Chapter 18: Jealousy Part 1

The voice was soft, and it was clear at first listen that it belonged to a woman. The first thing that caught Zhao Yang’s eye was the slender figure under the setting sun. The sunlight was blocked by the person, and once he made out whose shadow it was, he stopped trying to tug Xun Changqing’s hand and instead adopted a saluting posture. “Little Martial Uncle.”

“Mm,” Wei Lingci responded lightly. She was still wearing the clothes from when they had gone up the mountain. The hem of her skirt was stained with some black dirt and green juice, and her shoes were even more so, but Wei Lingci paid no attention to it. She carried a food box in her hand, having come to the kitchen herself to fetch dinner.

Xun Changqing stepped forward to take the food box—after all, this should have been her job—but Wei Lingci gently dodged. She lowered her gaze to look at her. “You can’t carry it. Why aren’t you staying at Purple Ying Pavilion? How did you end up in the kitchen?”

As soon as she asked, Xun Changqing immediately understood that Wei Lingci had come out specifically to find her. For some reason, her heart felt a bit happy. She scratched her head like a child, her eyes sparkling brightly as she smiled. “Senior Brother Zhao brought me here. Grand Martial Uncle went to see you earlier, and I figured you two would chat for a while, so I came out.”

“We talked about some things. It’s time to go back. Your things have already been placed in your room—go unpack them yourself. From now on, cleaning your room is your own responsibility.”

After bidding farewell to Zhao Yang, Wei Lingci carried the food box in her left hand, and her free right hand naturally took hold of Xun Changqing’s small hand. The two walked back side by side.

Amid the misty green mountains, two figures—one tall and one short—gradually receded from Zhao Yang’s view until their shadows disappeared. Only then did he lift his two chubby hands, flipping them over and over. No wonder Senior Brother and Senior Sister always said men and women should keep their distance. Why could Little Martial Uncle hold the new Little Martial Nephew’s hand? Martial Uncle wouldn’t lie—it must be Senior Brother and Senior Sister who were deceiving him. He had to go ask!

…

Normally, someone from the kitchen delivered meals to Purple Ying Pavilion every day, so Wei Lingci didn’t need to fetch them herself. But today, after Wang Pingjun left, the servants from Pingnan Prince’s Mansion had gradually brought over Xun Changqing’s luggage. Once she had settled it, she searched everywhere in Purple Ying Pavilion but couldn’t find anyone. She guessed they must have been taken to the kitchen by Zhao Yang.

Sure enough, she spotted the two of them behind the kitchen.

On the way back to Purple Ying Pavilion, as they passed the plum tree in the courtyard again, Xun Changqing’s little mouth pouted. She shook Wei Lingci’s hand a few times, with a hint of coquetry in her tone as she pleaded, “Master, plum blossoms aren’t pretty. Can we replace them?”

Wei Lingci stopped and looked at the fresh breaks on the plum tree branches. Her heart stirred, and she indulged her. “It’s winter now. Even if we replace them, we’d have to wait until spring next year.”

Xun Changqing pursed her lips and said nothing, shaking Wei Lingci’s arm again, the coquettishness even more obvious.

“For Master to want them gone isn’t a reason for you to come and bully a tree that can’t speak.”

The matter of the reason was hard to explain. She couldn’t very well say that in her previous life, she had been taken away from under this plum blossom tree, and now seeing it brought back unhappy memories. Rebirth was too absurd—even Xun Changqing herself sometimes doubted it. If she said it, Wei Lingci would surely think she had gone mad.

This wouldn’t do, that wouldn’t do—it was truly headache-inducing. Xun Changqing simply made up an excuse. “Mm… I just don’t like plum blossoms.”

Such an explanation was not only lame but also somewhat unreasonable and domineering.

Wei Lingci furrowed her brows in silence, her gaze falling on the breaks in the plum blossoms. The unintentional aura she exuded made Xun Changqing feel a bit oppressed by the sharp intent. She could sense Wei Lingci’s hand tightening slightly on hers, and her eyes seemed to hold something deep and unfathomable.

It reminded Xun Changqing of the night before her death in her previous life. Under the firelight, Wei Lingci had looked at the oncoming Imperial Guards with this exact expression—faint murderous intent, yet also a godless emptiness. She was reborn and had experienced that heart-wrenching pain, but Wei Lingci had not. Why did she have such an expression?

She tugged at Wei Lingci’s hand, not wanting a mere tree to cause undue pressure. “I was just saying it casually. If you like it, keep it. It doesn’t matter.”