Part 1: A Dream Within A Dream / Rebirth of Ill Fated Concubine

Chapter 013 Attracting Snakes

Taking advantage of the good afternoon sun, Lian Qiao took the quilts in the house to the outer yard to dry. The cotton in the old quilt was thin, just a thin layer, which was very dazzling at a glance among the thick and bright quilts in the yard.

Chunying was directing several maids to hang several quilts in Zhang Lan's room on the rope outside. Compared with the dull quilt in Lian Qiao's hand, the quilt in front of Chunying was painted with exquisite peony embroidery, and it was filled with this year's newly-spun cotton. It was bulging and felt very thick at a glance. The quilt pressed the rope for drying clothes straight down. Chunying shouted: "Be careful, be careful not to scratch the back, it's the best silk."

Lian Qiao didn't even look at her, and walked to the other side, raised her hand and hung the quilt on the rope. The quilt was light and had no weight, so it was very easy to hang. Chunying saw Lian Qiao and laughed, "Oh, sister Lian Qiao is here to dry the quilt herself." After that, she glanced at the quilt on the rope and said, "You all come and learn from her. Look at how capable Lian Qiao is. She can dry the quilt by herself. It doesn't look strenuous. Unlike us, we feel exhausted even if we have to lift it together."

Several maids giggled, and one of them said, "Maybe the cotton used in the quilt in the young lady's room is good. It doesn't look heavy. Such a quilt is very comfortable to cover, unlike our quilt, which is thick, big and heavy."

Lian Qiao smoothed the wrinkles on the quilt and ignored their teasing. Seeing this, Chunying continued to say, "Lian Qiao, why do you only dry the young lady's quilt and not your own and Zisu's quilt together? Let us see if your quilt is the same as the young lady's and different from ours."

Several maids laughed again. It was really too much to say that Jiang Ruan's quilt was not as good as that of the servants. Lian Qiao raised her eyebrows and was about to get angry, but she saw a little maid with a sweet smile hurried over: "Sister Lian Qiao, you asked me to find..."

"Luzhu," Lian Qiao interrupted her: "Wait a minute," she smoothed the wrinkles on the last quilt, then turned around and took the little maid's hand: "Come and talk."

The two walked to the side, close to each other and talked about something. After a while, Lian Qiao picked up the empty wooden basin and left. After Lian Qiao left, Chunying stopped the little maid who was about to leave: "Your name is Luzhu, right?"

Luzhu looked at Chunying timidly: "Yes."

"Don't be afraid," Chunying said: "What did you say to Lian Qiao just now?"

"No, nothing." Luzhu shook her head and just lowered her head to look at her feet.

"What are you afraid of? I won't eat you," Chunying said fiercely, "Why did Lian Qiao come to you for no reason? What were you discussing secretly just now? I believe you know who is in charge here. If you don't make it clear today, you can't stay in the manor in the future."

"Don't," Luzhu raised her head suddenly, her eyes red with some helplessness: "Sister Chunying, don't drive me out of the manor."

"As long as you explain the matter clearly, I will naturally not do anything to you." Chunying said, "I am not an unreasonable person. You look very unfamiliar. You should be a new girl. Do your job well, and I will not let anyone bully you in the future."

"Really?" Luzhu raised her head with a hopeful expression.

"How could I lie to you." Chunying's tone became softer, and she was sure that there must be something fishy about Lian Qiao.

"Actually, Sister Lian Qiao didn't have anything to ask me for," Luzhu said, "She just heard that I'm good at embroidery, so she asked me to embroider a water lily on the torn part of the young lady's clothes so that it wouldn't be noticeable."

Chunying looked at her suspiciously, "Is that all?"

"Yes." Luzhu nodded.

"It's really strange. The young lady never cares about clothes on weekdays, so why did she suddenly think of embroidering a water lily on her clothes?"

"This..." Luzhu hesitated.

"What else?" Chunying asked anxiously.

"I heard that someone got a pot of Moon Beauty outside. Tonight, the young lady is going to the Pear Garden to enjoy the flowers. If you want to wear something nice, don't neglect the precious flowers." Luzhu said everything in one breath: "I heard that the Moon Beauty is extremely precious, and it is a rare species that can bloom in winter nights."

"Moon Beauty?" Chunying was surprised: "Zhuangzi got a pot of Moon Beauty? I haven't heard of it." She glanced at Luzhu in front of her: "Okay, there's nothing else to do, you go and do your work."

Luzhu responded and turned away. After Luzhu left, Chunying stood there and said to herself: "Now it's already like this, how can you still have the mind to enjoy the flowers? Even if you have the mind to enjoy the flowers, why would you specially find a beautiful dress? You usually not care about these things the most. Today you are so abnormal, there must be other reasons. I must find out what they are planning."

In the house in the side yard, Zi Su was also taking out the books in the box to dry. A full box of books was spread out in the yard to dry. Zi Su carefully turned the pages of the book and said, "Miss, this box of books is well preserved. After the New Year, the house is damp, so you have to take it out and dry it often." After saying that, she thought of something else: "When the lady was here, she also loved books very much and dried books every day."

"Mother is from a family of generals, but she collected these precious books just to please people, but it's a bargain for me." Jiang Ruan looked at the books in the yard and said softly.

The ancestors of the Zhao family were a family of generals, accustomed to the bloody battlefields of wind and sand. The men in the family were all heroes in the army. The only legitimate daughter, Zhao Mei, fell in love with Jiang Quan. The whole Zhao family strongly opposed it, but Zhao Mei insisted on marrying him, so the Zhao family broke off relations with this only daughter.

After Jiang Quan married Zhao Mei, Zhao Mei learned that Jiang Quan favoured women with extensive knowledge and talent, so she collected many rare books from all over the world and studied them carefully. Unexpectedly, Zhao Quan married Xia Yan, the most talented woman in Capital, as his concubine not long after.

Zhao Mei never lived to finish reading this box of books, but Xia Yan changed from a concubine to the current Madam Jiang. Jiang Ruan laughed at herself. Her mother never understood until her death that if she really didn't love, she would never be able to please the other person. From the past to the future, Jiang Quan never loved a talented woman, but Xia Yan as a talented woman.

"Does the girl remember the lady?" Zi Su looked at Jiang Ruan's face: "If the lady is still here, she will be pleased to see that the girl is so smart and sensitive now."

Jiang Ruan smiled slightly and did not comment. Zi Su came back and was stunned when she saw the book in Jiang Ruan's hand: "Why are you reading a military book again? Now that you don't have to go to the battlefield, you might as well read some vernacular poems."

"Even if you don't go to the battlefield, the enemy will come to you," Jiang Ruan's eyes fell on the words of the military strategy in front of her: Lure the snake out of its hole.

(End of this chapter)

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