chapter 3
Chapter 3
Liang Yun rubbed his eyes in panic.
Someone must have sneaked into the Cave while he was away, stolen the Master’s mask, and played such a trick!
Liang Yun stared at the pink mask on the man’s face, cold sweat breaking out.
The Master has that grave illness-if he wakes up and finds himself wearing such a thing…
Suddenly, the man on the Ice Bed opened his eyes.
Those eyes were long and deep, clearly cold and wicked, yet somehow inexplicably suffused with endless warmth and allure.
Liang Yun was startled: “Master, you-you’re awake?!”
Di Xiulan sat up, expressionless, and removed the mask.
With a flick of his slender fingertips, the knot on the mask loosened, turning it into a soft, pink handkerchief.
He lowered his gaze to look at it and praised softly,
“Mm, what a cute handkerchief.”
His voice was magnetic and pleasant, always tinged with an eerie gentleness.
Liang Yun: “…”
Liang Yun felt a chill down his spine and immediately knelt with a thud, terrified: “Master, please calm your anger!”
Di Xiulan indifferently stroked the handkerchief in his hand, his voice cool.
“Liang Yun, explain.”
Liang Yun hurriedly replied, “Master, last night I had unbearable stomach pain and stepped out for a moment… When I returned, you had already awakened!”
“According to my deduction, a highly skilled person must have entered the Cave while I was away, kindly lifted the Soul-Departing Curse for you, and left without a name, leaving only this as a token!”
As he spoke, he excitedly pointed at the pink handkerchief in Di Xiulan’s hand.
“…”
Di Xiulan: “Heh.”
If he hadn’t woken up early, he might have believed that story.
The moment his lips were kissed, his soul unexpectedly returned.
Though he couldn’t move at first, he was very clear that it was a brazenly bold madwoman who kissed him.
And after just one kiss, she leapt up in disgust, cursed, and stormed off…
Before leaving, she even took his mask and put this thing on his face.
Liang Yun saw the man’s gloomy and subtle expression and couldn’t help but wonder, “Master, the Soul-Departing Curse was supposed to be incurable. What method did that person use to wake you up early?”
Di Xiulan didn’t answer, merely tossed the handkerchief back to him, rubbing his lips with a smile.
“Find her. Alive.”
Liang Yun caught the handkerchief, shuddering.
The Master’s perverse tone, perverse smile, and the demand for her to be alive…
Alive.
That meant, as long as she was still breathing!
Judging by this, that person must have offended the Master.
Liang Yun looked at the handkerchief in his hand and sighed.
Whoever offends the Master is doomed to a miserable end!
…
After Ye Piaoling descended the mountain, she found a small inn, and only the next day did she take a carriage back to the Imperial City.
The carriage stopped in front of Ye Mansion. Ye Piaoling looked at the plaque and sorted through the original host’s memories.
The original host’s Father was the current Prime Minister, named Ye Liaozhai.
What a name…
Ye Piaoling shook her head and clicked her tongue, as if something ghostly was about to happen.
The original host’s birth mother died early, and later Ye Liaozhai married several concubines. As the only legitimate daughter, Ye Liaozhai used to treat her well, but after she became useless to the Ye family, his fatherly love collapsed like a landslide…
She went from being the pride of heaven to the target of everyone’s bullying and ridicule.
Ye Piaoling sighed and walked through the main gate.
The maids and servants in the mansion whispered and watched her as a joke.
“Wasn’t the Eldest Miss going to become a nun? Why is she back?”
“Maybe she’s so useless that even the temples wouldn’t take her!”
The Eldest Miss was once the family’s glory, but now she was redundant and a laughingstock. In the entire Prime Minister’s Mansion, no one wanted her back.
But Ye Piaoling didn’t care at all about others’ opinions. Let them say whatever the hell they want.
She continued walking towards her own Falling Petals Courtyard, sighing gloomily to herself.
Just as she stepped through the gate, she heard the heart-wrenching wails of a young man coming from the main hall.
“My Eldest Miss, how could you just leave like this-”
“Wuwuwu, now that you’re gone, leaving me all alone, so pitiful and helpless, how am I supposed to go on living!!!”
It sounded just like a funeral lament.
Ye Piaoling felt a complicated mix of emotions as she listened.
That familiar voice belonged to the Shadow Guard of the Falling Petals Courtyard-Fox Shadow!
Ever since she lost her spiritual power, the servants of the Falling Petals Courtyard had been gradually withdrawn, until only one maid, Qiao Shu, and one Shadow Guard, Fox Shadow, remained.
Qiao Shu hadn’t wanted to stay either, and had complained constantly. Later, when she heard the original owner was going to become a nun, she immediately chose a better branch to perch on and went to Aunt Liu’s courtyard.
Only Fox Shadow was left, loyal to the end.
Fox Shadow was extremely handsome, the most attractive man in the Ye Mansion. Many maids secretly admired him, and even the concubines couldn’t help but sneak a few glances when they saw him.
There had long been other young ladies in the mansion who extended olive branches to him, hoping he would come serve in their courtyards, but he refused them all without hesitation, determined to stay and guard the Falling Petals Courtyard.
Who would have thought that even after his master was gone, he would still remain here, unwilling to leave for so long…
“Heavens above, please let my Eldest Miss come back! I miss her so much!”
“I miss her so much I can’t sit still, I can hardly go on living!”
Fox Shadow’s mournful cries continued to echo out.
His tone was so full of pain and sorrow.
Men would fall silent upon hearing it, women would be moved to tears…
Ye Piaoling couldn’t help but sigh.
How rare! There was still someone in the Ye Mansion who truly cared about her!
Fox Shadow’s loyalty was truly moving!
Ye Piaoling was so touched that her eyes filled with tears. She reached out and pushed open the door.
And then she saw a strikingly handsome man in black attire, brows like flying swords, eyes like cold stars, sitting with one leg crossed over the other in a relaxed pose, in front of a table piled high with fine wine and delicious dishes.
Fox Shadow was enjoying the feast all by himself, sighing and lamenting between bites:
“Ah, my life is so bitter!”
“The Eldest Miss has abandoned me like this, leaving me alone to guard this desolate and empty courtyard… How am I supposed to go on like this!”
Ye Piaoling: “…”
Ye Piaoling’s face was full of black lines. “Doesn’t this look like a pretty good life to me?”
At the sound of her voice, Fox Shadow nearly choked on a chicken leg.
He whipped his head around, his handsome face filled with astonishment:
“E-Eldest Miss?!”
He swallowed his food excitedly and stood up. “Eldest Miss, you’re back?”
“Mhm.”
Ye Piaoling walked to the table and looked at the mountain of delicious food, counting it.
There must be at least twenty dishes here.
Fox Shadow hurriedly handed her a clean bowl and chopsticks. “Eldest Miss, after you left, I missed you so much that I always set out an extra bowl and pair of chopsticks for you at every meal.”
Ye Piaoling twitched the corner of her mouth. “Well, thank you so much…”
Such formalism, but he really did it thoroughly.
“It’s only what I should do,” Fox Shadow said, pointing at the dishes and smiling obsequiously. “These were sent over by a few maids. If you don’t mind, Eldest Miss, please try some.”
The maids in the mansion who admired Fox Shadow saw him guarding the Falling Petals Courtyard alone and would often bring him food as a way to get close to him.
Ye Piaoling happened to be hungry, so she sat down to eat with Fox Shadow.
Fox Shadow looked at her, his eyes glinting with an unreadable smile. “My Eldest Miss, I truly wished for your quick return! My loyalty to you is witnessed by Heaven and Earth!”
Ye Piaoling was too busy eating to look up, but she asked without lifting her head.
“Fox Shadow, I’m actually curious-why are you willing to stay in the Falling Petals Courtyard… Don’t you think following a useless Eldest Miss like me is a dead end?”