Time flies, and the autumn heat wave is coming soon. The weather is even hotter and more humid than before, and the blazing sun makes people not want to move.

One or two maids dropped what they were doing and ran to the shade of a tree to cool off, muttering, "How can we work in this awful weather!"

In the east courtyard, Ulanara Xueying was taking a nap, trying to use sleep to cool herself down. She tossed and turned in bed, unable to fall asleep, while A'luo kept fanning her from the side.

Ice basins had been distributed to everyone in the courtyards, except for Ulanara Xueying, who had about a third less. Xueying didn't want to cause trouble, so she let the matter drop. However, the weather was so muggy that it was unbearable, and even the usually calm Xueying became irritable and restless from the heat.

Xueying sat up abruptly in bed. "Aluo, you got slapped too. It's so hot, I can't sleep."

The woman in front of me was flushed from the heat, her head was covered in sweat, and her hair was soaked with sweat, sticking wetly to her forehead.

Upon hearing Xueying's words, A'luo quickly fanned herself vigorously with her fan.

"Princess, ever since Lady Gao started following the First Princess, she's been getting worse and worse at treating us. Last time she withheld our money, and this time she even reduced the amount of ice we had." A'Luo said indignantly, thinking that it was true that kind people were bullied. If it weren't for the Princess being easy to talk to and having a good temper, they wouldn't dare to put her down like this.

“A-Luo, these are all trivial matters. I don’t want to be bothered by them. Besides, their purpose in doing this is nothing more than to undermine us, or to make me expose my weaknesses so that they can find an opportunity to complain to the Prince. If they twist the truth and I can only talk, do you think the Prince will believe them or me?” Xueying said.

A'Luo felt sorry for Xueying. She had been with the princess since childhood, her playmate as a child and her personal maid as an adult. The princess had always been the apple of her family's eye and had never suffered any hardship. But since arriving at the Prince's mansion, the constant scheming and intrigue had left the princess exhausted. Although she was a secondary consort, she received no favor from the Prince and her position in the mansion was practically negligible.

“That may be true, but if you keep giving in, they will take advantage of you and do even worse things next time.” A-Luo couldn’t bear to see Xueying being bullied.

"A'Luo, it's so hot in this mansion. Is there any place that's cooler?" Xueying didn't want to continue this topic. She knew that if she didn't resist, her situation would become increasingly difficult. However, her current position in the mansion was not enough to contend with the principal wife, and the family's power was not what it used to be.

Seeing that Xueying was unwilling to discuss this issue, A'luo had no choice but to give up and only said, "There is a cool place in the courtyard outside, with trees providing shade and a stone table. You can rest there, Princess."

Xueying figured she couldn't stay inside any longer, so she might as well go out for a walk. Lately, she'd been troubled by all sorts of worries, so going out for a stroll to clear her head would be a good idea.

Xueying looked amusedly at A'luo, who was soaked in sweat. "Then you should hurry up and get ready. I'm going out to cool off later." A'luo knew she looked disheveled, gave Xueying a reproachful look, and went to get ready.