The Dragon's Flower

XH 18

The Third prince arched an eyebrow and Xiao Hua did not know if he purposely make it look seductive or he was just being his natural self. His phoenix eyes that were similar to Long Lian's were bright as if conveying that he was pleased.

"As your master, this prince is happy that you worry about me."

That's good to hear!

"But as a servant, you should not worry too much about me. This prince only needs a servant to obey me and do well in attending my daily necessities."

Xiao Hua gulped at the intense look directed right at her. The effect doubled as his face was near hers, forcing her to imprint his intense expression into her mind.

His warm breath lightly hit her cheeks and she could smell mandarin oranges that he must have eaten earlier. His fingers were rubbing her chin in a playful manner, successfully enticing her. With their close distance and his body slightly bent forward, he was looming over Xiao Hua due to his tall stature and her tiny size.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

Her heart beat keeps on rising and she could feel her cheeks getting warm quickly. Her boss had been close to her before in some situations, but not even her heart rate increased this much before! She was not immune to this invasion of space!

"You are not going to reply to your master?"

Xiao Hua gulped. "Y-Yes, Your Highness! This servant will serve you well!"

"That's what this prince wants to hear. Hmm? Are you having a fever?" The Third Prince caressed his beautiful shaped fingers over her red face, testing her temperature.

Slap!

Both of their faces expressed astonishment.

Xiao Hua was stunned when her body unconsciously moved and slapped the Third Prince's hand away from her face.

The Third Prince was surprised that this little maid had slapped his hand away. Long Zhu blinked when the maid quickly jumped out of the bed and kneeled down on the floor, with her head touching the ground with a soft thud.

"This servant does not mean to hurt Your Highness! Please forgive this servant's rudeness!"

What else did she need to say?! She was reluctant to say 'Please punish me'! Who on earth like would ask for punishment for themselves?

Xiao Hua waited for the prince to say something but he remained silent. She did not dare to raise her head to gauge his expression. Oh no, will she be dragged out and beat to death?!

No, no, no. Xiao Hua, do not think too much! This prince is very kind and forgiving!

But his silence was terrifying! She gritted her teeth before reluctantly said, "Master, please punish me."

In this silent room, Xiao Hua could hear very clearly the sound made by his clothes when the prince moved. Suddenly, a pair of hands grabbed her armpits and lifted her up.

"Eek!" Xiao Hua let out an ear piercing squeal and the Third Prince's eyes flashed with amusement.

"Hmm." The Third Prince pondered as he stared at Xiao Hua who he was lifting in midair. "You need to gain more meat."

Xiao Hua does not know what to do! This situation was out of her imagination and control!

The Third Prince released her and had her sat on her bed and rubbed the top of her head, totally treating her as a little kid!

It took her a moment to realize she had unconsciously glared at the Third Prince! She quickly bends her head downwards, facing south and was about to kneel again when a gentle force on her forehead stopped her.

Xiao Hua blinked at the slender finger on her forehead that had stopped her movement. She tried to push against the finger but it would not even budge even a tiny bit!

What is this finger? So strong! (⊙_⊙)

"Tomorrow An Jing will tell you what you need to know around this prince’s manor."

The Third Prince removed his finger and walked out of the door. Da Liu closed the door after the prince left, leaving the dumbfounded Xiao Hua staring blankly at the door.

Whatever warm feelings that Xiao Hua had felt from the Third Prince was immediately gone after she slapped his hand away. Xiao Hua took a huge deep breath, urging herself to calm down, but the fear of being punished encouraged her to imagine bloody types of punishment and continuously stirring her imagination to greater heights. 

"Nooooooo!"

Someone let out a cough to alert Xiao Hua, who immediately stopped her screaming. She turned and found An Jing standing at the doorway.

An Jing's expression was normal, but her eyes were brighter than usual as if they were silently laughing at Xiao Hua. Actually, she had waited outside when Da Liu said their master was inside. When the Third Prince exited the room, his face showed his usual smile, but to An Jing, who had followed him for eight years, easily spotted his smile was different than his usual. His smile was softer and his eyes were brighter, making the prince looked even stunning than usual.

Ah...how many times had An Jing saw this rare expression? It could be counted with one hand.

"Sister An Jing!"

An Jing stepped into the room and closed the door behind her. "I've come over with your dinner." Xiao Hua only then realized that An Jing was carrying meal boxes with a plate of food inside each box.

"I could get them myself, Sister An Jing!"

"You did not know where the kitchens are yet. I will give you a brief tour tomorrow before telling you what your tasks are."

Xiao Hua did not know where the kitchens were, but she uttered those words due to the habit of being polite when someone helped her to do a menial task without her asking such as carrying stuff for her. Xiao Hua silently vowed to think more before she speaks next time. It does not matter if she will be scolded for being slow. At least the chances of unintentionally saying something that could land her in trouble would decrease dramatically.

However, saying it was much easier than doing it.

"Thank you Sister An Jing. Will Sister An Jing join me for the meal?"

An Jing shook her head. "I still have some urgent task to do for our master. I'll eat later. Elder Sister Hua should eat first and rest early. Tomorrow we will begin our day before dawn."

Xiao Hua slowly nodded as she forced to remember the time system that the ancient one used. When she arrived here, she knew nothing about the historical Chinese hour system. It was after countless trial and error did she managed to roughly memorize it. She learned that instead of using the one-hour system in her modern original world, the historical time uses the two-hour system.

An Jing bowed, which Xiao Hua quickly returned it, before leaving the room. It was only after An Jing had left for quite a bit did Xiao Hua finally remember there was something she needed to ask An Jing!

Xiao Hua facepalmed. She forgot to ask An Jing if she knows anything about being punished for slapping a prince’s hand! Oh, the agony of not knowing what to expect!

Xiao Hua sighed and hoped that An Jing would come back later. She moved her attention to her dinner. Even if she does not have much appetite, the food looks good.

There was a bowl of white rice with three different dishes served on the table. She recognized one of the dishes was bok choy vegetables. The second was Luo Han Zai, which also happens to be the favorite dish of Le XiaoTing's mother. The last dish was steamed white chicken.

Le XiaoTing could easily eat these dishes in her original world, but for Xiao Hua, these dishes were not normally eaten by most commoners.

During the time when she was living in MungLu's manor as a servant, the meals were usually a bowl of rice with some cheap vegetables that were gotten cheaply from the market. If they were lucky, they could eat the leftovers from their master's meal.

But… this amount was too much, was it not? This amount could feed at least three adults!

"Princess Long Lian arrives!" Someone suddenly announced and before the sentence ended, the door was already pushed open.

"Xiao Hua!"

Xiao Hua smiled brightly at the beautifully dressed princess. "Princess, you’ve come just right in time…"

… To help me finish the food! (つ✧ω✧)つ

.

.

.

.

.

She was much tinier than he expected.

Long Zhu stared at his palm that could cover the whole top of her head. Strange, he used to remember she was around the same size as Long Lian, but smaller.

Is his memory faulty?