Chapter 6 The weight of a thousand pieces of gold... Her smile was truly dazzling. ...
Meng Yu returned to her room, changed into clean clothes, and after much persuasion, explained to Shen Xiaoniang why she was soaking wet. Without lingering, she hurried back upstairs.
As soon as she entered, she happened to see Lu Xiuyi coming out of the inner room wearing a light gray nightgown. His eyes had lost their deep intensity, a face towel was draped over his arm, and his long, wet, dark hair was draped behind him. A few drops of water clung to his sharply defined face. He was staring at her in a daze.
Meng Yu was taken aback for a moment, then quickly took out her notebook and wrote down, "Please forgive me, Your Highness, I just went back to change my clothes."
"It's alright."
Meng Yu breathed a sigh of relief.
Lu Xiuyi withdrew his gaze from her, returned to his desk and sat down, then picked up a book and read for half an hour.
It was pitch black outside, with the occasional splash of fish leaping out of the water, accompanied by a cool night breeze seeping in through the window.
Lu Xiuyi's hair dried quickly. He yawned and was about to signal Meng Yu to make the bed when he looked up and saw that she had already made the bed and was waiting by the bedside with a slight bow.
Lu Xiuyi stared at her unabashedly for a few moments, and couldn't help but feel great.
Although he didn't know if she truly wanted to stay by his side, she had become familiar with all the duties of a maid in just half a day.
So it seems she wasn't entirely dense.
Lu Xiuyi lifted the curtain and lay down peacefully. Seeing that there was nothing else to do, Meng Yu left the lamp near the foot of the bed on, blew out the rest of the lamps, and was about to turn around and go back to her room.
"Stop right there, where are you going?"
A low shout suddenly came from behind her, and she quickly turned around and glanced at the curtain.
Even though it was dark, Meng Yu could feel the heavy gaze coming from behind the curtain. She paused for a moment, then immediately took out her notebook and wrote: "After Master rests, there's nothing more to do. This servant wants to go back to my room to sleep."
After saying that, fearing that Lu Xiuyi might disagree, Meng Yu added, "Don't worry, Your Highness, I will come to be on duty at the beginning of the morning tomorrow and will definitely not delay Your Highness's business."
Meng Yu stepped forward and handed the notebook through the curtain.
Lu Xiuyi glanced at it briefly and chuckled: "Who said I have nothing to do after I fall asleep? You need to serve me when I get up at night, you need to add tea and water when I cough, and you need to fan me when I feel hot. Besides, serving my bed is also a maid's duty."
As he spoke, Lu Xiuyi lifted the curtain, got up, rolled up a brocade quilt from the couch, and walked towards her.
The man revealed his muscular chest, his skin glowing with a honey-colored light under the orange lamplight, and his eyes seemed to carry a dangerous signal of lust and predation.
Meng Yu was forced to accept the thin blanket he offered, wrapped her arms around it, and took two steps back while watching him warily.
Seeing her stiff expression and wary demeanor, Lu Xiuyi's good mood vanished, and he couldn't help but sneer: "Don't worry, even if I'm thirsty, I wouldn't stoop to the level of a frivolous woman."
Meng Yu: "..."
She had seen people with sharp tongues, but she had never seen anyone with a mouth more venomous than a snake.
Lu Xiuyi is one of a kind.
“This quilt is for you, so you won’t catch a cold in the middle of the night. I’ll also be short one person to serve me,” he said, then pointed to the chaise lounge near another window. “You will sleep there from now on.”
Now that Lu Xiuyi had given her a firm guarantee, Meng Yu was no longer worried. After bowing slightly to him, she went to the chaise lounge and settled down to sleep peacefully.
After a busy day, she was exhausted and fell into a deep sleep shortly after lying down on the couch.
Lu Xiuyi was thirsty in the middle of the night. He got up and was about to ask Meng Yu to bring him water when he heard a faint breathing sound coming from the chaise lounge. On a whim, he went over and squatted down to take a closer look.
The dim candlelight cast a yellowish glow on Meng Yu's apricot-shaped face and peach-blossom cheeks. Her face was free of makeup, yet her skin was still as white as snow under the morning sun. Her curled eyelashes were tightly closed, shedding the coldness of the daytime, and her brows and eyes were bathed in gentle tranquility.
As the gaze travels downwards, a few strands of her dark hair fall across her chest, partially obscuring her collar, revealing glimpses of her fair skin beneath.
Lu Xiuyi stared, his eyes burning with desire. He quickly looked away, got up, poured two glasses of cold water, and gulped them down. Only then did his burning desire subside slightly.
***
The next day.
After serving Lu Xiuyi his meal and getting him up, Meng Yu finally had time to go back downstairs to eat. Not long after finishing her meal, she rushed back upstairs to the second floor.
Throughout the day, she simply served Lu Xiuyi's daily needs; the work was neither heavy nor demanding. There was nowhere to go on the ship, nor any entertainment. Lu Xiuyi spent his days reading books and occasionally listening to Chu Ze's reports behind closed doors.
Aside from going downstairs to get food and take a bath, Meng Yu couldn't go anywhere. She could only stay by Lu Xiuyi's side, serving him tea and water. She was bored standing there and often dozed off, only to be woken up by Lu Xiuyi.
This went on for five or six days, and they managed to get through it peacefully.
Meng Yu seized the opportunity, choosing a time when Lu Xiuyi was in a good mood, and asked tactfully, "I have been serving you, Master, for some time now. I wonder how you find my service?"
Lu Xiuyi was engrossed in reading the "Lin'an Star Classic," whose contents were profound and obscure. He glanced at her words and, without thinking, casually replied, "It's alright."
Meng Yu was overjoyed and mustered her courage to write: "Since Your Majesty also thinks that I have done a good job, then may Your Majesty grant me permission to only do this job? Besides, even if I serve in the palace, there is a time limit. May I ask, how long does Your Majesty want me to repay your kindness?"
After finishing writing, Meng Yu held the notebook upright in front of her chest, but Lu Xiuyi was engrossed in reading it and did not look up.
After a moment's thought, Meng Yu mustered her courage and gently tapped the table.
Upon hearing this, Lu Xiuyi lifted his eyelids, looking puzzled for a moment. But after scanning those two lines of text, his face instantly darkened.
Is it really that uncomfortable to be around him? After only a few days, she was already planning when to leave.
Lu Xiuyi grew angrier the more he thought about it. He stared at Meng Yu with a dark expression for a long time before finally speaking in a low voice, "Are you threatening me?"
His sudden remark startled Meng Yu, who shook her head violently.
Lu Xiuyi closed the book, suppressing the pent-up anger rising in his chest, and said in a cold voice, "Even an ignorant child understands that a drop of kindness should be repaid with a spring of gratitude. What you owe me is a life-saving debt, do you think that serving me for a few days will repay it?"
His few words left Meng Yu speechless with shame, causing her to lower her head.
Since she had agreed to Lu Xiuyi's request, she had no intention of running away. Even though she hadn't asked him to save her mother and Huaiyin, he had still saved her life.
Seeing that she didn't reply and looked ashamed, Lu Xiuyi's mood eased a bit, and he continued, "Besides, the palace is the palace, and I have my own rules here. How can you compare me to the palace?"
Meng Yu came to her senses and quickly wrote: "That's not what I meant, and I would never dare to threaten you, sir. I just felt that everything has a beginning and an end, and everything has a conclusion. That's why I wanted to ask you how long you want me to serve you. Since you don't like me to talk too much, I won't ask again in the future."
She held up the notebook with neither arrogance nor servility. Lu Xiuyi glanced at it and couldn't help but sneer: "Eloquent. If you knew how to speak, you would probably be even more eloquent than you are now."
Sensing the overwhelming anger hidden in his words, Meng Yu felt a chill run down her spine. She picked up her pen to explain, but another deep voice came from the other end: "No need to argue, get out."
Meng Yu's heart sank to the bottom.
She had finally managed to cheer Lu Xiuyi up, and thought that if she took this opportunity to tell him, he would readily agree. But to her surprise, he was even more narrow-minded than she had imagined.
But if she didn't mention it, would she really have to be his slave for the rest of her life? Just thinking about it made Meng Yu tremble with fear.
Anyway, she's going to die, so bringing her up might give her a glimmer of hope, especially since he hasn't done anything to her yet.
After comforting herself like this, Meng Yu felt better and turned to leave.
Before he could even step out of the room, Lu Xiuyi's cold voice came again: "At most three months."
Upon hearing this, Meng Yu thought he had misheard and turned around abruptly.
She looked bewildered, and Lu Xiuyi explained in a cold voice, "From Xuzhou to the capital, it will take no more than three months. If you serve me well during this time, the debt of gratitude between us will be wiped clean, and I will naturally let you go."
It took Meng Yu a while to realize what he meant. She immediately smiled and curtsied, suppressing her excitement, and bowed her head as she retreated step by step.
Lu Xiuyi frowned as he looked at the empty doorway, his face growing increasingly dark.
The smile on her lips was truly glaring.
***
Meng Yu couldn't wait to return to the side room and tell Aunt Shen and Huaiyin the news.
Aunt Shen was overjoyed, but after calming down, she still worriedly asked, "Did Young Master Lu really agree to this so easily? Will he go back on his word later?"
Her words were like a bucket of cold water poured over Meng Yu, abruptly plunging her heart, which had been soaring to the clouds, back to the bottom of a cliff.
She hadn't had much contact with Lu Xiuyi, and most of what she knew about him came from other people. She really couldn't be sure what kind of person he was, or whether he was trustworthy.
Despite these thoughts, Meng Yu patted the anxious Aunt Shen on the shoulder and comforted her with a smile: "Don't worry, Aunt. He is, after all, the young master of the Marquis's mansion. He must be true to his word and resolute in his actions. Otherwise, how could he establish himself in the capital?"
Aunt Shen nodded: "If he takes it as the truth and keeps his word, that would be best."
Seeing that dinner time was approaching, Meng Yu dared not linger and went to the kitchen to fetch the food before going upstairs.
Lu Xiuyi was still reading "Lin'an Star Classic" when he suddenly smelled the aroma of food and put the book down.
Meng Yu set out the food, served him until he finished eating, and tidied the table before returning upstairs to refill his tea and serve him water.
She stood to the side, looking at Lu Xiuyi, when she suddenly remembered what Chen Xiaoniang had said, and a trace of worry crept into her heart.
After much deliberation, Meng Yu finally mustered her courage and asked, "Master, you won't go back on your promise to me today, will you?"
Lu Xiuyi was putting down his book and drinking tea when he suddenly saw her holding up her notebook and writing this sentence. He immediately felt a surge of anger and said with a sneer, "What do you think you are, some kind of beauty? I'm not so shameless as to do that. Don't worry, I always keep my word."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
