Chapter 7

Chapter 7

After thanking Sister Zhenzhu, I was taken back by the Young Master.

The Young Master wore a cold expression the entire way and did not say a word. When he returned to his own room, he did not allow me to follow.

Old Madam had said the Young Master was to punish me, but he said nothing, so I could only return to my own room first.

Ming Yue looked shocked when she saw me. “Why are you back?!”

I smiled mockingly. The day the poison flared up, I must have been carried out. Even I had almost thought I would not survive. It seemed she did not particularly want me to come back.

Still, I explained patiently, “The masters are benevolent. They invited a physician to treat me. I was lucky and failed to die.”

She gave a cold laugh. “How is that possible? You tried to murder the Eldest Young Master. It was mercy enough that they didn’t beat you to death. Why would they invite a physician to treat you?”

So it was not that she thought I would die from the poison. She thought I would be beaten to death for making a mistake.

In the past, she had been fairly polite to me, calling me “Sister Xiacao” every other breath. Now she had completely dropped the pretense.

I was too tired to say more to her.

But she refused to let it go. Grabbing my arm, she demanded, “What trick did you use? How did you escape so easily from the crime of harming your master?”

I was already irritated, so I shoved her away hard.

“Ah!”

Perhaps her life had truly been too comfortable. So delicate-one push from me, and she fell.

“You… you dare push me?” she said, sitting on the floor, her eyes filled with disbelief.

I crouched down and smiled at her. “You’re right. Harming one’s master is a serious crime. Ming Yue, have you ever thought about what your own end will be?”

“I… what does that have to do with me?” Her gaze darted away.

Ming Yue seemed to have been frightened by me and kept trying to shrink back.

I pinched her face and wiped the rouge from her lips, then said softly, “How pretty. And what fragrance are you using? It really does smell nice. Ming Yue, where did all these things come from?”

“I bought them… myself…” As she spoke, her face was full of guilt.

I stood and sneered. “Heh. You bought them yourself?” With her meager monthly allowance? Even she would not believe that.

“Ming Yue, I don’t care if you play little tricks, and I can choose not to take issue with you over petty gains. But I’m warning you-provoking me won’t end well for you.”

I could not be bothered to say anything else.

Some people did not need me to interfere. They would bring about their own deaths.

That fool. She had been making petty moves behind the scenes and truly thought the Young Master did not know?

Ming Yue wisely said nothing more. I turned and changed out of the clothes that still reeked of medicine.

The sky gradually darkened.

Suddenly, someone knocked on the door.

“Sister Xiacao, the Young Master asks you to come over.” It was Ah Kun, a page boy from the courtyard.

“I understand. I’ll go now,” I answered.

On the other side of the room, Ming Yue suddenly shot me a glare, her face full of smugness.

Perhaps she thought I was finally going to be punished.

I looked at her coldly. This person truly never learned. But right now, I had no mind to deal with her.

When I reached the Young Master’s door, unease still stirred in my heart. I could not tell what he meant by this. By rights, the Young Master should not blame me, but his expression today had truly been rather poor.

I walked in. The room was very dark, with only a single oil lamp lit.

“Young Master?” I called softly.

“Come here.”

The voice came from beside me, startling me so badly I nearly lost my soul.

I looked more closely and realized the Young Master was sitting on the floor, leaning against the corner of the table.

Before I could even bow, he grabbed my wrist and pulled me over, and I could only kneel in front of him.

“What do you think of what happened today?” he asked in a low, breathy voice.

I could not make out his expression. I only felt that the Young Master was especially different today. A heavy gloom seemed to shroud him, and his entire person looked particularly dispirited, like an old man with little time left to live.

A little worried, I tested the waters and said, “It was… it was this servant’s fault.”

“Heh…” He laughed softly. “How could it be your fault? If not for you, I would have died long ago.”

I held my breath and said nothing.

“Xiacao, do you think I’m useless?”

I quickly shook my head. “Young Master is the best person in the world.”

“But they’ve already tried to poison me, to take my life, and I don’t even have the slightest ability to fight back. I knew she treated me badly, but I thought she only wanted me to suffer a little. I gave way at every turn, only wanting to protect myself. Who knew she actually wanted me dead!”

“It was… it was this servant’s fault. I couldn’t identify the culprit and seek justice for Young Master.”

He ignored me and went on talking to himself. “Every one of them chose to keep up appearances. Every one of them chose to turn a blind eye to the truth, as if my life didn’t matter at all.”

“My uncle has limited power, and he has his own parents, wife, and children to look after, so I don’t blame him. But what about my father?”

Young Master suffered from a frail constitution. In the past, the Marquis had still been very fond of him, but… as the Second Young Master Ye Tingze grew older, the Marquis came to despise Young Master more and more for being useless. Aside from family banquets, he basically no longer came to see him.

Young Master gripped my wrist, tighter and tighter. “Is it just because I don’t involve myself in official circles that, in his eyes, I’m nothing but a discarded chess piece? That whether I live or die no longer matters at all?”

“And Grandmother… the grandmother who used to dote on me the most. In her heart, I still can’t compare to the family’s reputation and glory.”

I felt something drip onto my hand and was instantly at a loss. Even when he had been tormented most severely by illness, Young Master had never shed a single tear.

My heart ached for him, but I had no idea how to comfort him.

He suddenly lifted his head and reached out to touch my face. “Xiacao, only you treat me wholeheartedly. Only you were willing to test the poison with your own body and protect me with your life.”

My eyes darted away, and guilt pricked at me. It was true that I didn’t want to see Young Master lose his life, but I was not so noble as to sacrifice myself for him.

What he thought was wholehearted devotion was nothing more than the choice I had been forced to make after weighing the pros and cons.

He suddenly raised his voice. “Xiacao, promise me you will never betray me!”

His sudden shout startled me so badly that I froze, unable to react in time.

In the darkness, his eyes shone with an unusual brightness, like a dying man suddenly glimpsing a thread of hope. But the way he looked at me made panic rise in my chest.

Seeing that I did not answer, he said again, “Promise me, Xiacao.”

I hurriedly nodded. “I promise you, Young Master. I promise you.”

He stroked my cheek and finally revealed a faint smile. In a soft voice, he said, “Say it again. What did you promise me?”

“I… I promised… that I would never betray Young Master.”

Young Master nodded in satisfaction. “Good. Remember, you are mine. You must always stand on my side. Don’t be like Ming Yue, shamelessly fawning over others.”

Young Master really did know everything. On ordinary days, he seemed calm and detached, but in truth, he was frighteningly clever.

He sneered. “She keeps prying into the affairs of my courtyard and running off to tell Ye Tingze. Did she really think I knew nothing?”

“Xiacao, you’re different from her. You stand with me, so naturally I will treat you well too. Don’t worry, our situation will improve very soon.”

I nodded to show that I believed him.

Young Master seemed almost possessed.

“Isn’t what they want the Position of Heir Apparent?”

“Hah. I won’t let them get what they want.”

In a daze, I walked out of Young Master’s room, my heart still churning with unease. Young Master trusted me. That was a good thing. So why did I keep feeling faintly unsettled?

When Ming Yue saw me return unharmed, she looked as if she had seen a ghost. “How are you still perfectly fine? Young Master didn’t punish you?”

I was already in an awful mood, with nowhere to vent it.

“Shut up, you idiot!”

Ming Yue was stunned by my scolding, but she did not dare provoke me again. She could not beat me in a fight.

There was no need for me to say anything more to her either. Things were no longer as they had been when I had first entered the residence. She had long since ceased to be any real threat to me.