Chapter 1

Chapter 1

When I was little, calamity struck my family.

My parents died early, and my eldest sister worked herself to the bone raising me. At our poorest, we had only one pair of trousers left in the house, and the three of us sisters took turns wearing them.

Life only grew harder after that, so I secretly sold myself and became Second Master’s bedchamber maid in the Marquis’s Residence.

When my eldest sister found out, she refused to speak to me ever again.

She was proud by nature and naturally unwilling to be someone else’s servant.

But in a world like this, what choice did the poor ever really have?

Besides, before I sold myself, I had carefully inquired about the Marquis’s Residence and learned that First Master had died early, Second Master was gravely ill, and the only people in the entire household who could still stand and breathe were a frail widow sister-in-law and the Heir Grandson who traveled back and forth to the Imperial Academy to study.

How could that not count as a good place to land?

Before I knew it, I had already been in the Marquis’s Residence for half a month.

That morning, when I got up, Yinjin, who served the Elder Branch, was standing in the courtyard. She nodded toward me and said, “Hey, go see whether Second Master is up yet.”

I glanced into the room.

“Not yet.”

She looked surprised. “How did you tell so fast?”

“Just looked.”

At that, she grew anxious. “No, I didn’t mean that!”

“If not that, then what did you mean?”

Seeing how clueless I was, Yinjin stamped her feet. “Oh, goodness! How embarrassing!”

With that, she turned and ran off in a hurry, leaving me even more bewildered.

Honestly, if she was going to speak, why couldn’t she make herself clear?

After thinking it over, I went into the side room.

Behind the brocade curtain lay a gaunt figure. His long, thick lashes were closed in sleep, casting a heavy shadow beneath his eyes.

This man was my master, Wang Long.

According to the servants in the house, before he fell ill he had been a stunning youth who could make the whole city throw fruit in his path. Even now, though his face had thinned to a narrow strip, you could still tell from his jet-black hair and long eye shape that he was born with good looks.

What a pity I had been in the Marquis’s Residence for several days and had still never seen him open his eyes.

The fact that he wasn’t awake made things easier for me.

Besides, as a bedchamber maid, I was only going to take a look. I wasn’t going to do anything else, so it should be fine… right?

Thinking that, I gathered my courage and climbed onto the bed.

Seeing that the person before me still had his eyes shut and was sleeping soundly, I reached out with trembling hands to undo his trousers. I was just about to grope around a little when I heard a weak cough above me.

The next moment, I slowly raised my eyes and met his gaze.

His voice was hoarse.

“What are you doing?”

“S-Second Master…”

This was the first time I had ever seen Wang Long awake.

His face was pale, with no trace of color at all, but his narrow eyes were like a cold pool, deep and dark. When those eyes shifted slightly, a chill seemed to seep out of them.

It made my whole body go cold.

“Who are you?”

“I, I…”

My body stiffened. “I’m the new bedchamber maid…”

He gave a soft laugh. “Bedchamber maid?”

The smile never reached his eyes before he broke into a violent fit of coughing again. “Cough… I-I, a useless cripple, need a bedchamber maid for what?!”

I mumbled, “I-It was Eldest Madam who bought me here.”

“Do-don’t drag my sister-in-law into this!” Wang Long was clearly furious. His knuckles turned white as he clutched the bed rail. “While I was unconscious, what exactly did you do to me?”

“Say it!”

Seeing him so aggrieved, like some wronged little wife whose chastity had been violated, I stammered, “J-just… just washed you, Young Master…”

“Washed me?” He threw his head back and laughed bitterly, the sound bleak and eerie. “You think I don’t know? You were trying to seduce me so I’d leak away my vital yang early and meet Buddha on the road to the Western Heaven!”

“I spit on that!”

As soon as he finished, his expression turned fierce. He swept his hand out, and in an instant, all the embroidered bedding flew to the floor!

“Dream on!”