"Why does Young Master Ye not respond to my intentions? What must I do to have him notice me?" Zhang Xie stomped down her feet in irritation. She glared at the unopened letters. Recalling the number of hours she had spent to learn and write those letters beautifully, now she felt like shredding them to pieces.
Master Ye was the son of a rich merchant in the village. His father had several properties under his name, not to mention he had handsome looks. All the women in the village desired him. Although Zhang's family was just a dependent of Prime Minister Jiang, Master Jiang was still in the end the Prime Minister of the whole country.
The servants also enjoyed his status.
They could compare to an ordinary rich family.
"Miss is wrong. How could Master Ye ignore your unparalleled grace? He must have been put off by something to ignore you like this." A servant girl said.
Coming back from Madam Zhang's residence, the servant girl had seen Zhang Xie excitedly receiving letters from Ye's family servant. Finding it were the same letters she had sent, Zhang Xie's face turned from green to purple.
The servant girl was good at reading people, she knew what to say at the right moment.
"Of course, that's the reason." Zhang Mei, as the only daughter, had been spoiled into arrogance by her mother. She said with a 'humph' "He must be busy. He has no other reason to ignore me. Who in this village can compare to me? I will send him another invitation. He would certainly answer me this time."
"Master Ye will definitely respond the second time. He might even snd an apology for this." The servant girl said.
Hearing this, the color on Zhang Xie's face somewhat returned to normal, the embarrassment from rejection subsided somewhat.
Looking at the servant girl, she asked. "What's your name? I have not seen you before. Are you new?"
"Replying to Madam's daughter, I've recently been appointed. This servant's name is Yan Shu. I'm a sweeping girl in Young Lady's courtyard."
"Oh," Zhang Xie uttered. She didn't have much of an impression of that 'Young Lady' Anyhow, that so-called Young Lady was living a worse life than her. "Such an intelligent girl. It's such a waste to appoint you as a sweeping girl under her. I'll talk to Mother to change your duties to easier ones."
They stood close to the exit while Zhang Xie received flatterings.
All of sudden, a figure appeared from a corner, steadily walking towards them.
Zhang Xie timely turned her head and was stunned into shock.
A young maiden had her beautiful, lustrous hair put up into a simple yet elegant hairstyle. She walked with her hands placed before her, her each step precise and measured as if she had taken years of arduous training to temper her mannerism. Two maidservants followed behind her, two steps before her, neither too close, neither too far whilst observing proper decorum. Her face was bright, fairer than Zhang Xin. There seemed to be something high and lofty in her quality, something unattainable.
Zhang Xie almost believed that some distinguished, royal figure had visited them from the capital until Jiang Miao came closer and her face became clearer.
Once recognizing that it was the same neglected Miss from the Prime Minister residence, the reverence receded from Zhang Xie's expression, replaced with contempt.
Before Yan Shu could caution her, Zhang Xie stepped forward to say, directly blocking her. "Oh, so it's the Young Lady. I wonder for what reason today Young Lady graced us with her presence outside?" Her words were straightforward, her tone was rude, barely hiding her displeasure.
If it was the past, Jiang Miao would have cowered back at Zhang Xie's overbearing approach. She might have blabbered trying to explain herself to a servant.
But this Jiang Miao didn't speak. Her lips were tilted into a small, an even smile. Her expression looked mild, indifferent, and dignified.
The more Zhang Xie looked at Jiang Miao's unperturbed expression, the more frustrated she grew.
What 'unparalleled grace'? Looking at Jiang Miao as if she had walked straight out of Imperial Palace, the words Yan Shu spoke a moment ago felt like a joke now.
"Usually Young Lady prefers to keep herself in her room. Today, what made her feel like showing us her face?" Zhang Xie provoked.
Jiang Miao's incisive glance swept through Zhang Xie, from top to bottom. All the while, her lips upheld the same unconcerned smile.
The way Zhang Xie wore finer clothes and jewelry than a countryside servant could afford, Jiang Miao finally realized where her missing jewelry was and where did the provisions and assets her Father sent her weekly went.
"Step aside." After a long time, Jiang Miao opened her mouth and said those two words.
"Young Lady didn't answer me. Why would I step aside?" Zhang Xie didn't show any inclinations towards retreating.
Jiang Miao's smile didn't even flicker as she said without looking back. "Zu Yu, I'll have to trouble you to discipline another servant in my stead."
Zu Yu approached without warning, her hand smacked against Zhang Xie's cheek before Yan Shu could intercede.
Stunned, Zhang Xie pressed a hand against the reddened check, she stuttered in disbelief. "You-You, how could you!"
"Slapping a servant is the minimum punishment for misconduct by Jiang family rules. You should kneel and thank Young Lady for being lenient on you." Xiang Qiao said.
Zhang Xie choked on anger.
The impact of the slap had imbalanced Zhang Xie, forcing her to make way for Jiang Miao. Jiang Miao didn't plan to stay and started towards the exit.
Behind her, Zhang Xie blurted in rage. "You live here, my Mother decides how much and how often you should eat! Yet you dare have your maidservants slap me! You, you just wait! Just you wait till I go and tell my mother. Who the heck cares for your Jiang family-"
Yan Shu straightened her bowed head and interrupted Zhang Xie before she could finish. Having witnessed the events of this morning with Tian Yuan, she knew the Jiang family rules could not be taken lightly.
"Young Lady, Ms. Zhang Xie is not feeling well. Please forgive her for being muddleheaded." Yan Shu walked in front of Zhang Xie and bowed deeply as Jiang Miao turned around to look at Zhang Xie.
"Oh no, let her continue. What was she saying? She doesn't care for Jiang's family rules?" Zu Yu said with evil intention.
"I never said that." Getting a gist that she had overstepped the boundaries, Zhang Xi hurriedly remedied the situation.
She didn't argue anymore but she didn't apologize either. She stood stubbornly staring daggers at Jiang Miao finding her an eyesore.
"I have things to do today. Since you insist on saying you never said those words, I won't bother with you." Said Jiang Miao after sweeping a glance through Yan Shu, thinking that this sweeping girl was rather interesting. "But there won't be a next time."
With that, she turned around and walked out of the residence. Her maidservants followed behind.