Chu Ning cast a downward glance at the painting, now ruined by a blossom of ink. She looked up and glared at Lu Zhidao; neither would back down, the tension between them sharp enough to draw blood.
“It doesn’t matter, Miss Lu,” Chu Ning said with a faint, cold smile. “I’ll simply paint another one later and send it to your room.”
“No need. I don’t understand art.”
Even though the painting was destroyed, Chu Ning didn’t feel the slightest bit of regret. Instead, she felt a tiny prickle of secret joy. Better it be ruined, she thought, saving me the trouble of looking at it and getting annoyed.
As they spoke, Miss Shen heard the commotion. Setting down her teacup, she stood and walked to the desk, looking at the ruined artwork with genuine heartache. “What a pity…”
The two combatants finally broke eye contact. Lu Zhidao turned away, crossing her arms with an air of complete indifference, though she couldn’t help stealing glances from the corner of her eye.
“It’s no matter. I’ll just paint another,” Chu Ning said, snapping back to her senses and tidying the paper away with a casual excuse.
The ruined painting seemed to have torn the veil between the three of them. None of them dared to look too closely at their own motivations; once they did, they found themselves standing in place, somewhat at a loss. Each harboring their own thoughts, the atmosphere grew thick with a strange, inexplicable awkwardness.
Fortunately, the little maid broke the silence, announcing that the kitchen had prepared the meal and it was time to eat.
Taking the offered escape route, the three exchanged polite formalities and headed off to dine.
They walked in silence.
Before long, the sky began to darken. Considering the inconvenience of traveling at night, Miss Shen invited Chu Ning to stay over. Chu Ning took the opportunity to agree and was settled into a guest wing of the villa.
Until the night had fully set in, she found no chance to speak privately with Lu Zhidao, leaving her heart full of unresolved questions. Chu Ning leaned alone against the window frame. The lanterns lighting the paths had been extinguished, but the moonlight was as cool as water, filtering through the silhouettes of trees and spilling onto the ground in mottled patches.
The stillness of the night allowed one’s heart to settle. Thinking back, she had risked coming here out of worry for Lu Zhidao, yet once she found her safe, she couldn’t help but treat her with sarcasm and cattiness.
Chu Ning couldn’t understand it herself. Seeing Lu Zhidao and Miss Shen practicing swords together had made her chest feel tight. It seemed that at some point, she had developed a bit of… possessiveness?
Chu Ning labeled her behavior today as “possessiveness.” How else could she explain it? She stopped her train of thought there, unwilling to delve deeper.
From now on, she thought spitefully, she can practice swords with whoever she wants. What does it have to do with me?
I can’t be like I was today, acting so petty, Chu Ning promised herself silently.
But right now, she wondered what Lu Zhidao was doing. Was she with Miss Shen?
The moonlight was perfect tonight suitable for a tryst. Just the thought brought a fresh wave of bitterness. She had just promised herself not to be petty, yet here she was overthinking again.
The night grew deeper and the dew heavier. A cold breeze blew past, making Chu Ning shiver involuntarily. Just as she was about to close the window and retreat into the room, she spotted a dark shadow in the distance. It was agile, sprinting rapidly toward her direction.
Chu Ning pressed her hands against the windowsill and leaned out to look. Under the dappled moonlight, the dark figure was blurry but strikingly familiar.
In a flash, Lu Zhidao was standing outside the window. Chu Ning had just been thinking of her, but the real person appeared so suddenly that for a moment it felt like a hallucination. Chu Ning leaned on the sill, staring blankly like a fool.
Lu Zhidao looked around cautiously. After ensuring she hadn’t been followed, she turned to face Chu Ning. Seeing Chu Ning staring at her without speaking, she assumed there was something suspicious behind her and turned again to check the surroundings.
Finding nothing out of the ordinary, she wondered if Chu Ning had discovered something. She asked alertly, “What’s the situation?”
“What do you mean, ‘what’s the situation’?” Chu Ning snapped out of it and asked in confusion.
Lu Zhidao scratched her head. After confirming for the third time that no one else was around, she leaned in mysteriously, shielding her face with one hand, and whispered, “What did you discover?”
“I discovered you’re here.”
“And?”
“And nothing. Why are you acting so sneaky?”
Realizing she had overthought it, Lu Zhidao breathed a sigh of relief and waved her hand, signaling Chu Ning to move back.
Chu Ning assumed this meant she should open the door for her. She turned toward the entrance, but as soon as she unlatched the door, Lu Zhidao had already braced one hand on the windowsill and vaulted inside.
She clapped her hands clean and pulled the window shut. Then she walked to the door and closed the one Chu Ning had just opened.
“You…” Chu Ning realized her effort to open the door had been redundant. “Is this how you always break into people’s rooms?”
Lu Zhidao looked confused. She simply explained, “It’s more convenient.”
“Hmph… and here I thought you’d be stuck to Miss Shen’s side.” Chu Ning eyed her, sat down at the table, and teased with a hint of jealousy, “Are you here for the painting? A scene of two people dancing with swords is rare; I’ll be sure to make it up to you later. What’s the rush?”
“I don’t want it!” Lu Zhidao strode to the table, leaning her weight on one hand as she looked down at Chu Ning. “It’s all just messy scribbles.”
“You say I paint poorly? Miss Shen couldn’t put that fan down! Of course, she might not have been interested in the art, but rather the person in the art.”
Lu Zhidao was left speechless. She opened her mouth, closed it, and sat down herself. She placed her hands side-by-side on her knees, looking solemn.
After a long silence, she finally figured out how to respond. She shot back, “What she’s interested in has nothing to do with me.”
“Then what are you interested in?”
“One hundred taels.”
“One hundred taels?”
Lu Zhidao finally found the chance to explain the agreement with Miss Shen: one hundred taels a day.
“Lu Zhidao!” Chu Ning furrowed her brows, looking at her in disbelief. She had been worried sick, scheming and risking herself to come find her, and this woman stayed just for some silver? All that effort spent making excuses for her, fearing she was in some dire predicament—and the “dire predicament” was just one hundred taels?
“You sold yourself for a hundred taels?!” Chu Ning was incensed.
“A day,” Lu Zhidao reminded her.
“Do you think it’s worth it?”
“It’s worth it.” Lu Zhidao nodded seriously. One hundred taels a day—it seemed like a great deal no matter how she looked at it.
“…” Chu Ning couldn’t be bothered to argue further. She felt she had wasted far too much emotion on this woman.
“Besides, I want to investigate. There’s something fishy about the Shen estate.”
“Yesterday, I saw them looking for you with your portrait.”
Chu Ning had intended to ignore her, but hearing this, she realized the matter wasn’t so simple. She thought: So Lu Zhidao did have a reason. She had misunderstood her again, wasting more emotion.
Lu Zhidao herself was always calm, yet she constantly provoked others into emotional turmoil.
“Next time, can you lead with the important part?” Chu Ning said indignantly.
“My main point is the hundred taels.”
Chu Ning curled her lip. Hearing about the hundred taels annoyed her, so she intentionally ignored the comment and asked directly, “What’s the deal with the portrait?”
“I don’t know where it came from, but they took it to the docks.”
“So that’s why you specifically had Mu Shuanzi tell me not to go there?”
“Mu Shuanzi?”
“The little beggar.”
“Yes. But I didn’t expect you to come here.” Lu Zhidao paused. “Miss Shen probably isn’t involved, but she is part of the Shen family after all. It’s dangerous for you to be here alone. You should have stayed at the inn.”
“It’s your fault for sending such a confusing message!” Chu Ning stood up, her almond eyes wide with reprimand.
Lu Zhidao looked at her innocently. “I told you not to wander and to wait for me to return. How is that a confusing message?”
“You said you were in danger and couldn’t get away…” Chu Ning recalled the beggar’s words and realized the kid hadn’t explained things clearly. “Anyway, the situation sounded very urgent…”
“???” Lu Zhidao was bewildered. Did I say that?
However, the part about not going to the docks had been delivered correctly. For a moment, she didn’t know where the wires had crossed.
“I originally wanted to investigate first, which is why I was delayed and didn’t go back for you.”
Chu Ning realized there had been a misunderstanding. She calmed down, sat back down, and teased crossly, “Mu Shuanzi must have misheard, making me worry for nothing. Otherwise, who would bother coming all this way to watch you two being all lovey-dovey?”
“Don’t talk nonsense.”
“I saw it with my own eyes!”
“You were scribbling nonsense during the day, and now you’re speaking nonsense. What did you see!” Lu Zhidao clenched her fists in debate, her cheeks flushing slightly from the urgency of her defense.
Chu Ning waved her hand dismissively. “Everything I saw, I painted. But you destroyed it.”
“It was just a spar! When was it ever like… that!”
“Like what?” Chu Ning asked on purpose.
Lu Zhidao paused, her brain searching for a retort. “It’s too much for you to frame me like this.”
“I didn’t realize you cared. I thought you were enjoying yourself.”
Even though the words were flying back and forth, Lu Zhidao was clearly at a disadvantage. It often took her a long time to think of how to follow up.
Chu Ning felt vented, but Lu Zhidao was slowly filling with bottled-up irritation.
However, she soon discovered a universal rebuttal. Whenever Chu Ning made a sour remark about her and Miss Shen, Lu Zhidao would simply reply: “I’m doing it for the hundred taels.” It was incredibly effective and never failed.
“I never knew you were one to teach people swordplay!”
“I’m doing it for the hundred taels.”
“Do you martial arts experts always have to touch each other like that when you practice?”
“I’m doing it for the hundred taels.”
“I think you’re actually enjoying it…”
“For the hundred taels.”
The two of them argued back and forth with tireless energy. When they got thirsty, they each poured a cup of tea and continued bickering while they drank.
Just as they were getting into the spirit of it, they suddenly heard footsteps approaching the door. Lu Zhidao instantly became alert. She reached the door in two quick steps and peeked through the crack.
“It’s Miss Shen,” Lu Zhidao whispered, turning back.
“Coming to find you, no doubt,” Chu Ning said, not missing a single chance to tease her.
“For the hundred taels.”
“Enough, enough…” Seeing Miss Shen getting closer, Chu Ning raised her hands in surrender. She was about to tell Lu Zhidao to hide out the window.
Unexpectedly, Lu Zhidao’s reaction was much faster. Before Chu Ning could finish her sentence, Lu Zhidao had already opened the wardrobe, climbed inside, and pulled the door shut.
She hadn’t hidden outside the window as Chu Ning expected because she was worried. She thought that if Miss Shen had ulterior motives, she could react immediately if she stayed inside the room.
Just as she hid, a knock sounded at the door. Chu Ning hurried forward to open it.
“I saw the lamp was still lit in Master Jianbai’s room, so I came to check. You haven’t rested yet?” Miss Shen stood at the door with her sword, asking with a smile.
“Not yet, not yet,” Chu Ning said, ushering her in.
Miss Shen stepped into the room and immediately spotted two teacups on the table. She casually picked up Lu Zhidao’s cup; it still had half a portion of tea left, and the liquid was still warm.
“Having a guest?” Miss Shen asked with a smile, but her hand quietly tightened around the hilt of her sword.