You Yuji walked over to retrieve her undergarment, but Si Que raised his hand high, keeping it out of her reach.
You Yuji, unwilling to engage in a futile struggle of standing on tiptoe to snatch the garment from him, simply withdrew her hand and looked at him with a smile. “Very well, then. Help your sister put it on.”
Her tone was as gentle as ever, but beneath the surface of that gentleness was a subtle hint of command.
Si Que frowned slightly and looked down at her.
With a slight raise of her eyebrows and a faint smile, You Yuji asked, “What’s this? Unwilling?”
Si Que realized that her tone had indeed been commanding.
Lowering his hand, he kept his gaze fixed on You Yuji’s eyes as he brought the undergarment to his lips and nose, inhaling its scent. The simple action was laden with an excessive ambiguity that made You Yuji’s gaze waver slightly.
Si Que then moved the undergarment behind You Yuji.
What should have been pressed against her chest was now placed against her back. The straps that were originally tied at the back were now brought to the front.
He played with the straps with great interest, his long fingers twisting as he tied the straps under You Yuji’s collarbone, occasionally brushing against her soft skin. The tied silk ribbons draped down along the crevice.
His gaze followed his slender fingers downward as he picked up the straps at her waist, smoothing them out before tying the lower straps of the undergarment at her front.
You Yuji watched his actions in shock and sighed helplessly, “Stop fooling around.”
Si Que withdrew his hands and, admiring his handiwork, said slowly, “I’m helping you dress, not fooling around.”
Absolutely unreasonable.
You Yuji reached to untie the straps, intending to remove the undergarment and put it on correctly. However, her wrist was slapped away by Si Que.
He grabbed the fabric at her waist and yanked it forcefully, pulling the front of the undergarment that was against her back around to the front. The fabric slid tightly against her body until it was finally in place. Si Que then leisurely adjusted the hem.
Seeing the satisfied smile in Si Que’s eyes, You Yuji couldn’t help but be amused by his childish behavior.
But she quickly suppressed her smile, looking at him thoughtfully.
Si Que soon noticed You Yuji’s expression and lifted his eyelashes to look at her. You Yuji gave him a meaningful look with a faint smile before turning to pick up the rest of her clothes and quickly dressing.
Si Que stood there, frowning, still pondering the meaning of You Yuji’s previous look.
Just as You Yuji was about to push the door open and leave, her hand paused on the door. She turned back to Si Que and asked, “By the way, are you sure that Fang Qingyi added something called ‘Irritation Powder’ to the wine?”
Si Que raised an annoyed eyebrow and looked at You Yuji.
Was she joking? Was she questioning his ability to identify poisons?
That was his one skill, and now it was being doubted?
You Yuji changed the question: “What did you give Fang Qingyi to make her so weak and powerless?”
“It wasn’t me,” Si Que said innocently.
You Yuji looked at him, unconvinced.
“Tingyun did it. Otherwise, I couldn’t have carried her,” Si Que said unhappily. “The effect has already worn off. Nothing can be found now.”
You Yuji envisioned Tingyun’s appearance in her mind.
“The ‘Irritation Powder’ was bought from the Poison Pavilion,” Si Que added casually.
You Yuji looked at him in surprise, questioning, “You knew she had ill intentions from the start?”
“Didn’t notice.”
Si Que’s reply was truly perplexing.
You Yuji, having understood enough, didn’t probe further. She slowly looked him up and down, then switched to a softer, more suggestive tone, “Put on your clothes.”
Her lips curled into a charming smile, and her gaze lingered on him meaningfully for a moment before she turned and pushed the door open to leave.
Si Que followed her gaze downward and glanced at himself.
You Yuji walked out of the clean room and saw Zhenxu standing at the door with her head down, holding You Yuji’s white fox fur cloak. You Yuji pressed her lips together, recalling how she had just lost her temper and scolded her.
“Let’s go,” she said, walking over to Zhenxu and taking the cloak from her arm.
As she put on the cloak, fastening the silver clasp at the collar, she chose her words carefully. “I didn’t mean to be harsh just now, it’s just…”
“I know!” Zhenxu uncharacteristically interrupted You Yuji.
You Yuji looked at her in surprise and saw a pair of bright, shining eyes.
Zhenxu nodded earnestly, saying, “No need to explain, madam, I understand!”
Understand? Understand what?
You Yuji blinked slowly before speaking again, drawing out a long “Hmm.” She looked at Zhenxu’s expression and saw the girl smiling as if she had discovered a big secret.
“Madam, Zhenxu will be more careful in the future!” Zhenxu said without any context.
You Yuji couldn’t help but find it amusing and exasperating.
Everyone around her had noticed that her relationship with Si Que was unusual, but they didn’t know that she and Si Que did not share the affection of “polishing the mirror.”
Chunxing knelt on the bed under the window, pushing the window open to look outside, trying hard to find the moon. Unfortunately, the clouds were too thick tonight, hiding both the stars and the moon, so she couldn’t see anything.
With the window open, the voices of the two little maidservants in the courtyard occasionally drifted in. They were discussing the big fire that had happened this evening.
She had originally been an ordinary maid in the residence, but later she was promoted to a personal maid, becoming half a mistress. Despite this, she never truly saw herself as a mistress. Her dough-like personality didn’t lend itself to setting rules for the maids around her.
“Who would have thought that this was done by Concubine Fang!” one of them said.
The other one was skeptical. “Really? Are you just guessing? The young lady usually seems so refined and noble. How could she do something so heartless? I don’t believe it.”
“What’s there not to believe? Think about it. If it wasn’t her, why would the consort carry her and present her to the prince? I heard she’s still tied up in the front hall.”
The two maids continued whispering to each other, one trying to convince the other with all sorts of reasons.
Chunxing listened absently, not paying much attention.
After a while, Chunxing suddenly heard them mention Wangjiang. She looked over in surprise, listening closely before hurriedly asking, “Did you just mention the young master’s attendant, Wangjiang? What does he have to do with this?”
She tried to keep her voice casual, to hide her anxiety.
The two little maids, still sitting on the steps, turned to look at Chunxing.
“We’re not really sure. We just heard the steward yelling for Wangjiang everywhere, saying he did something wrong,” one maid said, pursing her lips. “The biggest thing today was the fire, so maybe it’s related. Just guessing though.”
Another maid with bright eyes asked, “Aunt, do you need us to inquire about any news?”
“No, no need…” Chunxing shook her head. She turned around, changed her sitting position, and leaned softly against the cold, hard wall under the window, hugging her knees. The winter night’s cold wind blew in through the window, sending a chilling breeze down her back and into her clothes.
Her right eyelid kept twitching, giving her an ominous feeling.
She kept thinking about the scene when Wangjiang came to see her the day before yesterday. He had found various excuses and personally brought over some New Year preparations. He looked at her from a distance, as he always did, behaving in a completely proper manner.
But before he left, he whispered, “Don’t blame me.”
This sentence puzzled Chunxing. She wanted to ask him what he meant, but someone soon passed by, making it inconvenient to speak, so she remained silent.
Suddenly, the sound of firecrackers went off, startling Chunxing. She hugged herself tightly.
The New Year was approaching.
She and Wangjiang had known each other since they were children.
When she was little, the Twelve Kingdoms were constantly at war, and the common people suffered greatly, with poverty everywhere. Before coming to the Jinnan Prince’s Residence, she didn’t even know what it felt like to be full. Her family couldn’t make it through, so on the eve of her sixth New Year, they sold her. Her mother hugged her and cried, blaming herself for not being able to feed her daughter, and instructed her to be obedient in a wealthy household to at least get food to eat.
That winter, she wore straw shoes and, along with other village children, got on the cart of a tooth merchant. As the cart traveled farther and farther, she cried looking at her parents becoming tearful figures in the distance. The neighbor’s older brother wiped her tears, telling her not to cry.
That neighbor’s older brother was Wangjiang, though he didn’t go by that name then.
“Don’t cry, we’ll return to the village when we grow up!”
Chunxing cried all the way, with her tears blurring her vision until the village disappeared completely.
Her village had a beautiful name, Moon Bay.
She and Wangjiang first worked in another household, a merchant’s home. The master wasn’t kind, often being harsh. Starvation was minor; beatings and scoldings were common. Every time, Brother Wangjiang would do his utmost to protect her.
On those nights when they hid to cry with empty stomachs, Wangjiang always magically produced food for her. She was not as clever or quick-witted as Wangjiang and couldn’t please the master as easily.
Fortunately, they didn’t stay long with that household and were sold into the Jinnan Prince’s Residence. The rules in the Jinnan Prince’s Residence were strict, and they were often punished when they were young, but they never went hungry again. As they gradually understood the rules, the punishments stopped, and life improved.
Every New Year, they would secretly meet. They exchanged gifts that they had carefully prepared. Though not valuable, they were tokens of their heartfelt intentions.
She often told Wangjiang that she missed home.
Every time, Wangjiang would comfort her, repeating what he said when they were little—when we grow up, we can go back.
As they grew older, with another New Year approaching, they sneaked to a hillside, looking at the moon in the night sky. Chunxing curved her eyes into the shape of the moon and said, “Tomorrow I will be fifteen. Does that count as growing up?”
Chunxing’s words had originally been a casual joke. As a slave, she knew she could never go back home, never again.
“Yes, you can.”
Chunxing looked over in surprise.
“After the New Year, I’ll ask the young master for a favor,” Wangjiang said with a smile, gazing deeply at her.
Chunxing stared back at him in a daze, suddenly understanding what he hadn’t finished saying.
In the quiet and dim night, Wangjiang held her hand. He said that after they got married, he would buy a house outside the courtyard, and on a warm spring day, they would return to Moon Bay together. He also said that he would personally build a small house by the mirror lake that she loved the most in Moon Bay…
Chunxing hugged her knees tighter, and tears of confusion fell from her eyes.
That night, after she parted with Wangjiang, filled with tender hopes for the future, she encountered the young master returning home.
The young master had been out enjoying himself with friends during the day and had drunk a lot of wine.
Following the stewardess’s instructions, she prepared sobering tea and brought it to the young master. As she placed the tea on the young master’s table, he grabbed her wrist.
The world spun, and all her dreams for the future turned into empty illusions.
It was so cold.
Chunxing wiped the tears from her face and turned to close the window.
The next time she saw Wangjiang, she would definitely ask him what he meant by those words.
Or should she just forget it?
She had already become the young master’s bed warmer, so why should she continue to involve him? She should remain heartless, just as she had been towards him before. He should forget about her and find a good girl that he truly likes.
