104 He’s Vengeful, She’s Vicious, You’re Greedy! 5 (1/2)
Clatter!
An inkbrush fell to the floor, and rolled across the wooden surface beyond reach. A young girl twisted in a half-moon chair in attempt of salvaging the brush, but alas, it had moved out of range within mere moments.
An Fei rolled her eyes, expelling a heartfelt and exhausted sigh.
Collapsing into the now uncomfortable chair, the young girl allowed her jaw to pry itself loose, directing a blank stare towards the sky.
The fingers of her right hand felt as if they had been submerged into a pit of molten magma, the appendages trembling as a searing heat blazed through her nerves.
Her elbow and upper arm was completely numb, creating a rather interesting but highly discomforting mixture of sensations. At the moment, the young girl wanted to nothing more than to take a long nap.
”Fourth Little Sister, the brush.”
A fair-skinned hand, elegant and comprised with the perfect proportions of masculinity and delicateness, deposited the recovered inkbrush into her feeble palms. When An Fei grumpily raised her gaze upward, she found the Eldest Young Master staring back with an indifferent expression.
”Why are you still here?”
Wei Chang Feng paused, before replying in an even tone that infuriated the young girl to no limits.
”The potential danger has not dissipated yet. Thus, Father agreed for me to continue residing here in the study.”
”I know that,” the girl rolled her eyes, unable to lift her arms to thoroughly slap the handsome yet cold youth before her.
”But why are you here, ah? Eldest Brother, you've been here since the crack of dawn, but you haven't moved a single muscle for hours. Even with your fourth little sister's hands are falling off working this dammed piece of calligraphy to death, you still sit in place doing what again!?”
To An Fei's utmost surprise and slight dread, the Eldest Young Master suddenly extended his hand, resting two fingers onto her forehead.
The young girl attempted to move back to avoid the sudden affront, yet discovered that her body lacked the strength to do so.
After a while, the youth's brows furrowed.
”There doesn't seem to be a fever or noticeable sweat…”
”Eldest Brother, what are you doing?”
The girl stared at him with widely opened eyes, a dumbstruck expression on her adorable countenance.
Wei Chang Feng abruptly recoiled and sat back down in his seat, quickly reverting to his usual cold mental state.
”Fourth Young Sister is from an official's family of the third rank; speaking in such a manner is inappropriate.”
”Then can't you help this fourth little sister out a little, ah?” An Fei exasperatedly shook her fist towards the youth.
”All you do is sit in that chair and preach all day long. How about instead of plotting your family member's death, you help me finish this absurd calligraphy assignment, ah?”
”Fourth Little Sister, I do not know calligraphy.”
The concise and curt reply slammed into the girl with the force of an unrestrained landslide, and she toppled from her perch on the half-moon chair.
Narrowly preventing her body from entering another intimate embrace with the earth, An Fei affixed an exhausted gaze towards the cold youth, dragging herself in the direction of the bed.
…she had little desire to glance in the direction of the drawing table.
Even without looking, An Fei was well aware of the miserable state the interior of the study of the Flowing Wind Residence had become.
Part of it was due to her work, and the latter lion's share belonged to that accursed Second Uncle and his calligraphy assignment.
The drawing table, the drying racks, the bookshelves, the loose pieces of furniture placed onto the ground upright, and even large partitions of the floor – all were covered to the brim with sheets upon sheets of paper marred by black ink.
Hundreds and hundreds of sheets bombed the study, leaving little room for the two inhabitants to move around. All of this was due to the odd day An Fei had believed that Wei Xuan had dispatched her the unique calligraphy assignment.
The Treatise on the Healthy Mindfulness and Spirit by the Great Scholar Tie, the young girl wished to do nothing more than rip it to shreds with her own hands. If it weren't for that book, she wouldn't have fallen for Wei Xuan's trap!
He had carefully read over the dozens of sheets packed to the brim with dense, compact characters, releasing sounds of excitement and astonishment whilst marveling at the speed at which the young girl had produced the copy.
Then, under the guise of practicing calligraphy and making up for lost time, the crafty minister had launched an inescapable wager onto the unsuspecting girl, knowing far too well that An Fei could not reject the temptation.