"Why?" Cindy Zhu asked, her eyes brimming with tears and resentment.
"I've already told you the reason!" Grace Wan replied.
"What kind of crappy reason is that? I don't accept it!"
Grace Wan's face darkened, and she said forcefully, "Cindy, from today onward, you'll stay in Cindy's Courtyard! You are not allowed out until Grace enters the palace. Only then can you come out!"
"You're going to lock me up?" Cynthia's eyes and heart turned cold.
"Cynthia, you'll understand soon. I'm doing this for your own good," Grace Wan said, her tone heavy and sincere.
"Get out!"
"Cynthia—"
"Just leave!" Cynthia shouted, her voice trembling with rage.
Grace Wan took a deep breath, steeled herself, and left.
Let her cool off for a while...
......
Grace always felt that General Evan Xiao wouldn't just let things go.
Sure enough, two or three days after her father and older brother, Jason Zhuo, had left, Claire came back from outside, giving her a mysterious look.
Grace found an excuse and called her into the room to talk privately.
Claire said mysteriously, "Miss, I just got your clothes from the Second Madam, and I ran into someone on the way back."
"Who?"
"He was a new guard. He asked if I was Claire, the maid who serves Miss," Claire said. "I said yes, and then he told me something."
"What did he say?"
"He told me to be patient. General Evan Xiao will find a way to remove my name from the Royal Selection Attendant List and then take me out of the residence," Claire said.
Grace's eyes widened. "The General?"
"Yeah! That's exactly what he said!"
Grace: "..."
"Miss, what's going on?" Claire asked, looking suspicious.
"Ahem, what did you say to him?"
"I didn't dare say much. I just mumbled something and came back."
Grace thought for a moment and said, "Claire, listen to me. I'm not going to the Palace Selection, and neither of you need to think about going either. So whether General Evan Xiao removes your name from the Royal Selection Attendant List or not, it doesn't matter."
"Not going to the Palace Selection?" Claire's jaw dropped. "But your name has already been submitted. Not going... how is that possible?"
"I have my ways."
"Oh..." Claire nodded. "But why would General Evan Xiao randomly want to remove my name from the Royal Selection Attendant List? And why does he want to take me out of the residence?"
He... he... he thinks you're me..." Grace found it hard to explain.
The fact that she volunteered to deliver the ring for Evan Xiao was something only she knew; even the nursemaids had no idea.
Everyone else thought she'd gotten the treasure and just came back.
"I don't get it..." Claire said, completely confused.
"When I left General Evan Xiao's Manor, I told him I'd enter the Prime Minister's Residence as 'Claire' and serve Miss as a maid..." Grace explained.
"Oh, I see..." Claire was a smart girl. Once she figured it out, she looked at Grace differently. "So... General Evan Xiao is... about you..."
"Claire! Maybe don't ask so many questions for now," Grace said. "I know what I'm doing."
"Yes, Miss." Claire stopped asking.
In the past, Hope and Claire were always loyal to her.
Ever since Grace became a Spirit Master and managed to get rid of Mrs. Hu...
They came to trust her even more.
Whenever Grace asked them to do something, they would carry it out without question, without caring about right or wrong.
Grace was genuinely grateful for this.