Chapter 2

By the time I returned, His Lordship had nearly screamed himself hoarse.

His eyes were red at the corners, as though he had been crying.

When he saw me, he did not curse nearly as viciously as usual.

“Chunxi, I was wrong. I’ll never call you a wretched maid again.”

“Just don’t hang me from a tree and leave me there…”

Naturally, I could not admit that I had abandoned my post.

“Something I ate upset my stomach, so I had to visit the privy. I didn’t mean to leave you.”

“I… I’ll carry you down right now.”

His Lordship said, “Who in the world spends two hours in the privy?”

I said nothing. I climbed the tree, settled him on my back, and carried him down.

Then I felt something wet spreading across my back.

I turned my head and found his face as red as an apple.

Oh. His Lordship had wet himself again.

“What are you looking at? This is all your fault!”

“Chunxi, if anyone sees me like this and I lose face, I’ll never forgive you!”

I hurried to comfort him.

“There, there. You wet your trousers again, didn’t you?”

“It’s all right! Everyone wets themselves at some point. It’s just a little less common at your age.”

“Besides, you’re injured and haven’t recovered yet. Once you’re better, I’m sure it won’t happen anymore.”

“I’ll put you in your wheelchair, take you back for a bath, and change all your clothes.”

“Then you’ll be our sweet, fresh His Lordship again!”

He lay across my back grumbling, but he was clearly no longer quite so angry.

Ah… Money was hard to earn, and shit was hard to swallow.

My dear scholar, when would you pass the examinations, marry me, and make me an official’s wife?

For three years, I served His Lordship with tireless devotion.

Not only did I push him through wind and rain…

“Chunxi! You idiot! When did I ever say I wanted to go boating? Now look at this downpour! If the boat capsizes, the two of us will end up feeding the fish—hey! I didn’t tell you to swim back with me on your back!”

I also carried him through every trial imaginable.

“I told you I didn’t want to climb a mountain to burn incense, but you insisted. Now we’ve been captured by bandits—hey! How did you beat all of them? And why are you setting their stronghold on fire?”

His Lordship said that every day with me was full of danger and excitement. His life was more perilous now than before he fell from his horse.

What a vibrant life he led.

It was not as though he had never complained to his mother.

“Mother! I beg you, don’t make Chunxi serve me anymore. She’s going to get me killed!”

No, no, no!

He was the reason I earned three taels a month. I could not lose him.

If I lost him, my scholar would have no money for his studies. If he could not study, he could not pass the imperial examinations. If he could not pass, how would he marry me, and how would I become an official’s wife?

Therefore, by the inexorable logic of rounding, His Lordship was the most important person in my entire world. I could not lose him under any circumstances.

I dropped to my knees with a thud and clung desperately to the Marchioness’s leg.

“No, my lady! I can’t lose His Lordship. If I leave him, my life is over!”

His Lordship stared at me in astonishment, his face flushing crimson.

“I never knew I mattered so much to you.”

The three taels mattered. Very much.