Exile at the start? The princess is no ordinary woman.

These servants had no choice but to obey the prince's orders and do what they were supposed to do.

Regardless of the prince's feelings for this princess, the fact that he ordered her to move into the Orchid Garden is enough to remind them to maintain respect. At least until the prince gives any other instructions, they must treat this princess with utmost care.

Butler Li also secretly hoped that the Prince would soon have a loving and caring Princess, but alas... what a pity...

"Hello, Steward Li. Thank you. I hope I will be able to trouble you with many things during my stay at the Prince's Mansion."

Given their respectful attitude, and considering Gu Nanzhi's lack of social standing and her position of being a haughty master, she naturally reciprocated with courtesy.

Of course, Gu Nanzhi had also observed something. This man was nearly fifty years old, agile, with a steady gait, neither humble nor arrogant... He was probably no ordinary butler; he likely possessed some martial arts skills and might have even served in the military.

It was a unique aura, and also, this person's right arm was somewhat inflexible, likely due to an old injury.

"Your Highness is too kind. This is merely my duty. Please feel free to give me any instructions if Your Highness requires them."

Butler Li sensed that the princess before him seemed somewhat different, unlike the other young ladies from the capital. Her every move suggested she hadn't grown up on a estate.

He was puzzled, but as a servant, he couldn't possibly pry into his master's affairs.

So he instructed the two men behind him to set the food they had brought on the table.

"Your Highness, these are the meals prepared by the kitchen for today. Please enjoy your meal. If there is anything else you would like to eat, please have a maid tell the kitchen directly."

Gu Nanzhi glanced at the dishes laid out on the table, a mix of meat and vegetables, all quite exquisite, emitting an enticing aroma, and her hunger grew even stronger.

The food at this Prince's mansion looks really good; there are so many dishes. Gu Nanzhi even politely invited Steward Li to eat with them.

"Thank you, Butler Li. There are so many dishes, why don't you stay and eat with us?"

Gu Nanzhi genuinely lacked the strong sense of master-servant hierarchy, but this was solely due to her different upbringing. Even the steward, Li, whom she had invited, was surprised by the princess's words.

Startled, he quickly refused.

"No need, no need, Your Highness, you're too kind. Please enjoy your meal. If there are no other instructions, this old servant will return to the front hall to entertain the guests."

He was just a lowly steward; how could he possibly dine with his master, especially since he had his duties as a steward? He could have had other servants deliver the meals.

However, since this princess had managed to get the prince to order her to be placed in the Orchid Garden, he decided to come personally. Delivering a meal wouldn't take much trouble.

Seeing this, Gu Nanzhi realized that her current situation was different, and that she had been presumptuous.

"Then I won't keep you any longer, Steward Li. Please go ahead. If His Highness returns to the manor at any time, please inform him at Lan Garden."

"Yes, Your Highness, this old servant takes his leave."

Butler Li bowed and left with the other two men.

Seeing that the person had left, Gu Nanzhi felt helpless. She had casually invited them to dinner, partly because she wanted to find out some other things from Butler Li.

For example, the steward of the Prince's mansion would surely know something about the situation in the capital, since he had just received no information from Xia He but instead learned about rumors concerning the Prince of Yan.

Since they're busy, we can only let them get busy for now.

"Xia He, sit down and eat with us."

"No, no, that's not proper. Miss, you eat, I'll serve you from the side."

Back on the estate, life was difficult, and Xia He always insisted that her mistress eat first before taking care of herself. There were also times when her mistress would pull her aside and share food with her, disregarding the rules. But things are different now; they're in the Prince's manor, so they can't be so unruly.

"Hmm? Xia He, you're not listening to me again? I told you to sit down and eat with me, so sit down and eat with me. There are no outsiders here. This is my rule. Hurry up and sit down, don't delay my meal."

Gu Nanzhi didn't have the habit of being watched and waited on while eating. Wouldn't it be much better to sit down and eat with someone?

Seeing that her mistress was still so adamant, Xia He didn't dare to insist anymore and obediently sat down, saying, "Miss, I'll listen to you."

"That's right, let's eat."

"Uh-huh"

Xia He was deeply moved. The young lady was so kind to her; she would take even better care of her from now on.

Gu Nanzhi picked up her chopsticks and tasted each dish, feeling quite pleased. The food at the Prince's mansion was truly excellent; the chef's skills were superb, and everything was delicious. Indeed, no matter where you are, you need money to enjoy life.

Xia He was equally excited. She had never eaten such a good meal before, and was so moved she almost cried. It was only when she first entered the manor that the young lady treated her, her maid, so well, and she was always well-fed.

Later, when we went to the village, we were already lucky to have enough to eat, let alone a table full of delicious food like this.

After the two, mistress and servant, had eaten and drunk their fill, Xia He took over the cleaning up. Gu Nanzhi had nothing to do at the moment, and it wasn't convenient to do anything naughty in broad daylight. Her body, already weak, was also a bit tired.

With no other clothes to change into, Gu Nanzhi fumbled to take off her outer garment. Fortunately, she had already had experience putting on and taking off these ancient clothes once while washing up in the space. Then, wearing the same red inner garment, she lay down on the bed leisurely.

Although this bed wasn't as comfortable as the king-size bed in my villa, I actually fell asleep in no time.

He didn't know how much time had passed, but just as he was sleeping soundly, he vaguely heard Xia He's voice.

"Miss, something terrible has happened, something terrible has happened, Miss..."

"Something terrible has happened, Miss..."

Gu Nanzhi genuinely dislikes being woken up while sleeping; it makes her particularly annoyed, a condition commonly known as "morning grumpiness."

"Tsk~" She pressed her tongue against her back teeth, sitting up in bed in annoyance. Before she could say anything, Xia He had already pushed the door open and entered.

"Miss, something terrible has happened!"

Even if she was in a bad mood, she couldn't take it out on such a young girl. Gu Nanzhi could tell from her anxiety that something must have really happened, so she could only suppress her irritation and ask, "What happened?"

The tone was clearly not friendly. Xia He knew it wasn't good to wake her young mistress, and she also knew it wasn't good to barge into her room directly.

But at this point, she couldn't care less about those rules.

"Miss, Miss, the Prince's Mansion! The Prince's Mansion is surrounded by soldiers!"

Upon hearing this, Gu Nanzhi had to regain her senses a bit. "What happened?"

"I...I don't know either. I ran back as soon as I saw this. Miss, so many soldiers have surrounded the Prince's Mansion. Something terrible must have happened. What should we do now? If something happens to the Prince's Mansion, you'll suffer too..."

Xia He was completely panicked at this point. The shock of being forced into the Prince's mansion and the news of her young mistress's amnesia was already immense.

Now this has happened. Although she didn't know the exact details, she knew that being surrounded by soldiers was definitely not a good thing.

I should have listened to Miss earlier; I should have advised her to escape the palace first. Now, there's no way to escape.