The next day, morning light faintly dawned as the sun rose in the east.
Vendors’ calls rang out outside the window, brimming with the lively bustle of the streets, accompanied by strands of sunlight filtering in—like a scene from another world.
The late summer breeze still carried a touch of sweltering heat as it blew into the room, lifting the gauze curtains and sending hair strands dancing. It disturbed the person sleeping soundly on the bed, who frowned repeatedly.
Lin Langyi brushed away the strands sticking to her face and slowly opened her eyes. Before her, motes of dust floated in the light, sparkling like stars in the night sky.
She sat up slowly, feeling sore and weak all over. Looking around, she recognized the Brocade River Inn.
Lin Langyi’s gaze was dazed. Wind blew in through the window. She raised a hand to rub her brow, her eyes falling on the cloth strips wrapped around both hands.
“This is…?”
Her expression was puzzled at first, then her face changed. Her expression grew increasingly terrified, her eyes widening bigger and bigger.
She covered her face and buried her whole body under the quilt, letting out a shrill scream. “Aaaah!”
The scream was so loud that the people eating in the lobby downstairs all looked up toward the second floor, their faces full of confusion.
No. 2 was biting into a steamed bun when he abruptly stood up in alarm. “It’s the Young Master! Did something happen?”
Zhai Yi grabbed him. “Don’t go. Let the Young Master stay by herself for a bit.”
No. 2 was worried. “The Young Master screamed so miserably just now. Aren’t you going to check?”
Zhai Yi took a sip of porridge and smirked mockingly. “If you trust me, then don’t go.”
No. 2 hesitated for a moment before sitting back down on his stool. “Learned my lesson from last time. This time, I trust you.”
Zhai Yi glanced toward the second floor, a smile in her eyes as she shook her head helplessly. “Eat first. After we finish, you can bring food up to the Young Master.”
“But you just said not to go?”
“By the time we’re done eating, the Young Master should have calmed down.”
No. 2 was baffled. “Calmed down from what?”
Zhai Yi lied with a straight face. “The Young Master drank so much last night that she woke up feeling terrible this morning. She just needs some time to recover.”
No. 2 nodded. “Got it.”
Inside the room, Lin Langyi wrapped herself tightly in the quilt, as if that could make her vanish from this utterly embarrassing world.
What to do?
What to do?
Why had she gotten so drunk?
And why could she remember everything that happened after getting drunk? It was way too shameless!
She had gone to a brothel and ordered girls to drink with her. She had even mistaken Zhai Yi, who came looking for her, for one of the Brocade Pavilion girls and tried to pay to keep her overnight?!
On the way back to the inn, she hadn’t behaved either—recklessly using the Thread-Drawing Wire to wreck people’s stalls, forcing Zhai Yi to pay compensation and clean up the mess.
Then, riding the alcohol buzz, she had confessed to Zhai Yi. She had sneak-attacked her with a kiss on the cheek, bitten her earlobe, and finally vomited filth all over her.
At this moment, Lin Langyi wanted nothing more than to loop the Thread-Drawing Wire around the beam three times and hang herself in atonement.
She slumped on the bed. The lingering stench of alcohol from last night made her head foggy.
Lin Langyi pinched her brow, her eyes darting around as she racked her brain for a solution.
She had gotten blackout drunk last night—of course she wouldn’t remember what happened afterward!
Lin Langyi shot up in bed, praising herself for coming up with the perfect excuse. Even if Zhai Yi came to settle accounts, she could just say she remembered nothing, and all problems would be solved.
“I’m so smart!” Lin Langyi clapped her hands. Her head didn’t feel quite as swollen anymore.
Suddenly, someone knocked on the door.
Lin Langyi asked in a panic, on high alert. “Who… who is it?”
“Young Master, it’s No. 2. Your subordinate brought some food.”
Lin Langyi let out a breath and glanced at the clothes she was still wearing from last night. With disgust, she said, “Hold off on the food. Have the inn send up some hot water. I want to bathe.”
No. 2 replied, “Sure.”
The hot water arrived quickly. Lin Langyi washed up thoroughly, tossing last night’s clothes aside to have No. 2 deal with later.
As she ate the food No. 2 had brought, she feigned confusion. “How did I get back last night?”
She rubbed her head. “I don’t remember what happened at all.”
No. 2 was surprised. “The Young Master remembers nothing?”
Lin Langyi stayed calm. “Mm. I just remember going to the Brocade Pavilion for a little wine, then waking up in the inn this morning.”
“Did you bring me back?”
No. 2 denied it. “Number One brought you back.”
It was strange—Lin Langyi remembered telling Zhai Yi to go to the night market with Chu Mingxu and Qiaoqiao, yet she had suddenly shown up at the Brocade Pavilion to bring her back to the inn.
“Zhai Yi brought me back?” Lin Langyi said in surprise. “Didn’t I tell her to go night marketing with Chu Mingxu and Qiaoqiao?”
No. 2 explained, “Yes, you originally told Number One to go to the night market.”
“But Number One didn’t go. She’s the Young Master’s bodyguard, and protecting your safety is her duty. So she shadowed you from the shadows.”
Lin Langyi’s hand trembled on her spoon. “She skipped the night market and secretly followed me?”
No. 2 nodded. “Yeah.”
The corner of Lin Langyi’s mouth curved in a faint arc. “Oh. Did anything happen after I got back to the inn last night?”
No. 2 recalled the miserable sight of Zhai Yi covered in vomit from last night. After a moment’s thought, he decided not to tell the Young Master, lest she get upset.
“Nothing happened. After Number One brought you back, you just went to sleep.”
Liar.
Lin Langyi clearly remembered vomiting all over Zhai Yi.
No. 2 must have been hiding it to spare her feelings.
Lin Langyi took a sip of porridge and asked again, “Did Zhai Yi tell you anything about what happened on the way back to the inn last night?”
“On the way?” No. 2 was puzzled. “She didn’t say. Did you and the Young Master get ambushed last night?”
Seeing No. 2’s genuine confusion, Lin Langyi relaxed. “No way. If we’d been ambushed, could Zhai Yi and I have made it back safe and sound?”
“Oh, you’re right, Young Master.”
No. 2 pushed the Sobering Soup on the table toward Lin Langyi. “Young Master, this is Sobering Soup. Have another bowl; it’ll make you feel better.”
“Sure.”
Lin Langyi took a sip of the Sobering Soup, and suddenly a few scenes flashed through her mind.
Last night, No. 2 had tried to feed her the Sobering Soup, but she thought he was an enemy and attacked him with the Thread-Drawing Wire. Zhai Yi had rushed over after hearing No. 2’s cry for help.
Zhai Yi fed her the soup and even gave her a piece of candy.
Then she had gotten even more shameless.
Taking advantage of the moment when Zhai Yi was feeding her the candy, she had refused to let go of Zhai Yi’s finger, sucking on it. She had insisted on dragging Zhai Yi to bed with her, groping her all over, until she forced Zhai Yi to choke her unconscious.
At the thought, Lin Langyi spat out the Sobering Soup in her mouth.
“Pfft!”
No. 2 dodged in shock, narrowly avoiding the same miserable fate as Zhai Yi last night.
“Y-Young Master, what’s wrong?” he asked, baffled. “Is the Sobering Soup that bad?”
Hadn’t she drunk it just fine last night?
Lin Langyi wiped the corner of her mouth. The burning heat on her cheeks made her heart tremble. In a hoarse voice, she said, “It’s nothing.”
She finished the Sobering Soup and set down the bowl. Glancing out the door from the corner of her eye, she cleared her throat lightly. “Um… where’s Zhai Yi?”
No. 2 said, “Drinking tea downstairs.”
So leisurely.
“Did you tell her we’re setting off for Jingzhou tonight?”
No. 2 nodded. “Yeah. The carriage, luggage, travel money, and supplies—Number One and I have everything prepared.”
Lin Langyi nodded toward him. “Chu Mingxu’s side is ready too, right?”
No. 2 nodded. “Yes.”
“Good. You can go now. I’ll sleep a bit more.”
No. 2 understood the Young Master’s fatigue and left the room with the tray.
Once No. 2 was gone, Lin Langyi cracked the door open and peeked downstairs. She saw Zhai Yi sitting by the window.
Sipping tea and admiring the view outside.
Leisurely and carefree.
She had changed clothes. She usually wore dark garments, but now she was in a gray bamboo moon-colored cross-collar narrow-sleeved robe, paired with a light blue matching sleeved overcoat. A belt of the same color cinched her slim waist.
Her hair was tied high with a moon-white band. With her head slightly turned, she revealed an elegant jawline and profile.
The light-colored outfit made her seem even more aloof and refined, while adding a touch of feminine grace.
Lin Langyi stared in a daze, her gaze traveling from bottom to top until it met Zhai Yi’s eyes.
Their eyes suddenly locked.
Lin Langyi’s pupils dilated. She panicked and slammed the door shut, leaning against it with rapid breaths.
Zhai Yi’s lips curved slightly as she turned back to gaze out the window.
That peeping habit hadn’t changed one bit.
Lin Langyi wanted to sneak another peek at Zhai Yi when a surge of unbearable pain suddenly erupted in her chest, spreading rapidly through her limbs.
The ripping agony made her collapse awkwardly to the floor. Her face turned deathly pale in an instant, cold sweat beading on her forehead.
Lin Langyi bit her lip, swallowing the moan that threatened to escape.
She had already obtained the Snow Toad, along with three stalks of Nine Dragons Auspicious Flower.
But since Zhai Yi’s injuries hadn’t fully healed during this time and the poison hadn’t flared up again, Lin Langyi hadn’t immediately used the Nine Dragons Auspicious Flower with the Snow Toad’s venom to brew medicine to suppress the poison in her body.
She hadn’t expected it to strike so suddenly today. For now, Lin Langyi planned to tough it out.
The poison flare-up wouldn’t last long. Though excruciating, she was confident she could endure it.
Lin Langyi hugged herself and curled up on the floor.
She felt her blood freezing, then rampaging wildly through her body—icy stabs like a thousand fine needles piercing her marrow.
Lin Langyi pressed her forehead to the floor, clenching her fists as she trembled. “…Hold on… Ah… You can… get through this…”
She bit the back of her hand until it bled. Explosive pain tore through her chest.
Lin Langyi gritted her teeth. Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth, her eyes bulging wide, the whites turning bloodshot as if they might pop from their sockets.
Her fingertips scraped desperately at the floor, as if that could drag the pain away.
The sudden agony sapped her strength. Her vision went pitch black for a moment before slowly blurring back into focus.
She saw the door open. A figure in gray-moon robes stepped in and lifted her limp, twitching body.
Suddenly, a hot, wet warmth covered her lips.
The sweet taste was so familiar.
Lin Langyi wanted to push Zhai Yi’s hand away but lacked the strength to resist. She could only shake her head and keep her mouth shut.
It was as if she was resisting to the bitter end.
“Open your mouth.”
Lin Langyi’s face twisted in pain. She shook her head vigorously, refusing to open.
Zhai Yi had no choice but to pull out her trump card.
“If you don’t drink, I won’t pay any attention to you anymore.”
Lin Langyi’s resistance halted. Her lips parted slightly as her tongue tip flicked out, lapping obediently like a little beast drinking water.
Zhai Yi let out a soft sigh, tinged with helplessness and weariness.
“You…”
Why do you always do this?
