"Watch where you're going!" The little girl stumbled from the collision too, then kicked Qiu Yun a couple of times in petulance before storming down the stairs without even waiting for the elevator.
She looked only seven or eight years old, but her temper was impressive.
Ignoring the lingering pain in her leg, Qiu Yun carried the intact tray into the young lady's room. "Miss, please wait a moment. I'll have the kitchen send up a fresh fruit drink."
"Never mind them. Go grab a cola from the fridge." Jiang Chuling blinked with curiosity, her eyes fixed on Qiu Yun. "Are you the new maid?"
"Yes."
"You're really pretty. Want to be my model?"
Beside her, the family tutor sighed and interjected, "Miss, your oil painting assignment for this month is 'Lakeside Willows.'"
Jiang Chuling shrugged it off, focusing on her wood carving. "I'll paint people sooner or later."
Seeing that their attention had shifted away, Qiu Yun gave a slight bow and went downstairs to open a bottle of cola for the young lady. She poured it into a tumbler, added ice cubes, lemon slices, and mint leaves, then brought it up.
Afterward, she took a damp and dry cloth along with an odor remover and returned to the doorway of the young lady's room to clean the spilled drink.
"...Even so, you shouldn't have said those things to Miss Chuyun. You two are cousins; you should get along and be kind to each other."
Qiu Yun stood just outside the door, where the conversation inside wasn't concealed. It seemed the tutor was teaching the seventh young lady to treat her sister with kindness.
Jiang Chuling, absorbed in her carving, replied in a perfunctory tone, "I know, Teacher Lan. She was in the wrong today. Don't worry, it won't reach Grandpa."
If the old master didn't know, that meant her father wouldn't find out either. Lan Xinshu breathed a sigh of relief. "Then, miss, would you try to let Miss Chuyun off next time? She is two years younger than you, after all. She's your little sister."
Jiang Chuling didn't want to argue further with her teacher. "Teacher Lan, could you go to the study and bring me that book on wood carving?"
"You mean the one by Master Kaman?"
"Yes."
"Alright, give me a moment." Lan Xin stood up and called over the new maid, who had just finished cleaning the spilled drink. "You there, at the door. Come here."
"I'm Lan Xinshu, the seventh young lady's family tutor." She glanced at the name badge. "You're... Qiu Yun, right? Since you're young, I'll call you Xiao Qiu from now on."
"Teacher Lan." Qiu Yun nodded.
Lan Xin instructed, "I'm going up to the third floor now. Stay here and watch the young lady. Make sure she doesn't hurt herself with the carving knife."
"Yes."
Qiu Yun often tidied the young lady's bedroom and knew there was a box by the low table that was not to be cleaned or touched. Today, she opened it out of curiosity and found it held the young lady's wood carvings, materials, and tools.
The room was pleasantly warm, but the small dessert on the table had been left untouched for so long it was starting to melt.
Jiang Chuling's carving technique was still very unskilled, and her small hands made every movement laborious.
"Aromatic rosewood is too hard for a beginner, miss. You might choose softer woods like camphor or ginkgo to practice on," Qiu Yun said.
Jiang Chuling looked up, startled. "You know about wood carving?"
"A little." As the right hand of the Duke's wife, Qiu Yun had to be familiar—if only on the surface—with the refined pastimes that scholars and artists loved. Otherwise, how could she help her lady flatter the noble families with elegant words at gatherings?
A faint smile appeared at the corners of Jiang Chuling’s lips. “I just like a challenge. Wood that’s too soft feels dull to carve.”
What a resilient spirit, one that rises to meet difficulties.
Qiu Yun lowered her head slightly. “I see. I spoke out of turn. Please forgive me, miss.”
For some reason, Jiang Chuling felt a certain ease talking to this young woman, enough to prompt a few more words. “How long have you been with me?”
“A month. I was just made a permanent employee today.”
“Promoted after just a month? I seem to recall the probation period for household staff is three months.”
“The other sisters in the household were kind enough to let me advance early.”
“You’re too modest. Aunt Fang and Aunt Yuan aren’t the type to give favors easily.”
Qiu Yun smiled. “Better to be humble in front of an employer. That way, after I’ve done something worthwhile, it’ll be easier to ask for a raise in my monthly wages.”
It sounded just like a maid from a period drama.
Jiang Chuling laughed obligingly. “I see now that asking Assistant Chen to hire younger staff was the right decision. Having nothing but stodgy old fossils around the house—I couldn’t stand it.”
The real old fossil—Qiu Yun: “Ahem… I was being presumptuous, getting cheeky with you, miss.”
Jiang Chuling tilted her head. She finally understood why chatting with this newcomer felt so different. It was because Qiu Yun never treated her like a child. Instead, she genuinely regarded her as a mistress—the true owner of Bright Moon Manor.
Though Jiang Chuling was only ten years old, children from wealthy families matured early. She didn’t mind acting spoiled in front of her parents and elder brother—that was her prerogative. But she couldn’t stand it when everyone else constantly infantilized her.
She disliked unequal conversations. Even though she was the young mistress, the household’s nannies, drivers, and bodyguards never listened to her. They only ever followed her parents’ wishes and never took her own thoughts seriously.
Whether through deception, coddling, or evasion, they all treated her as a thoughtless child who only knew how to throw tantrums and act spoiled. It was utterly boring.
But this newcomer—through her words, expressions, gestures, and demeanor—was sincere and attentive. She never tried to placate Jiang Chuling just because she was a child.
This unexpected delight, for Qiu Yun, was purely coincidental.
She came from a feudal inner courtyard, where she had seen eight- or nine-year-old children used to frame their stepmothers. She had never disregarded a young master’s or mistress’s words, and so she naturally suited Jiang Chuling’s wishes.
“Is this the one?” Lan Xin had already found the woodcarving book and was coming down. Qiu Yun fell silent at the right moment.
“Yes.” Jiang Chuling nodded. “Bring it over.”
With Lan Xin back, Qiu Yun rose and made room, returning to her own tasks.
After tidying up the master bedroom’s entrance, she went downstairs to the kitchen to clean the cutting board and knife she had used for the lemons and mint.
“Is there any water in the fridge?” Lan Xin asked as she stepped out of the elevator.
“Yes.” Qiu Yun glanced discreetly at Lan Xin and paused in her movements, switching from the ordinary bottled water the staff usually drank to the imported mineral water reserved for the young mistress.
Lan Xin didn’t refuse and took it quite naturally.
“You look young. Why did you end up working as a maid?” Lan Xin studied Qiu Yun’s stunningly beautiful face and took a sip of the crisp, cold mineral water to suppress her envy.
Qiu Yun answered honestly. “I need the money.”
“Your family couldn’t afford your tuition?”
“Mm.” Qiu Yun didn’t deny it.
From her perspective, it was clear that the original owner’s dropping out of high school was entirely tied to her parents’ favoritism toward her brother.
Lan Xin said regretfully, "Regardless, girls should still study more."
Qiu Yun fell back on the principle of the original owner: "Studying is ultimately to find a good job, and I think my current job is fine."
Well then.
Lan Xin shook her head, thinking to herself that the cognitive gap brought about by education is not something that can be changed in just a few words, so she stopped trying to persuade her. "My mother is Assistant Chen. If you need any help, feel free to come to me."
So that's it.
Qiu Yun finally understood why Teacher Lan, who appeared to lack any notable skills, could still hold such an important position as the young lady's tutor.
In their Duke’s mansion, this would be a perfect case of a household retainer born into service!
