Chapter 75: The Princess Throws a Tantrum

"Your Highness, Your Highness, what's wrong? Are you in pain somewhere? Were you ambushed? Please tell me, where does it hurt?" Alan's voice shook as she anxiously held Su Jingluo, who lay stiffly on the ground.

"Your Highness, please get up. We've been secretly protecting you, watching the surroundings. If anyone tried to harm you, we'd know and stop them," the hidden guards said, startled at first by Su Jingluo's antics, but quickly realizing she was simply feigning injury and throwing a tantrum.

"Alright, I understand your duties now. I'll get up," Su Jingluo replied, and climbed up from the ground, brushing the dust from her clothes. Alan's mouth hung open in astonishment, enough to fit a light bulb—wasn't the princess using all her cunning in the most shameless way possible, throwing a fit without care?

"Well then, since you won't listen to me but are obliged to protect me, let me tell you about those three—yes, those three maids I expelled from the residence. They might try to harm me in retaliation, so you must follow them every moment. Don't let them die, and report to the prince about anyone they meet," Su Jingluo pointed to the three maids. She herself had neither the time nor the skill to keep an eye on them, but the guards did, being experts in surveillance and eavesdropping—anonymous heroes in her former world.

"You mean the three you just dealt with... Wait, we don't take orders from Your Highness," the hidden guards had initially confirmed the targets seriously, but then realized—how could they simply obey whatever the princess commanded? Hadn't they just said they wouldn't listen to her? How embarrassing.

"Heh, you like gossip too, don't you? Never mind, listen or not, but if I get hurt or something happens, I'll say you stood by and did nothing, or that you're in league with those three girls. Alan, let's go." This stubborn pride seemed contagious—why did everyone act like Xiao Jingxuan? Su Jingluo was certain they'd do as she asked.

Alan glanced apologetically at the black-clad guards, then jogged after Su Jingluo. For some reason, Alan felt her princess acted nothing like an ordinary mistress—eccentric and unpredictable, but she liked it.

Back in the rear courtyard, Su Jingluo arranged the rooms. Apart from Yun Bai and herself living in the back, Alan and Ruihuan each had their own room, and the others were placed in cross-courtyard intermediate rooms.

Qiu Hong bit her lip, hesitant to speak. With her seniority and years in the residence, she had expected to become at least the head maid under Su Jingluo, but instead, she was sent to share quarters with the newly appointed young maids, which felt deeply unfair.

After finishing the arrangements, Su Jingluo was exhausted and about to nap when a servant reported that Lin Wanwan had arrived. Su Jingluo, who had just touched her bed, sat up at once.

"Ruihuan, tell Miss Lin to wait in the front hall and inform her I'm asleep," Su Jingluo instructed. She wanted to go see her immediately but reconsidered—no one would die from a blemish, she could rest first. Besides, the thought of Lin Wanwan reminded her of the sticky, ambiguous entanglement between Lin and Xiao Jingxuan, which irritated her. Now that she finally had a chance to put Lin Wanwan in her place, she wouldn't let it slip by. Let her wait. With that, she lay back down and drifted off to sleep.

She only woke up when the lamps were lit. The hangover from yesterday lingered, and she had no appetite during the day—busy accepting gifts in the morning and dealing with people in the afternoon, she hadn't eaten at all. Now, she was beginning to feel hungry.