And the very person the young girl was longing for—Su Yu—was currently at the General’s Manor, accompanied by the eldest Ning daughter.
It was a bright and gentle spring day. Flowers bloomed in full glory throughout the rear garden, where bees and butterflies danced in circles. Ning Xi idly plucked the delicate blossom from a stem and said with a beaming smile, “Ayu, for you.”
“Don’t want it.” Su Yu recoiled in distaste and glanced up at the sky. “It’s still too early for dinner, so I’ll pass. I should be heading back.”
“Why go back so soon? Didn’t you used to dine here once in a while?” Ning Xi rested her hand softly on Su Yu’s shoulder. “Ayu, stay.”
Meanwhile, at the Su Residence.
The little maid, A-Zhi, gaped in horror at the handsome man who had just vaulted over the courtyard wall. Instinctively taking two steps back, she snapped to her senses and threw herself in front of her mistress, her eyes locked onto the uninvited guest in a fierce glaze.
Ning Zhou paid no mind to the little maid’s deep guard. Instead, his eyes darted straight to the young girl in the plain, simple dress. In his heart, he broke into a cold sweat for his elder sister. He had seen plenty of beauties, but one who could stir such an overwhelming urge to protect.
“A-Zhi, what’s wrong? Is Ayu back?”
The girl’s voice was soft, sweet, and melodious. Ning Zhou froze in place, not daring to move an inch. If his attitude toward the girl before arriving had been contempt and curiosity, then at this moment, it was awe, apprehension, and an intense hatred—wishing she simply didn’t exist in this world.
To ensure his sister could smoothly claim her beloved and grow old with her true love, he wanted to crush this flower—frail and tender as she was—into nonexistence.
Having been friends with Su Yu for over a decade, both he and his sister knew her preferences all too well. Even if Su Yu hadn’t fallen for her yet, over time, she would inevitably come to ignore his sister’s bright radiance in favor of this tender blossom right before her eyes.
Compared to this young girl, no matter how well his sister disguised herself, she was, in the end, far too dominant. Acting against one’s true nature always left a natural flaw.
In that case, he might as well be the one to do the dirty work. Was this not the true intent behind his sister asking him to come “take a look”?
As he remained silent, A-Zhi fought back her panic. “Miss, I, let me help you back to your room first.”
With that single sentence, Xue Lingmiao’s long eyelashes drooped, and her lips turned slightly pale. Her grip on her bamboo cane tightened bit by bit as she gently declined A-Zhi’s offered hand.
A breeze drifted through the small courtyard. She took a deep breath, forcing down the wildly surging panic of the unknown.
Panic gripped her so tightly her throat could barely make a sound. She forced herself to think of her absent fiancée, that blurred silhouette flashing across her mind. Then, she let out a faint, light smile. “It’s not Ayu. So, let me guess who the visitor might be.”
Ning Zhou watched her with great amusement. He could clearly tell the little girl was on the verge of fainting from fright, terrified by his suppressed, unreleased intent to kill, and by the stark contrast of one being in the light while the other remained in the dark. The terror thrust upon a blind person was, at times, far sharper than a cold blade.
“You despise me very much,” the girl said slowly and softly.
A hairpin bound up a full head of silky hair—it undeniably suited her delicate grace. Truly worthy of someone from the South, she possessed that captivating sweetness of a Jiangnan woman who could charm anyone without uttering a single word.
Ning Zhou sighed once more at the shame of it all, staring intently at the girl’s slender, elegant neck: If he wished, a single hand would be enough to send her across the bridge to the underworld.
With his martial prowess, quietly disposing of two helpless little burdens would be effortless.
“Perhaps you could dial back your hostility,” she said. As the shadow of death pressed down on her, Lingmiao’s mind became clearer than ever. She asserted with quiet certainty, “Are you Ning Xi? Or someone else?”
“It’s, it’s a man,” A-Zhi stammered, her legs trembling as she forced the words out. “A man who looks very handsome and very formidable.”
Having his identity cut straight through by a fragile, defenseless blind girl, Young Master Ning took a leisurely step forward. He asked, “How has Ning Xi offended you?”
It was an utterly unreasonable question. The young girl couldn’t hold back the surge of grievance any longer. Yet with Ayu not by her side, she could only let her eyes slowly turn red, uttering a sentence whose deeper meaning everyone present understood: “I have never offended anyone.”
Aside from Ning Xi, she couldn’t imagine who else would brazenly run over to “look” at her while Ayu was away.
This man was clearly a martial artist, with more than one life on his hands. The killing intent radiating from him was thick enough to envelop and trap her. Even if he wasn’t Ning Xi herself, he was certainly someone close to her.
She pressed her lips together in sorrow. Why would this man ask such a foolish question? She might be blind in the eyes, but her heart was far from blind. Thanks to the heavens, her senses were remarkably sharp.
“What a clever little girl,” Young Master Ning’s gaze turned icy cold. “I am Ayu’s friend. No matter what I do, as long as I deny it, she won’t harbor groundless suspicions against me.”
The girl’s knuckles turned white from clenching her cane so hard. “You people are truly despicable!”
“We are indeed pretty despicable. But what can be done when my sister likes her? A person like Ayu—in this world, only my sister is a fitting match for her. Where on earth did you spring from? You ruined our plans, which makes you pretty despicable too.”
Two people of vastly unequal strength stood exchanging accusations like children. In the very next moment, Ning Zhou’s heart skipped a beat—he had never anticipated that his elder sister wouldn’t be able to hold Su Yu back! With a light tap of his toes, he leaped onto the roof and vanished in the blink of an eye.
The sound of horse hooves echoed outside the entrance. The playgirl Su Yu leaped down from her steed holding a wine jar, stepping through the doorway in high spirits.
In the small courtyard, A-Zhi lay collapsed on the ground, pale as a ghost. The blind young girl sat stiffly in her bamboo chair, dazed and absentminded as if lost in thought.
Su Yu grinned and asked, “What’s wrong? Why do you both look so thoroughly spooked?”
“It, it was Young Master Ning! He came here and wanted to harm Mistress!” The usually quiet little maid was the first to blurt out an answer.
Hearing that Ning Zhou had been here, Su Yu scanned her surroundings before taking three quick steps in two toward the bamboo chair. “What did he do?”
Lingmiao snapped back to reality, dropped her bamboo cane, and threw herself straight into Su Yu’s arms.
Having witnessed everything from start to finish, A-Zhi thought in utter despair: The worst part was that he did nothing at all—he didn’t even lay a finger on them. If they recklessly told their master that her childhood friend had harbored deadly intent behind her back, would their master even believe it?
“Why are your hands so cold?” Su Yu hadn’t expected to return home to such a scene. Patting the young girl’s trembling shoulders, her expression darkened. “A-Zhi, go brew a cup of hot tea.”
“Yes, Miss.”
Her legs weak, the little maid stumbled away. The girl buried her face into her fiancée’s chest with a muffled sob, her body shrinking back—looking for all the world like a wronged little kitten too overwhelmed to speak.
With her chest pressed against that soft warmth, Su Yu mused inwardly that the little girl was taking advantage of her again. Yet with a light chuckle, she scooped the girl up horizontally into her arms and carried her toward the room. “You little trouble. Did A-Zhou say something nasty to you?”
“He, he is so awful. I tried so hard not to embarrass you.”
“Don’t worry, don’t worry. I’ll teach him a lesson for you.”
“But, but you’re awful too.” Lingmiao poked her head out from Su Yu’s arms, her eyes rimmed with red.
Su Yu feigned annoyance. “How am I awful? I just risked completely offending Ning Xi for your sake!”
She acted fierce, but the young girl—whose courage was no bigger than a sesame seed—pulled her head right back in, not forgetting to nuzzle her face against her fiancée’s chest. “Your friend is awful, so that makes you awful too. I didn’t say anything wrong.”
“Stop squirming!” Su Yu gritted her teeth, a sudden, unusual heat rising to the tips of her ears.
The little girl treated her warning like wind blowing past her ears. Flustered and exasperated, Su Yu didn’t know what to do with her. Yet amidst her embarrassment, she took those words to heart—so what on earth did Ning Zhou say or do to scare this little kitten into seeking comfort so desperately in her arms?
Her chest felt a soft, gentle thud against it. No one had ever dared to do such a thing to her before. Stunned into silence, the word “Impudent!” surged to the tip of her tongue. But before she could shout it out, Su Yu’s expression shifted completely: “Huh? What, what’s wrong?”
The delicate, innocent young girl was crying like pear blossoms in the rain, her voice faint and weak: “Ning Xi sent someone to bully me, so why are you bullying me too, Ayu? Can’t I even have a little cry in your arms? Why, why are you being so mean to me?”
Her lips were pouting, looking especially soft and dewy, her cheeks stained with tear tracks. In the softest, meekest, and most timid tone imaginable, she had just scolded the most unreasonable playgirl in the entire border town.
And the deadliness of it all? Su Yu felt no anger whatsoever. Instead, she burst into a sudden laugh. “And here I thought you were timid. Turns out I wronged you.”
Seeing that she wasn’t being yelled at, the clever, sensitive girl kept her face buried in her fiancée’s chest, blushing so deeply that she momentarily forgot the terror Ning Zhou had brought her. “All the courage I have was given to me by you, Ayu.”
Given to her by Ayu.
Su Yu’s heart was hit hard. The playful mockery hanging at the corner of her eyes softened by half, and for reasons unknown, her arms pulled the young girl a little tighter into her embrace.
By the time she realized what she had done, a spark of defensive embarrassment flared in her eyes. “You little kitten, were you just trying to coax me again!”
Reassured and comforted by her fiancée’s physical warmth, Xue Lingmiao felt a tiny spark of quiet triumph in her heart. Hiding in Su Yu’s arms, she only dared to huff back in a quiet murmur, “You’re the kitten.”
Unbelievable. Kicking open the bedroom door, Su Yu intended to throw her down onto the bed, but in the end, she couldn’t bring herself to be cruel. Holding her securely, she laid her down gently. Yet before her hands could fully pull back from the girl’s back, the young girl yanked on her robe sash with surprising force.
Losing her balance, Su Yu fell directly over her body. Realizing the intimacy of their position, she lifted her head and scolded in exasperation, “Stop fooling around!”
“Don’t go, Ayu.”
“Did I say I was leaving?” With an aching head, she propped herself up on her arms and sat on the edge of the bed to compose herself for a long moment. Reliving the soft touch that had just brushed against her, her eyes narrowed slightly. “Do you even know what you were doing just now?”
She had finally asked. The young girl’s eyes curved softly into crescents, her lips lifting with a hint of proud satisfaction: “I know! I was flirting with you, Ayu.”
Ha! Su Yu was almost bursting with rage. She wanted to scold her for being frivolous, yet felt that the word “frivolous” was far too distant from this innocent girl. She glared in exasperated annoyance. “Flirting recklessly comes with a price, you know.”
The way Su Yu threw a tantrum was probably very cute. Having seen right through the true nature of this playgirl, the young girl had grown remarkably bold: “Do you and I really need to talk about ‘prices’?”
She opened her arms, timid yet full of shy expectation. “Mmm, I was terrified earlier. I’ll only get better if Ayu gives me a kiss.”