The public bathhouse was in a rather remote location. At this moment, she happened to be the only one emerging from her bath. The surroundings were so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Besides the clear, gentle moonlight spilling down from the sky and the faint glow from a stone lantern in a nearby courtyard, there were no other sources of light.
Any other maid would have been scared out of her wits by this sudden development.
Shen Qing had only been watching for a moment when a face peeked out cautiously from behind the wall. Upon seeing Shen Qing looking back at him so calmly, the person seemed to be the one who was startled. A moment later, he broke into a goofy grin, nimbly vaulted over the wall, and lowered his voice. "You're the maid who helped the young master today, right? I recognized you at a glance! The young master sent me to say a few words to you."
As he spoke, he couldn't help but click his tongue in admiration.
'This woman looks as if she's walked straight out of a painting,' he thought. 'She really does look like the Lady!'
'But there are all sorts of people in this world. His mother mentioned before that right after the Lady went missing, many people with ulterior motives tried to impersonate her. The women who showed up back then all resembled the Lady to some degree. There were even a few that they, the people closest to her, nearly mistook for the real thing.'
'So, it's probably normal for a maid who looks so much like the Lady to show up.'
Shen Qing recognized him at a glance. He was the servant boy always at Zihan's side. She remembered Xiang Qiao calling him... Qian Zhao Sheng.
'He must be Lady Qian's son.'
Shen Qing's eyes curved into a slight smile, and her gaze toward him held a certain warmth. "What did the young master ask you to tell me?"
Qian Zhao Sheng froze for a second.
'I'm not as smart as the young master,' he thought, 'but right now, I can tell this woman isn't a bad person!'
Under her gaze, he felt strangely embarrassed. He scratched the back of his head and said, "The young master says not to worry. He'll definitely protect all of you. He also said that, if possible, it would be better for you not to stay in the Prime Minister's Mansion. The young master can help you find a position in another household."
Shen Qing paused, her eyes flickering. "Why is that?"
'How am I supposed to answer that?!' he thought frantically. 'Should I just tell her that if she stays here, our Lord might chop her head off at any moment?'
Seeing the boy stammering before her, clearly unwilling to answer, Shen Qing sighed inwardly and changed the subject. "Is the young master unhappy in this mansion?"
'I'm very curious about that, but there isn't much time,' she thought. 'Other maids could come by at any moment, and I don't have time to slowly pry the truth out of him. I'll just have to use this chance to ask my other questions first.'
'This woman already saw the young master's failed attempt to run away today. Answering this question shouldn't be crossing a line, right?'
Qian Zhao Sheng nodded. "The young master and our Lord don't have a very good relationship."
He was holding back with that statement. The relationship between the young master and the Lord wasn't just "not good." It was barely any better than that of sworn enemies.
For a father and son to end up like this was truly a sad state of affairs.
A cold glint flashed in Shen Qing's eyes. She lowered her gaze and asked, "Besides that, are there other reasons? For example, is anyone in this mansion bullying him?"
After hearing that Yu Jiuqing had taken six women into his household, Shen Qing's primary emotion, beyond disappointment and disbelief, was worry.
The women of the inner quarters were masters of intrigue. They would do anything to climb the social ladder.
And Yu Zihan, as the legitimate eldest son of the Prime Minister's Mansion, was undoubtedly a thorn in every one of their sides.
Even with Lady Qian and Xiang Qiao by Zihan's side, it was impossible for Shen Qing not to worry.
"Huh? Bullying? In this mansion, besides the Lord, is there anyone who could possibly bully the young master?"
But she had clearly asked the wrong person.
The boy simply scratched the back of his head, looking completely baffled, as if he couldn't understand why she would even ask such a question.
Shen Qing pressed her lips together, frustrated. Just as she was about to rephrase her question more simply, the sound of approaching footsteps and faint voices reached them.
Qian Zhao Sheng immediately tensed. Losing all interest in continuing their conversation, he spoke quickly, "I have to go back now. Think carefully about the young master's words. I'll come find you again."
He then dashed back to the wall and, as nimble as a monkey, scrambled over it and out of sight.
Shen Qing was left with a throat full of unanswered questions, and she could only gaze at the sky in helpless frustration.
Honestly, she had been prepared to suffer some punishment, but Zihan, that little boy with his overwhelming sense of responsibility, was clearly unwilling to let them suffer on his account.
'But what can he do? From his conversation with Zhou Hui earlier, it sounds like someone else was punished for a similar incident before. Zihan was clearly powerless to stop it then. Now that his relationship with Yu Jiuqing is even more strained, it should be even harder for him to prevent Yu Jiuqing from punishing us.'
'Entering the Prime Minister's Mansion with a hidden identity is so inconvenient. It's even difficult to gather information.'
Just then, the voices grew closer, and two maids came into view. They were walking side-by-side, speaking in hushed tones.
The two of them were so engrossed in their conversation that they didn't notice Shen Qing's presence.
Shen Qing immediately ducked behind a large nearby tree, her expression unchanged, and strained to listen to their conversation.
"...That business with the young master today really blew up! And what do you know, Aunt Jiang sent him soup again tonight. She claimed she was worried he'd been frightened and had specially brewed it to calm his nerves. Hah! As if anyone doesn't know what she's really after!"
"It's not just Aunt Jiang. Since the other aunts can't seem to please the Lord, aren't they focusing all their energy on the young master? Doesn't Aunt Cao send him handmade clothes every few days? Tsk. Acting more motherly than a real mother.
Don't be fooled by how they're fawning over the young master now. The moment they have a child of their own, he'll be of no more use to them. His situation will be tragic then."
"A child without a mother is like a weed... Among all these aunts, only Aunt Kang seems to have some dignity. She doesn't go out of her way to curry favor with the young master. She just speaks to him normally, without that obsequious, petty attitude."
"Well, think about who Aunt Kang is. Even though she's the daughter of a concubine, she's still a daughter from the esteemed Duke Qi Mansion. The Duke Qi Mansion has produced several imperial concubines and even Princes! Lots of people in the mansion aren't saying it outright, but they're all secretly sucking up to Aunt Kang. Everyone's betting that she'll be the one to become the official lady of the Prime Minister's Mansion in the end..."
"Really? Then should we hurry up and get on her good side, too...?"
The two walked into the bathhouse as they spoke, their voices growing faint.
Shen Qing clutched the bundle of dirty clothes in her arms. Only after a long moment did she step out from behind the tree.
She suddenly understood why Zihan had wanted to run away from home today.
'If it comes to it, and I confirm that Yu Jiuqing has truly failed me, truly failed Zihan, then I'll just take my precious son and run away, far away from all of this.'
'With the foundations I previously laid in this world, it wouldn't be difficult to support myself and Zihan for the rest of our lives.'
That night, Shen Qing found it difficult to sleep.
She had been in a daze ever since returning to this world and discovering ten years had passed. Later, when she heard how much the Prime Minister's Mansion had changed and that Yu Jiuqing had taken several concubines, a weight had settled in her chest, but it had all felt surreal.
But today, after arriving at the Prime Minister's Mansion, seeing Zihan again, and hearing about the lives of those concubines, she was forced to truly, viscerally understand: This was no longer the Prime Minister's Mansion she knew. And Yu Jiuqing was no longer the Yu Jiuqing she once knew.
'I had anticipated all of this. I just wasn't willing to believe it.'
Shen Qing tossed in her bed. Though her body was exhausted, sleep simply wouldn't come.
Tonight, it seemed, would be a sleepless one.
The next day, Shen Qing and the others rose before dawn to begin their first day of assessment.
The previous night, before they went to sleep, Steward Su had sent someone to inform them that they would first be given a tour to familiarize themselves with the mansion, and their official tasks would be assigned the day after that.
The one sent to guide them was the maid who had been standing beside Steward Su the day before—a shrewd and capable-looking woman in her twenties named Qiu Yun.
Shen Qing glanced discreetly at Qiu Yun. Seeing no change in the senior maid's expression, she knew. 'Zhou Hui hasn't reported us yet.'
Chen Ying and Zhu Yuan clearly had the same thought, as expressions of quiet relief appeared on their faces.
After briefly explaining the rules of the Prime Minister's Mansion, Qiu Yun began to lead them on a tour of the estate. Mu Shuangshuang listened with intense focus, looking as though she wished she could write down every single word Qiu Yun said.
Putting other things aside, when it came to ambition, Mu Shuangshuang was truly admirable.
Around noon, they finally reached the innermost section of the Prime Minister's Mansion. Qiu Yun stopped abruptly, swept a cool gaze over them, and said, "Further in are the courtyards where the Lord and the young master reside. This is also the most heavily guarded area in the entire mansion.
On any normal day, without permission from the masters or Chief Chen, no servant is to take a single step inside. As for violators... don't blame a sword for being blind.
Don't say I didn't warn you. Quite a few disobedient servants have needlessly lost their lives this way."
This consequence was far more terrifying than being sold off or simply expelled from the Prime Minister's Mansion. Chen Ying and Zhu Yuan shivered involuntarily, a chill creeping down their spines.
Just then, a burst of frantic footsteps suddenly echoed—
"Quick! Summon Divine Doctor Lu! If I don't see Divine Doctor Lu within the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, all of your heads will roll!"