Housekeeper of the Hundred Blossom Palace - Chapter 179: Xu’s Determination

On the other hand, Xu slumped down, as if her strength left her the moment she saw Yui Mei.

“You’re such a weird girl, you know.”

“You think so?”

Xu wryly smiled, but Yui Mei just tilted her head.

‘I just greeted her like normal, so why did she tell me that I’m weird?’

Yui Mei looked baffled, so Libin poked her head.

“This is the penitentiary, so naturally, no one who would greet people as cheerfully as you do.”

Libin commented, and Yui Mei couldn’t help but agree and think that it must be true.

Most of the people imprisoned here were basically criminals, so it should be futile to show affection to such people.

It might even be unfortunate if they harbored false hopes that they would be saved after showing them such sweetness.

Xu must’ve gotten used to the cold treatment in the penitentiary after spending a few days here.

‘Well, it’s not like I’m one of the staff of the Ministry of Justice.’

Yui Mei came because she’s an acquaintance of Xu, so it shouldn’t be weird to greet her cheerfully as such.

Besides, it wasn’t decided yet that Xu was to be punished.

“I’m just a mere housekeeper, so I’m not familiar with the practices here in the penitentiary, you know. Rather than that, Miss Xu, what do you want to talk about today?”

Time was limited, so Yui Mei went straight to the point.

The conversation was directed to Xu, so she heaved a deep sigh as if to strengthen her resolve before she started speaking.

“Since you told me off last time, I spent a lot of time thinking about it, about what that person would want to me to do.”

“…Is that so? Then, have you arrived at the answer?”

Yui Mei replied, when she suddenly recalled something.

‘Come to think of it, Xu was the esteemed daughter of a prestigious merchant, wasn’t she?’

In that case, then Xu should have used a more polite manner of speaking in the past instead of what she was currently doing, shouldn’t she?

Moreover, there were many women who came from wealthy families among the courtesans, so her manner of speech that was considered crude even in the standards of the commoners must’ve put her in a negative light.

Perhaps, this was Xu’s rebellion in her own way, or maybe it was her own method of bidding farewell to her past.

Yui Mei inwardly pondered these things while Xu continued on.

“It was a long time ago, when I just met that person. I just remembered how we disagreed about something trivial and ended up making an odd promise because of it.”

Her lover was a soldier, so it was only natural that his job was far more high-risk compared to hers.

Xu had been worried because of that, so she implored that he took another safer job. Her lover replied that it was the only thing that he could do.

Besides, he said, his body was sturd so he wouldn’t die so easily.

Still, Xu thought about the ‘what-ifs’, so he then told her this.

‘Well then, if I did die, please play the lute in my funeral. If you send me off with the music of your lute, I feel quite sure that I’ll be able to meet you once again in the next life.’

‘Don’t utter such ominous things!’

Xu got mad, and she also told him peevishly that he too would surely find a maiden who was more beautiful and charming than her in his next life.

Her lover assured her that there’s no way he would as he tried to soothe her anxiously.

They made up after that and they never argued about this matter since then.

Moreover, her parents were also considering taking him in as their son-in-law so that he could quit being a soldier immediately, so Xu forgot all about it.

“Yeah, that person might not be able to go to the underworld and might keep on wandering around the battlefield for a long time if I don’t play the lute. That guy’s a huge fool who calls me a ‘music fairy’ when I’m so far from being a beauty myself..

That guy’s eyes are so bad so I’m sure he wouldn’t be able to find his way if there are no guides.”

Xu was crying and laughing while saying that.

Outstanding women were usually likened to a “fairy”, but most of the time it was used for gorgeous beauties.

Thus, there were times when she was referred to as “fairy” as a combination of praise and sarcasm by others.

It could be said that it was a subtle exchange between women.

However, there were also people who were sincere whenever they praised her for being a “fairy” from time to time. Xu’s lover must have been one of those without malice.