Power Up, Artist Yang!

The Yang family"s household had a total of three courtyards— one to the North, one to the South, and one to the East. The East Courtyard was the largest one in the villa, holding the most plants and even a small pond that the Old Master added in a few years back, and the Old Master, Madam Zhang, and the First Miss resided in the courtyard.

The North Courtyard was the second largest. It used to be the residence of the Old Master"s mother, but after she pa.s.sed away, only the Fifth Miss lived in that courtyard. It was also the area for any guests that may visit the Yang household.

Lastly, the South Courtyard was the courtyard that the Fourth Miss and all the servants were given a spot at. It was the smallest courtyard out of all of them, only a fraction of the size of the North Courtyard. The fact that most of the servants took up s.p.a.ce in the South Courtyard meant that the Fourth Miss was barely given any s.p.a.ce for her room. Besides a crooked tree in the front of the courtyard and a few broken gra.s.ses growing in between, there was barely any other nature in the s.p.a.ce.

Hui"er straightened herself and raised her hand up, knocking briefly at the door she was at which led to the Fourth Miss"s room.

She walked all the way here already. It would be pointless to return now.

Although there were a few moments before the door was opened, Hui"er didn"t doubt that the First Miss was awake. After leaving the cleaned kitchens with the box of cakes, she hadn"t gone directly to the East Courtyard and instead chose to return to the Fourth Miss"s room to clean up some more and to organize the mess the Fourth Miss made with her inventions, purposely delaying the moment where she would have to see the First Miss.

Plus, the First Miss was always an early waker, based on the time that Hui"er knew her, though it was also possible that her habit changed over the course of the years.

When the door opened, Hui"er was greeted by the face of an unfamiliar servant who was likely the personal maid of the First Miss.

"Who are you?" The maid looked at Hui"er with narrow eyes.

Hui"er exhaled and put on a gentle smile, softening her presence so that she didn"t give off any sort of a hostile appearance. Since the Fourth Miss asked her to do this favor for her, she might as well perform it as well as she could.

"I serve the Fourth Miss." Hui"er raised the box containing the red bean cakes in her hands. "The Fourth Miss wanted me to deliver this to the First Miss."

The maid blinked, then took a closer step, looking at the box. "Alright, thanks." She reached forward, took the box, and began to close the door on Hui"er.

Swiftly, Hui"er shot her hands out and stopped the door, saying, "The Fourth Miss wanted me to give the First Miss the gift myself, as well as a few extra words."

Unimpressed, the maid shook her head. "My First Miss is resting. She does not have time for this nonsense. Now, why don"t you leave—"

Before the maid could continue on with her words, a voice traveled out from inside the room, stopping her.

"Lingsu, let her come in. I want to see what she has to say."

The maid, Lingsu, cast Hui"er an apprehensive look, but she listened to what the other said and stepped aside, letting Hui"er walk in.

Upon entering the room, Hui"er observed her surroundings and noticed that little had changed from when she last entered it, four years ago. The room was in good condition, but it was almost as simplistic as the Fourth Miss"s room, without any decorations or plants to help the environment. All the servants gossiped that the lack of vases or potted plants were because of the fact that Madam Zhang was afraid of the First Miss"s terrible habit of breaking them in anger, so even so many years later, they had kept her room without the items.

So, the first word that came to mind when Hui"er entered the room was "empty".

Across the s.p.a.cious room was a bed with dark blue canopy drapes, and in front of the bed sat Yang Qingxia, the First Miss, perfectly dressed in a set of apricot orange robes and the complete opposite of what Lingsu was saying with the "still resting".

The First Miss did not appear surprised to see Hui"er, merely tilting her head by a slight degree. "Li Huiyu, what are you doing here?"

Hui"er went forward and bowed, as expected of her status, but she didn"t hesitate to reply. "First Miss, I do not go by that name anymore. They call me "Hui"er"."

"Hui"er… that does sound more kind and compa.s.sionate now, doesn"t it?" The First Miss smiles, and her voice sounds lacking in something that Hui"er couldn"t quite put her finger on. "Now tell me, what is this gift and message that your Fourth Miss brought me?"

Handing the box over, Hui"er didn"t hesitate to distance herself from the other by an extra step when she returned to her old position. Truthfully, the Fourth Miss never said to add in an extra message, but Hui"er figured that it would help.

"She just wanted you to know that she wasn"t sure if yesterday made you upset or not, and if it did, she would like to apologize like so. She didn"t mean for it to be perceived that way." That wasn"t a lie. "So, she wanted to make up for it by making you some red bean cakes." That wasn"t a lie either.

"Red bean cakes?" The First Miss repeated and opened the lid, looking at the cakes inside.

Hui"er hastily added in, "First Miss… the Fourth Miss didn"t want me to tell you this, but she stayed up all night to perfect these since she"s terrible at cooking. I hope that you at least try them out."

Perhaps that would add in a little more of an emotional aspect to the persuasion of the First Miss.

"I will," Casting her eyes back up, the First Miss set the opened box on the bed beside her and continued, "but do tell your Fourth Miss that it"s not so easy to buy me over as well."

Hui"er furrowed her eyebrows. "First Miss, that was never her intenti—"

"Lingsu, send her out," interrupted the First Miss midway, waving her hands. "I am not in the mood of talking today."

Instantly, Lingsu went forward and gestured at the door.

Hui"er looked slowly at the First Miss. Was it really because of the Fourth Miss"s gift that caused such a suspicious att.i.tude in the First Miss? Or was it Hui"er"s presence that changed it all? Could the First Miss really not let go of the past like that?

Regardless of what the reason was, Hui"er simply gave a nod at the First Miss and exited the doors. She knew when she was unwanted, and there was no reason to stay any longer if that was the case.