A Maid Dressed As A Cannon Fodder Female Supporting Role (Transmigration) - Chapter 38.1

Seeing Chao Mu’s sad little pout, Chen Yue cupped a hand over her mouth and whispered to Cui Cui, “Where’s A’Zhi?”

She had, of course, heard about the situation at the Qi manor. Chen Yue had originally wanted to bring her family’s servants to support Chao Mu, but her father stopped her, telling her that she didn’t need to worry, that the countess wouldn’t be wronged. Chen Yue had to give up on the idea. She also hadn’t looked for Chao Mu these past couple of days, figuring the Qi manor had a lot going on and she should let Chao Mu handle things in peace without causing any trouble. Otherwise, Chen Yue would have brought people over to celebrate after Chao Mu passed the Imperial Academy entrance exam. She had even had people set up firecrackers and fireworks for the occasion!

When Chen Yue came out of the house, she was still thinking about how to celebrate for Chao Mu, but then she saw that she was in low spirits. She had a theory. “Are they upset with each other?” Chao Mu came to play today without A’Zhi. Chen Yue thought, Maybe A’Zhi was promoted to manager, which is why she couldn’t come with Chao Mu. But that was a good thing. After all, a manager’s monthly wage was much higher than a maid’s, so Chao Mu shouldn’t have been so heartbroken. Something must have been off between them.

Cui Cui was also a bit confused. The countess and A’Zhi were fine when she left this morning. She replied to Chen Yue, “A’Zhi is at the manor, and I haven’t seen them argue.” Cui Cui covered her mouth with one hand. “The countess probably likes A’Zhi so much that she can’t stand to be apart from her for a moment.”

Cui Cui wasn’t just talking nonsense; she had proof! That day at the estate, they were only a few feet apart, and the little countess was muttering to herself about missing A’Zhi. It was only natural for the countess to miss A’Zhi after being apart from her for a whole day.

Chen Yue was half-convinced. She held Chao Mu’s face in her slightly cold hands. “Don’t cry, don’t cry. You don’t have A’Zhi, but you have me. I’ll take you to play polo… umm…” Chen Yue looked at the heavy snow and changed her suggestion. “I’ll take you to catch sparrows! You grew up in Jiangnan, so you must have never played this game in the snow before.”

At the mention of catching sparrows, Chao Mu’s eyes became moist, and she wanted to cry even more. Her “sparrow” had flown away.

Cui Cui said, “Miss Chen Yue, the countess and I just played that game yesterday at the manor.”

“You’ve already played?” Chen Yue became intrigued. “How many did you catch?”

“They all flew away,” Chao Mu said to Chen Yue, pouting. “Not a single one.”

Chen Yue was in disbelief. “What?” How could they all have flown away? She looked at Cui Cui.

Cui Cui looked at Chao Mu, gave a small nod, and whispered, “The countess scattered too much grain outside. The sparrows ate their fill and all flew away. Not a single one was willing to go into the basket.”

“You poor thing!” Chen Yue felt even more pity for Chao Mu. She took her hand and lifted her skirt, walking toward the house. 

“Come inside quickly and have a cup of hot tea. I’ll take you to catch them later.”

Chen Yue pulled Chao Mu into the house. After chatting for only a little while outside, a layer of white snow had already settled on Chen Yue’s long hair, and on Chao Mu’s hood and shoulders. Zhu Zhu placed the food box on the table and immediately instructed the maids to get dry towels to dry their mistresses’ hair. Two more braziers were brought into the room, and hot tea was served right after.

Seeing another family’s head maid bustling about, Chao Mu stood there dazed and longed for A’Zhi even more. A’Zhi was also so capable and took such good care of her.

Chen Yue sat at her dressing table, letting Zhu Zhu dry her hair. With her free hands, she pulled Chao Mu to sit in the armchair beside her. “It’s warm in here. Take off your cloak.”

Chao Mu shook her head. She pointed to the strings around her neck and said in a soft, low voice, “A’Zhi tied it.”

“Yes, yes, I know A’Zhi tied it,” Chen Yue said, getting off her stool. She reached out and took off Chao Mu’s hood. “A’Zhi just tied the strings. It’s not like she welded them on. Take it off, take it off.”

Zhu Zhu also tried to persuade her. “It’s hot in here, Countess. Be careful not to get sweaty and then get chilled later.”

Only then did Chao Mu give in. She took off her cloak and hugged it in her arms. She looked up at Chen Yue as she brushed her hair and said softly, “Chen Yue, you’re a really good person.”

“Mu Mu, why are you suddenly praising me?” Chen Yue’s eyes curved in a happy smile. She couldn’t help but twist her hips on the stool, wanting to turn and talk to Chao Mu, but her hair was being held by Zhu Zhu, so she couldn’t move her head. She could only look at Chao Mu from the corner of her eye. “I think you’re a great person, too, which is why I love playing with you.”

When she was with other people, Chen Yue always felt as if she were a clumsy fool who knew nothing, even though they were all fourteen years old. When she was with Chao Mu, it was different. If she was four years old, Chao Mu was at most five! They were almost the same age. And since Chao Mu was the Grand Princess Chao Yang’s niece, Chen Yue felt even closer to her.

Chen Yue’s mouth began to ramble on and on, from what they were going to eat later to her taking the day off from the Imperial Academy. She looked relieved. “It’s a good thing I don’t have an archery class today. Otherwise, I would have woken up early and left, and you would have come here for nothing.”

“It’s not good to ride horses in the snow, but I think riding in the snow looks so good, especially in a red cloak.”

“You haven’t seen the Grand Princess riding a horse. The wind lifts her cloak, and it flutters, making her look so heroic!”

Chen Yue was completely immersed in her own world, talking so fast that no one else could get a word in. Chao Mu sat in the armchair, hugging her cloak, and didn’t try to speak. She just listened quietly.

Chen Yue was truly a good person, but it was a shame that she had found out too late in her previous life. Chao Mu vaguely remembered the Chen family’s ending.

When Prime Minister Chen lost the power struggle in court, the Sixth Prince ordered the entire Chen family to be executed. Before the incident, Prime Minister Chen knew he couldn’t escape, so he and his family had fooled Chen Yue into leaving the capital and hid her elsewhere. By the time Chen Yue learned the truth, the Chen manor was already gone. She disguised herself as a maid and infiltrated the spring hunt. In the snow, wearing a red outfit, she rode her horse. She drew her bow to a full-pull, and a swift arrow, cutting through the wind, flew straight at the new emperor, Chao Hongji, knocking him off his horse.

The crime of regicide was something the Grand Princess Chao Yang had taken upon herself to protect her. In exchange, the Grand Princess, who still had some power in the capital, chose to return to her fiefdom and never get involved in politics again. At the end of that winter, Chao Yang left the capital with Chen Yue to go to her fiefdom in Lingnan. Once they left, Chao Mu, who was still in the capital, couldn’t follow them. It was only when Chao Yang gave up her power to protect Chen Yue that Chao Mu realized there was a flicker of something between the two of them.

Chao Mu didn’t know why she hadn’t gone to reincarnation after her death and was instead floating in the air as a ghost. She only remembered that after she took her own life, the Qi manor suffered a tragic end. The Liang and Chu families, who had won the power struggle, didn’t have a good end, either.

After her death, the position of the future sixth imperial consort fell to Liang Youyun. After Chao Hongji changed from a commoner back to a prince, he received the help of the Duke Liang’s estate and the Chu family, and his path to the throne was smooth. The year he became the new emperor, on the eighth day of the twelfth month, he married Liang Youyun, the future empress.

On the night Liang Youyun entered the palace, everyone in the Liang manor was celebrating drunkenly. Chu Qingqiu sent all the servants away and set fire to the Duke Liang’s estate herself. The fire burned for two days and two nights, and the Duke Liang’s family, along with Chu Qingqiu, perished in the flames. When Liang Youyun heard the news, she might have been unable to accept it. That same night, she took off the phoenix hairpin in her hair, stabbed herself in the chest, and died.

Chao Hongji wasn’t heartbroken to have lost his empress. The only thing he regretted was that Duke Liang was dead. Duke Liang was an expert at bringing down the Qi and Chen families and getting rid of political enemies and obstacles. As for women, they were just foolish pawns to be used and discarded in the power struggle. Liang Youyun was one, Chu Qingqiu was one, Chao Mu was one, and so were Chen Yue and Chao Yang. Luckily, his throne was now secure, and new, useful officials would rise to the top.

When the story reached this point, Chao Mu felt her soul becoming fainter, and her senses were slowly disappearing. Then, one day, a monk in gray robes passed by, looked up at her, and smiled. He beckoned to her. “Countess Fu Jia, I knew you hadn’t left.” He said to Chao Mu, “Perhaps it’s a twist of fate. Someone from another world has come and affected the karma here. You have a chance to live again.”

“Who is it?” Chao Mu had asked at the time.

The monk shook his head. “The will of heaven cannot be revealed.”

Chao Mu asked again, “What should I do?”

The monk smiled. “Just go with the flow. Don’t force anything.” He waved at Chao Mu and said, “Go.”

When she opened her eyes again, Chao Mu was already on her way back to the capital.

****

“A’Zhi.” 

Chao Mu sat in the armchair in the Chen manor, her head lowered as she gently stroked the silver-white cloak in her lap, her lips pressed together. A’Zhi was that person from another world, the variable that had brought her a new life.

“You’re missing A’Zhi again?” Chen Yue’s hair was neatly styled, and she leaned closer to Chao Mu, her hands on her knees. She sighed. “I’ve never seen such a clingy master and servant. You can’t be apart for even a moment without missing each other.”

Chao Mu pouted and retorted, “A’Zhi is different. A’Zhi isn’t a servant.”

“Okay, okay, she’s your heart and soul. Is that better?” Chen Yue stared at Chao Mu’s eyes. Seeing that the corners of her eyes were red like they were coated in blush, she reached out, took her hand, and pulled her up from the chair. “If you miss A’Zhi so much, then let’s go find her.”

This was just like Chen Yue. If you want something, then go do it. She didn’t understand why Chao Mu was hesitating and dawdling.

Chao Mu was torn. She stood up, following Chen Yue’s lead, but when they reached the main house’s door, she refused to go out. She stood just inside the threshold, thought for a moment, shook her head, and made up her mind. “No, I’m not going.”

Chen Yue didn’t understand. She wrinkled her pretty face and looked at her, confused. “Why not?”

Chao Mu took a deep breath and forced a smile. Holding her cloak, she spoke, as if to Chen Yue and to herself. “Because A’Zhi is free.” She couldn’t cut a sparrow’s wings and keep it to herself just because she wanted it.

“…”

 Chen Yue still didn’t understand.

Chao Mu handed the cloak to Cui Cui and said to Chen Yue, “Let’s go eat breakfast. I came in a hurry and didn’t eat anything.”

Chen Yue was happy again. She wrapped her arm around Chao Mu’s. “Mu Mu, you really do like me so much!”

Chao Mu’s eyes curved in a smile, and she didn’t dare to agree directly.

The Chen manor’s breakfast was quite lavish, but each serving was small. After the meal, there was not much food left. Chen Yue put the last shrimp dumpling in Chao Mu’s bowl. “Father says we should be thrifty. We should make as much as we’ll eat. We can have many different kinds, but the portions shouldn’t be large. Otherwise, it would be a waste.”

Prime Minister Chen, as Chen Yue described him, seemed different from the rumors. Everyone outside said that the emperor was old and the princes were grown, and in the court power struggles, Prime Minister Chen was a scheming official who dominated everything.

“They’re all bad rumors,” Chen Yue said, pounding the table indignantly. “All of them are bad rumors.” She wanted to roll up her sleeves and argue with those people to get justice for her father and Grand Princess Chao Yang.

Chao Mu bit into her shrimp dumpling and nodded along. “Mm! Bad rumors!”

After breakfast, the two of them played a game of catching sparrows. Compared to Chao Mu, Chen Yue was a master. After an hour or two, Chao Mu was clearly in much higher spirits. She was happy to see the sparrows eating their fill and flying away. She felt that A’Zhi would be happy, too. Chao Mu looked up at the sparrows and reached out to catch the falling snow.

At least A’Zhi was happy. If A’Zhi was happy, that was all that mattered.
*******