Chapter 4: The Corner Gate of the Marquisate is Hard to Climb

Li Yaoguang did not walk far. He left the yard in front of the corner gate and found a bluestone seat near the flower bed to sit down.

She had just recovered from a serious illness and had been in a coma for a long time. She was really weak after being hungry for so long. She had almost used up all her strength to call for the door just now. It was obviously not easy for her to see her aunt now. Li Yaoguang planned to eat something to fill her stomach first and then think about other things.

Thinking of this, Li Yaoguang opened the lunch box with shaking hands. Seeing what was in the lunch box, Li Yaoguang fell silent.

There were two plates, a bowl, and a pair of chopsticks, all made of coarse porcelain. One plate was of yellow stir-fried, oh no, boiled vegetables; one was of stewed tofu with a little oil on it, it was white, I'm afraid it didn't even have soy sauce; the remaining bowl was of plain corn rice. Li Yaoguang saw this and recalled the meals he had remembered in his dreams. He sighed, knowing that this was probably the food for the servants in the mansion.

Clearly, my aunt had specifically instructed me, but Fangcao ended up sending me this kind of food. Li Yaoguang became more and more worried about her aunt's situation.

There was no time to waste. For the sake of her health, no matter how bad the food tasted, Li Yaoguang, who had lived a hard life, did not dislike it at all. She quickly finished the food in the lunch box and put it away. She gathered her strength and walked back to the corner door with the lunch box. The black lacquered corner door that had been opened just now was now closed again.

Li Yaoguang sighed imperceptibly and knocked on the door again.

"Mother Zhou, Mother Zhou, please open the door, Mother Zhou..."

Li Yaoguang took pictures for a long time before she remembered the familiar harsh voice inside, "Hey, my cousin, are you really so bored that you have nothing to do and have to embarrass an old woman like me?"

"Mother Zhou, I'm not trying to embarrass you. Fangcao sent me some food, and I've already finished it. But the bowls and plates are from the mansion, and I can't take them all home, so I sent them back specially."

Being under someone's roof, Li Yaoguang held back his anger and spoke gently, but all he heard was the impatient sarcasm of Mrs. Zhou from inside.

"What are you talking about? You don't even consider the time. At this hour, all the doors of the mansion have been locked. If you want to send it off, please go early tomorrow."

With just these words, no matter how patiently Li Yaoguang knocked on the door, there was no movement from inside the iron-like black lacquered door.

Li Yaoguang smiled bitterly, finally realizing that time travel was not so easy. Various feelings welled up in her heart, but she had no choice but to resign herself to her fate, carrying the lunch box, and walking in the dark sky, returning to the room she had left earlier.

As an orphan who has been living with her relatives, Li Yaoguang has lived here for more than half a year and is very familiar with the surrounding environment.

Returning in the dark to the courtyards of the marquis's mansion where people gathered to give birth, Li Yaoguang dragged his heavy body and slowly fetched half a bucket of water from the well under the jujube tree on one side of the courtyard. He used the cool well water to clean the dirty bowls and plates in the food box, and then washed his hands and face with the water at the bottom of the bucket. He put the bowls and plates back into the food box, and Li Yaoguang carried them back to his own hut.

She closed the door tiredly, bolted it, and put the food box on the red lacquered table at the head of the kang in the room. Trying to support her weak hands and feet, Li Yaoguang climbed onto the bed and pulled the thin quilt over herself. Before falling asleep, she repeatedly reminded herself that she had to get up early the next morning to avoid being seen and talked about by others, and try to shout to open the corner door before everyone else got up.

No matter what, I must see my aunt and her family tomorrow to make sure they are okay.

He was worried and did not sleep well at night. He got up early the next morning before dawn, worried.

After supporting himself to feel better, he went to the well outside to fetch some water and quickly washed up. Then, Li Yaoguang carried the lunch box and went to the corner gate.

In the dim morning light, it was still the same door, and presumably it was still the same person. Li Yaoguang took a deep breath to cheer himself up, and took firm steps forward to knock on the door again.

She didn't know how long it was, her hands were numb from knocking, and finally, a familiar, angry, high-pitched voice came from inside the door.

"Who is it? Knocking on the door so early in the morning! Knock, knock, knock on your dead head!"

Li Yaoguang raised her eyebrows, thinking that she had finally spoken out, not afraid that the people inside would be impatient, and she didn't care about the indirect criticism. She said to herself, "Mother Zhou, you said yesterday that it was late and the keys were locked in the mansion, so it was inconvenient for me to come early in the morning. Now that I'm here, why haven't you opened the door yet?"

When Mrs. Zhou, who was wearing clothes inside, with messy hair and yawning frequently, heard this, her eyebrows stood up and she couldn't help cursing, but she also suppressed her voice and complained.

"Hey, you little bitch, calling you cousin, do you really think you are a legitimate relative? Pah! You are just a poor family, and Master Six can't even protect himself. How can I, an old woman, be afraid of you?"

That's what she said, but when it came time to respond, Mrs. Zhou didn't dare to do so.

Even if the Third Young Master was the son of the Marquis of the First House, even if Aunt Huang was favored, and even if her daughter was a favorite of the Third Young Master, the Marquis's Mansion still had to maintain its reputation. Mrs. Zhou was afraid that things would get awkward, so she patiently raised her voice and replied.

"My dear cousin, the night incense cooker hasn't come yet this morning, and the kitchen door isn't even open. What kind of dishes are you bringing back? Stop making a fuss."

Li Yaoguang refused to listen to her nonsense. Worried that her aunt wanted to see someone, she continued to knock on the door. She was quite stubborn and pretended to be threatening unintentionally while knocking.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang... "Mother Zhou, please be kind and open the door for me. If you don't open the door for me today, I will keep knocking." Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, "I will keep knocking, keep knocking! I guess the noise is really loud. It will be hard for Mother Zhou to explain to the higher-ups, right?"

"You!" This bitch actually threatened her! But she, a servant, was really threatened.

After all, although guarding the door may seem like a painful job, there are many people in the mansion who want this job. If she hadn't given birth to a child for the old people in the mansion, or if the eldest daughter hadn't gained face in front of the Third Master, she wouldn't have gotten such a good job.

No matter how angry and resentful she was, in the end, Mrs. Zhou still walked forward with a dark face, cursing, tying her belt, and opened the door, mocking everyone she saw.

"I never thought that my cousin, who looks inconspicuous, is actually quite powerful!"

"Haha, that's not right, Madam Zhou. I was just afraid that some dishes would be lost in the house and the mothers and sisters in the kitchen would be punished. That's why I wanted to come back. What have I done wrong?"

"Oh! Cousin, you have such a nice mouth.", Mrs. Zhou said angrily with drooping eyelids. She raised her hand and opened the food box in Li Yaoguang's hand without any hesitation. Seeing the dishes inside that Li Yaoguang used as an excuse, Mrs. Zhou was so angry that she smiled coldly.

"Oh my, I thought it was some kind of precious bowls and plates, but I didn't know that in this mansion, even the maids who are good at serving others don't use them. They are only used by servants like us. There is no shortage of broken bowls and plates in the mansion, but in the eyes of my cousin, they are such precious items? Tsk tsk, it's rare that my cousin is born in an official family, hehe..."

(End of this chapter)