A Misty Night, With A Crystal-Clear Moon - Chapter 12

Chapter 12: The Moon-Gazing Tower Hierarchy

Linglong’s life at the Moon-Gazing Tower began quickly. After just one day, she felt like her bones were about to fall apart. Getting up at five every morning to fetch water, empty chamber pots, and prepare breakfast was her and Cui Xin’s job. She hadn’t thought such physical labor would be difficult, or even tiring, because Cui Xin only did these tasks every day. Yet, for her, it was excruciatingly hard.

Cui Xin naturally refused to let Linglong do too much, always waking up early to get more done. By the time Linglong got up, only the sweeping and mopping remained. However, their misery did not only stem from the high-intensity physical labor but also from the groundless bullying by the other maids.

When newcomers arrive, the veterans often bully them. This is an unwritten rule, regardless of the era. While women are easy to get along with on the surface, they can also be difficult to deal with; those who appear harmonious on the outside might be gossiping behind your back. Jealousy is common among women: the ugly envy the beautiful, the poor workers envy the diligent, and those disliked by men envy those who are popular. All these factors combined are enough to make life difficult for those who are envied and admired.

The Mung Bean Cake Incident Redux (The Mantou Incident)

Linglong recalled the first day. She and Cui Xin had been busy all morning. When they came for breakfast, they saw the older maids gathered around the round table, eating and chatting. Seeing the newcomers, they sped up, seemingly eager to swallow the food whole.

Cui Xin knew the situation was bad and rushed over. She looked, and the steamed buns (mantou) on the table were already gone. She checked the rice bucket and saw there was only enough watery porridge for two bowls, with no visible rice grains, just the soup. Cui Xin was furious. “How could you do this? We haven’t eaten yet!”

One maid took a bite of the bun in her hand and said, “Who told you to be so slow? We’re all in a hurry, or Aunt Liu will scold us.”

At her remark, several maids agreed.

“We were also working, fetching water and scrubbing floors! You, on the other hand, are just eating and doing nothing!”

“What do you mean we’re doing nothing? Tell us, what work are we doing? Aunt Liu said we start at eight, and you start at five! If you have the guts, go tell Aunt Liu and see what she says!” The maid refused to back down.

“You! You ate everything! How are we supposed to eat? Are we supposed to work on empty stomachs?”

“How should I know? That’s your problem.” The maid glanced at Cui Xin, put down her utensils, hummed a tune, and left. When she left, the others swallowed their last bites of mantou, chuckled softly, and followed.

Cui Xin was defiant and tried to argue, but Linglong grabbed her arm. “Arguing with them won’t change anything.”

“Then what do we do? We can’t starve!”

Linglong sat down. “There’s no help for it. They are all ill-bred people. We don’t need to lower ourselves to their level.” She ladled out two bowls and added, “Drinking soup is better than having nothing.”

Though Cui Xin didn’t argue further, she was intensely dissatisfied. She started thinking of ways to punish those maids.

The Cockroach Incident

When dinner finally arrived, the maids couldn’t wait, chatting and eating eagerly. As they were enjoying their meal, one suddenly felt something odd in her mouth. She looked down and saw a large cockroach in her rice. The most unfortunate thing was that the cockroach was already in two pieces.

The maids were so disgusted they vomited. “Cui Xin must have done it,” said Xiao Mei, the same maid who had argued with Cui Xin that morning. She was the longest-serving maid and the most eager to show off.

She overturned the table and said angrily, “Let’s go find them!”

When they arrived, Cui Xin and Linglong were wiping down tables. Without a word, Xiao Mei lunged forward, ready to slap Cui Xin, but the equally quick Linglong grabbed her arm. “What are you doing? The rules don’t say a servant can punish another servant.”

Xiao Mei was furious. “Hmph! That’s the Moon-Gazing Tower’s rule, not my rule! I have to use my own rule to deal with despicable people like you!”

“This is the Moon-Gazing Tower. We must follow the Moon-Gazing Tower’s rules. Your rules won’t work here.”

Xiao Mei struggled fiercely. She was very strong, and Linglong couldn’t hold her off. As the maid’s hand was about to strike her head, Linglong quickly said, “Before you hit us, shouldn’t you at least tell us the reason?”

Xiao Mei pointed at her. “Hmph! Do I need to say it? You know it in your hearts!”

Linglong glanced at Cui Xin. She suddenly recalled Cui Xin smiling wickedly earlier that afternoon and saying there would be a good show tonight. She had been too tired to pay attention, but now realized Cui Xin must have played a trick on the group, which caused Xiao Mei’s hatred.

“We truly don’t understand. Please explain clearly,” Cui Xin argued.

“You! You put cockroaches in our food to retaliate against us!”

“Please, who doesn’t know how to frame someone? We’ve been working the whole time and haven’t even been to the kitchen. Put cockroaches in the food? We’re terrified of them ourselves!” Cui Xin laughed.

Seeing her brazen denial, Xiao Mei prepared to strike, but suddenly Aunt Liu’s reprimanding voice rang out, “Why aren’t you working? What are you doing here?”

Upon seeing her, everyone dared not make a fuss. Xiao Mei immediately softened but didn’t forget to accuse the others. “Aunt Liu, they put cockroaches in our food!”

Aunt Liu glared at Cui Xin and Linglong and asked, “What’s going on?”

Cui Xin was about to speak, but Linglong beat her to it. “It’s like this, Aunt Liu. We were working here. Xiao Mei came over and said she found a cockroach in her rice, insisted we put it there, and tried to hit us.”

To Xiao Mei, this account sounded completely wrong. She quickly said, “Aunt Liu, the cockroach was put there by them! It’s ruined our dinner!”

“Aunt Liu, Cui Xin and I have been working here the whole time. The waiters can testify. We simply couldn’t be in two places at once to ruin someone else’s meal. Moreover, why would we harm them?”

“You… it’s because this morning you were jealous that we ate all the food and didn’t leave any for you!”

“Ah… I see,” Linglong said knowingly.

Xiao Mei suddenly realized she had been tricked into admitting the cause of the conflict. Aunt Liu scolded, “Xiao Mei, how could you do that? They do much more work than you do all day! If they make a mistake, will you or I take the responsibility?”

Xiao Mei was so severely reprimanded that she dared not speak. She lowered her head, glancing sideways at Linglong.

“But you two shouldn’t have retaliated against them by doing such a thing!” Aunt Liu admonished Linglong.

“This was not our doing. I ask you: which of you saw with your own eyes that Cui Xin or I put a cockroach in your rice? As the saying goes, ‘Every grain in the bowl is the fruit of hard toil.’ We are all children from poor families; how could we not know the preciousness of grain? Why would we waste food like this? Perhaps you were trying to frame us by deliberately finding a cockroach and putting it in your own bowl, then claiming we put it there?”

When Xiao Mei heard this, she realized that their own bad deed had been twisted by Linglong’s few words into an accusation of self-framing. She became even more angry and desperate. She quickly pleaded, “Aunt Liu, I didn’t! Don’t listen to her nonsense!”

“If it’s not nonsense, why are you the only one complaining here while the others remain silent? It forces me to suspect that the one who put the cockroach there was you,” Linglong refused to let her off.

“You! You are slandering me!”

“You were the one who rushed over to accuse us first. How did it become slander against you? Shouldn’t I be the one saying that?”

A few sentences from Linglong left Xiao Mei completely unable to respond. Aunt Liu was equally at a loss, only feeling that this Yu’er had a sharp tongue and was not easy to deal with.

“Enough, enough! It’s just a matter of one meal, and you’re dragging it out endlessly. I fine all of you: no dinner!”

“Aunt Liu, you are mistaken. Cui Xin and I do not eat dinner with them anyway. They started this trouble. Why should Cui Xin and I share in this trumped-up punishment? Moreover, you heard it yourself: they’ve already bullied us. Are Cui Xin and I to go without breakfast and dinner? Xiao Mei brazenly said she would use her own rules to teach us a lesson, completely disregarding the Moon-Gazing Tower’s rules. Is that also an unwritten rule here?”

Aunt Liu panicked. This Yu’er was much more formidable than she had thought. “Xiao Mei, is what she says true?”

“It is! The other maids and the waiters in this room can testify!” Cui Xin added.

Xiao Mei was terrified. She plopped down and knelt before Aunt Liu. “Aunt Liu, please forgive me! Please, just forgive me!”

Aunt Liu stared blankly at her, then looked involuntarily at Linglong. “How can you speak so brazenly? How dare you?”

“Aunt Liu, I was wrong! I truly was wrong! If I hadn’t been backed into a corner, I would never have said such a thing.”

Cui Xin glanced at Linglong, who was looking coolly away, not sparing Xiao Mei a single look.

“Aunt Liu, I remember that the tenth rule of the Moon-Gazing Tower states that any servant who speaks improperly and damages the reputation of the Moon-Gazing Tower shall be immediately expelled,” Linglong said coolly.

Aunt Liu didn’t want to do this. After all, she had some attachment to Xiao Mei. She was conflicted, and her face was terrible. The surrounding maids were stunned, fearfully looking at Linglong and Cui Xin, daring not to say a word. Cui Xin felt they had caused serious trouble and was very uneasy. She pulled on Linglong’s sleeve. Linglong looked at her and said, “Aunt Liu, I know you feel for Xiao Mei, but rules are rules. Even the Son of Heaven is held to the same crime as a commoner when he breaks the law. If the rules of this house are broken, they cease to be rules. However, Xiao Mei is usually diligent in her work and has always been loyal to the Moon-Gazing Tower. Why not fine her three months’ wages and have her replace a month’s worth of heavy chores instead?”

In her utter desperation, Aunt Liu could only agree to this. Shopkeeper Li witnessed the entire event from the shadows and felt a chill creep into his heart.