"Good, thank you, my lord."
Guan Fei nodded, but Bujing Nu had not yet left. The food box containing the severed head had already been carelessly set on the table. Guan Fei stepped forward and closed the lid.
Regardless of the circumstances, the dead deserved some dignity.
This was precisely why Bujing Nu struck Guan Fei as an odd man.
Anyone unaware of his nature would assume his killings were acts of personal vengeance—that was the only way to explain why he made deaths so gruesome. People in his hands fared worse than livestock, stripped of all dignity even after death. If they carried anything on their persons that caught his fancy, he would take it without hesitation, never minding the ill fortune, never fearing retribution from the courts of the underworld.
The young man sat in the chair, ate another piece of candy, and looked up at Guan Fei.
"Commander, I bought a woman."
Guan Fei: ?
"Mm."
"This woman stays in my residence, but she's been despondent all day. The day before yesterday she fell ill. I called a physician, who said her sickness came from low spirits. There's no one in my household I can consult. The Son of Heaven said that Commander Guan is benevolent and experienced, and told me to seek your counsel on any matter. Commander, how should I make this woman happy?"
Guan Fei had no idea where he'd bought this woman.
Probably one of those people walking the streets with straw tucked in their hair, picked up on a whim.
"Well… my lord, you need to ask her what she wants. But for a woman—buy her plenty of clothes and jewelry," Guan Fei said, then, considering she might be someone who'd suffered greatly, added, "Prepare fine dishes for her. In the bedchamber, make sure she's comfortable and pleased—that should suffice. If she's still unhappy, spend generously to hire a troupe of performers. Women all enjoy watching plays. Spend time with her often, don't leave her alone in an empty room, and that will surely ease her sorrows."
Bujing Nu asked a few more questions before finally leaving.
After seeing him off, Guan Fei felt utterly exhausted.
Slashing a thousand times with his blade wasn't this tiring.
He'd just sat down when the dark food box beside him cast a gloomy shadow over his mood.
Guan Fei: …
He'd have to give orders later—no subordinates were to deliver his meals in food boxes from now on. Especially black ones.
Xia Ji's head was spinning.
Dizzy, aching, and cold all over.
So heavy…
Heavens above, was she dying?
[System… am I dying?]
The System ignored her entirely. After a moment, it finally spoke.
[Ding-dong. Better-Looking System online. Please select an intimacy task. Task One: A tight embrace. Task Two: A kiss on the cheek. Task Three: A kiss on the lips.]
Xia Ji: …
Damn it.
Heartless! No matter which world you're in, whoever hands out these tasks is a heartless swindler! There's no justice!
[I choose one.]
[Task One: A tight embrace. Difficulty: Low-to-medium. Time limit: Two days. Required embrace duration: One cup of tea.]
"Hangiang, Hangiang—" A young man's soft murmurs sounded by her ear. Xia Ji felt herself being held, spoonful after spoonful of bitter medicine being poured into her mouth.
"Bitter!"
Xia Ji's brows knitted tightly as she fully woke. Her face was flushed with fever. She turned her head—she was buried under a mountain of blankets, wrapped up like a silkworm chrysalis.
Bujing Nu was holding her. Xia Ji turned and met his gaze.
His beautiful face was expressionless. Oddly, today he wore white robes. There was a faint scent of blood on him, but the fragrance of the garment was stronger.
Xia Ji had never seen him in white.
He looked like someone who'd stepped out of a painting.
"Are you going to die, Hangiang?"
Xia Ji: …
"Can you say something auspicious? I just woke up." Xia Ji was at her limit and simply looked away from him.
"Auspicious words? 'May you get rich'? What's the point of saying those, Hangiang."
Xia Ji felt utterly powerless. Little brother, stop tormenting this former corporate slave.
"…I'm fine."
Bujing Nu leaned down, wrapped his arms around Xia Ji, and pressed his cheek against hers.
Her face was burning hot.
"So warm. Hangiang, if only you were this warm every day."
Those three gentle sentences Bujing Nu had spoken since she woke nearly sent her feverish soul flying out of her body in fury.
But after the anger came deflation.
She needed to get better.
No matter what, she was going to run. When she did, this madman could stay in this room with the fool and keep being his lunatic.
Hmph… she couldn't get angry at a madman…
"But if Hangiang were this warm every day, she'd surely die," Bujing Nu said, his dark eyes fixed on her. Finally, he said something nice, and Xia Ji looked at him too.
"Hangiang, don't get sick. I bought you lots of clothes and jewelry. I also invited the cook from the lord's residence. Whatever you want to eat, I'll call him over and you can tell him. Don't be sick, Hangiang."
Xia Ji: …?
Was the fever making her delirious?
Was she finally dying?
Xia Ji secretly pinched her own hand hard.
It hurt…
Only then did Xia Ji look at the rest of the room.
The clothes were all piled on her bed. She had thought they were just brocade quilts, because she was covered in several layers.
She reached out and picked up a garment. The moment she touched it, she could tell it was brand new—absolutely brand new.
"Not from a dead person?" Xia Ji was still a bit scared.
"No. I gave Shanu your measurements and had him buy them."
New clothes.
They really were new clothes, not something a dead person had worn!
Xia Ji wanted to cry. Her lower half was still bundled in layers of brocade quilts, and she felt a pair of hands tugging at her brocade trousers.
Xia Ji: …
"What are you doing?!"
She quickly wrapped herself up even tighter.
"Hangiang, don't always be so loud," Bujing Nu said, clearly displeased again. "I'm changing your clothes for you."
"I'll change myself!"
"Oh."
Bujing Nu didn't say anything else and simply went out. Xia Ji hadn't expected him to be so agreeable.
Looking at these clothes, she felt her spirits lift. From the dozen or so garments, she picked out a blue-green robe with a silver-white pleated skirt underneath. Together, they looked gentle and elegant.
Xia Ji quickly stripped off her dirty clothes and threw them on the floor. She had worn hanfu before, and although this outfit differed from hanfu in many ways, after studying it for a bit, she roughly figured out how to put it on.
But taking off her clothes was still somewhat awkward, and she felt a lingering fear. To her surprise, she discovered her original body had wrapped a strip of cloth around her chest—no wonder she'd felt so stifled these past days. But because the clothes were so dirty, and she'd assumed it was just from the body swap, she'd never thought to investigate.
She untied the cloth and, with a brief downward glance, knew this body was completely hers.
Not just the small mole on her leg—her chest had always been noticeably large, and with her honest, soft appearance, she often attracted unwanted attention. Now, whether by misfortune or luck, her body was the same as before. The original owner had probably wrapped her chest to avoid standing out, so it wouldn't be so obvious.
That was why the measurements were slightly off, making the clothes a bit tight. The necklines were also a little low, making her chest even more prominent. But it was much better than that stifling feeling from the past few days.
She didn't wear brocade trousers underneath.
For Xia Ji, a modern person, lying in bed with bare legs was far more comfortable. Wearing a skirt on top was already being polite enough.
"I—I'm done."
After she spoke, she heard no reply. Just as she lay back down, the sound of wooden clogs grew closer. Bujing Nu pushed the door open, followed by a trembling old woman.
"This old woman is an excellent cook. If Hangiang wants anything to eat, just have her make it for you."
"This servant greets the young lady!"
Old woman…
Why was Bujing Nu always like this…
The old woman stood beside Bujing Nu, radiating nervousness from head to toe.
Xia Ji had a gentle appearance. A faint smile made her seem even more approachable—she looked like a soft, easygoing bun. She had often been bullied in the past because she looked too soft, which had shaped her into someone highly tolerant, yet also resilient and clever.
Xia Ji waved her over and sat up. "Grandma, what can you cook?"
"To answer the young lady, this servant can make both southern and northern dishes. My specialties—the ones the princesses in the palace loved—are Five-Flavored Almond Yogurt Goose, Steamed Chicken with Rice Flour, Lotus and Mint Soup, Golden Thread Bird's Nest, and Stuffed Eggplant. I'm best at soups, and I also roast pig's head and goose—those are my finest dishes." The old woman answered with great eagerness.
Xia Ji nodded along.
Amazing. Although she'd never eaten any of it except stuffed eggplant and roast goose, this person was a great find—she'd even served princesses.
"I'd just like something light. Make two simple dishes and simmer a bowl of rice porridge for me."
"This—"
The old woman instinctively glanced at the young man in white beside her.
When she'd been summoned, she'd been told to prepare palace dishes, following the standard of fifteen courses.
"Two isn't enough. Make fifteen." Bujing Nu had already seated himself in the chair before the vanity, lounging casually as he toyed with his flowing ink-black hair.
Xia Ji: …
"That's enough!" Xia Ji couldn't take it anymore. Every time she ate with Bujing Nu, so much food went to waste. He didn't have a big appetite, and she got tired of the same flavors, so there were always huge leftovers. "I'm sick. If you eat with me, you'll catch it. You still want to eat with me?"
"Naturally, together." Whether she was sick or contagious, Bujing Nu didn't care at all.
"Then we don't need fifteen dishes. Five—five at most. Make five light dishes and some porridge."
The cook looked at Bujing Nu again.
Bujing Nu looked down at the gold hairpin in his hand. Xia Ji glanced over too—the hairpin was striking in his jade-white hand. She couldn't quite make out its design, but she saw him give a slight nod of his chin.
The cook sighed with relief, bowed, and withdrew.
Once she left, the room fell silent again. After being driven half-mad by Bujing Nu's bizarre logic all this time, Xia Ji felt her illness had been mostly cured by sheer exasperation. She tugged at the quilts over her and counted—there were five layers.
She had five layers of quilts on her…
"You always cry out that you're cold in your sleep."
Bujing Nu lowered his eyes and came over holding the golden hairpin in his hand. Xia Ji could see it clearly now—this was the golden butterfly hairpin.
Bujing Nu held it up, gesturing toward Xia Ji's head. The moment it touched her hair, Xia Ji flinched away, a little frightened, but she met Bujing Nu's curved, smiling eyes.
"It's not from a dead person. Newly bought. Hangiang, you're so amusing."
Amusing, my ass.
Not something from a dead person. Xia Ji couldn't help but let her gaze follow the big golden hairpin—gold was always so tempting. Bujing Nu smiled warmly as he stuck it into Xia Ji's hair as casually as if it were an ordinary wooden pin.
He didn't know how to tie up hair either, just stuck things in randomly. Seeming to have gotten into the spirit of it, he picked up other hair ornaments and scattered them across the bed, adorning Xia Ji's hair.
Mm… adorning her hair…
But really, he was just sticking hairpins in at random.
"Stop playing with my hair. You don't know how, and you leave your own hair loose all day." Xia Ji shook her head, not letting him touch her anymore.
Even a clay doll would lose its temper with him.
"I do know." Bujing Nu touched his own hair.
"Then why do you leave yours loose all day?"
"Too troublesome." He picked up a new hairpin and gathered Xia Ji's hair up—and actually managed it, though it was clearly quite loose. "Tying Hangiang's hair isn't troublesome. It's fun."
"These are all for you, Hangiang." Bujing Nu patted the bed, where gold and jade were piled up—all the jewelry he'd bought for her. "Are you happy?"
Xia Ji: ?
She stared at him blankly, then raised a hand to touch her own forehead.
Had she already burned herself stupid?
How could Bujing Nu be hiring a cook for her, giving her gold and jade—it was like his kind personality had kicked in.
Xia Ji, utterly baffled, let her gaze drift to the white clothes Bujing Nu was wearing today.
Bujing Nu always wore black.
But today he was in white.
What kind of kind-personality activation was this? Could Bujing Nu actually have a split personality, where wearing white meant the kind one came out?
As someone who'd read countless novels, she'd seen this before—novels with a protagonist who had a split personality. If that were the case, that would be wonderful.
Seeing Xia Ji staring at his clothes, Bujing Nu curved his brows and stood up. He stepped in his wooden clogs, smiling as he spun around in front of her, the little copper bells on his sash jingling.
Xia Ji thought she spotted a few drops of blood-red stains on his snow-white hem, extremely conspicuous.
The outfit was cinched with a red sash. If Bujing Nu tied up his hair, he'd look like a wealthy young master—tall and lean, striking and noble.
But with his ink-black hair loose and falling over his forehead, he looked eerily beautiful instead. His curved brows and face turned toward her made him seem like a jade demon-buddha.
"Pretty, Hangiang? After finishing work today, the master saw my clothes were dirty and gave me new ones. I put them on and thought to show you. Pretty? Do you like them, Hangiang?"
Xia Ji's gaze inevitably locked onto the bloodstains at his hem again.
Xia Ji: …
Sometimes, she really needed to fix her habit of finding humor in misery.
Translated, this meant Bujing Nu had gone out killing again this morning. After killing, his clothes were covered in blood, so the master he served gave him new ones. It had nothing to do with some kind personality that liked wearing white.
As for why he was suddenly so nice—maybe he'd just had a sudden realization.
Bujing Nu was unpredictable. Xia Ji didn't expect him to be this nice every day, but if he did well, she had to praise him. She looked at him and nodded: "Pretty. I like it."
She suddenly became very curious whether Bujing Nu really listened to her that well.
"If you tied up your ink-black hair, this outfit would look even better on you."
Bujing Nu's smile didn't change. He sat down, took a jade hairpin from Xia Ji's bed, and gathered up his ink-black hair—though it wasn't done well and kept slipping down. Bujing Nu leaned toward Xia Ji: "Like this?"
Xia Ji's heart paused slightly. She couldn't quite describe the feeling.
Bujing Nu did care about her a little.
Xia Ji pressed her advantage, ready to keep testing how well he listened.
"Tie it a bit better—"
Before she could finish speaking.
Bujing Nu's dark, deep eyes drew closer and closer. His pupils were too black. Stared at like this, Xia Ji felt as if something had pressed hard against her heart. Before she could react, the world spun around her.
"Mm!"
Xia Ji was suddenly pushed down onto the bed, her head spinning. Bujing Nu pressed on top of her, and something cold pressed sharply against her neck!