It was the Hour of the Tiger, still before dawn.

Before the roosters even crowed, the maids from Qunfang Garden were already chattering and laughing as they headed out.

The Chen Residence was an official household. Master Chen Liqin had to depart for the yamen during the Hour of the Rabbit, before dawn, so the maids had to wake up even earlier to boil water, sweep, and prepare meals.

Hearing the maids stir, Chen Ji’s eyelids fluttered open slightly, then he rolled over and went back to sleep.

As he turned over, Wu Yun, who had been lying on his chest, fell off. It silently climbed back onto Chen Ji, tucked its paws, and closed its eyes.

The silver charcoal in the brazier had burned white, leaving only a gentle warmth that radiated slowly and quietly.

Knock, knock, knock.

A knock sounded at the door.

Chen Ji sat up, a little helpless. “Who is it?” he asked.

Then he mumbled softly, “Why is this Chen Residence so troublesome? Someone kneels at the door half the night, and someone else comes knocking early in the morning. Are they all ganging up to keep me awake?”

From outside the door, a clear voice called, “Young Master, please open the door. It’s me, Xiaoman.”

Chen Ji was momentarily stunned. *Who is Xiaoman?*

He dressed and got up to open the door. With a creak, it opened, revealing a young girl standing outside. She had a round face with delicate features, and when she smiled, two small canine teeth were visible. She looked to be around sixteen or seventeen.

Xiaoman held a brass basin, with a white cloth draped over its rim. Hot water in the basin steamed with white mist.

Standing inside the doorway, Chen Ji said with a puzzled look, “I told you yesterday that Mingquan Courtyard doesn’t need servants or maids.”

Xiaoman’s eyes widened. “Young Master,” she pleaded, “I finally managed to persuade Master to let me come back and serve you. I’ve served you for three years! Are you just going to dismiss me now?”

Chen Ji calmly appraised Xiaoman.

This girl was actually ‘his’ former maid… in that case, he certainly couldn’t keep her.

At Taiping Medical Clinic, his master and Li Qingniao had smuggled him down from the Forty-Nine Heavens, so it didn’t matter if his behavior was different from before.

However, this was the Chen Residence. If anyone discovered any hint of abnormality, it could lead to trouble.

Xiaoman, carrying the basin, tried to step inside, but Chen Ji moved a step to the left, blocking the doorway. “You don’t need to serve me anymore,” he said. “Go back.”

Xiaoman stopped and pleaded, “Young Master, please have mercy and let me continue to serve you. If I get promoted to a first-class maid, my monthly allowance will increase by three hundred coppers!”

Chen Ji thought for a moment. “I’ll give you three taels of silver. Now go back.”

Hearing this, Xiaoman stubbornly lowered her head and pushed her way in with the basin. Just as the basin was about to bump into Chen Ji, he deftly stepped aside.

The corner of Xiaoman’s mouth curled slightly, and a cunning look flashed in her eyes.

She carried the basin into the room. “Young Master, quickly wash your face,” she said. “You’ll also have to go pay your respects to Master and Madam later.”

Chen Ji frowned. The Chen Residence had far too many rules.

Xiaoman placed the brass basin on the wooden stand, then turned to tidy the bed. The young girl worked with remarkable efficiency, folding the quilt neatly in a few swift motions and placing it in a nearby wooden cabinet.

Just then, she saw Wu Yun lying on the windowsill and exclaimed in surprise, “Oh, a cat!”

Xiaoman leaned closer to pick up Wu Yun, but the cat disdainfully curled its paws and swatted her hand.

“Ow!” Xiaoman winced and pulled back her hand, but without annoyance. She turned to Chen Ji. “Young Master, didn’t you used to dislike cats? How did you change your mind? I once wanted to adopt one for the courtyard, but you wouldn’t allow it.”

Chen Ji felt a headache coming on. He could only offer a vague explanation: “I like them now. People change over two years.”

He pondered what reason he could use to send this maid away. She was too familiar with him; if she remained by his side, she would eventually notice something amiss.

Before he could come up with a reason, Xiaoman had already turned her head to look at the ground. “Oh, silver charcoal,” she exclaimed. “Is the residence finally willing to provide you with silver charcoal?”

Chen Ji hummed in affirmation. “My elder brother Wenzong sent it.”

Xiaoman suddenly sighed emotionally. “Back when we were in the capital, the steward deliberately caused trouble,” she recounted. “He sent cheap bamboo charcoal to our room, and we were both choked by the smoke until we couldn’t open our eyes. I went and had a big argument with him, and after that, you were sent to the medical clinic, and I was demoted to a third-class maid. For the past two years, he’s really given me a hard time…”

At this point, the slightly naive girl adopted a surprisingly mature tone and cautioned, “Young Master, you’ve only just managed to return to the residence; you can’t let others bully you like before.”

A thought struck Chen Ji. Xiaoman was an “old hand” in the Chen Residence; perhaps keeping her could help him learn about the Chen family’s situation in the capital.

He found a chair and sat down, asking casually, “Do you want to return to the capital with me?”

Xiaoman smiled. “Have you forgotten? I said I didn’t want to return to the capital. I want to stay in Luocheng to avoid having to face the Second Branch’s displeasure every day at the Chen family’s main residence. But since you’re going back, I suppose I have to follow and serve you.”

Chen Ji calculated the time. Xiaoman had been by ‘his’ side for three years, and probably two of those years were spent at the Chen family’s main residence in the capital.

He thought for a moment, then asked, “Do you still remember Chen Yu?”

Xiaoman blinked. “Chen Yu? Of course, I remember him. Back when we were at the Chen family’s main residence, he was the only one who interacted with you.”

Chen Ji was startled. *Oh no!*

Earlier, when Bai Long asked if he was familiar with Chen Yu, he had said “not familiar.”

The Directorate of Ceremonial had informants throughout the court and country; they must know the truth. Bai Long had given him a deep look at the time but hadn’t exposed him… How could he smooth this over now?

But the question was, if Chen Yu was familiar with ‘him,’ why had he never written a single letter? Could they have been intercepted by Madam Liang?

At this moment, Xiaoman took a broom from the corner of the room and quietly began sweeping the floor.

Chen Ji watched her back and said, “I’ve been in Luocheng for two years; I’ve almost forgotten what Chen Yu looks like.”

Xiaoman laughed. “Young Master, how could you forget what Chen Yu looks like? He’s so handsome, rarely seen even in the capital… Uh, well, he’s still a bit less handsome than you, Young Master.”

Chen Ji said helplessly, “You don’t need to flatter me. I know what I look like.”

Xiaoman sighed in relief. “It’s good that you know.”

Chen Ji: “…”

Xiaoman quickly added a correction: “You’re not bad either, just slightly less handsome than Chen Yu.”

Chen Ji pondered that ‘his’ previous master-servant relationship with Xiaoman must have been very good, which was why Xiaoman could speak so unreservedly.

However, Bai Long had instructed him to infiltrate the Chen family, and one of his main objectives was to get close to Chen Yu. But Chen Ji had no memory of Chen Yu and didn’t know where to begin.

Chen Ji pondered for a moment. “You can stay by my side from now on,” he said, “but you don’t need to serve me. Just take care of yourself; I have hands and feet and can look after myself.”

Xiaoman replied while sweeping the floor, “That won’t do. Maids must do maid’s work. Earning a monthly allowance by working is our duty.”

Chen Ji sat on the chair, his fingers gently tapping the tea table beside him. After a moment of consideration, he asked, “By the way, during the two years I was away, what happened to the things I left at the residence?”

Xiaoman’s expression tightened. “I didn’t take them!”

Chen Ji didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “What kind of reaction is that?” he thought.

He asked, “I was asking where those things were put, or were they thrown away?”

Xiaoman replied, “Some were thrown away by the steward, and some were taken by Wet Nurse Li.”

Chen Ji was completely confused. *Who is Wet Nurse Li? Are my relationships in the Chen Residence really this complicated?*

He asked cautiously, “Wet Nurse Li… is she alright?”

Xiaoman said dejectedly, “Not very well. She suddenly started suffering from a dissociative disorder last year, always saying that Concubine Mother died under mysterious circumstances back then, definitely harmed by villains.”

Chen Ji’s fingers, tapping the tea table, stopped.

It took him a while to process this, realizing that the ‘Concubine Mother’ Xiaoman spoke of was his biological mother in this world.

Xiaoman said in a low voice, “Wet Nurse Li said that when she went home to visit relatives, she visited Concubine Mother’s grave to burn incense. That part of the graveyard had been washed away by rocks, exposing the coffin, but there was no one inside. She came back to report it, and Master comforted her, saying he would send people to investigate. However, the servants he sent returned saying that Concubine Mother’s grave was perfectly intact and that Wet Nurse Li had simply gone to the wrong place. After that, no one believed anything Wet Nurse Li said, and she slowly succumbed to her condition.”

Chen Ji’s pupils contracted slightly. “Where is Wet Nurse Li?” he asked.

Xiaoman replied, “Madam found her insane and originally intended to sell her off, but Master remembered she was your wet nurse. Only then did he send people to move her to a rural estate outside the city.”

Chen Ji was both shocked and uncertain. Could Wet Nurse Li have already been silenced by the Chen family?

Furthermore, was ‘his’ biological mother alive or dead?

If she was already dead, why would the Chen family bury an empty coffin? If she was still alive, why did she leave him without a word?

And where was she hiding now?

Chen Ji asked calmly, “To which rural estate was Wet Nurse Li sent?”

Xiaoman shook her head. “I don’t know.”

He looked at Xiaoman, realizing he indeed needed to keep this maid. The things she inadvertently mentioned were all extremely important to him.

At that moment, the roosters at the Chen Residence finally crowed.

It was the Hour of the Rabbit.

Xiaoman looked at the sky outside the window and urged, “Young Master, quickly wipe your face. It’s time to go pay your respects to Master and Madam. If you break the rules, someone will find fault with you again.”

As she spoke, she dipped the white cloth into the brass basin, wrung it dry, and handed it to Chen Ji.

Chen Ji wiped his face, then turned and walked out of the courtyard.

Xiaoman stood by the door, secretly watching Chen Ji’s retreating back on tiptoes. Once she confirmed he was far away, she quickly pulled her head back and began rummaging through the room.

She lifted the pillow, then the mattress, and didn’t even spare the space under the bed.

Still not giving up, Xiaoman brought a chair, placed it on the table, and lightly climbed to the top. Standing on tiptoes, she peered towards the ceiling beam, but found nothing.

Xiaoman returned the chair to its place, her petite figure pacing back and forth in the room. She mumbled to herself, “Strange, where did Young Master hide the silver? Could he have exchanged it for Buddhist coins and is carrying them on him? But I didn’t see any Buddhist coins on his wrist.”

Wu Yun lay on the windowsill, silently watching her. Xiaoman turned and met Wu Yun’s gaze, a strange feeling suddenly rising within her. She couldn’t shake the feeling that the cat’s eyes held a hint of mockery.

Xiaoman thought she had imagined it. She rubbed her eyes and looked again, but Wu Yun’s gaze had returned to its clear state, though it was still watching her.

She said guiltily, “What are you looking at me for? I… I’m just worried that Young Master’s silver will be swindled away again, I’m not trying to steal anything! Back then, Concubine Mother’s money and property were all tricked away by Madam. This time, I must keep a close eye on things, otherwise, what will he use to prepare my dowry? Wait, why am I saying all this to a cat!”

Xiaoman started wandering around the room again.

She came to the table and stared enviously at the cucumbers on the plate. “Young Master never remembers things,” she thought. “It should be fine if one is missing, right?”

Xiaoman secretly glanced outside the door, confirming no one was there before picking up a cucumber and biting into it with a crunch.

She looked up at the ceiling beam, slowly chewing. After a while, she mumbled, “It’s not even that tasty, yet it sells for so much. What a rip-off.”

Xiaoman finished the cucumber in two bites, then eyed the sugared plums on the table.

Xiaoman picked up a plum and pretended to offer it to Wu Yun. “Do you want some?”

Wu Yun: “…”

Xiaoman smiled. “If you don’t eat it, I will.”

With that, she popped the plum into her mouth, then picked up a few more, stuffing her cheeks until they bulged. Only then did she pick up the broom again and resume sweeping.