“Hey! Slow down, slow down—watch your step!” Su Yu darted forward, blocking her path. “Aren’t you terrified of A-Xi? Why run straight to the General’s Manor? That’s her territory! Aren’t you scared?”
“I am. But if fear keeps me from facing her, I’ll lose you sooner or later.”
Unable to bear the thought of a life without Su Yu, she cast her bamboo cane aside. “I would rather have nothing to lean on and struggle with every step than lose you. Ayu, take me there.”
The emerald cane lay forsaken on the ground. Stripped of her sole support, the girl spoke with desperate sincerity. Su Yu’s heart turned inside out, leaving her completely incapable of refusal. She furrowed her brow in vexation. “You insist on going?”
“Please, Ayu.”
Torn and helpless, the notorious playgirl Su Yu could never resist the pitiful pleading of her little kitten. In a moment of impulse, she led her out the door.
Once outside, it was too late for regret. Nursing a headache, Su Yu warned her, “Let’s get one thing straight: do not cause me any trouble.”
“I won’t. I will only say what needs to be said, and do what needs to be done.”
Taking her word for it, Su Yu held an umbrella above them as they walked at an unhurried pace. She suddenly asked, “Why did you claim I was going to marry A-Xi? Did you hear something?”
“You don’t know?”
“Odd. What should I know?”
In a few brief sentences, the girl relayed the rumors currently sweeping through the streets. Su Yu gripped the umbrella handle until her knuckles whitened, letting out an ambiguous sneer.
Being manipulated and undermined like this left a truly foul taste in her mouth. Suppressing her anger, she said, “Walk faster. Let’s get this settled with her as soon as possible.”
Held by the hand, the young girl’s initial panic gradually gave way to calm. She was sharp enough to read between the lines.
There was no smoke without fire. Could such fierce rumors spread without the Eldest Miss Ning orchestrating them behind the scenes? In a crucial border stronghold, who else would dare invent gossip about Ning Xi?
Understanding this, she refused to hold Su Yu back, stumbling forward until they reached the General’s Manor.
Still traumatized by memories of Su Yu barging in late at night not long ago, the gatekeeper’s knees went weak the moment he saw her grimly approaching with a white-robed girl in tow. He dashed inside in a frantic rush to report.
Hearing of her arrival, Ning Xi jogged out of her room in high spirits. Judging by the timing, she figured Su Yu had caught wind of the rumors; she was fully prepared to endure an interrogation and patiently coax her round. She never expected that standing before her would be the person she least wanted to see.
Masking her disgust before her love rival, Miss Ning demanded, “What are you doing here?”
“I have something to say to you. For the sake of our peace of mind, please dismiss your attendants.” Leaning on the presence of her fiancée beside her, the blind girl enunciated every word with clarity and unyielding poise.
Out of respect for Su Yu, Ning Xi waved her retinue away. Pouring a cup of tea with an air of magnanimity, she said, “Speak. What is it?”
“Fine, I’ll be blunt. Miss Ning, it is impossible for Ayu to be with you.”
Ning Xi’s eyes snapped up, her lips curling into a frigid sneer. “What is Miss Xue babbling about? I don’t follow. Mind clarifying?”
“I mean.” Gathering her courage, the girl declared, “Ayu is my fiancée. We have had a betrothal since childhood. She belongs to me.”
In all her seventeen years, she had never spoken to anyone like this, nor had she ever fought for anything. Her palms were slick with sweat, but she had a reason she could not surrender. No matter how imposing Ning Xi was, she would not yield an inch.
A dead silence fell over the room. Ning Xi froze, completely oblivious to the tea splashing across the back of her hand. Su Yu’s lips parted, but given the bizarre tension in the air, she swallowed her words.
Forget it, she thought. Today belonged to the little girl; she was only here to back her up. If this truly made A-Xi give up instead of remaining hopelessly hung up on her, it would be a blessing.
After a long pause, Ning Xi recovered from the shock and let out a contemptuous laugh. “A betrothal? What betrothal? The Ning and Su families share generations of friendship, how is it that I never knew Ayu was promised to anyone? Even if there were an engagement, it would be with me! Who do you think you are?”
She was genuinely enraged, her tone sharp as a blade.
Lingmiao’s fingertips trembled. “Miss Ning, I suggest you watch your tone.”
“I have never known the meaning of politeness! I do not acknowledge this engagement. Go back where you came from, and out of sheer mercy, I won’t hold this against you. Ayu is only playing along with you in a moment of confusion, but she will come to her senses. As for you, no one in their right mind would believe a single word out of your mouth!”
Overbearing, conceited, and obstinate—that was Ning Xi. Her words made Su Yu frown. Suppressing her irritation, Su Yu nudged the girl’s arm. “A-Miao, speak up!”
Xue Lingmiao had never encountered such an arrogant, unreasonable woman in all her life. Weakly, she tugged at her fiancée’s sleeve, feeling completely outmatched in a battle of words. Her tongue was far too clumsy.
Su Yu scoffed in exasperation and swatted away her reaching hand, scolding her bluntly, “You only pick on the weak and fear the strong! Where did all that nerve you use to bully me go?”
Reprimanded again, Lingmiao felt a pang of grievance: When did I ever bully Ayu? Isn’t it always Ayu bullying me?
Watching the two flirt and bicker right under her nose, Ning Xi was pushed to the brink of madness. One was a rival she needed to eliminate, while the other was her childhood friend who responded to softness, not force. She watched coldly, running through eighteen different ways to slaughter that ‘little kitten’ in her mind.
Gifted with an innate sensitivity to the emotions of others, the young girl went pale. Fortunately, this was not the first time she had sensed Ning Xi’s murderous intent.
Past a certain threshold, fear turned into numbness. Having traveled thousands of miles to get here, what was the point of living if she cowered in silence now?
Noticing the distinct shift in her demeanor—a desperate, resolute courage bursting through her frail exterior—Su Yu’s eyes lit up with intrigue. She encouraged her, “Yes, just like that. A-Miao, don’t be afraid of her.”
In all their years together, when had Ayu ever spoken to Ning Xi in such a gentle tone? Ning Xi gritted her teeth so hard they ached.
The girl rose to her feet, radiant and ethereal in her plain white dress. “Ayu, I’m not afraid. Stand, stand up.”
Baffled, Su Yu did as she was told anyway.
The moment she stood, a pair of hands slid past her shoulders, traced along her neck, and unerringly cupped her face. “Ayu, don’t move.”
Taken by surprise as the girl brazenly took liberties with her in front of Ning Xi, Su Yu lowered her head slightly. “If you want to talk, talk. Why are you suddenly getting handsy?”
“Don’t you get handsy with me all the time?”
Speaking with Su Yu came naturally and easily. Even if what she was about to do made her heart race, it was ten thousand times better than facing Ning Xi directly.
Perhaps Ayu was right: she was timid, picking on the soft and fearing the hard. Even though Su Yu was an unruly, lawless rogue in the eyes of the border city, Lingmiao dared to tease and test her simply because Su Yu treated her well.
Her fingertips brushed along that defined brow, then grazed those soft, warm lips. Lingmiao curled her lips into a faint smile, rose onto her tiptoes, and planted a devout kiss on her fiancée’s cheek.
CRACK!
Ning Xi crushed the blue-and-white porcelain cup in her fist. “How dare you!”
Before Su Yu could even savor the fleeting touch of the kiss, she was startled by her childhood friend’s explosive fury. Wrapping an arm around the girl’s slender waist, she joined in with a feigned bark, “Right, how dare you!”
Being scolded by a rival was entirely different from being scolded by one’s fiancée. Still lost in the sweetness of having kissed Ayu, the innocent girl’s eyes curved into crescents. When she spoke again, her voice brimmed with newfound confidence:
“Ning Xi, do you dare kiss her like this? I do.”
Few words were needed when every syllable struck a nerve. It hit Ning Xi right where it hurt, she finally understood that this blind little brat had come today solely to infuriate her!
Glaring at Su Yu, who feigned sternness while openly shielding the girl, Ning Xi fumed with rage. “Just to crush my hopes, you’re willing to play along with her nonsense?”
Hating her preachy tone and refusing to back down, Su Yu thrust her chin out obstinately:
“Are you daring to say you’re cuter than her?”