"The princess always monopolizes the prince!" Fang'ai grumbled while doing her chores. "Nowhere else is like our mansion. There's only one female in the household. If people heard about it, they'd laugh at us!"
"Fang'ai, keep your voice down!" Fangrui glared at her. "What nonsense are you talking about!"
"We're the princess's dowry maids. Only when the princess is in favor can we have a good life."
"Humph..." Fang'ai scoffed. Dowry maids were meant to serve the master, weren't they? But now the princess kept the prince all to herself and never even mentioned them.
She had thought Song Jinyu might favor Niaoniao more, but in the past six months, Niaoniao had shown no such inclination. Whenever the prince was at home, he almost always slept with the princess. Except in the early days when they hadn't consummated their marriage and Prince Yu had slept in the study. Fang'ai secretly hoped that one day she could catch the prince's eye.
Every time she saw Zhongli Mingye carrying Song Jinyu on his back, all lovey-dovey with each other, her envy for such affection grew. So she waited and waited for the princess to say something. But... in the past six months, nothing had been said. She had thought the princess's monthly period might be an opportunity, but Zhongli Mingye still slept with the princess.
Filled with indignation, she stared coldly at the bedroom.
Why should she only be a maid!
Song Jinyu carefully questioned several maids. She already knew that Micui and Xingjian had feelings for each other, so she decided to arrange a wedding for them. "I'll talk to the prince, and then you can get married." Micui beamed with joy, her face blushing shyly.
Fang'ai watched coldly.
"Fang'ai and Fangrui also came with me from Liuzhou. Do you have any thoughts about marriage?" They were of the right age and should get married earlier.
"I'm still young. Thank you for your concern, Princess." Fang'ai felt her heart sink. If the princess arranged a marriage for her, it would either be with a stable boy or the steward.
Would she have a good life then?
She had seen so much wealth and splendor in the prince's mansion. Going to live an ordinary life outside would be worse than killing her.
Fangrui didn't say much.
She only said, "I'll leave it to the princess's decision." She was always honest. She was a servant born into the Song family. Song Jinyu trusted her to do things. Although she wasn't as good as Niaoniao or Micui, Fangrui was very reliable in her work. "I'll surely find you a good family."
As for Fang'ai, since she didn't want to get married, Song Jinyu didn't want to force her.
When Zhongli Mingye heard her idea, his first reaction was, "Even after Micui gets married, she still has to serve you. I also selected two female shadow guards a few days ago."
"Niaoniao will still be by your side. If Fangrui gets married, she can do other things in the mansion."
He was worried that there would be no one to serve her. Song Jinyu looked at him amusedly as he made the arrangements. "I'll follow your lead."
Micui and Xingjian got officially married, and the whole Prince Yu's mansion was filled with joy. Since Xingjian was the most favored guard by Prince Yu and also the steward of the mansion, Zhongli Mingye rewarded them with an outer house for them to live in.
"Alright, hurry up and go. Micui will still be my head maid in the future..." Zhongli Mingye acted quickly. The next day, he sent the well-trained female shadow guards to her. "These two were trained earlier, just to guard your safety."
Afraid that Song Jinyu didn't understand, Xingjian kindly explained, "It was not long after you and the prince first met that the prince started training the female shadow guards."
Her heart was as sweet as honey. Had he been preparing for this back then? Was he so sure that she would marry into the mansion? Looking at the man beside her, she was even more satisfied.
Song Jinyu gave them names: Zhaolu and Xiyu.
Fang'ai looked at them left and right. Only when she felt that these two shadow guards were not as good-looking as herself did she feel relieved.
Now that Micui was busy preparing for her wedding, Fang'ai had more and more opportunities to show herself in front of Song Jinyu.
Naturally, she also had more opportunities to show herself in front of Prince Yu.
"I've promised the emperor to play chess with him..."
"I'll stay in the palace tonight. If there's nothing else, go to bed early." Zhongli Mingye instructed Song Jinyu and then left.
Staring at his graceful back, Fang'ai was a bit infatuated. How wonderful it would be if these words were said to her! She was originally a daughter of an ordinary peasant family in Liuzhou. Later, her father sold her into the Song mansion as a maid. Now that she had come to the capital with the eldest miss, she had seen the nobility of the royal family. Her ambition grew. "Fang'ai, hurry up and clean up!"
"Yes..."
Fangrui looked at her strangely. She felt that Fang'ai had changed. She couldn't quite tell where the change was.
Maybe it was because she spent more time on her appearance every day.
Zhongli Mingye wasn't used to staying in the palace. He woke up unusually early the next morning.
Niaoniao came in to comb Song Jinyu's hair and do her makeup. Usually, Song Jinyu didn't like to use much makeup. She just simply drew her eyebrows and applied some elegant lipstick and rouge.
Just as she was about to comb her hair into a double-ringed fairy bun and start drawing her eyebrows, unexpectedly, before Niaoniao could pick up the snail ink, someone snatched it first. "You can go. I'll do it!"
She looked up at him. "Why did you come back so early?"
"I came back early so I could draw your eyebrows for you."
"..."
He rushed back from the palace early in the morning just to draw her eyebrows. His well-jointed hands gently brushed across her eyebrows as he carefully drew. His phoenix eyes were focused, and his whole heart was on these delicate eyebrows.
"Alright! I'm done..."
In a short while, he let go satisfactorily. "How do I do?"
In the bronze mirror, the woman's hair was piled high, her eyebrows were like distant mountains, shaped like a crescent moon. Her eyes were full of tenderness, and her red lips were charming. "Very good!" Song Jinyu was very satisfied. She looked up at him. "I didn't know you could draw eyebrows..." Had he drawn them for someone before?
As if seeing through her thoughts, Zhongli Mingye smiled slightly. "I had nothing to do last night and couldn't fall asleep, so I went to the library to look for some idle books."
"The book said that the joy between husband and wife is greater than drawing eyebrows and applying makeup?"
"So I wanted to come back early this morning to draw your eyebrows and enjoy this pleasure with you." He had hardly slept all night. He had never known what it was like to be lovesick. Now, just being separated from her for one night made him feel like he was being eaten away by it.
She was amused by his words. "Aren't you ashamed?" Although her words were scolding, the look in her eyes was full of tenderness, which made Zhongli Mingye's heart flutter.
Suddenly, he kissed her delicate red lips.
Fang'ai was waiting outside the door. Hearing that there was no sound in the room, she remembered that it was Song Jinyu's monthly period, so she boldly walked in.
She startled the two who were locked in a passionate embrace. Fortunately, there was a screen blocking them, so Song Jinyu managed to calm down. Zhongli Mingye's face darkened. When had the maids around her become so rude?
"Your Highness, Your Royal Highness, I'm Fang'ai. I'm here to tidy up the dressing table for the princess."
"When did I ask you to come in?"
Fang'ai gave Zhongli Mingye a flirtatious look, but he was only focused on examining Song Jinyu's eyebrows. "I usually come at this time."
"In that case, you can go down first!"
Fang'ai slowly backed out,
She was faintly displeased, but Song Jinyu didn't think much of it.