Qingmu’s impression of Qin Yu instantly improved by several degrees.
Chen San, watching Qingmu’s fawning display, rolled his eyes with a derisive snort.
Qingmu sat back down, chuckling. “If you don’t want to rest, you’re welcome to head back to the capital ahead of us to report.”
He was the one in the group who loved needling Chen San.
Out of all their companions, he disliked Chen San the most. The man acted like some high-and-mighty master despite being a mere servant. While it hadn’t been as obvious when they left the capital, his arrogance had grown worse on the return trip.
Especially after rescuing those two girls yesterday, Chen San’s “lordly” air had thickened, as if he wanted to claim them for himself.
Qingmu mimicked his eye-roll and headed toward the backyard to wash up, taunting, “Well, I’m sticking with the young master~”
Chen San’s face darkened, his beady eyes glaring at Qingmu’s retreating back. “Just wait till we’re back in the capital, I’ll deal with you then.”
With that, his gaze shifted to the front counter.
Shen Su and Yunzhi stood there, speaking with Manager Zhou. Seeing him nod, they curtsied in gratitude.
Manager Zhou hastily waved his hands. “No need for such formalities, ladies! Please, go on upstairs. I’ll make the arrangements right away.”
Shen Su had asked for hot water to bathe, as well as soapberries and a wooden basin to wash their clothes. None of her requests were particularly demanding.
Manager Zhou had initially assumed, given Shen Su’s striking beauty, that she would be difficult to please. To his surprise, she turned out to be quite easygoing.
“Finally, some rest.”
In their room, Shen Su flopped onto the bed, too comfortable to move. After sitting for so long, her backside ached.
Yunzhi followed her in, clutching their bundle, and closed the door behind her. She hesitated for a long moment, too afraid to voice her question.
“Yunzhi,” Shen Su called from the bed, taking the initiative. “What kind of life do you think the eldest daughter of the Shen family, the biological daughter of the Ministry of Rites’ Vice Minister, should lead?”
Yunzhi blinked. “Huh?”
She sat on a stool by the table, setting down the bundle, and thought for a moment. “A life of luxury, free from want?”
She couldn’t quite imagine how good it could be, but she had seen how the young ladies of wealthy families lived. As the daughter of a Vice Minister, Shen Su probably lived even better than them.
“You don’t have to lift a finger to dress or bathe, with three or five maids attending to you. Just say the word, and they’ll take care of everything for you.”
“When you go out, there are carriages and sedan chairs. At home, someone massages your back and legs.”
“Dressed in silks and satins, dining on delicacies served on jade plates?”
Yunzhi scratched her cheek with a laugh, slightly embarrassed after “showing off with fancy words.” “These phrases probably just mean living well, I picked them up from operas.”
Shen Su lay on the bed, legs dangling over the edge, letting her imagination follow Yunzhi’s description. She chuckled and said, “I did have a time like that once.”
“Before I turned five, when my mother was still alive, I lived that kind of life. Back then, I was the eldest legitimate daughter of the Shen family, the most cherished and pampered young lady. Naturally, the household’s finest food, clothes, and comforts were mine first.”
Shen Su spoke softly, and Yunzhi listened intently.
Gazing at the deep blue bed curtains, Shen Su wrinkled her nose. “Until that same winter, when my mother passed away. Her gentle, kind eyes closed forever as she lay in that cold, heavy coffin, buried beneath the snow-mixed earth.”
“Along with her, my pride and dignity were buried too.”
“It wasn’t long before my father remarried. The first time that woman saw me, she said I had a fox-like charm and would grow up to be anything but virtuous.”
Shen Su gave a light laugh. “But I was only five years old then.”
Hearing this, Yunzhi was stunned.
She stood up in anger, fists clenched at her sides. “How could there be such a wicked woman?! Using ‘fox-like charm’ to describe a five-year-old child?!”
What kind of cruel heart must she have had?
Recalling these memories, Shen Su didn’t seem angry at all and continued, “My father immediately understood her meaning and sent me back to our ancestral home in Jiangnan. He said it was to ‘temper me with Jiangnan’s gentle grace,’ to wash away my unruliness with the hometown’s soil and water, lest I grow up in the capital and become even more frivolous and ill-mannered.”
All of it was just an excuse to send her away.
“The ancestral home was my uncle and aunt’s domain. Since he and my father didn’t get along, of course they didn’t dote on me. They only kept me half-alive out of deference to my father’s position as Vice Minister of Rites.”
“As for the fine clothes, delicious food, and clusters of maids you mentioned,” Shen Su turned her head to look at Yunzhi, blinking at her, “I had none of that.”
“I was no different from the servants, if I didn’t work, I didn’t eat.”
Yunzhi was dumbfounded. This was worlds apart from the life of a young noblewoman she had imagined.
Shen Su said, “The only reason I survived was because I had a nanny who loved me dearly. She followed me to the ancestral home, washing clothes and chopping firewood in the Shen household to keep me alive.”
Back in the Vice Minister’s residence, her nanny had never done manual labor. But later, her hands were covered in frostbite and calluses.
“Half a year ago, my father sent a letter saying he had found me a good match and wanted to bring me back.”
Shen Su folded her hands over her stomach, her gaze calm as she looked at the bed curtains. “I knew there was a trap, so I refused.”
“But not long after, my nanny fell ill, and I desperately needed money.”
That was why she agreed.
“My cousin had never liked me. When she heard I was getting married, she kindly came to tell me she had looked into my future husband for me.”
Yunzhi looked at Shen Su, her fingers clenched in worry, feeling that this husband wasn’t what she had imagined either.
Sure enough!
“The man is in his fifties, wealthy with children, oh and he has two concubines.”
Yunzhi’s eyes reddened with anger.
“I wouldn’t even be the primary wife if I married him,” Shen Su said lightly, “I’d just be there to ‘ward off bad luck.’”
“If the ritual succeeds, I’ll have a husband older than my father. If it fails, I’ll become the youngest widow without any children to rely on.”
Shen Su smiled at Yunzhi, “And I can’t run away, because my wet nurse has been taken to the capital for medical treatment.”
She couldn’t flee, nor could she act under her real identity. If she tarnished the Shen family’s reputation and honor, they wouldn’t just kill her they’d kill her wet nurse too.
That’s why Shen Su used an alias, claiming she and Yunzhi were sisters.
“‘Su’ was my mother’s surname. She loved calling me ‘Qingqing’ when she was alive.”
Shen Su’s thick lashes lowered as she murmured, “I’ve told you everything, and you’ve seen it all. Now the choice is yours.”
Taking a deep breath, Shen Su sat up and pulled the white jade hairpin from her hair, gripping it tightly.
Her long tresses cascaded down, draping over her slender shoulders.
She handed the pin to Yunzhi, “I have no money this was a gift from Qin Yu. Pawn it for silver and settle down in this town.”
For a woman to be intimate with another before marriage was called “illicit relations,” the most shameless behavior.
Shen Su didn’t care what others thought of her, but she wouldn’t force anyone else either.
Yunzhi looked up into those gentle, springwater-like eyes. Those peach-blossom eyes might seem alluring to men, but when they rested on Yunzhi, they were always calm and steady, exuding a reassuring strength.
Yunzhi hadn’t known Shen Su’s life was so bitter.
“I don’t want it,” Yunzhi shook her head, wiping tears from her face as she sniffled, “I want to serve you for life.”
Shen Su froze, lifting her gaze. “Why?”
“My parents favored sons over daughters, they never chose me, even selling me to the Shen family for a tael of silver,” Yunzhi said thickly. “When we met bandits on the road, I thought you’d abandon me.”
As a maid, being discarded by her mistress would’ve been “only natural.”
But when the bandits tried to assault her, it was Shen Su who threw herself in front, shielding Yunzhi as she negotiated with them.
When Shen Su fled, she could’ve escaped more easily alone yet she still brought clumsy Yunzhi along.
In all her life, this was the first time someone had firmly grasped Yunzhi’s wrist and softly promised, “Don’t be afraid. I’ll keep you alive.”
For that alone, Yunzhi would remember it forever.
Even if she were beaten to death when the truth came out, she’d have no regrets.
What had her mistress done wrong? She’d only wanted a taste of sweetness in her numbingly bitter life.
Shen Su stammered, “But I’ve already been with Qin Yu like that.”
“I know,” Yunzhi pondered, then comforted her instead. “It’s alright, mistress, don’t be afraid. Later, later I’ll keep watch for you two. No third person will ever know.”
This way, Shen Su could have happiness while preserving her reputation, the best of both worlds!
If Qin Yu was the sweetness in Shen Su’s journey to the capital.
Yunzhi resolved then she’d let her mistress savor it twice over!
Shen Su sat stunned, never expecting Yunzhi to stand by her side.
She thought herself unconventional enough to be scorned by women everywhere, labeled as wanton and lacking self-respect. Yet, Yunzhi still chose her.
Shen Su wanted to smile, but the corners of her lips refused to lift. When she raised her hand to tuck her hair behind her ear and touched her face, she realized, to her surprise, that her cheeks were wet with tears.
The inn attendant came to deliver hot water, knocking on the door and asking, “Miss, may I come in now?”
“You may,” Shen Su replied, tying up her hair and glancing at Yunzhi, who went to open the door.
“Aside from the hot water, the innkeeper also asked us to prepare flower petals for you. They’ll leave you smelling lovely apparently, all young ladies like them.”
The attendant didn’t quite understand but obediently carried in a basket of flowers.
Shen Su initially intended to split the petals with Yunzhi so they could both enjoy the fragrance. To her surprise, Yunzhi poured all the flowers into her bathtub.
“This is too much,” Shen Su said. “After this, won’t I end up dizzying a swarm of butterflies?”
Yunzhi replied, “Forget the butterflies, go dizzy Young Master Qin instead.”
Shen Su, “Huh?”
Was this something the ever-earnest Yunzhi would say?
Shen Su stared at Yunzhi in astonishment, especially since Yunzhi wore a completely serious expression, as if this were some solemn matter.
“Life is short,” Yunzhi said. “You should seek joy where you can.”
When it came to Shen Su’s desire to sleep with Qin Yu, Yunzhi was even more invested than Shen Su herself.
Half an hour later, Shen Su, now fragrant with flowers, stood outside Qin Yu’s door.
Shen Su, “…”
There was really no need to go through this so many times, it felt like clocking in for work.
Besides, she still felt a bit numb and sore down there and wanted to rest.