Silver would say this to herself because Young Master Dou had flirted with Liu Eryu.
Liu Eryu was ugly, fat, and buck-toothed, but she was very bold. She had heard that some fool had come to town and often gave people money out of curiosity because he was handsome and noble, so she liked him, and shouted a few words at him.
Young Master Dou was courting disaster. He was pleased to see this chubby girl praised him for being good-looking, and was a kind man who liked to give money to the poor, so he pointed at Liu Eryu and said, "The girl is not only beautiful in appearance but also kind-hearted. I like her."
Look at this, is this talk acceptable? Saying such misleading words to a little town girl who doesnât understand the world, didnât that just put Liu Eryu in a miserable situation?
Since then, Liu Eryu fell deeply in love with Young Master Dou, convinced that he liked her too, and frantically wanted to marry him as a concubine.
Liu Eryu was still clear-headed and knew her background wasnât great, nor was she good-looking, making it impossible to be Young Master Douâs official wife, so she settled for wanting a concubine position.
Whatâs even more daring was that Young Master Dou thought Liu Eryu was just joking, and recklessly responded to her, "Sure, wait for me to leave, and Iâll take you with me."
Liu Eryu was so excited she fainted, and happily waited for Young Master Dou to come and take her away.
But Young Master Dou forgot once he said it, not taking it seriously at all. When he returned to town and was blocked by Liu Eryu, he then remembered it.
He explained to Liu Eryu, "What I said was just a joke, you took it seriously? Stop fooling around and go home. I have big things to take care of."
Then he left. Liu Eryu tried to chase him, but was stopped by the Dong Family servants, and cried miserably, having been seen by many people in town, which caused rumors that completely ruined Liu Eryuâs reputation.
The Liu Family couldnât afford this disgrace, so they locked Liu Eryu up at home, not allowing her to come out and look for Young Master Dou again.
Young Master Dou also felt very sorry for Liu Eryu and sent 300 taels of silver to the Liu Family, which ended up buying over the entire heart of the Liu Family people. The whole family firmly believed that Young Master Dou had some interest in their Eryu and wanted to give Liu Eryu to him as a maid.
Young Master Dou then began to have a headache, especially after hearing about being beaten and the Liu Family going to the county to beat the drum and plead for him, making him realize that he had really gone too far.
"Silver, youâre not handling things well these days, canât you even settle a household in town?" Young Master Dou complained.
Silver: "Young Master, itâs not that Iâm incompetent, itâs really the Liu Family people being too bold. You should hurry and meet them, otherwise, if something terrible happens, these rumors will spread to the Capital."
Is she incompetent? Obviously, heâs asking for trouble himself.
If he wanted women, she could arrange for him. She had done so before, handling things cleanly, but those were transactions of silver. This time, Young Master Dou wanted to flirt with a simple town girl and brought trouble upon himself, deservedly so.
Young Master Dou, helpless, could only get up, opened the door, and said, "Where are the Liu Family people?"
Silver: "At Xu Inn."
Xu Inn was one of the best inns in the county, and Young Master Dou had money to arrange for them to stay at Xu Inn for one night, and then leave tomorrow.
"Come on, letâs go to Xu Inn." Young Master Dou said, also shouting towards the courtyard, "You all go find Xu Gaodi!"
"Yes!" said the Shadow Guards, hiding in the shadows of the courtyard, soon went out to find Xu Gaodi.
Xu Gaodi was a nickname, earned for his naturally uneven legs, thirty years old, yet unmarried, but Xu Gaodi was good-looking, Silver guessed Young Master Douâs intention right away: "You want to pair Xu Gaodi with Liu Eryu?"
Young Master Dou nodded: "Yeah, Xu Gaodi is naturally disabled, and his family is poor. His greatest dream is to marry a wife, not caring about looks. Liu Eryu is focused on appearances, though Xu Gaodiâs legs are bad, his face is fine, quite decent. Pair them up and give some silver, the Liu Family issue will be resolved."
Having said that, he pointed forward, "Letâs go."
Silver nodded, and followed Young Master Dou to Xu Inn.
...
At Xu Inn, Liu Eryu was leaning by the well, crying heartbreakingly, while the Liu Family was standing aside, shouting at her, persuading, "Eryu, donât do anything foolish. Young Master Dou will surely listen to you, personally go to the authorities and have those evil men arrested and imprisoned."
Thatâs right, Liu Eryu wasnât jumping into the well to marry Young Master Dou; she was doing it out of grievance for Young Master Dou, trying to use the act of jumping into the well to force him to report the crime.
Nanny Tang was both amused and helpless. If Liu Eryu were to threaten the young master to marry her with death, she would certainly step in immediately to deal with Liu Eryu. But Liu Eryu wasnât doing that; she was simply feeling wronged on behalf of the young master and worried that those evil men might come and rob him a second time, thus using the threat of jumping to force the young master to report the crime and catch the evil men to ensure his future safety.
"Old Nanny, please talk to Eryu, otherwise she really might jump down." Mrs. Liu was anxious, tugging at Nanny Tang to get her to say something.
Nanny Tang remained unmoved, speaking calmly and orderly, "She wonât. Your daughter is quite resilient; she wonât really jump into the well."
Mrs. Liu was momentarily choked up. Indeed, her Eryu was quite resilient, not only resistant to attacks but when people laughed at her for being ugly, fat, and buck-toothed, she could confidently retort, saying their family was like starving mice without excess grain, living on wild greens, with only skin and bones. And saying sheâs fat is out of jealousy because her family has money to eat meat!
But...
"Eryu is crying so pitifully, you..." Mrs. Liu still wanted Nanny Tang to persuade her, but before she finished her sentence, Liu Eryu screamed at her, "Mother, donât make things difficult for Nanny Tang, itâs me who wants to jump into the well!"
"Hey, you little rascal, you wonât make things difficult for Nanny Tang, but instead, you make things difficult for us? Not only are we accompanying you to make a scene, but we also worry all the time that you might slip and not hold onto the well edge, actually fall into the well and drown!" Mrs. Liu was angry, rolling up her sleeves, scolding Liu Eryu, "Stop it, come here."
Boss Liu fanned his sleeves, persuading Liu Eryu, "Eryu, why donât you take a break? Wait for nightfall to continue? Itâs May now, hot enough to kill anyone, if we get heatstroke, weâd have extra medical expenses at home, itâs not worth it, donât you think?"
Liu Eryu paused, thinking it truly wasnât worth it, but if she gave up now, Young Master Dou certainly wouldnât take it seriously; what if he gets robbed by evil men again in the future?
"No, Iâll wait for Young Master Dou. If Young Master Dou doesnât come, Iâll jump down!" Liu Eryu shouted energetically.
Young Master Dou felt a headache forming, standing at the courtyard gate, pointing at her from afar and shouting, "Jump, Liu Eryu, if you donât jump, youâre a coward!"