Surviving as a Maid of the Sichuan Tang Clan

My head throbbed.

Never mind that the protagonist I just happened to run into was a complete mess—that was a whole separate problem. What hit me harder was realizing that this was set a long time before the opening of the novel.

Namgung Hwi’s first journey out into the martial world in Namgung Under Heaven started when he was twenty. But the Namgung Hwi in front of me looked, at best, twelve or thirteen.

If he had turned back his age like Tang Jung, his speech and behavior wouldn’t be this childish. Which meant Namgung Hwi was actually just a kid right now.

I lowered my head lightly to the boy.

“You must be the Young Clan Head.”

“Yeah. So mind your manners.”

His bratty tone made my temper spike, but I swallowed it down.

He was right: this was the Young Clan Head of the Namgung Clan. Just because he was young didn’t mean I could mouth off to someone who would become one of the pillars of the Five Great Clans.

I took a deep breath and carefully picked my words. As a proper maid, I should do my job and guide the Namgung guests to their guest quarters...

“As someone who’s no less than the Young Clan Head of the Namgung Clan, spying on another sect’s training like this is... hardly proper manners.”

...was what I should have said nicely. Instead, the words shot out of me on pure anger.

Namgung Hwi’s eyes went round, as if he himself hadn’t expected that.

The moment I realized what I’d done, I bit my lip, but the water was already spilled.

A heavy silence fell between us.

I’m screwed. Grand Elder Tang Jung. If this goes wrong, I’m going to be borrowing your name.

Contrary to my expectation that he’d throw a tantrum about some lowly maid daring to talk back, Namgung Hwi didn’t get angry. Instead, he carefully released my hand.

“Sorry.”

I hadn’t expected him to apologize so readily, so I blinked.

Watching my expression, Namgung Hwi asked,

“Does it hurt a lot?”

“Sorry?”

“Your wrist.”

He muttered under his breath.

Following his gaze, I saw the red handprint on my right wrist. The exact spot he’d been gripping.

He must have squeezed without realizing when he raised his voice.

So that was why he apologized. Well, at least he knew how to admit when he was wrong.

The moment I actually noticed the red mark, the pain I hadn’t felt until then came crashing in all at once.

This was going to bruise. If I was unlucky, it might even swell.

I frowned and gingerly rubbed my aching wrist. Namgung Hwi hunched his shoulders and mumbled,

“I’ll give you medicine.”

“I’m fine, Young Clan Head. Are you lost? Shall I guide you to the guest quarters?”

“I said I’ll give you medicine.”

Even when I refused him gently, Namgung Hwi stubbornly insisted on giving me medicine.

He clearly wanted to make up for his mistake, but had no idea how to communicate. The very image of a nicely raised Young Master.

To be fair, he was still at an age where it would be normal to be bad at apologizing. When I’d been that age...

Mm. I was not going to think about that.

Just as I was about to refuse again and say I was really fine, a loud sound rang from somewhere.

Grrrrrowl—

From the tips of his ears down to the back of his neck, Namgung Hwi turned bright red.

...So this kid had come wandering out because he was hungry, then gotten lost.

I barely held back my laughter. Namgung Hwi covered his face and snapped in irritation.

“I told you I’d give you medicine. Take the medicine on first!”

He was clearly nervous because that dramatic ship’s-horn stomach noise had humiliated him. I gave an empty, soulless laugh and nodded.

Author, please replace the protagonist.

*****

Having bulldozed his way into the pavilion, Namgung Hwi sat down in a chair in the reception room as if it were the main room of his own house. His attitude was perfectly natural, like he was at home.

I worried that Tang Jung would fly into a rage if he found out, but there was no way for me to stop him.

Then again, he might actually be pleased about Namgung Hwi’s visit. When you looked at his track record, the Grand Elder seemed to like people more the worse their tempers were.

Namgung Hwi pulled a silk pouch from his bosom and rummaged in it for a good while before finally taking out a small ointment and setting it on the table.

“Here. Put it on.”

“What is it?”

“An ointment my uncle made. It’s good for bruises.”

How was I supposed to know who your uncle is.

I only smiled silently. Flustered, Namgung Hwi tacked on a hurried explanation.

“Uncle Wonryong is the Master of our Medical Hall. You can trust it.”

The moment he said it was an ointment personally made by the Medical Hall Master of the Namgung Clan, its credibility shot straight up. With my status, this was the kind of precious medicine I’d never even get to see.

Seeing the color come back into my face, Namgung Hwi said proudly,

“It works on scrapes too. You can have it.”

“Thank you.”

I didn’t stand on ceremony and reached for the ointment.

This was exactly the kind of medicine maids needed, with our hands cracking and getting cut at the drop of a hat.

I’d have to put some on Songji later too.

While I applied the ointment, Namgung Hwi watched with a pleased expression and then asked,

“Aren’t you going to eat lunch?”

“After I’ve escorted you, Young Clan Head.”

“Then let’s eat together.”

“Sorry? That would not be appropriate. Sharing a table with a mere maid...”

“What’s the problem? Yeona has tea with Gyogyo every day.”

Who was Yeona and who was Gyogyo.

When I looked at him, puzzled, Namgung Hwi explained,

“Yeona is my youngest sister. Gyogyo is Yeona’s maid.”

...And?

I nodded along vigorously, telling him to keep talking, but that was the end of his explanation.

I had to work it out myself. Since his sister had tea with her maid, he was saying it was fine for him to eat with me.

Well, if he’d gotten lost wandering around, he probably was hungry. I might as well feed him something before I sent him back.

I decided that was good enough.

“I see. Then shall I have a meal prepared for you here?”

“Yeah.”

Namgung Hwi folded his arms and looked at me like he was telling me to go ahead and bring it.

The stern expression he made, as if he were copying someone, made me want to laugh. He must have a grown-up like that at home.

When I let out a small, involuntary snort, Namgung Hwi flinched, dropped his arms, and straightened up in his seat.

I started setting out the dishes that had been prepared for Tang Jung. They’d just go to waste otherwise.

Watching me prepare the meal, Namgung Hwi asked,

“Have you ever been outside Sichuan?”

“No. I’ve lived my whole life in the Tang estate.”

Not me—Sohae.

I answered calmly. He said,

“Don’t you want to go to Anhui? It’s a good place.”

The way he slipped in ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) a casual brag about his hometown screamed hometown pride. I smiled and steered the conversation away. freēwebnovel.com

“I don’t really know where Anhui is. I’ve only heard that it’s far. Is this your first time in Sichuan, Young Clan Head?”

“It is. Five years ago, my sisters said it was too soon for them to travel such a long way, so I wasn’t allowed to come with them. I didn’t know how to ride back then, either.”

“How old are you, Young Clan Head?”

“Thirteen. How old are you?”

“I’m fifteen.”

I didn’t know for sure, but it was probably about that.

Namgung Hwi frowned, apparently surprised I was older than he was, and muttered, “That’s not good...” under his breath.

I pretended not to hear and set a plate of meat in front of him.

“Your sisters must care a great deal for you, Young Clan Head.”

“Yeah. I’m the only son. I have three older sisters.”

That explained why he was so childish and arrogant for his age. If he was the son born after three daughters, then he would have been cherished to death.

They must have raised him like some priceless treasure.

“Didn’t you say you had a youngest sister as well?”

“Right. There’s Yeona too.”

Whoever she was, I felt a sudden pang of pity for whoever would end up marrying Namgung Hwi.

She’d have four sisters-in-law.

Anyone who wanted to become the Namgung family’s Mistress would go in fully prepared to endure four sisters-in-law, but I personally would never marry into that.

“I’m grown up now, but Mother and my sisters still treat me like a child every day.”

“They only do that because they worry about you, Young Clan Head.”

“Father says he went out into the martial world with my uncles when he was my age. But this is my first time setting foot outside Anhui. I could do well too.”

Grumbling, Namgung Hwi picked up a bite of stir-fried vegetables and put it in his mouth—then immediately started coughing and clapped a hand over his lips.

The scent of Sichuan pepper clearly wasn’t agreeing with him. His face screwed up in every direction as he panted.

“Is it very spicy? Shall I bring you some tea?”

“I’m fine— cough, cough!”

“Shall I prepare a milder dish for you with less seasoning?”

“No— cough! People of the Namgung Clan never back down.”

He forced out the words with tears leaking from the corners of his eyes.

That’s not really the situation for that line, you know.

Watching this Young Master awkwardly try to act like a grown-up made me realize just how foolish I’d been in the past.

It was this obvious when a kid was pretending to be an adult. And yet I’d watched Tang Jung, who acted like an elderly man despite his boy’s body, without even finding it strange. My lack of perception had been truly spectacular.

Quietly, I set the teapot down in front of him.

Even as sweat poured down his face, Namgung Hwi stubbornly emptied the Sichuan dishes. Seeing that he wasn’t a picky eater, I figured he’d shoot up tall.

“Sit already. You eat too.”

“Yes.”

At his urging, I sat down.

Hands clasped together, the boy asked,

“Have you ever tried Anhui food?”

“No.” freёwebnovel.com

“Anhui food is good. It’s not this spicy, and, uh... it has really good flavor.”

“I see.”

“Anhui has really good tea too! The Cloud-Mist Tea from Mount Huangshan is a tea even the Abbot of Shaolin enjoys.”

“Right...”

Namgung Hwi was desperate to list every good point about Anhui. He clearly wanted to boast that his home wasn’t any worse than Sichuan.

I just nodded along at the right moments and ate my meal.

When I set my chopsticks down, Namgung Hwi’s eyes sparkled.

“Are you done?”

“Yes.”

“Then show me the market street.”

“Sorry?”

“The market street. I’m curious what Sichuan’s market street is like. Let’s go out.”

Faced with the unreasonable request, I gave an awkward smile.

Not only had Tang Jung told me not to leave the pavilion, I had never once gone to the market street.

You had to at least know where something was to take someone there.

I gently tried to dissuade him.

“Young Clan Head. If you wish to go out, you should first tell your party where you’re going...”

“We can’t get caught. Father won’t let me if he finds out.”

“The guards at the outer estate gate will naturally know the moment they see you, Young Clan Head.”

“Then we’ll just go over the wall.”

“Young Clan Head, I can’t climb walls. And you shouldn’t be going around climbing other people’s walls like that.”

“It’s only about thirty feet high. If we sneak over, no one will notice. Let’s go.”

Like no one would notice.

Thirty feet—close to ten meters, about the height of a three-story building. There was no way someone jumping over a wall that high wouldn’t stand out.

More importantly, I was not some eccentric master who could lightly leap over a wall nearly three stories tall.

I swallowed a sigh and looked up to try and talk some sense into him.

There was only me sitting at the table.

“What are you doing? Aren’t you coming?”

His shout came from outside the window. Namgung Hwi was already outside the pavilion, waving his hand at me.

I rubbed my pounding forehead.

Taking care of a kid was hard.