For months, Yu Zhi stood anxiously in front of the Juanxin Villa, never expecting that the person she would meet upon stepping inside would be the benefactor who had given her a meal in her past life.
She thought her benefactor was an incredibly kind person, a fairy sent by heaven to save her.
But fate played another cruel joke on her—her benefactor coveted her body and wanted to take her as a concubine.
She struggled, felt resentful, and was conflicted and confused, wondering whether the fourth young lady was good or bad, and confused about whether her words were true or false.
Her subsequent experiences in Liushui Lane made her determined to find a powerful backer.
Find a powerful backer to protect yourself and your mother from being bullied.
In just a few months, they went from being benefactors and beneficiaries who had only met a few times to becoming intimate and affectionate bed partners.
In short, a few months ago, Yu Zhi would never have imagined that one day she would be lying on this man's thin back, watching the endless wind and snow of Ruanshui Town.
She raised her hand to brush the snow off the fourth young lady's hair, her voice coquettish: "You're treating me so well now, are you just thinking of taking advantage of me at night?"
Upon hearing this, Wei Pingxi smiled like a snow lotus from the Tianshan Mountains: "You've become smarter?"
Her appearance is truly deceptive, and her voice even more so—clear, gentle, and elegant, yet her words always carry a hint of roguishness.
Yu Zhi thought of the tricks they had played before, and felt completely drained.
She didn't speak, and Wei Pingxi stopped teasing her.
Back in the town, at the inn where we rested, hot baths made of jade, agate, gold, and silver ingots were already prepared.
Yu Zhi's lips were slightly swollen from being kissed on the snow by her earlier. She only noticed this when she looked in the mirror after entering the house, and she was so ashamed that she couldn't face anyone.
No wonder Jinshi Yinding was looking at her with such an ambiguous expression.
"Auntie, Miss is urging you to go and soak in hot water."
"Come in."
Yu Zhi slowly raised her flushed face from the table.
Jin Shi entered the room and greeted her with a grin: "Auntie..."
She pointed to her lips: "Miss really loves you."
Even the freezing cold couldn't extinguish that woman's passion, which shows how incredibly charming her aunt was.
"What nonsense are you talking about?" Yu Zhi, who was pampered with fine clothes and delicacies every day, was gradually taking on the airs of a concubine. She gave a light scolding, and Jin Shi wisely stopped talking.
However, she didn't stay quiet for long before saying, "I think you are destined to be a mistress. With your good fortune, your future is sure to be bright."
Her claim of a bright future stemmed from being promoted from a concubine to the principal wife.
In the Great Yan Dynasty, many women were concubines, but none were elevated to the rank of wife.
Yu Zhi didn't know where she got the confidence to believe that the Fourth Miss would love her so much that she would be willing to give up her position as the principal wife.
She opened her mouth, intending to teach her not to speak presumptuously again, but somehow she swallowed the words back.
"Auntie, Miss is urging you."
The silver ingot called softly from outside.
"Look, Miss can't be without you for even a moment."
She needs someone to accompany her when she takes a bath.
Yu Zhi lamented that meeting Wei Pingxi meant she was destined to be overworked, working day and night—or, to be precise, perhaps she should add the word "was" before that.
She was thinking a little too far ahead, and left the room with a blush on her face.
The best inn in town has a newly built pool to accommodate distinguished guests, but the pool will be demolished after the guests leave.
Distinguished guests are particular and do not wish to share a bath with those who come later.
Soaking in a hot spring in winter is an extremely enjoyable experience.
White mist rose, water vapor surged upwards, it was warm and made people's faces more beautiful than peach blossoms.
Miss Wei was quite comfortable in the pool, her skin was so white that Yu Zhi covered her face in disgust.
"Get down."
A splash of water rang out, and soon the two of them, their skin white and their bodies tender and moist, were revealed.
Wei Pingxi lazily lay on her back: "Why are you so slow?"
The soft, warm touch was distinct, and Yu Zhi's mind wandered: "I spoke a few words with Jin Shi."
"Is gold and stone more important than me?" Miss Wei, driven by possessiveness, narrowed her slender eyes: "Whose woman are you?"
"..."
Yu Zhi scolded her for being unreasonable, saying that she had done all sorts of outrageous things to her, and after getting the benefit, she even asked her whose woman she was.
She couldn't reason with the fourth young lady. Considering that the fourth young lady was five years younger than her, her ears turned red as she suppressed the embarrassment of being an "old cow eating young grass": "It's yours."
Wei Pingxi's slight discomfort in his chest finally subsided.
"Then you'd better remember this well: you are my woman, and no one can get past me before I'm done with you."
The words weren't exactly pleasant, but Yu Zhi could still detect a hint of awkwardness in them.
Miss Fourth always says she's tired of playing, but she's been playing for so long and isn't she still not tired of it?
"what's on your mind?"
How long will it take before I get tired of playing with you?
Yu Zhi turned around and hugged her: "I wasn't thinking about anything."
She clearly wasn't telling the truth, and considering that she had taken the initiative to throw herself into his arms, Wei Pingxi cupped her face and kissed her passionately.
The wind stopped, the snow stopped, and the sun came out, melting puddles of water on the ground.
The weather was dry and cold.
The Wei family's carriages and horses entered the capital in a grand procession.
The Wei flag fluttered in the wind, and the moral guardians who had been waiting in front of the city gate spontaneously formed a human wall to block the middle of the road.
The carriage encountered an obstacle.
"Mother, please stay inside. I'll go out and take a look."
Wei Pingxi gave a brief instruction to another carriage, and received a short response from Madam Wei, who then picked up the long sword beside her.
Yu Zhi got off the bus.
Before she could even appear in public, Wei Pingxi scolded her, "What are you doing here? Go back."
Yu Zhi blinked, not understanding where her temper came from.
"My concubine is not to be shown to those hypocritical men. Go back now!"
She at least had a plausible explanation, but Yu Zhi grabbed her sleeve: "You can be shown to people in the Wei family, so why do you want me to hide you now that we're in the capital?"
Wei Pingxi chuckled: "Why bother with all that? Does sleeping with someone or not make the same thing?"
"..."
She lifted the curtain and stepped out of the car with an air of grandeur.
"The sea of sin is vast and boundless; I urge Fourth Miss to turn back before it's too late! How can you, a mere woman, take a concubine? Wouldn't that be a disgrace to the women of our Great Yan Dynasty?"
An elderly man in Confucian robes, his hair white, stood at the front, earnestly and indignantly pleading, "You are trying to reverse the natural order of yin and yang; this is utterly rebellious!"
"And then? Sir, you want to kill me?"
The fourth young lady held her sword and raised her eyebrows.
Clad in white with black hair, she was so stunning that everyone who saw her on both sides of the road exclaimed in amazement, "Even a celestial being descended to earth couldn't be more beautiful than this!"
The men were distraught, and after recovering slightly, they sighed heavily.
Interestingly, the moralists could hurl all sorts of harsh words at her without her presence, but the moment they saw her, they instantly became docile cats.
What kind of depraved person would dare to speak disrespectfully to a beautiful woman favored by heaven?
They only thought she had been bewitched by a sorceress.
Unaware that she had been falsely accused, Yu Zhi listened intently to the sounds outside the train carriage.
The old scholar stroked his beard: "Scholars are kind and benevolent. It's enough that Miss Fourth has reformed herself. There's no need for violence."
"Really? You all want me to change my ways?"
She looked around at the crowd blocking her way.
"It is a woman's duty to marry and have children. The fact that Miss Si is willing to turn back from her wrong path is a beautiful story of a virtuous woman in our Great Yan Dynasty. We—"
Wei Pingxi frowned, and with a flash of sword light, the sword energy shattered the long table not far away.
Wood chips flew everywhere.
He tossed a silver ingot into the vendor's arms: "It was an accident. I'll compensate you for the table."
A table only costs a few dollars, and she was so generous that the vendors wished they could bring out a few more tables for her to chop up as much as she wanted. They were so grateful that they shouted "Fourth Miss is so kind!" and happily watched the spectacle with their hands in their pockets.
The sword strike startled the moralists, who turned pale and stumbled back several steps.
This inevitably brings to mind the day the Fourth Miss took a concubine, she cleared the way with a sword. If the Emperor and Empress's decree hadn't arrived in time, she might have actually used the blood of scholars to kill those who dared to disobey.
How can we stop them?
I can't bear to scold them, and I can't beat them in a fight.
They have a long-standing relationship with the Fourth Miss.
They viewed the fourth young lady as a rebellious son in the family, feeling disappointed in her but also unable to bear seeing her get into trouble.
When I can see her, I hate her for her rebelliousness; when I can't see her, I still miss her.
If she were truly forced to draw her sword and injure someone in this strategically important area, things would likely turn out badly.
The elderly scholar stepped aside.
The moral guardians behind them also made way.
The journey was smooth and unimpeded. Wei Pingxi clasped his hands in a gesture of respect and said, "Thank you for your kind offer."
She rarely comes to the capital, and many people gathered here have come following her footsteps. She only said a few words before she had to return to her carriage, and after only a few glances, she had to run away again.