Kid turned around and saw Madam Dong sitting on the red sandalwood Luo Han bed by the window, holding a gilded bronze scissor with a pained expression on her face. She smiled awkwardly, "I am not very good at this..."
The maids in the room could not help but cover their lips and laugh.
"Madam, Young Miss, Master has sent word. The Young Miss is to go to the study room as there is a letter from Dadu, sent for Miss!" a delicate and charming maid entered, smiling and greeting as she spoke.
The letter from Dadu should be from Jinxiu. Kid put down the scissors and saluted Madam Dong, "Grandmother, I will be right back!"
"Go, go! Just spare me from these flowers and plants!" Madam Dong quickly waved her hand at Kid.
The bolder maids in the room were already laughing out loud, and Chun Tao also laughed, "Our Young Miss can do everything except tending flowers and embroidery."
Madam Dong took the hot towel handed by the maid to wipe her hands and laughed, "No one can do everything. Tending flowers and embroidery are just pastimes. What my Kid can do truly benefits the country and the people, building a legacy."
Madam Dong spoke with a tone full of pride.
"Hurry and go! It might be a letter from that girl Jinxiu!" Madam Dong paused her wiping, "By the dates, Jinxiu should be giving birth next month, right?"
"Good! I will prepare a generous gift for her. You will take it for me!" Madam Dong finished speaking, waved her hand, "Go! Nanny Wang, bring me my bonsai for trimming!"
Kid responded, saluted, and left with Chun Tao from her grandmother’s courtyard, running into Aunt Luo, who was waiting outside.
Aunt Luo, anxiously fanning herself with a round fan under the tree’s shade, quickly straightened her dark green dress embroidered with white tea flowers and adjusted her gold hairpin, taking small steps forward to greet, "I... greet the Princess of Zhen."
Kid had never seen Aunt Luo and did not know who she was, so Chun Tao kindly reminded, "Young Miss, this is Aunt Luo."
Kid raised her eyebrow but did not let Aunt Luo stand, "Aunt Luo, did you not understand the words I asked Chun Tao to convey to you last night?"
Aunt Luo’s heart skipped a beat. Looking at Kid, a delicate and seemingly soft-hearted girl, it was startling to hear her speak so sharply.
Aunt Luo, swayed by her unreliable brother’s words, thought she could seek the Princess of Zhen for a favor on behalf of Dong Mansion. Since she bore a son, Changmao, the Princess might show her some respect. This emboldened her to come.
Unexpectedly, the Princess’s severe words made Aunt Luo lose all her prepared flattering phrases.
"Aunt Luo," Kid said in a chilling tone, "your manners are poor. I am at my grandmother’s place without my guards. If we were outside Dong Mansion, and you approached me so rashly, your head would roll before you uttered a word."
Aunt Luo’s neck went cold, and she hurriedly knelt, "Spare me, Princess of Zhen!"
"Aunt Luo, for Changmao’s sake, I was willing to leave you some dignity. But remember, if I grant you dignity, you must live up to it. As long as you don’t scheme against my people, I can ignore your affairs in Dong Mansion. As a niece, I should not meddle with my uncle’s household matters. But if you plot under my eyes, know that not only I but even my maids could make someone disappear from this mansion. Many would gladly help clean it up."
Plotting against the Princess’s people...
Aunt Luo trembled like a leaf. Kid’s voice was low but every word hit her heart like a needle. She understood that the Princess was referring to her current intention.
Aunt Luo had hoped to borrow Chun Tao and arrange a meeting with her brother, to see if Chun Tao favored him.
"Before you act, think more about Changmao. As a concubine’s son, his life in Dong Mansion is already tough. Do not bring more shame upon him. Think about this next time!"
With that, Kid walked toward Dong Qingyue’s study with Chun Tao.
Aunt Luo sat on the ground, her face ashen, until Kid’s footsteps faded into the distance.
The maid beside Aunt Luo quickly crawled to her, "Mistress, we should leave. If Madam Dong finds us here, you will be punished again!"
Aunt Luo, dazed, had thought marrying her maid to her brother was a triumph. But Kid’s words were a bitter slap, waking her.
She realized, connected to the Princess of Zhen, that she was mad to think the Princess’s maid would marry her brother. Unbelievable!
If not for the Dong family being the Princess’s maternal family, her standing as a concubine in Dong Mansion meant nothing. Her status couldn’t match even the Princess’s maid, let alone her personal maid!
Her obsession with marrying the maid to her brother was folly. If the Dong family disgraced her son, what more could she do?
Changmao, a concubine’s son, struggled despite his brilliance. Aunt Luo’s hope was to connect with the Princess to strengthen Changmao’s position in Dong Mansion. But this attempt endangered him, and she couldn’t bear to harm her son.
"Help... help me up!" Aunt Luo hurriedly said.
Her maid supported Aunt Luo while her anxious brother rushed forward, stretching his neck to see behind her, "Where is she?"
Aunt Luo glared at her brother, "I warn you, drop this! The maid of the Princess of Zhen can marry into wealth as a main wife. Stop dreaming nonsense!"
Her brother’s face stiffened in anger, "Did that slut say that?"
"The Princess of Zhen said it! I warn you, curb your vile ideas. If you involve my son in your schemes, I’ll die with you!" Aunt Luo finished, tossing her handkerchief before retreating to her room, collapsing onto her embroidered quilt, and sobbing.