Chapter 4.1 - Temple

Chapter 4.1: Temple

The rain kept falling throughout the night; the next day, the sky cleared up. However, the cotton-padded mattress inside the room was already completely wet.

Tong’er took the mattress out to dry in the sun while Jiang Lî sat inside the house. A pile of shoe soles was on top of the table. This was also her daily task, to make 50 pieces of soles in exchange for a string of copper coins. There was no use for copper coins in the mountain, and Tong’er couldn’t go down the mountain either. They could only wait for a peddler to go up the mountain and buy some cakes to eat.

This was the only luxury Jiang Lî and Tong’er could enjoy.

Through the window, she could see Tong’er standing on a small stool to hang the mattress. Not so far away, a nun wearing a grey daoist robe walked by, not even sparing them a glance.

They could not send these nuns on errands, and originally Jiang Lî was sent here after committing a mistake, with only Tong’er by her side. Tong’er was the servant girl that had been picked by Ye Zhen Zhen and had always been by Jiang Lî’s side.

The small servant girl’s temperament was quite big. Looking at the rear view of the two nuns going further away, she spat, “Pah!” Then in a high tone scolded, “Featherless hens!”

Jiang Lî knew that she was turned down when she requested a dry bed this morning and only scolded them because her heart felt unhappy. She couldn’t stop herself from laughing.

What kind of servant reflects what kind of master. Tong’er had stayed here for six years and still acted this way. Probably the former Jiang second young miss’s temper was even more intense. Thinking about it, if her temper wasn’t very intense, she wouldn’t have cut her life short out of anger.

Such a hot-tempered person, would she cry out injustice after pushing her stepmother and causing her to miscarry?

Jiang Lî thought about what Tong’er had told her about this matter when she inquired about it. It was said that the Jiang second young miss would rather die than admit that she had harmed her stepmother. Jiang Lî thought, if it was really her doing, she would have boldly and confidently admitted it.

But at the moment, it was not important.

When Tong’er was done drying the quilt, she returned inside and sat beside Jiang Lî. She was afraid that Jiang Lî would once again jump into the lake while she wasn’t paying attention. So these few days, she had been closely following Jiang Lî and keeping watch. Seeing Jiang Lî lost in thought, she picked up a shoe sole to continue working. Jiang Lî saw the numerous needle pricks on the servant girl’s fingertips, then grabbed the shoe sole in Tong’er’s hand and threw it away, saying, “Don’t do this anymore.”

“Huh?” Tong’er was puzzled, “In three days the peddler will come. Young miss, didn’t you wish to eat malt candy?”

Jiang Lî shook her head and asked her back, “Do you want to sit here for a lifetime and wait every month to buy malt candy?”

“Of course not,” Tong’er said, “but at the moment we can’t leave from here either.” After she finished speaking, she muttered, “I wrote a letter to Master and Old Madam Ye some time ago, why has neither of them replied?” Tong’er’s little face fell, “It couldn’t be that we were forgotten, right?”

Jiang Lî sighed, no need to even mention passing them a letter. Most likely their every move was under someone’s nose. Usually, when a young miss made a mistake and was sent to the temple, the Master would also send some silver money to entrust their care. The people in the temple also wouldn’t go as far as to treat them badly and not allow them to go anywhere. On the other hand, the nuns here were obviously making things difficult for them. When Jiang Lî got sick, they did not even invite a physician. Most likely all these were ideas from Yanjing.

As for whose idea it was, one did not need to guess to know that it was the second madam’s ideas.

If Jiang Lî had really caused her miscarriage, Ji Shuran definitely would not have let Jiang Lî off. If Jiang Lî did not cause her to miscarry, the reason why Ji Shuran put up this scene would also be to not to let Jiang Lî off.

Furthermore, right now, Jiang Lî’s engagement had also been snatched away. Jiang Lî no longer had anything. Only a maternal family that she had refused to have any contact with. And discarding the first wife’s daughter in this place, even if she was murdered, it would also not cause any wind and waves.

But why hadn’t Ji Shuran resorted to killing her?

Jiang Lî did not believe that the other party was compassionate and reluctant. Perhaps to the second madam, she still had some other use in the Jiang family. Didn’t this kind of things happen regularly? Daughters were regarded as steppingstones to advance one’s career by connecting them through marriage, to pave the way for their father’s and brothers’ official careers, just like Shen Yurong. The difference was, Shen Yurong regarded himself as a bargaining chip while Xue Fang Fei was treated as a stumbling block.

lol I edited the whole chapter today at work, I was so idle ah. I’m kinda taking a liking to the job, too bad I can only work for few days before leaving. I don’t get paid that much, but I work even less 😂 I swear, I only had tasks to do for less than half the time I was being paid for, I actually think I was idle during 2/3rds of the time ^^ so basically I spent the last few days sitting in the sun and reading hehe. Well tmr they are sending me to a much busier place so I guess my idle working life comes to an end…