"Third Young Miss, you may enter now." The maid announced, her voice lacking its usual bite as she held the heavy doors open.
"Well then, thank you ever so much," Bai Xifeng replied with a tone that was far more polite than her mocking expression suggested. She stepped into the opulent quarters. Xiao Li following close behind like a nervous shadow.
As the doors closed, the maid who had remained outside turned to the one who had announced Xifeng. "What on earth has gotten into you? Why do you look so spooked? She's just the family trash, a useless girl who can't even cultivate a lick of energy."
"Trash or not, she is still a Young Miss of the Bai Household and the only legitimate daughter of the Great General." The scared maid hissed back, her eyes darting toward the closed door. "We are nothing. If she truly loses her temper and decides to make a scene, do you honestly think the Old Madam would lift a finger to protect a lowly servant? We'd be thrown to the wolves to save face."
Her friend went silent, slowly nodding. It was a cold, hard truth of the capital, high-born disputes usually ended with the servants paying the price.
Inside the main hall of the courtyard, the air was thick with the scent of expensive incense. Old Madam Bai sat perched on her carved chair, her sharp eyes narrowing as she surveyed her granddaughter. 'Something is wrong,' the matriarch thought. 'The way she walks, the way she holds her head... this girl has changed far too much in a single day.'
"Hello, Old Madam," Bai Xifeng chirped. It was a blatantly informal greeting, lacking the deep bow and flowery honorifics required by family etiquette.
"Third Young Miss! Such insolence is intolerable!" Old Maid Dong, the matriarch's longtime confidante and personal servant, barked. She stepped forward, her face contorted in a mask of indignation. "How dare you address the Old Madam with such a lack of decorum?"
"And how dare you interrupt your betters?" Bai Xifeng snapped back, her voice cutting through the air like a whip. "Remember your place, Old Maid Dong. You are a servant, a mere shadow in this house. Who gave you the authority to speak while I am addressing my grandmother?"
"You—!" Old Maid Dong's face turned a mottled purple as she pointed a trembling finger at Xifeng's face.
"What? Are you offering that finger to me?" Bai Xifeng's smile widened, becoming something sharp and predatory. "I appreciate the gesture, but I'm afraid I'm not interested in collecting old bones today." She paused, her eyes glinting. 'Now, if you were offering me a rare poison, we might have something to discuss.'
"Enough!" Old Madam Bai commanded, her voice vibrating with authority.
Old Maid Dong instantly fell silent, though she continued to glare at Bai Xifeng with eyes full of venom. Xifeng, completely unbothered, maintained a faint, serene smile that seemed to irritate the Old Madam even more.
"Speak." The matriarch directed. "What business could possibly be so urgent that you felt the need to storm into my courtyard?"
"Well, it's quite simple, really. It's about my allowance," Bai Xifeng began, her tone conversational as if she were discussing the weather. "By my calculations, I haven't received a single copper of my stipulated stipend in about twelve years—specifically, since the day my father departed for the border to defend this empire. That is quite a significant backlog, wouldn't you agree?"
Both Old Madam Bai and Old Maid Dong froze. This was the last thing they expected the "foolish" third miss to bring up. In reality, Xifeng's allowance had long ago been siphoned off and divided among the other branches of the family. There wasn't a single coin left for her.
"Third Young Miss, you surely have no need for a cash allowance," Old Maid Dong interjected, trying to smooth over the scandal. "Everything you could possibly require, food, clothing, shelter, is already meticulously prepared for you by the household."
"Oh? Is that so?" Xifeng's laugh was dry and mocking. "Then tell me, why do Bai Chunhua and Bai Huiling receive theirs? They also have everything 'meticulously prepared, yet they seem to have plenty of gold to flaunt whenever they return from the capital's boutiques. Are you suggesting the rules of this house did not apply to the daughter of the man who actually funds this estate?"
The expressions on the faces of the two older women shifted from annoyance to genuine alarm. They exchanged a tense, fleeting look.
"I will be expecting the full sum of those twelve years," Bai Xifeng continued, her voice turning cold and brook no argument. "Don't bother leaving out a single coin, I'll be doing the math myself, and I'm quite talented with numbers. I'm sure you wouldn't want the accounts to be... messy."
She stepped closer, her gaze locking onto the Old Madam's. "I would hate to have to bring this up with my father the moment he returns home. Imagine his reaction when he finds out his only daughter was treated like a beggar while he was bleeding for the crown."
Without waiting for a response or a dismissal, Bai Xifeng gave a casual wave of her hand. "I'll take my leave now. I expect that chest of gold to be delivered shortly. Don't keep me waiting."
She turned and sauntered out of the hall, followed by a wide-eyed, speechless Xiao Li. The maid looked as though she had just watched her Young Miss slay a dragon with nothing but a few sharp words..
***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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