. “What is your command, Madam?”

Lady Zhang kept her smile. “Don’t be nervous. I’ll ask you this; do you have feelings of admiration for him?”

Ah-Xia’s heart jumped. “M-Madam?” she stammered.

“Go on and be honest, I’ll never hurt you. Do you or don’t you?”

Her voice was mosquito-like. “I do…”

“That’s good, then. He acts alone as a capital official, and there’s no one considerate by his side looking out for him. You’re seventeen, now, and should have been married long ago. I know you’re interested in him, but with your status, wanting to marry him as his primary wife is undoable. As a concubine, though, there shouldn’t be any issue… still, you’re well-born, and have learned a lot from following me these years. You’d be entitled to have your slave contract returned to you so you can go marry off into a small family as its matriarch, too. I’m not sure what you think about this, which is why I called you to ask — do you want to serve him, or marry out?”

Recalling the fact that she had just been rejected, Ah-Xia flushed red. “This… this maid had no shame just now, and already took it upon myself to express my feelings to him!”

Lady Zhang suffered a fright. “Ah, girl, what’s there to be ashamed of? Men grow up and take wives, women grow up and get married off. I’ve been watching you grow up since you were young. Not only you, but also Ah-Chun, Ah-Qiu, and the rest. I’m always happy to see you all find a good home. Quick, now, what did he say?”

Ah-Xia knelt down, trying to resist the tears flowing down, and hugged Lady Zhang’s legs as she sobbed. “Madam, he doesn’t fancy me, I… I want to die!”

Lady Zhang helped her up. “Is there not even a little margin for turning that around? What exactly did he say?”

Weeping and choking up, Ah-Xia spoke of everything she had just experienced.

Hearing to the end, Lady Zhang sighed. “Seems that he truly doesn’t have that notion. With your looks and temperament, he shouldn’t have refused, but not all men in the world are lustful. There’s always outliers. It’s no matter, I’ll find you another marriage. All you need to do is pick anyone that you take a liking to in this Estate!”

“This maid will be brazen, and boldly beseech that you step forth, Madam, to help me with saying a few things before Sir Tang…” Ah-Xia said quietly.

Lady Zhang shook her head. “This really is just bad karma from a previous life, and nothing more. I heard that he’s been leaving early and returning late these couple of days, so he must be busy. Wait for this spell to pass, and I’ll have someone invite him over.”