Wuyou Palace
Xia Miaomiao had already been at Wuyou Palace for three days.
After Hua Wuyou brought her to Wuyou Palace, he arranged for her to work in the kitchen with Zhang Auntie and be responsible for the meals at Wuyou Palace.
Xia Miaomiao also knew that Hua Wuyou did not trust her, but she was not in a hurry. She worked diligently in the kitchen, not only without making any mistakes these past few days, but she had also won over the taste buds of many young ladies at Wuyou Palace.
After coming to Wuyou Palace, Xia Miaomiao realized that this place was filled with only women.
Other than Hua Wuyou, she barely saw any men.
No wonder he was a flower thief, this was literally being surrounded by flowers!
Zhang Auntie also really liked Xia Miaomiao, feeling that she was well-behaved, sensible, and very capable, knowing a lot of skills.
The weather was hot, so Xia Miaomiao made some iced drinks and brought them to the sisters at Wuyou Palace.
A group of girls were in the pavilion studying musical instruments and music theory.
"The tone you're playing doesn't sound quite right, it doesn't have any power."
Purple Clothed Girl flicked her wide sleeves, and her fair fingers plucked a few notes on the zither.
The crisp, powerful sounds resonated, instantly assaulting one’s eardrums.
"Wow, Sister Purple Clothed Girl, you're so amazing, you're almost as good as the Palace Master!" The other girls immediately flattered.
Purple Clothed Girl smiled slightly, "The Palace Master who plays the xiao is much better than me."
Purple Clothed Girl retracted her hand. When she looked up, she happened to see Xia Miaomiao standing outside the pavilion.
The other girls also followed Purple Clothed Girl’s gaze.
"It's the little kitchen maid that the Palace Master brought back!"
In the crowd, a girl dressed in green immediately ran over, "Miaomiao, what are you doing here? What do you have there? Let me help you!"
The girl in green, named Lv Luo, took the tray from Xia Miaomiao's hands.
Lv Luo was a true foodie, and really enjoyed the food Xia Miaomiao made.
She was probably the person, other than Zhang Auntie, that Xia Miaomiao had interacted with the most since arriving.
Xia Miaomiao smiled at her, "Thank you..."
The two of them went to the pavilion, and Xia Miaomiao handed out her chilled drinks one by one.
"Dear sisters, I made these chilled drinks to cool you down and quench your thirst. Would you like to try some?"
Lv Luo did not stand on ceremony and immediately picked up a drink and took a big gulp, "Ah, so refreshing! It's too delicious, you all should drink some too!"
The other girls all looked to Purple Clothed Girl first.
Purple Clothed Girl paused for a moment, then picked up a drink from the table and took a sip, carefully tasting it.
"Sweet and sour, very tasty."
Seeing that Purple Clothed Girl drank it, the other girls also picked up cups and started drinking.
"Miaomiao, you’re so capable! Why does everything you make taste so good? I’ve never had anything so delicious before!" Lv Luo said with a laugh.
"I'm glad you all like it..." As she spoke, Xia Miaomiao surreptitiously glanced at Purple Clothed Girl.
From her observations these past few days, this Purple Clothed Girl was the closest to Hua Wuyou.
She was dressed in sheer purple clothes, curvy and buxom, with the bearing of a mature beauty.
Xia Miaomiao felt that compared to this Purple Clothed Girl, she was just a little bean sprout!
With Hua Wuyou being surrounded by so many beauties, no wonder he was a playboy!
However... this Purple Clothed Girl did not seem to be Hua Wuyou's wife. Since she arrived at Wuyou Palace, she did not seem to have seen Hua Wuyou's ten wives.
But having just arrived, it was not suitable for her to ask about such matters.
"Dear sisters, enjoy your drinks slowly. I shall take my leave first." Xia Miaomiao respectfully bid them farewell and retreated.
Purple Clothed Girl watched Xia Miaomiao’s petite figure leave and laughed softly, "The little kitchen maid that the Palace Master brought back is quite well-behaved and cute."
The girl next to her set her cup down on the table. Her tone was full of dissatisfaction, "Sister Purple Clothes, you have to be careful of this Xia Miaomiao. I feel she has ulterior motives!"
Lv Luo gave the speaker a look and refuted, "Bi Yue, aren't you going overboard with your words? How could she have ulterior motives? I think she’s perfectly fine!"
Bi Yue ignored Lv Luo and went up to tug on Purple Clothed Girl's clothes, "Sister Purple Clothes, you have to be vigilant. I feel like Xia Miaomiao has different feelings towards the Palace Master. You and the Palace Master are a match made in heaven!"
Purple Clothed Girl frowned, sharply rebuking: "Bi Yue, are the Palace Master’s private affairs something for you to casually gossip about?"
Bi Yue was frightened and immediately let go of Purple Clothed Girl, "I'm sorry, Sister Purple Clothes, I...I was wrong..."
"We are all the Palace Master’s subordinates. I don’t want to hear such talk from you again!"
Only Purple Clothed Girl knew that Hua Wuyou would never take a wife.
She got up and directly left the pavilion.
"Why do you always say so much?" The other girls poked Bi Yue on the forehead.
Bi Yue felt somewhat unwilling, "I'm just telling the truth! Don't you all feel the same? Only Sister Purple Clothes is worthy of the Palace Master!"
"Even if we all feel that way, we can't say it blatantly in front of Sister Purple Clothes and the Palace Master!"
Bi Yue huffily sat down on the stone bench. "Hmph, I’m going to keep an eye on this Xia Miaomiao to see if she really is trying to seduce the Palace Master!"
...
After dinner, Xia Miaomiao made some desserts and brought them to Hua Wuyou.
Hua Wuyou was in the study discussing the matter of the spy with Purple Clothed Girl.
"Let her go." Hua Wuyou was casually flipping through a book on music theory as he nonchalantly said.
Purple Clothed Girl was puzzled. "Let her go?"
"Mm, let her go and find that man, and see how he treats her without her value to utilize."
Purple Clothed Girl pondered Hua Wuyou’s words. Perhaps allowing the man who used her to hurt her would be the best punishment.
"Alright..."
Just then, Xia Miaomiao happened to arrive at the study with desserts.
Seeing Purple Clothed Girl there as well, she stopped at the door.
"Excuse me, I'll come back later." Xia Miaomiao was about to leave.
"Little bunny!" Hua Wuyou's voice rang out, his tone light and lively, completely different from when speaking with Purple Clothed Girl. "Come in, I was just thinking of having a snack!"
Xia Miaomiao looked at Purple Clothed Girl then still entered.
Seeing this, Purple Clothed Girl immediately said, "Then I'll go take care of Qing Ying's matter first."
"Go ahead." Hua Wuyou replied.
Purple Clothed Girl got up and left the study, walking past Xia Miaomiao with an assessing look.
Xia Miaomiao walked over and set the desserts down on the table.
Hua Wuyou looked at the colorful and fragrant desserts and raised his brows, "What tasty things did you make today?"
"Try them and find out." Xia Miaomiao demurely replied.
Hua Wuyou laughed. "Then... will you feed me?" he asked teasingly.
"..."
"Didn't you say... that you like me? If you won't warm my bed, at least feed me some desserts. If even that you refuse, then I'll have reason to suspect your motives for staying by my side."
"I'm just... shy. Don't you know girls need to be demure? If it's too easy to obtain, you won't cherish it." Xia Miaomiao argued reasonably.
Hua Wuyou laughed. "You make sense!"
He reached out, about to pick up a dessert, but Xia Miaomiao beat him to it and brought it to his lips.
Hua Wuyou was startled, looking up at her.
Xia Miaomiao felt somewhat awkward with a red blush on her face. "If you don't eat it now, I may just toss it away..."
Hua Wuyou chuckled softly. Ultimately he lowered his head and took a bite of the dessert in her hand.
His lips inadvertently, perhaps intentionally, brushed against Xia Miaomiao's fingers.
Xia Miaomiao twitched her fingers back, looking at his lips, her heart inexplicably beating faster.
