Chapter 37 (1/2)

Chapter 37 Orginal and most updated translations are from volaretranslations.

While I was lost in thought, Second had already opened the windows. The sunlight was dazzling and there was a refres.h.i.+ng breeze. I drew in a breath, rinsing my mouth out and was.h.i.+ng my face before holding onto his shoulder for a lazy stretch. Then I opened the doors and prepared to go out.

“Wear another layer,” Second hurriedly grabbed one of the bedcovers and tried to force it over my shoulders.

“No need, it’s not cold today,” I refused with my hands.

He furrowed his brows without a word to stare at me, eyes slipping down to my chest. I followed his gaze to make my own observations. What was he looking at? My development there was perfectly normal.

“Master shouldn’t be wearing men’s clothes at all,” so saying, he unfolded a set of robes and shook them out three times. He used it to cover me from the back and added, “If outsiders see, it’d be bad.”

I was frustrated.

Even a few extra layers wouldn’t hide the truth of my female gender. Not to mention, everyone in this house was one of my people…

Then I laughed in spite of myself, he sure knew how to learn from others. My finger casually rested beneath his chin and gave it a scratch. “Oh, Second, if you keep worrying over things like this, you’re going to turn into my son.”

His face turned completely red.

Draping my robes loosely over myself, I carelessly kicked open the door. As it turned out, I was greeted by chaos[1].

What did you call this…

Being bad at being good, but good at being bad?

Second had really made a good guess. Standing in the yard, I lifted my eyes to see a yellow-robed youth standing gracefully at a high point, raising his head to curse loudly.

“It’s not like I’ll kill you, so what are you running away for?” As he said this, he rolled up his sleeves and spat. “I refuse to believe that I can’t poison you.”

I heaved a sigh and accepted the cup of tea from Second, sipping in silence as I watched pa.s.sively.

There was no need to say it. The little Poison Prince had clashed with the others in the house again. Even after staying by my side all these years, his explosive temper hadn’t changed. Hence, now he was swearing as he ran haphazardly through the rooms.

Yet, the person evading him was very fast. It was hard to see his steps as he leapt on roofs and vaulted over walls, weaving in and out of the bamboo forest as pale pink blur.

Good.

Though Sixth’s body was weak, exercising over the years had made his lightness technique better and better. I was full of interest as I tagged along to look, my long robe draped across my shoulders.

A sound floated up from the ground.

I quickly backtracked and looked down, flushed with shame. There was already a man paralyzed on the ground, his scar-covered face turning green with anger. It looked like he’d been poisoned and was now unable to move.

Yikes…

Did I step on him by accident?

I was alarmed, but after seeing who it was, I grew used to it. I inspected my surroundings before using my foot to nudge his clothes. “You’re the only straightforward and honest one, you get tricked every time. That can’t be easy.” Finally, I squatted down, head bowed in submission as I thumped his knee. “Fifth…my poor Fifth, it’s fine if you were born ugly, but I just treated you a bit last night and now you’ve been poisoned on your face again.”

“Master, you’re blocking me,” Second clicked his tongue a few times.

“Oh,” I stopped to wipe my face, reluctantly moving aside a few steps. There was a stone table nearby, with two people seated on low stools. Intrigued, I went over. “What are you guys playing?”

“Xiangqi,” answered a rhythmic, sonorous voice. “We were just waiting for Second to finish serving you…so he could come…help treat Fifth’s poison.”

“Ah, Master woke up really early today. Wait…it’s my turn, stop.” a delicate and pretty young lord held his chess piece in the air, muttering indecisively. He couldn’t seem to make up his mind, but the brown mole by his eye made him especially good-looking. I quietly moved over and took a glance, before pointing at a certain spot, my head turned towards the skies in a careless fas.h.i.+on.

He blinked, and it seemed as if the fog had cleared from his eyes. Glancing at me, he hesitated again before slowly lowering his piece. “I’ll move from here to here.”

“General!” A crystal-clear voice spat out the words. That handsome and spirited man sat in an extremely dignified fas.h.i.+on, smiling gently as he set down a piece without a hint of anger. “This time you lost two pieces of fine silver. Your total is nine losses, which converts with interest into 120 taels.”

Ah…

When playing with such high stakes, be careful that you’re not ruined.

His mouth stiffened as he collected the money, before turning to speak. “Ah, Little Fifth was poisoned with the Seven Scattering Emotions, so he can’t be touched…but you…” he looked over at Second, who was currently taking Fifth’s pulse, and paused. “Never mind, you’ve already touched him. Well, it’s not like you fear poisons anyways. But poor Fifth will have to endure six more hours of pain now.”

—

Good grief…did you purposely wait before bringing that up?

He probably saw me spending all that time in Fifth’s room last night and wanted to punish him. As expected, the more beautiful a person was, the more sinister was their heart. I’m afraid no one else in the world could be beautiful and harmless like that person…

My thoughts strayed, and I felt a dull ache in my heart. My hands tightened as I focused on circulating my Qi to compose myself…

There was a hwaaaaa! Astonished, I looked to see someone wave their sleeves, the fabric floating whimsically. The chess pieces scattered off the board and tumbled to the ground.

“No more, I’m not playing, I’ve lost all my pay for the month,” the delicate, pretty young lord with the mole waved his sleeves, digging inside before holding open the fabric for me to see. Exactly as he said…it was completely empty. He probably noticed I was acting strange and got the idea to distract me. With a smile, he spoke. “It was all Master’s fault that I carelessly spent my silver. How many face masks will I have to sell to recover the differences in costs?”

My heart turned warm as I interrupted, “Fourth, didn’t you say last time that one face mask can sell for lots of money?”

“Those are human skin face masks…” he cast a sidelong glance at me. “Now that I’m with you, how could I dare tear off human skins? You can’t get much from selling pig skin face masks.”

Limpid pupils turned to peer at me again before he leaned with a whisper. “Since I’m broke, I’ll eat and drink off you, all right?”

“Sure!”

His smile caused the tiny brown mole at the edge of his eyes to raise up. He was exceptionally handsome when he looked at me, making me happy enough to want to hug him in my arms. Unfortunately, it was hard to make a move with everyone else watching.

He struck while the iron was hot and scooted closer, adding in another line. “My bedcovers are a little thin. Originally I wanted to buy new ones with my winnings, but since you lost everything for me, you wouldn’t mind if we share your bed tonight, right?”

“I don’t mind…”

Suddenly, someone kicked my b.u.t.t from behind, leaving me with a burning pain. My mind blanked out before I regained my bearings.

Wait a sec…