Once Liu Xiangning made up her mind, she immediately pretended to be weak.
"Young Madam... This servant greets Young Madam..." she said, then pretended to struggle as she got out of bed.
Zhou Miaoyin hurriedly said, "No need to get up, just lie down."
Liu Xiangning—Now it's certain, the young mistress is going to cause trouble again. I wonder how she'll torment her this time.
Although the young mistress told her to lie down, Liu Xiangning still sat up, outwardly accepting her fate but inwardly wary.
Liu Xiangning tried to get up from the bed, but Zhou Miaoyin helped her back to bed and sat down on the edge of the bed with her without any airs, holding Liu Xiangning's hand, "Xiangning, when I hit you before, did you hate me?"
Liu Xiangning trembled and stammered, "...This servant... dares not..."
Zhou Miaoyin sighed, "Actually, I regretted hitting you afterward. Making you clean the chamber pot wasn't my order; it was someone else's. Don't ask who it was; it's for your own good."
Was it anyone else who made Liu Xiangning clean the toilet? No, it was Zhou Miaoyin.
She said this on purpose because she was certain that Liu Xiangning wouldn't be able to investigate. Even if she found out later, it wouldn't matter, because... Liu Xiangning wouldn't have a future.
As she thought about it, the curve of her lips once again betrayed her cunning.
Zhou Miaoyin may think she acted very well, flawlessly, but a woman like Liu Xiangning, who lives in the lower class and is at the mercy of others, has long since developed the ability to detect danger.
Even if they are not capable of turning danger into safety, they can still weigh the two evils and choose the lesser one.
Just like back then at the Minister's residence, they openly beat up Chen Mianmian.
How could Liu Xiangning not know basic etiquette? But if she didn't fight, she wouldn't be able to highlight her "resemblance" to Chen Mianmian, and wouldn't be able to make Lord Huo like her more. At the same time, since her own young mistress was outshone by the rival young mistress, he would have to take his anger out on her later.
So after weighing the pros and cons, I think that fighting in public, or even beating up a sleepyhead, would be more beneficial.
She couldn't have been mistaken at the time. After she hit Chen Mianmian, the young mistress's expression was excellent, indicating that the young mistress approved of it. The reason she later turned around and accused her was because Lord Huo criticized her.
What she truly couldn't understand was that Lord Huo seemed completely unaware of Shen Mianmian's true personality. But if Lord Huo didn't understand Shen Mianmian, why did the official who came to select people repeatedly instruct her to imitate Shen Mianmian?
She couldn't understand it.
Zhou Miaoyin sighed and continued, "But no matter whose orders it was, I was the one who carried out the execution, and I couldn't bear it. So I thought about how to make sure you wouldn't have to do those lowly jobs in the future, and believe it or not, I came up with an idea."
Liu Xiangning became extremely vigilant and cautiously asked, "May I ask, Madam, what is the method?"
Zhou Miaoyin stared into Liu Xiangning's eyes and smiled, "The day after tomorrow we are going to the Princess's Mansion to attend the Lotus Banquet hosted by the Duke of Ruian. If that Shen Mianmian tries to fight you again, as long as you find a way to scratch her face and help my wife and me get revenge, I will promote you to the rank of concubine when we get back."
Liu Xiangning gasped – elevate her to the rank of concubine? Wasn't that sending her to her death?
Fighting at the Minister's wife's place was already incredibly embarrassing; now they want her to fight at Princess Ruian's banquet? Has she gone mad, or has the young mistress gone mad?
Princess Ryan! That's Princess Ryan!
"This servant...this servant...this servant dares not..."
"This is Madam's order, you have no choice but to obey! If you disobey Madam's order, I'll sell you when you get back, sell you to the lowest brothel in the capital."
Liu Xiangning was startled and trembled violently—she was terrified, she didn't want to go to a brothel! She'd rather clean chamber pots at the Marquis's mansion!
Zhou Miaoyin smiled and took out a packet of medicine from her pocket, stuffing it into Liu Xiangning's hand. "Hide this medicine under your fingernails beforehand. Once the fight starts, just scratch Shen Mianmian's face. Don't worry, no one will notice you've used medicine. Try it if you don't believe me, I won't hurt you. Besides, fists and feet don't discriminate when fighting. Last time you bruised Shen Mianmian's eye, and no one blamed you, did they?"
Liu Xiangning wanted to refuse, "I..."
Zhou Miaoyin interrupted again, coldly saying, "I've told you both paths. Choose for yourself. If you complete the mission, I'll make you a concubine when you return; if you fail, I'll sell you into a brothel. You're a smart girl, I'm sure you can figure it out."
Zhou Miaoyin stood up. "I will have someone send you some tonics tomorrow. Take a good rest for a day and think it over carefully."
After saying that, he prepared to leave.
Liu Xiangning hurriedly said, "Young Madam, please wait a moment, I have a question."
"Go ahead and ask." Zhou Miaoyin stopped.
Liu Xiangning's eyes flickered slightly. "What if... what if Chen Mianmian doesn't fight me?"
Zhou Miaoyin sneered – Fool, do you think Shen Mianmian wouldn't fight you? That's the princess's request.
"If Chen Mianmian doesn't fight with you, then you don't need to complete the mission. When you come back, I will still recommend you for the position of concubine."
Liu Xiangning thought to herself—is this really a good thing? Then all she has to do is avoid Chen Mianmian, right? That's what she'll do!
"Very well, I agree, young mistress."
“That’s more like it,” Zhou Miaoyin said meaningfully. “As long as you’re obedient, the good days are yet to come. Take a good rest.”
After saying this, he left the simple and cramped room, surrounded by his trusted maids.
With no one in the room, Liu Xiangning clutched the paper package and began to secretly make plans.
...
The next day.
The Princess's training ground.
When Chen Mianmian saw the dashing female bodyguard three meters away from her, her vision went black and she felt dizzy.
She's about to... fight this person?
Unlike the slender, ordinary-looking female bodyguards in TV dramas who are highly skilled in martial arts, the female bodyguards of the Southern Chu Kingdom are actually quite in line with human biomechanics.
Although she is not as robust as a man, her figure is fundamentally different from that of an ordinary woman!
It is tall, with long limbs and strong, powerful body.
The female bodyguard was a head taller than her.
His arms were a size thicker than hers; his legs were two sizes thicker than hers.
It's an exaggeration to say that the female bodyguard's arms are thicker than her legs, but while her arms may not be as thick as her thighs, they are certainly thicker than her calves.
There was no need to fight; one look was enough to tell she was doomed to lose, but the princess insisted she fight!
She wanted to cry.
Princess Ruian laughed so hard she almost fell over when she saw Shen Mianmian's tearful expression. She then said to Ding Shi beside her with great interest, "How long has it been since I've met someone so amusing? Why don't you persuade Qingzhou to give her to me? I'll compensate him with ten 'skinny horses' later."
Chenmianmian—Fengchu would never agree. If Fengchu really agreed, she would bite her tongue and commit suicide. She wouldn't even bother with transmigrating into any book; she would just die!
Lady Ding was both amused and exasperated, and didn't respond to the princess's frivolous remark.
The female guard respectfully said, "The princess has a request: we will both use our fists. I will not take the initiative to attack. As long as you can hit me, you will win."
"???" Chen Mianmian was completely dumbfounded. "So, you mean if I hit you and you dodge, I still can't hit you? Who do you think you are?"
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