Chapter 1: Liyue

It was a warm spring afternoon, the sunlight gentle.

In the small tea room of Fenglan Courtyard, a young maidservant named Su Liyue was being scolded, her head bowed.

“I told you to watch the tea room, not to seduce the master! The Young Master has just returned to the estate, and you’re already trying to latch onto someone powerful? Why don’t you take a look in the mirror and see if you’re even worthy of serving him tea!”

Her scolding grew harsher until she raised her hand and slapped her.

Liyue, caught off guard, felt a fiery sting on her cheek. She didn’t dare to argue back.

The one scolding her, Xiangcao, was one of the top third-class maids, someone Liyue couldn’t afford to offend.

Just a moment ago, the Young Master had asked for tea. With no one else in the small tea room, Liyue had delivered the tea caddy and received a tael of silver as a reward.

Xiangcao had the kind of personality where she had to be first in everything, even if it meant eating shit. How could she not be furious that someone else had snatched the first lucky break?

Liyue swallowed her tears as she clutched the reward money. Xiangcao’s finger jabbed at her nose. “Sooner or later, I’ll report you to the matron and have you sent off to one of the manors to be married off to some pockmarked, crippled beggar!”

She lowered her eyes and said nothing.

Xiangcao spat and cursed for a long while, only stopping when a few other maids called for her to go watch the opera.

Seeing the red handprint on Liyue’s face, they all bent over in laughter, spitting sunflower seed shells and plum pits all over the floor.

Liyue waited until they were far away before picking up a broom to clean, her tears dripping onto the ground.

The sound of gongs and drums echoed from the distance; the opera stage must be bustling with excitement.

The Duke of Ning’s estate hadn’t hosted an opera in several years.

The last time there was a banquet with opera and wine was three years ago, for the wedding of the Young Master and the Young Madam.

Liyue had only been eight then, hiding under the stage and secretly eating fruit.

A military report was delivered through the main gates, instantly throwing the banquet into chaos. Wails of grief filled the entire estate.

The letter said that the Duke of Ning had died in battle on the frontier.

The Young Master had immediately shed his wedding robes, donned his armor, and set off for war.

With the Duke’s passing and the Young Master’s departure for the campaign, the Duke of Ning’s estate had fallen quiet for several years.

But it was, after all, a phoenix’s nest of wealth and nobility; it was bound to prosper again sooner or later.

It was just that the more prosperous and noble it became, the more scheming and infighting there was.

The Young Master had been back for only a few hours, and the maids were already at each other’s throats like fighting cocks.

The maids in the Duke of Ning’s estate were strictly ranked, with different duties and treatment.

First-class maids were the masters’ personal attendants. Not only did they manage jewelry and private funds, but they could also oversee affairs and offer advice, acting as half a steward for their masters.

Second-class maids served inside the rooms, pouring tea, serving water, combing hair, and doing fine needlework—all light tasks.

Third-class maids served in the courtyard, performing tasks like tending the tea stove, running errands, watering flowers, feeding birds, and delivering items.

First, second, and third-class maids not only received a monthly stipend of silver but also many other allotted goods.

Liyue had entered the estate at six and was now twelve, yet she was still an unranked, coarse-work maid.

Coarse-work maids received no monthly silver, only clothes for the four seasons and three meals a day.

They did the heaviest labor: odd jobs in the kitchen, washing and starching clothes, and sweeping the courtyards. They were not allowed to enter the masters’ rooms.

And it wasn’t enough to just do their assigned tasks; all the first, second, and third-class maids could order them around.

Xiangcao was the same age as Liyue, but because she was a third-class maid, she could act so arrogantly.

When it came to being pushy and showing off, Xiangcao was number one in Fenglan Courtyard.

She usually managed the small tea room, a position that allowed her to boss others around the most.

Sweeping, lighting fires, moving charcoal, washing teapots and teacups—she would stand by with her hands tucked in her sleeves, ordering the coarse-work maids to do it all.

When it came to currying favor and seeking rewards from the masters, she never missed an opportunity.

Towards the coarse-work maids, she was quick to strike and even quicker to curse.

As maids of a lower class, they had nowhere to voice their grievances.

Even though Liyue had grown used to it since she was young, she still had to keep her wits about her and not dare to slack off.

Xiangcao had run off to slack, leaving behind a cold stove and an empty pot in the tea room.

Not only was there no boiled water, but the commonly served hot drinks hadn’t been prepared, and the bird’s nests hadn’t even been cleaned.

If a matron caught this, Xiangcao would surely use her clever tongue to push the blame onto her.

Liyue shook her head helplessly and quickly shoveled a few baskets of jujube wood charcoal, heating up all four stove openings and hanging tea kettles over them.

She used a silver needle to pick the fine filaments from the softened bird’s nest, then placed it in a silver pot to double-boil.

The herbal infusions were rinsed with warm water, then brought to a boil in a ceramic pot and kept warm.

For the spring tea, she prepared two types: Biluochun and Longjing.

She steamed seven or eight kinds of snacks and pastries to accompany the tea, keeping them warm in small bamboo-leaf steamers.

A complete set of teapots and teacups was prepared in a lacquer box, ready to be used at a moment’s notice.

Only after getting everything in order did Liyue sit down to rest, massaging her aching back.

Her original duty was doing odd jobs in the small kitchen; watching the tea room was just helping out.

The third-class maids in the main courtyard all had hundreds of schemes, constantly trying to get close to the masters to curry favor.

They would push their own assigned tasks onto the coarse-work maids.

Maids like Liyue had to do double the work and were utterly exhausted.

She had been sold into the Duke of Ning’s estate at six, entered Fenglan Courtyard at nine, and three years had passed since then.

According to the rules of the Duke of Ning’s estate, maids in the inner residence were to be sent out once they turned twenty.

Coarse-work maids were sent directly to the manors to be paired off with bachelor tenant farmers.

Second and third-class maids were also paired off, but with the estate’s male servants, allowing them to stay near the Duke’s estate.

After these girls married, they remained servants of the Duke of Ning’s estate, and their children would be born into servitude.

Liyue would rather die than be randomly married off, her children doomed to be slaves for generations.

The prospects for first-class maids were much better.

Those with good looks could become a master’s concubine-maid. If they gave birth to a son or daughter and were elevated to the status of a concubine, they would be considered half a master.

A very lucky few might have their masters graciously act as matchmakers, allowing them to marry a minor official under their patronage—a fate that was the envy of all.

Of course, the majority of first-class maids would buy their freedom and marry commoners.

Liyue had never considered becoming a master’s concubine-maid.

Though she was the lowliest of maids, she possessed a proud and unyielding spirit.

Even if she never married, she would not be another man’s concubine.

As for becoming an official’s wife, that was a fantasy she didn’t even dare to dream of.

Liyue’s greatest wish was to buy her freedom, leave the estate, and establish herself as an independent woman in the capital.

She had also considered saving money to buy more land and live a life of spring planting and autumn harvests in the countryside. But farming was ultimately manual labor, and her body might not be up to it. If she encountered a year of famine and rampant bandits, she feared she wouldn’t survive.

The capital, after all, was the heart of the empire under the Emperor’s watch, a place of supreme virtue. It wouldn’t be difficult to make a living with a small business.

She had inquired long ago: buying a two-story storefront in the capital cost about one hundred taels of silver. She could run a small business downstairs and live upstairs, which would be extremely stable and comfortable.

Opening a tea and pastry shop would require a total of fifty taels in capital and could earn five or six taels a month.

For a young woman, this was already a decent life.

She had learned how to make many pastries and tea snacks in the Duke of Ning’s estate, and she also knew how to use an abacus, keep accounts, and read.

With these skills, Liyue wouldn’t have to worry about supporting herself after leaving the estate.

This small goal had sustained her for several years.

Unfortunately, she had no monthly stipend and had only managed to save four taels of silver in three years.

But Liyue wasn’t discouraged. Today, she had earned a whole tael just for delivering tea to the Young Master.

Given the wealth of the Duke of Ning’s estate, as long as she could climb the ranks, silver wouldn’t be a problem.

The real difficulty was advancing through the maid rankings.

She had entered Fenglan Courtyard at nine and was still a coarse-work maid after three years.

Xiangcao had come with the Young Madam as part of her dowry at the age of nine and had been a third-class maid from the moment she arrived.

With the Young Master away, Fenglan Courtyard was managed by the Young Madam, Shen-shi.

Promoting a maid in Fenglan Courtyard was a matter of a single word from Shen-shi.

Shen-shi’s family was that of the Grand Secretary of the cabinet, and she had brought an enormous retinue with her upon marriage.

The head matrons, the first, second, and third-class maids, and the four managing wives in charge of the kitchen, needlework, storerooms, and procurement in Fenglan Courtyard were all from the Shen family’s dowry retinue.

No one who wasn’t from the Shen family could even dream of getting a ranked position in the courtyard.

Someone like Liyue, with no connections, didn’t stand a chance.

Just as her heart was in turmoil, a flash of red caught her eye—the longan and red date soup was boiling over.

When she delivered tea to the study in the afternoon, Sister Yumo had specifically instructed her to carefully brew a bowl of longan soup.

The thought of the gentle Yumo brought a sparkle to Liyue’s eyes.

Yumo was also considered part of Fenglan Courtyard, but she was a home-born servant of the Duke of Ning’s estate.

Given how strict the Young Madam Shen-shi was with her staff, how had Yumo managed to take charge of the study and become a first-class maid?

As Liyue was lost in her chaotic thoughts, she suddenly smelled a warm fragrance. A gentle-faced young woman was standing there, smiling.

“What are you daydreaming about? Is the longan soup ready?”