Chapter 125 - The Gaze from the Shadows
The lantern in Li Qingyue's hand seed to be affected by the night wind, swaying gently. The flickering of the lamplight added a bit of strangeness.
Passing around the flower bushes and a few ornantal trees, she vaguely saw two figures. Mixed in with the rustling sounds were so strange noises.
And then...
"Who's there?"
In the silent dark night, a delicate shout seed exceptionally piercing.
The two figures were both so scared their bodies trembled.
By the ti Li Qingyue walked over with the lantern in her hand, she found that one of the figures was already gone. Only a woman was left standing under a tree trunk, fumbling to fasten the buttons on her ruqun. But in her panic, she just couldn't get the buttons fastened.
Her originally neatly combed hair was also a ss, and there were even so traces of saliva on her face.
Looking down, she could even see a pair of n's trousers. Black lines instantly appeared on Li Qingyue's forehead. Even if she was a bit simple-minded, at this mont she understood what those two had been doing.
It's just that the man had slipped away rather quickly, running off bare-assed.
Having stumbled upon this secret couple, the sowhat simple-minded Li Qingyue was not embarrassed at all. On the contrary, she took two more steps forward with her lantern, and vaguely, she finally saw the woman's appearance clearly.
"Zhang Yan..." Then she exclaid in shock: "How could it be you?"
That's right. The woman under the tree, frantically tidying her appearance, was strikingly one of Luo Yuheng's four personal handmaidens, Zhang Yan.
She was a little younger than Li Qingyue. On a normal day, she was gentle and weak, with a ek personality. She even spoke in a soft, low voice, giving off a timid and honest appearance. Li Qingyue would never have thought that Zhang Yan would actually be having an affair with a man here.
Sure enough, the more honest a woman appears, the more frightening the things she does.
This kind of thing, even she herself could only occasionally think about, but would never dare to actually do.
Zhang Yan was also full of embarrassnt: "Sister Qingyue... you, how can you be here?"
"The mistress asked to do sothing..." Li Qingyue forcefully shook her head.
"No, now is not the ti to talk about this. Zhang Yan, you are being foolish! If you really want to get married, just say a word to the mistress. You know what kind of person our mistress is. Would she disagree? Why must you be so secretive?"
Li Qingyue's tone beca more and more serious, and by the end, she was even clearly a little angry:
"In any other household, you would be beaten to death for this."
These words were not false.
Just like in the imperial palace, although the number of an emperor's empresses and consorts might not be too exaggerated, nominally, all the palace maids in the entire imperial palace were also the emperor's won.
When the mood struck, it was quite normal to favor a few palace maids with a visit.
If anyone dared to have an affair with a palace maid, that would be 'bringing chaos to the palace inner chambers,' a cri for which the entire family would be executed.
In the vast majority of noble families, the handmaidens within the family were basically also considered the master's won. If the master said to give one to soone, then she would be given. If the master didn't give her to you and you had a secret affair, you would also be beaten to death.
Luo Yuheng was a Grand Princess, and also a widow.
As the saying goes, 'there is much gossip at a widow's gate.'
A widowed woman, even if she behaved herself, might still be the subject of all sorts of rumors made up by those gossips.
If the matter of Zhang Yan having a secret rendezvous with a man late at night got out, no one would target a handmaiden. All the gossip would fall on Luo Yuheng's head. People would just say that if the handmaiden is like this, then the mistress can't be much better; they're both shaless.
This was why Li Qingyue was so angry.
Zhang Yan's face turned green and then white. In the heat of the mont, her mind went blank and she couldn't rember anything. Only now did she feel waves of fear in retrospect.
It was a good thing that Her Highness the Grand Princess was kind-hearted. If this had happened to a handmaiden of another princess or commandery princess, she really would have been drowned in a pig cage.
It was also fortunate that her relationship with Li Qingyue was usually good. After a long period of pleading from Zhang Yan, and her guarantee that such a foolish thing would never happen again, the anger on Li Qingyue's face finally subsided.
After calming down a little, Zhang Yan was finally able to fasten her buttons and tidy her hair. Her expression also returned to normal:
"Oh right, Sister Qingyue, did the Young Master-in-law go to see the mistress again today?"
"What did they talk about today, for so long?"
"They just discussed how to distribute congee tomorrow. The Young Master-in-law suggested that the mistress find so ti tomorrow to show her face at both soup kitchens, to let these disaster victims understand that they can survive all thanks to the mistress's grace." Li Qingyue smiled.
"It would be best if she could personally serve congee and hand out stead buns to so of the victims."
"Or, select a few old people or children and inquire after their well-being."
"The Young Master-in-law said, this is called so kind of 'image' or 'persona'. I don't quite understand it, but as long as we do this, in the hearts of these disaster victims, the mistress will be the best person under the heavens."
"You also know the mistress's current situation. If she can win the hearts of the people of Song Prefecture, many things will beco much more convenient."
"The Young Master-in-law can always co up with so strange ideas." Zhang Yan nodded. In this respect, she was still very impressed with this Young Master-in-law:
"But, won't it be dangerous? After all, those are disaster victims. What if they have so sickness on them, and pass it to the mistress..."
"That's fine. The Young Master-in-law is a divine physician, you know that. Even if there really is so illness, the Young Master-in-law can cure it."
"That's true. But, I think it's not good for the Young Master-in-law to always co looking for the mistress in the middle of the night. If those noble ladies find out, I'm afraid their tongues will be chewed to pieces."
Li Qingyue flicked Zhang Yan on the forehead in irritation: "You still have the nerve to talk? Take care of yourself first."
Following a cry of pain, the figures of the two gradually disappeared into the night. Under the firmant, it was quiet once again.
Song Yan had also already returned to his bedroom.
Gu Banxia had already prepared the bed and other things.
This night, Song Yan slept very soundly.
The next day.
The sky had completely cleared.
Just as Song Yan opened his eyes in bed, a knock knock knock ca from outside. Outside the door was Yang Siyao.
Yang Siyao's brow was tightly furrowed. She seed to have completely erged from the news of her sister's death, or perhaps she had completely transford her sister's death into hatred for the Yang family. Her brain seed to be thinking at all tis, and her eyes seed to contain countless thoughts.
Yang Siyao didn't say much, just nodded slightly, and the two of them left the Luo Mansion together.
The situation in the city had already beco a bit bad.
Last night, Luo Yuheng had estimated that the number of disaster victims in Ningping County today might exceed a thousand. But in reality, let alone a thousand, there were probably three thousand.
Too many disaster victims had made the atmosphere in the city unavoidably tense.
Especially after hearing that the Luo family was going to distribute congee today, a great many disaster victims and beggars were gathering towards the Luo family's side, just constantly pleading, hoping Her Highness the Grand Princess could show so rcy and give them a mouthful to eat.
The disaster victims from Song Prefecture were still alright; it had only been two days that they hadn't had enough to eat or wear.
But those refugees who had co from the north because of the war, and the disaster victims who had co up from the south because of the flood, their situation was a bit terrible.
One by one, they had a sallow look from hunger, their expressions sorrowful and uneasy.
The sound of footsteps ca from behind.
It was Luo Yuheng.
Beside her were three handmaidens. Besides Lu Wan, who was too old, Tao Yun, Li Qingyue, and Zhang Yan were all accompanying her. There was even a handmaiden who looked to be no more than seventeen or eighteen from the outside, timidly following behind.
This handmaiden seed to have been recently recruited. Even Song Yan had only seen her a few tis.
Her little face looked plain, but her figure was petite yet full. Perhaps because it was her first ti going out on an errand with her mistress, her whole person looked jittery and seed a little scared.
Especially when she saw the dense crowd of disaster victims outside the Luo family's gate, the fear in her eyes was even greater.
When they saw Luo Yuheng appear, although these disaster victims had probably never seen the Grand Princess, just by looking at Luo Yuheng's attire, they could understand that this was the head of this residence. Imdiately, all sorts of pleading voices rose one after another.
Looking at the large group of ragged disaster victims before her, a trace of compassion flashed in Luo Yuheng's eyes.
These are all the subjects of the Ning Kingdom.
For them to have been reduced to this state is the dereliction of duty of the imperial family.
"Let's set up another congee shelter on the Luo family's side," Luo Yuheng said, taking a deep breath.
"Tianquan, take a few dozen household guards. You'll be in charge of the congee shelter at the east city gate."
"Yan'er, you also take a few dozen household guards. The congee shelter at the west city gate will be handed over to you."
"Tianshu, you are now the County Magistrate of Ningping. Take the county's bailiffs and be responsible for maintaining order."
"Tianyang, you take so household guards and go into the city to find those refugees. Inform them that there is congee and stead buns at the two city gates and in front of the Luo family's gate."
In one breath, Luo Yuheng issued nurous commands.
Her astuteness and capability as a Grand Princess were gradually revealed at this mont.
It's just that with such a large-scale deploynt of personnel, of the more than one hundred household guards in the Luo Mansion, more than half were gone in an instant, leaving only a small portion.
They quickly set up a shelter at the Luo family's gate and propped up a pot rack.
Bright white millet was poured into cold water. As the flas leaped, the eyes of many disaster victims were filled with expectation.
It's just that no one noticed that in the crowd, a certain disaster victim's lips curled into a strange arc, and his pair of eyes were full of excitent.
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