The nearby servants immediately stepped forward, swiftly and cleanly sweeping everything up.

The whole affair proceeded without fuss, quiet and orderly — as though this kind of scene happened often enough that no one found it worth remarking on anymore.

Qiao Na fixed Fu Miaoxue with a cold stare. “Not only have you behaved disgracefully at the table, you’ve also hurled insults at will and shown no basic respect for food. Since that is the case, Miss, you will not be eating this meal.” She calmly instructed the servants: “Clear Miss’s place setting, and make sure none of the broken porcelain or glass shards injure her.”

The servants answered in unison, then continued cleaning.

Fu Miaoxue let out a cold snort, every inch the proud and unreasonable princess. “Fine, I won’t eat! What’s the big deal!”

She rose and walked off.

Qiao Na called after her: “Evening lessons begin at three o’clock in the afternoon. Please do not be late, Miss.”

Fu Miaoxue paid her no mind whatsoever, her steps quick and sharp, trailing a cloud of seething anger as she disappeared from Qiao Na’s line of sight.

Only Qiao Na and Bai Youwei remained at the dining table.

Bai Youwei thought for a moment, set down her utensils, and gave Qiao Na a polite bow. “I’ve finished eating. Please excuse me.”

She then left the dining room as well, heading off in the direction Fu Miaoxue had gone.

……

Bai Youwei had noticed that this tutor, Qiao Na, was no ordinary woman. Every servant in the estate answered to her, and even Fu Miaoxue — willful and impossible as she was — couldn’t escape her authority.

What she didn’t know yet was how long the cycle of this dream lasted. If every day meant living under this kind of pressure, she suspected it wouldn’t be too difficult to take Fu Miaoxue out of here.

Bai Youwei followed the trail all the way to the garden.

Fu Miaoxue had snapped off every marigold along the path as she walked — clearly furious.

When Bai Youwei found her, she was perched on a wooden bench in the garden, plucking at the flowers in her hand, a storm cloud settled over her expression.

There was no question about it: whoever had the misfortune of appearing before her right now would bear the brunt of her rage.

Bai Youwei had no intention of becoming anyone’s punching bag.

Her task was to get Fu Miaoxue out — not to placate her. So she found a chair in another part of the garden, sat down without a trace of guilt, and settled in to rest while keeping an eye on Fu Miaoxue from a distance.

What she hadn’t expected was that someone would actually walk over without a care for the consequences.

She watched a man in a cap stride toward Fu Miaoxue and strike up a conversation.

He wore an orange workman’s uniform and thick canvas gloves — all the hallmarks of one of the estate’s gardeners.

Bai Youwei felt a flicker of schadenfreude, already imagining whether Fu Miaoxue would tear into him with words or simply go straight for a beating.

What happened next caught her completely off guard: Fu Miaoxue smiled.

Her laughter rang out clear as a bell, drifting all the way to Bai Youwei’s ears. Bai Youwei blinked, struggling to believe what she was hearing.

Then the worker removed his cap, and a familiar face was finally revealed —

He reached into the cap and produced a beautiful rose, which he tucked beside Fu Miaoxue’s ear. She laughed without stopping, reaching out to snatch the cap and turn it completely inside out — empty, nothing inside at all.

Bai Youwei stared from across the garden, dumbfounded.

So this was how Du Lai and Fu Miaoxue had met.

One was the young miss of an underworld family. The other was… a gardener?

Wait — how had Du Lai ended up working as a gardener here?

……

Fu Miaoxue turned the cap completely upside down and inside out, eyes bright as she looked at Du Lai.

“I figured it out — you must have hidden the rose in the cap beforehand, right? Now that there’s nothing left in it, can you still pull something out?”

Du Lai smiled. “I can’t manage it anymore. But Miss is so beautiful — perhaps the cap would be willing to listen to you.”

He turned the cap over, his deft and slender fingers giving a light flick against the brim, and asked with theatrical gravity: “Oh, cap, dear cap — do you have a gift you’d like to give to Miss?”

Fu Miaoxue was tickled by his act. “Stop performing…”

“Miss, the cap says it has a gift for you.” Du Lai smiled. “Now, please put your hand inside—”