Chapter 4
The Wei family’s eldest young master, Wei Yu, was tall and elegant, as graceful as a slender bamboo.
His aloofness carried a faint air of lifelessness, as though nothing in the world interested him.
People called him an unattainable flower on a snowy peak.
From the way Wei Shu avoided my eyes and kept his distance, Wei Yu guessed the truth.
While I was searching for a book in the study, he abruptly locked the door.
Wearing his usual half-dead expression, he cornered me in the little room.
His features were cold, and he looked at me as if I were filth.
“I do not care what methods you used to make them fear you so much.”
“But understand this: this is the Wei household.”
“A dependent should know her place.”
“If you lay a hand on either of them again, do not blame me for showing no courtesy.”
I set down the book in my hand
and turned to look at him.
“So the eldest young master has finally grown eyes and ears? Now you can see your brother and sister’s grievances?”
“When Wei Yun tormented me, humiliated me, drugged me, and tried to ruin my reputation, were you deaf?”
“When Wei Shu followed me to the temple to punish me for his sister, were you blind?”
“Where were you while they bullied me? The moment they failed and took a beating, you knew how to step forward.”
“An eldest brother is like a father. If they behave like scum, it is because you failed to teach them.”
“I have not even come to collect that debt from you, yet here you are, delivering a dry little lecture.”
“Does it offend you that I taught them how to behave but left you out?”
Wei Yu tightened his fist and silently shifted half a step aside.
“A glib tongue. You pretended to be frail, obedient, and virtuous for so long. Can you no longer maintain the act, or have you simply stopped trying?”
I advanced on him one step at a time.
“I have seen all of you for what you are.”
“Filth I can dispose of with the slightest use of my brain is not worth swallowing my pride and greeting with a smile.”
I slid one hand past his narrow waist and closed it around the door bolt.
“They have learned their lessons. One now looks at people with care instead of throwing a spoiled young lady’s tantrums; the other has reined himself in and no longer causes trouble at whim. Have I not helped both you and the Wei family?”
“There is no need for profuse thanks. Eldest Young Master, I should return to my courtyard.”
Wei Yu kept his back against the door, his voice hard.
“You have not given me your promise.”
So he had no intention of letting this end peacefully.
With barely an inch between us, I tilted my head up.
“Must you provoke me?”
He swept me a glance.
“You are the one who does not know when to stop. You have forgotten a guest’s proper bounds.”
“Oh?” I laughed.
“A guest’s proper bounds mean quietly enduring every insult and torment from her hosts?”
“If I refuse, exactly how discourteous do you intend to be?”
I stood so close that our bodies almost touched.
His lips trembled, but before he could utter whatever contemptuous insult was on his tongue,
I raised my hand and wickedly seized him between the legs.