But since she had never paid attention to such things before, she could only rely on the system’s built-in encyclopedia. She found a bit of trivia: serpents’ favorite food turned out to be rats.
Xin Yi: “???”
What an exotic taste.
But to cater to his tastes, she naturally had to prioritize his dietary habits.
So Xin Yi steeled herself against the disgust and had a servant buy half a basket of field mice. In the afternoon, she carried the tightly covered bamboo basket and found Xie Shuo in the courtyard feeding his gu insects.
She saw the palm-sized centipede in the youth’s hand and took a step back.
Then another step.
She clenched her fists tight to keep from fleeing immediately.
When the youth’s dark eyes turned to her.
She mustered a smile, opened the basket lid to show him, and asked what she thought was gentle and considerate. “Want me to make you something tasty, A Shuo? How about roast honey rat for dinner?”
“…”
Xin Yi was chased out of the courtyard by Xie Shuo.
He acted as if he had suffered a great humiliation, his face gloomy, refusing to let her set foot in the yard again. When she tried approaching stubbornly, the youth even released the gu insects from the earthen jar.
Xin Yi had no choice but to return to her own courtyard and stay there.
She stayed for three or four days.
Fortunately, the weather was nice that day. The air after the rain felt moist and fresh, and the sun was not too harsh.
Fruits and pastries were laid out in the courtyard pavilion, with maids attentively fanning with palm leaves nearby.
Not only was the scenery leisurely and beautiful, but the man beside her was extraordinarily handsome—the one Chu Chu admired and loved. By rights, her mood should have been great.
If not for Bai Xinyi showing up uninvited.
The woman slowly approaching them wore a sky-blue skirt, her almond eyes charming, her cheeks radiant, like a person carved from raw jade.
Her jet-black, lustrous long hair was pinned in a gently drooping style, the rest gathered with a green silk ribbon tied behind her ear, exposing shoulders and neck like tender willow buds after spring rain—beautiful enough to hold anyone’s gaze.
Chu Chu noticed she was not the only one unable to look away.
Her maid beside her, and Xiao Cheng Ce too.
She clenched her palm secretly, nails digging into flesh, but smiled on her face without warmth. “What a coincidence. Why is Miss Bai here?”
Instead, she sat down leisurely, picked up a piece of exquisite pastry in her hand, and said, “Shi Bi has such a cruel heart toward me, throwing me into that drafty, leaky broken courtyard where I can’t even get a decent meal. Unlike Miss Chu Chu, who is pampered like gold and jade in the mansion, with the best clothes, food, housing, and transport. Even the maids serving her daily life eat and use better than I, a fallen general’s wife, do. Tsk, it really makes me envious. I even want to replace a maid and come serve you myself.”
Her words were laced with barbs; anyone could hear it.
Seeing Chu Chu bullied until tears welled in her eyes, Xiao Cheng Ce’s face also darkened, his tone carrying anger. “What madness are you spouting again? You can’t be happy unless you’re jealous and fighting for favor all day?”
Xin Yi also raised her voice, her face full of pettiness and jealousy. “Me, mad? Clearly, it’s you who only sees the new beauty smile and doesn’t hear the old one cry!”
“If you hadn’t been swayed by lust outside and grown fickle-minded, how would I have earned such a reputation for being jealous and vicious, with people pointing fingers at me?”
“Outrageous!” Seeing that she not only refused to repent but pushed all the blame onto him, Xiao Cheng Ce was so angry his head throbbed.
His palm slammed angrily onto the stone table, knocking over several cups and startling the surrounding maids into shrinking their necks and kneeling down in a group.
“It’s clearly your own impure thoughts and vicious actions! As the matriarch of the general’s mansion, you lack any tolerance for others—what does that have to do with me?”
“Was it me who incited you to push Chu Chu?”
Xin Yi said shamelessly,
“Yes, it was you.”
She turned to look at the glamorous concubine beside her and said in that half-true, half-fake tone, “Miss Chu Chu probably doesn’t know yet, but that day when I pushed you, it was all because he incited me. If you’re angry, make sure to direct it all at him alone, okay?”
Xiao Cheng Ce trembled with rage, as if he hadn’t expected someone to fabricate lies so shamelessly.
His feelings toward Bai Xinyi were no longer just anger, but deep disappointment. He shouldn’t have held any illusions about Bai Xinyi, hoping she might suddenly wake up.
Bai Xinyi had never changed.
Every time he was just starting to think better of her, she revealed her true nature—stupid and venomous—squandering that scant favorability.
He closed his eyes, then looked at her coldly and said, “Get out.”
Xin Yi chuckled lightly. “Fine, I’ll get out. I’ve wanted to for a long time.”
But before leaving, she glanced and saw that Chu Chu’s wrist was wrapped in silk cloth, as if it had bled.
Once Xin Yi had completely left the pavilion and was out of sight,
the system couldn’t help but say, “Host, how could you court death like that? What if Xiao Cheng Ce really kicks you out of the general’s mansion?”
Xin Yi didn’t care after hearing it and even sneered.
Then she asked it, “Do you remember what I just cursed Xiao Cheng Ce for?”
The system recalled, “Host cursed him for mistreating his principal wife and favoring his concubine?”
“No, fickle-minded and swayed by lust.”
She said, “Don’t worry. Even if Xiao Cheng Ce is furious, he won’t bear to drive me away. He still has other intentions toward me.”
General’s Mansion, Goose Water Courtyard.
The maids serving in the side room had all left, and Xiao Cheng Ce wasn’t there either—only Chu Chu and Xie Shuo remained.
After asking the youth about Bai Xinyi teaching him to write characters during this time, she sat silently by the bed platform shedding tears, looking deeply grieved.
It seemed she had been badly bullied by that vicious Central Plains woman but could only endure the grievance silently, with nowhere to vent.
In the end, she just sighed and instructed him, “Miss Bai is probably just that kind of personality, unforgiving in everything. You don’t need to make things difficult for her because of me. After all, those upsetting matters are in the past.”
“But you have to promise Big Sis not to get too close to Bai Xinyi. I’m afraid that one day, you’ll be influenced by her too.”
“A Shuo, remember that we are true siblings, bound by blood thicker than water. Everyone else is an outsider, someone who can be discarded.”
The youth merely gazed at her calmly, his dark eyes showing no emotion.
In the end, his gaze fell on the white silk cloth wrapped around her wrist, and he slowly nodded.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the general’s mansion.
As Xin Yi ate snacks, the system suddenly detected that Xie Shuo’s favorability had dropped another 50 points, nearly breaking through negative one thousand.
Xin Yi: “？？”
Was it really this outrageous? She hadn’t done anything today, just sat here and eaten a couple of honeyed preserves.
Truly, she was just sitting at home, and the pot came flying from the sky.
She lost all mood to continue eating the preserves and got up to head to the neighboring courtyard. She wanted to ask clearly what she had done to offend him this time!
If Xin Yi had foreseen that Xie Shuo had manifested his snake tail due to estrus before pushing open the door, she absolutely would not have pushed it open.
Even if his favorability dropped to negative two thousand, she still wouldn’t have gone.
But it was too late.
The youth’s disheveled posture entered her eyes, and even more shocking and spine-chilling was the vibrant, thick snake tail messily sweeping across the floor.
Xin Yi’s scream was already stuck in her throat, her legs trembling.
She hadn’t failed to imagine this scene.
After all, when she first entered this world, she had already known Xie Shuo was from the Snake Clan.
But back then, Xin Yi thought that if Xie Shuo’s true form was an ink-green snake tail like a green snake, she could barely accept it.
A black snake tail, she could try to hypnotize herself into accepting.
But this mottled pattern of ink green and black intermingled—she truly couldn’t accept it.
Even looking at it once made her collapse, her sanity dropping until goosebumps erupted all over her body.
Her throat was dry now, her legs weak, so she could only hypnotize herself inwardly over and over.
It’s fine, it’s good-looking, really good-looking, incredibly good-looking, it’s clearly so good-lo… good-looking my ass.
But it really is good-looking, it is good-looking, it is good-looking, it is good-looking—she didn’t hate snake species with this ugly pattern at all!! Seeing this kind of snake tail wouldn’t make her want to run, nor would it give her goosebumps all over!
Then Xin Yi realized she was shaking even harder.
No good, she really had to escape, or she might actually be scared to death here today.
But just as the thought to turn came, she was spotted by the youth tormented in lust.
Xie Shuo’s eyes had turned completely into vertical pupils, even more so than that night.
For a split second, Xin Yi felt this was just a beastly snake demon without human reason—he really might kill her.
So without thinking, she turned to run.
But she couldn’t outrun that massive, vibrant snake tail. The door behind her slammed twice and closed heavily.
The room immediately dimmed, no sunlight penetrating from outside.
Xin Yi fell to the floor, not daring to look back at the rustling sounds approaching from behind—like scales scraping the ground.
Her scalp tingled, her fingers pressing the floor shaking.
Pathetically, she wanted to cry but could only crawl desperately toward the room’s corner, hoping he would have mercy and let her go.
But still, her waist was coiled and dragged back. “Ah——！！！！！”
Xin Yi felt her scream must have been utterly blood-curdling. Then her body was flung against the table edge, the inertia nearly breaking her back bones.
She hissed in aggrieved pain, pitiful teardrops rolling down her cheeks.
Then she met the youth’s gaze.
Xin Yi froze stiffly. She wasn’t sure if the current Xie Shuo still had any human consciousness.
But she sensed clear, cruel killing intent. The pale golden vertical pupils fixed on her, exuding thick bloody aura, cold and numb like looking at a dying, struggling rabbit.
Now, there were only the two of them here, so even if she really died, no one would know.
She could only hope for self-rescue.
In this dim corner, the room imprisoned all light.
Just as the youth was about to reach out and strangle her neck, Xin Yi closed her eyes, leaned in, and deeply kissed him.