Yan Ningshuang had never heard such words in all her life. She was both frightened until her face turned green and trembling with rage.
“You, you despicable servant!”
Xiangqin blinked and looked left and right with an innocent, bewildered expression: “Despicable what? Despicable person? Third Young Madam, who are you calling a despicable person?”
Yan Ningshuang pointed at her with a trembling finger: “You…”
Xiangqin pouted and said pitifully: “Me? Why is the despicable person calling for me?”
Yan Ningshuang was so infuriated that she nearly rolled her eyes and fainted. But when she had come to find Ren Yaoqi today, she had first dismissed all her maids. Now, when she wanted to call someone to help her discipline this servant who dared to rebel against her superior, she couldn’t find anyone. To personally engage in a scuffle with a maid would truly be beneath her dignity.
As the first maid of the Ren family, Xiangqin was naturally not foolish. The reason she dared to so brazenly bully Yan Ningshuang was that she had identified that there was no one around her. Even if Yan Ningshuang wanted to report her, she couldn’t produce evidence. Moreover, even if Yan Ningshuang wanted to lodge a complaint, where could she go? Submit a petition to the Empress Dowager? Xiangqin laughed smugly in her heart, certain that Yan Ningshuang could do nothing to her at the moment.
Just as Xiangqin was secretly plotting to add more fuel to the fire and either anger or frighten Yan Ningshuang to death, someone suddenly emerged from a side path.
They were walking in a long corridor, and the side path from which the person emerged was blocked by dense shrubs and a large tree, so neither of them had seen or heard footsteps approaching.
Xiangqin’s heart skipped a beat, thinking that her recent bullying of Yan Ningshuang might have been overheard. This would be terrible. With this thought, Xiangqin’s expression also turned unpleasant, and she couldn’t help but secretly observe the newcomer.
The person who suddenly appeared was a young man wearing a light blue straight robe. He wasn’t particularly tall and even appeared somewhat frail, but he had an extremely handsome appearance with red lips and white teeth.
After getting a clear look at his features, Xiangqin couldn’t help but pause, wondering if this was the manor’s accountant or some scholar who had appeared from somewhere. But as soon as this thought emerged, Xiangqin felt something was amiss, because although this young man appeared refined and handsome, his eyes were dark and deep, seeming bottomless when you looked into them—certainly not the kind of gaze a scholar should have. Xiangqin pondered over his appearance and temporarily forgot her fear.
It was the furious Yan Ningshuang who reacted first, pointing at Xiangqin and commanding the newcomer: “Seize this despicable servant for me!”
Yan Ningshuang recognized all the masters in the manor. Since this young man was dressed yet able to appear here, she assumed he was an accountant or minor steward in the manor. As the Third Young Madam of Yanbei Prince’s Manor, she certainly had the qualification to order around a servant.
Unfortunately, after she finished giving her command, the young man merely glanced at her without even stopping his steps. Although that glance showed no emotion, it somehow made Yan Ningshuang break out in goosebumps all over.
However, Yan Ningshuang was currently inflamed with anger from Xiangqin’s provocation, so she ignored the discomfort in her heart and angrily shouted: “Stop!”
The young man frowned but still stopped his steps, turned around to look at Yan Ningshuang with his pitch-black gaze, and said nothing.
Thinking that this man must have heard the maid’s insolent words, and that she must make this matter known to the Prince and Princess Consort so that this maid’s master, Ren Yaoqi, would apologize to her in front of everyone, Yan Ningshuang suppressed the inexplicable urge to retreat and softened her tone toward the young man: “Which department are you a steward of? Did you just hear this maid’s insubordinate words?”
The young man followed Yan Ningshuang’s gesture and turned to glance at Xiangqin, who was anxiously standing to the side.
This girl, Xiangqin, had always been like this—toward people she disliked, even if they were of higher status than her, she would still bully them when no one was looking. However, the prerequisite was avoiding public view. She understood her position as a maid better than anyone and knew that many things couldn’t be done in broad daylight.
So now Xiangqin’s face was somewhat pale. She wasn’t afraid of being scolded; she was afraid that her rashness would bring trouble to her Second Young Miss. For a first maid, this would be shameful. Thus, unconsciously, Xiangqin looked at the young man with somewhat pitiful eyes.
The young man looked at Xiangqin for a while, and just when he was about to make Xiangqin cry, he said three cold words: “Didn’t hear anything!”
Both Yan Ningshuang and Xiangqin were stunned. Yan Ningshuang was dumbfounded, while Xiangqin was overjoyed. She instinctively used the fawning and coquettish skills she usually employed in front of her master, grinning foolishly at the young man.
When Yan Ningshuang came to her senses, her face turned green. Originally, given her status, she wouldn’t deign to argue with a servant, but her mood today was truly terrible, and this maid had been excessively bullying. Yan Ningshuang simply couldn’t swallow that breath, and this suddenly appearing man dared to lie blatantly in front of her. It was so quiet here that she didn’t believe he had heard anything.
“How could you not have heard! Could it be that you’re in cahoots with this despicable servant?”
The young man’s somewhat gloomy gaze settled on her again, as if he were finally looking at her properly. He examined her from head to toe, then spoke as if spitting ice chips: “And who are you?”
Yan Ningshuang was stunned.
“Pfft—” This time, Xiangqin couldn’t help but laugh out loud, and all her previous tension evaporated.
This maid, Xiangqin, had a very bad habit—she liked to judge people by their appearance. Back when she was at the Ren family, she was more pleasant toward good-looking young servants. Seeing that this young man was not only handsome but also had a very kind heart, she immediately considered him one of her people and said with a grin, “Little brother, don’t you recognize her? Aren’t you from Yanbei Prince’s Manor? This is the Empress Dowager’s grand-niece who came from the capital, the famous Miss Yan of Yanbei, now the Third Young Madam of the manor.”
The young man didn’t spare Yan Ningshuang another glance, only coldly replied: “Don’t know her.”
Yan Ningshuang watched these two people seemingly working together to humiliate her. Knowing that continuing to waste time with them would only bring more humiliation, she gritted her teeth and suppressed the anger and shame in her heart, glared fiercely at them both, then straightened her back and quickly walked past them to leave.
Xiangqin watched Yan Ningshuang’s retreating figure, blinked, then turned to ask her newly acquainted companion: “That’s not right! She’s just leaving like that?”
Her companion glanced at her.
Xiangqin asked her companion somewhat glumly: “Shouldn’t she have been furious and pointed at us, saying ‘Just you wait and see’ before leaving? Or at least pounced on me to scratch my face?”
Regarding Yan Ningshuang’s failure to “play by the rules,” Xiangqin was very dissatisfied. She hadn’t finished tormenting that shameless woman yet.
Her companion quietly watched the rich and varied expressions on her face, then condescended to ask: “Are you asking for a beating?”
If anyone else had heard this, they would be angry, thinking it was an insult. But this girl Xiangqin was different—she was very magnanimous toward people she found agreeable. Upon hearing this, she grinned with a sly expression: “No, the one asking for a beating isn’t me.”
The young man seemed to tilt his head in thought, then when he looked up, Yan Ningshuang, who had already walked out of the corridor, suddenly slipped and fell to the ground with a shriek.
Xiangqin couldn’t help but stare in amazement. The ground under Yan Ningshuang’s feet was perfectly flat—how had she managed to fall? And it looked like she had twisted her ankle, grimacing in pain and unable to get up.
However, Xiangqin quickly cast this small doubt aside. She was always skilled at gloating over enemies’ misfortunes, so she immediately covered her mouth and laughed. She had no intention of calling someone to help Yan Ningshuang up, but instead gave her newly acquainted companion a meaningful look, suggesting he follow her as they left by another path.
The young man glanced at her and obediently followed her.
Only when Yan Ningshuang’s unfortunate state was out of sight did Xiangqin laugh so hard she bent forward and backward, then said to her newly acquainted companion with a brilliant smile: “You must be one of my master’s subordinates, right? You’re a good person!”
Xiangqin wasn’t stupid either. In this manor, someone who wouldn’t take the Xiao family’s Third Young Madam seriously and would even cover for her must be one of their people.
“Good person?” The young man seemed somewhat surprised and turned to look at her. After a long moment, he suddenly curved his lips in a rare smile. His features were already somewhat striking, and this sudden smile carried a seductive quality that made Xiangqin stare at him in a daze.
The young man looked at the silly little maid staring at him intently and, unusually, didn’t get angry. Instead, his smile became even brighter, and his voice changed from its usual coldness to something soft and coaxing: “Are you the Young Madam’s maid? What’s your name?”
The silly big maid was befuddled by beauty and didn’t sense the danger, replying dazedly: “My name is Xiangqin. I’m not a maid of Yanbei Prince’s Manor—I’m from the Lei family.”
“From the Lei family?” Upon hearing this, the young man seemed to encounter some difficulty and frowned slightly, but soon he smiled again and nodded at Xiangqin.
“Xiangqin, I’ll remember that.”
Xiangqin smiled somewhat embarrassedly, looking foolish no matter how you looked at it.
“Xiao Shun.” The young man suddenly spoke.
“Ah?” Xiangqin didn’t react immediately.
“My name is Xiao Shun.” Xiao Shun said to Xiangqin with a smile.
“Oh, Xiao Shun.” Xiangqin blinked and nodded.
Xiao Shun looked at Xiangqin for a while longer, then said gently: “Well then, let’s wait and see.” Having said this, he left without looking back.
“Mm, ah?” Looking at Xiao Shun’s retreating figure, she stood stunned for a long while, then muttered inexplicably: “That, that’s not how you use that phrase! Hey!”
That evening, when Xiao Jingxi and Ren Yaoqi were retiring for the night, Xiao Jingxi suddenly asked: “Does Mrs. Lei have a maid named Xiangqin?”
Ren Yaoqi was helping Xiao Jingxi change clothes and felt somewhat puzzled upon hearing this: “What’s wrong? Has she caused trouble again?”