"I trust that you will." The head monk said with a smile and Shen Xiatang said "I trust that you have been scammed at least once or twice!" next to Ye Shin Ye.
"How does that smile look right to you?!" Shen Xiatang shouted at the clueless old man who waltzed into his living quarters.
Turning to bow to the Steward, Ye Shin Ye barely said anything before she was rudely interrupted by the steward.
"Your greeting is not needed." The steward said and other maids behind Ye Shin Ye snickered.
"Move!" The steward commanded and Ye Shin Ye timidly began to follow the steward.
Seeing them go Shen Xiatang asked "Where the tall and confident lady I was praising go?"
"This is your room." The head maid said flippantly as she pointed Ye Shin Ye to a dark dreary room with a broken door, a straw mat and a wooden chair.
"She will surely say something now." Shen Xiatang said as she crossed her hands with a smug smile.
But when she heard nothing from Ye Shin Ye, Shen Xiatang turned to look at her in disbelief.
"She isn't anything." The steward thought as her courage grew.
"And this is your uniform." The steward said as she grabbed a white uniform from the maids who she had earlier and threw them at Ye Shin Ye.
"Say something!" Shen Xiatang said in anger.
Trying to gather a bit of courage, Ye Shin Ye shakingly asked "What about a bedsheet?"
"The weather has been especially cold recently-" Ye Shin Ye said and Shen Xiatang began to shake her head rigorously "No no, What have you done?" Shen Xiatang asked Ye Shin Ye in annoyance.
"Why do you sound so timid?" Shen Xiatang asked in despair.
"Do you think we have supplies to hand out just like that!" the steward said with a raised voice.
"If you want a bed sheet to cover yourself-" the steward said before snapping her fingers and the maids behind her walked into a small shed next to the depleted room
Stepping out with a bed sheet with a foul smelling odor and unidentified stains, a wooden basin, ash solution, a wooden bucket and a wooden paddle, the maids all dropped their items one by one at Ye Shin Ye's feet.
"Then wash it yourself!" ordered the steward.
Snapping her fingers, the steward said "Get rid of that nonsense she is wearing." and the maids stripped Ye Shin Ye off her bangles and the colourful outer clothing she wore.
"What insolence!" Shen Xiatang said as she seeted in anger.
"As a guest of the monastery you too are required to follow the rules ." The steward said with a smug smile before her and the other maids walked away.
Watching them go with unshed tears in her eyes due to the humiliation, Ye Shin Ye reluctantly stepped into her room and changed into the monastery uniform.
"It was a good plan." Shen Xiatang thought as she sighed.
"Getting the old man on her side would have guaranteed her a comfortable stay if the old man was actually in charge." Shen Xiatang thought as she watched Ye Shin Ye put the large bed sheet into the wooden basin.
"From the way the steward carries herself it is obvious that she is the true person in charge and judging by her harshness to Ye Shin Ye it's also obvious that she wants to bully a prominent daughter who has fallen from grace" Shen Xiatang said as she floated beside Ye Shin Ye.
"If she is all bark and no bite, how do I get my revenge!" Shen Xiatang cried in outrage.
"What to do?" Ye Shin Ye thought as she tried to find a way to fill her basin with water.
Stepping carefully on the stones, Ye Shin Ye bent to dip the wooden bucket in water before suddenly tripping and falling down in the shallow river. The moment she hit the water the laughter that bubbled all around her made her wish the ground would open up and swallow her.
Gritting her teeth to stop herself from crying, Ye Shin Ye finished fetching her basin and got to washing the large bedsheet. After hours of beating the bedsheet with a wooden paddle and watching the bed sheet dry. Ye Shin Ye carried her bedsheet to her room happy that she had accomplished her task but just before she got to her room, Ye Shin Ye was shoved by one of the maids that previously accompanied the steward and the bedsheets she had tediously washed fell to the ground.
"You-" Ye Shin Ye began to say only to be cut off by the maid who intentionally tripped her.
"I am so sorry for hitting you, the path was dark. I hope Miss Ye Shin Ye will not take it to heart." the maid said with faux sadness and the other maids nodded sadly too with smirks on their face.
Glaring at them in anger and unshed tears, Ye Shin Ye bent down to pick her bedsheets but just as she was about to take it off the ground another one stepped on it and all three maids before her began to laugh at her.
"Why?" Ye Shin Ye thought as the tears she was trying desperately to keep at bay rolled down her eyes.
"Am I that easy to bully?" Ye Shin Ye thought as she angrily wiped her face.
"Teach them a lesson!" Shen Xiatang said and Ye Shin Ye turned around in confusion.
"Who is talking?" Ye Shin Ye thought as she loomed over her shoulder once more.
Taking the opportunity because she did not know when the next opportunity may arise, Shen Xiatang smiled evilly and said "Pull the bedsheet from under her feet quickly." and Ye Shin Ye obeyed her command immediately.
"And when she falls down, grab her hair" Shen Xiatang said with an evil smile as Ye Shin Ye followed her orders.
"Look her dead in the eyes and repeat after me" Shen Xiatang said with an evil smile.
"What insolence!" Shen Xiatang said.
Complying with and adding her own spice to what Shen Xiatang said, Ye Shin Ye pulled the poor maid's hair backwards, looked her dead in the eye and said "What insolence!"