This Lady Will Treat You Well For A Lifetime

The incident with the kitchens and Jiang Madam's brush with death had sent minor shockwaves through the compound. Following the execution of the staff, the Head Steward had spent the whole of the night seeking replacements and from dawn household was already bustling with the activity of settling new servants into the estate. But for Cloud Moon Pavillion, remote and overlooked, the entire incident was like a storm sliding over a glass dome; surrounding without ability to override. Morning found the eldest young miss' countryard tranquil; sunlight, pink as a cat's tongue, on the high blond bed with its frame of cypress wood and gauze curtains drifting like thin glass become smoke. The girl laid on its patterned linen, however, was not the Jiang eldest miss.

Sithli sat in a cushioned chair beside the headboard and the sunlight through the drapes finds also the pink in her pale fingers that pierced the skin of a tangerine, spraying the smell of citrus into the air. Beside her, Ruo Mai sat up against the pillows, hands gripping the edge of the coverlet anxiously as she stared wide eyed at Ming Yue.

"Young miss, please."

"Hm?" Sithli's hummed out response was less prompt than dismissal and preempted the segment of orange that she thrust into the little maids bird bone hands. "I've already said, there's no point in thinking of getting up till you've gained weight back."

"This isn't appropriate."

Where had anyone ever heard of a servant who laid in bed while their master hand fed them? That alone was enough to make Ruo Mei feel as if the world were turning upside down, but add on how her lady's attitude seemed to have once again taken a sudden dramatic turn...she really couldn't feel anything but totally helpless. How was she meant to keep up with all of the young miss' strange shifts?

Sithli arched a dark eyebrow, "Which part of hiding things from your master was appropriate?"

A blushed rushed up Ruo Mei's neck and face. "This servant only did that for your own good."

"Mm," She passed the second half of the tangerine to Ruo Mei and then picked up a painted fan, fingers still fragrant with orange splaying it thoughtfully against her clavicle. "True, it did me good to see you starving to death for my sake."

Awkwardness closed up Ruo Mei throat and trimmed away further protests, taking her lady's words as a sarcastic rebuke. In fact, Sithli had meant the words with complete sincerity. After being reborn, had she not been so focused on her intent to live an ascetic life that she'd forgotten the things she'd learned from her savior had been more than just regret and self recrimination? She'd slipped by rote back into her old patterns of distance and doubt, of drab cold isolation. But her two maids selfless act had suffused her with the warmth of someone come upon a swatch of technicolor in the monochrome. From now on, she would properly cherish these people.

"Has young miss has started to remember us?" Ruo Mei asked, interrupting Sithli's reverie. Perhaps this new change in her master was because her memories were beginning to return. However, her lady shook her head in denial.

"No." And then the pause, the hesitation, the turn against the sun spilling through the windows which makes her shadow skitter and jolt across the carpet, that half moment where the byplay of the sunshine is uncertain as to whether she is shadow-thing or girl. "Ruo Mei, in fact I don't think they'll ever come back. I won't be the same Jiang Ming Yue that you've served till now. What will you do?"

"Of course, that doesn't matter!"

"Oh? You're not upset at being forgotten?"

"Of course this servant is sad about young miss' memories being lost, but no matter what as long as young miss is well this servant is happy. No matter whether young miss is changed or not, this servant just wants to stay by young miss' side forever."

Amusement lit in the small smile that caught the edges of Sithli's mouth. "What about when you get married?"

Ruo Mei's small face hardened into a stubborn expression. "Definitely won't. A woman's husband should be her sky, but this servant's most important person will always be young miss. The servant is happiest together with young miss and Ruo Lan."

Sithli flicked her wrist, lifting Ruo Mei's chin with her fan in the way of a romantic rakehell. "In that case, just stay obediently by my side. This lady will let you live in comfort and treat you well for a lifetime."

Ruo Mei's face immediately turned beet red and helpless again. "Young miss, you're making fun of this servant."

Unable to resist teasing this little girl further, "Saying no?"

The sound of footsteps rushing along the corridor saved Ruo Mei from having to struggle through her embarrassment to make a reply. Ruo Lan entered the room at a rush, all wide, guileless eyes set upon high, pink cheeks.

"Young Miss! The new cook is in the kitchens. All the new staff has already been installed as well."

"Good." Sithli scapegrace expression melted into sleek satisfaction at Ruo Lan's announcement. Her smile was smooth edged, glass polished of its sharp, sly edges. "Ruo Lan, come with me. I have another errand for you." She stuffed the painted fan into Ruo Mei's hands and then rose, leading the younger girl into one of the interior rooms.

The little maid followed on her heels like an energetic puppy. Despite having grown up together, Sithli had realized that Ruo Lan and Ruo Mei were as different as could be. Although both were innocent girls, Ruo Lan's honesty and brash naivete was very different from Ruo Mei's gentle caution. Although that meant that Ruo Mei was usually the best choice to send to deal with people in the household, in this case Ruo Lan's artlessness would serve Sithli's purposes perfectly.

Inside the room, she handed a pouch of silver to the maid and instructed her, "Go back to the kitchen and hand this out to the new staff."

Ruo Lan's eyes widened a bit. "Young miss, that's almost half the silver that we managed to hide away after first madam passed. Why would you just give it away?"

"Money only has use if it's spent. Just take it and tell the new staff that we hope they adjust well."

She was willing to bet that Jiang Madam had never instructed the former cook to withhold her meals. To do so would have been risking her facade of a fair and benevolent mother. Rather, that man had most likely taken it upon himself to mistreat Ming Yue for his own gain. The silver was simply a way of establishing her own worth with these new servants before they could come to their own conclusions about the easily ignored eldest miss. The ingenuous and frank Ruo Lan would make the act seem less like the calculated bribe it was.

So long as meals at Cloud Moon were no longer a problem, things could continue peacefully.

Too bad, that wouldn't be the case for long.