“One hand lifts the skirt, another hand unties the waistband, and still another hand is needed to steady oneself. I only have two hands.”
You Yuji silently stared at Si Que for a while before getting out of bed and carefully extending a hand to support him.
“Be careful, don’t bump into the edge of the bed,” she said, her tone still patient and gentle.
Si Que glanced at her and placed his arm around You Yuji’s shoulder.
You Yuji helped Si Que into the small washroom inside the room. She stopped, took a step forward, moved in front of him, and took his arm off her shoulder, placing it on the narrow cabinet on one side for support. Then she lowered her eyes and reached out to lift Si Que’s skirt. The snow-white fabric piled on her wrist as she found the waistband under his skirt at his waist.
Through the layers of fabric, You Yuji’s wrist was suddenly grasped by Si Que.
You Yuji looked up and saw Si Que’s furrowed brows.
“Sister, bring me a cane.”
You Yuji smiled faintly and softly agreed. She told him to hold on tight before turning to get him a cane.
Si Que looked down, his face dark, and brushed the creases on his skirt impatiently.
You Yuji quickly returned, handing a cane to Si Que. She said, “If you need anything, just call for me.”
Si Que fiddled with the cane, keeping his head down and silent.
You Yuji soon turned and left.
Si Que raised his eyes, staring darkly at You Yuji’s retreating figure.
No, this wouldn’t do.
—She didn’t see it the first two times, how could he let her see it the first time like this, in such a state?
When Si Que came out, You Yuji was still waiting outside. She took the cane from his hand and personally helped him back to the bed in the bedroom.
Having already woken from their nap, You Yuji didn’t plan to sleep any further.
She took a box of spice made from pepper and cassia from the drawer, using a small silver spoon to scoop a little, and gently sprinkled it into the incense burner. She replaced the eight-treasure cloud cover of the burner, and a soft, light fragrance slowly wafted out.
You Yuji sniffed the pleasant aroma, a smile immediately appearing on her lips. Her eyes smiled as she looked over and asked, “Does it smell good?”
Si Que initially wanted to say it didn’t smell good; he preferred the scent of milk. But looking at You Yuji’s expectant eyes, he suddenly realized that she had probably blended this fragrance herself. He immediately smiled, “It’s elegant without losing its richness, very good.”
You Yuji smiled, turned around, took a medical book, and lazily sat down in the rattan chair by the window to read.
Si Que leaned against the bedhead, watching You Yuji’s every move. Whether she was adding incense or flipping through the book, or even just moving, every action of hers was so perfect it seemed magical, drawing one’s gaze to follow her.
You Yuji sat by the window reading the medical book for half an afternoon until the light outside dimmed, the sunlight streaming through the window turning from white to a dusky yellow. She closed the book and looked up at the bed, surprised to find Si Que quietly watching her.
Had he been watching her all afternoon?
You Yuji quickly averted her gaze, gently lowering her eyes.
Baohe ran into the bedroom, stopping outside the small inner door to report, “Madam, a maid from Madam Zhao’s household has come to invite you out for a stroll tomorrow. She wants to buy some things for children in advance. She’s asking if you have time.”
You Yuji agreed.
Before long, Lady Jing brought over two more stewards from the You family to see You Yuji, as there were some important business matters that required her personal decision.
The You family’s business had been quietly expanding. Fortunately, You Yuji was skilled at employing the right people, and the ten stewards under her were all very capable, so she didn’t need to worry about everything daily.
Lady Jing watched You Yuji calmly handle the important matters and nodded in satisfaction. You Yuji’s father had always been very strict with her. Lady Jing remembered that You Yuji had started dealing with these matters when she was just eight years old.
In the blink of an eye, so many years had passed. The little girl who used to sit on her father’s lap playing with an abacus had grown up so much.
When people mentioned the You family, they knew it was wealthy. In fact, the You family’s wealth far exceeded many people’s expectations, to a staggering extent. Lady Jing was a bit worried that such a large family business resting entirely on You Yuji’s shoulders might be too heavy a burden.
You Yuji worked late into the night. After the stewards left, she still sat in the study, sipping a cup of tea and reviewing the accounts.
“The General was always very strict with Madam,” Lady Jing remarked as she changed You Yuji’s tea.
Mentioning her father made You Yuji momentarily nostalgic.
Her father had taught her many things.
He had hired the best teachers to teach her to read and learn proper etiquette, to judge character and manage talent, to do business and keep accounts. Unlike the children of the grasslands, who all knew how to ride and shoot, You Yuji had been required by her father to learn even more.
Her father had taught her to recognize the vital acupoints of the human body and how to use hidden weapons. He had even taken her to survive in the wild and to a farmer’s home to plant rice and feed chickens.
Thinking about those days on the farm, You Yuji couldn’t help but smile.
She smiled and smiled, and suddenly her eyes became wet.
She remembered a Qiqiao Festival one year, when she was about eleven or twelve, chatting leisurely with a few cousins under the moon. When talking about their future ideal husbands, the sisters agreed that they must choose someone who could protect them. Somehow, this conversation reached her father’s ears, and he called her to the study and solemnly told her—
“That’s not right.”
“Only the weak make being protected the most important thing.”
“I taught you these things not to make you excellent, but to give you the ability to protect yourself. If one day you meet someone who isn’t that strong, and you like him very much, you don’t have to painfully give him up just because he’s not that strong.”
“When you have enough capability, whether someone can protect you or not is no longer a condition. It’s unnecessary! My daughter should find someone she likes, who makes her happy.”
You Yuji hooked a slender finger around the thin cord on her neck, pulling out the purple pearl from her collar, and gazed at it for a long time.
If there were a next life, she would still want to be her father’s daughter and show him more filial piety.
When the bathwater was ready in the clean room, You Yuji returned from the study. Si Que was sitting in the rattan chair where You Yuji had read in the afternoon, flipping through a volume of guqin music.
You Yuji walked over to him, raised one sleeve, and adjusted the lamp wick with the other hand. She spoke softly, “Is this light too dim?”
Si Que didn’t answer. Instead, he looked up at her innocently and asked, “Sister, how will I bathe?”
You Yuji was momentarily stunned and hadn’t yet figured out how to respond when Si Que had already lowered his eyes dejectedly and said in a small voice, “I don’t dare trouble you, sister. As long as you don’t mind my smell and kick me out of bed at night, it’s fine.”
“Madam, the milk bath is ready,” Baohe reported.
You Yuji acknowledged her, and since Baohe was there, she didn’t say much to Si Que. She hurriedly walked toward the clean room.
You Yuji hadn’t had a milk bath for several days. She undressed and comfortably sat in the milk bath. The water’s surface rippled gently with snow-white waves.
When she first entered the household, everyone knew that You Yuji took a milk bath every other day, and they whispered about her extravagance. But when they realized she wasn’t using the household’s money, they all quietly closed their mouths.
Perhaps thinking of her father had dampened You Yuji’s mood. She slowly closed her eyes and sat quietly in the milk bath.
Suddenly, there was a noise, like someone had fallen, pulling You Yuji back from her thoughts. She opened her eyes in surprise and looked toward the door.
“Si Que?”
There was no response from outside.
You Yuji hurriedly stepped out of the tub, barely taking the time to dress. She wrapped a large cotton towel around her chest and ran out.
“Si Que?”
Si Que was sitting on the ground, his head lowered, long eyelashes shadowing his eyes.
“How did you fall? Are you hurt?” You Yuji hurried over to Si Que, squatting down to look at him with concern.
Si Que slowly raised his eyes, forgetting his planned words at the sight before him.
She was soaking wet, the cotton towel clinging tightly to her body. Her exposed shoulders and arms bore faint traces of milk. Her hair and cheeks glistened with a soft, damp sheen.
Even her collarbone, like a cup, held a small pool of milk.
“Did you hurt your injured leg?” You Yuji asked with concern, leaning closer. As she moved, the small pool of milk on her collarbone spilled out, trickling down her fair skin and disappearing into the towel wrapped around her chest.
Si Que leaned forward and drank the remaining milk from her collarbone.
You Yuji froze completely.
She instinctively raised her hand to push Si Que’s shoulder, but she stopped herself before making the motion, her hand resting lightly on his shoulder instead.
After a long moment, Si Que pulled back, slowly licking the remnants from his lips, and smiled, “Sister, I’m fine. I was just a bit thirsty.”
You Yuji turned her eyes away, not looking at him, and nodded randomly in response.
Si Que, still looking at her from up close, slowly added, “I used to think deer milk was delicious, but it turns out cow’s milk is also sweet.”
You Yuji didn’t know how to respond. She knew she looked quite disheveled at that moment and didn’t want Si Que to see her like this. She helped Si Que up and back into the rattan chair, then walked slowly back to the clean room, her steps steady.
She crossed the threshold, closed the small wooden door, and leaned her back against it, letting out a soft sigh. She stood there in a daze for a moment before walking towards the bronze mirror. Staring at her reflection, she lightly touched her collarbone with her fingertips.
A different emotion stirred within her. She pressed her hands on the table, slowly turned to look towards the door.
It was a long while before You Yuji left the clean room, her expression unchanged, her brows and eyes soft with a smile. She walked to the bedside and looked at Si Que, about to say something, when she noticed the skirt and trousers casually thrown under the bed.
She bent down to pick them up.
“Sister, throw them away,” Si Que said.
“Why suddenly throw them away? They should be washed…” You Yuji looked down at the marks on the skirt and trousers she had unfolded and stopped mid-sentence.
She nodded, murmured an agreement, and quickly turned back to the clean room, throwing his skirt and trousers into the laundry bin.
She subconsciously raised a hand to touch her flushed cheeks, then remembered something, lowered her hand, spread her palm out before her eyes for a moment, and then quickly went to wash her hands.
At night, Si Que slept quietly. You Yuji, however, felt restless and couldn’t sleep. She turned over, facing the inside of the bed, looking at Si Que sleeping beside her.
His face was especially pale while he slept.
You Yuji raised her hand, the pad of her finger lightly grazing the tips of his long eyelashes, causing them to flutter. She immediately withdrew her hand.
She looked at Si Que with a smile, silently saying in her heart, “It’s okay, sister will protect you.”
The next day, You Yuji, early in the morning, before the concubines came to pay their respects, had someone tell them that they needn’t come today. She then, accompanied by Zhenxu and Zhuo Wen, left early and went to the bustling shopping street where she had an appointment with Jiang Chun.
“Is it really okay for you to be out every day in your condition?” You Yuji asked with concern.
“No problem! I rested for a long time before this! It’s stable now!” Jiang Chun, laughing, took You Yuji’s arm and pulled her into a silk shop.
In a nearby carriage, Qi Mingcheng watched You Yuji enter the silk shop.
“She is You Yuji?” he asked.
The subordinate outside the carriage window replied, “Yes, indeed!”
Qi Mingcheng nodded, smiling, “She’s even more beautiful than in the painting.”
“After all, she is one of the two great beauties of Si Kingdom, naturally a stunning beauty.”
Qi Mingcheng’s mind conjured the face of Chen Anzhi, a face he detested, and he couldn’t help but sneer. “Tell me, if I took Chen Anzhi’s wife, would he keep quiet for the sake of his reputation?”
“This…”
Qi Mingcheng laughed, “Find a way to bring this woman to me.”
