Shi Yue pushed open the door and looked around the room’s furnishings, then turned to see Pei Xuan still standing in the courtyard. “What are you still doing standing out there?” he asked. “Planning to stand guard all morning?”
Pei Xuan gave a cold scoff. “An ungrateful and heartless person like me naturally shouldn’t share a room with the young marquis.”
Holding a grudge like that, truly classic you.
Shi Yue was amused and helpless at his sarcastic tone, but he just smiled without saying anything.
A servant walked over with the healing ointment and handed it to Shi Yue. “Second Young Master, here is the medicine.”
“Thanks.”
Opening the lid, Shi Yue looked at the off-white paste inside, glanced around the room, and spotted a small bronze mirror.
He stepped over and sat down in front of it.
Dipping his fingertip into a bit of the milky-white paste, Shi Yue first applied it to his own hand before looking into the mirror to figure out how to put some on his neck, otherwise the injury looked far too startling.
Unfortunately, that rascal Pei Xuan had bitten him on the right rear side, and the mirror only reflected a partial view rather than the whole thing.
Moreover, it was impossible for Shi Yue to apply the ointment properly on his own.
“Pei Xuan, get over here!”
Pei Xuan was leaning casually against the doorframe. Hearing this, he raised an eyebrow. “What do you need me for this time?”
“I can’t see. Help me put the medicine on.”
As he spoke, worried that it would be awkward for Pei Xuan to reach, Shi Yue unfastened his collar and pulled it down firmly, exposing a large portion of his shoulder and neck.
Pei Xuan stared at his exposed neckline. The fair lines of his throat were clearly visible under the candlelight, and that reddish bite mark sat right below the side of his neck like an abrupt red seal.
His throat bobbed. He walked over slowly and picked up the porcelain bottle. Just as his fingertip dipped into the ointment, Shi Yue urged him, “Hurry up, stop dawdling.”
“The Second Young Master is so delicate, and I’m all thumbs, I was afraid of hurting you.” Sarcastic as ever, Pei Xuan placed his fingertip slowly against Shi Yue’s unusually fragile-looking neck.
From the bronze mirror, Shi Yue watched Pei Xuan’s movements. The young man’s brows and lashes were lowered, looking utterly earnest. Gone was his usual thorny, sharp exterior; instead, he seemed well-behaved and obedient, though his ears bore a strange flush of red.
Shi Yue discovered that Pei Xuan in his youth was particularly pure. A tiny bit of physical contact would make him blush like crazy, while still putting on a unfathomable facade as if he thought no one could tell.
Unable to resist curving the corners of his lips, Shi Yue teased, “It’s just putting on medicine, why are you blushing?”
Bad move. The moment he said it, Pei Xuan’s face turned even redder. Glaring at Shi Yue like a ruffled canine, he snapped, “What nonsense are you talking about!”
Unfazed by his threatening gaze, Shi Yue continued, “I’m not talking nonsense. Your face is really red. Is it from the heat, or are you too shy?”
“If you’re putting on medicine, why pull your collar down so low for everyone to see!” Pei Xuan ranted.
Shi Yue blinked innocently. He had only been trying to make it convenient to apply the medicine; how did it end up sounding like an “enticement” coming from him?
Pei Xuan’s movements grew faster and faster. When he finished as if completing some momentous task, he shoved the ointment back into Shi Yue’s hand and turned to leave.
“Done.”
Shi Yue couldn’t see how well he had applied it, but he had a sneaking suspicion it was far too perfunctory. “So fast? You didn’t do a sloppy job just to get back at me, did you?”
“I’m not that childish.” With a cold scoff, Pei Xuan reached the doorway before pausing to add in a muffled warning, “Don’t get the wound wet.”
Watching his retreating figure grow more and more distant, Shi Yue couldn’t help the smile tugging at his lips.
This nine-tailed fox demon could be quite awkwardly endearing at times.
“Stand still.”
Pei Xuan stopped in his tracks and turned back to look at Shi Yue with a look of utter impatience. “What else is it, Your Ladyship?”
Shi Yue smiled. “One last thing. Finish this, and I’ll give you a surprise.”
A surprise?
Pei Xuan raised an eyebrow, asking offhandedly, “What surprise?”
“I’ll tell you after it’s over.” Figuring Pei Xuan was easy to trick, Shi Yue decided to dangle a carrot in front of him first.
Although “easily tricked” Pei Xuan wore an outward expression of disbelief, indifference, and total lack of interest, his body betrayed him as he leaned somewhat closer to Shi Yue. “Spit it out, what is it?”
Seeing Pei Xuan’s little movement, Shi Yue smiled knowingly, then leaned in close to his ear and whispered his instructions.
The next day, Mu Rong invited Shi Yue to dine with her.
She pulled Shi Yue to sit beside her, heaping food into his bowl time and time again.
Looking at the small mountain of food in his bowl, Shi Yue was caught between laughter and tears. “That’s enough, Aunt. I can serve myself, you should eat properly too.”
Acting as though she hadn’t heard, Mu Rong continued piling food on. “We planted some grapes in the estate, and they just bore fruit these past few days—they’re ever so sweet. I’ll have a servant pick some for you later.”
She then added a chopstick full of bamboo shoots to his plate. “The bamboo shoots were dug up fresh from the back mountain. Eat up; you look far too thin. I have no idea how Wenjing raised you.”
Smiling, Shi Yue said, “It’s fine, Aunt, just make sure you eat well.”
“Everything tastes the same to this old bag of bones.” Mu Rong possessed a rather bold and forthright temperament, bearing a striking resemblance to his memories of his mother, Mu Jin.
Having not experienced this kind of meticulous warmth in a long time, Shi Yue felt deeply touched.
Just then, a servant burst through the doors.
Pretending to look displeased, Mu Rong shot him a glance. “Look at you, all reckless and flustered.”
The servant hurried forward to bow, his voice laced with panic. “Reporting to the Grand Mistress, the water vats in the back courtyard, for some reason, they suddenly shattered, and all the water spilled out.”
Lowering his head, Shi Yue feigned casualness as he bit into his food while secretly calculating in his mind.
It seemed Pei Xuan had succeeded.
Indeed, the task he had given Pei Xuan yesterday was to find a time to smash those water vats.
The mysteriously aggressive and poisonous vines on Mount Lutai, the frenzied townspeople possessed with supernatural strength, the inexplicably foul-tasting water in Qingzhou City, and this magical Boss Shen, there had to be an unspeakable connection between them all.
He needed to investigate this thoroughly.
So, apologies, Aunt, but your family’s water vats had to be sacrificed so they could have a legitimate reason to go meet this Boss Shen.
Putting down her bamboo chopsticks, Mu Rong frowned. “Those vats were exceptionally sturdy. How could they suddenly shatter?”
Looking equally baffled, the servant replied, “This subordinate doesn’t know either. When I went to fetch water just now, I found all three vats smashed to pieces.”
After a moment of thought, Mu Rong said, “Never mind. They’re just three vats of water; just send someone to buy some more.”
“Understood, this subordinate will go buy water from Boss Shen right away.”
“Wait.” Shi Yue chimed in at the right moment, instantly drawing the gaze of both the servant and Mu Rong.
“What is it, Yue’er?”
“Aunt, I’m quite curious about Boss Shen’s method of purifying water, so I’d like to go take a look. Why don’t you leave the task of buying water to me?”
Naturally, Mu Rong wouldn’t refuse such a trivial request. Hearing this, she nodded heartily. “Very well, I’ll have someone prepare a carriage for you.”
Delighted, Shi Yue smiled. “Thank you, Aunt.”
After the meal, Shi Yue and Pei Xuan boarded the luxurious carriage prepared by Mu Rong and headed toward Boss Shen’s shop.
Shi Yue resumed his habit of dishing out “good guy cards.” “Nice handiwork this morning. Beautifully done.”
Pei Xuan was leaning back against the carriage wall with his eyes closed in feigned sleep, and didn’t even open them as he replied, “The young marquis flatters me.”
“I’ve already figured out what to do for the thing I promised you yesterday,” Shi Yue said.
Only then did Pei Xuan slowly open his eyes, casting a faint glance at his direction.
Raising the corners of his lips, Shi Yue twirled a brand-new folding fan with a flourish. “Do you know what day it is a month from now?”
Pei Xuan’s slender phoenix eyes locked straight onto Shi Yue. “What day?”
Without beating around the bush, Shi Yue answered, “The Gan-Scattering Festival.”
The Gan-Scattering Festival was a traditional holiday unique to the northwest. Believing that “gan” (a pestilence or plague) was a viral, inauspicious symbol that brought disaster and suffering, the people of the northwest would light torches on this day to worship the fire god, believing that the livelier the celebration, the more auspicious and smooth the coming year would be.
They had arrived at just the right time to catch the approaching festival.
Shi Yue had experienced the Gan-Scattering Festival in Qingzhou once during his childhood, leaving a profound impression on him. Although the city of Qingzhou currently looked considerably more desolate, the streets were already beginning to take on a festive atmosphere.
With pitch-black eyes and a smile that hovered ambiguously at the corner of his lips, Pei Xuan asked, “You think I’d be interested in something like that?”
“If you go, I’ll foot the bill for everything you spend that day,” Shi Yue said quite generously. Then, noting the other’s expression, he changed tack: “If you don’t want to go, that’s fine too. I’ll find someone else to keep me company.”
A flicker of darkness crossed Pei Xuan’s eyes. “You promised me, yet you’re going to find someone else?”
“Weren’t you not interested?”
Pei Xuan sneered, “I have to ensure the Second Young Master’s safety. If anything happens to you, wouldn’t the Marquis subject me to the whip punishment all over again?”
Fine, fine, fine. Whatever you say is right.
Shi Yue nodded. “Alright, then you’ll come with me.”
Seeing that he was no longer talking about finding someone else, Pei Xuan looked satisfied as he leaned back against the carriage wall once more to close his eyes and rest.
Boss Shen’s shop wasn’t far from the Mu estate, and they arrived in no time at all.
The carriage came to a leisurely halt at the corner of the street, and the servant outside called out in a clear voice, “Second Young Master, Shen’s Water Shop has arrived!”
Pei Xuan hopped down from the carriage with a long stride and reached out his hand to help Shi Yue down.
Even Pei Xuan was startled by his own action when he made the gesture.
In the past, he would have considered such behavior utterly beneath him, but with Shi Yue constantly chattering in his ear about how this was what a guard was supposed to do, he had been forced to extend his arm every time so Shi Yue could steady himself and gracefully step down from the carriage.
Not expecting Pei Xuan to proactively offer a hand this time, Shi Yue let a smile touch his eyes. He firmly rested his left hand on Pei Xuan’s forearm, held his folding fan in his right, and stepped gracefully down from the carriage.
The proprietor, Boss Shen, named Shen Zongyao, was already waiting at the entrance of the shop.
Dressed in a dark cyan long gown with a fair complexion and a smiling expression at the corner of his eyes, Shen Zongyao carried a scholarly air that set him apart from ordinary merchants.
“Are the two of you here to buy water on behalf of the Mu estate? I am Shen Zongyao. Greetings, young master.”
“Boss Shen is too polite,” Shi Yue said, cupping his fists with a smile. “I’ve long heard that Boss Shen possesses marvelous water-purification techniques, and I’ve come today to witness it for myself.”
Shen Zongyao beamed. “It’s merely a petty trick to make a living, how could it possibly be called a ‘marvelous technique’? Please step inside, both of you, and I’ll show you around.”
The front courtyard of the water shop lacked any overly bizarre contraptions, but the back courtyard held quite a different world.
It was three times the size of the front courtyard and was currently filled to the brim with various half-man-tall pottery vats.