Seeing Chu Bai’s state, Lin Zhaoyue was momentarily stunned. She sheathed her sword and walked over.
“How did you become so disheveled in just one day?”
Although his life in the Black Market hadn’t been easy either, catamites relied on their appearance. Aside from the skin broken by the shackles on his wrists and ankles, they hadn’t harmed his flesh.
Chu Bai remained silent, only fixing his pale eyes on her with a probing gaze.
Lin Zhaoyue’s combined age from two lifetimes was enough to be his mother. Chu Bai was not as deep as Xiao Yan, and it wasn’t an exaggeration to say that with just a flicker of his eyes, she could tell what he was thinking.
Knowing he had something to say, Lin Zhaoyue dismissed the others from the courtyard and led him inside.
“Do you have something to ask?”
“Who exactly are you?”
As he asked this, Chu Bai’s eyes never left her, afraid of missing any suspicious expression on her face.
Lin Zhaoyue remained completely unruffled, leisurely pouring herself a cup of tea.
“As you can see, the second young lady of the Guogong Mansion.”
“Do you know me?”
“I didn’t know you before going to the Black Market.”
This, of course, was a lie, but Lin Zhaoyue spoke with utter calm, her face unflushed and her heart steady.
She knew he was sensitive and suspicious now and couldn’t let him detect anything amiss.
“You’re lying to me.”
The young man spoke each word deliberately.
“What makes you think so?”
“If you didn’t know me, why would you be so good to me? If you didn’t know me, why would you specifically pick me at the Black Market? Logically, a ‘newly arrived’ like me shouldn’t have appeared on a customer’s selection list. You clearly went there looking for me. And the three thousand taels in the pouch—you left it for me on purpose. You knew I would run.”
Those pale eyes looked at her, his slightly hoarse youthful voice sharp, a keen edge hidden in his gaze.
After listening to him, Lin Zhaoyue raised an eyebrow slightly. Quite perceptive.
She feigned a light sigh and said:
“Ah, in the end, it all comes down to being trapped by love. I like someone, but he doesn’t like me. I’ve admired him for a long time, yet he warned me not to covet what isn’t mine.
Heartbroken, I thought I’d never pay him any mind again and find another man. But he comes from a noble family and has a fiery temper. We’re bound by a marriage contract, and if I were to get involved with another man, it would surely implicate his family. So it’s better to find someone with an obscure background and no ties.
I also have a fondness for beauty. By chance, I heard that the catamites in the Hidden Fragrance Pavilion of the Black Market were the most exquisite, so I went to take a look.
The shopkeeper showed me those people, but none compared to him. The one I like is An Guo’s most handsome man. Even if I were to find another man, his looks must at least be on par. Seeing me about to leave, the shopkeeper said there was still a top-grade beauty, and then he brought me to you. You know the rest.”
Lin Zhaoyue’s words were half-truths and half-lies. After all, since he knew she was the second young lady of the Guogong Mansion, he likely also knew about her past of chasing after Xiao Yan every day.
Chu Bai did indeed know what Lin Zhaoyue was talking about.
Recalling that day in the Hidden Fragrance Pavilion, the man sitting gracefully at the tea table, peerlessly handsome, every movement exuding nobility and elegance—there had been a subtle tension flowing between the two of them.
The one she liked and was betrothed to must be him.
That Crown Prince of An Guo who was unparalleled in the capital, peerless in elegance and talent—Xiao Yan.
The sharpness in the youth’s eyes was replaced by confusion:
“Then why did you give me three thousand silver?”
Lin Zhaoyue waved her hand dismissively:
“Though I am arrogant and domineering, I do not wish to force others. Seeing that you wanted to flee, I simply granted your wish. As for the three thousand silver, to me it’s just a trifling sum. You caught my eye, so why not give it to you as a reward?”
After speaking, Lin Zhaoyue paused, looking at Chu Bai who seemed to be silently pondering, and said:
“Do you have anything else to ask?”
Chu Bai pursed his thin lips slightly and shook his head.
“If there’s nothing else, then you may leave!”
Upon hearing Lin Zhaoyue tell him to leave, astonishment flashed in the youth’s eyes:
“Leave? But I am already the lady’s person.”
Their status as catamites was indeed lowly, like goods—whoever paid the money owned them.
Lin Zhaoyue looked at the still immature youth before her, and when she spoke again, her voice carried a trace of gravity:
“I said I do not force others. Since you are unwilling, then leave! That three thousand silver is enough for you to buy a house and shop in the capital. You are not anyone’s person; you can be yourself. I will have someone help you remove your slave status. From now on, you will be free. Regarding your background, I will investigate it for you. You may leave!”
The youth’s thin lips tightened even more. She looked at him, her gaze so sincere that it made his heart swell slightly with ache. His ice-white hands, like green bamboo, unconsciously clenched his sleeves, crumpling them into a bunch:
“Why are you treating me so kindly?”
Lin Zhaoyue smiled and said:
“I’ve already said, you caught my eye.”
After lifting the teacup and drinking a sip of tea, Lin Zhaoyue addressed Chu Bai once more:
“You may leave.”
Chu Bai looked at her for a long moment, his lips trembling, but ultimately said nothing. He stood up and walked out the door.
Seeing him leave, Lin Zhaoyue set down the teacup and stood up intending to continue practicing swordplay. Suddenly, a thud sounded. She lifted her gaze and saw Chu Bai collapsed at the entrance of her courtyard.
Her brows furrowed slightly, and she hurried over.
The youth’s face was pale; he had already fallen unconscious.
She called someone to carry him to an unused side room and summoned the house physician to examine him.
The house physician felt his pulse for a while and said:
“This young man has been fed bone-softening powder for years, his body is weak. Yesterday he ate excessively, and this morning he had no food. His collapse is due to blood deficiency and shock. Add more sugar to the porridge and feed him; he will recover within less than an incense stick’s time.”
After the house physician left, Lin Zhaoyue ordered a servant to bring porridge and feed him. However, as soon as the servant touched him, he resisted intensely.
The porridge spilled all over the embroidered quilt, a sticky mess, utterly pitiful.
“Don’t touch me, get away.”
The unconscious youth resisted, rejecting anyone who tried to approach him.
“Miss, what should we do? He’s making such a fuss over an illness, let him die of sickness.”
Chun He, looking at her hands full of porridge paste, spoke angrily.
Never had she seen a servant more difficult to care for than the master.
The life-protecting sacrifice from the previous life gave Lin Zhaoyue an extra measure of tolerance toward Chu Bai.
She approached the plank bed and said to the servant:
“Bring another bowl of porridge.”
“Yes, Miss.”
After giving the order, Lin Zhaoyue picked up a piece of malt candy from the tray, peeled off the wrapper, and with her fingertip supporting the candy, brought it to his mouth.
The familiar, pleasant lime scent weakened Chu Bai’s resistance considerably. Seizing this opportunity, Lin Zhaoyue directly pushed the candy on her fingertip into his mouth.
The sweetness on the tongue stirred his dazed consciousness. After the slightly cool fingertip withdrew from his lips, it was followed by warm, cloyingly sweet syrup.
Though spoonful after spoonful of the syrup was fed into his mouth, it felt as if it were being poured onto barren soil, where something began to take root and sprout…
For someone trapped in darkness, even the faintest glimmer of light becomes something to desperately cling to, even if it means flying into the flame like a moth…
…
After Lin Zhaoyue finished feeding him the syrup, she had Chun He change the bedding.
By the time the servant boy arrived, Chu Bai was already awake.
The lingering taste in his mouth still carried the distinct Lime Scent unique to Lin Zhaoyue.
Seeing him awake, Chun He, unable to contain her frustration, remarked sarcastically:
“You certainly have quite the nerve, making our young lady personally feed you syrup.”
Ignoring Chun He’s taunts, Chu Bai fixed his clear, bright eyes on her, as if having made a monumental decision:
“Young lady, I wish to stay.”