Cen Ang carried Huo Xiaolong and Hua Luan out of the room. The little dumpling nestled on the woman's shoulder and asked...
"Mom, who is he? Why are you and Aunt Hua crying like this?"
The prefect's wife laughed as she looked at the gossipy little dumpling. The reason she hadn't stopped him earlier and wanted Cen Ang to talk to him was because the child was so adorable.
What if I say something to her and she stops being close to me as her aunt?
Ah Cen is the godmother, so it's best if Ah Cen goes to say it.
"He is the son of the woman I mentioned to you before."
"The older sister who left you a large sum of money!?" The little dumpling's eyes widened, and then he asked.
“Yes, it’s her,” Cen Ang replied.
"Oh? Then I won't bully him like that anymore."
The woman pinched Huo Xiaolong's cheek and said...
"So you know you're bullying someone?"
“Yes, he made my mom cry, and I wasn’t happy about that.”
Hua Luan couldn't help but click her tongue in amazement. Cen Ang had a difficult childhood, but his life was indeed good later on. He could pick up a daughter as soon as he went out. The daughter was smart, considerate and capable.
"What about Aunt Hua? You only care about A-Cen, but don't you care about Aunt Hua?"
"It breaks my heart! Aunt Hua breaks my heart too. Mom, why is your sister so good to you?"
Cen Ang patted Huo Xiaolong's head twice, smiled, and didn't know how to reply. Fortunately, Hua Luan was by his side. The woman's lips parted slightly and she said...
"Your mother and I were the head maids of the Crown Princess back then. Ah Cen was the head maid, and I was her personal maid."
The little dumpling poured a cup of tea for the two of them and sat there, gazing intently at the woman and listening carefully.
"Back then, Ah Cen wasn't exactly known for her good temper; she was quite rigid. She was nothing like she is today, always smiling at you. I remember back then, didn't the Crown Princess ask you for a kitten from the Imperial Household Department?"
“Yes.” Cen Ang nodded.
Green willows lined the palace walls. Back then, Ah Cen was still a young lady. She sat at her desk, calculating the Crown Prince's accounts for the month, when a woman in palace attire quietly approached her and said...
"Ah Cen, guess what I brought back for you?"
The young lady put down her brush, stood up, and helped her remove her palace attire, then said...
"The Crown Princess has just finished paying her respects to the Empress. Today is the fifteenth of the month, so she should come back and rest. Why did you bring me anything?"
The woman had drunk some wine, her cheeks slightly flushed. She waved her hand to summon Hua Luan and whispered something to her.
I brought you something good!
Hua Luan pulled out a bamboo cage from behind her. Inside was a small cat with blue eyes and a pure white body. It was scratching at the cage, trying to get out and act cute, circling around and rubbing against it.
Cen Ang took a step back; she didn't like these little things, they were so soft and floppy.
The Crown Princess opened the bamboo cage door, took the kitten out, held it in her arms, and moved it close to the young lady.
"Ah Cen, feel it, it's so soft and nice to touch."
"Achoo!" The woman holding the kitten sneezed, then said...
"I can't raise this little thing, it keeps sneezing after just a little while. Ah Cen, can you take care of it for me? Make sure it gets chubby!"
Cen Ang took a few steps back, and the cold-faced young woman spoke.
"Please look for Luan'er, Your Highness. I'm here..."
"No! Luan'er has to serve me every day, so she can't have any cat hair on her! You're the one!"
The woman placed the kitten on Cen Ang's shoulder, and the kitten seemed to know something, rubbing its little face against her vigorously.
It's too soft and too thin; you could easily break it with a little force on its neck.
Normally, she would never have such a weakness, such an easy vulnerability that makes her easy to take advantage of and bully.
Hiding behind the curtain, watching Cen Ang with his serious and solemn face as he teased a kitten with a feather, the Crown Princess, perched on Hua Luan's back, asked...
"Is this idea really going to work? I feel like Ah Cen isn't teasing a cat, but rather disciplining a palace daughter."
"It should be fine, Your Majesty. Look, isn't she a little happier than usual?"
The woman didn't notice, but still chimed in.
"I think... right."
Cen Ang raised the kitten very well, or rather, just like her. It usually patrolled the Crown Prince's residence with its head held high and chest out. Whether it was a stray cat or an imperial cat, it would raise its noble head, narrow its eyes, and let its snow-white fur flutter in the wind. It used its aura to intimidate people, just like the head maid of the Crown Prince's residence. You could tell who owned the cat just by taking it for a walk.
"I knew it! Even the cats in the Crown Prince's residence look down on people!" a palace maid whispered.
"Do you think Aunt Cen wasted nearly twenty years in the palace? She was raised properly within the palace gates. Otherwise, why would people outside say that the Yuwen family has produced a once-in-a-century romantic? With Aunt Cen standing there, who would dare to get close to His Highness the Crown Prince? If they walked in, she'd twist their head off with her bare hands!"
Coincidentally, the Crown Princess and Hua Luan overheard these words, and Lan Youxin turned around and asked...
"Is our Crown Prince's residence really that scary?"
"I don't think so."
The woman nodded, then asked...
"Do those palace maids really think Ah Cen is fierce?"
She became the head maid of the Crown Prince's residence at the age of fifteen. She must be fierce. Besides, you should ignore the way your own servants usually behave in public.
Although that's what she really thought, Hua Luan still said something contrary to her true feelings.
“Ah Cen isn’t fierce, she just usually has a cold expression. Besides, she’s of high rank, which is why these palace maids are afraid of her.”
The Crown Princess nodded.
"That's good. I think Ah Cen is a good person, and she's gentle too."
Is she gentle?
Maybe.
The ministers who were waiting for the Crown Prince to return to discuss important matters in the main hall of the Crown Prince's residence dared not even breathe loudly as they watched the expressionless girl serving them tea.
I heard that last time the palace arrested a grassland spy, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Justice worked together but couldn't get anything out of him. This young girl went in and the spy confessed everything within the time it takes for an incense stick to burn. I wonder if the hands that serve them tea and water have ever been involved in any murders.
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