Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Aunt Kuang was a strikingly beautiful woman, with sharply arched eyebrows and a dazzling appearance. She would scrutinize people from head to toe, as if everything about them could be found wanting.

However, her daughter, Miss Mei, was a delicate and gentle girl with a kind face. Unlike her mother, she smiled at Jin Niang when she approached.

Jin Niang heard Aunt Kuang ask, "Are you a homeborn servant?"

Jin Niang shook her head. "No, I was hired from outside the household."

Subtly, Jin Niang sensed that after this answer, Aunt Kuang's attitude toward her became noticeably dismissive. The woman pressed on sharply, "The needleworkers in our household are all seasoned veterans with years of experience. Someone your age lacks experience."

This was clearly nitpicking. As the proverb goes, "A guest should defer to the host." Moreover, what was the point of making things difficult for a servant? Though Jin Niang disliked Aunt Kuang inwardly, she maintained a polite smile. "Rest assured, I will do my best."

Aunt Kuang lifted her chin. "If you do well, I might tip you later."

After braving the heavy snow to make the trip, Jin Niang hadn't even been offered a sip of hot water, let alone any reward. Aunt Kuang lived in a small courtyard behind the third household, which was at least a fifteen-minute walk from the main household.

The cold wind seeped into her sleeves, and Jin Niang was shivering by the time she got back to the room. Inside, Jiang Shanjie called out, "Close the door! Hurry up and shut it before the snow blows in!"

As soon as she entered, Jin Niang deliberately rubbed her rear and groaned, "Today’s been unlucky. Not only did Aunt Kuang pick on me, but I didn’t even get a sip of tea. On top of that, I took a nasty fall. Good thing I’ve got some padding—if I were as slender as you all, I might’ve broken a bone."

She knew her monthly allowance was higher than theirs, and she received more gifts too. Now that she was also favored by Aunt Chen, if she didn’t start complaining, the others would surely resent her.

"Ouch… that really hurts…"

Qin Shuanger couldn’t help but tease her. "The skilled ones get more work."

"So, does that mean you did all that work for nothing?" Fang Qiaolian chimed in.

Jin Niang nodded. "Luckily, it was just one outfit. If there were more, I definitely couldn’t have handled it. Besides, Aunt Chen still has us working on pouches and fan cases."

She quickly took off her shoes and set them by the brazier to dry, thinking to herself that despite Aunt Kuang’s family being wealthy and her being a lady of high birth, she was surprisingly stingy. Coming back to her parents’ home just before the New Year—what kind of situation was that?

Her suspicions were soon confirmed. After lunch, she went next door to the tea room and overheard Lan Xue complaining as she rubbed her ears, "I just delivered snacks to Aunt Kuang’s place. It’s freezing outside—I nearly slipped!"

"You nearly slipped? I actually fell flat on my back and didn’t even get a sip of hot tea. I came back chilled to the bone, my hands stiff with cold," Jin Niang sighed.

Lan Xue curled her lip. "She gave me two camel’s hoof buns."

These "camel’s hoof" buns were pan-fried dumplings shaped like horse hooves. Jin Niang had seen a plate of them on Aunt Kuang and Miss Mei’s breakfast table that morning. She couldn’t help but laugh. "That’s worse than a delivery boy’s pay."

The term "deliverymen" didn’t refer to idle loafers—quite the opposite. At the time, it usually meant those who delivered food. Unlike Jin Niang and the others, Lan Xue and her kind were homeborn servants who received almost no monthly allowance. They relied entirely on occasional rewards—like the silver and handkerchiefs given at New Year—to get by. Even Si Er and Xiao He, assigned to the sewing room, had no wages.

Lan Xue snorted at this remark.

With that, Jin Niang had a rough idea of the situation. Aunt Kuang’s nitpicking and loud demeanor were likely just a cover for her shortcomings. If Jin Niang suffered grievances at Aunt Kuang’s hands, Jiang Shi—who was at odds with her—might actually treat her better. After weighing the options, she resolved to prioritize the main household’s commissions while making something for Aunt Kuang that was impeccable in execution, simply copying an older style.

Before New Year’s Eve, Qin Shuanger couldn’t complain when Jin Niang submitted her pouches and finished Miss Mei’s outfit. Fang Qiaolian’s recent adoption by Aunt Kuang, the second steward’s wife, had captured her attention instead.

After observing quietly these past days, Qin Shuanger realized Jin Niang wasn’t one for socializing and didn’t maintain close relationships. Though talented, she wasn’t cut out for climbing higher. Moreover, she glanced at Jin Niang—her hair tied up plainly in a green kerchief, never adorned—and thought her a fool. Even if they both served the eldest young lady, someone like her couldn’t compete.

Lately, she’d often heard Wei Jinniang talk about missing her parents, saying she’d ask Aunt Chen to send letters and gifts back to Jiangling after the New Year. If she had a loving family, why would she willingly remain a servant?

Jin Niang paid no mind to these subtleties. After finishing the pouches, she made a grand crimson brocade jacket with an "Eight Directions Lantern" pattern for Miss Mei, paired with a delicate green satin skirt. She skipped intricate embroidery, opting instead for gold-leafed and hand-painted "Lotus Pond motif" designs at the cuffs and collar—a technique she’d secretly learned from Aunt Chen.

The outfit was lavish and luxurious, but Miss Mei looked overwhelmed by it. Jin Niang knew she wouldn’t receive any reward from Aunt Kuang—once she’d revealed she wasn’t a homeborn servant, the bias was obvious. And since Aunt Kuang was clearly the one in charge, the dress only needed to suit her tastes.

Sure enough, Aunt Kuang immediately found fault. "The craftsmanship these days is so crude—nothing compared to Gusu craftsmanship. Look at these sloppy pleats at the bottom. If we wore this outside, we’d be the laughingstock."

Jin Niang pretended not to hear, standing aside with her head bowed. The aunt only let her go after finishing her lecture, and Jin Niang quickly walked away, wrinkling her nose as she stepped outside.

After Jin Niang left, the aunt instructed her daughter, “No need to tip outside help. These people are just here temporarily—giving them money is a waste.”

Miss Mei, however, said, “But when I visited Eldest Sister, I saw her reward people by tossing a handful of loose coins.”

“That’s just because your eldest uncle has a high-ranking, well-paid position. Their family inherited all the wealth, so of course they’re rich! Even the servant girls have picked up these wasteful habits. I didn’t marry well. After your grandparents died, your father became a minor official in decline. I’ve worn myself out trying to keep things together, yet he still finds fault with me—openly and secretly blaming me for not bearing children. Each of his concubines cost five hundred strings, and my dowry is completely gone.” The aunt fumed.

Miss Mei knew the truth: her father’s family had once been fairly well-off. After he passed the imperial exams, her maternal grandmother’s family even “snatched him up” as a son-in-law, thinking it was the start of prosperity. But her grandparents kept flaunting their status everywhere, and after her aunt married, they nearly emptied the household. Then her grandparents died one after another, and her father, still obsessed with appearances, ended up selling off all the ancestral land. After years of mourning, he barely managed to return to office with her uncles’ help—only to resign out of fear after an incident in the bureaucracy. That was why her mother had brought her to seek refuge with her maternal family.

She understood her mother’s exaggerated airs—she was afraid people would realize how poor they’d become, and the servants would slack off even more.

Back home, she’d never worn anything this fancy—embroidered with gold, dyed in vivid colors, and made from the finest brocade.