Chapter 67: Raised Hand, Fallen Blade
Anyone who didn’t know better would think she was the master and Li Lan was the servant taking care of her.
That bossy and arrogant appearance truly made one want to reach out and teach her a lesson.
Li Lan was long accustomed to such attitudes and orders.
He rolled up his sleeves and pant legs, preparing to go into the water to retrieve it, but was stopped by Zhong He’s outstretched hand.
“Don’t pick it up. If it needs to be picked up, let her do it herself. You don’t go!”
Could a maid’s status be higher than a prince’s? Even if exposed, people would accuse the maid of being audacious, not Li Lan of being wrong.
The maid, seeing Li Lan about to obey her and retrieve her favorite handkerchief from the water, had just started to smile triumphantly.
However, before the smile could fully spread across her face, Zhong He’s intervention froze it in place.
“What are you doing?”
Recovering her senses, the maid unleashed a torrent of abuse at Zhong He.
“Want to be the bird that sticks its neck out? Fine, I’ll help you along.”
The maid gritted her teeth. “If you don’t help him pick up my handkerchief from the water today, don’t… don’t think about leaving here.”
So what if he was a consort married by Princess Xuanyue?
According to her knowledge, apart from consummating the marriage with Consort Jun, Princess Xuanyue hadn’t touched the other four consorts. They were still virgins.
From this, one could see that among the five consorts, except for Consort Jun, none were the Princess’s type.
Since that was the case, why should she give them any face? They would be abandoned by the Princess sooner or later anyway.
“What a big tone!”
Li Xuanyue truly hadn’t expected that right under her nose, there could be such an arrogant maid.
Was she dead? Or was there no one left to manage and run the Phoenix Clan?
The maid, who had just been so arrogant she forgot her own status, saw her face change color repeatedly upon hearing the voice from not far away.
When she saw the person walking out from behind the rockery was Li Xuanyue, her entire body went limp.
She immediately scrambled to kneel before Li Xuanyue.
“S-Slave greets the Princess.”
The maid greeted Li Xuanyue with trepidation.
Li Xuanyue stared with eyes full of fury at the maid trembling at her feet. Her voice was ice-cold. “This Palace didn’t know that the Phoenix Clan was now run by a little lowly servant like you!”
“Greetings, Princess!”
“Li Lan greets the Princess!”
Zhong He and Li Lan also raised their hands to greet Li Xuanyue.
“Go stand to the side.”
Li Xuanyue needed to deal with the kneeling maid first; she didn’t have time for them yet.
Heaven knew how scared and panicked she felt after hearing what the maid said.
What did she mean by saying that in the entire Phoenix Clan, apart from her, the other princes and princesses were nothing?
Wasn’t this deliberately drawing hatred toward her? Making everyone jealous of her?
No wonder so many people hated her. With maids like this fanning the flames of hatred behind her back, those who hated her naturally wished she would die quickly.
Zhong He and Li Lan looked at each other, then obeyed Li Xuanyue, standing in a row beside Jun He.
“Princess, this slave knows her mistake. I beg the Princess to forgive this slave!”
The maid, who had been incredibly arrogant just moments ago, now shook like sifted sand before Li Xuanyue. Her face was snow-white, her body tense as a drawn bow.
She didn’t dare straighten up, curling up like a shrimp, hoping Li Xuanyue would overlook her.
Unfortunately, her arrogance just now was too deserving of a beating.
So, even though she knocked her head on the ground until it bled, Li Xuanyue didn’t blink. She maintained that cold, unfeeling appearance.
“You, a mere servant, dare to order This Palace’s Consort and Prince to pick up a handkerchief for you.”
Li Xuanyue’s unhurried voice hovered by the maid’s ear. “Do you think your status and power are greater than This Palace’s and the Mother Empress’s?”
“Xiao Han, cut her down.”
She ordered coldly, “Hang her corpse and head here for This Palace. Let everyone take a good look. This is the fate of offending superiors and disrespecting masters.”
The maid’s body went completely limp.
“No, Princess, this slave knows wrong…”
Regaining her senses, the maid tried to crawl forward to hug Li Xuanyue’s legs in terror, but Li Xuanyue dodged.
Disappointment and nervousness flashed in the maid’s eyes. Instead of retreating, she knelt forward again, begging.
“This slave won’t dare again. I beg the Princess to spare my life.”
However, as soon as her voice fell, the long sword in Xiao Han’s hand rose and fell. A fresh head landed on the ground with a thud.
The noisy garden instantly fell silent.
When a breeze blew, the scent of blood lingered in the air.
Watching this scene, Li Lan couldn’t help but bend over and vomit.
Living in Shanren Hall all year round, when had he ever seen such a bloody scene? Even when a maid killed a chicken, he was scared enough to close his eyes.
Let alone Li Xuanyue killing a living person.
This scene was enough to give him nightmares for a lifetime.
“Let’s go!”
Li Xuanyue frowned, watching Li Lan retching continuously, and urged them to leave with her.
As for the rest, she didn’t need to give instructions; the garden manager would come out and handle it.
Li Lan frowned. He didn’t want to go, but seeing Li Xuanyue’s cold appearance and recalling the scene of her ordering Xiao Han to behead the maid, the refusal stuck in his throat.
Not long after, the news of Li Xuanyue ordering Xiao Han to behead the maid spread throughout the Phoenix Clan.
When everyone learned that Li Xuanyue had killed the insubordinate maid to stand up for Consort Zhong and the Third Prince, they all began to tremble with fear.
Who in the Phoenix Clan didn’t know that Li Lan was the least favored by the Phoenix Empress?
He couldn’t even catch the eye of his eldest sister, Li Xuanyue.
His status in the Phoenix Clan was even lower than that of Li Qinghe, the Second Princess.
Because of this, no one took Prince Li Lan seriously.
They treated him worse than a servant. Sometimes they were harsh to him, even denying him food.
Now, the servants learned that Li Xuanyue had killed the maid who bullied him to stand up for him.
Wasn’t this telling everyone that she would soon come to settle accounts with them?
Some of the more timid maids were nearly scared to death by this speculation.
