Enter Chang Xiangsi and help Jingzhai fight

Chapter 142 New Year’s Eve

I felt sorry for her and quickly replied, "Of course! I couldn't find you after I came back, so I rushed here as soon as possible. Tell me, what happened?"

Sen Ying hesitated and said softly, "Alas, Sen Ying was careless and lost Aunt Zhao's things. I didn't expect that Second Lady Rui would hold on to them. Aunt Zhao is a fence-sitter and naturally would not offend her to protect me. So I ended up here. Please think of a way to rescue me, this is really not a place for people to stay! Look at my hands!"

I held her hand up to the dim candlelight and saw a lot of blisters on her fingers. The rough part of the back of her hand that I touched just now was covered with scars, as if she had been beaten or burned.

"Who hurt you? How could they do that?! Is there no one to help?!" I said angrily.

"Young girl, you don't know, once the door is closed, the guards are the boss. I am not strong enough to do rough work, so when I first came here, I was either beaten or scolded. Later, they were too lazy to find a board and directly took out the burning firewood to burn me. Occasionally, people from the higher-ups came, and we dared not make a sound, because in the past, there were people who were brave enough to complain, but they were easily suppressed by the higher-ups. Moreover, when the guards found out, they abused us even more severely. After that, no one dared to resist." Sen Ying cried with tears gathering.

I also shed a few tears, took out a handkerchief to wipe her face, and comforted her: "Don't cry, I will go back and find someone to save you. The young master is busy today, I will go find Butler Hu!"

Sen Ying held me and said, "If we can ask the young master to come forward and guarantee me... that would be the best. Although Butler Hu is usually fair, he must be cunning to be a butler. What if he dares not offend Second Lady Rui and Aunt Zhao, and tells them first, I will inevitably be beaten again. Sister, can you ask the young master to take me back? Just say... yes, just say that I am good at playing the piano and can read and write, and the study cannot do without me."

I was about to speak when someone knocked on the door: "Miss, it's almost time. We have some work to do here later. Miss, you also have to prepare vegetables and make dumplings in the yard, right?"

I dismissed the guard with a “right away!”, patted Senying’s hand, and said, “Here are some dumplings, and some gloves and oranges that Xiaowei packed for you. I came in a hurry and didn’t bring many things with me. Wait for me to come back. I’ll go back and do it for you. Just bear with me.”

Sen Ying covered her face and cried, sobbing and saying, "With your words, Sen Ying feels relieved."

At this time, the guard knocked on the door again. I hurriedly responded, "I'm coming, I'm coming!", turned around and nodded to Senying, then walked out of the room.

On the way back with Ruofeng, I felt hungry and a little weak, so I didn't say much.

Ruofeng noticed that I was not feeling well, so he sent me back to my room, then ran into the room and got me a plate of dumplings and a bowl of dumpling soup.

After the hot soup, I ate several more dumplings, and the feeling of emptiness in my stomach and weakness in my legs went away. When Ruofeng saw that I was fine, he said he had something else to do, so he asked me to rest first and left.

I saw that Xiao Wei was not in the room, and the big window paper-cuts that I had placed on the table before leaving were also gone. I guess they were pasted on. Just as I was wondering when Tu Shanjing would be able to come back, someone knocked on the door, and Jin Gui's voice came: "Miss, the young master is back, and I want you to go to his room and serve him dinner."

When I heard that, I grabbed the towel and wiped my mouth again, saying, "Okay, I'll be right there!" I passed by the mirror and saw that my lips were pale and looked average, so I picked up some rouge and put on some, just to make it a good start.

I hurried to Tu Shanjing's room. Jingye opened the door for me. The room was warm. Tu Shanjing's mink fur coat was casually draped over the back of a chair. He was standing and wiping his hands. When he heard the door open, he turned around and said to me with a smile, "I am exhausted today!"

I walked over, took his handkerchief and folded it, the corners of my mouth lifted up involuntarily, and I joked: "Young Master has a big family and a lot of wealth, so it's natural that he would be more tired than usual at this time. But why didn't you have the reunion dinner at the old lady's house, and came back so early?"

He took off his sword and replied, "We have eaten. Grandma has a poor appetite and said she was tired after eating a few bites. The elderly are weak and need to go back to rest first, so she let us go back to our own houses to eat."

I saw that he looked worried, so I consoled him, "It's better for the old man to eat less at night, otherwise he might not be able to digest it. Don't worry, young master."

He sat down, looked up at me, and said, "That's right. I'll go to her to wish her a happy new year later tomorrow. There were so many firecrackers tonight. She must have gone back early because she was afraid that she would wake up in the night and couldn't sleep."

I took his sword and placed it on the trunk, saying, "Yes, sir, you have a hangover and were woken up early today. You should sleep a little longer tomorrow."

I turned around and saw his ears were red. He lowered his head and sighed, "I'm afraid I won't be free tomorrow. I'll be greeting people and meeting people from all ethnic groups who come to pay New Year's greetings. It will be another day of socializing from morning to night."

While we were talking, Jingye had already neatly placed the dishes on the table and said, "Let's drink wine today and worry about tomorrow. Young Master has been tired all day and didn't eat enough at the banquet just now. Eat something now because you have to go out early tomorrow morning!"

I had been busy all day and just had time to eat a few dumplings. When I looked over there, I saw a dazzling array of dishes on the table, all of which I couldn't name.

Tu Shanjing may have seen my expression, and said with a smile: "Yes, do what you can first. You have been busy for a year, and now we will eat behind closed doors. Don't worry about the master and servants, you can sit down and eat."

Jing Ye shook his hands repeatedly: "Young Master, I understand, but you can't do that!"

Tu Shanjing raised his eyes to look at her and said, "Why not? At this time, each house and courtyard is celebrating the New Year, so you don't have to be on guard. Go and call Ruiyang and Ruofeng together."

Jingye then nodded, put on his cloak and went out.

Tu Shanjing smiled and looked at me and said, "You are hungry too, right? Sit down. I met Chunming during the day. He said you went to his place this morning. I told him that the red-boiled pigeons are delicious. He told me that the honey-moxibustion method is even better. So I asked the kitchen to make it. You can try it later?"

I sat opposite him with a smile and praised him, "You are so nice, young master!"

At this time, there were two knocks on the door, and then Ruiyang poked his head in and said with a smile: "We are here!"

Jingye followed him into the room and said, "Ruofeng is not coming. He said that tonight is Xiaohui's first time on duty and he is worried, so he's following along."

Tu Shanjing nodded: "Then let's eat, and Ruiyang will send them some good food and drinks after that."

Ruiyang sat down and said, "Okay! The young master is really the best young master in the world!"

Tu Shanjing raised his eyebrows: "Now I can see that you are really praising me."