She had her own maidservants, yet she deliberately asked someone else—clearly an attempt to establish dominance. Hong Ning knew this was merely a petty display of status. If she refused, it would make her seem petty instead. Such trivial matters were not worth arguing over, so she casually picked up a cup and handed it over.
Just as Madam Wen was about to take it, she suddenly gasped in alarm. “My jade pendant! It’s gone!”
Miss Su immediately caught on and ordered the maids to search the ground.
Hong Ning frowned, still holding the hot tea in her hands. The tea had just been poured, and the heat seeped through the porcelain, making it almost unbearable to hold. The maid who had brought the tea had already slipped away, making this a clear setup. These two had planned it all, hoping to watch her embarrass herself.
With no table nearby, an ordinary person in this situation would either be forced to drop the cup in panic or end up scalding themselves—either way, they would be humiliated.
But for Hong Ning, this was nothing more than a minor inconvenience. She had no patience for their little performance and was about to use magic to slip away when, out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of something that made her immediately change her mind.
“Young Master Duan.”
“Young Master Duan is here.”
Upon hearing his name, Madam Wen and Miss Su quickly straightened up, smoothing out their expressions before bowing in greeting.
Miss Su smiled and asked, “Young Master Duan, why aren’t you over there? What brings you here instead?”
“I came to check on my beauty.” Duan Fei answered casually, striding toward Hong Ning. He glanced at her and said with a smile, “I heard you sent your maid away, so there’s no one around to attend to you. I was worried you might find it inconvenient.”
Seeing that Duan Fei didn’t even glance at her, Miss Su’s face turned red, and her smile became visibly strained.
Madam Wen, unwilling to back down, teased, “Young Master Duan is always so attentive to Miss Hong.”
Duan Fei remained impassive as he casually reached for the teacup in Hong Ning’s hands. “How careless of them—after serving tea, they should have come to take it away. What kind of hospitality makes a guest hold onto it themselves…”
A sudden crash.
The teacup fell to the ground.
“Who served this tea? Such disgraceful manners!” Duan Fei took a half-step back, dodging the splattered tea, his expression darkening with displeasure. “These maids are all so clumsy—you should have scolded them. Were you burned?”
Watching him deliberately put on such a concerned act, Hong Ning inwardly chuckled. Since the other party had been so disrespectful, she saw no reason to feign magnanimity. Shaking her head, she replied, “It wasn’t the maids—it was Madam Wen who wanted tea and asked me to hold it for her.”
Duan Fei’s expression instantly turned cold as he shifted his gaze toward Madam Wen.
Madam Wen’s face alternated between red and white, momentarily at a loss for words.
Bringing her own maids yet making someone else serve her tea—how could Duan Fei not see through the act? His tone was indifferent as he remarked, “Is my woman only fit to serve tea at Madam’s command?”
Sensing that the situation had taken a turn for the worse, Miss Su quickly put on an apologetic smile and stepped forward to mediate. “Second Sister simply noticed that Miss Hong was nearby and didn’t realize the tea was too hot. Miss Hong, are you hurt?”
There was no need to escalate the matter further. Hong Ning turned away and said, “Let’s go.”
Duan Fei’s anger eased slightly. Taking her hand, he sighed dramatically, “It must be that I, Duan Fei, am too incompetent, allowing these esteemed noble families to look down on me, and now you’ve suffered because of it. Just moments ago, they were all praising you, and now you’ve been scalded. If we stay any longer and something else happens, I’ll only be more distressed. We might as well leave early.”
This time, even Hong Ning felt a chill down her spine from his exaggerated words. Without another word, she lowered her head and followed him toward the main gate.
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