Cook Chen: ……………
Why is this child so curious about everything?
After drinking her fill from the cup, Jiang Yun Sui suddenly spoke up. “Is the Young Master… the strongest one?”
It took Cook Chen a moment to process what she meant, but once she did, her energy instantly picked up.
“The entire Ji family are heroes great heroes who protect the people of our Northern Desert. Though Young Master Ji is still young, he is of the Ji bloodline, so naturally he is very capable and powerful.”
Cook Chen’s own life had been saved by the Ji family, and they had given her a reason to keep living. For that reason, she held them in the highest regard.
She began to talk at length, explaining how the Ji family guarded the Northern Desert, how they fought against the ambitious and ruthless tribes of the grasslands, and how deeply the people of the region as well as the soldiers of the Ji Army loved and respected their leaders.
As she listened, Jiang Yun Sui’s eyes slowly glazed over and her mind drifted away.
There was simply too much information, and her little “mushroom brain” struggled to take it all in.
But one thing became clear: this Young Master Ji really was very powerful.
Her mind was made up she would go and find him!
So as soon as Cook Chen left, Jiang Yun Sui slipped quietly out as well.
She planned to eavesdrop and learn what Young Master Ji looked like and where he lived.
For three days in a row, Jiang Yun Sui wandered around trying to find his residence.
She never found the Young Master, but she did run into many other people.
She moved like a quiet little mushroom: whenever something caught her interest, she would stop and watch for a while; if not, she simply walked away.
Then, on the fourth day, she overheard some servants carrying food talking about how the meals were meant for Young Master Ji.
Jiang Yun Sui’s small feet immediately changed direction, and she decided to follow them.
She didn’t try to hide herself properly; she just instinctively made herself feel as unnoticeable as possible and trailed behind them. Strangely enough, the servants really did seem completely unaware of her presence.
Though small and short, she was still a four‑year‑old child she should not have been that easy to overlook.
Yet not a single person spotted her.
Even when they reached the courtyard where Young Master Ji stayed, and Jiang Yun Sui followed right behind the group into the grounds, the guards at the gate did not notice her at all.
When there were guards around, she crept along cautiously; when the path was clear, she walked boldly and openly.
The courtyard was heavily guarded, and every dish being brought in was carefully inspected.
Once she slipped inside the main room, Jiang Yun Sui curled herself into a tight ball in a corner, watching with wide eyes as the servants arranged the steaming, fragrant food across the table.
Wave after wave of delicious scents drifted toward her. In that moment, she completely forgot why she had come all her attention was fixed entirely on the tempting spread before her.
Her mouth began to water.
Could she just sneak over and have a little taste?
“Young Master, it is time for your meal.”
Finally, her attention was pulled back. She turned toward the voice and watched as a pale, slender hand slowly pushed aside the hanging curtain.
Out stepped a young man dressed in close‑fitting black robes. He looked very thin, his skin unnaturally pale and tinged with sickness.
Though only twelve years old, his eyes were deep and dark, lined with faint red veins and shadowed beneath by dark circles. The whole air around him felt heavy and suppressed.
Jiang Yun Sui twitched her nose slightly she caught a strong, unpleasant scent wafting from him.
The young man sat down at the table. “You may all leave.”
“Young Master, please try to eat at least a little. Otherwise…”
“Leave.”
His tone allowed no room for argument.
The attendants bowed their heads and withdrew quietly. The only one who had dared to speak up, an elderly steward, sighed and followed them out.
Jiang Yun Sui thought for several seconds before it clicked she recognized this voice.
Ji Yan’an stared at the food laid out before him, frowning deeply. He picked up his chopsticks, only to set them down again.
He knew his body was growing weaker; if he continued to refuse nourishment, he would not last much longer. But… he truly had no appetite.
Suddenly, Ji Yan’an’s gaze sharpened, and his eyes shot straight toward the corner where Jiang Yun Sui hid.
Jiang Yun Sui, who had just been lured by the scent and had lifted one foot to step forward: ……………
She froze instantly, not daring to move a muscle.
She pulled her foot back, wrapped her arms around her knees, and pretended to be just a little mushroom.
Though, she realized she actually was one!
That man’s gaze was so terrifying… QAQ.
But… someone as formidable as him surely could help her get revenge, right?
Ji Yan’an stared at the child who had squatted back down, his expression shifting between suspicion and confusion.
Such a small figure was sitting right there no, she wasn’t even hiding; she was squatting openly in the corner. Yet until this moment, neither he nor anyone else had noticed her at all!
His hand tightened into a fist, his eyes turning dark and unreadable.
Whose spy was this? And how had she been allowed to slip inside?
Jiang Yun Sui tilted her head and met his gaze for a long moment, then suddenly yawned.
She rubbed her eyes, and in this silent standoff of “neither moving first,” she finally gave in.
“Are you Young Master Ji?”
Ji Yan’an’s expression grew even colder and sharper. “Who are you? And when did you get into my room?”
Without making a sound, he had already slipped a dagger from his waist.
Jiang Yun Sui walked carefully toward him, stopping when she was about three meters away.
Being a polite little one, she introduced herself first.
“Hello. My name is Jiang Yun Sui. I’m… the one you picked up out on the road.”
Ji Yan’an: ???
A few seconds later, the memory clicked into place. His thin lips parted slightly. “It’s you.”
On his journey from the capital to the Northern Desert, he had come across a merchant family that had been massacred. Everyone had died except this single little girl.
She truly had an iron will to have survived.
Keeping his tone calm, he asked, “How did you get in here?”
“I followed some people,” she answered softly.
Ji Yan’an thought: Are all the guards in this courtyard completely useless?
“Can you help me get revenge?”
Jiang Yun Sui did not know how to speak gently or indirectly; she simply stated her purpose straight away.
Ji Yan’an’s face remained expressionless.
Did he look like the kind of fool who went around doing favors for strangers?
“Help you get revenge? You’re hardly out of swaddling clothes, yet you dream big. I haven’t even settled the matter of you sneaking into my private chambers.”
The innocent little spirit mushroom, having little experience with humans, did not catch the sarcasm in his words.
She only lowered her head, looking disappointed. “They said you are the strongest person here that’s why I came to find you.”
“I suppose I’ll just have to go look for someone else then.”
As she spoke, she turned to leave, glancing back three times with every step.
But her gaze held no reluctance toward Ji Yan’an instead, it was fixed firmly on the food laid out on the table.
It smelled so good… slurp…
But it wasn’t hers, so she couldn’t eat it.
Patting her empty stomach, Jiang Yun Sui let her big eyes droop, looking like a tiny abandoned kitten. Hugging her belly, she walked pitifully toward the door.
Ji Yan’an’s frown deepened. He hadn’t even finished questioning her yet.
He stood up and hurried after her, only to watch with his own eyes as she walked right past the entrance guard a towering, broad‑shouldered man who did not see her at all, not even glancing downward.
Ji Yan’an’s fingers trembled slightly in anger.
Were all the men he had hired blind?!
“Stop right there!”
Everyone in the courtyard instantly straightened up, turning to look at their master in total confusion.
“Me?”
A soft, sweet voice rang out from nowhere, and every eye went wide in shock.
Heads turned in disbelief, and when they spotted Jiang Yun Sui standing just a short distance from the doorway, their eyes nearly popped out of their heads.
How on earth had this child appeared out of nowhere?!
Ji Yan’an’s expression turned icy. “Such a little person none of you saw her at all?”
Uncle Li, the old steward who had served him for years, was the first to react. Drawing a sharp breath, he rushed forward to stand before Ji Yan’an.
“Who are you, and where did you come from?!”
When asked who she was, Jiang Yun Sui replied earnestly.
“My name is Jiang Yun Sui. I’m the one Young Master Ji picked up and brought back.”
Everyone present fell silent, completely stunned.