Fang Yu, nursing his anger, returned home by weishi (1-3 PM). Everyone at home had already eaten lunch.
He said he went to the best restaurant in Yuncheng, but he hadn't even eaten his fill. No matter how good the food, eating with disagreeable people made it tasteless and a waste.
At this hour, it was neither here nor there, and not appropriate to make a big fuss about preparing another meal, so he called Xuezhu and told him to go to the kitchen and casually bring some food to fill his stomach.
Xuezhu said with a smile: "Was the master not satisfied at Qionghua Tower? What a coincidence. Earlier, Zhengfu came over, saying he had made roasted lamb and wanted to invite the master to try it. Unfortunately, the master had gone out. This servant will go fetch it now."
Fang Yu's brow moved upon hearing this: "He made mutton?"
"Yes. When Zhengfu brought it, you could smell the aroma of the roasted mutton even through the food box. It was even more fragrant than that from the restaurants."
"Today is the Winter Solstice, a good day to eat mutton." A smile appeared on Fang Yu's face, the unhappiness in his heart immediately vanishing without a trace. When it came to food, he was never careless: "Come, I will go with you to get it."
Servants must serve the master his meal before they can eat. They had just finished not long ago. Two maids were cleaning the kitchen in the small kitchen.
Usually, the small kitchen wasn't used much, and there wasn't much work. Often, it was just Siyu using it to brew Qiao Hezhi's medicine. But today Qiao Hezhi had used the kitchen, so the work was naturally a bit more than usual. The two maids were wiping the stove, muttering.
"What's the point of going to the trouble of cooking himself for no reason? No matter how good his cooking skills are, in the end, it still didn't reach the master's table. All that trouble for nothing. And he even added so much extra work for us for no reason."
"His desire to curry favor with the master is known throughout the entire residence. What's so strange about that? If you ask me, it's normal for the master to dislike him. Always sickly, and on top of that, he's unhappy about the master wanting to take a concubine. He really thinks he's some noble young master."
"You didn't see how awful he looked when he came out of the master's room today. I heard he only had some congee at noon. Probably still crying in his courtyard right now."
The two maids laughed as they spoke. Looking up, they saw Fang Yu, who had been standing at the door for who knows how long, and were so frightened they nearly fell into the stove.
"Ma... Master."
Xuezhu, seeing Fang Yu's livid face, scolded: "You have such nerve, daring to privately discuss the master's affairs. It seems you do not wish to stay in this residence anymore."
The two maids turned pale with fright, hurriedly knelt down and begged for mercy: "Master, please forgive us. This servant certainly did not mean it. We spoke out of turn and said things we shouldn't have. Please, Master, in light of our diligent service in the past, spare us this once."
"Spoke out of turn? What a fine 'spoke out of turn'."
Fang Yu glanced at the kneeling maids. It probably wasn't the first time they had done this, otherwise they wouldn't be so bold as to complain in the kitchen.
"The atmosphere in the residence has been poor lately. I was wondering why. Now I've caught you red-handed. How dare you discuss Zhengfu's affairs? If you work in this family, do your work diligently. If you are unwilling to do your duties, come and report to me. The Fang family isn't so short of servants that we must keep you."
Fang Yu's voice was cold, frightening the two maids into not daring to look up. He originally wanted to directly expel these gossipy, trouble-making servants. After all, there were many servants in the household. But thinking that the two maids were still young, and were people bought by Madam Chen, if Madam Chen found out later she would surely nag him, so he decided on a light punishment as a warning: "Each of you is fined three months' wages. If you ever offend again, Xuezhu, you need not report to me. Directly take their contracts and sell them off. This Fang residence cannot keep such servants."
Xuezhu glared at the two: "Get out of here!"
The two maids scurried away and almost bumped into Siyu, who was outside the small kitchen.
Seeing she couldn't hide, Siyu cleverly stepped forward and greeted Fang Yu: "Master, greetings."
Fang Yu glanced at Siyu holding the medicine packet, his stern expression softening: "Hmm, are you brewing medicine for your young master? Is he better today?"
"Young master coughed less today and didn't have a fever." Siyu reported all the good news truthfully, then paused. Thinking of how her young master had worked hard today without the master seeing it, and was feeling dejected, if she could invite the master over, surely the young master would be happy. She hesitantly said: "It's just..."
"What is it?"
Siyu said cautiously: "The young master's knees are hurting terribly. Just now he said they still hurt. This servant's hands are clumsy, and yesterday I did not master the master's method of applying the medicine. If the master..."
"No matter. I'll go apply the medicine for him later."
Fang Yu had originally thought the food Qiao Hezhi sent was just something he had the kitchen make. Only now did he realize he had personally cooked it himself. He didn't know Qiao Hezhi knew how to cook. To personally cook while he himself was ill showed genuine effort. And in the end, he was even laughed at by the servants. Making a trip to apply medicine for him could be considered repaying the kindness of his care.
Siyu was overjoyed: "Thank you, Master!"
Xuezhu, however, hadn't forgotten the purpose of their trip. After his master finished speaking, he said: "Miss Siyu, didn't Zhengfu make roasted lamb at noon? Is it still warm now? The master would like to try it."
"It should still be warm. But today the weather is cold, so certainly it is not as hot as when it came out of the pot. This servant will warm it up for the master right now. It will only take a moment." Siyu hadn't expected Xuezhu to report the matter to Fang Yu. Feeling grateful, she was also fortunate that she hadn't listened to the young master and given the dish to the servants. She quickly added: "Master, why not go wait in the young master's courtyard? Presumably, by the time the medicine is applied, the food will be ready too."
"That is fine too."
Xuezhu, being quite perceptive, said: "Then this servant will also stay and give Miss Siyu a hand."
Fang Yu, with his hands behind his back, walked towards Xiaotong Courtyard: "As you wish."
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