Jiang Yun Sui rested for a full day in the small courtyard. The next morning, Cook Chen dressed her in a soft pink silk robe and arranged her hair into two neat little maid’s buns, then led her toward the front quarters.
Yun Sui was still fascinated by her new hairstyle, reaching up to touch it every few steps along the way.
After recovering for some time, though she had not yet gained much weight, her whole demeanor had brightened noticeably.
Her face, once pale and lifeless as if she could fade away at any moment, now carried a healthy flush of color. Combined with her fair skin and delicate, pretty features, she looked utterly charming and endearing.
“This is as far as I can take you,” said Cook Chen. “Do you remember everything I told you?”
Yun Sui nodded vigorously. “Yes! Speak little, and do exactly what the Young Master tells me to do.”
She repeated the instructions in her soft, sweet voice, sounding so earnest and adorable.
Cook Chen could not resist squeezing her tiny hand. She would have liked to pinch her cheek, but the girl’s skin was so tender it would leave a mark at once and arriving for duty with a red imprint on her face would not do at all.
Jiang Yun Sui continued on alone into the front courtyard, walking in with an air of confidence.
The guards stood rigid, their gazes fixed straight ahead, seemingly unaware of her presence.
After wandering around for a while without finding any sign of Young Master Ji, she decided to ask someone directly.
“Excuse me, do you know where Young Master Ji is?”
Standing beneath a large tree, she tilted her head upward and called politely toward someone hidden high in the branches.
Ji Si, perched up above, froze in shock: !!!
This could not be right she could not possibly be talking to him!
He was a shadow guard, trained to remain completely unseen and undetectable.
When no answer came, Yun Sui waited a moment, then turned and walked over to the shadows behind a rockery.
“Excuse me, do you know where Young Master Ji is?”
Ji Lu, concealed there, went rigid as well: !!!
When had this child appeared? How had she managed to spot him?
Not far off, Ji Si, who had followed her silently, stared wide-eyed. No way that wasn’t just luck?
She really had noticed him just now.
“Are you all unable to speak?”
When there was still no reply, Jiang Yun Sui sighed and gave them a look of sincere pity.
“How sad for you, all dressed in black like this… are you mute?”
Ji Si and Ji Lu stood frozen in silence: ……………
“What do you want with the Young Master?”
Ji Lu finally spoke, his voice flat and unreadable.
Jiang Yun Sui’s eyes went round and bright. “Oh! So you can talk!”
“I am his new maid. I need to find him to attend to him,” she explained clearly in her childish voice. “But right now I don’t know where he is.”
Normally, Granny Zhou would have arranged her schedule and duties, but in her haste, the matron had completely forgotten about the little girl.
In fact, until they actually saw her, neither Ji Yan’an nor Uncle Li had remembered that she was even there. No one had thought to assign her a routine.
“I will take you to him,” Ji Lu said.
Word had already spread among the shadow guards that the Young Master had taken on a four-year-old maid. Seeing her now, he realized this must be the child in question.
“Thank you!”
She beamed up at him, so sweet and well-mannered that she looked absolutely adorable. Ji Lu found himself glancing down at her repeatedly.
From his height, he could only see the top of her head, her short legs scurrying along, and her small fists clenched tightly at her sides. For every single step he took, she had to hurry two or three just to keep up her legs were simply too short.
A faint smile tugged at the corner of Ji Lu’s mouth. How amusing.
When they encountered other servants along the path, he simply bent down, lifted her easily into his arms, and with a light push of his toes, glided swiftly away.
“Wow”
Jiang Yun Sui felt no fear at all. Her bright, clear eyes went wide and round as she wrapped her small arms around Ji Lu’s neck and whispered in delight.
“So high up!”
Ji Lu was using his lightness skill to leap across rooftops and walls, and the little girl was absolutely thrilled. There was even a note of admiration in her soft, childish voice.
Back when she was just a little mushroom, the only way to escape danger had been to burrow into the ground she had never been able to fly. Now that she had taken human form, she could not even do that anymore.
“You are so amazing!”
Clearly, Jiang Yun Sui loved the feeling of soaring through the air.
Hearing such sweet, innocent praise from a four-year-old girl, Ji Lu found the corners of his mouth lifting into a smile that he could not suppress. Fortunately, he was wearing a mask, so no one could see his expression.
Jiang Yun Sui only heard him give a quiet, nonchalant “Mm-hmm.”
He felt quite pleased to have impressed her.
When they arrived at their destination, Ji Lu set her down in a quiet, empty corner.
“Go to the guards at the entrance and ask them to escort you inside. You are not allowed to enter on your own.”
As a shadow guard, he preferred to stay out of sight unless absolutely necessary.
Jiang Yun Sui smoothed out her slightly rumpled dress and tidied her hair, then nodded obediently.
“All right.”
Once she had made herself neat, she hurried over to the gate on her short legs.
“Excuse me can you take me to see Young Master Ji? I am his new maid.”
From his hiding place in the shadows, Ji Lu watched her follow instructions so well and felt quite satisfied.
The two guards exchanged a confused look, until finally the younger one stepped forward to lead her in.
“The Young Master is receiving guests inside. You will have to wait out here for a while.”
Jiang Yun Sui gave a small nod. Seeing Granny Zhou standing guard nearby, she thanked the young guard and trotted over.
“Granny Zhou!”
The moment Granny Zhou saw her, the child’s existence suddenly came flooding back to her mind. She felt annoyed with herself when had her memory become so poor that she had completely forgotten the little girl?
“Yun Sui, how did you find your way here?”
Jiang Yun Sui explained obediently how Cook Chen had brought her to the front courtyard, and how someone had then helped her get to this place.
“But I forgot to ask his name,” she added, looking quite disappointed.
Granny Zhou said, “The Young Master is busy with visitors right now. You may stay here and play quietly, as long as you don’t make any noise. You can go in only when he calls for you.”
“All right. Thank you, Granny Zhou.”
Looking into the little girl’s sincere, clear eyes, Granny Zhou felt her heart soften.
Jiang Yun Sui was an unusually quiet and well-behaved child. Most children would have grown restless waiting in one spot, but she was used to staying still from her days as a mushroom. She simply found a stone step to sit on and began to amuse herself.
She watched lines of ants marching across the ground, and plucked a few blades of grass to twist and weave in her hands.
Soon, however, she found something far more interesting: a pair of swallows building a nest beneath the eaves. She crouched down, craning her neck to watch them carry mouthfuls of damp mud to construct their home.
Granny Zhou glanced over at her from time to time, thinking how easy this little girl was to look after no trouble at all.
Meanwhile, inside the room, a young man dressed in blue robes was taking Ji Yan’an’s pulse.
“To have endured the poison of Phantom Dream this long, and still appear so composed and alert… even I find it remarkable.”
Standing nearby, Uncle Li could hardly contain his eagerness now that the physician had correctly identified the poison. This was the first healer in years who had diagnosed it simply by feeling the pulse.
Though Ji Yan’an felt a flicker of hope, he remained calm. Knowing the name of the poison was one thing; finding a cure was another. Having been disappointed so many times before, he had learned not to let his expectations rise too high.