Sister Lian was sitting a little away from the chattering maids, sewing quietly by herself.
It's not that she has no interest in the topic of clothing. Lian Mei is fifteen years old this year and is in her prime, but she has long lost the interest in laughing loudly and chatting loudly with the maids... It should be said that she is born with this lack.
an interest.
Her mother died when she was a child, and her father, who ran a small restaurant in the capital, got married, which already made her feel uncomfortable at home. Unexpectedly, her stepmother gave birth to another son. When Lian Mei was fourteen, her father also died of illness.
passed away.
Soon after, her stepmother said that the palace was recruiting maids, so she was sent to Qinghe Hall, which was like being kicked out of the house.
When she was a child, she knew that one day she would be kicked out of the house, so she was not upset or sad, she just felt discouraged, and she was even glad that she was not allowed to live on the street.
At first she couldn't adapt to the fancy atmosphere of Qinghe Hall, but after a year, she gradually got used to it.
Lian Mei neatly folded the sewn blue satin top and put it back in the clothes box. She ignored the maids who were still chatting noisily and prepared to leave the room.
"Oh... Sister Lian, have you finished sewing?"
"right."
Although those people were chatting happily, they were particularly sharp-eyed at this time.
"You move very quickly every day. Since you have already sewed it, can you sew it for me?"
"……Why?"
"ah?"
Lian Mei showed indifferent eyes, the fake smile on the maid's face froze, and the clothes she handed over were not even half sewn.
"Isn't that your job? Why do you want me to help you?"
"...Why do you talk like this?"
The other maid frowned, not hiding her displeasure.
"Didn't you finish it ahead of schedule? What does it matter if you help others?"
"If you didn't talk so much nonsense, it would have been completed a long time ago."
"you……"
Lian Mei ignored their indifferent glances and retorts, turned around and walked out of the room quickly.
Before closing the door, I heard the other maids' accusations.
They will then say bad things about themselves,
Moreover, Sister Lian also guessed what they would say.
She has a venomous mouth and is not cute at all. She is just the daughter of a small restaurant and is arrogant and thinks she is great. No wonder she was kicked out of the house by her stepmother...
"Ah, Sister Lian."
There was a shout from the other end of the corridor. Lian Mei looked up and saw an older maid waving to her in another room.
"Already done?"
"right."
"What about the rest?"
"..."
"Are you still chatting? It's really hopeless."
Of course, not all maids are so noisy.
The older maid sighed, but did not run to scold them.
There are enough manpower here, and there is no need to use curse words to increase work efficiency.
"Wait a minute, Concubine Chen and the rich young lady from last time are about to enter the palace. Go to the atrium and cut some flowers and put them in His Highness's room. Have the narcissus bloomed already?"
"Is narcissus okay?"
"Yes, just cut a few branches."
Lian Mei nodded, took the scissors, and came to the atrium.
White daffodils bloom and emit a strong fragrance.
It suddenly occurred to her that compared to the fragrance of His Highness the Prince's new lover, which fragrance was stronger?
She couldn't help but feel pitiful about narcissus... Not only could the dry gold lady not appreciate the fragrance of narcissus, she wouldn't even notice that narcissus was in the room.
Lu Wuxian is always surrounded by beautiful women.
The daughter of a nobleman, the daughter of a high-ranking official, the palace concubine, and many maids...
Especially the maids here, all of them have outstanding looks. It is almost doubtful that they were selected based on their appearance. Moreover, everyone knows that they are beautiful, and they usually put a lot of effort into their makeup, hairstyle and manners.
Lian Mei rarely wears makeup and looks ordinary. In terms of clothing, she only needs clean clothes to wear. She is still puzzled as to why she was assigned to be a maid here.
She cut off five daffodils that had just begun to bloom, thought for a moment, and cut two more.
When he came to the prince's room, he first put five daffodils in the vase, then took the other two and gently opened the door of the bedroom next door.
The room was filled with the smell of wine, and only the prince's slight snoring could be heard.
Lian Mei sighed softly and opened the window a crack... At the banquet last night, the prince drank very late.
Lian Mei glanced at the prince who was sleeping in the Chinese zodiac sign, filled a bamboo vase with water from a kettle, inserted two narcissus sprigs, and placed them by the window.
Then, I boiled water and made a cup of strong tea.
Lu Wuxian didn't wake up, it was the same every time.
Lian Mei quietly put the tea cup on the table next to her pillow and walked out of the bedroom quietly.
Lian Mei forgot when that happened, it should have been about a month since she came to Qinghe Hall to work as a maid.
At that time, she didn't know that the new taciturn maid would be taken care of by other maids. She would be ridiculed for everything, and she would have endless chores to do every day. When she began to think about the difference between living with her stepmother,
He was assigned to work the night shift in Lu Wuxian's room and stayed with Lu Wuxian drinking until late at night.
Lu Wuxian had a particularly bad temper when he woke up, especially the morning after drinking. He was in a bad mood and all the maids avoided him, so this chore fell to Lian Mei.
Lian Mei was sitting in the corner of Lu Wuxian's bedroom. The smell of alcohol filling the room made her frown.
Prince Lu Wuxian is the second son of the current emperor.
He is handsome, very lovable, and has a cheerful personality. He just hates reading, is addicted to women, and gets angry when he is in a bad mood. Therefore, those followers try their best to flatter him all day long.
When Lian Mei first came to Qinghe Palace, she felt that Lu Wuxian was a selfish and willful young man.
...He is still a child at all, but he drinks so much wine every day...
Lu Wuxian is one year older than Lian Mei, and his usual behavior is very childish, so Lian Mei often can't help but think so.
It's still some time before dawn, and if you don't find something to do, you can't help but doze off.
Lian Mei used the stove in the room to boil water and make tea.
My stepmother is also often drunk. When she feels uncomfortable, she will ask her to make strong tea.
Although her stepmother was very harsh on her, she only smiled when Lian Mei made strong tea for her to sober up.
Lian Mei recalled these past events and felt that the fragrance of tea relaxed her mood.
She was blowing the tea to cool down, and moans came from the bed.
Lian Mei hurriedly took the candlestick to her pillow and cautiously looked around. Lu Wuxian opened his eyes slightly.
"..."
His lips moved a few times, as if he said something, but Lian Mei couldn't hear clearly.
So, she picked up the tea cup with one hand, gently lifted Lu Wuxian's head with the other hand, and brought the tea to his mouth. Unexpectedly, he drank the tea obediently.
After Lu Wuxian drank the tea, he breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Lian Mei with empty eyes.
"...Do you want to drink again?"
Lu Wuxian didn't answer, but opened his mouth.
Lian Mei fed him another sip, worried that he would get angry.
Lu Wuxian finished the tea, but Lian Mei didn't know how to leave, so she held his head and sat on the bed.
Lu Wuxian didn't say anything, he breathed slowly, then yawned and looked up at Lian Mei.
"Is it dawn yet?"
"No, not yet."
Lian Mei answered, and Lu Wuxian muttered, "Really?" and yawned again.
Seeing that Lu Wuxian wanted to sleep, Lian Mei was about to put his head on the bed... but she didn't expect her stomach to growl.
The groggy Lu Wuxian was startled and his eyes widened.
Crap……
I was busy with chores just now and didn't have a good dinner. Why am I cooing at this time...
Lu Wuxian looked at Lian Mei's panicked expression. If the room was brightly lit, he would definitely be able to see her face turning red.
Lian Mei was thinking hard about excuses, and Lu Wuxian's expression suddenly relaxed.
"Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha……"
He laughed heartily while lying on the bed, and Lian Mei couldn't help but turn her head.
...Yes, this master cannot pretend not to hear in an empathetic manner...
"What...are you hungry?"
Moreover, he asked questions that were difficult to answer.
Lian Mei was so embarrassed that she wanted to push his head away and run away.
At this time, Lu Wuxian sat up.
"Hey, go get that basket."
"..."
She looked in the direction of Lu Wuxian's finger and found a large rattan basket placed on the shelf beside the wall.
Lian Mei brought the basket over, and Lu Wuxian took out a paper bag and handed it to Lian Mei.
"Eat it!"
"..."
"Aren't you hungry? Eat!"
Lian Mei lowered her head and saw that it was a steamed cake, and the sweet fragrance hit her nostrils.
Although she was hungry, she still didn't dare to reach out.
The snacks in the prince's bedroom belong to the prince. Even if the prince asks him to eat them on a whim, he would not dare...
Lian Mei looked troubled, Lu Wuxian pouted, he took out the steamed cake and handed it to Lian Mei roughly.
"Eat!"
"..."
If he didn't eat it, he might be angry. Lian Mei took it and Lu Wuxian finally nodded with satisfaction.
"Then...I ate."
"Um."
Lian Mei was very concerned about Lu Wuxian's gaze and put it in her mouth cautiously.
……ah!
"Delicious……"
She couldn't help but admire, Lu Wuxian smiled like an innocent child.
"Is it delicious? Eat more."
"……well."
After Lian Mei realized that there was no need to be polite, she realized that she was very hungry.
She continued to eat the steamed cake, and Lu Wuxian lay down again with a face as happy as if he was still drunk.
...Who said the prince was in a bad mood when he got up? There is no such thing...
Maybe others don’t want to work the night shift, so they push it to me!
Lian Mei was thinking this and found that Lu Wuxian's eyes were about to close again.
"...Your Highness can still sleep for a while, there is still some time before morning."
"I dont want to sleep."
He obviously looked sleepy, but he was trying to be brave.
Hearing his tone of voice, which sounded like a child making trouble, Lian Mei laughed softly.
"Then I'll sing to you."
"Sing?"
Lian Mei began to hum softly. It was the lullaby that Lian Mei's biological mother sang to coax her to sleep.
The soft singing made Lu Wuxian's eyes gradually close... and then he heard the sound of even breathing.
...he really fell asleep...
Lian Mei held back her laughter, stood up gently, wrapped up the uneaten steamed cakes, and put the basket back in its place.
She tiptoed back to the chair in the corner of the room, fearing to wake Lu Wuxian...
"..."
Lian Mei couldn't help but stood by the bed again, looking at Lu Wuxian's face.
He slept deeply.
It's some time until morning.
Lian Mei sat on Lu Wuxian's pillow like before.
...before dawn comes,
Before dawn...
"I will always be...here."
She murmured. Logically speaking, Lu Wuxian wouldn't hear her, but his lips moved slightly, as if he was answering.
He is indeed a willful child...a child who will fall asleep after listening to a lullaby.
He must have been sleepy just now, so he gave the snacks to the hungry maid.
...Yes, he just had a whim...
Once he wakes up, he will forget.
As long as I remember...
Lian Mei sat next to Lu Wuxian until the other maids came in after dawn.
…
That night, Lu Wuxian woke up in the middle of the night and was in a good mood. It turned out to be just a whim. I heard from other maids that whether Lu Wuxian woke up in the middle of the night or in the morning, he would lose his temper with the maids.
Lian Mei worked the night shift several more times, but Lu Wuxian only woke up that one time.
A year later, Lian Mei learned to sternly refuse chores forced on her by others, and she also learned to eat on time, but her impression of Lu Wuxian remained almost unchanged.
Lu Wuxian is still a willful and selfish young master.
Moreover, those followers almost put Lu Wuxian on a pedestal and encouraged him to inherit the throne that he had no right to inherit. Lu Wuxian actually believed it.
Lian Mei saw it and thought it was too funny, but she felt a little sympathy for him.
The late emperor's condition is getting worse and worse, but the Qinghe Palace is becoming more and more lively. Everyone hopes that after Lu Wuxian becomes emperor, he can get a piece of the pie. Even the maids are competing for favor with their beauty.
...so stupid...
How could he be qualified to be the emperor? If he usurped the throne, he would not be able to represent the crown prince Lu Fusu, and there is no need to expect the Yuan Kingdom to have any future.
When Lian Mei walked out of Lu Wuxian's room, Lu Wuxian's mother, Concubine Chen, and Lu Wuxian's new love, the aristocratic daughter, came from the other end of the corridor with a group of maids.
Sister Lian opened the door and silently lowered her head to greet them.
"What about the child? Is he still sleeping? It's already noon..."
"Concubine Chen, I can wait. Your Highness is in a particularly bad mood every time he wakes up."
Her heavy makeup and strong fragrance masked the scent of narcissus.
"You're already here. I'm so sorry. Will the child agree to marry you and become the queen?"
"Yes, His Highness happily agreed. Now we just wait for the Emperor to make up his mind quickly..."
"If there wasn't that prince..."
Lian Mei walked to the corridor and closed the door.
There are already so many maids waiting on you, so you don't need to join in the fun.
...Do you really want to be the emperor?
The higher the position, the greater the responsibility. The prince currently lives a carefree life and does not need to bear the heavy responsibilities of being an emperor. On the contrary, his life is more carefree.
Those sycophants around Lu Wuxian are just some of the noble officials. Once they continue to compete for the throne, Lu Wuxian will lose in the end.
Even Lian Mei, who knows nothing about government affairs, understands this clearly.