The servants left and closed the door. Xie Nan sat down and drank tea, while Liu Huan stood quietly in the middle, waiting.
It's like playing a game where whoever speaks loses.
Finally, Xie Nan couldn't help but ask, "I heard you regained your memory?"
Liu Huan answered, "Yes."
"Do you know that the whole farce in the Prince's mansion started because of you?"
Liu Huan raised her head and said neither humbly nor arrogantly, "This servant has been taking care of the princess wholeheartedly all these years and has never done anything out of line. I don't know what the Third Madam means."
Xie Nan slammed her hand on the table: "Hmph, what a quick-witted maid! No wonder she's so popular."
Liu Huan bowed and said, "What I said is true. If the Third Madam has nothing else to say, I will go back now."
As she turned to leave, Xie Nan called out to her, "If I asked Third Master to take you as a concubine, would you be willing?"
Liu Huan looked at her face, which was very serious and didn't seem to be joking. She said earnestly, "This servant is unwilling."
Xie Nan was furious. "You, you're so ungrateful!"
Liu Huan said, "Third Madam, whether you believe it or not, I have no improper thoughts about Third Master. I will not stay in the Prince's Mansion any longer. I will leave as soon as the Princess gets married."
Xie Nan breathed a sigh of relief, but still asked with some disbelief, "You look down on a man like Third Master?"
"This servant does not deny that Third Master is an excellent man, but there are so many excellent men in the world. If they all liked me, wouldn't I be exhausted?"
"Furthermore, I have no intention of sharing a husband with another woman, so Third Madam can rest assured."
"If there's nothing else, I'll head back now. The princess will be looking for me when she wakes up."
As Liu Huan stepped outside, she saw Third Master standing at the door. She breathed a sigh of relief; it was good that he had heard her.
She gave him a slight bow before quickly leaving.
Li Yu went in, her expression somewhat grim. "What did you call her here for?"
Xie Nan was afraid he would be angry, so she explained, "I just wanted to share my husband's burdens. I'm not the kind of person who can't tolerate others. I just wanted to..."
Before she could finish speaking, Li Yu interrupted her, "Don't say these things anymore. She's not that kind of vain woman. And don't arrange these things for me anymore. I don't need them."
"Yes!" Xie Nan dared not say it again; she cherished the opportunity for Li Yu to come to her.
He hurriedly instructed the servants, "Go to the kitchen and prepare some of the dishes that Third Master likes..."
Just as I was about to say that Third Master would be dining here, Li Yu had already walked out first, saying, "No need to trouble yourself, I'm not hungry."
After saying that, he left without looking back.
Xie Nan wrung out the handkerchief in her hand and bent down, saying, "Third Master, take care."
Xie Nan's wet nurse entered the room, "Miss, you've been wronged, would you like this old servant to go and..."
Xie Nan warned sternly, "Don't touch her. I believe Third Master will see how good I am."
If he really did something to hurt Gu Yu, Third Master would probably never step into her room again for the rest of his life.
Liu Huan returned to her room, where several maids were gossiping, "Look, she's back."
"She's really got a knack for winning everyone over."
"You don't know, do you? She lost her virginity that day and was gone for so long before coming back. Who knows what she was doing?"
Several of them were maids serving in the princess's courtyard, and their jealousy of Liu Huan had been brewing for a long time.
Now that I've finally got the chance, how could I let her go?
"What are you talking about? Do you want to say it in front of me?"
Two of them seemed a little guilty. One of them, who was somewhat attractive, said, "So what if I said that? You're a vixen who's good at seducing people, and you won't even let people talk about it?"
Liu Huan wasn't going to tolerate her. She went up to her and slapped her across the face. "You dare hit me?"
“You’re just a lowly maid, how dare you speak so arrogantly and gossip to the princess’s head maid? I’m beating you to teach you a lesson. You can’t afford to offend just anyone.”
After saying that, she returned to her room and closed the door. The maid wanted to go forward but was stopped by the others. "Let it go. The princess likes her so much. It wouldn't be good if the princess found out."
The people outside stopped talking, but they weren't as respectful to her as before. They even tried to trip her up without the princess's knowledge.
The next day, when Liu Huan went to get her food, she ran into Chang'an, who was also there to get his food.
"Guyu, are you alright?"
Before Liu Huan could answer, Aunt Qiu came out and said, "Chang'an, what are you doing? Didn't you say that Third Master is waiting anxiously? Why don't you hurry up and go?"
Since Li Yu got married, everyone in the Prince's Mansion has changed the name of the Third Young Master to the Third Master.
After saying that, he gave Chang'an a push, and Chang'an had no choice but to leave.
Aunt Qiu didn't speak to her, and went straight into the kitchen with a look of disgust.
Liu Huan found it ironic; when she came before, everyone was incredibly welcoming, but now that something had happened, they all avoided her like the plague. Indeed, there is no such thing as pure friendship.
Taking the princess's food back, the princess noticed her pale face and asked, "What's wrong? Did someone gossip?"
As she was about to walk outside, Liu Huan grabbed her arm. "No, Princess, I was just thinking about something."
The princess looked suspicious, but she didn't even blink. "I'm serious. Please eat first, or it will get cold."
She wasn't wrong; she was indeed thinking about things, wondering if Su Yi had already started discussing marriage.
According to the ancients' wedding timeline, a wedding required at least a year of preparation, starting now and ending next year.
It seems that apart from the years I disappeared, everything else is going smoothly, but why am I not happy at all?
When I got back to my lodging that evening, I heard, "Hey, do you know what? I heard that Scholar Su went to the Xu residence today. Everyone's saying he went to discuss marriage with Miss Xu."
"I've also heard that the Xu family is very satisfied with him; he's far superior to any maid."
Those people deliberately said these things to Liu Huan, and Liu Huan admitted that she was indeed affected and didn't sleep well all night.
When she arrived at her post with dark circles under her eyes, the princess was startled. "What were you doing last night? Why are your eyes like this?"
Liu Huan said listlessly, "I'm thinking about something."
The princess, ever gossipy, asked, "Why don't you tell me about it, and I'll give you some advice?"
"It's a friend of mine; she's a bit unhappy right now."
The princess's eyes widened. "And then? Why aren't you happy?"
"She felt inexplicably uncomfortable when she heard that one of her childhood friends was getting married."
The princess exclaimed in surprise, "What? Your fiancé is getting married? To whom?"
Liu Huan blushed and said, "Oh dear, I don't have a fiancé, don't talk nonsense."
The princess muttered, "But that's what Scholar Su said. But what's this about the marriage proposal you mentioned?"
"Oh, it's something a friend of mine said, or rather, I just heard it from her."
"That means your friend likes her partner."
"Impossible!" Liu Huan jumped up upon hearing this. "She doesn't like him, not in that way."
The princess grinned mischievously, "How did you know?"
Liu Huan coughed and said, "She said it."
"Oh, I see..."
Liu Huan grabbed her hand and said, "Tell me quickly."
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