Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Once I had run out of the garden, I acted as if nothing had happened and continued wandering around nearby.

Who would have thought that only moments later, a commotion would gradually rise in the distance? Several servants were beating gongs and drums with all their might, shouting at the top of their lungs outside the gate.

“Something’s happened!”

“Everyone to the central courtyard, quickly!”

“The master has summoned everyone to speak!”

Uneasy, I blended in behind the maids and servants hurrying toward the central courtyard. After a short wait, a figure emerged from beyond the hanging-flower gate, his informal robes flowing like water, light and draping. His eyes swept over the crowd.

As though he really had suffered something dreadful, his expression was grave.

“I have gathered everyone here today because there is a matter I must inform you of.

“Just now, while I was resting in the carriage, some scoundrel secretly took liberties with me…

“Did any of you see who it was?”

Everyone looked at one another, then shook their heads.

Seeing this, the young man gathered up his thin, fluttering sleeves and gave a cold snort. “Very well!

“If this person is found, hang that lecher in the central courtyard and let everyone who passes by go up and give them a beating!

“Only then will the hatred in my heart be eased!”

Me: “…”

As the young man spoke, his pale eyes swept across the crowd, carrying a calm assurance as if everything was already within his grasp.

…Somehow, I had the distinct feeling he had already discovered me. But when I looked more closely, his expression remained cool and detached.

As if I was simply overthinking it.

Early summer days were long, and the sweltering heat was hard to bear.

Before I knew it, I had already been staying at Han Manor for half a year. Every day, I wandered about aimlessly with my arms swinging, and no one bothered to manage me at all.

It was said that Han Mo went into the mountains every year to escape the heat for several days. Once June arrived, the servants in the manor began packing luggage, preparing to head to another estate.

With nothing better to do, I slipped in behind a group of young maids and set off with the convoy.

This estate was built at the foot of the mountains. Stone bridges and thatched cottages wound around the curving banks, water splashed and murmured, and flowers and grasses shone bright. It was a fine place to spend the summer and avoid the heat.

After getting out of the carriage, I once again saw that White Ox. Yet everyone else seemed as though they could not see it at all, letting the ox wander wherever it pleased until it slowly made its way outside the estate.

While no one was paying attention, I quietly followed it.

In my heart, however, I was still thinking about Han Mo saying he would hang me up and beat me half to death.

Heh.

Who told him to wander around outside all by himself?

So I touched him. What of it?

Not only would I touch him once, I was going to touch him a second time too!

The sky soon darkened. A silver hook of a moon hung in a thin line, and the north wind blew so hard it seemed about to scatter the halo around it.

I chased after the White Ox all the way into the wilds of the mountain.

Through the fluttering gauze curtains, I could see Han Mo inside, half reclining, half lying down. His eyes were slightly closed, his features elegant and sparse as willow branches.

Intent on touching him again, I secretly climbed onto the carriage and, familiar with the route by now, reached toward those beautifully shaped lips.

In the blink of an eye-

The very next moment.

Someone abruptly caught my wrist!

Before I could even react, I had already been dragged into the carriage and pinned tightly onto his lap, face to face.

For a moment, I stared at him, dumbfounded. “You tricked me!!”

The young man’s expression was still fairly calm, but both his hands held me fast and refused to let go. His smile seemed to sink into the light wind and thin night.

“So you’re allowed to touch me, but I’m not allowed to trick you?”

Seeing that struggling was useless, I could not help snapping at him in anger, “Didn’t you say you had no intention of forcing anything on me?!”

He nodded in acknowledgment. “Naturally.

“Unless-

“You deliver yourself to me.”