The next day, Na Luo was sent to Princess Dana's residence.
To Na Luo's surprise, the cold-blooded lady-in-waiting Mima only ordered her to do some simple housework in the bedroom. Before coming here, Na Luo had been prepared to suffer, but she didn't expect that the other party not only did not embarrass her, but also assigned her a relatively easy job. Shouldn't Princess Dana hate her? Why is it so different? To be honest, this unwarranted kindness made her feel uneasy.
At the moment, all she could do was to be careful.
In the evening, Princess Dana returned from the garden, and the palace servants quickly prepared the meal for the night. Na Luo only had to help them with some work of serving dishes and wine. Compared with the light taste of the prince, Princess Dana, a Hun, prefers meat. Soon, the sizzling roasted lamb legs, fresh and mellow milk, and greasy corn cakes were served, exuding an extremely tempting aroma.
Na Luo swallowed a big mouthful of saliva and stood aside obediently with her hands hanging down. Just when she was distracted for a moment, Princess Dana had already entered the table surrounded by palace maids. After bathing, Princess Dana changed into a blue robe, and the expensive silk material made her skin whiter than snow and her appearance even more beautiful.
A tall dark-skinned female official knelt in front of the table and cut the lamb with a knife, and carefully put it in a ceramic plate. As soon as she put the plate of lamb in front of the princess, the female official Mi Ma beside her raised her hand and slapped her hard! This crisp "slap" sounded particularly abrupt in the quiet room.
"Chu Yue, this is not the first time you serve the princess. How come you have forgotten even the basic rules?" Although Mi Ma's tone was not high, it sounded chilling.
The female official named Chu Yue's face suddenly changed. She didn't care about the pain and kowtowed to beg for mercy.
Na Luo was quite puzzled. It seemed that the female official Chu Yue didn't break the palace rules just now. Is there any special rules for Princess Dana to eat? If so, she should be more careful.
The princess let Chu Yue hit her head without commenting. She turned her eyes and asked gently, "Na Luo, are you used to living here?"
Na Luo was called by her name unexpectedly. After a pause, she nodded and replied, "Replying to the princess, I am used to living here. Thank you for your concern." She was more and more puzzled. She saw the ruthlessness of this princess when she broke into the private garden last time. How could she become so kind in a blink of an eye?
"That's good." Princess Dana drank the wine from Wusun slowly, without even glancing at the female official who had knocked her forehead and bled. Na Luo looked at Chu Yue with sympathy, and her heart was even more uneasy. The princess's pleasant expression... seemed to be only for her...
Putting down the glass cup, Princess Dana winked at Mi Ma. The female official Mi Ma immediately understood and said in a cold voice, "Okay. That's all for today. Chu Yue, don't you thank the princess for her special favor?"
Chu Yue raised her head as if relieved, and thanked her tremblingly. The bright red blood was oozing from the wound on her forehead, which was particularly shocking. The princess did not allow her to leave, so she had to cover her forehead and stand aside silently. The palace people present did not even dare to breathe, for fear of accidentally angering the master again.
The princess's dinner ended in this suffocating atmosphere. At the signal of the court lady Mima, Na Luo brought a silver basin filled with water for washing hands. There were a few pink petals floating on the clear water, exuding a faint fragrance. Before the princess washed her hands, Na Luo carefully scooped out a spoonful to test the water temperature.
The princess smiled slightly when she saw this, "Mima, you see this child is quite clever." Court lady Mima glanced coldly at Chu Yue who was bowing her head and eyebrows, and said in a deep voice, "You have served the princess for several years, but I think you are not as good as a little girl."
Chu Yue bit her lips hard, glanced at Na Luo with her peripheral vision, and then quickly retracted her gaze.
Princess Dana's eyes flashed with a faint light, and she smiled casually, "Mima, Na Luo is still a child, and she used to be in front of the eldest prince. You should take care of her more on weekdays. She is different from those cheap palace maids."
As soon as the princess finished speaking, several palace maids subconsciously looked at Na Luo, with different expressions.
Na Luo felt that the princess's words were a bit strange, but he couldn't figure out what was strange for a while. Anyway... I always felt that something was wrong.
After the princess rested, Na Luo also went back to rest with several palace maids. The residence of the palace maids serving the princess was a row of houses next to the west. Depending on the level, there were two or four palace maids living in one room, and there were also seven or eight palace maids living in one room. There was only Na Luo and another girl in her room. The girl was only about fourteen or fifteen years old, with a round face, round eyes and round mouth, and her eyebrows looked quite friendly and cute.
"Naro, your name is Naro, right? My name is Usma, and we will live together from today!" The girl chatted with her warmly, as if they were old acquaintances.
Naro was unconsciously infected by her enthusiasm. From the other party's endless self-introduction, Naro learned that the girl was also from the Xiongnu, and she was originally married with Princess Dana.
"I have never seen the princess treat a servant so well. Normally, you are a newcomer, most of the time you will squeeze into the room with seven or eight people, how can you live here?" Usma smiled and lay on the bed.
"Maybe... I am still young." Naro himself was also very confused.
"Young? I don't think so." Usma rolled her eyes, leaned her head closer and lowered her voice, "The little girl who was executed by Princess Dana not long ago was about the same age as you, but the princess didn't show mercy." She paused and whispered even more, "I think it's probably because of the eldest prince."
Na Luo was slightly shocked and didn't know how to answer, so he had to quickly change the subject, "By the way, Usma, what rules did the maiden of the first month break today?"
"Oh, I was just about to remind you. The maid must taste the food before serving it. It is the rule of the princess. The maiden of the first month forgot this and violated the princess's taboo." Usma blinked, "If she was not the confidant of the maiden of Mima, she would have lost half her life long ago. How could she only get a slap in the face."
"The maiden of the first month... is she difficult to get along with?" Na Luo heard some dissatisfaction from Usma's tone.
Usma snorted lightly, and said with disdain, "She, relying on the fact that she is the confidant of Mima's female official, has always been arrogant. This woman is greedy and snobbish, and there are those spineless people who try to please her for a little easy work. By the way, Na Luo, you have to be careful too. This woman is particularly vengeful. Today, the princess praised you in front of her, and she will definitely find a chance to retaliate against you."
"Well, I will be careful..." Na Luo also moved closer to her, "Then, good sister, tell me what other rules the princess has here."
Usma pursed her lips and smiled, stretched out her hand and flicked her forehead, "Little girl, you are quite sweet. Don't worry, sister, I will tell you everything."
That night, Na Luo learned a lot from Usma, which was a small gain. The two chatted until midnight before falling asleep. She woke up at nearly midnight and found that the other party was still restless in sleep, and continued to mutter in his sleep that no one could understand.
Na Luo turned over, a faint smile appeared on the corner of his lips.
Having a girl who likes to talk so much by my side, maybe... it's not a bad thing.
In the blink of an eye, several days passed, and Na Luo gradually adapted to the life here. Ishtar had asked Manya to visit her twice, and she was relieved to see that she had not suffered any grievances.
Princess Dana was still very kind to her, and often gave her some small gifts. But sometimes the princess looked at her with a strange look, as if she wanted to see something else through her eyes. Such an ambiguous look made Na Luo feel a little scared. She also had a very complicated feeling towards the princess. Every time she thought of the tragic death of her parents, she couldn't restrain the urge to find out the truth... But she knew that it was not the right time, not to mention that she still remembered what she had promised to Quehu Hou.
These few days were finally calm. Although the female official Chu Yue didn't give her a good face, she couldn't do anything to her because of the princess. But the palace people were the best at observing words and expressions. When they saw that Chu Yue hated her so much, naturally no one dared to say a word to her. The only person who can talk to Na Luo here is Usma.
Two days later, while the princess and the lady-in-waiting Mima were not in the palace, Chu Yue finally seized an opportunity to attack her and drove her to the backyard to sweep the floor. If it was normal to sweep the floor, it would be nothing, but today there was a strong wind, and everything was blown away, and the cloudy weather seemed to be about to rain at any time.
Seeing this, Usma hurriedly grabbed a maid next to her and said, "Let's go help Na Luo, how can she clean so many things?"
"She is different from us, we are all worthless, why does she need our help." The maid curled her lips, turned around and left.
"Usma, what are you still doing here! Come in quickly, those glass vases haven't been cleaned yet." Chuyue shouted at her unhappily, "Don't forget that Lady Mima said you have to clean these glass vases today!"
"Don't use Lady Mima to pressure me." Usma looked up and glared at Chuyue, then looked at Na Luo apologetically, "I'm sorry, Na Luo, I'll come to help you after I finish cleaning the vases!"
"Who said you can help her? Lady Mima is not here, so I'm in charge here for the time being." Chuyue said with a sullen face.
Usma was obviously annoyed by her, "You! I think you are-"
"Go quickly, I can finish the cleaning by myself." Na Luo interrupted her hurriedly, fearing that she would say something impulsive.
"Remember, clean it up before the princess comes back. Otherwise, don't blame me for punishing you according to the rules." Chu Yue snorted coldly and was about to go in. Her eyes suddenly fell behind Na Luo. She quickly put on a flattering smile and even raised her voice unconsciously, "Second Prince, Third Prince..."
Hearing this, Na Luo's back straightened up immediately, and even the movement of his hands paused for a moment. It was as if a hedgehog realized the impending danger and immediately raised all the thorns on its back.
Even if she didn't look back, she could feel two piercing eyes coming from behind.
"Two princes, the princess happened to go to His Majesty today, and I'm afraid she won't be back until noon." Chu Yue wanted to greet them with a smile on her face.
"Oh? Mother is not here? That doesn't matter. I just brought some snacks to mother today." An Gui said lightly.
"Na Luo, what are you still doing there! You don't even salute when you see the two princes!" Chu Yue finally got the chance and took the opportunity to slap Na Luo hard. The slap was so powerful that Na Luo's eyes were full of stars and her eardrums were buzzing.
She endured the pain and dizziness and turned around and saluted quickly, "Meet the two princes."
"Brother An Gui, isn't this the dead kid! How come she is here?" Wei Tu screamed in surprise, "Ah! She's still bleeding from her nose! So disgusting!"
Na Luo hurriedly wiped the blood from her nose with her sleeve. Just when she felt extremely embarrassed, a slightly cold hand suddenly lifted her face. She looked up in shock, but what caught her eyes were the ice-green eyes that looked like cold jade. Under the sunlight, the dark golden hair almost turned into a dazzling golden light.
Every time they met, he was always so bright and beautiful. But every time they met, it was always the most embarrassing time for her. This person must be her natural evil star.
"I think you are doing well here." His breath brushed past her ears lightly, and a sarcastic arc appeared at the corner of his lips. Obviously, he ignored the slap just now.
Na Luo lowered her eyelids and replied calmly, "Thank you, Second Prince, for your consideration. I am terrified. Please let me continue working."
An Gui let her go and laughed softly, "You are so diligent, no wonder my mother likes you so much. Since you like to work so much, then..." His eyes darkened, and he turned to Chu Yue and said, "Why don't you let the palace servants clean up the unused things and throw them here for her to clean? The more you throw, the more rewards I will give you."
Chu Yue immediately understood, covered her mouth and laughed as she informed the other palace servants of the Second Prince's order.
In order to please the Second Prince, the palace servants collected their useless things and threw them in the backyard, and even more, they threw out the newly bought things. Even the Third Prince joined in the fun and smashed two pottery jars on the ground. Soon, the originally clean ground became a mess. Na Luo was so angry that he trembled all over, but he could do nothing about it.
Every time I meet this evil star, I will definitely be unlucky...
As if to further confirm her thoughts, at this moment, there was a rumbling sound of thunder from the sky, followed by raindrops as big as beans.
Chu Yue hurriedly hid under the eaves and shouted, "Na Luo, you are not allowed to come in until you finish cleaning, do you hear me!"
Na Luo ignored her and continued to clean up the debris on the ground silently. The rain quickly soaked her body, and the continuous raindrops formed a water curtain in front of her, blurring her vision, mixed with the nosebleed that had not yet dried up... Because she couldn't see clearly, she was tripped by the debris on the ground several times, but every time she struggled to get up and moved the debris one by one into the big basket next to her.
"Brother, your idea is still good. Now she will suffer." Yu Tu laughed gloatingly, "Let's see how long she will sweep! This rain comes at the right time."
An Gui raised his eyebrows, said nothing, and looked at her with an ambiguous look.
The little figure was busy in the wet courtyard, sometimes standing, sometimes squatting, sometimes falling, and sometimes standing up. Although she was in a mess, she still tried to straighten her back, as if to maintain her last bit of dignity.
"Lady Chu Yue, if this goes on, Na Luo will get sick! Why don't you let her in quickly?" Usma shouted anxiously, "If something happens to her, how will you explain to the princess!"
Chu Yue seemed to be a little hesitant. She glanced at An Gui who was turning his head, wanting to ask his opinion.
Before he could speak, he heard Wei Tu screaming, "Brother, look, this dead kid fainted!"
He looked in that direction, and the little body really fell to the ground, with wet long hair covering half of her face, with an indescribable pitifulness. For some reason, he suddenly felt a little bored, and said lightly, "Okay, let her in."
"This dead girl is so useless!" Wei Tu rolled his eyes and asked curiously, "Brother, why are you so soft-hearted today?"
He curved the corners of his mouth and reached out to pat Wei Tu's forehead, "Silly brother, if she died like this, wouldn't it be boring? Who will you go to next time you feel bored?"
After all, Wei Tu was also a child, so he naturally felt that his brother's words made a lot of sense.
An Gui's face showed a seemingly nonchalant look. He did not look at Na Luo again, but cast his eyes further into the courtyard.
Beyond the high palace wall, the scenery in the distance was like a dream looming in the rain.
For a moment, he could not look away.