Hearing this, everyone looked at Princess Heyuan. Sure enough, she was wearing a brand - new water - red long dress, which set off her delicate skin and showed a bit of the unique coquettishness of a young girl. Her original six - point beauty instantly became nine - point.
However, the maid kneeling on the ground just shed tears and remained motionless.
Seeing this, a hint of disdain flashed in Princess Heyuan's eyes. "Whose servant are you? You're so ill - mannered. I wonder what kind of master taught you?"
As soon as she finished speaking, several noble girls around showed gloating smiles and whispered to each other mockingly.
"What's the use of keeping such an ill - mannered servant? It's better to sell her off early to avoid embarrassing us when she comes out!"
"Exactly. If I had such a stupid and ill - mannered servant by my side, I would definitely send her away early!"
Hearing this, Princess Heyuan looked even more proud.
At this time, a young lady who was watching the excitement whispered to the person next to her, "Why do I think the clothes this maid is wearing look so much like..."
Before she could finish her sentence, a young woman who had just walked over from behind took the lead and said, "Greetings to Princess Heyuan!"
"Your Highness, I'm sorry. My servant is ignorant and has offended Your Highness. Please forgive her!" The speaker was a young woman in a light purple silk dress.
Princess Heyuan tilted her chin slightly and glanced at the young woman. "Oh, so it's Miss Duan! No wonder! I was wondering who taught this servant to be so ill - mannered. It turns out to be someone from Miss Duan's mansion!"
This Miss Duan was Duan Chuchu, the eldest legitimate daughter of Duan Jun, the vice - minister of the Ministry of Revenue.
Hearing Princess Heyuan's words, Duan Chuchu showed no anger or dissatisfaction on her face. She just said calmly, "The maids in my mansion are vulgar and rude. They can't compare to Your Highness's grace and generosity. I've made Your Highness laugh!"
These words were actually a sarcasm. If it was rude for the maid to offend Princess Heyuan, then Princess Heyuan's verbal abuse and being unreasonable were no better!
"You..." Princess Heyuan looked at her angrily. "Humph! I'm a princess personally enfeoffed by the emperor. How can I be compared to a mere maid of hers?"
Seeing more and more official ladies gathering around, Princess Heyuan straightened her sleeves and sneered at Duan Chuchu. "Since Miss Duan is here, let's talk about this matter. My dress is dirty and can't be worn anymore. How does Miss Duan plan to compensate me?"
Looking at Duan Chuchu, who had a beautiful face and gentle and virtuous manner, a flash of jealousy and hatred quickly crossed Princess Heyuan's eyes. After the emperor decided to choose a concubine for the Fourth Prince Xiao Hanzhi, Princess Heyuan had asked her mother to inquire about Concubine Chen's attitude.
Before, Concubine Chen had always evaded the issue, neither immediately agreeing nor refusing.
She originally thought that with her status, her mother's identity as a princess and her influence in the court, although Concubine Chen wouldn't immediately agree, she would still consider it carefully.
However, unexpectedly, a few days ago, when her mother entered the palace to meet Concubine Chen again, Concubine Chen didn't mention anything about agreeing to her marriage with the Fourth Prince. She only said that she would find a good marriage for her.
This was too unexpected. She didn't know why Concubine Chen had suddenly changed her mind. She could only calm down and ask her mother to inquire everywhere. Finally, her mother learned that Concubine Chen had inquired about Duan Chuchu's news several times and even summoned her into the palace to drink tea and enjoy the flowers.
Princess Heyuan understood immediately. Concubine Chen had taken a fancy to Duan Chuchu. So, when Princess Heyuan saw the servant from the Duan Mansion today, she took the initiative to walk over and bumped into the maid on purpose. She just wanted to see Duan Chuchu make a fool of herself. If she could make Concubine Chen dislike Duan Chuchu because of this, it would be even better.
Duan Chuchu also noticed the inquisitive looks from these noble ladies around. She knew that compared with Princess Heyuan, who was more likely to be selected as the Fourth Prince's concubine, everyone looked down on her even more. Of course, she could also guess what Princess Heyuan was up to.
Duan Chuchu immediately bowed slowly to Princess Heyuan. Her posture was graceful and flawless. "Your Highness, please calm down! Our maid in the mansion has offended Your Highness and ruined Your Highness's dress. I wonder what kind of compensation Your Highness wants. I will try my best to meet Your Highness's requirements."
"Miss Duan, you're being too serious. I'm not an unreasonable person. Since it was your maid who did something wrong, as her master, you should kowtow to me and apologize on her behalf, saying, 'Your Highness, please spare my life!'"
"If you do this, I'll spare you!"
As soon as Princess Heyuan said this, the surrounding people started to talk even louder.
Although Princess Heyuan was a princess, Duan Chuchu's father, Duan Jun, was also a third - rank court official. Now, asking her to say such words in front of so many people would greatly embarrass Duan Chuchu.
At this moment, Duan Chuchu tightly pursed her lips, with a tearful expression on her face. Just like her name, she looked extremely pitiful.
The maid still kneeling beside her had tears all over her face. She looked at Duan Chuchu and then at Princess Heyuan, who was full of pride. She still hesitated and said, "Miss, it wasn't me who bumped into the princess just now. It was the princess... She saw me coming and deliberately bumped into me!"
This maid knew that she was just a servant and couldn't compare with Princess Heyuan. But seeing Princess Heyuan deliberately making things difficult for her miss now, she wanted to tell the truth.
"Bold! You're just a mere maid. I'm of such noble status. Why would I need to bump into you, a little maid? Slandering me is a capital crime!"
"Your Highness, it was clearly you..." Hearing this, the maid trembled and looked at Princess Heyuan, whispering.
Before she could continue, she was interrupted by Duan Chuchu. "Xiu'er! Shut up!"
The maid named Xiu'er immediately looked at Duan Chuchu aggrievedly. "Miss, I!"
"Princess Heyuan is of noble status. No matter what, it was your fault today! I will apologize to the princess myself. Don't say anything more!"
Duan Chuchu's words were trying to cover up the truth. The more she stopped Xiu'er from speaking, the more it seemed that Princess Heyuan was using her power to oppress others and being unreasonable.
"Princess Heyuan, I've already apologized to you on behalf of our maid! I hope you won't be as petty as a little maid and spare her life! As for the princess's dress, our mansion will compensate you for it!"
"Humph! Compensate me? What can you use to compensate? There's only one such dress in the whole capital. Do you still want to compensate me with an identical one?"
"Besides, it's okay for me to spare her life. I've just said that if you do as I say, I will naturally spare her. Otherwise, no way!"
"Princess Heyuan, do you really want to bully me like this?" Duan Chuchu stubbornly raised her head and looked at Princess Heyuan.
"If you don't do it, I'll order to kill her right now!" Princess Heyuan sneered and pointed at Xiu'er, who was trembling.