It was almost midnight when Shen Zhixi finally set off back to the bamboo forest cottage.
At such a late hour, even the city streets were deserted, let alone the mountain paths. Where moonlight couldn’t reach, everything was pitch black. Nightingales sang incessantly, unsettling the heart, and even the carriage driver felt a chill.
Inside the carriage, Yuanyang huddled close to Shen Zhixi, shrinking into a ball. Every time the carriage curtain fluttered in the night wind, she would jump in fright.
Only Shen Zhixi remained unmoved, calmer than anyone else.
She closed her eyes, feigning sleep. The carriage swayed as it moved, but it couldn’t disturb her in the slightest.
“Miss, aren’t you afraid at all?”
“It’s just traveling at night. What’s there to be afraid of?”
On the night she learned of Qin Mu’s betrayal, she sat alone by her mother’s grave all night and didn’t encounter any ghosts. In this world, the most terrifying things are people—and their hearts.
By the second watch of the night, they finally returned to the forest cottage.
The journey was difficult in the dark, and she feared the noise of the departing carriage might arouse Tang Zhou’s suspicion. So she asked the driver to make do inside the carriage for the night. After all, the driver was a servant born into the Shen family, and his discretion was assured.
After giving instructions, Shen Zhixi entered the courtyard.
Like the previous night, the rooms were dark and silent. From afar, Tang Zhou’s room had its doors and windows tightly shut, with no sign of anyone inside. He wasn’t waiting by the window as he had the night before, likely too exhausted to stay awake and already asleep.
“Young Master Tang Zhou must have already retired for the night, right?” Yuanyang thought the same.
“Mm.” Shen Zhixi stood beneath his window, glanced at it briefly, then turned to leave. “Let him rest. It’s so late, there’s no need to disturb him.”
She walked back and stepped onto the opposite doorstep.
Just as she was about to push the door open, the sound of a door opening came from behind her.
She paused and turned to look, seeing Tang Zhou step across the threshold. His clothes, even his hair, were neatly arranged, as if he hadn’t slept at all. The moon-white robe he wore seemed inexplicably brighter than the moon in the sky.
“Young Master Tang Zhou, it’s already the second watch of the night. Why haven’t you rested yet?” Yuanyang asked in surprise.
“The second watch…”
He murmured softly, his brows furrowing immediately, and repeated, “So it’s already the second watch.”
His eyes couldn’t see, so he couldn’t distinguish day from night, and naturally, time was a blur to him.
“Yes.” Shen Zhixi chimed in, asking, “Are you hungry because you haven’t eaten dinner? I’ll go make you something to eat right now. You haven’t taken your medicine today either. Since you’re still awake, wait a little longer. It’s not good for your health to go hungry.”
After saying this, she decisively walked down the steps toward the kitchen.
“Lily.”
Tang Zhou called out to her, but she seemed not to hear.
“It’s alright, Young Master Tang Zhou. I’ll go help. The food will be ready soon. Please go back inside and wait a little while.”
Yuanyang hurried after Shen Zhixi, leaving Tang Zhou alone at the doorway, his brows deeply furrowed.
He felt something was off, especially Shen Zhixi’s tone, which was unusually different from before. It sounded as if she was deeply dejected. They had set off early this morning, and even if they returned late, it shouldn’t have been as late as the second watch. Clearly, something had happened.
Before long, the aroma of food and medicine wafted from the kitchen, drifting straight into Tang Zhou’s room.
He sat with his head lowered at the table, holding a sugar bean in his hand.
Lost in thought, he didn’t snap out of it for a long time. Only when he heard Shen Zhixi’s footsteps did he suddenly withdraw his hand, tightly concealing the sugar bean in his palm.
“Tang Zhou, I made a bowl of noodles for you.”
The noodles in Shen Zhixi’s hands were indeed made by her own hands, taught by her mother. However, few people had tasted the noodles she personally cooked—apart from herself and her mother, even Qin Mu had never had the chance.
Somehow, tonight she suddenly felt like making a bowl of noodles.
Perhaps it was because she was in a good mood, having witnessed Qin Mu, who had betrayed her, beaten so badly he couldn’t even crawl. She was happy.
But though she claimed to be happy, there wasn’t a trace of a smile on her face.
Of course, this was all part of her act.
“Eat up,” she said, placing the bowl down and lighting the candle before turning to leave.
“Lily,” Tang Zhou called out to stop her.
She turned back and asked, “What’s wrong?”
“What’s wrong with you?” Tang Zhou countered, his sense of foreboding growing stronger. In the past few days, her tone when speaking to him had always been light and warm, but tonight, her voice sounded extremely unnatural.
“I’m fine. Eat up, I’ll come back later to collect the bowl.”
“But the way you’re speaking doesn’t sound like you’re fine.”
Seeing him take the bait again, Shen Zhixi raised her eyelids but suppressed her emotions, careful not to reveal the excitement in her heart.
“You’re overthinking it. There’s nothing wrong with me.”
“Miss Lily.”
“I’m really fine. Hurry up and eat. You still need to take your medicine later, and after that, you should get some rest.”
She lifted her foot to leave, but Tang Zhou, growing anxious, stood up and knocked over the bamboo stool behind him. He added, “It seems I should still bid farewell tomorrow. I am very grateful for the care you and your sister have given me, but I truly cannot accept it with peace of mind.”
Not only was he a burden to them, but he couldn’t even help when they were in trouble.
“Tang Zhou, why must you be like this?” Shen Zhixi deliberately raised her voice, feigning anxiety.
Tang Zhou took two steps toward her, frowning as he asked, “Then tell me, what exactly happened?”
“Nothing, nothing, nothing!”
Shen Zhixi still refused to say. She wanted Tang Zhou to worry—the more anxious he became, the stronger and more compelling the tension of this act would be.
“Stop asking me. If there’s nothing, what do you want me to tell you? Just hurry up and eat the noodles. With such severe injuries, you won’t recover if you don’t rest properly.”
She walked back to pick up the bowl of noodles from the table.
She had intended to hand it to Tang Zhou but lost her grip, spilling the noodles onto the floor.
The sound of the porcelain bowl shattering was accompanied by her startled gasp, and Tang Zhou’s heart tightened in response.
“It’s fine, it’s fine. I’ll clean it up,” Shen Zhixi said, squatting down while still trying to reassure Tang Zhou.
At that moment, Tang Zhou’s unease reached its peak.
If her emotions and state weren’t extremely troubled, why would she have dropped the bowl for no reason?
Following the sound, he squatted down beside Shen Zhixi and reached out to pull her up, worried that her troubled state might cause her to injure her hands. But as soon as he touched her, he heard her gasp in pain, “Ouch!” and froze immediately.
“Did you cut your hand?” he asked anxiously, thinking his touch had caused her to be cut by the porcelain shards. “I’m sorry.”
“No, I didn’t cut my hand. It’s not because of that…”
Tang Zhou immediately caught the implication in her words and pressed further, “You’re injured somewhere else?”
Hearing his question, she hesitated and denied it again, “N-no, I’m not injured.”
A long silence followed, with neither of them speaking again.
Tang Zhou’s expression was indescribably grim.
The cry of pain she had just heard was so clear, yet she still flatly denied it. Helplessly, his blind eyes could see nothing, otherwise he wouldn’t be so passive.
He forced himself to calm down, taking a deep, heavy breath.
“I’m sorry, I was too impatient. My attitude just now was poor.”
In the end, he apologized once more.