"Why do you assume this King is thirsty?" Prince Yu's voice was as cold as if it had come from an ice cave, his eyes displaying undisguised contempt and disgust.
"Your... your maidservant saw Prince Yu busy for a long time, so I guessed," Qian Zhaodi's hands trembled slightly, causing the tray and teacups to collide with a clinking sound at the base.
If it were an ordinary man, seeing a delicate young maid so frightened might have evoked pity, but Prince Yu was no ordinary man.
He leaned back lazily against the chair and sneered, "Even if this King were thirsty, I wouldn't drink the tea you brought.
Look at your hands; there's dirt between your fingers. Your hair, face, and clothes all look dirty. This tea you're carrying, this King finds it filthy.
Also, please be so kind as to dress more modestly in the future. If you don't have at least two taels of flesh on your chest, don't expose it so casually; it makes you appear low-class. This King is not interested in low-class women." Even Xiao Hei Lian's small face was so steep, yet so completely covered. Even without revealing an inch, it was still... uh, strayed too far.
Qian Zhaodi's arms shook like a sieve sifting grain. The immense humiliation made her face pale, and she felt a strong dizziness, as if she might faint at any moment.
A Qiu watched her and tugged at the corner of his mouth, sighing silently.
He had seen too many overambitious young maids. Over the years, from when his master was the Fourth Prince at ten years old, to the current Prince Yu at twenty, no young maid had ever successfully climbed into his master's bed.
His master's bed was harder to climb than the tallest mountain in the Great Xia Kingdom.
The girls in the palace were all cunning and scheming; not a single one had succeeded. Not only had they failed, but they had also been subjected to their master's venomous tongue, losing all face. From then on, they were dejected and dared not appear before their master again.
This foolish girl, what was she compared to them?
This time, she was purely seeking humiliation.
A Qiu broke out in a sweat for Qian Zhaodi.
Prince Yu wasn't finished; he mocked, "If you want to seduce this King, you need to be at least the caliber of your elder madam.
Look at yourself; you have no looks, no figure, no culture, no thoughts, no charm, no ability...
You, besides being female, what capital do you have that makes you think you can seduce this King?
Who gave you the confidence to think that by bringing this King a cup of tea, I would even glance at you twice?
Is my taste that bad? Even if you were the last female left in the world, this King would rather remain childless than have you."
Qian Zhaodi could no longer hold back her tears. She slammed the tray onto the ground and knelt, kowtowing repeatedly. Her voice trembled as she said, "Prince... Your Highness Prince Yu, your maidservant dares not. Your maidservant merely... merely out of kindness came to bring you tea. I had absolutely no other intentions."
Prince Yu chuckled, raising his voice and turning to A Qiu, "Qiu, see? This is a typical case of wanting to play the harlot while setting up a monument to chastity. She's trying to fool this King!"
A Qiu smiled and said, "Master is absolutely right."
"If it weren't for the fact that you're Xiao Hei Lian's maidservant, this King would make you pay dearly! Don't appear before this King again, scram!" Prince Yu's eyes narrowed, his authority and imposing presence fully revealed.
Qian Zhaodi shivered with fright, kowtowed a few more times, and stumbled out with a trembling body.
Prince Yu watched her retreating figure, almost feeling nauseated again, "This lowly wench is quite restless. Tell me, will she go seduce Lu Ye?" After all, the only thing that scoundrel Lu Ye had going for him was his face.
A Qiu stroked his chin and said, "She must have thought about seducing him, but she probably won't succeed. Brother Lu's eyes only see Xiao Bai; there are no other women."
Prince Yu glared at A Qiu. My eyes only see Xiao Hei Lian; there are no other women. Where on my face is it written that you lowly women can just come and seduce me?
A Qiu immediately shut his mouth. He had inadvertently praised Lu Ye in front of his master, which was a major taboo.
"Master, the output situation of the mines over the years is in this document. Do you see any problems?" A Qiu quickly changed the subject.
Prince Yu glared at him again and threw the document onto the desk with a "snap." "I don't want to look at it anymore. My mood has been ruined by a lowly wench. This King is going to see the godchildren!"
With that, he got up and walked towards the sand embankment.
His four godchildren were becoming increasingly adorable, like carved jade, and were all clever little devils. Every time Prince Yu saw them, he felt that his days weren't so vexing, and life was quite good.
However, if he could have children with Xiao Hei Lian, they would surely be cuter than these four, because he felt he was cuter than Lu Ye.
Deep down, he both hoped that lowly wench would seduce Lu Ye and did not hope she would seduce Lu Ye.
If she successfully seduced Lu Ye, Xiao Hei Lian would definitely leave Lu Ye, and then he would have an opportunity, wouldn't he?
But, if that happened, Xiao Hei Lian would surely be heartbroken to death, and he didn't want to see her sad.
Alas, forget it. He couldn't let that lowly wench seduce Lu Ye.
Qian Zhaodi, having suffered an immense humiliation, ran back to her room and buried her head under the quilt, weeping bitterly.
This morning, two men in a row had spoken exceptionally insulting and harsh words to her. They both looked down on her from the bottom of their hearts. Wasn't Prince Yu just looking down on her for her low status?
From now on, she would work hard to save money. Once she had enough money, she would ask her elder madam for her deed of sale.
In fact, at the last family meeting, when the elder madam asked them if they wanted to get their deeds of sale back and have their servitude status released, she had really wanted to do so.
However, because she didn't have much savings to fall back on, if she took back her deed of sale, she would miss out on many of the family's benefits. She could only bear with it for now. Once she saved enough money to rely on, she would talk about it.
Moreover, if she took back her deed of sale too early, the people of Hongshu Village would definitely scold her as an ungrateful wretch, as the elder madam had taken her in as a household servant to save her.
The people of Hongshu Village's support for the elder madam was truly frightening. She was afraid of being targeted by them.
Yes, the elder madam had indeed saved her, but she had also worked diligently for over a year, serving the elder madam's family like an ox or a horse. Couldn't that be considered even?
Qian Zhaodi, having figured out her future path, wiped away her tears and went to work at the cloth shop on the back street.
Madam Yang was in confinement at home, and the cloth shop was being managed by a few other women. Seeing that Zhaodi was very late and her eyes were red, they asked her why she was so late. The morning was almost over, and they were almost done with their work.
Qian Zhaodi retorted irritably, "Whether I'm late or not, what's it to you? I'm not asking you for wages! The elder madam hasn't said anything, so why are you gossiping?"
Although those women felt indignant, they didn't argue with her further. After all, she was a servant of the elder madam's family. Forget it; they wouldn't quibble with her.