Thirteenth Lady's Comback: Her Everyday Life as a Bystander-Chapter 108 - 5: Gossip

Afterwards, Susu mimicked Yang Liu’s greedy look and the words after Sixth Miss gets married and remarries, making the masters and servants burst into laughter, with the girls feeling both shy and amused.

The Sixth Miss was still young and did not feel shy, pulling Susu and laughingly saying, "Next time Sister Yang Liu visits, you must take me with you. I’ll prepare a red envelope for her first."

As it got late, the group dispersed, and Old Madam Song, along with the four chief maids, entered the bedroom in the western chamber, where the master and servants finally settled down to talk.

Hearing Susu tell the details about Yang Liu being well, both Old Madam and Ning Cui were truly relieved, while Yun Duo and Ming Xiang, who did not have deep feelings for Yang Liu, only expressed a few words of concern before letting it go.

Ning Cui called for hot water and, along with Ming Yu and Ming Yue, who were waiting outside, helped the Old Madam wash her hands and feet and change into a sleeping robe. Half-lying on the heated brick bed, the Old Madam inquired about Nanny Qin and sighed in relief upon hearing from a young maid that everything was fine.

"Yun Duo, you don’t need to serve here anymore. Go look after your godmother. She suffered from the cold when she was young; it was bearable in the south, but in the north, she’s in great pain."

Ning Cui comforted, "Old Madam, don’t worry. Didn’t the imperial physician say that it is more severe in the first year due to not being acclimated, but it will be better next year?"

The family doctor in Yangzhou had his own household and did not come to Shangjing. With the Old Madam’s rank, she could of course summon an imperial physician. But the Old Madam had always been in good health; this time, she summoned the imperial physician for Nanny Qin, which deeply moved Nanny Qin. Privately, she also asked the physician to check Susu’s pulse. After drinking the herbal medicine for over half a year, though the menstruation was still uncomfortable, it was finally not as painful!

The imperial physician also said that the cold uterus condition had greatly improved and, as long as care was taken, it would not significantly affect fertility. This relieved the Old Madam of another worry.

Susu, hearing that she no longer had to drink that difficult and mortifying herbal medicine, gleefully let out a rare cheer, much to the mixed amusement and exasperation of those in the know.

At this moment, the Old Madam, after being reassured by Ning Cui, could only nod helplessly, "There’s no other remedy. For these days, let her ’hibernate’ indoors and don’t let her go out. Fortunately, the East Ear Room also has heated bricks. Sleeping on the brick bed is more comfortable than on a regular bed in winter, even though it’s somewhat dry. Luckily, it’s complemented by Susu’s ’Snow Drift’ aroma pills, which give a refreshing scent."

The bedroom, equipped with heated bricks and fire walls, was several degrees warmer than the Warm Pavilion in the hall. Susu had long taken off her small jacket, leaving a lined tunic, and sat on the embroidered stool to apply the finest rose oil to the Old Madam’s hands and feet. Upon hearing this, she said, "The North is just like this — dry in all seasons. If you don’t like drinking the scented dew, so be it, but you can’t skip the few tins of honey pomelo tea I prepared!"

Old Madam laughed, "The honey pomelo tea is indeed nice, sweet and sour. After distributing the batch of sweet pomelos that came with the ship, there’s still a lot left. Let’s eat the fresh ones, and the rest can be made into pomelo tea. There wasn’t much left over from last year’s batch. Tomorrow, you should go to Prince Gong Mansion to retrieve a tin, and add a bottle of plum blossom scented dew, four kinds of pastries, and four bolts of newly stored velvet. It’s quite novel and presentable."

After the Old Madam instructed Susu a few more words, apart from Ning Cui who was to stay up for the night, Susu and Ming Yu retired to their own quarters for the night.

As Susu emerged from the main room, cold air hit her face. She fastened her cloak and, by the light of the ram horn palace lamp, opened the door to the West Ear Room, where a serving woman was already waiting, bringing in two brazier bowls, a bucket of hot water, and two bed warmers. Susu thanked her and closed the door.

Since the bedroom with the heated brick bed and fire walls didn’t need charcoal braziers, it saved quite a bit of fine silver thread coal and Red Luo Coal, which the Old Madam generously rewarded to the four chief maids.

With the two braziers burning brightly, the room soon warmed up. Only then did Susu change into her nightclothes, and after washing up, she sat at the dressing table. Under the candlelight, she looked at the pretty, almost ethereal girl in the glass mirror. Sometimes it all felt surreal, and the ordinary yet stubborn face in her memory became increasingly blurred, as the memories of her past life remained locked in her heart.

The future is unpredictable, and she has no time to dwell on the past. It is only in the depths of night, in silence, that she dares to relax a little, before having to arm herself again for the coming day.