Miss Truth

"I’m not sure about that," Er Dong had only passed by and asked about the situation earlier, knowing only limited details. Seeing Ran Yan seemed particularly interested in the matter, she advised, "This rain should stop before noon. It wasn’t heavy last night, just this morning it wetted the ground a little. We should be able to walk after letting it air out a bit. These matters, they are none of our concern, Wife. You shouldn’t worry and harm your own health."

Ran Yan also felt that Er Dong’s words made sense, but she was extremely bored and thus changed the subject, "Er Dong, you’re from Youzhou, right?"

"How did Wife know?" Er Dong exclaimed in surprise; she had been speaking the official language, after all.

Youzhou, now part of Beijing, though different from ancient times, still retained a hint of its local dialect.

"Just a guess," Ran Yan said with a smile.

Er Dong’s eyes curved like crescents, and a small dimple appeared at the corner of her mouth, "Seventeenth Mistress is really godly. But the official language you speak is excellent too, not a hint of the Jiangnan accent."

The official language of the Tang Dynasty was not Mandarin, thankfully the original owner knew it, otherwise Ran Yan would probably have to put in extra effort.

Er Dong knew exactly why Ran Yan had brought up this topic, and did not disappoint, "Slave and Qian Xue are both from Youzhou. Our lord was doing business in Youzhou and bought us to serve Shilang as personal maids. At that time, I was sold to a brothel, where the madam said I would have to entertain guests once I turned thirteen. I lived every day in fear, counting the days. If I couldn’t escape by thirteen, I planned to hang myself with a rope. Luckily, I was bought less than half a year after being sold, just when our lord was invited to the brothel for drinks, and he took a liking to me and purchased me."