Chapter 14

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

The maid next to her was a bit disdainful. “Everyone in Imperial City knows that His Highness does not like her, and even if she really becomes the crown princess, she will only have the title.”

Then she complimented, “But you are different, Miss. You have known His Highness since you were a child, so you two have a childhood friendship. You also saved His Highness, so His Highness will treat you differently.”

After hearing this, Su Ruhui curled her lips slightly, and her face was red. “His Highness treats me with some sincerity…But after all, he is the crown prince. Therefore, no matter how sincere he is, it is impossible for him to love only me…I can only do my best to have a good relationship with other women and not let His Highness worry about these things.”

She looked up at the sky and continued, “It’s getting late. Let’s return today. Chunzhi has gone to pay some money. Why is it taking so long?”

The maid beside her said, “Maybe she is delayed by something on the way. But, Miss, we should go back first. I am afraid the letter will be delivered soon.”

As soon as she heard that the letter might be delivered, Su Ruhui did not want to wait any longer.

So she only asked the maid to leave a message with the store staff. Then she hurriedly got on the carriage and left.

Li Baojia was on another street at that time.

She was just strolling along when she felt that the place looked familiar.

A faint fragrance of wine came from a small alley on the side of the street. Inside, there was a narrow path connected to a rather spacious courtyard.

It was a small quadrangle courtyard surrounded by dark houses, looking rather creepy.

Taotao was confused and asked, “Miss Baojia, why did you stop here? Are there not enough people to serve you?”

Only then did Li Baojia remember.

It was the courtyard for maid hiring. If the big families in Imperial City did not have enough servants and wanted to hire more, they would go there to take a look.

But usually, it was the housekeeper who went over to do the hiring. The ladies and wives would not go over because many maids were held here, and the environment was really not good.

In her previous life, she had a maid chosen from the girls the steward hired from here after a few days.

And the name she gave the maid was Yueya.

Although Yueya didn’t come from a very good background, her hair-combing skills were excellent, and she was also smart.

Later, she followed Li Baojia to the East Palace as her first-class maid. However, she was chased away by Zhao Yi in just a month for no reason.

They had only been together for half a year, and Li Baojia had no such deep emotion for her as Taotao did, but Li Baojia was still sad for a long time.

Even though Zhao Yi immediately gave her a dozen more people, she was still sad for several days.

She first thought it was the girl who had made a mistake. But then she knew about the matter between him and Su Ruhui, so how could she not understand what he was thinking?

Zhao Yi just didn’t want her to have any relatives in the East Palace. He didn’t want her to have anyone available. So instead, he wanted her to be trapped in the place for the rest of her life.

Li Baojia didn’t know why Zhao Yi did not do anything to Taotao. Perhaps he feared that Li Baojia would give up being his shield if he forced her too much.

Thinking about this, Li Baojia suddenly wanted to go in and choose that girl.

In this life, no one could control her maids. So Yueya would be safe and sound with her.

She didn’t know if Yueya was there now.

Li Baojia took Taotao’s hand and said, “Come on. Let’s go inside.”

She was about to go inside when she saw a maid in a pink dress come out, looking unhappy. She pursed her lips in anger.

“This person…” Li Baojia thought about it.

If she remembered correctly, she appeared to be Su Ruhui’s closest maid, Chunzhi.

Li Baojia thought, “How could she be here?”

She was alone there at that time.

Li Baojia pulled Taotao aside to hide in a small store beside them.

And they waited for Chunzhi to leave before coming out.

Taotao scratched her head. “Miss Baojia, what’s wrong? Why are we hiding?”

Li Baojia was also a bit stunned. In fact, she did not know why but subconsciously wanted to hide.

She always felt a little strange.

Who would have a maid to hire people?

And Chunzhi’s expression was also strange just now.

Li Baojia thought for a while but could not think of a reason, so she put the matter aside for the time being and planned to bring Yueya out first.

A minute passed.

Taotao looked at the dark courtyard and reluctantly pulled Li Baojia’s sleeve, carefully following behind.

When they entered the courtyard, a slightly fat woman wearing a blue floral headband came out with a bright smile. “Hey, lady, are you here to select a maid?”

Although most young ladies would not willingly come there, some had unspeakable reasons. For example, they may not be favored by the family or fear the people in the house would harm them, so they would personally go there to select the maid.

The woman glanced at Li Baojia.

This girl was a rare, good-looking girl, but not as weak as the popular noble girls in Imperial City today.

She had round and black eyes, crescent-like curved eyebrows, and a delicate nose. Her delicate pink lips were slightly open, and from her fair face, one could tell that she came from a wealthy family.

Her body was also upright. Although she was not tall, she had a sexy figure. Her waist was slender, and her clothes were made of top-quality fabric. Just the pearl on the side of her hair could be worth a lot of money.

Not to mention the gold silk-edged fan in her hand and her shining earrings. She did not look like she was out of favor in the family.

The woman thought, “Is this the same as the previous one?

“It is not good to have more people ask for this.

“It will ruin my business.”

The woman quickly sized her up inwardly and bent over more respectfully. “Miss, the inside is dirty. I’ll have someone take them out for you to select.”

There were so many rooms, so it would take a long time if she were to select them one by one.

So Li Baojia said, “No need. I only want one person. About 15 or 16 years old. A girl with a crescent birthmark on her neck.”

She believed that even if this woman felt puzzled, she wouldn’t think that Li Baojia was reborn.

So she stated the specific characteristics directly and did not want to waste time.

The woman’s expression was uncertain.

If Li Baojia hadn’t behaved so calmly, she would have thought it was the girl just now who was discontented and deliberately brought someone to make things difficult for her.

The woman thought, “Is there really such a coincidence?”

The previous girl had just ordered her to send the dirty girl with the crescent birthmark to the Grand Preceptor’s Hall.

Then there came another one who wanted the same person.

The woman thought, “How strange!”

Seeing that the woman was hesitant to answer and had a strange expression, Li Baojia had to say, “I also heard from others that she is here with you. I used to know her, so I want to take her back.”

The woman thought for a while and said, “Well, she was here before, but…but she has already been selected. Would you like to pick someone else?”

“Has been selected?”

Li Baojia’s first reaction was disbelief.

In her previous life, at that time, Yueya would be sent to her family in a few days.

So how could she be selected by others at this time?

Li Baojia thought, “Could it be that something else went wrong? Would Yueya be sent back within these days?”

The woman nodded.

Li Baojia asked urgently, “Can you tell me who selected her?”

The woman shook her head with difficulty. “We have rules in this business. We can’t disclose the other party’s information freely, so please don’t make it difficult for me.”