Surely it wasn't the Fourth Miss who came here?
She smiled, feeling inexplicably ashamed of her absurd idea.
The door latch was intact, and there was no suspicious hair left on the pillow or blanket.
Yu Zhi got dressed and went outside. She asked Hong'er and received a matter-of-fact answer. Seeing that everyone in the courtyard looked perfectly normal, she put the matter out of her mind.
But when exactly will the Fourth Miss be able to come to see her?
All she is learning now is for her alone. If she cannot gain her approval, all she will learn will eventually lead to frustration.
Another month has passed in the blink of an eye.
As the sun set in the west, Granny Wu, with half the sky glowing in the evening light, entered Yu Zhi's studio.
"Granny?"
Yuzhi put down her paintbrush.
After glancing at her a few times and confirming that the beauty was well-nourished and without the slightest flaw, Wu Mama calmed herself down and said, "Go take a bath and burn incense later. At night, Mama will take you to the Jingzhe Courtyard."
"Go to Jingzhe Courtyard?" Yu Zhi's eyebrows lifted in delight. "Can I go back now?"
"It's not really a return; the Fourth Miss only said she'd let you warm her bed."
"Warm...warm the bed?"
"You'll get used to it." Granny Wu walked around to her side like a proper servant attending to her mistress, supporting her delicate wrist: "Let's go."
Soaking in the bath, separated by the embroidered screen depicting flowers and birds, Yu Zhi tentatively asked, "Will I be able to see the Fourth Miss on this trip?"
"I can't see you. The Fourth Miss said she won't see you."
Yu Zhi's heart sank suddenly—why couldn't she be seen?
"Just do your job well," Granny Wu comforted her. "Fourth Miss's temperament is different from ordinary people. Let me tell you something from the heart."
She lowered her voice: "The Wei family is a noble family, but the one who truly has the bearing of a master is the one from Jingzhe Courtyard. Don't talk about how the three young masters are rumored to be outside, based on my experience serving people in the palace, the one who can put pressure on people is her."
The deeper meaning behind those words was beyond Yuzhi's comprehension at this moment.
But she was still on tenterhooks because of the old woman's advice.
She said with emotion, "The nanny treats me so well."
She even dared to speak ill of her master to her.
Granny Wu straightened up and smiled kindly: "It's alright, how many more years can this old woman live? It's fate that we met, I'll help you as much as I can."
The Fourth Miss's unpredictable temperament and eccentric behavior are evident in the fact that even the Old Master's actions have some discernible pattern. To try to predict her actions based on common sense would only lead to self-contradiction.
Whether she sees you or not, just focus on doing your own thing.
Just because the Fourth Miss rushed over late at night a month ago, I was bound to see her sooner or later.
We'll have to see each other sooner or later, so we can't rush it.
"Stay calm, girl."
Yu Zhi solemnly agreed.
The swirling fragrance obscured her eyes, giving her alluring, willow-leaf eyes a pure, hesitant innocence.
As the sun set, after cleaning up inside and out, Granny Wu, holding Yu Zhi's hand, led her into the Jingzhe Courtyard, avoiding the eyes and ears of the household.
"Have you remembered everything your nanny taught you?"
"I understand, Granny."
Just remember that.
Her face was veiled. Jade pushed open the door for her and said respectfully, "Miss, please."
Yu Zhi thanked her softly, her voice as melodious and charming as a nightingale's, truly a beautiful voice.
She stepped into the inner room, and Emerald stood outside the door and whispered, "I'll go first. Miss is in a bad mood today and can't be left alone. Please make yourself at home."
"In a bad mood? Why is she in a bad mood?"
Upon hearing the question, Granny Wu, who was guarding outside the door, twitched her brow. Yu Zhi belatedly realized that she had said something she shouldn't have. Fortunately, Emerald's attitude was gentle, and after a moment's thought, she whispered, "The second young master broke the flowers that Miss planted, and Miss is unhappy."
It wasn't just a matter of being unhappy; in a fit of rage, Wei Pingxi broke Wei Er's finger bone.
Knowing that the Fourth Miss was unhappy, Yu Zhi felt powerless to help.
Jade left quickly.
Without the Fourth Miss's permission, even a senior elder like Granny Wu wouldn't be qualified to enter this door.
The furnishings in the room were not much different from when she left, except for a new porcelain vase on the table. The flowers in the vase were the same as those in her room, all jasmine.
Yu Zhi's eyes lit up.
After watching for a while, she removed her veil and, with trembling hands, untied the belt around her waist.
Layers of clothing fell like petals, a jade hairpin was removed from her hair and placed on the wooden cabinet beside the bed, and her slender legs took a step forward.
Yu Zhi lifted the pale blue gauze curtain and saw a thin quilt with gold and silver peony patterns.
I lay down quietly, and the air was filled with the delicate fragrance of agarwood.
She held her breath as the fragrance seeped in, making her heart flutter.
Yu Zhi took a deep breath, unable to understand why the Fourth Miss needed someone to warm her bed before autumn had even arrived.
It's her now, but who came before her?
But there are also people who sleep in this bed, under this quilt, and whose breaths are filled with the scent of the Fourth Miss?
Just thinking about it made her feel a little down.
Yu Zhi lay inside, carefully warming the quilt with her body heat until she broke into a light sweat. She blushed and smelled it; it smelled sweet.
Meanwhile, Wei Pingxi cruelly broke the little finger bone of the Second Young Master Wei, which enraged Old Master Wei and Marquis Yiyang.
I'm angry, but there's nothing I can do about this unfilial daughter, and that's what's most infuriating.
Seeing this, Wei Pingxi smiled and said, "If you don't come to provoke me, your finger bone must still be fine. My leg can break, and it can heal. It's just a piece of finger bone. You should take good care of yourself and stop embarrassing yourself."
"If outsiders find out that you covet your younger sister's concubine, the Wei family's reputation built up over hundreds of years will be ruined by you."
She had a defiant look in her eyes and an untamed spirit, yet she was a smiling tiger, and an extremely beautiful one at that.
“Grandfather, Father, Mother, Eldest Brother, Third Brother, you heard it. Pingxi forced Second Brother to stop his actions for the sake of the Wei family’s reputation. As sons of the Wei family, how can we not discipline them? Seeking fame and reputation will not win the hearts of the people.”
Young Master Wei was in so much pain that sweat poured down his forehead: "You, a woman, dare to take another woman as a concubine, spending a fortune on a concubine you're not even betrothed to. Don't think I don't know!"
“Grandfather, Father, Fourth Sister is utterly hopeless! How can there be a woman like her in this world? In the end, will outsiders laugh at me or at her? Who ruined the Wei family's reputation? It was her, not me!”
"Enough!"
Madam Wei said in a deep voice.
Wei Er's anger choked in her throat: "Mother! Do you even remember you're our mother? You protect Wei Pingxi even when she's being so unreasonable, you really are—"
Before he could even utter the word "biased," Wei Hanqing's face darkened: "Shut up!"
You can talk about other things, but you can't say that he's the heart and liver of Marquis Yiyang.
Wei Pingxi watched the commotion with a smile, his eyes carrying a hint of meaning: "Second brother, do you understand now? You can't pick my flowers."
"Is it worth you siblings fighting over a woman? You might as well get rid of her as soon as possible!"
"That won't do, Grandfather. I've spent a lot of money raising her. If she runs away, who will compensate me for the money?"
Even the old man couldn't bear to spend a fortune a day, secretly cursing his granddaughter for being wasteful.
"It's just a little scuffle, let's disperse." Madam Wei was busy praying to Buddha and had no time to get involved in such messy matters.
Marquis Yiyang was a truly lowly henpecked husband, utterly devoid of dignity in front of his wife. His wife's words, "Let's have some fun," extinguished any thought he might have of punishing his daughter.
The old man deeply regretted that God had not blessed him with more sons when he was young.
As I stepped through that door, it was already dark outside.
The smile that had been playing in the Fourth Miss's eyes also dimmed.
Jade and agate sweat-soaked inner shirt.
Don't be fooled by the young lady's nonchalant teasing of the second young master; it was no easy feat for them to even get out of that door.
Fortunately, it was common knowledge that the young lady had a strange temper. In ordinary families, if a younger sister broke her older brother's finger bone, she would definitely be beaten and suffer.
There are advantages to having a bad reputation.
Now, in the eyes of everyone in the manor, the Fourth Miss is not only strange, but also ruthless and vicious, capable of turning on even her own family when she goes mad.
"You're picking my flowers?" Wei Pingxi stepped on the stone bricks on the ground.
The sound of shattering bricks rang out, and her eyes turned sinister: "Consider yourself lucky this time."
After venting her anger briefly, she looked up again, her face no longer showing any sign of malice.
When she smiles, the Fourth Miss is still a unique celestial being in this world, looking gentle and kind, with flowing dresses and pure white skin.
Her mood instantly improved dramatically, and she smiled, asking, "Has the person arrived?"
"We arrived early this morning."
Manauba hoped she would ask a few more questions, but when the Fourth Miss heard that "the person arrived early in the morning," she immediately stopped rushing back to Jingzhe Courtyard.
The stars and moon shone brightly, and she smiled with amusement: "Let her keep warm. If she falls asleep here, see how I punish her!"
After lingering outside for half an hour, the Fourth Miss returned to Jingzhe Courtyard, had dinner, and prepared to go to bed after digesting her food.
The silver bell hanging above the bed suddenly rang out clearly. Yu Zhi, who was almost asleep inside, got up and dressed as the bell rang for the last time.
When Granny Wu, who was guarding outside the door, saw her come out, she quickly went to greet her.
"It's time for the Fourth Miss to retire for the night. Let's go back."
"Hmm..." Yu Zhi resisted the urge to turn around.
She had just stepped out of that door when Wei Pingxi entered the bedroom through another hidden door.
The quilt was warm and fragrant; the bed was wonderfully cozy.
She sighed, loosened her belt, and slipped inside.