Chapter 3

Chapter 3

I bit my lower lip and said nothing.

Then, while he was off guard, I shoved him down onto the bed, yanked the quilt over, and covered his face.

I rolled off the bed, stumbled to the window, and climbed out to escape.

I practically crawled back to my room.

My legs were so weak I could barely stand.

Xiaocui and Xiaohua were still awake. Hearing the noise, they hurried over, and their faces went white at the sight of me.

“Miss! You…”

I waved them off and buried myself headfirst under the covers, my voice muffled as I said, “I’m fine. I just took a fall. Go sleep, both of you. No need to keep watch tonight.”

The two exchanged a look, but in the end they did not dare ask more. They withdrew quietly.

I buried my face in the pillow. Once I had calmed down, my body felt much better.

My brother’s lingering warmth seemed to still cover me, impossible to shake off.

The next day, I was just planning to claim illness, stay in my room, and hide for the entire day.

The curtain was lifted, and a maid from the Madam’s side came in.

“The Commandery Princess’s household is hosting a grand flower-viewing banquet today. Everyone in the manor is to attend, including the Eldest Young Master. Please dress yourself with care, Miss. Do not disgrace Ningyang Marquis Manor.”

Her gaze swept lightly over my face. Once she finished speaking, she left without even taking a sip of tea.

I stood there in a daze.

Right on cue, the bullet comments drifted past.

[I’m speechless! The Male Lead actually got slept with by a stranger! This isn’t how the original plot went!]

[And his face was covered… He couldn’t see who it was at all.]

[As long as it wasn’t the Female Lead, who cares who it was?]

[Not a big problem. The Male Lead and Female Lead are about to meet anyway. The famous flower-viewing banquet scene! Waiting patiently!]

I tidied myself up simply and carefully covered every trace from last night.

Only after making certain nothing could go wrong did I finally head out late.

Perhaps because it had been so long since I had been nourished by a man, the gloom that had weighed on my chest for days vanished all at once. I was in an excellent mood.

The carriage had long since been waiting outside the manor. The Madam was coldly reprimanding several of my elder sisters, telling them to mind their words and conduct outside.

Shen Yanci stood off to the side, tall and elegant as jade, his head lowered as though lost in thought.

When he saw me, his gaze was calm and impartial, carrying no other meaning at all.

“Brother.”

My eyes curved with a smile as I greeted him.

His gaze lingered on my face for two seconds.

In the end, he merely nodded.

No different from usual.

I breathed a sigh of relief.

Thank goodness. He had not recognized me.

The flower-viewing banquet was held at the Commandery Princess’s Furong Garden.

The women gathered in groups of three or five, laughing and chatting as they waved round fans, though their eyes kept drifting in the same direction from time to time.

I followed their gazes.

By the waterside pavilion stood the silhouettes of several men.

They were too far away for me to make out their faces, but one of them stood straight as a pine, dressed in blue robes with a jade crown. Just by standing there, he set himself apart from the others like cloud from mud.

Shen Yanci.

I quickly looked away and found an old crabapple tree in a quiet corner to lean against and sit down.

I could not help worrying in silence about my future.

As the bullet comments had said, Shen Yanci had his own destined woman.

I had read enough novels to know that forcibly interfering in the karma between the Male Lead and Female Lead was going against the will of heaven.

It would not end well.

So using my brother’s body once was enough.

I could not get greedy.

Then what was I supposed to do from now on?

Although I was only Background Character A,

that did not stop me from picking out a man for myself with a first-rate body and first-rate skills.

My gaze swept around the banquet. This flower-viewing banquet had probably gathered every young lord and general in the capital.

He needed a good build, a beautiful face, and that part had to be pink.

Just as I was focusing on appraising them one by one, I suddenly heard a cry of alarm.

“Ah! County Lady Jiale has fallen into the water! Somebody, help!”