XH 139

 

The little maid's way of brewing was nothing out of ordinary. It was not even the best brewing technique the Empress had seen in her life.

 

A beautiful woman in early thirties stared at the cup of tea in front of her doubtfully. With every turn and angle, it looked just like any ordinary tea in her phoenix shaped eyes.

 

"This is the tea leaves that the Empress had provided for this servant to brew tea. Please have a taste."

 

Duke Heng does not have a treasure in his hand now, so he offered his folding fan to her. As someone that does not appreciate poetry or any famous scholar in this world, Xiao Hua could not see the value of the fan and immediately declined.

 

"It's fine for today, Duke Heng. Consider it as a celebration for successfully forming a deal."

 

"Is that so? Then this lord will not be polite." Like a child eager to open his Christmas present, Duke Heng swiftly took a cup and drank the content, humming in bliss. Seeing him that way, the Empress put aside her suspicion and tasted the tea.

 

She had originally doubted Xiao Hua's skill and believed that Duke Heng had a beginning love bud towards her, hence the extreme bootlicking over her supposed 'skill'. However, when the taste hit her tongue bud, her ill thoughts fled away like a cloud of dust that was unable to withstand the might the wind's blow.

 

Duke Heng was already in his second cup when she came back to her senses. "How could this be? You added something into it."

 

Xiao Hua gave a mysterious smile. "This servant is not allowed to say or else the Third Prince would have my head."

 

With a delicate frown, the Empress asked doubtfully, "Do I need to sign a letter of promise?"

 

"Your Highness does not need to," Duan XiYing answered. They could only trust the Empress not to betray her own son, for it would be rude to question a mother's love for her son. While there were mothers that have lukewarm feelings to their own children, no one doubted the Empress faked her affection for her biological son.

 

Pleased, the Empress nodded and went back to enjoy her tea, after smacking Duke Heng's hand that reached for the teapot for the fourth time.

 

"Drinking too much tea would not be good. For a tea expert, should you not care for your dignity and sip the tea with the intention to taste it properly?"

 

Xiao Hua wisely kept her silence on how the Third Prince drank the tea like how one would drink water. Perhaps she should restrict his intake of the tea to remain on the safe side.

 

Remembering his blissful smile as he enjoyed the tea make Xiao Hua miss the Third Prince again.

 

"You claim that your skill in massage is better than your tea brewing?" The Empress inquired with interest.

 

With an awkward laugh, Xiao Hua replied in a hesitant manner, "This servant had assumed so, but my late mother had not tasted this servant's tea before. Tea brewing is something this servant learned in the Munzhu country half a year ago."

 

Xin Lin helped to refill the Empress' empty cup, ignoring Duke Heng's unreasonable possessiveness of the teapot that could be seen from his fiery gaze.

 

Xiao Hua and Duan XiYing exchanged meaningful eye contact. Seems like the tea was delicious to the Empress but not overly obsessive of it like how it does for Duke Heng.

 

"You will give me a massage before I retire for tonight," the Empress ordered.

 

Xiao Hua agreed without making a fuss. "As you wish, Your Highness."

 

Duke Heng looked interested at the word massage and that moment of inattention had his cup of tea drank by the Eighth Prince.

 

The Eighth Prince's subtle shrug of his shoulder indicated that he does not understand his uncle's mad love of Xiao Hua's tea. It certainly tasted better than those he had drunk before, but he would not be addicted to it!

 

Catching Xiao Hua's small smirk, the Eighth Prince returned the same smirk.

 

Team Transmigrated: Time to test it on the Second Prince! (✧ω✧)

 

Unbeknownst to them, the duke had seen their eye communication but he did not speak or question it. He has his own guess but this was not the right time to pursue the truth. Looking away from them, he continues to indulge in the addictively delicious tea.

 

The Empress was forced to change her opinion on Xiao Hua, despite being reluctant to do so. The truth, much to her shame, was actually her being green-eyed of the little maid and had used artificial excuses to hate her. Perhaps a mother always knows when their son was ready to part from their nest and built a new family.

 

Her excuse of Xiao Hua from lowly birth, a commoner, was nothing but hot air, for she herself was from lowly birth. However, the Empress was not as poor as Xiao Hua, whose family had to work as farmers in a small village for a living. The Empress' father was a shopkeeper and her mother an embroidery lady. Their income was enough to effort hiring a teacher for their daughter to learn how to read and write. When they heard that the 19th Emperor chosen their daughter as the 20th Emperor's Empress, they were so proud of her.

 

When it was time for the Empress to receive a massage from Xiao Hua, Duke Heng was still reluctant to leave, purposely making things difficult for them. After a great effort, the ladies manage to throw Duke Heng out of the palace and send the Eighth Prince back to his courtyard.

 

Duke Heng was actually pretty interested in Xiao Hua's massage, but in the future, she would be the Third Prince's princess consort, hence it would not be right for him to demand a massage.

 

Letting out a wistful sigh, he wondered if he should find a nice lady to settle down. "A maid perhaps?" he mused in amusement.

 

The Third Prince and the Fourth Prince both had fallen for their personal maid, much to the unmarried noble ladies' despair. Some even wondered if it was a trend going on and female servants were heard to be treated harsher by their female masters in case their husbands decided to fall for their seduction.

 

The news of the Fourth Prince's marriage had indeed made some maids bolder than before, much to the madams with lustful husband's headache.

 

It was the thought of these household dramas that dimmed his desire to wed, even if he does not plan to receive concubines into his household.

 

"Dou Dou," Duke Heng called out inside his dark carriage that steadily made its way back to his residence.

 

A dark shadow materialized at the corner of the carriage. "What are your orders, my lord?"

 

"Find out why our King of Munzhu would be back in Guilin so soon." Despite knowing that the King of Munzhu decided to side with the Third Prince, it would be better to stay on guard than blindly trusting that wild man.

 

"Yes, my lord." The shadow disappeared just as quickly as it appeared.

 

֎֎֎

 

Much to Xiao Hua's relief, the Empress was quite pleased with her massage, if judging by her... enthusiastic moans.

 

If one does not know better, they would think she was doing something lewd to the Empress!

 

What Xiao Hua did not know were those maids that had given the Empress massages were experienced mamas. They would either have a strong grip with coarse hands or feeble grip with coarse hands, fearing to harm the expensive Empress. She never truly felt relaxed under their hands.

 

Her late personal maid always gave her a good massage, but one could not revive a dead person, no matter how much she missed her maid that had followed her since young, years before she entered the palace.

 

Unfortunately, Xin Lin never mastered the massage from her late grandmother, but the Empress never holds it against her when the girl does a good job in important matters.

 

Xiao Hua has a pair of smooth hands with considerable strength behind her grip. It was just enough to relax her tense muscles without hurting them. Although Xiao Hua randomly massage without sequence, it was nothing to complain about.

 

After plenty of massages, tea brewing, and playing with the Eighth Prince, Xiao Hua was aware that a month had passed by without news of when the Third Prince will be returning. They had exchanged letters but it was hardly satisfying since it was only filled with the Third Prince expressing his love in the form of words and Xiao Hua storytelling her daily routine. The Third Prince never revealed anything that happened in South Guilin Village, either to avoid worrying her or afraid that the information would accidentally leak out.

 

But that made this young lady even more worried ah!

 

And so Xiao Hua decided to embark on a new adventure.

 

She made sure the Empress was well relaxed before broaching the question. "Your Highness, can we sent Xin Ren back to the Second Prince?"

 

Duan XiYing, who was standing at the corner of the massage room, was amused at how seeking death Xiao Hua was becoming. She could have phrased the question better, yet she had asked in a way one could not resist getting angry.

 

Fortunately for Xiao Hua, the Empress was used to read underneath spoken words. So her reaction was calm as she asked, "Why?"

 

"We need a spy inside the Second Prince's camp. Isn't that a great idea, Your Highness?"

 

Of course, this young lady mainly wants to know the hero's reaction after drinking my tea! (⁀ᗢ⁀)