âArenât you here to see the Private Mansion and the plays?â Xin Lan and Lin Fang, the two maids, exchanged looks then asked the others carefully.
âUm⊠Itâs like this⊠Weâre your Masterâs family members. Weâre here to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival together. Do you need to go and notify someone?â Xue Li had never talked humbly like this to the servants. And now, he was using a negotiating tone to talk with a maid, which confused Jian Heng and Jian Yue who were standing by him. Feng Ruo Er smiled at the others as she nodded and received the cup of hot tea Lin Fang handed her. She enjoyed the tea.
âFamily members?â Xin Lan was a little worried, giving Lin Fang a look. They didnât look like Prince Jingâs people. Whose family members were they? Guyeâs side?
âAs youâre the distinguished guests of the private mansion, please follow Xin Lan.â Xin Lan walked around the table, giving the four a curtsy then talked to Xue Li. She turned to ask Lin Fang. âIâll be right back. Donât forget to remind the visitors of things they need to pay attention to.â Lin Fang shot her an assuring look. Then, Xin Lan smiled, signaling Xue Liâs team to follow her.
âWhat do we need to pay attention to?â Xue Li was curious.
Xin Lan listed him the requirements mostly for the visitors during the time the theater was here to perform. Eventually, she smiled, explaining. âPlease excuse Xin Lan, although youâre our Masterâs family members, please cooperate with us and follow the things you need to pay attention to during your stay in the Private Mansion.â
Xue Li smiled and nodded. A well-thought and well-spoken maid, excellent! He turned around and checked Jian Heng who was wearing an emotionless face, walking behind him. He thought that it would be the match arranged by heaven if she married that taciturn young man.
âI wonder how old you are this year?â If he gets the thought, he must take action immediately. Although it was a little direct when he asked such a question, who was he? He was the supreme emperor of the Blood Union. Would he mind such trivial things?
ââŠâ Xin Lan was a little confused, blinking. She didnât know how to answer such a question. She was a little worried. As the other looked like a righteous gentleman, he wouldnât want to make her his concubine would he? She had joined the mansion at the same time with Chun Lan, so she wasnât a young girl anymore. When this year ended, she would turn seventeen. Half a year ago, because of a personnel shortage in the private mansion, she, Feng Ting, Xin Zhi, and the other three servants including Lin Fang were sent here by the Elder Wangfei to help Chun Lan with the chores around the private mansion. They were all the first-grade maids. This time, Chun Lan was afraid that the new maids wouldnât be able to deal with the difficult guests so she asked Xin Lan and Lin Feng, Xin Zhi and Jiang Qi to wait at the entrance to the private mansion to welcome and remind the guests.
It was the first and only time Fan Hua Town was open to welcome the people around to visit the town and enjoy the performance at a large scale. They wouldnât want to see any unwanted events happen.
Although she had to bear the difficulties of a maidâs life, she didnât think being a maid is more painful than being someoneâs concubine. At least, she was much happier than the concubines and Yiniangs stuck in the harem and struggling against each other. She loved her job and current life here. Especially, as she had been living half a year in the private mansion, she was more determined to be a maid for the rest of her life and stay here forever.
âGirl?â Xue Li felt funny studying absent-minded Xin Lan. Noticing his wifeâs annoyed eyes, he whispered in Feng Ruo Erâs ear, âJian Hengâs twenty-six years old already. If I donât find him a wife, his father will rise from his grave and deal with me.â
Jian Heng and Jian Yue were Jian Qiuâs son and daughter, who was the first-grade imperial guard of Blood Unionâs palace. Twenty-four years ago, in the bloody fight against Xue Ying, Jian Qiu got the merit of protecting the Emperor. However, he got shot by a poisoned arrow, which took his life. Before he died, he only asked Xue Li to take care of his three-year-old son and daughter. However, ten years ago, after one month being missing in a mission outside the palace and when she came back, Jian Yue had closed her heart. When she was at the right age to get married, she had resolutely denied all kinds of men Feng Ruo Er had introduced her to. If she were forced, she would kill herself. Seeing her being so stubborn, they finally gave up on her marriage. Although she didnât say a word, they vaguely guessed it would be something related to that event. However, they didnât know who the damned man, who deserved one hundred stabs, made her decide to close her heart for the rest of her life.
Jian Heng was a clumsy, wooden and slow of speech man. They were afraid that if they let him find a woman himself, he wouldnât be able to do that. However, the girls Feng Ruo Er had introduced to him had all blamed him for being so dull. They rejected him. And then, after several failed attempts, he became even more silent.
Feng Ruo Er finally understood and nodded. She had thought that Xue Li wasnât that sort of man so why did he notice a maid he had just met for the first time? It turned out⊠Would it really work with him randomly matching the red thread like this?
âMy apologies, Xin Lan was disrespectful. The house ahead is our Mastersâ home. May this maid know who you want to meet?â Xin Lan took the chance to change the topic in hope that the others wouldnât stare at her anymore.
âYour Guye.â Seeing her being timid, Xue Li didnât mind the fact that she avoided his question. No matter what, he got plenty of time as they would stay here for fifteen days. He wasnât afraid that she would run away. He was just afraid that taciturn Jian Heng wouldnât get it.