Lady Li!

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Judging by the sound, Chunlan was standing outside the shop, knocking on the door and calling out.

Xie An hurried into the shop through the back entrance and went to open the door.

Snow still lay piled along the street outside. Chunlan, dressed in a brand-new padded jacket, stood amid the snow, her little face flushed crimson from the cold. She rubbed her hands together constantly, then held them to her mouth and breathed warm air onto them.

“Miss Chunlan, what brings you here? Come in quickly.”

But Chunlan did not enter. Instead, she said anxiously, “There isn’t enough time. I can’t go in.”

A sense of foreboding rose in Xie An’s heart.

Had something gone wrong with his redemption?

Before he could think any further, Chunlan leaned closer and said, “Master Xie, it’s because of your redemption money. Madam Li and the master had a terrible quarrel. Madam Li is coming to see you shortly, so be careful what you say. Don’t ruin everything. I have to get back before Madam notices I’m gone.”

Xie An understood.

Chunlan had braved the freezing weather and come alone to warn him.

Seeing her stamping her feet in the snow and breathing warm air onto her hands, seeing her cheeks reddened by the cold, Xie An was deeply moved.

Although he was only a servant, there were still people who cared about him.

In a troubled age, to be both a servant and the object of someone’s concern was an extraordinary blessing.

Xie An knew that all too well.

“Thank you, Miss Chunlan. By the way, do you know exactly what Madam and the master were arguing about?”

Chunlan glanced around before telling him.

It turned out that Madam Li insisted on accepting only twenty taels as Xie An’s redemption fee, while Li Ru demanded two hundred. His reason was that Li Shaoyun’s martial training required enormous expense, and that during the New Year he had given Zhang Biao of the Tiger-Wolf Sect an expensive gift. Master Li therefore refused to yield. On top of that, he had charged Xie An with the two-hundred-tael deficit caused earlier by Zhang Bing.

That was where the two hundred taels had come from.

Madam Li refused to accept this, and the two of them had quarreled. In the end, Li Ru was willing to write off only twenty taels, stubbornly clinging to the remaining one hundred and eighty.

“Thank you for telling me, Miss Chunlan.”

“Be careful what you say later. Madam is in a terrible mood.” Chunlan repeated her warning several times, then turned and hurried away.

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Xie An stood at the pawnshop entrance, watching Chunlan disappear into the distance. Slowly, the smile on his face hardened.

According to the usual redemption price for an indentured servant in town, twenty or thirty taels was the going rate.

Li Ru had demanded two hundred taels!

He truly had an appetite like a lion.

Xie An had always known Li Ru to be petty and miserly, but he had never imagined him capable of going this far.

What surprised Xie An, however, was Madam Li.

She had actually quarreled with Li Ru over his redemption fee.

In Xie An’s memory, Madam Li had once been a maidservant in a wealthy family in the county town. She had learned to read from childhood and was kindhearted toward others. Still, she could hardly be said to have shared any deep friendship with Xie An.

At most, when Li Ru had married, Xie An had still been a young man. He had helped escort the bridal procession, carried Madam Li’s sedan chair, and tended the brazier beneath her feet.

But surely that alone was not enough for Madam Li to go this far?

Just as Xie An stood dazed, the sound of approaching footsteps came from outside.

“Old Xie.”

Xie An looked up and saw Madam Li standing in the snow, dressed in a brown sable coat. She was past forty, with silver showing at her temples, yet she possessed an air of grace and the dignified elegance of a household’s mistress.

Xie An hurriedly clasped his hands and welcomed her inside.

“In weather like this, how could I let Madam Li make the journey here?”

“I had grown restless after staying in the residence too long, so I thought I would come out for a walk.” Madam Li entered the pawnshop and sat in the chair reserved for honored guests. She placed a finely wrapped box on the small table.

“I thought I ought to give you something for the New Year, but I could think of nothing suitable. So I bought some pastries from Wufangzhai. Try them, Old Xie.”

The pastries from Wufangzhai were renowned throughout Wuqiao Town, and extremely expensive.

They were something Xie An had never dared even dream of before.

Faced with Madam Li’s sudden kindness, Xie An felt deeply uncertain. He did not reach for the box, but instead said, “I am only an old, broken-down man. How could I let Madam go to such expense?”

The Great Qian still strongly favored men over women. The daughters of ordinary wealthy households were raised deep within their inner chambers, never venturing beyond the main gate, let alone the second. Even the women who managed their households rarely showed themselves in public.

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Madam Li had come personally to visit the pawnshop. That alone was exceedingly rare.

Yet Madam Li instructed Chunlan to unwrap the exquisite package, then remove the mulberry paper within, revealing fragrant osmanthus cakes.

When Xie An saw the cakes, it seemed that something came back to him.

“When I first married into the Li household,” Madam Li said, “I especially loved osmanthus cakes. Unfortunately, Wufangzhai had not yet opened in town. I remember that you, Old Xie, went all the way to the county town to buy them for me. It was snowing just as heavily that day. In the blink of an eye, more than twenty years have passed.”

Xie An’s thoughts raced, and emotion welled in his heart.

“Yes. In the blink of an eye, more than twenty years have passed.”

Madam Li picked up an osmanthus cake and placed it in her mouth, chewing slowly. “And yet the taste is still the same.”

Xie An no longer refused. He picked up a cake and ate it.

“Thank you, Madam.”

Madam Li could say that the taste was still the same.

Xie An could not.

Back then, he had merely run the errand to buy them. He had never had the fortune to taste one himself.

He had not expected that, all these years later, he finally would.

Perhaps because they were both eating osmanthus cakes, the sense of estrangement between them gradually faded.

Madam Li seemed to recall the past and sighed softly.

“I was once a maidservant too, though I was fortunate enough to meet a good mistress. She taught me to read and write, and even helped me purchase my freedom. Only then did I have the chance to become the mistress of the Li household. On the day I married, she told me that once I became the lady of a household, I must treat others kindly and accumulate virtue for future blessings.

“When I married, Old Xie carried my sedan chair and tended the brazier beneath my feet. You even walked dozens of miles over the mountain roads to buy osmanthus cakes for me. I have remembered it all. For these thirty years, Old Xie, you have managed the shops of my Li household with diligence and never made a mistake. I have seen it all.

“The master was born into wealth and privilege and grew up with a silver spoon in his mouth. Naturally, he cannot understand the suffering of those beneath him. But in this troubled age, a servant’s life is cheap. Even so, servants are people too. Who does not wish to live a better life?

“Old Xie, you have labored for my Li household all your life. If I, as your mistress, cannot see you through to a peaceful old age, I truly cannot set my heart at ease.”

With that, Madam Li took out a cloth pouch and slowly handed it to Xie An.

“The master insists on collecting one hundred and eighty taels as your redemption fee. I cannot overcome his stubbornness, and I know his temperament well. This is my private savings. Take it, Old Xie. Come to the Li residence later and use it to pay the redemption fee.”

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