Black Lotus Concubine's Case-solving Notes

"Miss, do you write with your left hand?"

In the apricot garden, Feng Jia was leaning against the pavilion in the yard, copying scriptures, writing every stroke with great diligence.

Seven days had passed since the Lian Yi incident. During these seven days, the first and third houses had been very busy. Nanny Liu had been recuperating in bed after being whipped, and they had no time to cause trouble for Feng Jia. It was as if the Xie family had forgotten that they had a concubine's daughter who had just returned home.

However, Xie Xiyi, the daughter of the fourth room, came to see her several times. Seeing that she was wearing old clothes and the fire in her house was made of low-quality and moldy charcoal, she was very generous and used her own private money to buy silver charcoal for her, and also bought some jewelry and new clothes for her.

When Feng Jia had nothing to do, he started practicing calligraphy.

She was taught calligraphy in her previous life by her father, who raised her as a boy and taught her knowledge and foresight. Therefore, the characters she wrote with her right hand were grand and majestic, with bold and open strokes, even better than her father's.

However, she had judged too many cases in the Dali Temple in her previous life, and her notes contained her conclusions. If someone was interested, they would be able to see the clues immediately after comparing them. Moreover, she was an orphan from Shicheng, and she claimed to have never been to school. If one saw at first glance that her handwriting was so vigorous and powerful, it would arouse suspicion.

She originally wanted to learn a new calligraphy style with her right hand, but she would always put a little hook at the end of each word. This was a habit she had for many years and could not change at all. Feng Jia simply wrote with her left hand. It was really difficult at first and her handwriting was as slow as a worm crawling. Later, she practiced one word at a time, copying one piece of paper at a time. For seven days, she practiced calligraphy except for eating and sleeping.

On the seventh day, we finally achieved some success.

The courtyard was filled with discarded white papers. The maid Cui Chai picked up a piece of paper and read to it: "A thousand-foot wave crosses the river, and ten thousand poles lean into the bamboo..."

He picked up another one and read, "This one says: This spring has passed, when will I return home?"

"This is a Buddhist scripture. Namo Amitabha..."

The little girl's voice was drawn out, and she was shaking her head, just like a teacher reading the Four Books and Five Classics in the academy. Feng Jia couldn't help but laugh when she heard it. She kept asking, "Have you ever been to school?"

The little maid then put down the white paper, walked up to Feng Jia and said, "To answer Miss, I have never been to school."

The last word of the Buddhist scripture was also completed. Feng Jia blew a breath of satisfaction, and then turned to look at the crouching little girl: "Your name is Cui Chai. You just came to my Xingyuan two days ago, right? You are the third-class maid in the mansion. Did you take turns to work in each mansion before?"

The little maid was surprised that her master had such a good memory and could know everything about a little maid like her. She nodded quickly in agreement.

"You said you never went to school, but you know a lot of words. Did you teach yourself?"

The little maidservant was silent for a moment, and buried her head in the ground, "In reply to your question, young lady, I used to be a personal scribe in the mansion, and I learned a lot from my former master."

Former master? In other words, she was originally a first-class maid, serving in only one courtyard, and not being sent back and forth by people from different rooms?

Feng Jia was stunned for a moment as he looked at her bent back, and suddenly an idea came to his mind.

This maidservant has been crouching low as a habit since she entered the garden, with her long hair hanging down on both sides of her cheeks, making it impossible to see her facial features and expression.

Feng Jia finally realized something and said, "Look up."

The little maid seemed startled and subconsciously covered half of her face: "Please forgive me, Ninth Miss, I have a serious disease on my face and I am afraid of scaring you!"

"You, raise your head." Feng Jia's voice trembled inadvertently.

The little maid then slowly raised her head, revealing a childish face, no more than fifteen or sixteen years old, with delicate features. However, horrible scars could be vaguely seen in the places hidden by her hair, as if they had been scratched by a sharp object.

The raised purple-red scar is an old wound that has been formed for at least three years.

It turned out to be Qingshu.

Three years ago, she was a first-class maid beside Feng Jiashi.

In three years, she changed her name, her voice, and her face looked like this. No wonder she didn't recognize her at first.

What exactly happened in these three years?

"Was your previous master from the third or fourth room?" Feng Jia asked deliberately.

"No, my former mistress was the eldest young master's legitimate wife, Feng. However, three years ago, Feng was framed and thrown into prison, where she eventually died. As a result, the courtyard was abandoned, and we maids were sent to various places in the mansion to serve."

Feng Jia noticed the wording and said, "She is the daughter of the former Dali Temple Minister Feng Guo? I heard that her father was corrupt and that's why she was implicated? How come she is being wrongly accused here?"

The little maid immediately kowtowed: "Master, don't believe the rumors. I have been with Feng for three years. She is a very good person! Not only is she kind to us and never treats us as servants, she also teaches us to read and write... Master Feng is also an honest official. He has solved many unjust, false and wrong cases. The people love him! How could such a person be corrupt and accept bribes?"

Feng Jia asked: "Do you have any evidence for what you said?"

"I have no evidence, but I believe in my conscience!"

What a man who believes in his conscience! Feng Jia smiled self-deprecatingly.

She didn't expect that a little maid who had accidentally shown her a favor back then would be able to believe in her and the Feng family so firmly.

However, her husband, who shared the same bed with her, and her father-in-law, who said that they wanted a harmonious family, helped outsiders to frame the Feng family.

What an irony!

Feng Jia asked, "What's going on with your face?"

The little maid lowered her head even lower, her face full of hesitation.

"You can say whatever you want to say. Now that you are in this apricot garden, I am your master. I will seek justice for you if you are wronged."

The little maid was startled and looked up in surprise. The Ninth Miss wanted to give her justice? But she was just a humble third-class maid. How could she deserve the Ninth Miss to make the decision for her?

Can I trust her? The little maid hesitated. She wondered if this was just a whim of the girl. Asking her to tell it would only mean that she would reveal her scars for her to joke about? Wasn't that what happened to Miss Rong from the third room?

But when she saw Feng Jia's eyes, the maid was shaken. They were a pair of round almond eyes, with clear black and white, while Feng's eyes were like crescent moons. Obviously, the two were not similar, but the maid still thought of her first.

Feng had also looked at her in the same way.

He said to her firmly and stubbornly: From now on you are a member of my Lotus Courtyard. If anyone bullies you, I will stand up for you.

Big tears suddenly welled up in the little maid's eyes. In the blurry shadow before her eyes, Xie Lanzhao's appearance slowly changed and turned into Feng Jia's lively face. The little maid couldn't help but burst into tears, just like every time she went to Feng Jia to complain after being bullied by the people in the big house three years ago.

"Miss! My name is not Cui Chai, but Qing Shu, which was given to me by my previous master! But after my previous master passed away, I was sent to the courtyard of the eldest lady, and the eldest lady felt that I was not worthy of such a name, so she forced me to change my name! That's not all, they also thought that my laughter sounded bad and that I was noisy, so they asked Madam Liu and the servants to hold me down and poured mute medicine into my throat!"

Qingshu's eyes were full of tears, and he covered his throat with his hands: "Fortunately, I induced vomiting afterwards, so I didn't become completely mute, but my voice is ruined!"

"Then what's wrong with your face?" Feng Jia couldn't help but clench her hands in her sleeves.

"At that time, I was a second-class maid in the Madam's courtyard. The Sixth Young Master often came to the courtyard. He saw that I was quite pretty and wanted to force me to be a bed-warming maid. I swore to death that I would not agree. The Madam scolded me for being hypocritical and asked Madam Liu to scratch my face with scissors. She also tattooed the word "slutty" on my chest! She made it impossible for me to get married in the future! Then she demoted me to a third-class maid, to be sent out by various courtyards!"

"My parents wanted to help me after they found out, but Madam Liu would never let them in. They just said that my indenture was bought by the Prime Minister's Mansion, and that the Prime Minister's Mansion would decide whether I lived or died. They beat them out with a few sticks. I asked my sisters who were close to me, and only then did I know that Madam Liu had killed them! My parents died a few days later because of the infection of the wound!"

"This is too much!" Feng Jia slammed her fist on the table, causing the tea on the table to spill over. "The Prime Minister is so powerful, yet the maid in the Prime Minister's Mansion is so lawless!"

"Ninth Miss... I hate it! I hate it! But I am of humble status! I wanted to seek revenge on Madam Liu, but before I could get close to her, I was carried away by the servants! I could only grit my teeth and swallow it! Please, Ninth Miss, help me!"

Feng Jia helped the person up and stroked her cheek with heartache: "Don't worry, Madam Liu is such an evil servant who killed people. If God doesn't take her away, I will!"

But now is not a good time, let's wait a little longer.

Two days later, Feng Jia got up early in the morning and looked at the sky. The sun was hidden behind the clouds, dark clouds covered the city, and thunder rumbled. She curled the corners of her mouth slightly, but there was no smile in her eyes, only continuous coldness.

The time has come to punish Aunt Liu!