She straightened the bed curtains on both sides and comforted her. “Rest assured, Madam. The General cares for you so much—he will surely hurry over soon. As for that Bai Xinyi, she won’t get off easy this time!”
Chu Chu did not respond. Her eyes shifted, landing on the silent youth nearby.
His lashes drooped slightly, his face emotionless, as if unconcerned with their conversation.
Chu Chu gazed at the youth’s handsome profile, her eyes flickering as she called softly, “A Shuo.”
She beckoned him closer, then endured the fear and revulsion seeping from her bones to grasp his hand. “You know, A Jie does not have everything her way in the General’s Mansion. Even without provoking others, malice and harm cannot be avoided—just like today… So here, besides Shi Bi, the only one A Jie can rely on is you, her little brother.”
She smiled as she asked, her tone gentle. “You will stay by A Jie’s side forever, won’t you?”
Xie Shuo looked at her face. For some reason, another woman’s visage surfaced in his mind.
He was silent for a moment, then slowly nodded.
Chu Chu, seeing this, quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
Good. It seemed Bai Xinyi did not hold too important a place in his heart—at least, not as important as she did.
Even if she wanted to do something covert later, she need not worry too much.
…
After another half incense stick of time, Xiao Cheng Ce finally arrived.
But at his side was a woman no one could have anticipated.
Chu Chu froze for an instant, then her eyes abruptly reddened.
She leaned weakly against the couch, as if greatly insulted and hurt, and said to the green-clothed woman, “What are you doing here? Get out—I do not want to see you!”
She was both furious and incensed.
This had been a scheme of self-injury with exhaustive effort, yet the target remained unscathed and even appeared so leisurely before her!
Seeing Chu Chu’s teary, incredulous disappointment, Xiao Cheng Ce felt a pang of heartache and guilt.
After all, he knew Chu Chu’s temperament well—she would never actively contend with others unless provoked.
Bai Xinyi had a bad temper, even daring to mock and anger him occasionally, let alone how she treated his concubine.
Without thinking, he went to the couch, touched Chu Chu’s face, and soothed her warmly. “Just now, Xin Yi came to me about this. She knows she was wrong and came specially to apologize to you.”
“So, Shi Bi hopes I forgive her?”
She was already trying her best to restrain the hatred in her heart, but resentment still leaked through her tone.
“No need to forgive me.”
Xin Yi’s red lips curved slightly as she walked forward languidly, her talhua-like face full of allure. “Sorry, today’s incident was indeed my negligence—I should not have accidentally pushed you. For that, I specially went to the General to humbly beg forgiveness, asking him to drive me out of the mansion…”
“But he refused.”
As Xin Yi spoke, her gaze lifted playfully, and she smiled faintly. “He hopes I stay on and get along well with you, Miss.”
Chu Chu was so furious that, perhaps from the emotional surge, she clutched her chest and coughed harshly.
Xiao Cheng Ce beside her immediately frowned, taking a tea cup from the maid to feed her water and stroking her back to ease her breathing—he truly cared immensely.
Chu Chu coughed for quite a while before closing her reddened eyes and softly collapsing into Xiao Cheng Ce’s arms.
Her first words, however, were to the purple-clad youth at the couch’s edge. “A Shuo, see the guest out.”
That purple figure paused, then lifted his eyes to her after a moment.
Though he said nothing, the cold eviction in his gaze was unmistakable.
Ever since entering this room, Xin Yi had deliberately ignored him.
She ignored his gaze.
She ignored his presence and breathing.
Moreover, she had originally planned to finish apologizing, throw some sarcastic barbs, and then tactfully leave. After all, staying to disturb this pair of lovers as they chatted held no meaning.
At least that was what she thought before Xie Shuo looked at her with that gaze.
But now she changed her mind. She insisted on being shameless.
She insisted on seeing just how much hostility this little mute from the Miao Frontier could show toward a woman his A Jie disliked.
The purple-robed youth walked up to her. Black hair, red lips, two small fan-like eyelashes drooping lightly. He looked down at her without emotion.
Xin Yi met his gaze coldly.
His face was very handsome, his eyes like dots of lacquer.
From the first time she saw Xie Shuo, Xin Yi had felt that his beauty was deceptively alluring, like a frail and harmless boy next door.
He was indeed a boy next door.
But he was the younger brother of the glamorous concubine Chu Chu, the one she inwardly twisted with jealousy over.
After a moment of silence, the other party seemed to lose patience. His finger bones gripped her slender arm, showing not the slightest bit of mercy.
“Get out.” His eyes seemed to say.
Xin Yi inexplicably got angry too. She narrowed her alluring cold eyes and deliberately leaned in close to ask him, “Oh, what if I don’t leave?”
Her breath, like orchids, brushed against the side of his neck, yet it carried not a hint of allure.
As soon as the words fell, someone gripped her shoulders.
He half-carried and half-dragged her away from the room behind her.
Only then did Xin Yi realize that although he looked slim, his strength was terrifyingly great. Despite her struggles, he did not budge an inch.
By the time the door closed and her feet touched the courtyard ground, the fingers on her shoulders suddenly released.
Unfortunately, he let go too quickly, and she had not steadied herself in time.
Thus, she fell straight onto the bluestone-paved ground. Though not seriously injured, her elbow still burned with pain.
Xin Yi’s nose soured, and a teardrop suddenly fell, smashing straight onto the bluestone tile beneath her.
Damn dog.
Damn dog Xie Shuo.
Twice today, she felt wronged by the same person.
Xie Shuo seemed stunned as well. He had not expected Xin Yi to lose her balance, let alone fall just like that.
Once he snapped back to his senses, he bent down and reached out to help her up.
But before he could touch her arm, he was slapped hard across the face.
“No need for your fake kindness.”
“You did that on purpose, didn’t you? Because I made Chu Chu fall, you wanted to get revenge for her!”
Xie Shuo gazed at that small face full of anger. His lips moved slightly, but in the end, he could not say a word.
He could only watch as she pushed herself up on her arm. Her slender, stubborn figure disappeared from his sight.
Willow catkins drifted in the air, and the weather was clear.
Xiang Lan placed the newly bought hazelnut crisps into a earthen jar, then went to the courtyard to clean up the fallen flowers. Finally, leaning on her broom, she spotted Xin Yi preparing to head out.
“Miss, where are you going this time?”
Xin Yi was concise. “Treasure Pavilion, to sell a painting.”
These past few days had been boring anyway, so she had simply painted another one to earn some pocket money.
Xiang Lan nodded upon hearing this and instructed, “Then go early and come back early, Miss. Don’t linger outside too long.”
For some reason, she always felt that her miss had been in a poor mood lately, though she could not pinpoint exactly why. The most obvious sign was that her frequency of acting up had dropped sharply, which felt a bit unaccustomed.
However.
As long as she behaved this properly, it was good. It spared her maid the constant heart-pounding worry.
On her way out of the residence, Xin Yi ran into Xie Shuo.
The youth was still dressed in smoke-purple robes, his black hair tied with a red cord and silver bells. The width of his sleeves was slightly different, and the subtle patterns on them varied a bit as well.
When Xin Yi saw him, her expression did not change. She passed by his side without so much as a sideways glance.
The Melodramatic Transmigration System watched her acting so willfully and reminded her, “Host, your task is to win over Xie Shuo. You can’t keep giving him the cold shoulder like this.”
“What’s there to fear? His favorability has gone up 10 points these past few days, hasn’t it?”
“I think giving him a proper cold shoulder isn’t a bad thing.”
Meanwhile, behind her, the youth paused slightly in his steps.
Xie Shuo gazed at her striking features and her gradually receding figure, feeling a bit dazed. Unbidden, yesterday’s words from Chu Chu came to mind.
“A Shuo, don’t be fooled by Central Plains women. Bai Xinyi only approached you back then because she made a mistake and feared being thrown out of the general’s mansion. Perhaps it was even to get revenge on me, to sow discord between us siblings.”
“And you are of the Snake Clan, bearing the Snake Clan bloodline. Aside from A Jie, no one else is destined to truly like or accept you.”
Perhaps Chu Chu was right.
The look in Bai Xinyi’s eyes that day when she saw his snake tail had been undisguised disgust and fear. She had only kissed him to survive.
Moreover, she was the type of woman who flirted casually and resorted to any means. For a monster like him, how could she have any real feelings?
With that thought, the youth no longer lingered in a daze. He turned without reluctance and headed in another direction.
…
Deep into the night, with insects chirping faintly.
Because the summer heat lingered, the window lattices on both sides of the side room were propped open, leaving only a screen before the bed.
Xin Yi lay sleeping on the bamboo mat, her loose black hair covering her nose and brows.
In her hazy half-asleep, half-awake state, she suddenly felt something cool and slippery crawl onto her body, slithering up from her ankle.
The eerie sensation was too pronounced, causing Xin Yi to finally frown and slowly open her eyes.
Then she saw a slender emerald-green snake drilling into her skirt hem.
It was the Bamboo Leaf Green that Xie Shuo kept.