When Yinxing entered the room, she also saw the blood on the floor. “Miss! You’re hurt?! Did the young master hit you?!”
Zi Shu Sui’s head was growing dizzy again. She shook her head. “It’s Cousin’s blood.”
“Oh.” Yinxing relaxed.
As long as it wasn’t Miss’s blood, that was all that mattered.
On this side, the residence physician stood up, carrying his medicine case. “The cousin miss has caught a chill. Do not wash your hair again. Rest and sleep for a while first. Later, I’ll have someone deliver your medicine.”
Zi Shu Sui nodded and lay back down on the bed.
The arrowhead beneath the mattress pressed painfully against her, but she could not throw it away. It would be useful in the future.
Half dazed, Zi Shu Sui soon fell asleep again.
When she woke up, it was already late morning.
Zi Shu Sui realized that her ears felt blocked and muffled.
She lifted the quilt, feeling a chill, climbed out of bed, and just then a dark green jade pendant slipped down onto her knee.
It had been inside her quilt.
Zi Shu Sui picked up the pendant and tapped it. It was an ordinary jade pendant — nothing special at all.
Recalling last night’s scene, she could not help wondering: Could this belong to Madam Cui?
Just then, the voice of a distant guard sounded outside the courtyard.
After a short while, Yinxing came in to report, “Miss, the young master sent someone to ask whether our courtyard picked up a jade pendant.”
Zi Shu Sui covered the pendant beneath the quilt and replied calmly, “I didn’t get out of bed all night. How could I have seen any jade pendant?”
Yinxing did not hesitate, nodded, and went out to report back to the distant guard.
When she returned, she looked puzzled. “That guard still wouldn’t give up. It seems the young master’s missing jade pendant must be quite important.”
The speaker meant nothing by it, but the listener took it to heart.
Zi Shu Sui put away the ordinary-looking but perhaps deeply meaningful jade pendant, deciding to let it sit for a few days.
Because this illness had come on fiercely, Zi Shu Sui stayed in her room for a full two days before she finally felt somewhat better.
Eating only vegetables every day these past few days had truly become unbearable for her.
So, on the day her body finally recovered, she tucked the jade pendant into her clothes and went out.
Today, the lakeside pavilion was different from usual. The guards who used to lurk in hidden places were now stationed openly.
Before Zi Shu Sui even approached, she saw at one end of the bridge corridor two young ladies standing there, with a guard blocking them.
The guard said coldly, “Second Miss, you may not enter the study.”
Xiao Jinse did not force her way in. “I understand. We won’t go in. It’s just that Lingyi misses Cousin Brother and made some food especially to deliver to him.”
The green-robed girl beside Xiao Jinse lifted the food box in her hand. Only after Xiao Jinse finished speaking did she add, “I hope you can pass it along on my behalf. This is just a small token of my sincerity.”
The guard hesitated, unsure whether to accept it.
From afar, Zi Shu Sui had already seen this scene.
It seemed that the study was truly a lively place.
“Why is Miss Shen here again? The young master already clearly refused her,” Yinxing muttered softly.
“Refused?” Zi Shu Sui asked in confusion.
Yinxing nodded. “Madam previously matched the young master with quite a few families. This Miss Shen is bolder than most, but unfortunately the young master doesn’t want to marry.”
Hearing this, Zi Shu Sui suddenly recalled what Madam Cui had said last time.
It seemed this green-robed young lady was the noble miss who was not afraid of Xiao Bi’an.
And she appeared to be on good terms with Xiao Jinse.
Zi Shu Sui was about to turn back and come another time. She had no desire to get entangled with these two girls.
But just then, she heard Yinxing whisper again from behind—
“This Miss Shen is the daughter of Marquis Rongxin. Her elder sister is also the favored Consort Shen in the palace, yet she’s determined to squeeze her way into our Marquis’s residence.”
Marquis Rongxin. Consort Shen.
When Zi Shu Sui heard these two titles, her whole body stiffened. She subconsciously looked again toward the green-robed girl.
This glance was no longer as calm as before.
Inside her white sleeves, her fist unconsciously clenched.
So she was Shen Lingyi.
So she was the younger sister of Consort Shen — the younger sister of the woman in Xiao Bi’an’s heart.
Thinking of this, Zi Shu Sui’s eyes filled with malice, and then she suddenly felt it ridiculous.
She hadn’t expected to run into someone from the Shen family so soon.
Even less had she expected that Shen Lingyi wanted so badly to replace her own sister. Was it jealousy? Jealousy so deep that she wanted to steal her sister’s admirer?
The footsteps that were about to turn back instead changed direction. Zi Shu Sui walked toward Shen Lingyi.
On the other side, Shen Lingyi’s hand was still raised since the guard had not taken the box. An awkward smile hung on her face.
“What are you here for?” Xiao Jinse was the first to notice Zi Shu Sui, her alarm bells immediately ringing. “You’re not here to see my cousin brother too, are you? I advise you to give up that thought! Don’t you even look at whether your status is suitable!”
Zi Shu Sui pretended not to hear her. There was not a trace of malice on her face now — only a gentle smile. “Second Cousin Sister.”
Seeing Xiao Jinse’s aggressive stance, Shen Lingyi more or less guessed the identity of the girl before her.
Still afraid that Shen Lingyi might not know, Xiao Jinse deliberately added, “See her? This is the cousin miss I told you about — the one who came to freeload at my residence. She’s from some small, insignificant family and has set her sights on marrying into a noble household. I think she clearly wants to seduce my cousin brother!”
“Cousin Sister, you may eat recklessly, but you must not speak recklessly,” Zi Shu Sui raised her hand to cover her mouth, looking extremely displeased. “Talking about seduction at every turn — haven’t you learned any manners?”
Xiao Jinse was about to retort, but Shen Lingyi stopped her.
“This is Young Master Xiao’s study. Please don’t quarrel here,” Shen Lingyi’s gaze fell on the girl in white. Seeing her gentle smile, she felt that this manner seemed somewhat familiar. “Cousin Miss, are you just passing by?”
“I came to see Cousin Brother,” Zi Shu Sui said softly. Her tone was weak, but the meaning carried a faint hint of provocation.
As soon as she said this, Xiao Jinse exploded. “I knew it! You came to seduce my cousin brother!”
Even the guard blocking the bridge felt his ears ringing from the noise and reminded them, “Several young ladies, the study cannot be entered. The young master is not receiving visitors.”
“See? My cousin brother doesn’t want to see you at all!” Xiao Jinse lifted her chin triumphantly at Zi Shu Sui.
Zi Shu Sui ignored her and calmly addressed the guard. “I came today because I have important business.”
At the words “important business,” she paused slightly, then bit her lip, looking shy as she continued—
“The night before last, Cousin Brother’s jade pendant fell into my place. I only found it today, so I came especially to return it to him.”