As soon as Si Que finished speaking, You Yuji turned over. The lock of hair entangled around Si Que’s fingers slipped away, and the hand held in Si Que’s palm was also withdrawn. Si Que paused, carefully observing You Yuji’s expression. Seeing that she was still sound asleep, clearly unaware of Si Que’s whispered words, Si Que’s dark eyes flashed with a hint of frustration.
“Did I allow you to pull your hand away?” he reprimanded.
He gripped You Yuji’s shoulder, turning her to lie on her side facing him. You Yuji frowned slightly in her sleep but did not wake up.
Si Que watched her for a moment, gently smoothing the frown on You Yuji’s brow with his fingertip.
You Yuji’s loose sleeping clothes had a casually draped neckline, always revealing a bit more than intended.
Si Que pulled the quilt up over both of them, covering them to their shoulders. He then fumbled under the quilt to find You Yuji’s hand, holding it in his palm again before closing his eyes to sleep.
When You Yuji woke up, the faint scent of medicine lingered in her nostrils. She opened her eyes to see a white collar.
She gradually recalled the events of last night, staying in a daze for a while.
You Yuji gently moved back a little, looking at the still-sleeping Si Que beside her. He was sleeping quietly, not yet awake.
You Yuji was about to get up when she realized her hand was still held by Si Que. Carefully, she pulled his hand away, then propped herself up on her elbow. She did not get out of bed immediately but instead studied Si Que.
When asleep, he looked different from the obedient look he had when smiling at You Yuji, possessing a certain aloof coldness that kept people at a distance. Maybe because of his frail health, his skin was quite pale, even paler than that of many delicately nurtured young ladies. You Yuji’s gaze swept over his features, unable to deny that Si Que indeed had a graceful and aloof appearance.
Not knowing what she was thinking, You Yuji carefully leaned closer to Si Que to sniff. She could still smell the faint medicinal scent on him. It turned out that it wasn’t her imagination earlier.
You Yuji frowned involuntarily. Although Si Que had stopped taking medicine recently, his body still carried that faint medicinal scent. It was clear that for years, he had been sustaining himself on daily medication.
She got out of bed, tidied the quilt, and tiptoed out of the room, trying not to make any noise that would wake Si Que.
When You Yuji reached the outer room, the maid had already prepared all the washing items. After freshening up, she returned to the inner room. She glanced at Si Que on the bed; he was still quietly sleeping.
You Yuji then headed towards a small adjacent room to change out of her night clothes.
The small room next to the bathroom was a separate dressing room.
She rummaged through the wardrobe for the clothes she intended to wear today, then lazily leaned against the table edge, taking off her night clothes and grabbing a chest wrap. Holding one end of the chest wrap against her chest, she slowly wrapped it around the light purple undergarment.
“Sister?”
Si Que’s voice came from outside.
You Yuji responded, “Mm, you’re awake?”
Si Que started walking towards the small room.
“Don’t come in…” You Yuji hadn’t finished speaking when Si Que had already pushed the door open. Standing at the door, he explained, “Sister, I didn’t know you were changing clothes.”
You Yuji maintained her position leaning against the corner of the table, with one hand pressing the cloth at her chest and the other holding the silk fabric at her waist. The light purple silk wrap was already wrapped around her inner garment.
Si Que looked at You Yuji without any intention of leaving.
You Yuji didn’t respond to Si Que’s words but continued to pull the silk wrap higher, covering her chest, pressing it with her palm, and then wrapping it around her back.
Si Que’s gaze followed the light purple silk fabric in You Yuji’s hands.
After wrapping another layer, You Yuji paused and looked at Si Que, “Come help?”
Si Que walked over to You Yuji. He took the end of the silk fabric from her hand and gently wrapped it around her chest.
Si Que’s eyes were originally lowered, focused on the silk fabric in his hand. After wrapping one layer, he suddenly looked up at You Yuji and asked softly, “Is it tight?”
You Yuji shook her head slightly, shifting her gaze away, then turned her body to face away from Si Que.
Si Que neatly fastened the hidden clasps at the top and bottom, then took a step back and said politely, “Sister, I’ll go back to wash up now.”
You Yuji nodded with her back to him, listening to the sound of Si Que’s footsteps gradually fading away before touching her own face.
After a while, she walked out of the small room. Standing under the eaves, she watched Zhenxu hanging three lanterns high for the Lantern Festival.
The lanterns swayed slightly in the early winter wind.
In the late afternoon, You Yuji took a few concubines out of the palace. Si Que was the only one with a veil covering his face. He didn’t like the way men looked at him; it made him feel disgusted.
“Have you reminded Zhuo Wen?” You Yuji asked softly, turning her head slightly to Zhenxu beside her.
“Rest assured, madam, I’ve reminded him,” Zhenxu reported.
You Yuji had encountered an ambush before when leaving the palace, making her more cautious. However, today’s destination was bustling with people, so she felt it would be safer.
You Yuji first took the concubines to some shops to buy things. Whether in the past or now, Cuiyu and Lin Yingying rarely got a chance to go out and have fun, so they bought a lot of things without realizing it. The maids following them could barely carry everything. Fortunately, You Yuji was prepared and had Zhuo Wen find two young servants to take the concubines’ purchases back to the carriage.
Cuiyu and Lin Yingying were laughing and very happy along the way. Chunxing remained as quiet as ever, almost invisible.
As for Si Que, since they left, he hadn’t said a word and quietly followed You Yuji.
You Yuji thought for a moment. With the new year approaching, she planned to buy some small trinkets for them. So, she took them to Qingya Residence.
“I know that place; it’s frequented by wealthy families. Are we really going there?” Cuiyu asked in surprise.
You Yuji nodded with a smile.
The items at Qingya Residence were indeed expensive, but they were also genuinely good, especially the jade. While on the road, she had been pondering what to give them, and thinking of Si Que, You Yuji thought for a while and decided on jade. Or, if they were lucky, they might find a guqin at Qingya Residence.
A group of people arrived at Qingya Residence, and You Yuji first went to the musical instrument shop. Unfortunately, she didn’t find a good guqin, so she took a few people to look at jade ornaments.
“Choose one you like, consider it a gift from your elder sister,” said You Yuji gently.
“Thank you, sister! You’re so kind!”
Lin Yingying and Cuiyu hurriedly started to choose carefully. They thought all of them were beautiful and didn’t pay much attention to which one they liked more; instead, they wanted the more expensive ones—just in case they fell into hard times in the future, they could exchange them for money. Even Chunxing started to look seriously.
“Oh, isn’t this You Yuji?” A sharp female voice suddenly came from behind.
Si Que lifted his eyes and glanced at You Yuji, clearly seeing You Yuji frown.
Yi Yuhuan walked over with her maidservant, chuckled, and said, “I didn’t expect you to still have the mood to stroll around. Shouldn’t you be staying at home thinking about how to make your man look at you more?”
Yi Yuhuan’s voice was loud, attracting many people to look over, even people upstairs looked down.
In an elegant room on the second floor, Chen Qi heard You Yuji’s name. He pushed open a small window and looked downstairs. There were quite a few people at Qingya Residence today, so he couldn’t find You Yuji’s figure immediately.
“What’s going on?” A powerful male voice sounded. The speaker was none other than Emperor Chen, who was in disguise to observe the lives of the people in the capital during the Lantern Festival.
Chen Qi’s father, Prince Pinghuai, immediately ordered the guards to check downstairs. Emperor Chen’s visit was a spontaneous one, and he only brought Prince Pinghuai and his son with him.
“What’s the matter, Yuhuan?”
Two other young women, arm in arm, walked over. Judging by their attire, these two women, like Yi Yuhuan, were from prominent families.
“Yaping, Wenlian, do you know You Yuji? She’s the great beauty from the Si Kingdom,” Yi Yuhuan raised her voice to explain to Liu Yaping and Zhou Wenlian, as well as to inform more people at Qingya Residence who didn’t know.
Liu Yaping nodded; she had naturally heard of this name.
Zhou Wenlian instantly understood Yi Yuhuan’s intention.
“Oh—” Zhou Wenlian elongated her tone in agreement, “Isn’t she the one who married the Heir Apparent of An? The one where the groom would rather invite a prostitute than touch her on their wedding night?”
Liu Yaping also caught on and chimed in, “I heard that the Heir Apparent gambled with someone and even used the bride as a bet, is that true?”
Yi Yuhuan was very satisfied with the performance of her two friends. She burst out laughing but didn’t answer Liu Yaping’s question. Instead, she turned her eyes to You Yuji and asked, “I’m curious too. Did the Heir Apparent win or lose that night? Did he end up losing you?”
She clicked her tongue twice, her gaze sweeping over Chunxing, Cuiyu, and Lin Yingying, and said with a smile, “The Heir Apparent’s wife goes out for a stroll and brings along a few concubines? Oh dear, could it be that the Heir Apparent asked you to do this?”
Cuiyu rolled her eyes, put her hands on her hips, and said, “Where did this ugly person come from causing trouble? Not only are you ugly, but your mouth also stinks. Tsk tsk, did you just eat shit? I think you eat shit every day.”
When it came to volume, Cuiyu never lost.
“Yapping away, what are you yapping about? Are you interested in our master, or are you just naturally shameless? Talking endlessly about other people’s business, you must be eavesdropping while drinking chamber pot water in our manor every day. If you’re really so idle, I’ll tell the steward to send you all the chamber pots to drink from, and you can have your fill!”
“You! You!” Yi Yuhuan was stunned. Though she was from a prestigious family and her mouth was sharp, she had never been insulted in such a crude manner. Her face turned red with anger, leaving her speechless.
Zhou Wenlian chimed in, “How can you talk like that? I heard you’re from a brothel…”
Cuiyu’s voice immediately drowned her out, “And you two, is it fun to act like dogs for others? How much does she pay you? I, Cuiyu, will pay you double to shut up!”
Cuiyu lowered her voice, muttering to herself, “A bunch of fools! If you upset the madam and she doesn’t buy me bracelets, see how I’ll curse you to death!”
You Yuji’s lips curved in a smile that she couldn’t hide. She turned her gaze to Cuiyu and asked, “Have you chosen?”
Cuiyu eagerly nodded, pointing to the bracelets she had just picked out for You Yuji to see.
You Yuji glanced at them and said, “Bracelets are best in pairs. Wrap that one up too.”
“Sister, you’re so kind!”
Clearly, every time Lin Yingying said this in the past, Cuiyu wanted to roll her eyes, but now she said it in a sugary sweet voice, even sweeter than when coaxing a man.
You Yuji then asked Lin Yingying and Chunxing what they had chosen. Lin Yingying had also picked out thick bracelets, while Chunxing had only chosen a simple hairpin. You Yuji picked out an additional bracelet for each of them.
Yi Yuhuan glared fiercely at You Yuji’s back. She had intended to kick You Yuji while she was down, to see her lose face, but didn’t expect so many people to be watching her make a fool of herself.
You Yuji paid the bill and led her concubines to another jewelry shop.
“You Yuji, stop right there!” Yi Yuhuan gritted her teeth.
Cuiyu shouted loudly, “Did someone say something? I didn’t hear it!”
Lin Yingying laughed, “A dog barking. Oh dear, I don’t know what’s going on with Qingya Residence, letting three dogs in to disgust people.”
Si Que bent down, picked up a handkerchief, and handed it to Yi Yuhuan, “You dropped this.”
Yi Yuhuan instinctively took it and only then began to scrutinize Si Que, but Si Que had already turned away.
The next moment, a scream echoed through Qingya Residence.
You Yuji looked back.
The cool breeze lifted a corner of Si Que’s veil, revealing a hint of a smile on his lips.
