Full House Spring

Chapter 25 The Butterfly Comes Alive

Yin Zhu's back was covered in sweat, his hands unconsciously rubbed the corners of his clothes, and his voice trembled:

"Don't come and throw dirty water on me. You just want to please Aunt Xie because you see that Xia Li has her to lean on."

Qiancao was slightly angry, but she did not argue with her. She just bowed and said to the old lady, "My lady, I have never lied. Chanyi and Yinchen can both testify to this."

Chan Yi lowered her head slightly and said indifferently: "What Qian Cao said is true. During that time, there were only three of us. Yin Zhu never showed up, and Xia Li never showed up either."

Her words were full of meaning, but Yinchen could not hear it, so he just nodded in agreement. Yinzhu's eyes rolled, and he managed to calm down, and said in a bluffing tone:

"Fang Xiali, you are only allowed to do the embroidery in the room, but I am not allowed to lie on the bed and rest when I feel unwell?"

Xia Li raised her eyebrows slightly, showing a trace of disdain on her face, and she said calmly:

"Then how do you explain the light yellow figure I saw? You are the only one in Le Shou Tang wearing such fresh clothes today."

Yin Zhu's eyes wandered, and he licked his lips and said, "You said you saw it, so you saw it? You were the last person to see the clothes, who knows if you are jealous of Bai Shao and want to drag her into it, you are more suspicious than me."

Xia Li's eyes flashed, and the corners of his mouth curled slightly, as if smiling:
"Sister Bai Shao locked the room before she left. I have not been in the mansion for long, and I only found out which room she lived in today. Sister Bai Shao might as well check to see if the key is still there."

Bai Shao hurriedly took out the key from her waist and said calmly, "The key is not lost, it's still here."

Xia Li nodded slightly, with a sneer on his lips.

"In that case, why don't you just send someone to search me? I only have two keys on me, which are for me and grandma's room. They definitely can't open the lock of Sister Bai Shao's room."

As soon as Xia Li said this, Yin Zhu's pupils suddenly shrank and even his breathing became rapid.

Bai Shao still didn't understand anything. She clenched her teeth, puffed up her cheeks, and her eyes seemed to be spitting fire. She rolled up her sleeves and said, "You little bitch, you must have secretly copied the mold of my key. I will search you myself."

Yin Zhu's face was filled with fear and she ran out, but a clever maid deliberately stepped on her and tripped her.

Bai Shao immediately rushed forward, pinned her down, slapped her twice, and searched her body without any hesitation.

Yin Zhu tightly covered the purse on her waist, and Bai Shao strangled her to death. Yin Zhu was in great pain, and Bai Shao took the opportunity to pull down her purse and found two keys from it, one of which was exactly the same as the one in her hand.

Bai Shao was shocked and angry, and cried, "Old Madam, you have to take care of this maid. This little bitch is so vicious and cruel, we must not tolerate her."

Yin Zhu turned over and knelt down, kowtowed repeatedly, begging: "Old Madam, I know I was wrong, and I will never dare to do it again next time. Please spare my life."

Xia Li looked at this scene and a barely perceptible smile appeared on his cheek, like sunlight penetrating through the clouds.

The old lady had a serious expression, and her eyes were filled with a bit of coldness. She said without hesitation: "Come here, call the trafficker to sell Yin Zhu, and inform her parents at the same time..."

When Yin Zhu heard this, he almost couldn't breathe, and said in fear and horror:
"Madam, I know I was wrong. Please don't sell me out. It's better to drive me out than to sell me. Even if I have no merits, I have worked hard..."

The old lady's temples were throbbing from the noise. Seeing her frown, Aunt Xie immediately stepped forward to massage her. After she calmed down a little, she spoke softly:
"Master, don't give a shit about the monk, but give a shit about the Buddha. Although Yin Zhu is not well behaved, her parents are loyal to her. We should not disappoint them. Why not send her away to the farm? What do you think?"

The old lady looked over with sharp eyes, and Yin Zhu's nervous breathing almost stopped. After a long while, she finally spoke: "Since Aunt Xie has pleaded for you, I will spare you this time. Drag you out and beat you with ten boards, and then send you to Cangzhou Manor."

Yin Zhu's heart finally settled down. She kowtowed and cried bitterly to express her gratitude. Although Cangzhou Zhuangzi was far away, it was much better than selling things. With her mother's arrangement, these ten strokes of the board were just a show.

Xia Li glanced at his grandma. Since she had asked for mercy, there must be some inside story that he didn't know about, so there was no need to get to the bottom of it.

Yin Zhu was dragged away, and Bai Shao also sat on the ground like a deflated ball. The old lady scolded, "Although Yin Zhu deliberately did this, you are also to blame. I will fine you two months' salary. You must do your best to repair the dress. If you can't repair it, I will wear another one for the Mid-Autumn Palace Banquet."

Bai Shao's expression went blank for a moment, and then she forced a smile and kowtowed to express her gratitude. The old lady looked tired, so Nanny Xie and Shi Mi immediately helped her back to the house to rest.

As soon as the old lady left, Chan Yi turned around and looked at Xia Li, with a hint of disdain on her face and a look of arrogance in her eyes, saying, "You are young, but you are quite cunning. Yin Zhu squeezed you out, so you are satisfied, right?"

Xia Li's eyes widened slightly, a hint of surprise flashed in her pupils, and she said calmly: "I witnessed everything that happened just now. Can't you see what is right and what is wrong?"

Chan Yi's cheek muscles were tense, and she suppressed her emotions and said, "I only know that before you came, everyone was at peace. Although Yin Zhu was competitive, he never did anything beyond the rules."

Xia Li had no comment on his face. Qiancao took a step forward and said in a gentle voice, "You are biased. Yin Zhu has never had any conflicts with you, but that doesn't mean he is kind to us. You just haven't met him."

Chan Yi's face was stunned for a moment, then returned to normal, with a meaningful smile on the corner of her mouth.

"Just side with her. Sooner or later, she will trample you all under her feet. You will regret it one day."

After saying that, she waved her sleeves and left. Yinchen was in a dilemma and hesitated for a moment, but finally followed her.

Qiancao did not take Chanyi's words to heart. No matter how powerful Xia Li was, she couldn't be the only one to serve the old lady. That would be very miserable.

Bai Shao didn't take Chan Yi seriously at all. She stood up with a sad look on her face, obviously still worried about the clothes.

Xia Li walked up to her side, took Bai Shao's arm, and whispered softly, "Do you have any azurite embroidery thread?"

Bai Shao frowned and said in a hoarse voice, "Of course there is, but my butterfly wings are embroidered with indigo embroidery thread. Although the color is similar to stone indigo, it doesn't match well with them."

Xia Li had a faint smile on her lips, and she said softly: "The old lady already has a backup plan. It doesn't matter if it can't be repaired well. If you trust me, why not let me have a try? If you are not satisfied by then, you can buy the indigo embroidery thread and then take it apart and embroider it again." Bai Shao was exhausted by this matter and was really not in a good state to repair it. If she could repair it in time to satisfy the old lady before the Mid-Autumn Palace Banquet, then her hard work for so many days would not be in vain.

She lowered her brows and thought for a moment, then took a long breath and said, "If it weren't for your cleverness this time, I would have suffered more. Since you want to try, then go ahead and try. Anyway, the result won't be worse than it is now."

Xia Li nodded slightly and didn't say anything to comfort her. Bai Shao didn't need that at the moment. The most important thing was to let her see the real repair effect.

Xia Li went to Bai Shao to pick out some stone blue embroidery thread, and then returned to the house with the damaged clothes. Yin Zhu probably knew that the indigo embroidery thread was rare, so he did not damage all the lace, but only scratched the butterfly wings.

Xia Li first slowly removed the broken embroidery thread, and then split the stone blue and white embroidery threads into 128 strands each. Fortunately, she had taken good care of her fingers recently, otherwise she would not have been able to split them to such a level of fineness. She used the natural changes in light and dark, and the integration of yin and yang, to repair the butterfly wings one by one.

When Nanny Xie came out of the main room and heard that Xia Li had taken over the mess, she couldn't wait to come and take a look. It was not yet time to light the lamps, but the candlelight was already flickering in Xia Li's room. Nanny Xie gently pushed open the door. Xia Li was completely immersed in embroidery and was not disturbed at all.

Nanny Xie subconsciously slowed down her footsteps. When her eyes fell on the clothes, she was amazed by the exquisiteness of the embroidery. Every thread seemed to have been carefully polished, and the butterflies seemed to be dancing, making people intoxicated and unable to extricate themselves.

Nanny Xie had also seen the dress in its intact state. In comparison, the embroidery by Bai Shao was full of craftsmanship but had form without spirit. It was Xia Li's hands that truly gave it a soul.

Xia Li noticed the shadow above her head. She looked up and saw Grandma. She couldn't help laughing and said affectionately, "Grandma, look at me. Can the old lady wear it at the Mid-Autumn Festival Palace Banquet?"

Aunt Xie couldn't help but reach out and touch the butterfly, sighing softly, "This butterfly is alive, the old lady will love it very much, your skillful hands are really amazing."

Xia Li just discovered that her embroidery was more spiritual than before. That mysterious feeling was very addictive. She tilted her head slightly, smiled sweetly and said, "I just recovered from my hand. When I have some free time, I will embroider such an exquisite dress for grandma."

Nanny Xie was reluctant to refuse. She smiled and her heart was filled with ripples.

Although it was just repairing a butterfly, Xia Li worked on it for a whole day and night, and finally finished it on the eve of the palace banquet. When the dress was shown to the old lady again, she loved it so much that she immediately decided to wear it when she entered the palace.

Bai Shao was also full of disbelief. She couldn't help but reach out and touch the butterfly. She said foolishly, "Isn't this really alive? Why do I feel like it's going to fly away?"

Shi Mi was also fascinated by the sight, and said with a look of longing: "If I could have a dress like this, I would be willing to die immediately."

Xia Li didn't know whether to laugh or cry when she heard this. She joked, "Sister, what you said is too scary. When you get married, I will definitely embroider such a beautiful wedding dress for you."

Shi Mi blushed and said angrily, "You deserve to be beaten, you dare to make fun of me. I want to follow the example of Nanny and never marry. It would be great if I could stay with the old lady."

The old lady was in a good mood at the moment and did not take her words seriously. She just stretched out her hand to point at her and said to Xia Li: "Your embroidery skills are too superb. You should not do rough work in the future. If you hurt your hands, it will be too unprofitable."

Xia Li smiled and said, "Thank you for your kindness, Master. However, I have a recipe for maintaining my hands, so it won't be a problem for me to use them on weekdays."

The more the old lady looked at her, the more satisfied she was. If she were not young and had just been promoted, she would have promoted her to the position of a first-class maid. Bai Shao couldn't help feeling uncomfortable when she saw this, but fortunately Xia Li was a likable person and respected her very much, so she didn't care.

She said calmly, "This time I can finally step back. With Xia Li here, the old lady will definitely be the most dazzling old lady when she goes out in the future."

Xia Li was not greedy for credit. She smiled and said angrily, "Sister, don't try to be lazy. Only when we work together can we achieve the most perfect effect. I am just a little old and my energy is limited. I can't make so many clothes. I can do more embroidery."

Bai Shao understood immediately, and her smile became even brighter. The old lady was also satisfied and said happily: "You are both good girls. It's great that you two work together."

Xia Li and Bai Shao looked at each other and smiled, and agreed in unison. The old lady was in a good mood and was particularly generous. She gave Xia Li a lot of rewards and increased her monthly salary by 200 coins. Although her salary was not as good as that of a first-class maid, it was better than that of a second-class maid.

Ever since Yin Zhu was chased to the farm, many maids were jealous of the vacant position. Someone spread the news of Xia Li repairing the butterfly, and everyone knew that she was popular in front of the old lady, so some people came forward to get close to her.

Xia Li was moved to the back room by the old lady to do work with Bai Shao. At noon, after lunch, she was about to go back to the room to rest when she met Xiangru on the way. She was holding a tightly covered bamboo basket in her hand.

Xiangru saw Xia Li's unnatural smile and said in a polite tone, "Xia Li, these are the crabs sent from my uncle's farm. Maidong and I can't eat them all, so we wanted to share some with you and Madam Xie."

Xia Li smiled perfunctorily and said politely, "Crabs are good stuff at this time. You can keep them and eat them slowly. Grandma and I won't take away your good stuff."

Xiangru took a deep breath, forced a smile, and said awkwardly: "Just accept it. There is no need to be so polite between us."

Xiangru stretched out his arms, his eyes full of determination. Xiali raised his eyebrows slightly, a faint smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, and he said bluntly: "Why don't you tell me why you are here? There is no need to beat around the bush with me."

Xiangru tightened her grip on the bamboo basket, her knuckles turning slightly white. She hesitated for a moment, then said with a half-chuckle, "Yinzhu is gone, and I've taken a fancy to the vacant position. I wonder if you can help me."

Xia Li was stunned for a moment, then said readily: "I'll do my best."

Xiangru thought she had misheard and her eyes widened in disbelief. Xia Li explained in a good-tempered manner, "Someone has to fill the vacancy of the second-class maid. Although there is a gap between you and me, there is not much conflict. You are always better than others."

Xiangru's eyes lit up strangely, and Xia Li continued in a calm tone:

"But I don't have the final say on this matter. I can only help you. The relationships in the mansion are complicated. It's not impossible for someone with great connections to ask the old lady to come and parachute in."

Xiangru met her gaze and said sincerely, "I know this. It's enough if you are willing to help. This crab is still fresh. Take it back and eat it earlier."

Xia Li nodded slightly, reached out to take it, and then left with light steps.

Looking at her receding back, the smile on Xiangru's lips grew wider, and even the corners of his eyes and eyebrows revealed a smile that he could not suppress.

(End of this chapter)