Most importantly, she’s good to those below her, never scolding or hitting people at every turn, nor punishing servants or deducting their monthly wages without reason.

She’s grown up so much and hasn’t seen anyone as clever and kind-hearted as the mistress.

“Always flattering, aren’t you tired of it?” Xu Wanning glanced at her, but couldn’t suppress the corners of her mouth from turning up.

Who doesn’t like being flattered? Having it happen first thing in the morning, she only felt refreshed and extremely comfortable.

“Style my hair simply, don’t put in so many hairpins and hairpin!” Xu Wanning reminded.

“I understand!” Xi Yun smiled lightly, her hands deftly moving through the dark, glossy hair. In less than a quarter of an hour, an intricate peony bun was complete.

Two hairpins were inserted, jade and fresh flowers were added to adorn the temples, and hairpin were added as well, but it still felt like something was missing. Xi Yun carefully examined it and, after thinking for a moment, dotted a peony forehead jewel between her eyebrows and applied some lip rouge to her lips, which made it much more harmonious.

“Why did you style my hair like this?” Xu Wanning looked left and right, feeling curious.

“Mistress, have you forgotten? A few days ago, the Head Steward sent someone to say that today is the day the Young Master/Heir returns.” Xi Yun covered her mouth and giggled, “When the Young Master/Heir returns, the mistress should dress up beautifully. If the Young Master/Heir sees it and is pleased, he will cherish you more.”

“Ever since the Young Master/Heir left, the mistress has been much more lax and doesn’t mention the Young Master/Heir as often as she used to!” Speaking of Xu Wanning’s attitude towards the Young Master/Heir, Xi Yun began to ramble on and on.

“It’s fine when the Young Master/Heir isn’t around, but now that the Young Master/Heir is about to return, the mistress should pay more attention.”

“Why should I mention him?” Xu Wanning touched her face, somewhat unimpressed.

When the Young Master/Heir was around, she dressed up attractively every day, seizing every opportunity to throw herself at him, and looked sad whenever she didn’t see him, constantly thinking about or missing him.

Her doing this wasn’t because she really liked the Young Master/Heir, but to put on a show for everyone.

For no other reason than to let the Young Master/Heir know that she was someone who admired him very much, someone who couldn’t help but love him.

After all, the book said that the Young Master/Heir was most disgusted by those flamboyant and artificial women who wanted to throw themselves at him all day long.

Otherwise, she wouldn’t have dared to throw herself at him! She could be considered someone who values her self-respect and self-love, so how could she constantly think about throwing herself at others? It was only because she knew he would dodge!

But people will always have times when they slack off. When the Young Master/Heir was around, she could still act, but what was the point of acting when he wasn’t there?

A month ago, after Yan Xiangze designated her as a concubine, he took her away from the Prefect’s/Governor’s residence and traveled north to An City, the main city of Tan Prefecture. Because Tan Prefecture is close to the Dongting Lake area, with flat terrain and low riverbeds, it actually experiences flooding, although not as severe as Hengzhou. However, several villages and towns were flooded, affecting several hundred people.

Tan Prefecture originally had a special River Affairs Department to manage the water, but because of the continuous overcast and rainy weather in the Tan Prefecture area for half a month, he traveled around and unexpectedly became ill from overwork.

With the River Affairs Department down, there wasn’t a single person in the prefecture with water management experience who could take charge, causing chaos for a long time. Originally, the Young Master/Heir was preparing to continue north to the Capital to report, but seeing this, he could only stay in Tan Prefecture to take charge of the overall situation, and she was settled in a Apart from the hospital within the city.

Half a month ago, the river water in Ping’an County under Tan Prefecture continued to rise, and one of the river embankments couldn’t withstand it and collapsed!

The collapse of a river embankment was a major event. The Young Master/Heir left the city gate that night and hasn’t returned to this day.

In the past half month, she couldn’t get any information about him. She only learned from the Head Steward that he was still in Ping’an County.

If it weren’t for this courtyard and the orderly servants serving her, she would have thought that the Young Master/Heir wanted to abandon her!

She spent half a month here living a peaceful life with clothes provided and food served, and except for the lack of a cell phone and internet, she could say that she had a very pleasant time. Now that he’s back, she should wake up.

Thinking of that rigid, noble, and proper Young Master/Heir!

Xu Wanning’s eyebrows twitched. She tore off the Covering the temples and hairpin she had just put on and said, “From now on, call me master, don’t call me mistress anymore!”

“Take the peony bun down too!”

“Ah?” Xi Yun was stunned. Reacting, she quickly helped.

“Yes, master!” Xi Yun didn’t ask why, but quietly loosened her hairstyle, preparing to braid a simple braid.

Looking at the woman with her hair scattered in the mirror, and seeing Xi Yun still looking confused, Xu Wanning sighed inwardly and said, “I’m just a concubine. In front of the Young Master/Heir, don’t do anything that oversteps boundaries. Peonies…” She twitched her lips and said faintly, “It’s not something a concubine like me can wear.”

After speaking, Xu Wanning reached out and rummaged through the makeup box, taking out an exquisite carved hollow plum blossom silver hairpin and handing it to her.

“master?” Seeing the hairpin, Xi Yun was a little confused.

“Didn’t you say before that Zhou Granny, who is in charge of pastries in the kitchen, once served by noble and rich people when she was young? Not only can she read, but she also knows a lot about the rules and etiquette of houses? Take this hairpin to find Zhou Granny and see if she’s willing to teach you how to read, and also learn some precautions about the inner courtyard of the house. Most importantly, teach me what my status should avoid!”

The Young Master/Heir’s status as the unique son of the Prince and the only nephew of the childless emperor meant that there would be no stability around him. Before she had a clear destination, she would definitely have to stay by his side.

Although Xi Yun was wholeheartedly devoted to her, eager to learn, and knew how to advance and retreat, she was still young, inexperienced, and hadn’t been specially taught. She wasn’t clear about some of the conventional things in the house.

While there was still time and energy, it was always right to let her learn to read and learn more rules, so at least she wouldn’t harm herself and involve her.

After all, the tree wants to be still… but the wind doesn’t stop!

Although Xu Wanning didn’t understand much, her past life experience told her that both big and small figures have their merits. It’s more practical to be good at using people than to do everything yourself.

Speaking of which, Xu Wanning found that she didn’t feel the slightest discomfort in coming to this strange world, perhaps because of the possession or the original owner’s memories. She even felt more comfortable than she did in the modern world.

She didn’t have any thoughts about the class system, feudalism, or even the slave class in this world. She didn’t think about equality for all or what she should do.

But Xu Wanning knew that she was proud. Although she accepted everything in ancient times, it didn’t mean she was willing to change.

In her heart, she herself was always the most important. As long as anything didn’t involve her, she could ignore its existence, regardless of whether it was reasonable or unreasonable.

What’s more, there’s a saying that goes, “Existence is reasonable!”

Isn’t it?

Xi Yun didn’t know what Xu Wanning was thinking inside. She only knew that the master wanted to cultivate her.

Yes, in her opinion, Xu Wanning taking out the hairpin and asking her to find Zhou Granny to learn to read and learn the rules meant that she valued her.

“Yes, master!” She happily took the hairpin and thanked her.

This hairpin wasn’t cheap. Although it was made of silver, the craftsmanship was extraordinary, and a ruby the size of a soybean was inlaid on the plum blossom core. The value of a ruby with this color was even more considerable.

Outside, a hairpin like this would cost at least twenty taels of silver!

When the master was in the Prefect’s/Governor’s residence, she didn’t have many beautiful pieces of jewelry. She only got some jade jewelry after following the Young Master/Heir. Although this plum blossom hairpin wasn’t the most expensive among the pieces she got, it was definitely one of the most classic and beautiful because of its simple and elegant style.

She didn’t expect that she would take it out and give it away for her sake. Although it wasn’t given to her, it still made Xi Yun extremely touched!

Having received such a benefit, she quickly expressed her loyalty. “Thank you, master, for your guidance. I will listen to the master in the future and serve the master with all my might, even if it means death!”

Xu Wanning couldn’t help but be stunned for a moment, not expecting to get her declaration of loyalty from just a hairpin. Reacting, the smile on her face instantly became much brighter. “Very good!”

Although she brought Xi Yun out, it was also because Xi Yun did lose her life because of her in the book, but that didn’t mean Xi Yun was loyal to her.

After all, before meeting the Young Master/Heir, Xi Yun had always been a servant in the Prefect’s/Governor’s residence. Even the indentured contract wasn’t in her hands, so how could she be loyal to her?

The indentured contract was originally in her hands, and now she had also received her declaration of loyalty, which meant that in Xi Yun’s heart, she had severed ties with the Prefect’s/Governor’s residence. From now on, she would be her only master.

Getting a loyal maidservant from a hairpin made Xu Wanning feel even better. The fact that the Young Master/Heir was about to return didn’t affect her.