"Are you blind?! Can't you see I'm carrying water? Don't you know to step aside? Where did you come from, you little brat?" Huanbi was already resentful about saving water, and in her eyes, Lanqin had made her workload double or more just for the sake of a reputation, which infuriated her. Now, being insulted by a stranger's maid immediately brought out all the resentment and anger in Huanbi's heart.
"You're the one who's blind! I'm here to fetch water for our princess. Our princess is the Fujin's sister. How dare you delay me from fetching water?" Yun Yuan had never suffered any humiliation while serving Yan Yu in the Ulanara Mansion. Now that she was being scolded by an unknown maid, she naturally retorted angrily.
Upon hearing that it was someone from the Fujin's side, Huanbi was genuinely a little timid, but she still wouldn't back down: "So what? Our Gege is from the Niohuru clan, and she is very much favored by the Fourth Prince, you know! Even the Fujin treats our Gege very politely, let alone the Fujin's sister, who is not a mistress in our household!"
"You! No matter how favored Niohuru is, she's still just a princess. Our Fujin is the Fourth Prince's principal wife. How can you princesses compare to the Fujin?" Yun Yuan retorted defiantly. With that, she couldn't resist giving Huan Bi a push. Huan Bi, who was carrying water, swayed precariously from the push and nearly fell into Bixin Lake; only one of her buckets did fall in.
"You, you dare to push me!" Huanbi was so angry that she didn't care that she was the maid of the Fujin's sister. She went up and pushed Yun Yuan back. Yun Yuan took a few steps back, but lost her footing and twisted her ankle, almost falling to her knees.
"You, my feet hurt so much! You've made it impossible for me to carry water. What are we going to do if our princess has no water to bathe? You just wait!" Yun Yuan stood up angrily and limped back with the empty bucket.
Huanbi watched the retreating figure, then turned around indifferently to retrieve the bucket that had fallen into the water. Because it had drifted a bit too far, Huanbi had to beg the garden servant to help her retrieve the bucket.
Leaving that aside, let's talk about Yun Yuan limping back to the main courtyard, where she encountered Granny Li picking osmanthus blossoms from a sweet osmanthus tree in the courtyard.
"Yun Yuan, what happened to your foot?" Granny Li called out. She recognized Yun Yuan; back in the Ulanara mansion, this little girl was only seven or eight years old. At that time, she was assigned to keep the Ninth Princess, who was only four or five years old, company.
"Granny Li, I twisted my ankle because someone pushed me." Yun Yuan naturally recognized Granny Li and couldn't help but complain to her.
"Who would dare push you?" Granny Li looked at Yun Yuan and knew that she had gone to the garden to fetch water.
"She's Niohuru's maid. Not only did she dare to push me, but she also said that their princesses are more favored by the Fourth Prince than the Fujin! I was so angry that I argued with her for a bit, but I didn't expect her to push me like that." Yun Yuan naturally blamed Huan Bi for everything she had said, without mentioning anything about what she had said.
"Did she really say that?" Granny Li frowned.
"How could Yun Yuan dare to lie to Granny? She pushed me to the ground, and now I can't even get the water back. How is Princess supposed to take a bath? Granny, please, help me!" Yun Yuan cried. Yan Yu loved beauty the most, and in such hot weather, she couldn't possibly not take a bath.
"Alright, stop crying. I'll send someone to fetch water for you. But I hope you can do me a favor, okay?" Granny Li took Yun Yuan's hand and gently patted the back of it.
Yun Yuan instinctively wanted to pull her hand back, but seeing that Granny Li was holding her, she didn't want to pull away, so she could only timidly ask, "What does Granny want me to do?"
Granny Li smiled gently and said, "It's actually very simple. I think you just need to repeat what you just said in front of Ninth Princess, but you only need to make a small change."
Yun Yuan thought that Granny Li wanted her to do something impossible, but when she heard it was this matter, she immediately felt relieved and hurriedly asked, "What does Granny want me to change?"
Granny Li's smile deepened. She beckoned Yun Yuan to come closer and whispered a few words in her ear, causing Yun Yuan's brows to furrow tightly.
“Do you understand? Just tell Yan Yu what I said, and I will send someone to help you fetch water from now on,” said Granny Li.
Yun Yuan couldn't understand why Granny Li wanted her to say that, but she also felt that it wouldn't harm Yan Yu. When she heard that someone would help her carry water from now on, she hesitated for a moment, but then agreed.
So Yun Yuan put down the bucket and limped towards Yan Yu's room. Little did she know, behind her, Granny Li wore a cryptic smile.
Yan Yu was in the room having another maid, Wen Lan, apply nail polish to her nails when she saw Yun Yuan return empty-handed. She frowned and asked in a shrill voice, "Where's the water I asked you to fetch? Why are you back empty-handed?"
Yun Yuan suddenly knelt down, tears streaming down her face, and said, "Your Highness, I am utterly incompetent. Not only was I beaten and scolded, but I also failed to protect Your Highness's reputation. I am truly ashamed to face Your Highness!"
Yan Yu was completely confused by her words, and frowned, asking sternly, "What's wrong with you? What happened?"
Seeing that Yan Yu had already been aroused, Yun Yuan immediately said, "This servant was ordered by the princess to fetch water from the garden, but unfortunately, I ran into a princess from the Niohuru clan who was also fetching water there. She stepped on my foot, and instead of apologizing, she cursed me for being blind. Even..."
Upon hearing this, Yan Yu thought to herself, "Why is it another maid from the Niohuru clan?" She immediately asked, "Even what?"
Yun Yuan glanced at her cautiously, then added fuel to the fire, saying, "She even insulted the princess, saying that the princess wasn't a proper mistress of the Fourth Prince's mansion at all, but instead came here relying on the Fujin (principal wife) and wouldn't leave. There wasn't enough water to begin with, and now she had to give extra to unrelated people for no reason."
"You audacious servant!" Yan Yu immediately sat up from her chair, ignoring even the fingers that were applying nail polish to her. "What's her name, daring to insult me like this? It seems that Niohuru truly doesn't respect her elder sister; she's utterly despicable!"
Yun Yuan immediately added, "That girl also said that their princess is very favored by the Fourth Prince, even more so than the Fujin (Prince's wife), so what does the Fujin's sister count for?"
Yan Yu grew angrier and angrier as she listened, and finally even knocked the bottle of koji oil that Wen Lan was holding to the ground.
"Come with me to the Fujin's place, and I'll repeat these words to Sister Yu again." Yan Yu suddenly stood up.
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