Li Chang'an was completely fed up. These people were utterly impervious to reason, and she was too lazy to waste any more words, so she simply gave up and let them do as they pleased!
Just as I turned to go back, I saw another uninvited guest enter the courtyard.
Qin Xiashi also came over with Xing'er.
Knowing Li Chang'an's temperament, Qin Xia made a special trip to visit him.
"Hey, what's all this commotion about?"
Qin Xia pretended to be surprised and looked at the group of maids who were kneeling on the ground kowtowing.
Seeing the woman's pretentious manner, Li Chang'an and Zhuque frowned in unison.
"What are you saying, Aunt? How can you act like you know better than anyone else?"
Zhuque had reached her limit of patience and launched a direct and merciless attack on Qin Xiashi.
Qin Xia was taken aback, then said with displeasure, "What right do you, a mere servant, have to speak to me like that? Don't think I won't have someone slap you!"
"Auntie is really something. If I said that what I just said was conveyed by Zhuque, would you slap me too?"
Li Chang'an also stepped forward and stared directly at Qin Xiashi, silencing her with a few words.
Seeing that she couldn't win by confronting them head-on, Qin Xia immediately changed her tune, putting on a smiling face and apologizing to Li Chang'an and Zhuque.
Seeing how quickly this woman could change her mind, Li Chang'an and Zhu Que were speechless.
"Take these maids and concubines back with you! My place is small, I don't need so many people."
Li Chang'an did not want to cause any more trouble, so he spoke in a very polite tone.
But Qin Xia seemed oblivious to the disgust in the other's words, and immediately said, "How can a lady be without servants? These are all handpicked by me, they are very diligent! A lady must accept them, otherwise I will feel really uneasy..."
These words were quite eloquent, but unfortunately, Li Chang'an didn't like to hear them. She didn't believe that Qin Xiashi had suddenly given her a bunch of maids simply to serve her.
The only one to blame is this woman for making her ulterior motives too obvious.
Thinking back to when she first arrived at the General's Mansion, she remembered the other party's polite yet distant attitude and indifferent expression, as if she were the guest and the other party was the host.
"That would be too much trouble for you, Auntie. Since all these maids are so outstanding, why don't they go to your courtyard? They can help take care of Yu Bao. I already have Zhu Que to serve me."
A hint of mockery flashed in Li Chang'an's eyes, and he then readily gave the other party a chance to retaliate.
Qin Xiashi hadn't expected Li Chang'an to come up with such an excuse to fob her off. She turned her head and glanced at Zhuque, who had a cold expression on her face. She saw that the woman had her chin held high and was wearing such an eye-catching dark red dress.
She doesn't look like a maid at all.
"This is a token of my aunt's goodwill. If you insist on refusing it, how can my aunt feel good? My aunt considers you family. Why should you be so distant?"
Xing'er truly lives up to her reputation as someone with a silver tongue, delivering her speech in a way that was incredibly comprehensive and thorough.
Not only that, but the idea of arranging maids in Li Chang'an's courtyard was also given to Qin Xiashi by her.
When Li Chang'an brought Zhuque back to the General's Mansion, Xing'er immediately noticed this unfamiliar woman. Later, she heard that she was Li Chang'an's personal maid, so she went over and whispered in Qin Xia's ear, suspecting that Li Chang'an had found a powerful helper from outside to oppose them.
Qin Xiashi was still worried, so she decided to follow Xing'er's advice and select a few of her own people to be placed in Li Chang'an's courtyard, so that they could be looked after if necessary.
At this moment, Zhuque could not help but notice the seemingly inconspicuous maid next to Qin Xiashi.
He couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, a dangerous glint flashing in his eyes.
This girl has been lurking around Li Chang'an's courtyard suspiciously these past few days, and Li Chang'an has caught her several times.
Watching the master and servant working together in harmony, Li Chang'an suddenly felt a surge of interest—she was quite curious to see what their purpose was in going to such lengths to place people in her territory.
"In that case, I thank you for your kindness, Aunt."
Li Chang'an's words were lukewarm and devoid of any gratitude, making them seem extremely perfunctory no matter how you looked at them.
However, Madam Qin didn't care about any of that. Now that she had achieved her goal, she continued Li Chang'an's words and exchanged some more polite words with him before leading Xing'er and the other person away happily.
Zhuque was surprised, wondering why Li Chang'an had suddenly changed his mind.
"We, your servants, greet you, Madam."
After seeing off Qin Xiashi and Xing'er, the maids bowed deeply to Li Chang'an, signifying their complete allegiance to their new mistress.
After the ceremony, the head maid was about to introduce herself when she looked up and found that Li Chang'an and Zhuque were gone.
The maids stood in the courtyard, looking at each other in bewilderment. Li Chang'an hadn't assigned any tasks to them, so they didn't know what to do.
"Sister Qiuyue, we can't just stand here like this, can we?"
At this moment, one of the maids couldn't help but frown and complain to the head maid, and soon the others also began to complain.
However, they can't be blamed for this; indeed, no master would leave his maidservant unattended.
"Come on, let's go inside. Since there's no work for us, we'll just follow our master around!"
The maid named Qiuyue spoke smugly to everyone, a sly glint in her eyes.
She had been personally instructed by Xing'er, who was a close friend of hers. Under her friend's influence, Qiuyue secretly began to carry out her own little plan: to force herself on Li Chang'an.
Originally, Li Chang'an intended to ignore those people, because she knew in her heart that Qin Xia wanted to plant people around her.
Zhuque naturally didn't take those people seriously, thinking that a few maids couldn't cause any trouble at all.
Li Chang'an was about to send Zhuque to investigate the matter of the sachet when he saw all the maids outside rush in.
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