XH 20

 

During her stay in MungLu’s manor, she had shared a room with five other maids. She would only wake up when others did, as Xiao Hua does not know how to tell apart time at all with the absence of a clock.

 

Now that she has a room all to herself without a human alarm clock service, she had no choice but to keep herself from sleeping too deeply.

 

It truly felt like she had only rested for a moment when someone knocked on her door a few times, jerking Xiao Hua awake with a heavy body and tired eyes.

 

Oh no! Did she wake up late?!

 

Hearing noise from the room, a young girl’s voice entered the room. “Elder Sister Hua, Elder Sister An Jing had assigned me to help you.”

 

Help her with what? (・・ ) ?

 

Xiao Hua climbed out of the bed and opened the door, disregard of how she looked currently after a night of toss and turn.

 

When the door opened, the young maid was shocked when she saw Elder Sister Hua had opened the door in her sleepwear! But to Xiao Hua, she did not mind other people seeing her in her so-called ‘pajamas’, especially when her sleepwear had covered her from neck to toe.

 

“Pardon me, Elder Sister Hua!” Xiao Hua was pushed back into the room and the other girl quickly shut the door so that no one accidentally saw something inappropriate!

 

Xiao Hua squint her eyes at the newcomer that was dressed in plain dark blue robes. “You look familiar.”

 

“We met last night. My name is Si Si.”

 

“Last night? Oh, you are one of the 13-year-olds.”

 

“Yes, Elder Sister Hua.”

 

Seeing the silly look on Elder Sister Hua’s face, Si Si was relieved. She was forced to accept the task to serve Elder Sister Hua when no one was willing to. She knew it would be a tough chore as Xiao Hua was weird but Si Si was willing to endure it if that means she will get more chance to meet with the Third Prince. Her chance of her entering the inner maid ranks would increase once the Third Prince notices her competency!

 

Si Si was confident that the Third Prince would one day remove Xiao Hua from her position. A maid that was weird and was not properly trained would not be useful to the Third prince at all.

 

Le XiaoTing’s occupation in her original world does not need her to interact much with other people, except for her co-workers, boss and the lousy IT technicians that could not do a good job whenever she called them in. They even ignored her when she told them those wires will zap her one day!

 

This young lady is not happy being the first sacrifice to get those jerks to move their ass to do something about those wires! ((╬◣﹏◢))

 

As a result, she was not truly well versed in identifying sly foxes with a double meaning behind their actions. Even those jealous fan girls of her boss did not bother to hide their dislike towards her. However, this other girl’s expression revealed eagerness that could not be hidden behind her half-baked polite smile.

 

Xiao Hua would normally just pass it off as a maid that was eager to serve her master, but she remembered she was just a newcomer, and a servant herself. How would there be a servant that willingly serves another servant?

 

“Si Si, did Sister An Jing ask you to show me what I should do?”

 

“No. Sister An Jing only tell Si Si to take care of your daily needs starting from today.”

 

“But… I’m a maid, just like you.” Xiao Hua’s face revealed genuine confusion but she did not show her rising frustration that ignites her fire.

 

Due to the lack of sleep and confusion, her temper was way shorter than normal. The only reason she did not unleash her inner devil because she was still unclear if the other party was here because of unkind reasons or just eagerness to do her new job. 

 

“You are not just any servant, Elder Sister Hua. You are Third Prince’s personal maid. Your duty is to attend to his needs and nothing else. Si Si is here to take care of small matters for you,” An Jing explained as she stepped into the room, her arrival was as silent as her name.

 

Si Si’s eagerness disappeared as soon as she saw An Jing. With how sharp Sister An Jing was, it would be best not show even a hint of her ambitions.

 

Xiao Hua’s anger was quick to disappear when she started thinking the other way round, as the thought of having a maid to help her around sounds very pleasant.

 

“Will Si Si wakes me up every morning?” Xiao Hua asked. She did not want to experience this torture ever again. She had constantly forced herself to wake up once in a while to check if it was time to wake up.

 

An Jing’s eyes glistened in amusement as if she was aware of the reason for Xiao Hua’s lack of sleep. “Si Si will be there to wake you up every morning. Si Si, help Elder Sister Hua to get dressed.”

 

“Yes, Elder Sister An Jing.” Si Si hurried out of the room and quickly returned with a basin filled with water and a small white towel hanging over her arm.

 

It took little time to prepare Xiao Hua for the day with Si Si’s help. An Jing stood at a corner, silent and still as a statue, but her eyes followed Si Si’s every movement as if to evaluate her. Due to the heavy pressure, Si Si had made some beginner mistakes, which was not noticed by Xiao Hua but was silently noted by An Jing.

 

“Sister An Jing, what am I supposed to do?” Xiao Hua asked when she was ready, dressed in her blue uniform.

 

An Jing leads them out of the room. “I will lead you to master’s room. Remember the way.” Xiao Hua’s eyes widened in panic and started to pay more attention to where they were.

 

“Si Si, return to your task,” An Jing said.

 

Si Si was unwilling to leave. This was a chance to meet the Third Prince! Her slave contract was sold to the Third Prince’s residence when she was nine. Four years had passed but she was only able to see him from far away with the number of encounters that could be counted in one hand!

 

But she showed none of her dissatisfaction. With a bow, she walked away, all the while assuring herself that she must be patient. Patience is the key to success!

 

“Si Si seems happy to serve me,” Xiao Hua commented uncomfortably. She had spotted Si Si’s reluctance to leave just now. The girl had tried to hide it, but Xiao Hua was rather sensitive to other people’s feelings once in a while.

 

Could this be the right mindset that a servant must have?! (；￣Д￣)

 

In contrast, An Jing grew suspicious of Si Si. Princess Long Lian had begged the Third Prince to have someone to take care of Xiao Hua. They had been good friends after their short bonding and the princess noticed that Xiao Hua does not know many things. Worried, she wanted someone to help Xiao Hua, and preferably someone around Xiao Hua’s age.

 

An Jing had wanted to assign an older maid for Xiao Hua, but everyone refused to serve another maid. To them, they view it as an insult. Each of the servants in the Third Prince’s manor had undertaken strict training and could be considered as an elite servant.

 

They would not mind much if the three younger servants have not told the rest about their encounter with Xiao Hua. Or else how could the news of Xiao Hua being weird and stupid be spread all over the manor?

 

An Jing does not want to force the servants, or else Xiao Hua would suffer, so she decided to look for the younger ones. But they were unwilling as well.

 

When no one stepped forward, Si Si volunteered herself. An Jing had heard Si Si was a good girl and never done anything out of line. She only assumed that Si Si volunteer herself because no one else would.

 

An Jing’s eyes narrowed at where Si Si had disappeared to. It seems that her mind was starting to get rusty. It was time to train her back to her peak form.

 

“Elder Sister Hua, please pay attention. In this residence, there are four main courtyards; winter, autumn, spring, and summer. Silence courtyard is where we servants stay.”

 

How…original. Please notice the sarcasm. But it certainly would make it easier for her to remember the names!

 

“Summer courtyard is for guests to stay over. Winter Courtyard is the Third prince’s personal training grounds. Autumn courtyard is a restricted area. Without permission from the Third prince, you will be punished regardless of whatever reason you have if you entered that courtyard.”

 

Restricted area? This young lady knows better than to be curious and go over there to sightsee.

 

She was not one of those heroines where they accidentally stumbled into the forbidden place and by a miracle, escaped punishment because they have done something remarkable enough to be pardoned!

 

“Right now, we are going to Third prince’s secluded abode, the Spring courtyard.”

 

Seeing how earnest Xiao Hua tried to memorize what she had said, An Jing decided it was not a bad choice for her master to pick this young girl to be his personal maid. Having someone that scheme too much would only endanger her master’s safety.