Returning to the inn, Shen Yu handed the Imperial Decree to Yin Qiu for safekeeping.
How could the young girl have ever seen such a display before?
Her hands shook like a sieve as she held the decree.
“Sis — Sister!”
Ying Qiu’s voice was trembling, and her pretty face was filled with utter confusion.
“Sister… I’ve never seen an Imperial Decree before. Where is the best place to put something like this?”
“It’s not just you. To be honest, it’s my first time seeing one as well,”
Shen Yu said casually, her eyes fixed on the Notebook in her hand without looking up.
An Imperial Decree from the Emperor was indeed not something just anyone could receive.
Even for those high-ranking officials and nobles, an Imperial Decree — even if it contained nothing more than a few words of polite greeting — would be carefully preserved in the center of their home’s main hall.
But to Shen Yu… if it weren’t for the fact that she couldn’t just throw it away, she really would have bundled it up and tossed it into the trash.
‘If Grandpa Shen Qingtian saw this thing, he’d probably turn red with rage instantly,’
she thought.
Her Grandpa and the current Empress were famously at odds…
To be more accurate, her Grandpa had been at odds with every Emperor of every generation.
Throughout almost her entire life, Shen Yu had heard all sorts of insults directed at the reigning Emperor tumble from her Grandpa’s mouth.
“Does this mean Sister is a big official now?”
Yin Qiu found a box and cautiously tucked the Imperial Decree away.
She then prepared a basin of hot water, placed it by Shen Yu’s bedside, and knelt on the floor to help her remove her shoes and socks.
“A big official? Not really. Just a tiny Follow Ninth Rank official, and a Medical Officer at that.”
“But that is still very, very amazing! It must be that His Majesty saw Sister’s ability to save people on the street and sent the Imperial Decree for that reason. Good things happen to good people!”
Yin Qiu gently poured the hot water over Shen Yu’s fair, small feet.
Only after confirming the temperature was comfortable did she begin to wash them with great care.
“If Sister goes to work at Huimin Hall tomorrow… then Yin Qiu will go out and find some work washing clothes for others to earn Copper Plates for you. Once we’ve saved enough, we’ll rent our own little courtyard.”
“During the day, you can go to work, and I’ll wash clothes to earn Copper Plates. When Sister returns in the evening, Yin Qiu will have hot meals and bathwater ready, so I can serve you while you eat, bathe, and rest.”
As Yin Qiu earnestly washed Shen Yu’s feet, she secretly vowed to work hard.
As long as she remained diligent, she could help shoulder some of her sister’s burdens.
“That won’t be necessary. You’re coming with me to Huimin Hall to help. Don’t forget, you are my apprentice. Grinding, sorting, and brewing medicinal herbs might not be much easier than washing clothes, but at least it’s more decent work.”
“From now on, Sister will give you two taels of silver in pocket money every month. You can use it to buy things you like.”
Shen Yu was still looking at her Notebook, deciding Yin Qiu’s future in a flat tone.
She didn’t even notice that Yin Qiu’s movements had come to a halt out of sheer shock.
To help Shen Yu at Huimin Hall and work as a Medical Officer’s apprentice in the Capital… these were things Yin Qiu hadn’t even dared to dream of.
“I… Can I really?”
Yin Qiu spoke cautiously, her breathing becoming guarded.
She kept pinching her thigh, terrified that everything before her eyes was just a dream.
“What is it? Are you afraid of waking up early? To be honest, I’m also quite afraid of those early morning roll calls…”
Shen Yu set down her Notebook, intending to comfort the girl, only to see tears the size of beans pitter-pattering into her footbasin.
The girl’s face was flushed red from crying.
She kept wiping her tears with her wet hands, but she couldn’t seem to wipe them away fast enough.
“No, Yin Qiu isn’t afraid. Yin Qiu isn’t afraid of anything. I can endure any hardship… Besides, Sister is willing to take me to Yimin Hall for such decent work. It isn’t a hardship at all.”
“Yin Qiu just… I just want to cry. I only did such small things for Sister, yet Sister is so good to me. I will definitely work hard to repay you. Sob…”
Looking at the crying Yin Qiu, Shen Yu found herself at a loss for words for a moment.
She knew exactly why Yin Qiu was crying.
She also knew why the girl measured her own worth by how much she could provide — because that was the environment she had lived in since childhood.
Her parents didn’t care for her; only her Grandpa had been kind to her.
After her Grandpa passed away, her parents focused all their attention on the boy in the family.
They had even gone so far as to sell Yin Qiu to Human Traffickers when times were difficult.
The way Yin Qiu handled housework was extremely practiced, showing she did such things often at home.
She knew that gathering medicinal herbs on the mountains could earn money and was familiar with their prices, which proved she had frequently dealt with herbs and traders to supplement her family’s income.
Specifically, the image of her holding those few earned Copper Plates in her scarred little hands, offering them up with a gaze full of both eagerness and caution, lingered in Shen Yu’s mind.
Such a good child had worked so hard without asking for anything… she just wanted to live, just wanted to eat her fill.
What was wrong with that?
Yet, reality had never treated her with kindness.