Chapter 3

Chapter 3

I had reached the end of the road as a maidservant. It was time to find another way out.

Because I was already sixteen, old enough to be matched with someone.

Which meant not only did I have no human rights, I didn’t even have the right to choose my own husband.

From here on, there were only two paths. Either my masters would pair me with some manservant, and I would go from being a maid to being so-and-so’s wife. If the man did well, I might become a housekeeper, work myself like an ox and a horse for the rest of my life, then give birth to a litter of little oxen and horses to go on serving the masters.

The other path was to become a bedchamber maid. If the mistress of the household could tolerate me, I might become a concubine and count as half a master. But if she could not tolerate me, I might not even keep my life.

These past few days, Mama Cui had secretly told me that the Old Madam had asked her to keep an eye out and choose a bedchamber maid for the Heir.

“According to the rules of Marquis Manor, before the wedding, two girls are chosen from the personal maids serving him to become women of his chamber. It helps settle his heart, so he won’t be lured astray by women from brothels and pleasure houses outside.

“These are hard times. Never mind that the indenture you signed cannot be redeemed-even if the masters were kind and let you leave, if you ran into another famine outside, there are plenty of men who pawn their wives and sell their children. You’d be better off staying in Marquis Manor. Besides, once you come of age, if you’re randomly matched to some manservant, you’ll still be a slave in your next life.

“Right now, the Old Madam values your loyalty. She had you transferred here because she means to make you a bedchamber maid. Since you serve the Old Madam with such single-minded devotion, you might as well put that same heart into serving the Heir and carve out a future for yourself.”

That was true. What would leaving the manor get me?

My parents had been perfectly proper commoners. They had toiled all their lives, and one flood had been enough to destroy our family, force wives to be pawned and daughters to be sold.

Mama Cui had always looked after me. Since she was laying her heart bare to point out this road for me, I ought to think it over carefully.

So what if I became a concubine? As long as I could live in peace and safety.

That night, I tossed and turned, writing the Heir’s name stroke by stroke on my palm.

Lu Chong. Chong, as in towering mountains and steep ridges-lofty and beyond reach.

But rather than be matched to some ugly nobody, I might as well take a gamble. Maybe I could trade my bicycle for a motorcycle.

Once I figured that out, I slept especially soundly that night.

When I woke, I smoothed on rouge, painted my lips, and went to open up a whole new battlefield.

Liufang had probably gotten the news too. These past few days, she had been dressing with particular brightness.

The moment we met, each of us saw the other’s intentions laid bare in her eyes. The small bit of affection between us from before evaporated almost instantly. Wariness entered the way she looked at me.

Before we competed for the post of bedchamber maid, we were real opponents. Like the Eight Immortals crossing the sea, each of us would have to rely on her own abilities.

As soon as the Heir returned, Liufang moved before I could, going up to serve him tea and water, help him change, and circle around him without giving me any chance to get close.

As for me, I put even more care into brewing tea and making snacks for the Heir. Based on the flavors he liked, I came up with all sorts of new variations, earning his endless praise.