It has been 3 months since the day that Ying Yue decided on the first step to take to make this body's future better. Learning was a gradual process and thus Ying Yue made sure to properly "consolidate" her knowledge. Using a week to do so, she found out that the characters used here were the same as those characters in the earth's C country.
She remembered a few of the identities she had when she settled there long ago. She had seen changes from ancient to the 21st century. Her knowledge was quite deep. There was even a time when she decided to take up an identity as a doctor and was very familiar with acupuncture and herbal medicines.
Being a goddess, she has a high affinity with nature and was very sensitive to the vitality of the plants and herbs. Using this cheat, she was able to further classify those herbs' toxicity and benefits which made her very successful in this field.
She knew that this era where she was now was way backward with progress and knew that if she was able to do this much, there would be a high guarantee of earning and stabilizing hers and Xiao Hua's future. And if she had no choice but to get married, having a good reputation and work would at least make sure that they would not be bullied.
So with that in mind, Ying Yue sneaked out of the estate every day to visit the public library with the help of Xiao Hua. Although she can do this by herself, Xiao Hua could still be used as a testimony someday as she was able to see the hard work she put in. One day if she decided to leave the shadows to bask under the sunlight, people would certainly have questions and doubts regarding her identity and capability. Xiao Hua would then be a buffer that would tell tales of where and how she got there.
Perhaps this was being too careful and might be wronging Xiao Hua in some ways, but she had no choice. A tale told using half-truths were still credible than that of only lies.
In the past months, she had never been idle, learning all she could and also trying to find some information that she could have from this world.
She had also asked Xiao Hua to buy some herbs using the money this body has put aside. She discovered that the name of the herbs and usage were the same as what she knew. This discovery was like warmth sent on a wintry day.
Right at this time, Xiao Hua just delivered some herbs to her and she was trying to make salves and pastes using the book of the herbal recipe she found from the library. This body of hers was truly very weak that after a few pounding and grinding, she almost lost her breath. She then decided to venture into the forest to train herself and to help some poor animals to earn good karma in passing.
"My lady, what if you allow this servant to go with you? At least this servant can carry your stuff." Xiao Hua this worrywart was still nagging for the nth time.
"Xiao Hua, I will be training there and I will also try the salves and pastes to see how effective they are. I don't know when I can come back so I need you here to pretend as me just in case." Ying Yue knew that Xiao Hua was just looking out for her so she doesn't mind explaining for the hundredth time.
"But my lady, isn't this just putting you in danger?" looking down, Xiao Hua still did not give up changing her mind. "If this is what it took for my lady to have a better future, this servant would rather go back to how we were before." Xiao Hua finished tearing up.
"Xiao Hua" Ying Yue started sternly. "Would you like to see your mistress live this life as an invisible and useless woman?" She then stared at the maid without blinking as if trying to look past her shell and glimpse at her soul.
This made Xiao Hua intimidated. She had never seen her mistress this serious and scary before but thinking back to her mistress' question, she knew the answer to that even without thinking.
"No my lady. I don't want you to suffer but if you are to achieve all these using your life as leverage, I still beg my lady to reconsider." Despite being intimidated, Xiao Hua stared at Ying Yue's eyes. For her, this lady of hers is the only family she has in this world, and she cannot bear to lose her. Though she was just a servant, she truly cared about her master to the point of not hesitating to exchange her own life for her.
Looking at her, Ying Yue cannot help but be soft-hearted. This simple foolish maid has all her emotions written all over her face. With a heartfelt smile, she wiped Xiao Hua's tears then patted her head.
"There, there. Don't cry now. Xiao Hua, you need to remember that there is no free lunch in this world. If you dare to dream about something then you have to burn your flesh and blood to make that dream into reality." Looking straight at the other's eyes " Do you understand what I am saying?"
At that moment, Xiao Hua felt an intense feeling that her mistress was very reliable and whatever happens in the future, this mistress of hers, despite all the blood and tears, will become someone who will never bend in the onslaught of torrents and storms.
With a warm smile, she nodded then helped Ying Yue pack the things she would need in the mountain.