Chapter Ninety-One: The Handsome Man Smiles

That man was truly extraordinary. So formidable was he that I immediately swallowed the petty urge to curse him behind his back, lest he discover it again. Being a maid was indeed no easy task.

From this I drew my conclusion: a maid was a profession that demanded perfection in every detail and selfless devotion in equal measure. One must completely abandon the self—forget one’s feelings, one’s likes and dislikes, even one’s dignity, and look only to the master for every cue. Since ancient times, how many maids had died for their masters? Countless. No need to count them again. Compared with them, I was already among the luckiest of the lucky, merely helping to keep watch over medicine.

He walked ahead of me, and for some reason his tall back always seemed to conceal a certain loneliness.

So even being a prince was not all that easy, after all.

I thought I must have touched some hidden corner of his heart, like light breaking into darkness—though, truth be told, I hardly counted as light.

Only much later did I learn from Kong Yuelin that almost no one knew Prince Li could not drink. At first, it was his mother, the queen, who discovered it when he was still a child. He had been protected very well by her, and after her passing, no one knew anymore. For many years he scarcely touched alcohol, and concealed the matter well.

It was not until a few months ago, when Li Yexuan somehow went to the Lost Valley and drank himself senseless, that Kong Yuelin discovered it. They said that when he was drunk, Li Yexuan called out a name—some “Jun,” perhaps. He had not heard it very clearly either.

As for the fact that he had been calling Ziyun, I only learned it much later. Those were all matters for another time.

“Why are you still not following?”

I answered softly and went to his side.

Li Yexuan had a strange habit: when no one else was around, he would not allow me to walk behind him, and he would not allow me to call him “Your Highness.” Many years later, when I finally understood why all this had been so, I was already weeping without end.

“It was my fault for letting you drink. I won’t dare again.”

I tugged at his sleeve, afraid he would be angry.

To my surprise, Li Yexuan turned slightly and met my eyes.

“I wanted to drink.”

“That was your fault.”

“Yes, it was.”

“Li Yexuan, are you an idiot?”

“Oh. You dance very beautifully.”

“Mm. I learned it from the Grand Princess before.”

When Li Yexuan heard the words Grand Princess, he paused for a moment. “Do not dance in front of others in the future.”

“Why? I like dancing.”

“It is too unsightly. I am afraid it will frighten people.”

“...”

He had only just praised me for dancing well. What kind of madness was this?

“Li Yexuan, wait for me…”

The moment I hurried after him, he suddenly stopped, and before I could react, I collided straight into him.

“Do not speak.”

With one arm, Li Yexuan took me up into a tree.

Yes, into a tree.

There was simply no justice in the fact that knowing martial arts made everything look so effortlessly handsome, even climbing a tree.

“What are you doing, going up so high?”

“Someone is coming.”

So I wisely shut my mouth and let him pull me to sit among the branches.

A figure stood by the lake. Looking closely, it was Jin Yu, though I did not know whom she was waiting for.

From the other side, Bai Li Yue came walking over.

So the two of them had come to meet. This time it was not because Bai Li Yue had asked me to eavesdrop; I truly had overheard by accident.

“Miss, you are here.”

As she spoke, Jin Yu was about to bow.

“Do not move.” Bai Li Yue hurried to stop her, supporting her as she walked to a nearby stone bench and motioning for her to sit. “It is this late, and yet you insist on speaking outside. You are not alone now; you ought to think of the child in your belly. After all, this is Brother’s first child, and the eldest grandson of the Bai Li family.”

They sat not far from us, and every word of Bai Li Yue’s fell clearly into my ears.

Ever since her failed attempt at suicide, Bai Li Yue had truly opened up. It was obvious she sincerely hoped for Jin Yu’s well-being.

“I understand. I asked you out so late because I truly had something to tell you.”

“Go on.”

“Miss knows that I was originally only a maid by Young Master’s side. This child came as an accident.”

Jin Yu’s words left Bai Li Yue somewhat bewildered.

“What do you mean?”

“At the banquet two months ago—the very night when Master agreed to betroth Miss to the second young master of the Wu family—Young Master mistook me for you. He had drunk too much. I could not resist him, and all the while he was calling out your name, Miss.”

Bai Li Yue sprang to her feet in agitation.

Though I had suspected as much before, I had never imagined it would be like this. I nearly toppled out of the tree myself, but fortunately Li Yexuan was quick enough to catch me, sparing me the elegance of a free fall.

“How could that be? Do not speak nonsense. We are siblings...”

“You also love him, and he loves you too, do you not?”

“Enough. Do not say another word.” Bai Li Yue’s voice rose into a cry.

It was as if a painful secret, buried deep in the heart, had been torn open again, its scar ripped apart and dug out by force.

“Miss, do not be agitated. Without this child, I would never have been drawn into the middle. But now that the child is here, even if I were to remain a maid for the rest of my life, my child must have a proper standing. Otherwise, I would already have left far away. I know Miss is about to marry, and I also understand that Young Master would never love me in his lifetime, because his heart belongs entirely to you. I only hope that Miss will not do something she will regret for the rest of her life. Please think carefully.”

Jin Yu left, leaving Bai Li Yue alone on the bench, weeping.

“I want to go down and see her. I am worried.”

“Go on.”

Li Yexuan set me down in the tree.

“I will head back first. Come to my room when you are done.”

“Mm.”

I did not dwell much on the meaning of his words and rushed toward Bai Li Yue.

“Mufan.”

The moment Bai Li Yue saw me, her tears came even harder.

I handed her a handkerchief.

“I was not trying to eavesdrop on you on purpose. Hurry and wipe your tears.”

“Mufan, what should I do? Jin Yu said Brother also loves me. What am I supposed to do?”

“Yue’er, do not cry yet. Calm down first, then we can talk.”

That night, I came to understand that a woman’s tears could flow like the mighty Yangtze, endless and ceaseless.

After a long while, Bai Li Yue had indeed cried enough.

“Tell me, do you still love Bai Li Changfeng? Are you willing to be with him? You must think this through yourself.”

“I do not know. I only know that if we were truly together, it would go against all propriety. The Bai Li family cannot afford to lose face, and Father could not bear it.”

I sighed inwardly. Good—reason had prevailed over everything after all.

“Then that settles it. Let us pretend tonight never happened.”

“I should never have said those things to Brother.”

“At least you tried. Then you will not have regrets.”

“Yes.”

“You have cried for so long. When you are tired, go back and rest. Life must still go on; do not wrong yourself.”

“All right.”

I accompanied Bai Li Yue back to her room.

“Mufan, why not sleep here tonight as well?”

“The young master still needs me to go over there. Think it through a little more.”

“Mm.”

In the end I still could not rest easy. I waited until Bai Li Yue had fallen asleep, and after instructing her maid to care for her properly, I finally left.

I did not know whether Li Yexuan had slept yet, or what he wanted with me at such a late hour.

I gently opened the door and closed it behind me before stepping inside.

No candles were lit in the room, and it was so dark that I could hardly make anything out. It seemed Li Yexuan had indeed gone to sleep, and if so, there was nothing for me to do here. I turned to leave.

“Stop.”

A low voice came from beside the bed, startling me terribly.

“Come here.”

“Oh.”

I walked toward the voice, slowly making out Li Yexuan’s outline—just a dark shape in the dimness.

Then, with sudden force, he pulled me over.

I fell onto the bed.

“Li Yexuan, what are you doing?”

I struggled with both hands and feet, only to feel him holding me tightly.

“What am I doing? Naturally, something good.”

I must have heard wrong. Why did Li Yexuan’s voice sound so frightening, so sly and malicious?

“What do you want?”

The two of us rolled together on the bed, his arm still circling me.

In the darkness, my eyes turned, and I lifted a foot to strike at Li Yexuan.

The result was that I was pinned down completely.

“Let go of me.”

“Do not move.”

“Let go. You’re hurting me.”

Li Yexuan swept the blanket over me, bundling me together with it.

“Sleep.”

“Let go, will you?”

“If you move again, I will eat you.”

“Uh...”

Truly, what exactly did this awkward man want? Before I could even finish cursing him in my head, I had already drifted off to sleep.

The night was far too deep, and I was far too tired. This really could not be blamed on me.

The next day, I was still half-dazed when my mind suddenly jolted awake.

I opened my eyes slightly and caught sight of Li Yexuan. He had opened his eyes too, so I promptly shut mine and pretended to be asleep.

Good heavens, he was actually leaning in slowly.

His lips were almost touching mine.

I did not know what to do. It was all my fault for pretending. Now what—pretend to wake, or pretend to keep sleeping?

While I was still thinking, my nose was pinched.

“Still pretending to sleep? Get up.”

“Ah...”

I hurriedly backed away. “Li Yexuan, why are you in my bed?”

Opening my eyes fully, I looked boldly at the two of us. Fortunately, fortunately—the clothes were still perfectly neat, both mine and his. Then there was no problem. I would simply take it as though I had slept the whole night while hugging a fluffy bear.

“This is my bed.”

How humiliating.

“Hehe, I clearly remember sleeping in my own bed. I must have been sleepwalking. Please forgive me, Your Highness.” As I said this, I tried to crawl out of bed.

“Yes, your memory is indeed poor. You climbed into this prince’s bed and still refuse to take responsibility.”

What...

I nearly pitched headfirst downward.

“Sigh, silly girl, why are you so agitated?” Li Yexuan, darkly amused, gathered me up and set me back on the bed.

“You have no shame.”

“This bed is mine. The one without shame should be you, should it not?”

“Uh...”

Mwah.

Li Yexuan suddenly leaned close to my face and pressed a kiss to my cheek.

“You...”

I seized a pillow and threw it at him.

He dodged.

I sprang out of bed at once.

Next came the incense burner, teacups, and countless other things flying toward Li Yexuan. I threw myself half to death; he evaded with effortless ease.

The whole room echoed with a great racket.

A knock sounded at the door, and the city lord’s voice came from outside.

“Your Highness, may I ask if you are all right?”

“Come in.”

The door was pushed open, and the city lord entered, followed by Bai Li Changfeng and Bai Li Yue.

I saw their mouths twitching.

Indeed, the room looked worse than if it had been robbed by thieves.

I stood stiffly behind Li Yexuan, my face grim.

“This... surely it was not robbed?”

Yet Li Yexuan’s eyes were on me, clearly telling me to explain it myself.

“A mouse appeared just now. I was catching the mouse...”

“What? There are mice in the Bai Li residence? Changfeng, go and have someone deal with it at once.”

“Yes.”

Bai Li Changfeng hurried out to summon people.

I glared at Li Yexuan, and he merely smiled at me.

Why did this icy demon of a man keep smiling at me like that, with even a hint of sunshine in it?

This young lady here is least able to resist... a handsome man’s smile...