5 - His maid

Chapter 5 – His maid

Di Jing’s gaze swept over everyone including Guizhi and all the other servants who were watching at the side. Everyone felt bewildered and guilty under his gaze.

Guizhi’s face had turned red as though she had put on rouge and stammered. “Di Gongzi , this Ma’er is lazy and disobedient, so this servant is teaching her a lesson.”

“Oh? Really?” Di Jing swept his gaze over the others.

Everyone hurriedly agreed with her. If they did not agree, it would reveal their mentality that they just wanted to watch the excitement, so it was natural for them to blame Ma’er who was the least threatening.

Shangguan Yan was not surprised at all. A person who hits someone would naturally not admit that she does not have any reason to do so and the expressions on the rest of the people were also within her expectation. However, she was just curious about the identity of this man.

Di Jing ignored the other people and only focused on the girl called Ma’er. He thought of the girl’s calmness when he discovered her hiding under the altar table in the prayer hall. He could not find any cane marks on her body and she did not seem like a maid that had been bullied for a long time.

“What’s the matter?” Another man’s voice floated over. It was Qin Jikang, the Eldest Young Master of the Qin Family. As soon as he arrived, he saw a servant bent over kneeling on the ground and the other servants’ faces were showing embarrassment.

Upon seeing the Young Master, everyone hurriedly stepped forward to greet him. Qin Jikang stared at Ma’er kneeling in front of Di Jiang and involuntarily frowned.

“Brother Di, did this servant offend you? If so, this Young Master will punish her immediately.” When Qi Jikang said this, he looked very unhappy as if he wanted to punish Ma’er on the spot.

The words of the Young Master made Guizhi secretly smiled with malice but Shangguan Yan still kept her head down without saying a word.

Di Jing smiled gently. “She didn’t offend me. Didn’t you mention that you will arrange for a maid to serve me? Just choose her.” He pointed at Ma’er.

The servants were shocked and Shangguan Yan was also surprised but Qin Jikang was even more surprised.

“You want her? No, no, this maid is too ugly! I’m afraid she will pollute Brother Di’s eyes.”

That’s right. All the men in the Qin Family are womanizers, so she had deliberately made her face sprout pockmarks just to avoid arousing the interest of the Qin Family’s men.

Isn’t this Di Jing a bit too much in not making the effort to choose at all?

“It’s alright. I like people who work quickly and neatly. Just let her serve me.”

This Ma’er, how is her work quick and neat?

Everyone was stunned and was overcome with jealousy and envy. They just felt that Ma’er had run into dog-shit luck this time. Every maid in the residence had hoped that they would be lucky enough to be chosen to serve this distinguished guest.

Even if a maid is to be chosen, she should at least be a beautiful first-class maid! How can this Ma’er be chosen? Unfair! Unfair!

However, Di Jing insisted on having this Ma’er as his maid. Since the guest had made his own choice, it was not good for Qin Jikang to refuse and he could only transfer the ugliest maid from the firewood shed to the guest courtyard.

Later, Shangguan Yan found out that Di Jing had only entered the Qin Mansion three days ago as a guest. He was a friend that Young Master Qin met outside and they became friends at first sight. When Young Master Qin found out that Di Jing was not a local, and was looking for an inn to say, he immediately invited him to the Qin Mansion as a guest and arranged for him to stay in the guest courtyard.

Initially, Qin Jikang wanted to pick a good-looking maid to serve Di Jing and take care of his daily needs but Di Jing declined. Instead, he requested for only two young male servants to wait on him. Because he had an outstanding bearing, gentle and polite, the ladies in the Qin Family from the Old Madam to the Young Misses, all of them had a good impression of him. The unmarried Young Misses even started to have feelings for him.

However, it was a pity that he was married. The daughters of the Qin Family were not allowed to be concubines, so they had to give up the idea, otherwise, Old Madam Qin would really like to marry her daughters to him. The Qin Family’s daughters felt deep regret but the Qin Family’s maids did not give up. Since there was no hope for the Young Misses, then the opportunity fell on them.

They were slaves and were not qualified to be the main wife but they were willing to be a concubine. Once that thought arose, they started to make their moves and the fastest way was to squeeze their way into the guest courtyard. Unexpectedly, Di Gongzi did not want a maid and it made everyone anxious.

If they are not allowed to be near the balcony, how can they get the moon?

(The actual idiom is ‘Nearest to the balcony gets the moon first’ and it means the person with the closest proximity to certain people or things will be the first to reap the benefits.)

What was even more unexpected was that Di Gongzi would change his mind later and this rare and only chance was given to the ugliest maid in the Qin Family……..Ma’er!

Everyone believed that Di Gongzi must have taken pity on Ma’er, so he had relented and picked her to serve him so she would not be bullied. However, Shangguan Yan knew that Di Jing was not as simple as he looked. It was only today that he had discovered her under the altar table in the prayer hall and now suddenly, he requested for her…….there must be something fishy going on!

Because she had to take care of Di Gongzi ’s daily needs, she carried her simple luggage and moved from a low-level servant’s common room to the maid’s room in the guest courtyard. When she went to see Di Jing after sorting out her things, only two of them were left in the room. As expected, Di Jing asked straightforwardly.

“Are you skilled in martial arts?” Although it was a question, his tone sounded very positive.

Shangguan Yan stared at him blankly and even if she wanted to pretend to be stupid, Di Jing would not give her a chance and would directly expose her.

“Don’t pretend. Just now that maid wanted to hit you but she couldn’t even touch your sleeves after such a long time. Although you seemed to be dodging in misery, your timing was calculated just right and every move was ingenious.”

Does he think that after exposing her, she would tell him everything? Not that easy!

“This slave was born too ugly and this slave’s mother was afraid this slave would be bullied, so she looked for a martial artist to teach this slave a few moves. After learning some tricks, this slave can dodge quickly if beaten.” She still pretended to be stupid.

Di Jing looked at her up and down, then lifting his robe, he sat down and did not beat around the bush.

“Alright, I don’t care what you were secretly doing in the prayer hall. Stay here obediently and help me to block the Qin Family’s ladies to prevent them from bothering me.”

Shangguan Yan pointed at herself in bewilderment. “ Gongzi , I’m only a servant.”

“Really? I can see you’re very smart, so don’t let me down. Alright, you can retreat. I want to be alone, so don’t let people disturb me. If there’s anything, you will be called over.” After speaking, Di Jing turned around and entered the inner room without giving her any chance to refuse.

Shangguan Yan was thinking that since it was the case, she was also happy. As long as this Di Jing does not interfere with her, it would be a lot more convenient working in this guest courtyard than working in the firewood shed.

Thus she started to serve Di Jing in the guest courtyard. In fact, he did not need her to wait on him for anything because he did not allow her to enter the house to wait on him like helping him to change clothes, comb his hair or clean up as some personal maids do. Instead, she was asked to do some cleaning chores and carry out general duties. As to the words he spoke to her on the first day about blocking the Qin Family’s females who wanted to approach him, she did not take it to heart.

However, three days later, she finally understood that Di Jing was not just talking casually.

The Qin Family’s Young Misses often came to see him with excuses and those who came ranged from the eldest to the youngest…….there was no exception.

Not only did the Young Misses come over, but the maids also came. They came with excuses like sending things, loitered around outside the courtyard, and deliberately came to talk to her. They all came for Di Jing.

Very quickly, Shangguan Yan came to an understanding of the Young Misses’ thoughts. It was said that they could not be his wife but he is such a humble gentleman, how could they not feel jealous of his wife? This man did not take concubines and was only married to one wife. What kind of blessing did that lucky woman cultivate in her previous life to get this husband who loves her single-mindedly?

Human nature is such that people who give blessings are less and people who feel jealous are more.

The Young Misses of the Qin Family harbored the thought that even if they could not marry Di Gongzi , they still had to find a way to make his heart itch. They did not believe that this man could endure for very long.

While Shangguan Yan was busy blocking the ladies, she was also thinking about this matter. Even though Di Jing disdained the ladies of the Qin Family for being troublesome, he did not intend to leave the Qin Mansion. Therefore, he must have a purpose for staying.

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Since both of them had a purpose, as long as they do not interfere with each other, it was fine to take what they each needed.

It was true that Di Jing had his purpose. Getting near Qin Jikang was the first step and moving into the Qin Mansion to establish a close relationship was the second step. The purpose was to break into Lord Yan Zheng’s circle and carry out a secret investigation.

It was a lie when he said he has a wife and it was just an excuse to stop the Qin Family from stuffing the ladies to him. The Qin Family is a family of salt merchants and the women of merchant families are not as disciplined as the women from the big wealthy families.

Every two to three days, the Young Misses would run to his courtyard which made him extremely irritated. He disdained in dealing with women and had always tried his best to avoid contact with them.

Choosing Ma’er as his maid and transferring her to his courtyard was just a temporary measure because she knows martial arts and is very dexterous. To prevent the Qin Family from stuffing other maids into his courtyard, it was better for him to pick a reliable one himself. Moreover, looking at Ma’er’s eyes, she did not have the look of shyness or obsession and when facing him, she was also very calm. When he ordered her to block the women, it was only because he was making use of whatever available means and did not harbor any hopes.

After all, how can a maid block her mistresses?

However, not long after, Di Jing found out that he had truly underestimated her. Ever since she came to serve in the guest courtyard, the ladies of the Qin Family did not come over to get close to him.

He was curious how Ma’er was able to accomplish the feat and when he found out, he could not help but laugh.

The Qin Family’s Eldest Young Miss had twisted her foot and could not get out of her room. Second Young Miss had diarrhea and could not get up from bed. Third Young Miss was frightened by a snake. Fourth and Fifth Young Misses were busy arguing and had no time to come over. Sixth Young Miss’s face had sprouted pimples and refused to leave her room.

In short, every Young Miss had a reason for not coming over. Such coincidences immediately made Di Jing scrutinize the girl called Ma’er once again.

He knew she was behind it otherwise, all these would not have happened so coincidentally and at the same time. On the surface, it seemed that all the Young Misses could not come for different reasons and no one could detect any flaws. He did not expect this girl to be so capable.

“Why stay in the Qin Mansion?” When Ma’er was serving him hot tea, he asked her.

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“I am a maid of the Qin Mansion. If I don’t stay here, where else can I stay?” She pretended to be surprised and asked him.

Di Jing stared at her for a while before speaking slowly. “Stop pretending to be stupid, you know what I mean. Since you have the ability to keep the ladies of the Qin Family from coming out of their rooms, it can be seen you are very capable. Why are you willing to stay here as a low-level humble maid?”