The waiter then kept looking at her with a puzzled look, still holding onto her, until a light cough brought him back to reality.
"Are you hurt anywhere?" He asked lowly.
She shook her head lightly.
"HELP! HELP! My Mistress is gravely injured!" A maid spoke. She came out of the carriage with her forehead bleeding, limping towards them. She looked very distressed and quite pitiful.
The waiter left Ai's side and went to see the broken carriage. The inside was a mess! Among the broken china and torn fabrics, a pretty girl had fainted, her left arm was heavily bleeding and her leg was buried under some heavier parts of the broken carriage. The waiter called out some female helpers from the shops next to the restaurant. He was a man after all, it would not be appropriate for him to touch the lady.
Once the woman was out, Ai could see the extent of her wounds.
"We need water and clean tissue and ...!"
Before she even finished speaking, a small bassin of hot water was in front of her with a clean handkerchief.
Ai cleaned the cuts on the lady's arm and poured some powder she retrieved from her sash. This should help stop the bleeding and heal faster. She then bandaged it. Afterwards, Ai proceeded to clean the rest of her wounds. She was calm, methodic and fast.
As Ai was helping the fainted lady, the lady's maid was anxiously monitoring Ai's every move, despite her injuries while mumbling and sobbing..
"What will I do...what should be done....what will I do...oh my god...oh my god...My poor mistress, what will happen to her now?"
As for the waiter, he was looking at Ai's with an intrigued look. The manner in which she took control of the situation had greatly impressed him. For he wasn't just a waiter, but also the owner of the stall, as well as the owner of the multiple shops along the streets.
Today, he felt rather bored and had decided to play around by being the waiter for the day. He felt rather lucky he had stumbled upon such an interesting person. This young girl was definitely... not simple.
"How is she?" He asked Ai politely.
"She fainted but no serious injuries. She'll just need to rest a few days." Ai answered simply.
Looking at the maid that was crying next to the lady, Ai signalled to her to come. She applied some ointment on the maid ankle that was already looking swollen and cleaned the bloody forehead and bandaged it as well.
"You should be fine. But as for the wound on your face, I cleaned it up as much as I could, but it may leave a faint scar." Ai told her apologetic. In this period of time, face and lineage were the most important assets for a woman and Ai knew that a scar on her face may impede this maid's matrimonial chances.
As the maid heard Ai's words, she cried even more loudly. She was just a young girl and now her face will have a scar. It was unknown yet how she would be punished for going out with her lady and failing to protect her.
The sobs were quite heartbreaking. Ai felt sorry for the young maid who looked younger than her.
"There...is an ointment that can help healing the wound without scarring. It's called the 1000 miracles cream." Ai said hesitantly. "However, I don't have it. If you are able to find the genius Xi's doctor, you may be able to get a hold of it."
At that exact moment, a few moans could be heard from the fainted lady. It looked like she was about to wake up.
"Mistress, the Gods helped us! You awoke!!! I was so scared!!!!" The maid precipitedly grabbed her Lady's hands. Unfortunately, the maid holded on the hand that was attached to the hurt arm. As she pulled on it, the pain in the arm became so intense the Lady fainted again.
"What...happened?" The maid looked at Ai's with big horrified eyes.
"She just fainted. It's normal, she must be in quite a pain. It won't do to leave her here. You should arrange for your Lady to be resting in a proper bed."
The waiter, that had stayed silent until now, offered to the maid a place to rest.
"Annexed to our tea shop is our inn, if you don't mind this humble accommodation, we could let your lady rest there."
The maid was young and inexperienced. Seeing someone taking charge of the situation, she was actually relieved. She just nodded her head in gratitude while tears came to her eyes.
The waiter waved to the female helpers so they could helped bringing the lady in one of the rooms of the inn. Once the lady was settled in the bed, the maid calmed down a bit and profusely thanked both the waiter and the young girl that provided them with first aid.
"My Mistress is the daughter of the Wen family. The family master will handsomely reward you. My name is Shi Wen and my Mistress name is Ning Wen. May I ask you to send a word to the Wen's Manor please?"
"Sure Maid Wen. Please care well for your lady and do not forget to rest too, we will come look again for a few days. If you need anything, you can always ask for the inn manager." The waiter had heard of the Wen family and didn't mind having them owning him a favor. In his line of business, trading favors were much more useful than trading money.
The waiter and Ai then returned to the tea shop.
"Miss, I am impressed by the care you provided. How may I help repay you?"
"It was nothing. Must help when one can. The day is no longer young. Would you know when the apothicary shop owner will be there? "
Ai wanted to minimize her involvement and keep a low profile at the moment. Even though, this young lady was a great opportunity to infiltrate the high society, she was also a hard core fan of the male version of Ai Shang and Ai didn't want to risk blowing her cover yet. Besides, she still had to care for the old man in the ancestral hall.
"If Miss can show me her prescription, I may be able to help." The waiter said with a smirk.