Good Intentions and Living Under Others’ Eyes

Serena Feng coughed, startled by her own thoughts and nearly choking herself, her face turning as red as fire.

Oh my god, what’s gotten into me lately? I keep daydreaming about all sorts of nonsense. Spring’s been over for ages, and I’m still here acting like a lovestruck fool.

It’s all because of Ninth Royal Uncle!

It’s all his fault—teasing me like that in the carriage, leaving me dizzy for half the day. Just thinking about Ninth Royal Uncle made Serena cough even harder, nearly choking.

Miss, are you alright?

Miss, quick, have some water.

The Wang Clan maids were all well-trained; seeing Serena Feng like this, they didn’t crowd around her. Only the two closest to her moved—one poured tea, the other helped her catch her breath.

The two maids’ movements were natural and sincere, treating Serena Feng completely as their mistress.

Serena Feng felt all kinds of emotions. Sigh... How could she ever repay William Wang Jinling? Of course, she also knew that if she tried, she’d probably end up hurting him even more.

After drinking some water and coughing lightly a couple more times, Serena Feng was fine. She waved her hand, signaling she didn’t want any more: “Help me change clothes.”

Serena Feng had no intention of dressing herself; with a single motion, she left everything to the maids.

While she was sick, the maids handled everything, and she gradually got used to having her daily life prepared for her.

With someone taking care of all these trivial things, why bother doing it herself? What a waste of time.

As for preaching about human rights or treating maids as friends, putting them on equal footing—Serena Feng would never do that.

She wasn’t some idiot like Liam Li, talking about human rights and equality in a place like this.

If she started talking about human rights or swearing sisterhood with the maids, they’d only think she was being patronizing or pitiful, never truly sincere.

Class boundaries were clear—status was an uncrossable gulf. It wasn’t something she could change with a few words. Besides, if she treated the maids as sisters and talked about human rights, who’d do all the chores like boiling water, cooking, and cleaning?

She couldn’t very well say, “I treat you as friends,” while still ordering them around to work like servants.

Back in school, she often heard her juniors talk about transmigration novels where the heroine always preached human rights, treated her personal maid as a sister, and confided in her. But the maid always ended up betraying her.

Her juniors would endlessly criticize those maids for being terrible, for mistaking the heroine’s kindness for weakness. But Serena Feng thought that was perfectly normal.

Maids have their pride and dignity too. If a noble young lady suddenly wants to call a maid her sister, people will just think she’s up to something—or that she’s just being patronizing.

And anyway, all you’re giving them is a few words and some small favors. It doesn’t actually change their status or identity at all.

It’s like when Ninth Royal Uncle said to her, “Serena Feng, I treat you as a younger sister.”

But even as his 'sister,' she still had to kneel before Ninth Royal Uncle. If that happened over and over, how could she ever feel okay about it?

If she really was a sister, then why was he the lofty royal uncle and she just a marquis’s daughter—not a princess or a duchess?

And even if she treated her maids as sisters, would the empress or the imperial consort ever treat her as a sister? Of course not...

If nobody else was going to talk to her about human rights, why should she bother talking about human rights with them? What a joke.

While Serena Feng was busy thinking Liam Li was an idiot, the maids had already finished helping her change and sat her in front of the vanity to do her hair.

The Wang Clan maids were skillful; with just a few deft moves, Serena Feng’s long hair was smooth, and with a flick of her fingers, an elegant cloud bun took shape.

“Miss’s hair is so thick and smooth, you don’t even need a hairpiece for the bun,” the maid praised, pulling a gold hairpin from the jewelry box and sliding it into place. The pin was set with a sparkling ruby that made Serena Feng look even more radiant.

“When did I ever own something like this?” Serena Feng knew exactly how many pieces of jewelry she had—none of them were this expensive.

If she’d had something this valuable, she wouldn’t have dressed so plainly at the last poetry gathering.

The maid’s smile froze instantly, and she stood there with her head bowed.

“Just say it. Don’t forget who your real master is—your service contracts are in my hands.” Serena Feng picked up a jade hairpin from the jewelry box, twirling it casually but with a hint of threat.

All four maids in the room dropped to their knees with a thud. “Please forgive us, Miss. We didn’t mean to keep anything from you.”

They all knew this Miss Feng wasn’t someone to mess with, nor was she easy to fool.

“Then say it—where did all this jewelry come from?” Serena Feng already knew it must’ve been William Wang Jinling, but what bothered her was that her own people kept secrets from her.

Sure, these girls came from the Wang Clan, and she’d never stopped them from seeing Wang family members or made them turn against their old house. But hiding things from their current master? That was crossing the line.

“It was the young master...” The maid started out of habit, then remembered her new mistress and quickly corrected herself: “It was the Wang Clan’s eldest young master who sent it. He said not to tell Miss yet—to give you a surprise.”

A surprise, huh? William Wang Jinling just didn’t want Serena Feng refusing his gifts, that’s all. Once the things were delivered and stored in Feng Manor, she couldn’t exactly send them back.

“Get up.” Serena Feng didn’t make things any harder for the maids. She knew William Wang Jinling was just worried she wouldn’t accept the gifts, and besides, she’d never asked these maids to forget their old master.

“You may have come from the Wang Clan, and it’s not wrong to follow the young master’s orders. But remember this: he’s already given you to me, and I’m your master now. Whatever you do, you need to put me first. If you ever hide something like this again, you can forget about staying in House Feng of Loyalty.”

Clack—Serena Feng tossed the jade hairpin back into the jewelry box with a sharp thud. The four maids jumped, feeling as if the pin had landed right in their hearts, and quickly replied, “Yes, Miss.”

“Get up.” Serena Feng suddenly felt a wave of inexplicable depression.

She suddenly remembered what General Warren Yu said—that only in her own manor could she truly relax, with no outsiders or spies around. But now?

William Wang Jinling might not count as an outsider, but he definitely wasn’t family. Besides the Wang Clan, there were people from the Su Clan and Zhai family here too. Everything she did was under someone else’s watchful eye. Even if none of them meant any harm, it was still uncomfortable.

“Besides the jewelry, what else did the young master send over?” Serena Feng wondered if she ought to buy a whole new batch of maids.

But then she thought better of it. First, it would hurt William Wang Jinling’s feelings. Second, she couldn’t really trust maids she bought from outside.

You never knew if an outside maid was a spy for another house—or if she’d be bribed by someone else. Better to use these Wang Clan girls, trained from childhood; at least, aside from William Wang Jinling, they wouldn’t report her business to anyone else.

“Yes, Miss.” The maid stepped forward and listed everything William Wang Jinling had sent. Serena Feng realized that, aside from herself, everything she used in Feng Manor now had come from William.

“Is Feng Manor really that poor?” Serena Feng suddenly felt like she was being kept—her clothes, her food, her home, all arranged by William Wang Jinling. This was...