Chapter 2 How about Master's skill

Li Qiufeng pushed open the door of the woodshed with a vermilion undergarment, a long white skirt and a pair of bright pink embroidered shoes in his hands. San followed him in with a wooden comb and a bronze mirror.

"Get up! You sleep like a log," San shouted to Dong Ci.

Ci woke up and licked her dry and cracked lips.

Li Qiufeng said to San, "Go and fetch water."

"Okay," San replied and made for the door. When he walked out of the woodshed, he gave a snort of disdain.

Before long he came back with a big wooden barrel and began to fill the barrel with water. Through a haze of steaming water, he saw Ci trembling slightly.

San slavered, but soon came to himself and went out. In the yard, he kicked a stone and it bounded forth a long distance.

Ci took off her clothes and got into the wooden barrel with her eyes closed. A few lice immediately appeared on the surface of water. The lice were good at swimming, so they wouldn't be drowned for the time being. The noxious sore on the crown of her head tickled because of getting wet. She couldn't help but scratch it and blood was promptly pouring from the wound. Soon the water turned light red.

Li Qiufeng said, "Bent down!"

The girl had delicate skin, a slender waist and a jutting collarbone. He soaped her back which didn't feel smooth because it was too dirty.

He picked up a crude brush which was used for brushing cattle and horses, and began to brush the dirt off her back, black water streaming down. Ci moaned with tears, "My back is paining..."

'Only in this way can you be washed clean,' Li Qiufeng thought and kept brushing her back hard.

After washing her body with the brush three times, Li Qiufeng finally stopped. San had aches in the arms because of carrying water continuously. He couldn't help but complain outside the door, "I'm tired. Have you scrubbed her clean?"

Li Qiufeng smiled, "Yes."

Ci climbed out of the barrel to get dressed, and then twisted her hair into a bun and pinned it at the back of her head with a silk flower hairpin. The clothes fitted her well and she smelled nice.

Li Qiufeng looked at her in surprise and said, "You are really beautiful."

Ci knelt down and begged, "Master, please help me. I want to go on living."

The flesh on his face slightly trembled. "I... I am getting old," he murmured.

Ci was kneeling on the floor and stared at him with imploring eyes.

"You can play the lute in my teahouse. I will provide accommodation for you and besides, you can get 50 grams of silver per month." Li Qiufeng raised Ci's chin with his forefinger and continued, "Move out of the woodshed. From now on, you can sleep in the room for maids."

Ci made a bow to him and followed San to the maid's room. San asked curiously, "How about Master's skill?"

Ci felt puzzled and asked, "What?"

San raised his eyebrows and snorted, "Don't pretend. You know what I'm getting at."

Ci stopped asking questions and expressed her gratitude to San for his help.

"Sooner or later you will be driven away." San spat on the ground and walked out of the room.

San didn't know that Ci looked like Li Qiufeng's daughter who had died from tuberculosis. It's natural for men to have a lust for women. A randy man would be kind-hearted when he was deeply touched. But when a gentleman was driven by lust, he would become a wild animal. The man who looked ugly and ferocious with a fleshy nevus on his chin, was not a bad guy.

In the evening, Li Qiufeng asked Ci to play the Chinese lute. When she finished playing, he gave her a bottle of ointment and said, "Apply the ointment to your noxious sore. The sore will soon heal up and your hair will grow back."

"Thank you, Master." Ci sensed that there was something strange in his attitude toward her, which mystified her.

"Before your recovery, stay in the room and practice the lute. Don't worry about anything else." Li Qiufeng pointed at the kitchen and continued, "Tomorrow you can go to the kitchen and eat with other servants."

Ci immediately knelt and kowtowed to him. "Thank you, Master."

Li Qiufeng let out a long sigh and left.