Free Web NovelChapter 695: Chapter 695: A House Servant’s Daily Life
Early morning, the sky was overcast with dark clouds.
Soon, a fierce wind swept through.
The sky, which had just begun to brighten, turned dark as night in an instant.
The heavens seemed to have opened a hole, and torrential rain poured down in torrents.
The three brothers, Da Lang and his siblings, who were about to head to school, quickly retreated under the corridor, but the splashing raindrops still dampened their shoes and pants.
Dragging her small book box, Si Niang, who was also preparing to go to the Women’s Garden, hurriedly turned back and shouted into the house, "Dad! It’s raining!"
Liu Ji, just finished with his morning reading, stretched and came out to see. The sky was dark, and the rain was heavy and urgent, likely not stopping anytime soon.
The four siblings looked anxiously at their father. If they didn’t leave soon, they would be late for school.
This was Si Niang’s first day at the Women’s Garden, and she didn’t want to leave a bad impression on her teacher.
But the rain was so heavy that even with an umbrella, they would get soaked.
The little girl, anxious, dragged her book box back and forth under the corridor, the wheels making a rumbling sound that made her brothers even more restless.
Liu Ji hushed his daughter, "Your mother is still asleep, don’t make noise, let me think of a way."
Si Niang immediately stopped, with an oh-I-just-remembered-it’s-too-late regretful look.
Liu Ji found it amusing as he pointed at the four in front of him, "Wait, let’s have Uncle Ah Wang drive the carriage."
Ah Wang, still in the back yard feeding the horses, overheard the commotion in the front yard. Without waiting for the master to come over, he had already brought out the horse, set up the carriage, and got it ready.
He put on a straw cloak and hat, led the horse to the front door, and without needing a call, the four siblings waiting under the corridor cheered and ran out with umbrellas to escape the heavy rain.
Sanlang and Si Niang were small, so the two older brothers helped carry the book boxes, and the four siblings quickly scrambled into the carriage.
No matter how heavy the rain was outside, they wouldn’t get wet inside.
It was only Uncle Ah Wang, outside in the wind and rain, who was the real hero.
And Liu Ji, you ask?
He was comfortably seated in the open hall, waiting for the luxurious carriage from the National Master Mansion to come and pick him up.
As an honored guest, he didn’t have to worry about the rain delaying his arrival to work at the mansion.
Rather, if the mansion came late, and delayed the teacher from enjoying the delicious breakfast prepared by his dear student, someone would be in big trouble~
Talking about Sikong Jian always getting scolded mercilessly by Gongliang Liao, Liu Ji found it unbelievable.
You would think Sikong Jian was very good to the teacher, but that wasn’t entirely true.
Keeping someone under house arrest was, in itself, the greatest malice.
Moreover, this unfilial disciple had long been expelled from the teacher’s discipleship for political differences; whenever they met, tensions were high.
But!
The teacher hit him, and he didn’t hit back.
The teacher scolded him, and he didn’t talk back.
Not only that, facing the various unreasonable demands of the "new house servant," as long as they could make the teacher willing to cooperate with treatment and recuperation, surprisingly, he would comply.
If it weren’t for the heavy murderous intentions that Sikong Jian occasionally inadvertently revealed, sometimes Liu Ji couldn’t help but suspect if this guy was captivated by his charm, deeply in love with him.
"Ugh—" Just thinking about it gave Liu Ji goosebumps all over.
Quickly shaking his head to clear away the absurd thought, he grabbed a cup of goat milk and drank it down to calm his nerves.
Amidst the raging wind and rain, a carriage stopped at the courtyard entrance on time.
Truly living up to the saying, come rain or shine.
Thinking that perhaps today he might not need to go to work at the National Master Mansion, Liu Ji set aside his luck and told Yin Le, who stayed home,
"When your teacher wakes up later, remember to tell her that I’ve gone to the National Master Mansion."
Yin Le: "Okay, Shigong, I got it."
Receiving the reply, Liu Ji then opened his umbrella, rushed into the rain, and hurriedly slipped into the carriage to start his working day.
When he arrived at the National Master Mansion, the heavy rain had turned to a drizzle.
As soon as Liu Ji got off the carriage, a servant carrying an umbrella approached him.
This was the attendant assigned to him by the mansion, Anzi.
Anzi, one hand holding the umbrella for Liu Ji, briskly urged him into the mansion, saying, "You’ve finally arrived, the heavy rain today made you later than yesterday, and sir is already looking displeased."
Liu Ji asked, "Did you buy all the vegetables I asked for?"
Anzi nodded, "They’ve been bought, all in the kitchen, already washed and waiting just for you."
Passing by the Peacock Garden, Liu Ji had no time to tease that over-enthusiastic Golden Peacock, directly skipping ahead, and headed straight to Pu Courtyard.
To meet his request, the National Master Mansion had hastily set up a kitchen in Pu Courtyard overnight.
Due to time constraints, it was just a shed surrounded by bamboo mats on three sides.
After a whole morning of heavy rain, the shed seemed to be holding on precariously in the wind and rain.
But Liu Ji couldn’t worry about that now; the teacher’s temper frightened more than just Sikong Jian, it frightened him too.
No time to go inside to greet the teacher, he rolled up his sleeves and got to work in the kitchen preparing breakfast.
Anzi was diligent and perceptive, always remembering that this house servant before him was treated as a guest, so he bent down to light the stove and start the fire for him.
Soon, the aroma of cooking food began wafting through the kitchen—Liu Ji planned to make fried rice with egg for the teacher, paired with crucian carp soup.
Someone inside seemed to smell the aroma and came to the doorway looking over towards the kitchen.
Liu Ji unintentionally glanced up, thinking furiously, why on earth is Sikong Jian here and not at morning court!
The two exchanged a look, Sikong Jian gave Liu Ji a warning glare, and then stood in the corridor, arms folded, unwaveringly watching the kitchen.
Liu Ji reasonably suspected he was truly hungry, maybe he wanted to eat too!
In his mind, he conjured a little figure resembling Sikong Jian and gave him several hard slaps.
On the surface, Liu Ji dared not show any emotion, diligently tossing the wok, focusing on making his fried rice with egg.
He was no fool; it was already peculiar enough that Sikong Jian skipped morning court today, and with that gaze full of killing intent on him, who knew what foolish person had provoked him, causing Liu San to suffer unwarranted anger.
When it came to kitchen matters, Liu Ji was second only to Ah Wang in the household.
In just over a quarter of an hour, the crucian carp soup had already boiled, and along with the fried rice with egg, they were served, with Liu Ji and Anzi each carrying a portion into the house.
Gongliang Liao was up early, ever since Liu Ji came to serve, the old man had moved from the bed to the wheelchair—perhaps wanting to live a bit longer, so as not to be "filial-piety-ed" to death by his dear Liu San.
Liu Ji thought the Imperial Hospital’s physicians were quite skilled, the rotten flesh on the teacher’s leg had been scraped off, and now wrapped with medicine, it was healing by the day.
"Teacher, it’s time for breakfast." Liu Ji placed the meal before Gongliang Liao on the desk.
The old man was reading a book, but upon hearing this, he put the book down and shot him an eye, "Are you trying to starve this old man? Just look at what time it is, and you’re calling it breakfast?"
He thought it was closer to lunch!
Liu Ji remained unflustered, pointing outside at the faint drizzle and murky sky, "Teacher, you can’t blame me for this, blame the gods, oh, and the drivers of the National Master Mansion, knowing it was raining and the roads were bad, and yet they didn’t come half an hour earlier to pick me up."
Gongliang Liao didn’t want to hear his excuses, raised a hand signaling him to be quiet, and raised the steaming hot fish soup Liu Ji eagerly handed him, taking a few sips to warm his stomach.
