Chapter 3: Waking Up to Find Oneself in the Mortal Realm (Part 2)

  "My name is Ah Xue, may I ask for your name, miss?"

  "My name is Qiao Er, I just heard my mother say that a new person has arrived and will be living in the same room as me, so she told me to come take a look. Not all websites are first published on romance novels, search 151 + reading network and you'll know what I mean." Qiao Er walked over and pulled Qi Lin's hand, although her face was covered by that red cloth, but the feeling she gave people was still very likable. Qiao Er led Qi Lin to familiarize herself with the environment, chatting happily along the way "This is where our servants live, although it can't compare to the young ladies' living quarters, it's still very quiet. From here, turning left will take you to the dining hall, and walking right will take you to the young ladies' elegant pavilion. Walking further, through the maple leaf path, is the front hall, that's where guests come and go. It's very lively."

  Qilin nodded in agreement, this place is indeed big and the environment is not bad either. There are many artificial hills, flowing water, and lush vegetation, which is no less than the Suzhou gardens of the previous generation. Zuihuatang, even the air is filled with a fragrance of flowers.

  Listening to Qiao Er's introduction, Qi Lin felt that this was a suitable place to settle down. That damned Prince Wang must have wanted to abandon himself in this land of smoke and flowers, leaving his life to the whims of fate.

  Well, here is no match for the environment in the mountains, nor can it compare to the freedom there, but it's also better than dying. I wonder how Xiaobai and the others are doing? Are they injured?

  "Ah Xue? Ah Xue."

  Qilin was pulled back to her senses by Qiao'er's call, and when she came to, they were already in a courtyard. The place was surrounded by maple trees, with red leaves scattered all over the ground, some of which had fallen into a small stream beside them, making it look exceptionally quiet. Qiao'er stood at a door, gently pushed it open, and turned around to face Qilin.

  "A Xue, this is where we two live, the other sisters' homes are also here, come and take a look quickly." After finishing speaking, Qiao Er went in first and stood in the middle waiting for Qi Lin to enter.

  Qilin walked in, took a look around, and saw that the room wasn't very big, with simple furnishings. There were two small beds, but they looked clean. Compared to the crowded dormitory for employees, this was already five-star treatment. Qilin smiled and nodded, then went over to pull Xiao'er's hand and said, "Xiao'er, I'm new here and don't understand anything. I hope you can take care of me a lot. For things I don't understand, I also hope you can give me some pointers."

  Qiao'er smiled slightly and grasped Qi Lin's hand. "Ah Xue was joking, I only arrived here last month. My family is poor, so my father sold me to come in and use the money to pay off debts. It's actually quite peaceful for me now, otherwise I would have been taken away by the creditor to be a concubine, that old man is sixty years old, it's terrifying. You and I are destined to meet here, from now on let's call each other sisters, how about that?"

  "Alright, alright." Upon hearing Qiao Er's background, Qi Lin didn't have much sympathy either. This was the most common phenomenon in this era, and her sympathetic heart had long been ground down by the darkness of modern society. Now, Qi Lin only felt that her own life was much worse than Qiao Er's. She still had to think about how to preserve her own life.

  "Really?!" Qiao'er excitedly grasped Qi Lin's hand, her black eyes sparkling with excitement to the point of almost crying out. "Qiao'er is not yet fourteen this year, and Ah Xue looks like she should be over seventeen, so from now on I'll call you Sister Ah Xue, okay?"

  Is she only seventeen or so?! Qilin's eyes widened, she was already twenty-five years old! She was actually being said to be only seventeen or so. This was the best compliment she had ever heard! Haha, she had become younger again.

  Without getting a clear response from Qilin, Qiao'er looked at her anxiously, but Qilin seemed pleased. Qiao'er still cautiously asked, "A Xue sister? Don't you agree?"

  "Huh? Qilin calmed down, blinked her eyes and looked at Qiao'er who was almost in tears. She reached out to touch Qiao'er's face and said "Haha, where am I unhappy? I'm overjoyed! Qiao'er sister, I don't have any siblings either, no one knows where they are from. Now that I've gained a sister, it's truly a blessing from heaven. From now on, we'll rely on each other."

  Qiao'er heard Qilin's words and happily threw herself into Qilin's arms, as joyful as a little bird.

  In the following days, Qilin spent her time getting up early and sleeping late, washing clothes and doing chores, and things were going well. Xiao'er was clever and handy, did things neatly and efficiently, and most of the time it was Xiao'er who helped with the work, and no one came to make trouble.

  Zi Lin found that the rules and regulations here were very strict, each maid had her own area of work, and everyone did their own things without conflict. However, the maids were also divided into three levels: first-class maids served Miss directly, and everything they wore and used was under Miss's name, so these maids were naturally easy-going, with plenty of benefits and living in single rooms with complete furnishings. Second-class maids worked in the front hall serving tea and water, without doing too much miscellaneous work, lived in single rooms, and furnishings depended on their own ability. Third-class maids like them couldn't enter the front hall, lived in double rooms, had simple furnishings that could be counted on one's fingers, and were often bullied by older women who were a bit older, but fortunately, the girls in this yard got along well, sometimes not speaking for almost a whole day when busy. When washing clothes, their hands would crack and bleed, and as winter approached, the water was so cold it froze to the bone.

  In short, as long as she doesn't provoke others and doesn't think of running away, it's still okay. Qilin glanced back and saw that the men were no longer watching her, probably because she had behaved well these past few days, so the madam had withdrawn the people monitoring her. In fact, it wasn't that she didn't want to escape, but rather she didn't know what to do after escaping.

  That damned, perverted bastard of a prince. Go die.