The Concubine's Daughter Travels Through Time and Space and Takes the Road of Confrontation

Yuan Caohua lived in the back room for more than a month before moving out.

When Yuan Caohua first moved in, the maids, both large and small, in the courtyard didn't like her very much. One or two would even deliberately make sarcastic remarks when passing by her room. Whenever this happened, the young maidservant, Yun'er, would blush with anger and want to go out to argue. Yuan Caohua would gently stop her, shake her head, and tell her to forget it. It was good enough to have the Madam's protection; she shouldn't stir up any more disputes.

She knew that people like her were nicknamed "Yangzhou Skinny Horses" by the old men, just like the little bird raised by the eldest lady, a little pet that could be played with when free, and if they didn't like it, they would either strangle it to death or give it away.

Yuan Caohua did some needlework in the servant's room every day. The servant's room was low and dimly lit, so she would take advantage of good weather to sit under the sycamore tree in the backyard, basking in the sun while embroidering some patterns that she found interesting. She remembered the foxtail grass, cornflowers, and February orchids that were common in the countryside. The lady was kind and never assigned her any work.

It was also a beautiful day, and she was embroidering a blue wild chrysanthemum. Suddenly, a voice came from her ear: "What is this?"

Yuan Caohua looked over and saw the Third Young Lady. She was wearing a short jacket of lotus-red brocade, with emerald-colored twined branches at the cuffs. Her rosy white face held two grape-like eyes, which stared intently at the handkerchief in her hand. The head maid, Caihe, was nowhere to be seen; she must have slipped away.

A faint smile spread across Yuan Caohua's lips. She put away the needle and thread in her hand and answered her softly, "Miss San, this is a small wild flower that I saw when I was a child. I don't even know what it is called."

Seeing that the little girl was watching intently, Yuan Caohua tore off the thread of the handkerchief and placed it in front of her, then turned her head and whispered a few words to Yun'er.

"Don't call me Sister Caihe." He turned around and saw the third lady who was looking at the handkerchief just now turned around and looked at him angrily.

Yuan Caohua was a little embarrassed. The Third Young Miss was smarter than she thought. She changed the way she spoke, "I just want Caihe to know that the Third Young Miss is here, so that she won't worry."

Although Lu Yun believed that the latter was no different from the former, she found the latter easier to accept than the former. She nodded and agreed.

But the moment she saw Caihe rushing over, Lu Yun regretted it a little, and she puffed her lips in displeasure. Seeing this, Yuan Caohua said, "The sun is shining brightly now. Why don't I bring out a few chairs, and Sister Caihe, you and the Third Miss can sit here and bask in the sun."

Cai He was very polite. "Miss Yuan, please call me Cai He. Thank you for your help, Miss Yuan."

Yuan Caohua smiled, took the handkerchief, and continued embroidering her wild chrysanthemum. Time passed slowly, and the yellow stamens, blue petals, green stems and leaves, and an upright wild chrysanthemum slowly took shape. With a gentle sigh, Yuan Caohua unfolded the handkerchief and shook it, smoothing out the wrinkled stitches.

She realized that both the Third Young Lady and her servant were staring at her, the difference being that Cai He was looking at her, while the Third Young Lady was looking at the handkerchief in her hand. Yuan Caohua shyly smoothed the handkerchief and tried to tuck it into her sleeve.

"Can you give me this handkerchief?" The third lady reached out and grabbed her sleeve.

"Miss!" It was Caihe, and she gave him an embarrassed smile.

This handkerchief? Of course, but wouldn't you mind if it wasn't clean? Yuan Caohua handed it over. She saw the Third Miss happily spinning around in her chubby little hands, holding the handkerchief. Caihe, on the other hand, felt so embarrassed she wanted to dig a hole and bury herself.

Yuan Caohua raised her hand to cover the corner of her smiling mouth. No wonder so many people like the Third Miss. The Third Miss took three handkerchiefs from her, each embroidered with small blue wild chrysanthemums.

After that, whenever the Third Young Lady saw her, she would always smile and wave at her, taking out the small chrysanthemum handkerchief. Even the Eldest Young Lady and the Second Young Master were very polite to her. Gradually, the harsh words that had appeared in the past gradually disappeared, and everyone treated her more kindly.

Yuan Caohua still stayed in the courtyard, but besides doing some needlework, she would spend the rest of her time chatting with the young ladies. The third young lady would sometimes bring the eldest young lady with her. At first, Yuan Caohua was very nervous, and when she paid her respects to the lady, she asked about it. The lady just said, "I know," and did not ask Nanny Chang or the head maid to take the eldest young lady back.

From then on, Yuan Caohua felt relieved and always paid attention to her words and actions, for fear of revealing the bad habits of the garden and leading the two young ladies astray.

As the days passed, her heart became more and more at peace, and she often had the illusion that she didn't know what day it was.

When the news of Mao's death from heavy bleeding came, she was lying in bed with menstrual cramps and was completely drowsy. Half asleep and half awake, she heard someone talking outside the window. "Mao--" "Dead" and so on, but she couldn't hear them clearly. She called out "Yun'er"

Yun'er ran in from outside, her eyes sparkling. "Girl, what's the matter?"

"What were the people outside saying just now?" Yuan Caohua looked at her.

Yun'er looked mysterious as she approached the bed and whispered, "I heard Miss Mao from the first room had a miscarriage and died."

Yuan Caohua's heart suddenly skipped a beat, and her expression became gloomy. After a while, she forced a smile and lay down again, having a dreamless night.

The news that Mao died of miscarriage only circulated among the servants for a while and was soon covered up by other news.

Yuan Caohua recalled what her mother had said, "Secret doors, secret doors, it's common to have a few more people or a few less people."

She had never thought about whether to fight or not. If she had a choice, being a fire-making girl would be better than her current situation. Thinking about it, she laughed. Yun'er asked her, "Girl, what are you laughing at?"

Yuan Caohua smiled and said, "Have you ever worked as a fireman?"

Yun Er shook her head, somewhat disdainfully, "Making fire is something only the lowest-ranking maids can do. The lowest-ranking maid who can enter the Madam's courtyard is a third-rank maid."

Yuan Caohua sighed, "Yes, you are right. I wonder how I compare to the girl who makes the fire?"

Yun Er looked at her daughter in confusion. "Of course your status is higher."

Yuan Caohua nodded and shook her head, looking at her with a smile, "You are not right, I am the fire-making girl in the backyard."

Yun'er didn't understand, so she went out to fetch some water and wash up.

After Mao's death, she should have moved back to Hongfeng Garden, but her wife didn't ask her to move, so she boldly pretended to be deaf and dumb and continued to live in the back room.

A few days later, Jin He, who was beside the lady, brought a scroll of scriptures and a piece of fine white paper. "The lady asked me to copy the Heart Sutra twenty-one times."

"When Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva practices the profound Prajnaparamita, he transcends all suffering and calamity."

Yuan Caohua copied the scriptures carefully twenty-one times. After finishing copying the scriptures, she took the initiative to ask her wife to return to Hongfeng Garden.