Chang Yuncheng walked through the front door, flicking the horse whip in his hand, which the following servant caught steadily.
“Lord, shall I have the clothes sent to the study?” the servant asked.
Chang Yuncheng’s clothes were already soaked through and covered with quite a bit of dust.
These days he always stayed in the study. For someone who had been wielding swords and spears since childhood, the study was a very unfamiliar place. Although he had a study room like his younger brothers and studied reading and writing at night, in his twenty-four years, the times he had entered it could be counted on one hand, and even adding them all up wouldn’t equal this recent period.
Whispers that the Lord was avoiding the Young Madam had already begun spreading secretly throughout the mansion.
The Young Madam was quite formidable now—hadn’t they seen how Madam Dong was dismissed from her duties without even daring to make a fuss…
Was the Lord afraid of the Young Madam…
What a joke! Why should I avoid her? If anyone should avoid someone, it should be her avoiding me!
Hearing the servant’s words, Chang Yuncheng inexplicably changed direction and headed toward his own residential courtyard.
The servant, accustomed to leading the way to the study, turned back to find his master had already walked far away. After a moment of confusion, he hurried to catch up.
Chang Yuncheng strode into the courtyard, then froze. For a moment, he doubted he had walked through the wrong door.
The originally clean and tidy pathways on both sides were now lined with various flower pots, and the air was instantly filled with floral fragrance.
Chang Yuncheng couldn’t help but sneeze, then he heard familiar voices speaking, confirming he hadn’t walked through the wrong door.
“Qiu Xiang, you don’t understand. These flowers and plants placed in the room aren’t just for looking good and smelling nice—they’re also good for the body,” Qi Yue said with a smile, personally selecting a pot of emerald cloud grass to place on the large table by the window, admiringly examining it from left to right.
“But the Lord doesn’t like them,” Qiu Xiang said with thick dissatisfaction.
Qi Yue smiled.
“Nobody likes bitter medicine, but can you not take it? Everything is just a matter of habit,” she said, not looking at Qiu Xiang but only examining the flower pot placed on the table.
“Young Madam, you’re going too far!” Qiu Xiang’s lips were nearly bitten to bleeding. “You’re doing this on purpose! I clearly said so, and you still…”
Qi Yue was just picking up a paperweight from the desk. Hearing her words, she set it down with a sharp clap.
The paperweight made a crisp sound, causing Qiu Xiang to shudder and stop speaking.
Qi Yue slowly raised her eyes to look at her, saying nothing, just staring at her like that. Her face, which had been wearing a gentle smile, was now stern.
Under this silent gaze, Qiu Xiang felt somewhat breathless. When had this little beggar developed such an oppressive presence?
Qiu Xiang finally lowered her head.
“You’re a second-class maid now, and you’re not newly promoted either, so you shouldn’t need me to teach you the rules, right? If you continue like this…” Qi Yue only then withdrew her gaze, pushing the paperweight back to its original position as she spoke slowly, “then you should go and properly learn the rules again.”
Qiu Xiang was greatly alarmed.
“Young Madam, this servant was assigned by Madam to the Lord…” she hurriedly said.
She was actually going to dismiss her?
“This servant belongs to Madam,” Qiu Xiang felt the resentment in her heart could no longer be suppressed, and added this sentence.
Qi Yue laughed.
“Look at what you’re saying—what do you mean ‘Madam’s person’? If you’re Madam’s person, aren’t you still a person of the Marquis Dingxi’s mansion?” She picked up the fan from the table and gently fanned herself while smiling and looking at this maid.
Qiu Xiang was stunned by the question. This… this…
“As long as you’re a person of the Marquis Dingxi’s mansion, I can manage you. Never mind replacing you—so what if I sold you?” Qi Yue smiled.
Qiu Xiang watched this beauty smile, feeling a chill in her heart.
Sell her…
She very much wanted to shout “You wouldn’t dare!” but when the words reached her lips, she couldn’t say them.
In her heart, she was already certain that the Young Madam really dared to and really could. The Lord hadn’t driven her out, and the Marquis liked her so much. Even if Madam stood up for her, if the Marquis and Lord stood on her side…
Qiu Xiang’s face finally showed panic and dejection.
“Young Madam, this servant was wrong,” she knelt down and kowtowed.
“Knowing one’s mistakes and being able to correct them is the greatest good. Good girl,” Qi Yue smiled, fanning herself as she walked past her. “Get up.”
Qi Yue stepped over the threshold and saw Chang Yuncheng standing in the courtyard, watching her with cold eyes.
“Lord, you’ve returned,” Qi Yue smiled, her manner composed as she walked down.
Chang Yuncheng just looked at her coldly.
“You really think highly of yourself,” he said coldly from the side as Qi Yue swayed past him.
Qi Yue also stopped and turned to look at him.
“If others don’t think highly of themselves, and they don’t think highly of themselves either, then there’s really no way to live. People have to find ways to survive, don’t they?” She smiled. “Lord, as someone who leads troops into battle, you understand this principle better than I do, right?”
After saying this, she paid no more attention to this lord’s expression and walked into her own room. After all, he had never shown her a pleasant face.
The room had three new pots of flowers and plants, lush and green, quite pleasing to the eye. A’Ru was dampening water to wipe the leaves, her face full of worry.
“Young Madam, don’t always clash with the Lord. The Lord is actually a very good person—talk to him properly,” she couldn’t help but say in a low voice.
Qi Yue casually rested one foot on the kang and reached out to touch a newly placed flower.
“A’Ru,” she interrupted A’Ru’s words, “your Lord said he finds my very existence disgusting, so no matter what I do or say, it’s all disgusting to him. Since that’s the case, I might as well be comfortable. He’ll be disgusted anyway—a little more or less makes no difference. I won’t put my warm face against someone’s cold ass…”