lcionline Chapter 532 A perfectly good child has been corrupted in just a few days.
Chapter 532 A perfectly good child has been corrupted in just a few days.
After the autumn hunt, life seemed to return to its usual routine.
However, some changes grow silently, like vines spreading.
In Lan Jie'er's courtyard, the sharp sound of shattering porcelain broke the afternoon's tranquility.
"Fool! You can't even hold a cup of tea properly, what use are you!"
The child's innocent voice was now filled with a harshness and hostility that was incongruous with his age.
A third-class maidservant, about seven or eight years old, with her hair styled in double buns, was kneeling on the ground, trembling, with shards of broken teacup porcelain scattered in front of her knees.
Lan Jie'er, dressed in a brand-new embroidered ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress), her face flushed red, stood with her hands on her hips, pointing down at the little maid.
"Kneel on the porcelain shards! Reflect on your actions!"
The maid was so frightened that her face turned pale, tears welled up in her eyes, but she dared not cry out, and just kept kowtowing.
"Please spare me, Miss! I'll never do it again! Please spare me, Miss!"
"Spare you?" Lan Jie sneered. "I'm the master, you're the dog! How dare you touch my things?"
Upon hearing this, not only the kneeling maid, but also the several old women and maids standing nearby changed their expressions.
Her head maid stepped forward, holding a handkerchief, and gently wiped away non-existent beads of sweat from Lan Jie'er's body.
She said softly, "Miss, don't be angry. It's not worth getting sick over such lowly things."
This maid was none other than Cuihuan, whom Madam Gu had specially assigned from her own room to serve Lan'er.
She was about sixteen or seventeen years old, with a cleverness in her eyes, but that cleverness was tinged with a bit of calculation.
Cuihuan glanced at the little maid kneeling on the ground, her voice still gentle, but her words were like poisoned needles.
“What you say is true, Miss. These servants are just worthless. They won’t amount to anything without being beaten and scolded. Making them kneel is an honor for you.”
"Sister Cuihuan is right!" Lan Jie'er was immediately coaxed into a smile, as if her previous outburst of violence had not come from her.
She raised her chin triumphantly, "Let her kneel down, let's see when she realizes she's wrong!"
Lu Ge'er wanted to come and see Lan Jie'er, but he hadn't seen his sister since she ran away from his room last time.
He could hear the commotion in the courtyard from afar, and he frowned and quickened his pace.
As soon as I stepped into the courtyard, I saw this shocking scene.
He stepped forward and glanced at the little maid kneeling on the porcelain shards, her knees already bleeding.
He then looked at Lan'er, his voice lowering: "Lan'er, what are you doing?"
When Lan Jie'er saw Lu Ge'er, she felt a little guilty at first.
But seeing Cuihuan beside her, she became even bolder, pouting and saying, "Brother, she's the one who spilled my tea! She's clumsy and deserves to be punished!"
"There's absolutely no reason to make her kneel on the porcelain shards as punishment!"
Lu Ge'er's voice was icy, "Get up quickly, summon a doctor to take a look."
Cuihuan quickly curtsied and said with a smile, "Young Master, please calm down."
"Miss was just angry for a moment. She's just a child, she wouldn't have any bad intentions."
"Besides, people here are thick-skinned and tough, so kneeling for a while won't hurt them."
Her words, seemingly intended to smooth things over, actually added fuel to the fire.
"Shut up!" Lu Ge'er's gaze swept coldly over Cui Huan. "When did you become the one to speak here?"
Cuihuan's smile froze, and she lowered her head, a hint of resentment flashing in her eyes.
Lu Ge'er ignored her, squatted down, and tried to help the little maid up, saying softly, "Get up first."
The little maid was so frightened that she shrank back and dared not move.
Lan Jie'er saw that Lu Ge'er was not helping her, but instead went to manage a servant.
She immediately became unhappy, stomped her feet and shouted, "Brother is bad! You don't love Lan'er anymore! She's just a servant, why should she need brother's help!"
"Lan'er!" Brother Lu stood up, his face ashen. "Who taught you to spout such nonsense? There is a difference between superiors and inferiors, but kindness is the foundation of one's character!"
"When did you become so harsh?"
He tried to reason with Lan Jie'er, but these days he found it increasingly difficult.
Lan Jie'er's eyes reddened as she was scolded, and she pouted aggrievedly: "Brother, you're just too soft-hearted! Grandmother said that we members of the Gu family should have the dignity of a master!"
"That's what Sister Cuihuan said too. She said that this is how I should act as a lady of a noble family!"
She perfectly mimicked what Madam Gu and Cuihuan said, and her self-righteous manner sent chills down Lu Ge'er's spine.
His sister is being raised at a visible speed to become an arrogant and domineering good-for-nothing.
"What they say isn't necessarily all true."
Lu Ge'er patiently tried to guide her, saying, "A truly dignified lady is kind-hearted, knowledgeable, and reasonable, not someone who mistreats her servants."
"I won't listen! I won't listen!" Lan'er covered her ears. "Brother is so biased! All you know how to do is lecture me!"
Seeing this, Cuihuan quickly stepped forward and gently patted Lanjie's back, softly coaxing, "Miss, don't cry. The young master is only doing this for your own good. It's just that the young master is soft-hearted and can't bear to see this."
"We'll punish people more quietly from now on, so the young master doesn't see it."
Seeing Cuihuan's two-faced behavior, Lü Ge'er was furious.
He knew that the problem lay with this maid.
He took a deep breath and said to Lan Jie'er, "From today onwards, copy the Three Character Classic ten times every day. Stop when you understand the way to do good."
He then turned to Cuihuan and said coldly, "You, as the head maid, not only fail to guide your mistress towards goodness, but instead incite her to do perverse things..."
"From this moment forward, you are confined to your room and are not to come out without my permission!"
When Lan Jie heard that she had to copy books and that Cui Huan would be punished, she immediately flew into a rage.
"I won't copy! Why should I, brother, interfere? Sister Cuihuan was given to me by Grandmother, you can't punish her!"
Cuihuan also knelt down with a thud, crying and pleading, "Young Master, please spare me! I did all this for Miss's sake. The Old Madam entrusted Miss to me, and I dare not be negligent!"
"If the young master punishes me, how can I bear the blame from the old lady?"
Watching the two of them singing and responding in unison, Lu Ge'er felt a splitting headache.
"Someone come here," Lu Ge'er ordered in a deep voice to the old woman standing by his side, "take Cuihuan away! Send Lan Jie'er's daily transcriptions to my study for inspection!"
The old woman was an elder in the household. She looked at Lu Ge'er, then at the crying Lan Jie'er and the kneeling Cui Huan, and felt somewhat troubled.
But in the end, he responded and went forward to pull Cuihuan.
Cuihuan clung tightly to Lanjie'er's leg, crying, "Miss, save me! Miss!"
Lan Jie cried and screamed, "Don't take Sister Cuihuan away! Brother is a bad person! I hate you!"
Just then, Zhang Mama, who served Madam Gu, entered with several maids. Upon seeing the situation in the courtyard,
He then said loudly, "The old lady heard that Miss is not feeling well, so she sent this old servant to come and see."