Flirting with a Pretty Maid

To lure the veterans away, Gao Xu had prepared several plans. Fortunately, Zhu Hao was an exceptionally impatient man, and the very first move succeeded.

The moment the watcher left, Gao Xu immediately put his plan into action.

Tang Mei'er was extremely shrewd. If she did not trust Zhu Hao and came to check on things herself, it would be dangerous!

Of course, the chances of that happening were very small. Gao Xu's earlier performance had already left a preconceived impression on the three veterans. In their eyes, a Reincarnator who had just entered the space had no reason to put on such an act. Thus, Tang Mei'er had only told Zhu Hao to keep an eye on Gao Xu out of instinctive caution, not because she had truly taken him to heart.

Even so, Gao Xu had to carry out his actions in the shortest possible time. Fortunately, luck was on his side. By smashing a vase, he had finally drawn out the story character he wanted to meet.

This story character was neither Lin Family Fort's master, Lin Tiannan, nor its young miss, Lin Yueru, but Lin Yueru's personal maid!

Chunlan, Xiazhu, Qiuju, Dongmei—so long as one of these four beautiful maids appeared, Gao Xu's objective would be achieved.

Gao Xu had a sharp eye. The vase he broke was of moderate value: not enough to draw Lin Tiannan or Lin Yueru's attention, but not something an ordinary servant could decide how to handle either. That left only people in the middle tier—the steward and the favored maids.

Steward Lin Zhong had served the Lin family for three generations. Even Lin Tiannan treated him with considerable respect, so his status was extremely high and he was unlikely to appear. The four maids, on the other hand, had served Lin Yueru since childhood and were deeply attached to her. Though Lin Yueru was stubborn and willful, she was kind-hearted and treated them like sisters. Among the servants, these four maids truly stood above everyone but one!

When the maid Dongmei appeared, Gao Xu deliberately tried to argue at first, making her quite displeased. However, the garden was a public place, and the fort was entertaining guests, so Dongmei brought Gao Xu to another side hall to speak.

Clearly, although Reincarnators were enthusiastic people who fought demons, their treatment was far inferior to that of story characters like Xu Lang. If Gao Xu could not change Dongmei's impression of him, he would likely suffer quite a bit in the days ahead.

Lin Family Fort had strict rules and was not a place where anyone could stir up trouble. If someone had merely broken something by accident, an apology would settle the matter. But if they refused to admit their mistake and behaved badly, being beaten with clubs and thrown out of Lin Family Fort would be nothing unusual.

Yet after entering the hall, Gao Xu's attitude took an immediate one-hundred-eighty-degree turn. He sincerely admitted his mistake. He was already handsome and dignified, with graceful manners and extraordinary eloquence, and he promptly won the servants' favor.

In truth, this involved a hidden attribute—Charm!

Besides the five main attributes, Reincarnators also possessed five hidden attributes, and Charm was one of them.

Reincarnators with high Charm found it easier to gain the favor and affection of story characters. Their chances of recruiting story servants and subordinates also increased greatly, and it could raise the success rate of charm-type skills.

Naturally, no newcomers—and not even veterans like Tang Mei'er—knew about the existence of the five hidden attributes. Only after advancing to the second difficulty would they gradually come into contact with them.

In his previous life, when Gao Xu had first entered the space, none of his five main attributes stood out compared with others. However, his Charm was extremely high, starting at 10 points. Unfortunately, he only came to understand this advantage much later, and had already missed many opportunities without realizing it.

This time, Gao Xu naturally would not repeat the same mistake. Though he had the advantage of rebirth, he was still a complete newcomer. As the saying went, even the cleverest housewife could not cook without rice. If he did not rely on the advantages of high Charm, he truly had little confidence in escaping Tang Mei'er's vicious deathtrap.

Dongmei wore an emerald-green dress. Her skin was as fair as snow, and her delicate little face was lovely and charming. With her lips pursed, she looked at Gao Xu with a smile and gave him a respectful curtsy. "Young master, there is no need for this. You are a guest from afar. It is only a trivial matter, so please do not take it to heart."

Seeing that the other servants had already dispersed to attend to their own work, Gao Xu thought, The opportunity has come. He quickly put on a guilty expression, lavishly praising the rear garden of Lin Family Fort before offering his appreciation of the fort's magnificent gardens and scenery. Only then did he solemnly take out the pink colored diamond and offer it as compensation.

Hearing Gao Xu's praise, Dongmei's face shone with pride. But when she saw the pink colored diamond, her eyes lit up. She hurriedly declined. "Young master, you are far too courteous. We absolutely cannot accept such valuable jewelry. Please take it back!"

After a round of refusals, Gao Xu said seriously, "My hometown follows the custom that one never takes back what one has offered. Once something leaves one's hand, there is no reason to reclaim it. Since Lin Family Fort is so prosperous, then I shall give this colored diamond to Miss Dongmei. If you continue refusing, you will be saying that my gift is too crude!"

"Young master, this... this humble maid... truly cannot accept it!" Dongmei let out a soft cry and covered her little mouth. She looked both adorable and coquettish, bewildered and somewhat unable to believe it.

Seeing her cheeks flush red, radiant like pearls and lustrous like fine jade, Gao Xu could not help praising her inwardly. Judging by her appearance alone, Dongmei would absolutely have been campus-belle material on Earth. She was also literate, sensible, gentle, and virtuous—likely the dream companion many could only hope for. Yet in an ancient wealthy household, she was merely a maid. Such was the difference in people's fates.

Throughout his conversation with Dongmei, the Emblem continuously sent notifications that her favorability was rising. By the time the colored diamond had been placed on the pretty maid's slender finger, her favorability had already risen to 50/100.

Such a large increase in so short a time was partly due to Gao Xu's high Charm. It was also because Dongmei was merely an insignificant extra in the story. If it had been Lin Yueru instead, that round of flattery and the gift of the colored diamond would have been remarkable if they raised her favorability by even 5 points.

But sometimes, minor characters could play a major role!

After her favorability rose to 50 points, Dongmei's attitude changed again. She took the initiative to act as a guide and led Gao Xu on a tour of Lin Family Fort.

According to her, Lin Yueru was not at home at the moment, so they did not need to attend her. Gao Xu's heart tightened upon hearing this, and he hurriedly asked about it as though casually. When he learned that Lin Yueru would definitely return in six hours, he finally relaxed.

Dongmei had her own little scheme as well. She had deliberately mentioned Lin Yueru to see whether Gao Xu was like those young martial heroes from before, currying favor with her only to get close to her mistress. Seeing that Gao Xu did not seem particularly interested in Lin Yueru, she was delighted, and her smile grew even brighter.

Just as Xiang Zhuang performed a sword dance with Peigong as his true target, Gao Xu's ultimate goal was naturally Lin Yueru. But with his shrewdness, how could a little maid like Dongmei possibly see through him? As the two chatted, Dongmei instead steered the topic back to her mistress.

Dongmei had been bought into Lin Family Fort when she was only a few years old and had practically grown up there. As the saying went, when the master was honored, the servant shared in the glory. Lin Yueru was exceptionally talented and had inherited the family's Sword-Finger Twin Arts from childhood. From the age of thirteen onward, not a single boy in all of Suzhou City had been able to defeat her. In the little maids' hearts, their mistress, a woman no less capable than any man, was naturally their greatest pride.

Lin Tiannan's instruction in his daughter's martial arts had undoubtedly been successful, but it had also caused another problem. With scarcely any opponents among her peers, Lin Yueru had set her standards extremely high. She believed that any man who could not even defeat a woman was useless. Several martial contests to choose a husband had left those self-important young gentlemen utterly miserable, and for a time, she had actually been unable to marry.

More precisely, she could not find a suitable husband to marry into the Lin family~

Dongmei eagerly recounted amusing stories from several of the martial contests to choose a husband. By chance, she looked at Gao Xu's handsome face, and a thought suddenly arose in her heart. I wonder how good Young Master Gao is at martial arts. He is such a wonderful person. If he could become the master's son-in-law, then... Pah, pah, pah! Shameless girl, what are you thinking? Even a dowry maid needn't be this eager...

When Gao Xu saw Dongmei's pretty face suddenly turn crimson as though it were on fire, he could not help feeling puzzled. He had not expected his Charm to be so great that it would make the little maid start entertaining romantic thoughts so quickly. He was still considering how to bring up the main subject in a way that would not seem abrupt, yet would leave a deep impression on the little maid so she would immediately report it to Lin Yueru upon returning.

To his surprise, Dongmei led Gao Xu into a training room and pointed to the treasured sword on the weapon rack. "This humble maid has no way to repay Young Master Gao's generous gift, so I shall offer a sword dance instead. I hope that you will not withhold your Guidance!"