Chapter 3

But even after my third time catching the eldest young lady’s future husband on a ceiling beam, my fifth catching him beneath a window, and my eighth hauling him down from a tree, I never did manage to beat him up.

There were two main reasons. First, he was extremely good at running away. Second, I realized that the eldest young lady didn’t dislike him.

Take the last time I dragged him out from under her bed, for example.

The eldest young lady was plainly furious. Her face flushed scarlet as she pointed at her future husband through gritted teeth. “General Li, we are not yet married. What are you doing to my reputation? What do you take me for?”

Exactly! I nodded in fervent agreement and prepared to strike.

But the eldest young lady stopped me. “Xiaozhu, let him go.”

Then she said, “General Li, if this happens again, Wanying will break off the engagement.”

That wasn’t like her. When she truly disliked a person or a thing, there was never a “next time.”

So I thought the eldest young lady probably didn’t dislike him after all.

But that intruder didn’t know it. At her words, he stood motionless, and the light vanished from his charming eyes.

At last, he bowed to her. “I was presumptuous… I only—only…”

Before he could get out whatever came after “only,” I threw him outside.

He looked perfectly respectable. What a shame he was a stutterer!

I shook my head. The eldest young lady deserved far better than him.

The next time I saw General Li was seven days later.

This time, he came through the Jiang estate’s front gate bearing piles of gifts. I heard he’d brought something for everyone—even the eldest young lady’s cat. Everyone except me, that was.

After General Li paid his respects to the master and Madam, they asked the eldest young lady to walk with him in the garden.

Of course, it wasn’t just the two of them. I was there too.

From the moment General Li and the eldest young lady entered the garden until they reached the other end, he kept desperately winking at me.

I was outraged. What was wrong with this man? How dare he make eyes at a mere maid like me right in front of his future wife!

I glared back, warning him with my eyes: Keep staring and I’ll hit you!

Then the eldest young lady spoke. “General Li, if something is wrong with your eyes, I can summon a physician for you.”

General Li immediately composed himself and said to her in a placating tone, “N-no… It isn’t that. I only… only…”

The eldest young lady stopped, planted her hands on her hips, and tipped back her head, patiently waiting for him to finish.

She had no choice. General Li was so tall that she barely reached his chest.

General Li seemed to steel himself. After shooting me a vicious glare, he bowed to the eldest young lady.

“I was presumptuous that day. I never intended to resort to such measures, but… this maid always manages to find me. I panicked and hid beneath the bed… My sincerest apologies!”

The eldest young lady burst into laughter. “If Xiaozhu can find you, she’ll find you no matter where you hide. Are you a fool?”

General Li’s ears turned scarlet. “All I could think about was seeing the eldest young lady. I lost my head…” he mumbled.

Now it was the eldest young lady’s ears that reddened. She asked softly, “Why did you want to see me?”

General Li’s voice softened as well. “At first, I only wanted to know what the young woman betrothed to me looked like. But once I truly saw you, you filled my heart and my every thought. All I could wish for was to see you each day.”

And so, beneath the peach blossoms that day, I watched the perfect pair gaze at each other as though a single glance could last ten thousand years.