Judging from the man’s tone, he didn’t do it on purpose.
Baishao made no reply but turned to look at Lin Mengya, looking like she was waiting for her instructions.
After pondering for a while, Lin Mengya gently shook her head at the maid.
Since the man didn’t mean to offend her, she shouldn’t pursue the matter.
“It’s okay. My princess is in a hurry, so we must move forward now.”
Baishao was taking care of the situation.
While Lin Mengya was sitting in the carriage, she was listening intently to what was happening outside.
“Yes, Your Highness.”
To Lin Mengya’s surprise, the square-faced man didn’t make things hard for her.
He let them enter the gate directly. Baishao, who was always alert, guarded Lin Mengya by the carriage door.
“This man is so rude. How could he smash our carriage recklessly!”
Baishao’s delicate brows knitted together as she spoke in a tone of indignation.
It was reasonable to say that this man was very rude.
Even Lin Mengya also tensed up just now. As long as the man showed any hostility, she would definitely take action ahead of him.
However, that man seemed to have no intention to make things hard for her. He let them enter the city gate smoothly.
“Forget it. It’s not peaceful in the city. Probably, they were just doing their jobs. By the way, is the prince in the palace?”
Baishao could only let the matter lie after hearing what Lin Mengya said.
However, there was still an unreconciled look between her eyebrows.
Lin Mengya smiled and lifted the curtain of the carriage. The Capital City was as prosperous as it used to be. Everything looked the same as what it was before she left.
“Let’s go to buy some gifts first. Those who guarded our mansion when we were away should be rewarded.”
Baishao answered with a big smile. Although this was out of her expectation, the joy of meeting her family that she had missed so much diluted the displeasure in her heart.
Nearly all the servants and handymen in Prince Yu’s Mansion were waiting at the door for Lin Mengya’s return.
Especially the two girls who stood in front of the crowd. One of them was clad in a lake-green close-fitting robe. She had an oval face and delicate features and looked very tender.
She only wore an inexpensive but fine silver hairpin in her hair.
The other girl, who was in a fancy, light yellow dress, appeared very excited.
She had a round face and big watery eyes, the kind of girl that people wanted to dote on at the first glance.
The two of them were none other than Baiji and Baizhi, Lin Mengya’s personal maids.
Early in the morning, they received a message saying that Lin Mengya was going to be back.
The news brought the mansion into chaos.
If not for Ms. Tian’s guidance, those servants in the mansion would be in a mess.
“They are back! They are back! The princess’s carriage appeared at the corner of the street!”
An excited voice came from not far away.
A servant, who had been sent by Baiji to check the situation, ran back to the prince’s mansion while yelling loudly.
In an instant, all the people in the mansion, who had been waiting anxiously for a long time, cracked a big smile.
They had been waiting for so long, and their princess was finally back.
The brown-red horse with big hooves strode forward on the stone road at a steady pace.
However, Baiji and Baizhi couldn’t wait to see Lin Mengya any longer.
Before the carriage reached them, they ran over while lifting their dresses.
“Master!”
They leaned toward the carriage in surprise, and they could barely suppress the excitement on their faces.
The carriage stopped immediately as someone put down a small stool skillfully. Then, the carved door was gently pushed open from inside.
The next moment, Baishao poked her head out of the carriage with a bright smile.
“Master, it’s Baiji and Baizhi.” Baishao reported to Lin Mengya.
Then, she jumped out of the carriage swiftly.
Almost everyone looked into the carriage eagerly at the moment.
A moment later, a beautiful and smiling face came into their sight.
Lin Mengya was amused looking at her two maids on her left and right.
The moment she stepped into the mansion, they held her arms, muttering that she suffered too much in a tone sounding like laughing yet crying. Lin Mengya did not know how they found about her sufferings.
She didn’t know how to handle the situation and wanted to ask Baishao for help. However, the cunning girl was nowhere to see; she had run away from the crowd with an excuse that she wanted to get her gift, afraid that she would get involved in the awkward situation.
As a result, Lin Mengya had to rack her brains to comfort Baiji and Baizhi on her own.
“Master, if you go out again, please take me with you no matter what happens. I don’t want to be separated from you ever again for the rest of my life.”
Baizhi had grown up with Lin Mengya, so she had deeper feelings for Lin Mengya than others did.
With tears in her eyes, she looked at Lin Mengya piteously, and her words softened the latter’s heart.
“Sorry for making you worry.”
Lin Mengya looked at the servants who were concerned about her, with an apologetic expression. In the past year, the people with good character in the mansion were all grateful for her kindness.
Few mistresses in the Capital City were as kind as Lin Mengya.
Therefore, her servants all looked forward to her return.
Surrounded by her servants, Lin Mengya finally returned to her Liuxin Courtyard.
She dispersed them in a gentle tone and walked into her yard with Baiji and Baizhi.
“Meow—”
“Roar —”
The moment she entered the door, she was startled by two loud and imposing voices.
When she came to herself, she saw two snow-white animals jumping out of the house in a hurry.
“Snow, the baby tiger, oh, how lovely you are. You didn’t forget me!”
She had only been away for several months, but the two pets had grown much stronger.
Snow was valiant and majestic with the bearing of a young wolf king.
The baby tiger was awe-inspiring and no longer looked like a pitiful big cat.
The two little pets were very clever. Though it was said that the wolf and tiger were too wild to be tamed, but Snow and the baby tiger looked gentle and lovely when they were around Lin Mengya.
The two pets were even better at acting like a spoiled child than human beings. They lay by Lin Mengya’s feet and showed their bellies to her at the same time as if they had made an agreement. They did not leave until Lin Mengya caressed their bellies.
“Humph, these two ungrateful little things. When you were not around, it was Sister Baiji and me who fed them. But they always roared at us!”
Baizhi couldn’t bear to see these two pets play cute any longer. With her hands on her hips, she reported their “sins” to Lin Mengya.
The people in the yard burst into laughter upon hearing those words. After stopping laughing, Lin Mengya looked at Hongyu, who seemed to be reserved, and Xiu, whose eyes lit up when seeing Snow and the baby tiger.
Then, her gaze fell on Zhu Yan, who wore a poker face.
“Come in, everyone. I have some new friends that I want to introduce to you.”
When she finally returned to Liuxin Courtyard after these months, she felt that no place could be better than home.
She looked around, and her three maids, of course, were standing by her sides.
Ms. Tian looked at her lovingly and brought her a cup of milk tea she made personally. It seemed that Lin Mengya’s yard would be very lively tonight.
“This is Dongfang Xiu. She will stay here for the time being. Her uncle and the prince are old acquaintances, so she will spend some time with me in our mansion.”
The reason why she first introduced Xiu was that the girl had a simple background and was very outgoing and adorable.
As expected, Xiu immediately bowed to everyone with a sweet smile.
“Just call me Xiu. Princess has taken good care of me along the way. I’m afraid I’ll have to trouble all of you in the following days.”
Everyone was naturally fond of this sweet and pretty girl.
“Xiu, this is my wet nurse, Ms. Tian. She is very kind and tender. You can call her Ms. Tian. And this is my right-hand maid, you can call her Sister Baiji. As for this girl, you can call her Baizhi. She entered this mansion with me and had grown up with me.”
Although Xiu was a simple girl, she knew well about the ways of the world.
She immediately addressed Ms. Tian and Baiji in a sweet and clear voice as she was told to, and this made everyone fond of her even more.
Lin Mengya turned to look at Hongyu, and it was obvious to her that Hongyu looked kind of serious.
After thinking for a while, she started to introduce her slowly.
“This girl had saved my life. Hongyu, you can stay in the mansion for the time being.”
Hongyu stood up gracefully and bowed. However, everyone held an ambiguous attitude toward her.
Ms. Tian was the most experienced one among them. With a single glance, she could tell that Hongyu wasn’t a simple girl.
However, since Hongyu had saved Lin Mengya, she could not slight her.
“Miss Hongyu, how about I show you our guest room? You’re princess’s guest, so you’re our guest as well.”
Ms. Tian tried to help Hongyu out of the embarrassing situation. Hongyu looked at her gratefully. After that, she excused herself and left with Ms. Tian.
Lin Mengya watched Hongyu’s leaving back, and she couldn’t help but glare at Baishao.
She let out a sigh. She had expected that Baishao had someone send back the news of her whereabouts and information on Hongyu’s background.
…
“Master, are you angry with us?”
Baiji was good at reading faces. When she saw the helplessness in Lin Mengya’s eyes, she could not help but ask cautiously.
“No, I know you did it for my good. But Hongyu is a poor girl. If you don’t like her, you can dismiss her and help her settle down somewhere else.”
Lin Mengya knew that her maids were hostile toward Hongyu because they were on her side.
For this reason, Lin Mengya was not really angry at them.
Seeing that Lin Mengya was not angry, the three maids were finally relieved.
Baizhi, who was sharp-eyed, suddenly spotted the young man who was standing still at the door like a wood pile.
“Master, who is that man?”
Lin Mengya lifted her head, and her eyes met Zhu Yan’s furious gaze.
How could she forget to introduce him?
