I changed the world.

Page 282

Holding several neatly folded pieces of clothing that had just been dry-cleaned, Mei'er frowned slightly, looking preoccupied, as she approached the main hall of the house.

"Hello, Sister Mei'er..." A maid who was cleaning the lobby saw Mei'er coming and quickly stepped aside to greet her respectfully.

Mei'er simply turned her head and nodded at her, then, carrying the clothes in her hands, walked towards the young lady's boudoir, continuing to think about things as she went.

Logically speaking, families of their status, especially the eldest daughter who is an only child, don't really have the concept of repeatedly washing their clothes. Many clothes are only worn once or twice before being set aside and never used again. This is the case for many scions of top noble families or wealthy households, especially after the influx of Western influence, as the social traditions of Western countries changed some domestic habits with the interaction between East and West.

Nowadays, starting from the social season at the end of May each year, some wealthy young people will insist on wearing the same clothes and outfits when going to various social occasions, and will not wear them twice.

Of course, both the late emperor and the current emperor have criticized such behavior by the nobles around them, calling them "sons of rich and powerful" and deeming it absolutely unacceptable. As a result, this trend has somewhat subsided. Even so, if one repeatedly wears the same outfit in social situations, it is still easy for some people to ridicule them behind their backs.

However, the young lady didn't seem to care much for this custom. She never paid much attention to her clothes or appearance, unlike some daughters of wealthy families who needed a personal stylist to meticulously prepare them before going out. Mei'er privately guessed that this was probably because the master hadn't yet risen to prominence when the young lady was born. According to Mei'er's parents, the master and mistress's marriage was considered a step up for them. Although An Xuqing's dowry included considerable assets, the An family could barely be considered a large household at the time, but certainly not a wealthy one. As for the master's true rise to power, the young lady was already in school by then…

Therefore, in the eyes of some traditional aristocratic families and nobles, the An family of Jin'an was considered a newly wealthy class...

Perhaps this is why the young lady did not develop the extravagant habits of some wealthy families.

In addition, her gentle nature made her, in some ways, the best kind of mistress a maid could have. Since following the young lady, Mei'er had always been diligent and conscientious, never daring to make a mistake. She knew very well how many people coveted her current position…

However, recently, Mei'er, who had been in a good mood, suddenly made a discovery that made her uneasy...

Arriving at the young lady's door, she opened it and went inside. The young lady wasn't there; the room was empty. Mei'er tidied up her clean clothes and placed them into the huge wardrobe in the dressing room, categorizing them neatly.

After tidying up her clothes, Mei'er subconsciously glanced at the books on the young lady's bookshelf. Recently, the young lady had bought many books related to religion, and she wondered why the young lady had taken a liking to them.

Of course, as the saying goes, what the superiors like, the inferiors will pursue even more fervently. Since Mei'er had bought some basic introductory texts on domestic religions to brush up on her knowledge, she simply couldn't muster much interest when she thought about those difficult-to-understand terms and rituals…

However, she could also see that the young lady was a devout follower of the Xuanmen sect, which was probably true... But this was normal, as the Xuanmen sect was the mainstream belief of the current dynasty and had been highly regarded by the royal families of past dynasties.

What truly unsettled her was the discovery that the young lady seemed to have recently... fallen in love!

P.S.: These past two days, representing the China Online Writers Village, I participated in a children's safe growth campaign jointly organized by several public welfare organizations, including the Provincial Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese, the Provincial Women and Children's Foundation, and the Dianhun Public Welfare Foundation. I went to Chun'an to teach traditional Chinese culture to primary school students, explaining the *Great Learning*. Visiting multiple schools over two days inevitably affected my writing pace, so please forgive any inconsistencies in updates.

Chapter 548 Mei'er Wants to Follow the Dragon

Mei'er noticed that the young lady, who used to not care much about her appearance, now pays attention to her attire and even occasionally asks for her opinion.

She knew that the young lady had a close friend named Luo Yan, and she occasionally overheard the young lady talking to her on the phone about things like her boyfriend's preferences, and sometimes they would even discuss what kind of gifts would be good...

As for who her love interest is... Mei'er has her guesses...

She suspected that the most likely culprit was the neighbor next door. Since moving here, the young lady would visit the neighbor every two or three days, sometimes with her and sometimes without. In any case, in her opinion, this had already crossed the line of normal neighborly interactions.

In particular, according to her observation, her neighbor was a young man surnamed Zhang, whom she would occasionally address as Mr. Zhang when they met outside.

To be fair, Mr. Zhang was a tall, robust, and refined young man. Even if one were to say it against their will, it would be difficult to feel any great dislike for him. However, it was precisely because of this that Mei'er felt worried. After all, as far as she knew, her young mistress had never had any romantic experience at school. And to be honest, her young mistress was top-notch in every way—looks, figure, family background, and wealth. In Mei'er's opinion, her young mistress should at least marry the legitimate son of a noble family to be considered worthy of her status. As for Mr. Zhang next door, judging from Mei'er's perspective, putting everything else aside, he didn't seem to come from a noble or aristocratic family, at least not in terms of his manners. Mei'er considered herself to have a good eye for people in this regard.

So here's the problem: if someone simply has a good-looking face, and even seems to have a decent character, in Mei'er's eyes, they're still a long way from being worthy of her young lady... unless... they marry into the family?

It's true that the requirements can be lowered if the daughter marries into the family, but judging from her appearance, she doesn't seem like someone who wants to marry into the family...

Mei'er was somewhat worried about this. The reason she was worried was that before she came out, the madam had privately instructed her to pay attention to the young lady's health and her love life, and to inform her in time if there were any problems.

Mei'er naturally agreed at the time, and in recent days, the head steward, Uncle Yu, would inquire about the young lady's daily life during their phone calls. She knew that the young lady had suffered a serious illness before, and she also knew that the master and mistress were very concerned about her health. Therefore, she always answered truthfully. In fact, there was nothing she couldn't answer. From Mei'er's observation, the young lady's health was remarkably good, especially since she seemed to have taken a liking to fitness now; her figure was becoming increasingly upright and beautiful, even making Mei'er's heart flutter…

However, in the midst of a complicated situation, the two sides... (The sentence is incomplete and lacks context, so a direct translation isn't possible.)

She remembered clearly that not long ago, after the young lady took her to visit the neighbor for the first time, the young lady said something to her that made her break out in a cold sweat when she thought about it later.