TRT – Chapter 22 Xi Niang’s Point of View (Part 1)

My name is Xi Niang, and I am a maidservant in Prince Luo’s manor.

When I was little, my home was flooded, and both my parents were gone. I was passed from hand to hand, sold by human traffickers from one household to another. Some masters were kind, some cruel. At first I didn’t understand anything, so I was often bullied and, of course, scolded by the masters. After a long time, I figured out some rules: no matter what kind of master, they always preferred obedient servants who swallowed their grievances.

Keep your mind simple, read faces with your eyes, keep your hands and feet busy, and keep your mouth shut tight. Be kind to those around you, but when trouble comes, never expect anyone to stand up for you. As long as you learn to endure, life isn’t so unbearable.

By the time I was sixteen, I had grown into the most presentable among my sisters, and the traffickers began thinking of selling me to a brothel. Those days were filled with fear; I cried myself to sleep every night. Later I thought, it couldn’t go on like this. Perhaps if I prayed to the ancestors and gods, they might show me some mercy?

That day the sky was heavy and gray, but I will never regret my decision to visit the temple. For that choice perhaps changed the course of my life.

After offering incense, I carried my basket and was just about to step across the threshold. Lost in thought, I didn’t watch the road and collided headlong with someone coming out! I staggered backward, certain I would fall and bruise, my basket flying from my hands. But the man caught me at the waist and pulled me upright. Like magic, he reached out and caught the basket midair in a graceful arc, not a single offering or stick of incense spilling out! I stared in stunned amazement, and then a voice as rich as ringing drums and bells sounded:

“Are you all right, little miss?”

I looked up—and met a face as ethereal as an immortal’s. My heart clenched tight.

How could such a man exist in this world!

Some time ago, my sisters said that the seventh young master of the Wang family was handsome beyond compare. I had sneaked along to peek at him and indeed found him refined and elegant. But compared to this man… it was no contest at all. How could anyone compare?

He saw me frozen and dazed, yet he did not grow angry. Still holding me, he examined my face closely.

“Does the young miss have some trouble on her mind? Your eyes are all red from crying,” he teased lightly, though in his dark eyes there was a trace of pity.

Only then did I realize—I was staring straight up into a man’s face, unblinking! I had been staring all this time! I—I—I truly wanted to bury myself in shame. In a panic I lowered my head, not daring another glance at the beautiful man.

When he saw me bow my head and stay silent, he let go. I quickly stood straight, head lowered, clutching the basket tight. Only when I heard his footsteps fade into the distance did I sneak a look at his back. He was so handsome, so noble. Which great family’s young master was he? How had I never heard of such a person in Qiuye City?

Suddenly, a thought struck me. If he was a noble son, he wouldn’t mind taking in another rough maidservant, would he? Once the idea came, I couldn’t stop it. Better to serve in such a household, even doing menial work, than to be thrown into a brothel. Even if I were only an outer-courtyard maid, how could anything compare?

On impulse, I hurried after him, calling out:

“Master! Master! Please wait!”

He stopped and turned, smiling slightly. That elegant, noble smile—just seeing it once was enough to make me willing to serve him faithfully all my life. Heart resolved, I dropped to my knees with a thud, tearfully told him my story, and begged him to take me in as a menial maid…

He agreed. But he refused to let me be a rough servant.

“How could a girl do hard labor? It would be too late to cherish you. Why don’t you work in the inner court with lighter tasks?”

As he said this, his smile was so gentle that his white robes seemed bathed in a holy light. I was so moved I nearly cried. In that moment he was a god in my eyes. I had come to pray to the gods, and truly encountered a living one. All my life I would be grateful for that decision…

When I followed the guards he assigned to fetch my contract from the traffickers, I realized by accident what an extraordinary man he was—he was someone from Prince Luo’s manor!

Luo Cheng…

I repeated the name in my heart over and over. Who exactly was he?

In Luo Wang Manor, he moved unhindered. He could command anyone there. Even the chief steward, Master Ren, treated him with utmost respect. Prince Luo’s personal guards, Lian Zuo and Lian You, followed only his orders. Everyone knew only that he was the “Master,” yet no one knew his true origins.

After some time, I understood. It wasn’t just me—Luo Cheng was unfailingly gentle to every woman.

My heart held bitterness, but only a little. What right had a lowly servant like me to hope otherwise? He was a god above, and to merely look upon him from afar was already enough.

There were countless women in the manor, each a peerless beauty in her own way—Madam First, Madam Third… there must have been a dozen or even twenty in all. By reason, Prince Luo could be called licentious. Yet he never visited any wife’s quarters. It was Luo Cheng who often lingered in their fragrant chambers. Who was he really?

No matter the household, when there are many women, there is always strife. The mistresses schemed and contended endlessly. Since I wasn’t assigned to serve any particular mistress, I belonged to no faction. Although I didn’t receive the rewards of those close to their mistresses, at least I was spared many troubles.

Two years passed like this. Luo Cheng still brought women back now and then, each one a famous young lady or a celebrated beauty. To think he had casually taken me in back then—it astonished me even more now. Every new woman soon joined the endless war of the harem. They fought for favor, using every trick. Yet despite being the target of all this, Luo Cheng’s heart belonged to none of them. He was the gentlest man to women—and that very gentleness made him the cruelest… Until the day that girl arrived.

It was already night when Steward Ren suddenly summoned me to attend a newly arrived young lady. She had been sent by the Fourth Prince. Her name was Minmin.

Minmin?

In Qiuye City, everyone knew that name. In all of Houming, few hadn’t heard of her! There were endless tales about this extraordinary woman. We maidservants often gossiped about her over meals. But only high officials had truly seen her. And now I had the chance! My heart leapt with joy—then turned anxious. A woman of such fame, supported by the Fourth Prince, would surely be proud and domineering. Serving under her might not be good fortune…

Even as these thoughts whirled, I dared not dawdle and followed Steward Ren toward the outer court. And then I froze.

No matter how rushed, wasn’t it too much to place her in the outer court? Which madam had not been lodged in the inner chambers upon arrival? The closer one lived to the center, the more it meant the Master’s favor. Yet Minmin was cast into the outer court? Could it be the Master disdained her brothel background?

Before I could think further, Steward Ren had finished a long string of instructions. I hadn’t taken in a word until the very end, when he rubbed his hands uneasily and muttered something I barely caught. Normally he was the commanding presence of all us servants, so imposing! I had never seen him so awkward. Curious, I asked:

“Master Ren, what did you just say?”

“I said… from today on, I’ll be changing my name. To Ren Woxing…”

His voice grew smaller and smaller until I strained my ears to make it out.

Changing names wasn’t unusual; the masters often did so on a whim, and servants had no choice. But Steward Ren was a senior figure in Prince Luo’s manor, highly respected by the masters. How could his name be changed just like that? And such a strange name—Ren Woxing?

I was still thinking when I blurted it out loud. Terrified, I clapped my hands over my mouth, afraid I’d offended him. But he was waiting for the question. With a face full of grievance, he said:

“Exactly! Who knows why Miss Minmin came up with such a name? Sounds like some bandit from the greenwood! (Master Jin Yong, forgive me…) The Master went along with her madness and actually ordered me to change my name! He even said tomorrow he’ll announce it to the whole manor… honestly, I…”

Steward Ren grumbled as he left.

I stood there dumbfounded. A name chosen by Miss Minmin—and the Master approved?

Even the most favored Ninth Madam had never received such treatment. But if she was favored, why was she thrown into the outer court? What was the Master thinking? What kind of woman was this Miss Minmin?

No need to wonder more—I would know upon meeting her. I quickly knocked on the door. After knocking for a long time with no reply, puzzled, I pushed the door open. And what I saw inside gave me the shock of my life!