Our Second Master

Our Second Master is injured

I did not leave. I also did not know why I did not leave. Maybe it was the tears shed by Old Mistress Yang when I asked about Second Master. Later, all the people left - not only the servants, the female family members returned to their maternal homes, Old Mistress Yang took a few maidens and left. Before she left she told me, please take care of this place. In a while, Second Master will return.

But, First Master did not leave. He said that the Yang Family that Old Master Yang left behind cannot collapse like this. He told his wife to return to her family and he will return for her. I personally thought that he said it just to comfort his wife. The servants left were only three - me, Granny Feng and a servant of First Master. Even First Master's wife had left.

First Master's servant was called Yuan Sheng. One day while we were doing chores, he asked me why I stayed and I did not answer. I asked him back why did he stay. He said that he owed a debt of gratitude to First Master and he cannot be ungrateful. Then he asked me, if I stayed because I owed a debt of gratitude to Second Master. I only laughed then. Not to speak of gratitude, but Second Master to me, it was already very good if there is no vengeance. But, I didn't say this because I would have to spend energy explaining if I did. So, I said yes, Second Master did a great act of kindness to me and I cannot forget this debt of gratitude. After hearing this, Yuan Sheng pulled me aside and said in a small voice, "You are also a loyal servant. Second Master shall be taken care of by you." I paused, these words were not spoken lightly, so I asked him, "Why?"  Yuan Sheng's expression was not good but he told me, "Something went wrong with the business group right? They didn't only delay the emperor's shipment, they met enemies."

I asked him, "What enemy?"

"Who knows,"  Yuan Sheng said, "When a business prospers, there will be many enemies. Seeing the Yang Family lose power, someone robbed them on their way back. Old Master Yang didn't even have a chance and went... ah..."

Don't only sigh, I asked again, "Then our Second Master?"

Yuan Sheng replied, "Our Second Master managed to escape with his life, but..."

I really wanted to slap him, "What happened?"

Yuan Sheng stated, "I heard that he is crippled."

That day, I was in a daze. Yuan Sheng said that Second Master's legs were seriously injured. He had slightly recovered and was on his way back to Hangzhou. I started to calculate, how serious was seriously injured? Broken? Lame? At that time, I did not think about it too deeply. I only thought that if his legs were injured, he would recover after lying in bed. Knowing Second Master's temper, I wonder how many kicks I must suffer.

So, I still earnestly hoped that Second Master will quickly recover. It turned out that I was simply too naive. The day that Second Master returned, I opened the door. Truthfully, I could not recognise him at all. There was a cart pulled by a cow. A fifty-year old plus rider with shabby clothes. I thought it was a beggar and said, "Master, you should go somewhere else, we almost cannot cook already." The old man waved his hand and pointed to the back. With a thick foreign accent, he said, "I sent this here. You have to give me two taels."  I turned to the back and saw the cart was covered with rice straw, I thought I saw the glimpse of clothes. I walked over and said, "What is this, who called you?"