His Peasant Wife : Yao Ling-Chapter 12 Meeting the ‘Wang” 1
Yao Ying and Yao Ling woke up early the next morning. For the formality, they had to pay respect for the family first. Wang Luo Hai wanted to introduce them to his family. Wang Luo Hai gave them servants, but they only chose two. Yao Ying chose a servant boy named Xiu and Yao Ling chose a maid called Xiao Yu.
When they woke up, both of them tried to serve them and help them change clothes. Both were rejected.
"No need to serve us like that. Just help us with daily life or when we need to ask for help. We're not used to being served anyway," Yao Ling explained.
Xiu and Xiao Yu both looked at each other, feeling lost. They kneeled down and said in unison, "We, servants, are here to serve masters. Please let us serve you, otherwise, we will be punished." The doctrine of serving masters was already drilled in their mind, besides as slaves they wouldn't feel good being lazy.
Yao Ying and Yao Ling looked at each other helplessly. They really didn't like being served. They didn't think Xiu and Xiao Yu were lower than them; they used to be peasants too! But they also knew how important it was to maintain status in society. They decided to be more lenient.
"Stand up, please. Okay then. Just help us after we prepare ourselves. I'm used to serving husband in the morning and prepare myself. Later just let me know the things that I need to know inside this household," Yao Ying gave order while explaining the reason they refused their help just now.
Xiu and Xiao Yu nodded and left both of them alone. Yao Ying and Yao Ling sighed in relief. They looked at each other and laughed. "This feels so weird, right?" Yao Ying smiled. They didn't know whether to laugh or cry at the change in their life.
After they finished preparing themselves, they called Xiu and Xiao Yu in.
"How long have you been working here?" Yao Ying asked.
Xiu answered, "I've been here since birth. My father is the main butler and we have been working for generations." Xiu was around 16-17 years old. His face was quite handsome, but there was a distinguished scar on his left cheek. Though it didn't lessen his handsomeness, it would certainly scare people because it was quite deep. He looked healthy and full-spirited.
Xiao Yu answered, "I was bought by the master when I was five." Xiao Yu was petite, but she was quite pretty. Her character seemed like cheerful and bubbly, but it seemed like because she just met a new master, she tried to hold herself back.
Both seemed like good kids. Yao Ying and Yao Ling were quite satisfied with them. Yao Ling softly asked them, "Can you tell us the situation in this family?"
They only knew the superficial things in this family, for example, how many women Wang Luo Hai had. They understood there must be some conflicts. Yao Ying and Yao Ling truly thought of Wang Luo Hai as their boss, so they didn't really care about his affairs. However, everything is different now.
From Xiu and Xiao Yu's answer, they started to grasp the family situation. Wang Luo Hai was an only child and the matriarch still alive. She generally only showed up in the morning and the women in the family needed to pay respect for her in the morning. After that, she would retreat and let the other women did their own affairs. She was quite heartbroken with the fact that there was no kid in the household to continue the bloodline.
Wang Luo Hai actually fell in love with his main wife, Madam Wang. However because he needed to continue the bloodline, he took three concubines. Actually four, but the one that cheated on him was already beaten to death.
Xiao Yu told them, Madam Wang was beautiful and had a good temperament. She and Wang Luo Hai were childhood sweethearts, so when he took concubines she was heartbroken. As a woman, she could do nothing.
The first Concubine was Concubine Wan. She was the most beautiful of the four women, thus conceited. She loved to find trouble with the other women and it was quite a headache to deal with her.
The second Concubine was Concubine Xi. She was the same age as Concubine Wan. She was a quiet person and didn't like to mingle with people.
The third one was Concubine Lan. She wasn't pretty, but clever at sucking up to people. She appeared good in front of other women, but she actually two-faced.
"How do you know so much about them?" Yao Ling asked in surprise.
"I used to clean here and there, so it was easier to get information inside the household," Xiao Yu grinned sheepishly. She found that Yao Ling nice and started to relax in front of her.
"She's like a chirping bird, which gossips in this household that she doesn't know," Xiu looked at her and smiled.
"You…" Xiao Yu glared angrily and she kicked his shin.
"Ow! Look how you behave! Are you a woman?" Xiu glared at her angrily.
Their banter made Yao Ying and Yao Ling laugh. Xiu and Xiao Yu looked quite fun and their relationship was quite good. After hearing their masters' laugh, both of them looked down in embarrassment. This was usually how they behave with each other and they forgot they were in front of their new masters.
Though Yao Ying and Yao Ling heard Xiu and Xiao Yu's explanation, they needed to look at the people in the family themselves to understand them better. They asked Xiu and Xiao Yu to take them to where Wang Luo Hai was. They needed to pay respect and Wang Luo Hai would introduce them to the family.
It was going to be fun!
