185 Savior
Yu Youyou was finally relieved. She wrote down what she needed to refine pills and handed them to Qiu Xing. She instructed, “Prepare it quietly. Don’t make it public.”
The people in the residence only thought that Uncle Sun was an ordinary doctor and did not know how powerful he was. If they knew that Uncle Sun wanted to refine pills, they would inevitably suspect Uncle Sun’s background and her cousin.
Moreover, he was obsessed with alchemy. It wouldn’t be good if news of him refining pills spread.
Since there was progress in refining the Essence Protection Pill, she had to carefully nurture the Lingxi Bugs.
Yu Youyao raised the two Lingxi Bugs separately. One of them was fed medicinal herbs with spirit dew, while the other was kept as an ordinary pet. After two to three days, there were already some differences.
The color of the one that was raised with spiritual dew seemed to have faded a little. Not only did it excrete more medicinal liquid every day, but its color had also faded a little.
The other one did not change much.
In order to compare the effects of the two, Yu Youyao had used two different medicinal liquids to make medicinal tea that could nourish the body. After drinking it for two days, she had already noticed the difference.
The Lingxi Bug’s medicinal liquid had some effect on the medicinal tea after being fed the spiritual dew. It was very effective, and the effect was naturally better.
Yu Youyao planned to raise them for a while longer to observe them carefully. After confirming that there were no problems, she would raise both of them with spiritual dew.
The medicinal liquid of that Lingxi Bug was indeed extraordinary. The medicinal tea that it made was much better than what she had made previously. She planned to make more and ask Uncle Sun to make some powerful medicine.
On April 8th, it was the Buddha Festival. Old Madam Yu paid her respects to Buddha, and everyone in the residence began to do so.
No matter how busy Yang Shuwan and Madam Yao were, they had to make time to go to the temple hall to copy scriptures. On one hand, it was to worship Buddha, and on the other hand, it was to show their filial piety to Old Madam.
Yu Youyao also copied the Ksitigarbha Sutra and the Longevity Sutra every day.
On this day, Yu Youyao had just copied a few pages of scripture when Xia Tao came over. “Young Miss, Liu’er accidentally broke First Madam’s favorite blue and white bowl, so First Madam hit her ten times and sent her to the outer courtyard stable to work.”
Yu Youyao put down her pen and picked up the teacup beside her. She lowered her head and drank her tea without saying anything.
Xia Tao was a little indignant. “It wasn’t Liu’er who broke it. It was the mulberry branch in front of First Madam that caused her to trip and fall. That was why she smashed the blue and white bowl. First Madam got someone to drag Liu’er into the courtyard, and she beat her to death. After ten strokes of the paddle, Liu’er couldn’t even get out of bed.”
Liu’er had spoken to Old Madam Ma, so Eldest Madam held a grudge against her. During this period of time, she had tortured Liu’er a lot and let her do the dirtiest and most tiring things.
Yu Youyao put down her teacup and wiped the corner of her mouth with a handkerchief.
Xia Tao was worried. “Liu’er is seriously injured. The doctor said that she needs to recuperate for a while, but the work in the horse stable is dirty and tiring. Not many people can take it…”
First Madam was really ruthless. If it weren’t for Eldest Miss’s rules, which clearly stated that if something was broken, it would only result in ten strokes at most. Liu’er probably almost lost half her life.
Yu Youyao said calmly, “Get Liu’er to recuperate carefully for a few days. After her injuries recover, arrange for her to be sent to the Jade Courtyard to take on Qiu Xing’s errands. I still lack a maidservant to serve me, so I’ll let Qiu Xing take over.”
Yang Shuwan was a petty person. Even if she sent Liu’er to the outer courtyard, she might not necessarily let her off. Liu’er and the Jade Courtyard could be considered to have some relationship, so it was also possible to arrange for her to enter the Jade Courtyard.
Indeed, she needed someone to take care of her study carefully.
Xia Tao’s eyes widened. She told Young Miss about this because she wanted to help Liu’er and ask her to arrange a lighter job for her. This was easy for Young Miss, but she did not expect her to directly arrange for Liu’er to stay in the Jade Courtyard. Of course, this was even better.
Xia Tao was very happy. “Young Miss, Liu’er is very efficient. She will definitely do her job well after entering the Jade Courtyard. I’ll go and tell Liu’er first.”
Yu Youyao nodded.
Old Madam Ma was a noteworthy person. Just by looking at the incident she had caused in the residence previously, one could tell that she was respected. Liu’er did not look special, but she was still considered loyal. To be able to catch Old Madam Ma’s eye, she probably had some outstanding qualities. Such a person was naturally much more appropriate than ordinary people.
There were indeed not enough people following her. She had originally planned to let Nanny Xu choose a few people carefully and teach them well before letting them enter the Jade Courtyard to serve her.
Now that Liu’er was connected to her, it was appropriate.
Xia Tao ran into the house and told Liu’er the news.
Old Madam Ma pursed her lips in amusement. “It’s a blessing in disguise. In the future, Liu’er will have a good place to go. I can finally be at ease. Eldest Miss has really taken after Old Madam. She’s benevolent and kind.” As she spoke, she looked at Liu’er and said sternly, “You have to remember Eldest Miss’s kindness and serve her well in the future.”
Liu’er lay in bed, her face as white as a sheet. She was probably in so much pain that her forehead was covered in sweat. She struggled to get out of bed.
It was common for big families to punish servants who had made mistakes. Although the master would not beat them to death, if they were beaten half to death and tortured for a while, they would die of illness. They were all servants who had been bought into the residence. After signing the death contract, they would take a mat and roll it up before throwing it into the mass grave.
A few years ago, there was a girl called Cao’er in the main courtyard. She was beautiful, and Master took a few more glances at her and asked for her name. In less than two days, that girl made a mistake and was slapped thirty times, losing half her life on the spot.
In order to show her benevolence, she had hired a doctor, but her injuries could not be treated. After being bedridden for a month, she passed away.
One night, when she got up in the middle of the night, she saw two old maids carrying a mat out of the back door. The mat was a little short, revealing a pair of red embroidered shoes with beautiful vines embroidered on them.
She had given these shoes to Cao’er.
Eldest Miss did not allow the residence to abuse the servants at will. She had always treated the servants generously and clearly. She made new rules and made it clear that if something was broken, the culprit would be punished with no more than ten strokes of the cane, regardless of how expensive the item was. In serious cases, the person would be fined monthly. In the worst case, the person would be sold.
If not for this rule, even with her godmother’s favor, she probably wouldn’t have ended up any better than Cao’er.
Eldest Miss had saved her life.
In her heart, Eldest Miss was her savior.
Xia Tao was shocked and wanted to push Liu’er back down. “What are you doing? Hurry up and lie back down. You’re still injured. How can you get up…”
Liu’er shook her head and insisted on getting up. “I want to go to the Jade Courtyard to thank Eldest Miss…”
Although her godmother wanted to arrange for her to enter the Jade Courtyard, it wouldn’t be good to do it after Eldest Madam Yang just punished her. She probably needed to wait for a long time.