Her mistress might have actually sought death in the past, but ever since she recovered from her illness, she saw through things and would not actually ram her head against a pillar. If being truthful though, even her mistress in the past would not have rammed her head against a pillar, because it would hurt.
"But Longan Temple just helped us, so I have to go over and thank them," Chu Yue said.
"Your medicine is almost ready. Milady, you should drink it first before you go."
"These are to nourish the body. Drink it yourself. Your body is weaker than mine." Chu Yue waved her hand in dismissal and "feebly" went off to search for her monk.
But before she went to him, she visited the kitchen to boil water to wash his feet. It was too late to cook dinner now, so he should have already eaten.
When the monk saw that she had actually brought over the basin to wash his feet, he could not help but say, "Why didn't you stay in your house to rest?"
"I came over to thank you for helping me clear my name," Chu Yue said gently.
"Come in, it's cold outside." The monk took the basin in her hands and moved to the side.
Chu Yue hesitated for a moment before she shook her head. "I don't think I should go in."
"Why?" The monk looked at her.
"With my background, I'm already very satisfied that you were willing to give me this job so that I will not have to endure hunger and suffer from the cold during winter. I do not want to get you involved with me and have the people in the world regard you coolly," Chu Yue said with a weak smile.
"It will not bother me even if the world regards me coldly. Come in."
Once he finished speaking, he brought the hot water into the room.
Chu Yue stared at his back before she entered the room with him. Then, she shut the door partially.
"You do not have to be so cautious."
The monk knew why she did it and came over to shut the door, which blocked off the wind and snow outside.
"Master, thank you for helping me."
Chu Yue said nothing else. She just thanked him weakly.
"I just had someone tell them the truth. Did they apologize to you?" the monk asked while looking at her.
"Yes." Chu Yue smiled and looked up at him. "Master, let me wash your feet."
"Alright."
The monk wanted to refuse at first, since she was so weak, but when he saw how expectant she looked, he sighed softly in his heart and nodded.
He removed his shoes and put his feet into the basin.
The widow sat down on the small stool and started washing his feet. Her gentle and obedient look made it hard for anyone to imagine that she had actually tried to ram her head against a pillar to prove her innocence earlier.
"If you have never done something, they cannot accuse you of it. You do not need to do something so extreme to prove your innocence," the monk said.
"They… were not too far off in their accusations," the widow admitted with her head lowered.
"Hmm?" The monk did not understand.
The widow looked up and cast him a glance before she lowered her head and continued washing his feet. "I… feel guilty."
Those words were not supposed to mean anything, but the monk felt as if his heart had been caressed by a feather. He lowered his head and looked at the widow's crown.
However, Chu Yue said nothing else about it. She just washed his feet and said, "Master, please rest early. I will go back first. Tomorrow, I will come over to make breakfast for you."
Then, she went back. The monk wanted to keep her around to speak to her, but when he opened his mouth, the words died on his tongue.
When Chu Yue returned to the courtyard, she saw Yingda waiting for her. In his hands was the mink cloak that the monk wore.
"Isn't that the master's mink cloak?" she asked in puzzlement.
"The master asked me to give it to you. Wear it."
Yingda found himself admiring the widow. It was a high-grade mink cloak that was the only one like that in the palace, but the master asked him to give it to her.
"Wait."
Chu Yue put the mink cloak aside and warmed a bowl of sweet yam and glutinous rice balls soup over the stove. It was something she had made with Hupo a few days ago.
The yam balls and glutinous rice balls were around the size of a fingernail. They were sweet but not too rich in flavor if they were eaten together and had the fragrance of yam. They were perfect as snacks.
Yingda put the bowl of sweet yam and glutinous rice balls in a lunch box and delivered it to the temple. The monk had a gentle look on his face when he saw it. "She is truly attentive."
'Widow, you earned big. You managed to get a high-grade mink cloak with just a bowl of yam and glutinous rice balls!'
When Eunuch Feng sent over the book of reports the next day, he saw the widow wearing the master's mink cloak, and his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets from shock.
He quickly hid in a corner to call Yingda over. "Tell me, quick. What happened? Why is the master's mink cloak on her?"
He had just been gone for a few days. Why was the change so big?
"The master gave it to her," Yingda said.
"You don't say. Of course I know that the master gave it to her. Why else would she dare to wear it? I'm asking why the master would give her that mink cloak out of the blue? It was a tribute from outside the borders!"
There was only one such mink cloak in the entire palace. In the past, Prince Qin had wanted to exchange it with plenty of game, but the monk was reluctant to hand it over, even if he was Prince Qin's royal uncle.
That was why Eunuch Feng did not expect that the widow would be able to get it.
"She got it for a bowl of yam balls," Yingda said.
Eunuch Feng was flabbergasted. "A bowl of yam balls?"
"There were also glutinous rice balls in it." Yingda nodded.
Eunuch Feng felt incredibly anxious. "Stop speaking in fragments. Just tell me what happened here over the past few days I wasn't around in one go!"
Yingda gave him a simple version of the events before he went to hide.
Eunuch Feng was left standing alone. He looked astonished and shocked. "Based on this widow's methods, it doesn't feel like she is from a small, normal family."
Eunuch Feng was not Yingda. He stayed in the palace all year long, and now, he was also managing all the eunuchs in the palace.
The master had not filled up his harem yet. He only had the women he had married when he was not an emperor yet. But Eunuch Feng had seen the imperial dowager consorts fight among themselves in the past.
He was thinking about how to get some experience to fend against women like them in the future.
But against his expectations, before his master's harem even began fighting over each other, the widow was a step ahead of the others and increased his knowledge.
She was incredible. With just a bowl of yam balls, she managed to get a rare treasure from his master, and the important thing was that his master was absolutely content with it.
When she entered the palace, even if her starting point was low, with her abilities and her preemptive actions, she would not have to worry about anything.
Eunuch Feng decided he wanted to have a good relationship with Chu Yue.
He waited at the entrance, believing that she was about to come out. But he did not expect that he would have to wait for nearly two hours before she left.
His master also stood at the entrance to send her off!
Eunuch Feng was dumbfounded. 'My goodness! Is this widow actually a fox spirit?!'
"Send her downhill," the monk said faintly.
"Understood," Eunuch Feng quickly agreed to it. Then, he sent Chu Yue downhill.
"I'm sorry for the trouble, Sir. You can just drop me off here. Please go back," Chu Yue said when they were at the mountainside.
"The master asked me to send you downhill, so I must send you downhill," Eunuch Feng said with a smile.
Chu Yue did not say anything else. When they reached the foot of the mountain, Eunuch Feng smiled. "Ma'am, you have a bright future ahead of you."
"Sir, whatever do you mean?" Chu Yue asked, even though she knew the answer.