The Duke's Pampered Darling is So Scheming

Ye Shixian smiled and glanced at Hongtao.

"Very well. You’re reliable, so I can rest easy."

Although she disliked having someone by her side, monitoring her every move, Shaoyao was someone who absolutely could not be kept.

Weighing her options, Ye Shixian knew exactly what she had to do.

Hongtao was also very pleased with this decision.

"Rest assured, Young Miss. I understand."

She hadn’t wanted to come at first. After all, she was a head maid of some standing in the Murong Mansion. What did it mean to be sent off to serve a disgraced young lady for no reason?

’A phoenix in distress is worth less than a chicken,’ Hongtao thought, looking down on Ye Shixian in her heart.

’Her father exiled, her younger brother dead from illness, and even her own mother hung herself. Who wouldn’t call her a jinx?’

However, the Master had promised that if she handled her duties here well, he would transfer her to the Young Master’s chambers. The temptation was too great to resist, so she had come.

After attending to Ye Shixian, Hongtao withdrew.

After leaving the room, she ordered someone to summon Shaoyao. But after a long wait, the maid she had sent returned alone.

"Hongtao, Shaoyao says she isn’t feeling well. She thinks she might have caught a chill from the cold wind last night. She’s afraid of passing the sickness to the Young Miss, so she won’t leave her room."

Hongtao’s expression soured, but she didn’t lose her temper on the spot.

"If that’s the case, then tell her to rest well. Her health is what’s important."

’It wasn’t the first time she’d seen such tricks. Subordinates had plenty of excuses to be lazy and shirk their duties.’

’But I’ve only been here for three days, and that Shaoyao is already pulling a stunt like this. She really has no respect for me at all!’

Hongtao refused to swallow the insult and called the young maid back.

"Go tell her that I’ll come see her later, after I’ve finished my work."

Hongtao intentionally left Shaoyao hanging, waiting for her to come and apologize on her own. Anyone with a brain would be on pins and needles after hearing that message.

But she waited and waited, and even after Hongtao had finished all her tasks, Shaoyao still hadn’t appeared.

Now, her considerable anger boiled over.

Hongtao went straight to Shaoyao’s room, intending to teach the insolent wench, who didn’t know her place, a lesson. But she called out several times from outside the door and got no answer.

Hongtao frowned and pushed the door open, walking right in.

"Shaoyao?"

The room was empty.

Hongtao realized something was wrong. She searched the room carefully and confirmed that Shaoyao was indeed not there. A drawer by the bed was half-open and completely empty, looking as if it had been rummaged through.

On the small table sat a bowl of chicken soup that had long gone cold. It was greasy and emitted an unpleasant, raw smell.

Hongtao’s face changed completely. She turned and hurried toward Ye Shixian’s room.

At that moment, Ye Shixian was sitting at her desk, brush in hand, contemplating where to begin the letter she was writing to Ye Heng.

Murong Ye had said that, by his calculations, her father should have already arrived in Tongbei.

Murong Ye had also promised her he would find someone to deliver her letter, along with some Silver Taels and warm clothes.

But she sat there for a long time, until a drop of ink fell from her brush tip and bloomed into a black smudge on the paper, and still, Ye Shixian hadn’t written a single word.

Her lips were pressed into a tight line, her expression a mixture of deep conflict and pain, a hint of struggle visible in her eyes.

"Young Miss!"

Hongtao walked in, interrupting Ye Shixian’s thoughts.

Annoyance flared in Ye Shixian’s heart, but she suppressed her temper and asked, "What is it?"

Hongtao stepped forward, her expression peculiar.

"Young Miss, it seems Shaoyao has run away."

"Run away!?"

For a moment, Ye Shixian couldn’t process it.

"Yes. I just went looking for her, but no one answered when I called from outside her door. So I went in, only to find the room empty. Shaoyao is nowhere to be found—"

CRASH—!

Ye Shixian shot to her feet, her face terrible to behold.

"When did she run? Where did she go?"

Hongtao was startled by her reaction. She stammered, "I-I don’t know..."

"Send people out to find her at once!"

Her voice was shrill with fury, her features twisting until she looked truly enraged.

As Hongtao acknowledged the order, she wondered in bewildered silence, ’A maid ran away, that’s all. Why is Ye Shixian so furious?’

It had always been rumored that Ye Shixian was gentle and virtuous. Even in the few days Hongtao had been here, she had believed her to be a soft-tempered young lady.

But in that moment, Hongtao realized she might have been wrong.

She didn’t have time to dwell on it. Under Ye Shixian’s furious gaze, she quickly went out and summoned everyone in the residence.

Of course, in this small courtyard, the total number of servants was less than ten. They stood there sparsely, looking at each other, none of them knowing what was going on.

But they soon found out what had happened—Shaoyao had taken her indenture contract and secretly run away!

Of course, this was the official story Ye Shixian had come up with.

Anyone who heard it would instinctively assume that Shaoyao found life here too hard and couldn’t bear to stay any longer, which was why she did such a thing.

Hongtao questioned everyone one by one, trying to find a clue, but after hearing them out, she discovered that no one knew when Shaoyao had left.

As for where she had gone, that was even more of a mystery.

Ye Shixian’s face was ashen with rage. "Go search! She was still serving in the manor at noon. Even if she ran, she couldn’t have had time to leave the Capital City yet. A great reward for whoever finds her!"

Everyone answered in unison and quickly went their separate ways to search.

The courtyard soon fell silent, leaving only Hongtao and Ye Shixian.

Hongtao hesitated for a moment before asking, "We still have too few people. The Capital City is so large; finding one person will be very difficult. Where... do you think she’s most likely to have gone?"

Searching blindly for a maid who was determined to escape—one could only imagine how hard that would be.

Ye Shixian practically gritted her teeth to dust.

’Of course I know that!’

But Shaoyao had nowhere to go in the Capital City. Who knew where she would run?

Ye Shixian turned and headed for Shaoyao’s room, with Hongtao hurrying after her.

The moment she saw the bowl of chicken soup on the table, Ye Shixian understood instantly— ’Shaoyao must have overheard our conversation!’

Hongtao saw her staring at the bowl of chicken soup and finally understood as well.

"Could it be? Did she happen to overhear you saying you were going to send her back to her hometown? But even so, she didn’t need to run away, did she?"

Ye Shixian didn’t say a word.

Hongtao naturally wouldn’t understand. Shaoyao’s uncle’s family was a living hell. If she were sent back, she would surely be beaten half to death.

’Of course, more importantly, she would never have had the chance to return to her hometown.’

Because Shaoyao and she both knew in their hearts that this time, it was about sending Shaoyao on her final journey!

The only thing awaiting Shaoyao was death!