"Another maid has already been dispatched to retrieve her. She should be crossing the threshold any moment now," Dong Kang replied, her voice a practiced blend of reverence and subservience.
Internally, however, the head maid was seething, she took Bai Xifeng's tardiness as a personal affront to her own efficiency and her mistress's standing.
Just as the silence in the room began to grow heavy, a young maid scurried through the door, looking pale and breathless. She was the messenger who had been sent to drag Xifeng to the slaughter.
"Speak," Han Yunru commanded, her eyes narrowing as she studied the girl's trembling frame.
"Reporting to the Second Madam... the Third Young Miss... she refused to comply with the summons. She said..." The maid's voice trailed off into a terrified squeak, her eyes darting toward the exit.
"What did she say? Speak clearly! I want to hear every wretched syllable," Han Yunru hissed, her fingers curling into the fabric of her silk sleeves.
"She... she said that if you were so desperate to see her, you should haul yourself over to her courtyard and meet her yourself." The maid blurted out, bracing for the inevitable explosion.
"Good... good... very good," Han Yunru whispered, her voice dangerously calm while her teeth gritted together with an audible grind. "It seems that little bitch has finally grown some claws."
Dong Kang moved to her side, offering a soothing hand. "Madam, I beg of you, do not let her insolence ruin your mood. She is nothing but a fly to be swatted."
"How can I not be consumed by rage?" Han Yunru erupted, her calm shattering. "That little wretch had the audacity to lay hands on my daughter, and now she treats my commands like a joke!" In a fit of blind fury, she grabbed the delicate porcelain cup from the table and hurled it across the room.
It shattered against the wall, sending sharp fragments flying. Dong Kang instinctively jumped back, her heart racing as she narrowly avoided the shrapnel.
"Even the Old Madam seems powerless to rein her in now," Han Yunru snarled, her breath coming in ragged gasps.
"Greetings to the Second Miss." The maid stationed outside announced, her voice signaling the arrival of Bai Chunhua.
Bai Chunhua stepped gracefully into the room, her gaze immediately dropping to the glistening shards on the floor. She didn't need to ask what had happened; she knew her mother's temper well, and she knew exactly which "little bitch" had sparked it.
"Dong Kang, get this mess cleared away immediately," Han Yunru ordered, waving a dismissive hand.
The head maid nodded and quickly ushered in two junior servants to sweep up the remnants of the outburst. Once the room was restored to some semblance of order, Bai Chunhua stepped closer.
"Mother," Bai Chunhua began, her voice soft and calculated. "I just crossed paths with Bai Xifeng in the garden."
The mere mention of the name caused Han Yunru's jaw to tighten once more.
"When I reminded her that you were expecting her, she gave me the same insolent response. She told me to tell you to come to her. Honestly, Mother, the way she spoke... I felt like slapping the life out of her right then and there," Bai Chunhua complained, stoking the fires of her mother's resentment.
"That ungrateful little viper," Han Yunru cursed, her voice dripping with vitriol.
"But Mother... there is something you should know. She seems... different lately. Changed," Chunhua noted, her eyes clouding with a rare flicker of genuine concern.
"Changed? In what way?" Han Yunru's anger cooled slightly, replaced by a sharp, predatory curiosity.
"Every way," Bai Chunhua explained, pacing the room slowly. "When I visited her this morning with the Crown Prince, I expected the usual theatrical display of jealousy. Normally, the moment she sees him standing by my side, she loses all dignity, she runs to him, screams at me, and makes a fool of herself. But this morning? She just sat there. She watched us with this... calm, empty gaze. She didn't react at all. It was as if we were nothing more than a dull play she was forced to watch."
***This novel is a contracted work with w e b n o v e l. c o m. If you do not read this novel on w e b n o v e l. c o m, that means it has been stolen. It breaks my heart when someone steals my hard work. Can you consider reading it on the original website for those who read my novel on another website besides w e b n o v e l .c o m, as your support to me? Thank you, from, your shameless author, ZerahNeko***
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