Чистое сердце в нефритовом сосуде

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"Are you familiar with the terrain and layout of the Second Prince's residence?" Zi Nuo asked again.

"It's too dark, I can't see anything at all," I said.

“So—” Zi Nuo drawled.

I asked nervously, "So what?"

Zinuo gave a dismissive smile, and I had a bad feeling. Sure enough, he said, "You're lost, aren't you?"

I stared at him speechlessly. Why did this kid always try to embarrass me? He's just like Shen Haoyu. Luckily, he's much more restrained now; at least he won't expose me when others are around. If Shen Haoyu had heard that just now… the consequences would have been unimaginable.

Seeing that I didn't answer, Zinuo didn't say much, just told me to go to sleep and then went back by herself.

I spent a whole night nervously and worked hard, but I didn't get anything. Oh, no, I did have a little "romantic encounter".

As soon as my head hit the pillow, I fell asleep.

Do not lean against the west railing to lock in the clear autumn. Chapter 27 of the main text.

Chapter word count: 3554 Update time: 09-07-29 13:06

In the days that followed, I returned to my idle state. Song Zhixuan and the others hadn't returned since they went out, and I had no idea where they had gone. Of course, I wasn't foolish enough to go and ask Shen Haoyu; even if I did, he wouldn't tell me. In his words, it was simply a matter of doing your duty; whatever your master tells you to do, you do.

Lin Zhao's injuries healed day by day. When Shen Haoyu was not at the mansion, Zinuo and I spent a lot of time with Lin Zhao.

Lin Zhao, a cheerful person, had become restless after a few days of illness. Zi Nuo often said coolly, "The Prince Qing's mansion is so considerate of its servants; you should be grateful, not complaining."

Upon hearing this, Lin Zhao became anxious and said, "I only wanted to serve the Prince's Mansion more. Now that I'm lying here, my conscience is not at peace."

I interrupted them with a laugh and pulled out my homemade playing cards to play with them.

In this dull environment, playing cards brought us a lot of fun. At first, Lin Zhao just found it novel, but after getting used to it, she became addicted. Whenever we had free time, we would hide together to play, of course, without letting Shen Haoyu know.

With only three of us, we could only play Dou Dizhu (a popular Chinese card game). I told them that when Song Zhixuan came back, we could add another deck of cards and play Upgrading (another card game), which would be a different kind of fun. Lin Zhao's eyes lit up, and she and I looked forward to Song Zhixuan's early return.

These kids had grown up with my whimsical ideas, so they weren't too surprised by the sudden appearance of playing cards, saving me the trouble of racking my brains to explain how I came up with such a creative idea. When I first moved in with Song Zhixuan and Lin Zhao, as a greeting gift, I gave each of them a homemade toothbrush and told them to brush their teeth with salt every morning and evening to make their teeth whiter, their breath fresher, and that they'd charm countless girls when they grew up. Hearing this, they immediately started practicing what I did. As for my younger brother, Zinuo, he grew up with me, so he naturally picked up all my good habits. Much later, after I moved to Qiufeng Garden, one day Song Zhixuan asked someone to tell me that their toothbrush was broken and he wanted a new one. With nothing else to do, I happily ran to Miyue Bay, broke off some willow branches by the lake, and made some primitive toothbrushes for them. That day, Shen Haoyu seemed to be in a good mood as well, and even came to Miyue Bay to enjoy the scenery. He saw the toothbrush slowly taking shape in my hand and asked me what it was. I explained everything to him, but the stubborn child wouldn't believe me. Later, perhaps seeing that Song Zhixuan and Lin Zhao's teeth were indeed whiter than others, he came to me asking for a toothbrush. By then, the child was suffering from losing his baby teeth and cavities, unable to eat properly for days. Always possessing great compassion and love, I carefully made him a toothbrush. To prevent more people from coming to me in the future, I made Shen Haoyu promise repeatedly not to tell anyone, otherwise I wouldn't make any more for him, since toothbrushes need to be replaced after a while, and such a simple toothbrush would naturally have a shorter lifespan. Shen Haoyu nodded in agreement. At that time, I often thought how wonderful it would be to apply for a patent in this ancient world.

Later, Zinuo also came to Qiufeng Garden. With the two of them together, their ideas naturally multiplied. They spent their free time tinkering, and whenever a new and ingenious gadget appeared, Shen Haoyu would seize it by force, while simultaneously spouting things like "playing with trinkets is a waste of time." Zinuo and I ignored his hypocritical and malicious slander…

"It's your turn to play. Are you going to play or not?" Zinuo bumped into me impatiently.

I shook my head and said no. This hand was really bad.

Looking back, the days at Qiufeng Garden weren't so lonely after all. My relationship with Shen Haoyu was also quite intriguing. We often didn't act like master and servant, but more like a pair of bickering lovers. We would have our disagreements, but I had to be absolutely obedient when it came to serious matters. However, so far, he hadn't asked me to do anything serious, except for a few days ago when he asked me to sneak into the Second Prince's residence at night.

Thinking of the Second Prince's residence, I'm once again forced to confront that absurd meeting with him. I hope I never run into him again, even though there are handsome men to see.

We played cards all morning, which helped Lin Zhao pass the time and alleviate her loneliness. At noon, Shen Haoyu returned, and Zinuo and I hurriedly went back to Yixinzhai. Before leaving, we asked Lin Zhao to put the cards away safely.

In the study, Shen Haoyu was once again pretending to drink tea, it was unclear who he was trying to impress.

"Do you still remember the way to the Second Prince's residence?" Shen Haoyu asked.

"Huh?" What kind of talk is that?

Shen Haoyu ignored me and said to himself, "From now on, you will be in charge of keeping an eye on the Second Prince's residence. Note that this means all its movements, understand?"

I nodded. Isn't that what they call knowing yourself and your enemy? But knowing I'm not very good at it, why did they still send me?

"Aren't you afraid I'll mess this up?" I finally asked.

Shen Haoyu looked at me with a smile and said, "Xiao Wang believes in you. Don't you always say, 'Everyone has their own unique talents'? I'll give you a chance to prove it." He then patted my shoulder.

"And me?" Zinuo asked.

Shen Haoyu said, "From now on, you will be in charge of receiving and sending messages from various places, and you will work with me to organize them."

Then, Shen Haoyu gestured that we could leave. But I asked again, "Do I have to keep watch for twelve hours straight?"

“No need for that, we’ll work in shifts,” Shen Haoyu said. “I’ll let you know which shift you’ll be in charge of.”

I turned and stepped back, but then I heard Shen Haoyu call out to me from behind: "Lin En, when did you get injured?"

Injured? No.

I turned around and looked at him, puzzled. Zi Nuo also turned around, and saw Shen Haoyu pointing behind me and saying, "You're bleeding."

I was shocked and reached behind me, only to find my buttocks were wet!

I wanted to faint right then and there. I'd been living in fear for years and it still hadn't come. Why did it have to come at this time? My face suddenly flushed, and I stammered, "It's nothing. I just went to the kitchen to watch the chickens being slaughtered, and I accidentally got some on my skin..." Before I could finish, I ran out of the study, and Zinuo followed me with a look of worry and confusion on her face.

I covered my butt with one hand and tried to stop Zinuo from following me, but Zinuo ignored me: "We were clearly playing cards the whole time. When did we go to the kitchen to watch the chicken being killed? When did you get injured? You're bleeding."

I said, on the verge of tears, "I'm not hurt, don't follow me."

"How can I feel at ease with you like this?" Zi Nuo persisted.

I couldn't be bothered to talk to him anymore. What was I supposed to say to him? I rushed to my room, quickly closed the door, leaving Zinuo outside, ignoring his loud banging on the door.

She found the tampons she had prepared beforehand and was about to change her dirty clothes when she remembered that she needed hot water to wipe herself down, so Zi Nuo stopped her outside again.

What to do? What to do?

I started to feel a slight abdominal pain, and I was very anxious. I hoped that the pain wouldn't get too bad.

Come to think of it, it's late to come at fourteen. I started preparing years ago, but they just caught me off guard in this kind of situation. If people find out later, will I even be able to face anyone?