A/N: Please take this story as an entertainment, not education material. Most of the facts written in this novel does not follow the true historical facts~
Chapter 1
It had been two months since the pitiful Le Xiao Ting, now known as Xiao Hua, woke up in a different world.
She was not envious of the transmigrated ladies that she'd read about in novels. She had sworn that if she ever found herself transmigrated, she would pray for God to immediately send her back home! As an ordinary office worker, she would never succeed in any options she could think of to survive in this new world!
Hug a gold thigh? If she followed the wrong person, she would end up being a pawn that would get discarded after her useful period was over!
Marry a rich and influential man? Xiao Hua bleakly stared at her surroundings. She was merely a servant, where will she find rich men? The so-called master in the manor where she got forced to work as a maid was not a choice she could accept. They have so many concubines that as a modern woman, she felt extremely disgusted with.
Be a rich and influential person herself? Xiao Hua had never considered herself to be a talented person, so how could she be successful? She knew many ways to be successful, but what was the use of that knowledge if she did not know how to turn them into reality?
So the only choice left for her untalented self was to pray. She had continuously prayed every day and every hour, with all the sincerity she could muster, just for a miracle to happen. But after two months of living in this world, she was still stuck in this damn world.
Her sincerity towards God gradually turned into dislike and then crept to the side of hate. Why was she, an ordinary young lady without any extraordinary talent, would get picked to transmigrate? Had she offended a deity?!
"Xiao Hua, your eyes are swollen again."
Ah Lian, a maid that had joined the forced employment four days ago, stared at Xiao Hua with pity as she gently touched Xiao Hua's swollen eyes. Her face and lips were almost as pale as chalk, but it did very little to prevent others from noticing her beauty. Xiao Hua knew that Ah Lian would powder her beautiful face every day to hide from unwanted attention. In Xiao Hua's opinion, the mud would do a better job than the white powder, but Ah Lian would get punished if she does so.
Xiao Hua only knew about Ah Lian's face powder plan was because it was written in the novel Le XiaoTing had been reading before she was unwillingly cast as a character in this transmigration drama!
Xiao Hua had seldom cried in the two months she had been staying here. But when Ah Lian joined the employment camp and shared some of her background yesterday, Xiao Hua broke down and cried for the whole night! It was as if someone had told her that she will be dying soon!
The manor had hanged a large signboard with the household's surname written on it, but Le XiaoTing does not know how to read it. She was a not-so-proud banana that only knew how to speak basic Chinese but was totally useless when it came to reading or writing using that language.
This could be considered a stain on her Chinese heritage.
Xiao Hua only found out that the large signboard letters meant 'MongLu' when she happened to heard someone talking about it. But at that time, there was no trigger upon hearing that name so she did not think much about it.
The trigger only happened when Ah Lian revealed how she got kidnapped from the Guilin Kingdom as a hostage. Combining the story with the name of MongLu, it was then Xiao Hua realized this world was actually inside the novel she was reading before she died in an embarrassing way!
"Don't cry, Xiao Hua. Soon, my third brother will come to save us."
Xiao Hua smiled awkwardly as she pleaded inwardly, just ask your Third brother to rescue you! No need to be so kind as to help this passerby!
In a normal situation, she would have happily accepted Ah Lian's kind offer, but she knows that the original Xiao Hua would die if she stayed with Ah Lian. Now that Le XiaoTing had possessed this body, it means that she would experience death in the original's place!
"The two of you over there! Why are you not working?" A fierce head maid spotted them dilly-dallying at a secluded corner and mercilessly called them out.
"Sorry, Mama Xia." Ah Lian quickly headed into Old Madame MongLu's courtyard while Xiao Hua sprint towards the kitchen.
Both girls were fortunately chosen as Old Madame MongLu's maids, who was not as demanding as the rest of the family members. Ah Lian would be handling small tasks such as sweeping the floor and watering the potted plants. As for Xiao Hua, she was the tea girl tasked with the duty of serving tea to the old Madame and her guests.
Xiao Hua considered herself being lucky to have avoided heavy jobs such as cleaning or cooking. Actually, she had no idea how her trial making tea test had won the Old Madame's heart. She was suddenly told to take over the job of tea brewing for the Old Madame.
"F**k my life, F**k her life, f**k all their lives," Xiao Hua sang cheerfully as she washed the dirty teapots. Her small body shivered from the cold water she was using to wash. Although she had sung in English, the fact that it differed so much from Chinese made it impossible for her to claim that language to be from her hometown.
So she could only claim it as a lullaby that she had learned from the original Xiao Hua's mother. With that acceptable excuse, she could now sing in English and the content will be modified according to her mood. Sadly, most of the 'lyrics' were either complaints or curses. But Xiao Hua proudly praised herself to have the talent of singing curses while maintaining a bright and innocent expression!
"Little Crybaby!" A maid barged out of the kitchen backdoor to where Xiao Hua was washing the utensils in a lonely manner.
"Stop calling me that," Xiao Hua pleaded. Unfortunately, when she woke up as Xiao Hua, she had cried often enough to get the nickname 'crybaby' from the other servants.
"We have an important guest! Old Madame wants you to bring out the best tea!"
...Best tea? This young lady doesn't even know what are these tea leaves' name, so what makes you think I will know which is the best?! (」°ロ°)」
Xiao Hua wiped her hands dry using a worn-out cloth and followed the maid back into the kitchen. The other maids knew that their residence's crybaby was not a tea expert, not that the old Madame knew either. The old Madame had simply claimed the most expensive tea as the best.
One of the maids took out a bag of tea leaves with pretty packaging. "This tea was a reward by the King to the young master when he won the war. What the King gave must be the best!"
...Oi, oi. Even the King can have a faulty taste!
But wise Xiao Hua did not say what she really thought of, and simply smiled with a nod. Yes, to survive, one must always smile and nod away! ＼(￣▽￣)／
Xiao Hua accepted the tea bag and carefully took out the Old Madame's best teapot and cups from the shelf. Behind her, the maids began gossiping now that they got some free time.
"I heard directly from Old Madame's mouth that the guest is another country's prince!"
Xiao Hua's ears twitched and her hands trembled, but her hold on the expensive-looking teacups was as steady as the calm waves. Since the appearance of Ah Lian, she had grown extremely sensitive to the word 'Guilin' and 'prince'.
"What? A prince from another country?"
"Why would he come here?"
"The eldest miss is of marriageable age. Could it be the prince is here to propose?"
"Would master and madam accept it? Everyone knows that the eldest miss is head over heels in love with the top scholar of the year!"
"Xiao Hua, are you done? Old Madame is asking for you." A high-ranked maid entered the kitchen and effectively stopped the gossiping.
"Yes, coming!" Xiao Hua hurriedly placed all the necessary tools onto the tray. Carrying the tray, she speed walked to where Old Madame MongLu usually served her guests.
When she arrived, she saw Old Madame MungLu working hard fawning over someone. Her huge body had blocked Xiao Hua's view of the guest.
Xiao Hua prayed for the guest to not be THAT prince. She tried to remain calm by reminding herself that 'prince' was not supposed to appear for a few more months. So this guest should not be him.
Xiao Hua quickly moved to the side table to place down the tray before starting the process of tea brewing. She inwardly thought she was chosen as a tea girl because she would only brew the tea when needed instead of brewing early. If that was not the case, she does not know why either.
After some observation, the other maids had spotted it too. But they did not have any chance to show off their skill as Old Madame blocked their chances. Xiao Hua had no idea why she would not let them, but she did not raise any objection. Why would she sacrifice her cozy job for others!
Only when she had finished preparing the tea did the old Madame moved her large body away, finally letting Xiao Hua have a glimpse of the honored guest. Her brain blanked, which led to her hold slackening.
Clank!
The sound of porcelain smashing onto the ground echoed, interrupting the conversation. The room turned silent, all eyes turned to the one that would get punished for the trouble. Xiao Hua could feel the hot water splashed over her legs, but she stood rooted to the ground in shock. Currently, she was just like those idiot female characters that accidentally caused trouble. It would also coincidentally attracted their fated-to-be future husband's attention.
A romance that would feed dog food to single dogs!
Despite her inner voice yelling at her to snap out of it, her eyes stupidly glued onto the sight of the beautiful man. He was sitting in an elegant pose that most men could not possess, with a mischievous upward curve of his lips enhancing his attractive level.
Actually, the sight of a beautiful man would not affect her to this extent. It was the red jade ring thumb on his right hand that created a great tornado inside her!
Her harbinger of death had arrived! Σ(°△°|||)