Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I must have lost my mind!

How had I gotten myself tangled up with the prince’s man?!

That night, without saying a word, I carried the Begonia Demon back to his room, applied medicine to his wounds, and left.

I really had been possessed. If anyone found out, it would be a capital offense.

But I just couldn’t bear to watch him die in the Lotus Garden.

For the next half month, I snuck over every night to bring him medicine.

Only after his injuries had healed did I finally let out a breath of relief.

Once I relaxed, I ended up falling ill instead and asked the captain of the guards for seven days off.

The more I thought about it, the more terrified I became. Silently, I slapped myself across the face.

“You’ve lost your mind! You really have lost your mind!”

The mental strain was honestly too much. I ate three bowls of rice in one sitting.

When I got back to my room, I meant to pull the quilt over my head and have a good cry. Instead, I fell asleep.

After I woke up, I went to find Wang Hu for a drink.

Wang Hu poured out all his grievances to me.

“Who knows what madness came over His Highness? He suddenly summoned every guard to the front courtyard. We stood there like idiots for a full hour, and His Highness never even showed his face before dismissing us. My calves are still aching.”

I drank my wine and said with a miserable frown, “Huzi, tell me… if His Highness grows tired of the men in the Lotus Garden, what does he do with them?”

Wang Hu lowered his head and pinched a peanut between his fingers, answering casually, “They belong to His Highness. Even if they die, they have to die in the Lotus Garden. Back when His Highness first developed a taste for men a few years ago, he was vicious about it. Every now and then, they’d carry out a few corpses.”

I scratched my head in distress.

Sigh. I would have been better off not asking. Now I felt even worse.

The two of us were huddled together drinking when a burst of noise came from nearby.

“Qingyan has returned from his travels with even greater refinement this time. He is sure to place high in the examinations.”

“You flatter me.”

I looked toward the voices and, to my surprise, saw my cousin so distant we might as well have been strangers-Lin Qingyan.

Dressed in blue, he was dazzlingly elegant, and when he spoke to others, he was gentle and perfectly courteous.

But the moment he saw me, his expression instantly turned extremely cold.

I forced an awkward smile at him and immediately wanted to leave.

Not long after I stepped out, however, Lin Qingyan came after me.

The first thing Lin Qingyan said was, “I heard you’re working as a guard at Prince Ning’s Mansion. It counts as a proper job. The other day, I attended a poetry gathering at the Prince’s Mansion and received Prince Ning’s favor, so I mentioned you to him. If His Highness summons you in the future, be quick-witted. If you catch his eye, your prospects will be bright from then on.”

I hadn’t expected him to say any of that to me.

After all, two years ago, before he left to travel and study, things between us had become terribly ugly.

Holding my paintings and calligraphy, his face had been livid as he said, “Lin Xiaowu! What propriety is there in drawing things like this?”

The paintings had all been of Lin Qingyan.

My secret crush on him had been laid bare for all to see.

Now Lin Qingyan was pretending nothing had ever happened, and that was exactly what I wanted.

I quickly said, “Thank you, Brother.”

Lin Qingyan raised a hand and straightened my collar, saying mildly, “Come home and live there. Father and Mother miss you quite a bit.”

I awkwardly backed away a few steps and answered honestly, “Brother, I’m preparing to get married, so it’s more convenient for me to live outside.”