Even after a very long time had passed, even though the deserted hall of the orphanage, located in the southwest corner of Duke Mansion—a place too neglected for the occupants to bother hanging a plaque—had long been covered in a thick layer of dust.
Even though the orphans who once stood in that hall, waiting for fate to cast its die, had since each found their own destinies, settling the dust.
Some remained in Duke Mansion, serving as low-class servants, fetching tea and water; some, clever and attentive, became high-class maids caring for the master; others, fortunate in their luck, were taken as concubines by Zhao family sons and transformed into masters.
Some redeemed themselves quietly, leaving the mansion, marrying into ordinary families, living lives filled with the mundane necessities of firewood, rice, oil, and salt.
