Dream of the Red Chamber: My Daiyu Has Been Reborn

The next morning, Xiangling jumped out of bed with a start. After she came to her senses and saw her surroundings clearly, she realized that she was not dreaming.

She was put to rest in a side room yesterday. This was the first time she had slept on such a soft bed since she was abducted so many years ago.

Xiangling slapped her cheeks hard, silently encouraging herself to do her job well. She didn't want to be sold around like before.

There were already maids busy sweeping and cleaning in the courtyard. When she finished dressing and tiptoed out, a round-faced maid greeted her with a smile.

"Miss Xiangling is awake. Second Master hasn't gotten up yet, please wait a while."

Xiangling waved her hands repeatedly, "I dare not accept the title 'Miss,' please just call me Xiangling. Sister, what should I do?"

Seeing her reserved demeanor, the round-faced maid covered her mouth and chuckled softly, finding it amusing: "Just wait here, the Second Master will call you when he wakes up." She gave Xiangling some instructions and then went off to attend to her own business.

Xiangling dared not run around and stood obediently under the eaves, not daring to move. The maids who passed by her would look at her curiously, seeing that she was like a stone statue. Xiangling's face turned red from their stares.

About fifteen minutes later, the round-faced maidservant trotted up to Xiangling and said, "Second Master is awake. Xiangling, go in and serve him."

"Okay, okay. Thank you, sister."

Xiangling arrived at Gu Jinhong's door, took a deep breath, and pushed the door open to go inside.

Gu Jinhong had clearly just woken up and was sitting on the edge of the bed with his hair disheveled. He yawned and looked at Xiangling's determined eyes, finding it amusing.

"Take that death-defying look off you." He pointed to the copper basin and handkerchief on the shelf. "Go, fetch a basin of hot water."

"yes!"

Hearing that she finally had something to do, Xiangling readily agreed, took a few steps forward, picked up the copper basin, and turned to leave. However, because she was walking too fast, she didn't notice that her toe had caught on the threshold, and she fell forward. Even then, she didn't dare let go of the copper basin in her hand.

Fortunately, the round-faced maid outside happened to be passing by the door and quickly caught her, preventing her from falling hard.

After regaining her balance, Xiangling apologized repeatedly, her face flushed as if she had applied a thick layer of rouge, and hurriedly went to fetch hot water.

Gu Jinhong saw this scene clearly and couldn't help but laugh out loud. This little girl is really naive.

Before long, Xiangling returned with hot water, carefully placed the copper basin on the shelf, and then wet her hands with a handkerchief before presenting it to Gu Jinhong.

Gu Jinhong took the handkerchief and wiped his face, casually asking, "How did you sleep last night?"

"Yes, very good." Xiangling nodded emphatically, her eyes sparkling, her tone full of sincerity. "I have never slept in such a nice place before. The bed is soft, and even the quilt smells sweet."

"Alright, as long as you do your job well, you'll have a long road of good days ahead." Gu Jinhong handed him the handkerchief. "Go and..."

Before he could finish speaking, a loud gurgling sound suddenly rang out in the room. Xiangling was startled for a moment, then realized what was happening and hurriedly covered her stomach, her face turning bright red to the roots of her ears.

Gu Jinhong looked at her, both amused and exasperated: "What time did you eat yesterday?"

Xiangling lowered her head and stammered, "Yesterday...after entering the manor with the young master, I went to see His Highness, and then...and then..."

"You haven't eaten?"

Xiangling shrank her head and softly replied, "Yes."

Actually, she had been starving all day yesterday. After Liu San brought her to the capital, he was in a hurry to hand her over to Gu Jinhong and didn't have time to give her any food.

After being taken to the Marquis's residence to meet the Eldest Princess, she was put into her quarters and never came out again. When it was time to eat, the servants ignored her. Anyway, she was used to being hungry, and being a newcomer, how could she dare to ask for food?

Gu Jinhong sighed and called out, "Someone come here."

A maidservant pushed open the door and entered: "What are your orders, Second Master?"

"Take her out to eat."

"Yes."

Xiangling panicked upon hearing this and quickly said, "This servant is not hungry. This servant still needs to serve the young master his washing up."

"I have others to serve me here. Go on, eat your fill before you come back, so that people won't say I mistreat my maids."

Xiangling wanted to decline again, but her stomach betrayed her and growled again, even louder than before.

The maid covered her mouth and stepped forward to take Xiangling's hand: "Let's go. The Second Master has already spoken. If you don't go now, you might scare all the birds in the courtyard away."

Xiangling blushed even more at his words, too embarrassed to stay any longer. She bowed to Gu Jinhong and let the maid pull her away. After a few steps, she turned back and said earnestly, "Young master, I will be back soon."

Gu Jinhong waved his hand to tell them to leave quickly, thinking to himself, "This face looks quite clever, how come it's so simple-minded?"

In the kitchen, the cook had already received instructions and served Xiangling a full bowl of porridge, along with two steamed buns, a dish of pickles, and a boiled egg. Xiangling's eyes immediately welled up with tears as she looked at the breakfast.

The maid was startled by her reaction: "Why are you crying?"

Xiangling wiped her eyes: "No...nothing, it's just that no one has ever been so kind to me before." When she was with that cripple, he would give her a piece of spoiled food when he was happy, and he would beat and kick her when he was unhappy. She was rarely full.

When he returned to the room after eating and drinking his fill, Gu Jinhong had already finished washing up.

"Young master, I've finished eating."

Gu Jinhong looked her up and down, then couldn't help but point to the corner of his mouth: "Here, wipe it."

Xiangling was stunned for a moment, then realized what was happening and hurriedly wiped herself with the back of her hand, so embarrassed that she wished she could disappear into a crack in the ground.

Gu Jinhong stopped teasing her and was about to head towards the main room when a commotion suddenly broke out outside.

"Oh no! Cui Guan and Xue Po are fighting!"

Hearing the commotion outside, Gu Jinhong frowned, got up, and walked out. Xiangling quickly followed.

The scene in the courtyard was truly spectacular.

Suddenly, Li Shulan's cat slipped in and was now perched under the green parrot's perch, its big blue eyes fixed on the parrot.

The green parrot stood on its perch, looking down at the cat on the ground, repeatedly taunting it: "Get out! Fatball! Ugly monster!"

The cat had probably never seen such an arrogant bird before. It tilted its head in confusion and stretched out a paw to reach for the bird stand.

The green parrot, not to be outdone, smacked Xuepo on the head with its sharp beak. Xuepo winced in pain, meowed, and withdrew its paw, staring at the parrot in disbelief.

"Serves you right! Serves you right!"

The parrot chirped triumphantly and even hopped a couple of times on its perch.

Xuepo seemed to feel deeply humiliated, so he arched his back and assumed a posture as if he were about to attack.

The parrot wasn't afraid of it at all, flapping its wings and continuing to squawk, "Ugly cat! Ugly cat!"

The maids around were so anxious they were pacing back and forth. They wanted to hug the cat but were afraid of being scratched, and they wanted to stop the birds but were afraid of being pecked.

When Gu Jinhong arrived and saw this scene, he immediately laughed: "Cuiguan, you have some nerve, daring to bully even my mother's cat?"

Upon seeing her master, Cui Guan immediately changed her demeanor, as if she had suffered a great injustice: "Master, save me! There's an assassin! There's an assassin!"