Chapter 5

The peach blossoms bloomed and fell. Small fruits appeared on the branches.

Before I reached the study, I heard a plaintive complaint.

“Second Young Master, give it back…”

“Why are you so stingy? I’m only having a look.”

Xie Yunzheng’s clear voice held a hint of laughter. “This wild duck is… remarkably lifelike.”

I entered and saw Xue Rao standing on tiptoe, reaching for the painting in his hand.

She gritted her teeth. “Second Young Master, I painted mandarin ducks.”

He folded the painting carelessly and tucked it into the front of his robe.

“They don’t look like them. I suppose I’ll take it off your hands.”

Ever since Xue Rao began studying with me, Xie Yunzheng had been visiting the study whenever he had time.

With each visit, they seemed to grow closer.

The furious Xie Yunzheng who had struck her that night could almost have been a figure from a dream.

Things he once brought only for me, he now brought for Xue Rao too.

He no longer called her a wretched servant. Sometimes he even took up a book and explained it to her.

It was almost as though he considered her a sister, although his closeness to her was different from his affection for me.

Xie Yunzheng still spent nights at the pavilion.

The next day, Xue Rao would look listless.

She struggled to keep her eyes open through lessons and labored over her notes.

But she never told me anything.

I thought they were both willing, so I could only pretend not to notice.

Then Eldest Brother returned from investigating a case away from home.

At the family dinner, Xie Yunqiao looked the same restrained, high-minded gentleman as ever.

He asked gently after me, then after Xue Rao.

“Those two are inseparable now.”

Xie Yunzheng smiled and shook his head. “Mother knew best. Look at them—they’ve both filled out.”

Mother held me fondly. “All thanks to the good fortune Ah Rao brings.”

For a sickly girl like me, putting on weight was indeed good fortune.

At Mother’s words, Xue Rao gave an awkward smile.

“You flatter me, Madam.”

She looked so meek and harmless that I marveled at her acting.

No wonder Mother had been willing to send her to me despite all the rumors.

Father and my brothers simply watched us laugh and talk.

The next day, Xue Rao sent word that she was ill.

I went to visit her, but passing through the garden, I heard mocking voices.

“What a commotion in the pavilion last night. You’d think they wanted everyone to hear.”

“Merciful heavens, how did we ever let a creature like that into this house?”

“I heard the second young master went there after midnight too. They carried on until she fell ill. She can’t even get out of bed.”

“Poor Third Miss. She was kind enough to help someone like…”

Nanny Li looked at me cautiously.

“Miss, it’s a foul place. Best not to go. You shouldn’t have to see it.”

I shook my head.

A strange fragrance still lingered in the pavilion.

It was strongest in Xue Rao’s room.

Her maid stood beside the bed, wiping her down. When she saw me, she murmured timidly, “Miss.”

Xue Rao’s thick lashes lifted at once.

Her eyes were red and swollen, and there were injuries on her face.

She stared at me with bloodshot eyes.

I took the cloth from the maid.

“Go and prepare her medicine. I’ll do this.”

Xue Rao caught my hand. She tried to smile, but her dry lip split and bled.

“Third Miss, you mustn’t…”

Her hand was too weak to stop me.

“No… Xie Mingzhu, I don’t want you doing it!”

I would not listen. She struggled to sit up, hurt herself somehow, and let out a muffled cry.