Chapter 56: Countermove

C56: Countermove

Xie Zhen had already known that the maid was not in the right mood, but she simply did not pointed it out.

Last time, Yan Yu told everyone in the room to leave, but she didn’t. She said she was worried that they wouldn’t be on good terms with each other. Since then, Xie Zhen knew that this was a restless maid. She was usually quite honest, but today her performance was too obvious. She probably couldn’t hold it in anymore, so she exposed her flaws.

Qing Xia was suddenly called out, and panic flashed across her face. Quickly, she lowered her head and said, “Empress, I am not looking at anything.”

Xie Zhen was not easily fooled. She gave her a lackadaisical look. “Not looking at anything?” “Then I’m sitting here for a while, but you didn’t pour the tea, where are your thoughts?”

“I ….” Qing Xia wanted to say something, but she hesitated. She wanted to say that Shuang Yu had gone to pour some tea … But they had no room to refute what their master had said.

Xie Zhen insisted on getting to the bottom of the matter. “If you don’t tell me the truth, I’m going to sell you to a trader in human beings.” she threatened.

Qing Xia’s face paled. They had all come out from the hands of the trades and knew what kind of life it was. Every day, the traders would always scold them, and there hadn’t been a single good meal. She was immediately terrified and honestly explained, “In earlier I saw that you went out with His Highness, but now only you come back. Out of curiosity, I gave you a few more glances.” She then admitted her mistake in fear and trepidation, “I know my mistake.I won’t dare to look around in the future and begged the Empress not to sell me.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Yan Yu stepped in from outside. Upon hearing Qing Xia’s words, he looked over and asked, “What’s the selling thing?”

Qing Xia was sobbing. Looking at Xie Zhen, it seemed that she wanted to say something but she didn’t dare to say.

Xie Zhen held her head with ong of her hands. “If there are any disobedient maids in the house, can I make the decision?”

Yan Yu held another matter in his heart and said casually: “As you wish.”

Xie Zhen looked towards Qing Xia, smiling, “Did you hear that?”

For a moment, Qing Xia was both ashamed and humiliated, but she quickly turned into a submissive manner, bowing slightly. “I heard you, may the Empress give me another chance, and I will do my best to serve you.”

Xie Zhen asked her to leave. When she reached the door, Xie Zhen called out, “You’ve just come into the mansion, and many things you did are not as good as the Shuang Yu and Shuang Yan. Just follow them for a few days to help them.”

The eight servant maids were originally of the same status. They were all personal attendants of the Sixth Prince and the Empress. This way, only the status of Qing Xia was lower than others of them by a level. Qing Xia’s eyes immediately turned red. She subconsciously looked at Yan Yu, but Yan Yu didn’t even glance at her. He was completely focused on coaxing his wife.

As soon as Qing Xia was leaving, Shuang Yu came in with a cup of tea. Just as she was about to ask what caused Qing Xia’s eyes to turn red, she saw the strange atmosphere between Xie Zhen and Yan Yu. She was with good eyesight, so she left without saying anything.

As soon as all of them left, Yan Yu said: “I spoke too loudly.”

The meaning behind his words was that he wasn’t yelling her on purpose.

Xie Zhen tilted her head. “How loudly?”

He thought for a moment. “As loudly as I did just now.”

All right. Xie Zhen’s lips pursed. She added, “Then shouldn’t you apologize to me now?”

He turned his head and looked at her incredulously.

The look in his eyes probably meant — I’ve said to this point, why should I apologize?

Xie Zhen knew it was impossible to hear an apology from him, so she didn’t force him. “So, every time you break your promise, just let me stay with my family for one more day, okay?”

Yan Yu thought for a while and nodded in agreement.

In any case, he thought he would only make this one mistake and let her stay at home for a day at most.

Qing Xia was assigned to Shuang Yu and Shuang Yan as a helper, with a sense of dissatisfaction.

Probably she was crazy. The more she thought about it, the more frustrated she became. The more she thought about it, the more she felt that it was Xie Zhen who was hindering her future. She was not convinced, but maintained her composure. She still did her best to do things for Shuang Yu and Shuang Yan. All the maidservants liked her, and even were willing to let her bring the desserts and tea to the living room.

Occasionally, she would meet Yan Yu alone in the room. Then she would exchange a few words with him.

Today, it should be Cui Shan’duty to bring tea to the study, but Cui Shan was not comfortable, so she asked her to do it. Yan Yu was alone in the study room. He sat by the bed, quietly reading a book. She stepped forward and gently called out, “Your Highness.”

Without raising his head, Yan Yu knocked on the edge of the table. “Put it down.”

She put down the tea and desserts, putting them one by one in a very slow manner, “What is Your Highness reading?”

Yan Yu did not give her any face, “What does it have to do with you?”

She did not flinch and said in a soft voice, “When I was young, Father could read, so he taught me a few words. Unfortunately, I was too poor to afford the ink and paper, so I did not continue.”

Yan Yu asked coldly, “What does it have to do with me?”

When he was not interested, his answers were usually divided into two categories: “What’s it to do with you” and “What’s it to do with me”.

Qing Xia did not give up, “Your Highness, don’t you want to try some deserts …”

Xie Zhen was not enthusiam at him in these days. He was hurt, so he wanted to be alone for a moment by reading books. However, he did not expect it to not be quiet anywhere. He only felt that this woman really had a lot of nonsense to say. Why was she still standing there after giving him deserts? He looked at her coldly and said bluntly, “You may leave now.”

Qing Xia was disappointed as she bowed and retreated.

As soon as she left the study room, she saw Shuang Yu walking towards her. Shuang Yu were very enthusiastic when she saw her. “Little Sister Qing Xia, there’s a dirty floor in the porch. I don’t have time to clean it up. Help me wipe it clean.”

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Just as Qing Xia was about to refuse, Shuang Yu added, “Normally at the Duke Dingguo’s Mansion, this work is done by me and Shuang Yan. After all, it’s not a big deal, so I’ll do it if I can.”

With that, she walked far away.

She had said it on purpose, and there was no reason for her to refuse when she said it, because Xie Zhen had told her to help her and Shuang Yan.

Qing Xia stood in the Gallery veranda, and a trace of hostility rose inher eyes.

Shuang Yu left the study and went straight to the main room, while Xie Zhen was sitting inside. She went in and recounted what she had heard, then suggested, “You can’t keep a maid like that, mistress.”

Her bones were restless, and she would not take long to climb onto her master’s bed. Now that Xie Zhen and Yan Yu had just gotten married, the servant maid was already ready to make a move. How good would it be after a period of time? She stood next to Xie Zhen and whispered into her ear earnestly, “It’s not onlyQing Xia …All the maids serving in this courtyard must be properly managed.”

Xie Zhen had the same feeling. “So what do you say I should do about it?” she asked curiously.

Shuang Yu had stayed with the Madam Leng for two or three years. At that time, Madam Leng and Xie Liqing still lived in the Duke Dingguo’s Mansion and had not moved to Qingzhou yet. Shuang Yu had seen a lot of such cases, so she was good at dealing with it. She whispered in her ear for a moment, then said, “Mistress just needs to make an example, and the rest of them will know how to restrain themselves.”

Xie Zhen nodded thoughtfully. After that, she was a little confused. Why would she do that? What did it have to do with her if whoever wanted to hook up with Yan Yu?

She thought for a moment until she found it was probably because she didn’t like being fooled.

The fifteenth day of the month was the last day of Yan Yu’s vacation.

At night, the moon was bright and the stars were sparse. On a whim, Xie Zhen set a table of dishes in a pavilion in the yard and ate while admiring the moon.

She invited Yan Yu to join her, and they sat at the same table, facing each other.

Xie Zhen was smiling. She picked up a liquor saturated shrimp for him. “You try this. It’s my favorite dish.”

Yan Yu did not like these things that needed to be peeled off. He found them troublesome, but since she was the one who picked up, he could just barely taste it. He took off shrimp’s head and tail, peeled off the shell, and put it in his mouth to chew.

“Is it good?” Xie Zhen asked expectantly.

Other than the freshness of the meat, there was nothing special about it. Yan Yu nodded reluctantly, “Yes.”

She smiled and picked up one for herself.

Yan Yu barely moved his chopsticks. He had been watching her eat all the time, but in the end, his gaze made her uncomfortable all over her body. She stopped and asked, “What are you watching me for?”

She had just finished a bite of the sweet and sour sweet, and there was a little soup on the corner of her mouth, but she did not mind. She stuck out her tongue and gently licked it, unaware that it made his throat tighten.

Yan Yu hurriedly averted his gaze and said hoarsely, “Why did you call me here?”

She pointed to the top of her head. “To admire the moon.”

Tonight the moon was like a silver plate, bright and round, high in the sky, with branches on either side of it, as if one could reach out and touch it.

However, Yan Yu didn’t believe this answer. A few days ago, she treat him neither hostile nor friendly, and he even suggested taking her to Spring Blossom Castle. She didn’t even agree, so why did she suddenly be friendly towards him today … Yan Yu believed there must be something strange in it. As for what it was, he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

At that moment, Tan Mei brought a pot of wine over, interrupting all of his thoughts. He blocked the wine pot, “You don’t need to serve wine.”

This wine was actually asked by Xie Zhen. “Why not?” she asked.

She didn’t know how drunk she’d been the last time she’d drunk a glass of cross-cupped wine.

Yan Yu looked at her with mockery in his eyes, “Do you know what you looks like when you are drunk?”

She shook her head like a rattle. “I was drunk?”

Yan Yu didn’t want to explain anything to her, so he just let Tan Mei carry the wine down.

It was fine if they didn’t drink, but they would eat and admire the moon. Halfway through the meal, she said she was going back to the room to take something, and she said to Yan Yu: “You lie down on the table, close your eyes, and don’t peep.”

Yan Yu frowned, “What is it?”

“I won’t tell you.” she said mysteriously.

At first, Yan Yu didn’t want to do it, but when he met her gaze of expectation, he could only do so expressionlessly.

“Don’t open your eyes,” she repeated several times. When she saw that Yan Yu was lying flat on the table, not moving at all, she quickly ran back into the room and rummaged through her things.

A hot dish had just been prepared in the kitchen over there, and the cook was too busy to help out. So he asked Qing Xia to serve the dish.

When Qing Xia arrived, Yan Yu was still lying prone on the stone table, half of his handsome face exposed. His eyes were closed, as if he had fallen asleep.

She took the dish out of the box and set it on the table. He still hadn’t woken up.

So she dared to come up to him and put her hand on the back of his hand on the table.

Before she could take it back, she was grabbed by the wrist by a strong force. It was so strong that she immediately cried out in pain.

Yan Yu opened his eyes and looked at her coldly.