Early the next morning, when the Lin family steward knocked on the door, Lin Zhixue was in the courtyard helping Xiaohe hang clothes.
The steward’s expression was a bit more peculiar than usual. Standing at the courtyard gate, his tone was neither courteous nor particularly harsh.
He merely tossed out a single line: “The young master of the Gu clan wants you to go over today.”
The clothes in Lin Zhixue’s hands nearly fell to the ground.
“...What?”
“The Gu clan, Young Master Gu Yanqing. He wants you to head over today.”
The steward repeated himself, his gaze lingering on her with scrutiny, as if trying to figure out when she had become involved with the Gu clan.
Lin Zhixue stood rooted to the spot, somewhat at a loss, her fingertips clenching until they turned white.
Hadn’t he just let her go yesterday?
He had tossed the spirit stones back, walked off, and hadn’t said another word. She had thought the matter was over and done with.
Why was he looking for her again?
“Miss...”
Xiaohe peeked out from behind her, her face paler than Lin Zhixue’s.
Tugging at Lin Zhixue’s sleeve, she lowered her voice.
“You can’t go. He definitely harbors ill intent. Since he failed to rob you yesterday, he must have thought of an even nastier trick today.”
Lin Zhixue didn’t speak.
She knew Xiaohe was right.
What kind of person was Gu Yanqing?
Could anyone say few people had been bullied by him over the years? If he were to suddenly change his ways, that would truly be seeing a ghost.
Yet she knew another truth even better.
The Gu clan’s word was law in Canglan City.
Since Gu Yanqing had sent someone with the message, she had to go whether she wanted to or not.
Refusing today meant being cornered on the street tomorrow, and her end would only be worse than going.
Gently patting Xiaohe’s hand, she placed the damp clothes into the girl’s hands.
“It’s fine,” she said as calmly as possible. “I’ll go and come right back.”
Half a shichen later, a carriage pulled up before the side gate of the Gu manor.
There was none of the mistreatment she had anticipated. The lackey who had delivered the summons waited at the gate. Upon seeing her, he merely looked her up and down, curled his lip, and turned to lead her inside.
Passing through three gates and winding around two rockeries, the surroundings grew quieter the deeper they went.
Lin Zhixue followed behind, her footsteps slowing unconsciously.
Everything before her was so unfamiliar that it stirred unease in her heart.
The Gu manor’s courtyards were larger than her family’s entire residence.
The bluestone-paved ground was smooth as a mirror. The pillars beneath the verandas were so massive that several people couldn’t wrap their arms around them, carved with auspicious beasts whose names she couldn’t identify. Their bright, fresh lacquer clearly showed they were maintained by dedicated staff year after year.
A few spirit herbs grew beside the courtyard wall, glowing with faint luminescence in the sunlight. She recognized one of them.
It was Dewdrop Grass. She had saved spirit stones for half a year just to buy a single small shoot, nurturing it like a treasure in her room, yet it still hadn’t survived in the end.
Here, however, an entire row had been planted casually, growing more lushly than wild weeds.
Passing through a moon gate, she looked up to see a row of jade wind chimes hanging beneath the eaves of the main hall. As the wind blew, they chimed melodiously, their crisp notes sounding like mountain springs dripping over stone.
She couldn’t help but steal a few more glances.
Stop looking, she told herself in her heart.
Yet her eyes wouldn’t obey.
In her seventeen years of life, this was the first time she had ever stepped foot into a place like this.
Then, she was led into a side hall.
Gu Yanqing stood inside.
Today, he had changed into a black, narrow-sleeved robe, his hair neatly bound, and was looking down, flipping through a booklet.
Hearing footsteps, he looked up and glanced at her.
Lin Zhixue’s heart thumped violently, and she instinctively lowered her head.
She didn’t know how to address him or what to say. She could only glue her gaze to the tips of her shoes, hands clasped before her, knuckles turning slightly pale from tension.
The room was silent. She heard the sound of him closing the booklet.
“You’re here.”
His voice carried no discernible emotion—neither suggesting he wanted to cause trouble, nor friendly in the slightest.
Lin Zhixue didn’t dare look up, merely answering with a soft “Mm.”
“I summoned you today,” he paused, “because a few herb plots in my courtyard need their soil loosened.”
“The servant took leave, so you’ll fill in for a day. Finish it, and there will be spirit stones.”
Lin Zhixue fell silent for several seconds.
Loosen soil?
She finally raised her head, casually sneaking a look at him.
Gu Yanqing had already lowered his head again to flip through that booklet.
Not daring to inquire further, she kept her head lowered and followed a servant boy to the rear courtyard.
The herb plots were located in a side courtyard. They were not large, only three or four beds in all.
The earth was still very moist, clearly having been watered just this morning.
Beside them lay a hoe and a shovel, along with a pair of coarse cloth gloves that looked brand new.
She squatted down and set to work.
Loosening soil was work she knew well. Back at the Lin family, her stepmother had frequently made her do these chores.
Putting on the gloves, she turned the earth stroke by stroke with hoe and shovel. Her movements were swift, but her heart remained uneasy the entire time.
She had thought humiliation awaited her.
Harassment.
Torment in every conceivable way.
Yet nothing happened.
There was only the soil in the herb plots, turned soft and even stroke by stroke beneath her tools.
Occasionally, a breeze swept through the courtyard, rustling the herb leaves. The sun shifted from the east to directly overhead, then tilted slightly toward the west.
In less than two shichen, the work was finished.
She put the tools in order and stood by the edge of the plots, wiping away her sweat.
Only then did she notice someone practicing swordplay in the clearing some distance away.
It was Gu Yanqing.
The sword in his hand appeared to be of considerable grade, its blade shimmering with a faint, cold light.
Yet his sword moves truly left much to be desired.
His thrusts were at the wrong angles, he couldn’t even maintain his balance when retrieving his blade, and his slashing looked more like someone chopping meat with a cleaver.
She saw with her own eyes as he swept his sword across, only for the tip to catch on an adjacent tree branch, the recoil nearly staggering him back a step.
That was it?
Mid Foundation Establishment?
Lin Zhixue watched from afar for several breaths, a thought suddenly popping into her head.
His swordsmanship seemed even worse than hers.
The thought startled her, but she immediately found it absurd.
The Eldest Young Master of the Gu clan had been taught by renowned masters from childhood and piled high with medicinal pills—how could he possibly be at this level?
She looked away, not daring to watch any longer.
After a moment’s hesitation, she ambled over and stopped a few paces away from him.
He happened to withdraw his sword and turn around.
“Finished?”
“Mm.”
“...May I leave?” Her voice grew fainter and fainter.
Gu Yanqing looked at her without saying a word. Picking up a small cloth pouch from the stone table beside him, he tossed it casually toward her.
“Take it.”
Lin Zhixue caught it instinctively.
Though the cloth pouch wasn’t large, it felt heavy in her palm. The spirit stones pressed firmly against her hand through the fabric, cold and solid.
She was stunned.
He really paid?
The words almost escaped her lips, but she swallowed them back down forcefully. Gripping the money pouch, she hesitated for a moment before tucking it into her sleeve.
“Off you go.”
He seemed rather unconcerned by the matter.
Lin Zhixue took two steps back, turned, and left.
She walked briskly, almost jogging out of the Gu manor’s side gate, only slowing down when she reached the alley’s mouth.
Seeing no one around, she pulled the money pouch from her sleeve, untied the opening, and poured a few spirit stones into her palm.
One, two, three...
She finished counting.
Standing at the entrance of the alley, she stared at the faintly glimmering spirit stones in her palm, momentarily dazed.
It was more spirit stones than she received for toiling herself half to death for half a month at the Lin family.
Just for loosening soil for two shichen?
Tightening her grip on the pouch, she slowly walked toward the west of the city.
Only one thought circled endlessly in her mind.
Why was this person getting stranger and stranger?
Before she could make sense of yesterday’s incident, he pulled another stunt like this today.
She didn’t believe this was out of kindness. Gu Yanqing could never be kind.
What was he after, then? Looking to cause trouble for her? From start to finish today, he hadn’t uttered a single harsh word.
To get free labor out of her? These spirit stones were almost enough to cover the wages of two servants.
She couldn’t figure it out.
She stowed the pouch away meticulously, keeping it against the innermost layer of her clothes, right beside the jade pendant.
No matter what scheme he was brewing, staying vigilant was never wrong.
She hurried through the rest of the journey, hoping to get home before nightfall. Passing through the marketplace on West Street and skirting a pagoda tree, she was practically at the entrance of the alley leading to the Lin family courtyard.
“Stop right there.”
A voice came from behind her, shrill and piercing.
Lin Zhixue slowly stopped.
She recognized this voice.
Rate on N.U.
