“Don’t you know how disgusting you are? I’d rather fall to my death than let you touch me. Stay away from me, and stop showing up in front of me. Just seeing you makes me sick!”
Once, when she had nearly fallen, Qin Ye had merely supported her—and she had… hurled such vicious words at him.
That foul mouth of hers.
What a sin.
Yun Si forced a smile and selectively erased the memory from her mind. “Um… the food’s gone cold. Let’s eat first.”
Seeing the obvious guilt in her eyes, Qin Ye gave a cold laugh. Although he said nothing more, the suspicion in his eyes did not lessen in the slightest.
And who could blame him?
The change in her, before and after, was simply too great. As far as Qin Ye was concerned, it would not be an exaggeration to say that she had become an entirely different person.
Perhaps Qin Ye would like the person she was now very much, but he did not dare trust her easily. He was afraid that her sudden change was merely a facade, or that she had some ulterior motive. After all, ever since the day they had first met, she had hated him.
Yun Si and Qin Ye had met in Jinzhou, in Jiangnan.
Qin Ye was an imperial bloodline left behind among the common people when His Majesty had once made a clandestine inspection. He had always depended on his mother, and the two of them had lived in the most chaotic part of Jinzhou, among the teeming masses.
Having grown up in such a mixed and disorderly environment, Qin Ye had inevitably acquired a trace of bandit-like roughness and wildness.
When Yun Si was fifteen—three years ago—she had accompanied her mother to Jinzhou to visit her maternal relatives. It was in the Peach Blossom Forest west of the city that she first met Qin Ye.
He was being attacked by several local thugs, yet he had taken on three of them alone, beating them until they cried for their fathers and mothers.
The young man had blood at the corner of his mouth, and his eyes were dark and bright. He casually broke off a peach blossom branch and tucked it behind his ear, then flashed a wide grin at Yun Si, who had been peeking at him from behind a tree.
“Had enough yet?”
That brazen, devil-may-care manner displeased Yun Si, who had been pampered and raised in the inner chambers since childhood. She immediately frowned and left.
Later, floods struck the south, and many refugees gradually poured into Jinzhou. Her maternal family opened their granaries and set up tents outside the city to distribute porridge for an entire month.
Yun Si and her mother helped as well. During that time, she could always see Qin Ye’s figure, but every time, she deliberately avoided him, unwilling to have anything to do with him.
That was until Yun Si had been trapped in a mountain cave by a torrential rainstorm. Afterward, Qin Ye inexplicably went to her maternal family’s residence and blocked her path twice.
The first time, he held a dewy wild ginseng and said it was to help nourish her health. The second time, he carried an intricately carved peachwood hairpin and said it was a gift for her capping ceremony.
Right in front of him, Yun Si broke the peachwood hairpin into two pieces.
She still clearly remembered how harshly she had spoken then.
“Are we familiar with each other? What gives you the right to come and give me things?”
“You’re nothing but a common street ruffian. Recognize your own place. You want to cling to a noble young lady from a marquis’s household—do you really think you’re worthy?”
“This broken hairpin isn’t even good enough for the servants at my side, and you’re giving it to me as a gift? What a joke!”
“Don’t dream of a toad eating swan meat. Even if I, Yun Si, were crippled and useless, you still wouldn’t be worthy of fawning over me!”
“Get lost! If you dare appear in front of me again, I’ll have someone break your legs!”
She had cursed him so viciously, yet Qin Ye had merely picked up the hairpin, broken into two pieces on the ground, and silently turned to leave.
After that, she never saw him again before returning to the capital.
She had thought that she and Qin Ye would never cross paths again. Who could have imagined that two years later, this “street ruffian” would transform into the honored Fourth Prince of the imperial family?
And that he would bind her to his side in such a manner.
In her previous life, he had provoked her, but he had also given her a lifetime of devotion.
In this life, if she could… she wanted to repay that affection.
“I know you don’t trust me right now. If I were you, I wouldn’t trust me either. But it doesn’t matter. One day, you’ll believe me.”
Yun Si reached out and tugged at his sleeve, her eyes taking on an especially pitiful, helpless expression. “For now, shall we eat?”
Qin Ye met her gaze, then expressionlessly turned his head away.
Yet a moment later, he rose and walked toward the dining table.
Seeing Qin Ye sit down beside the table, a faint smile bloomed on Yun Si’s soft, pink lips.
She had returned to the residence seven or eight days ago, and only tonight had their relationship finally made the slightest bit of progress.
It had not been easy.
“Your Highness, try this tofu soup and see if it suits your taste.”
Yun Si served him some dishes and filled a bowl with tofu soup for him as well.
Qin Ye did not respond. He simply ate the tofu soup she had served him in silence.
The atmosphere grew slightly heavy.
“Your Highness.”
Yun Si casually found a topic. “Do you know who damaged my jade pendant?”
Qin Ye paused in the act of picking up a dish. After a moment, he replied indifferently, “I don’t know.”
“Oh.”
Yun Si scrutinized his face, but saw nothing unusual.
Their gazes met, and Qin Ye calmly asked, “Do you need this prince to have someone investigate it for you?”
“No need.”
Yun Si shook her head, unconcerned. “It wasn’t anything important.”
At those words, Qin Ye’s gaze deepened. His face remained expressionless, and no one could tell what he was thinking.
After dinner, Yun Si was in a good mood.
Tonight was a good beginning.
All was silent, and the night was at its deepest.
Everyone in Qixiwu Court had already fallen asleep.
Yun Si changed into a black outfit for nighttime travel and draped a black hooded cloak over it. Avoiding the patrol guards within the residence, she slipped out through the side gate in the rear courtyard.
Once outside the prince’s residence, she followed the route stored in her memories and headed straight for the Yongyi Marquis Residence.
She proceeded cautiously the entire way. The streets at night were pitch-black, without a single person in sight.
Prince Xiao’s Residence was not far from the Yongyi Marquis Residence, with only two streets between them. Yun Si adjusted her breathing, doing her best to conserve her strength.
Half an hour later, she arrived safely at the Yongyi Marquis Residence.
A seal had been pasted across the main gate. Yun Si only glanced at it before moving on.
She had no time for sentimentality. Turning around, she headed toward the side gate.
“Are you certain the information is accurate?”
She had taken only two steps when a voice suddenly reached her ears. Yun Si reacted swiftly, immediately hiding behind the stone lion in front of the gate and holding her breath.
She knew whose voice it was the instant she heard it.
Shen Qian!
Why had he come here in the middle of the night as well?
“Absolutely certain.”
Another voice rang out. It was Shen Qian’s personal guard. “That old bastard was already guarding against you back then, my lord. This thing absolutely cannot fall into anyone else’s hands. Otherwise, all your previous plans will be ruined.”
“Something this important may not be hidden in the Marquis’s Residence. Let’s go in and take a look first.”
What were they looking for?
Yun Si waited until the two men had entered, then immediately emerged from behind the stone lion and followed them in through the side gate. She took a shortcut and slipped into the study of Yun Yi, the Yongyi Marquis, ahead of them.
Fortunately, Shen Qian was skilled at disguises and scheming, but he did not know martial arts.
Yun Si only needed to guard against the personal guard. As long as he did not discover her, she would not be exposed.
At that moment, she was hiding in a secret compartment behind the bookshelves, patiently waiting for the two men to enter.
If they were truly looking for something, they would definitely come to her father’s study.
Sure enough.
It was not long before footsteps sounded outside the study.
The two men should be heading straight for the study.
Yun Si held her breath once more. Only after they began rummaging around and making noise did she peer through the gaps between the bookshelves.
Her eyes followed the boots planted on the floor, accurately locating Shen Qian’s position.
Southwest, slightly south…
A little farther south. Yes, keep going.
In the darkness, Yun Si raised a hand and slowly placed it on the mechanism of the secret compartment.
With a thunderous rumble, the floor beneath Shen Qian’s feet suddenly split open, and he plunged unexpectedly into the secret chamber below.
The guard was horrified and had just started forward to rescue him when he heard a faint sound from behind the bookshelves.
“Who’s there?!”
In that brief instant, the split floor had already returned to its original state.
The guard drew his blade and advanced toward the bookshelves. “Who’s hiding in there? Come out!”
The cold gleam of the blade was already within arm’s reach. It seemed she could no longer avoid being discovered.
“It’s me.”
Yun Si’s weak voice drifted out. Like a frightened fawn, she slowly emerged from behind the bookshelves.
The guard had followed Shen Qian for years and was very familiar with Yun Si. He knew who it was the moment he heard her voice, even before he could see her clearly.
“Miss Yun, why are you here?”
Killing intent lurked in the guard’s eyes. He did not immediately relax his vigilance simply because he had confirmed Yun Si’s identity.
“I…”
In the darkness, Yun Si lowered her head and said sorrowfully, “I missed home too much. I wanted to see my parents, so I came back secretly. But I didn’t expect anyone else to come here. Oh, right—the person who just fell into the secret chamber… was that A-Qian?”
Upon hearing this, half of the guard’s suspicions immediately vanished. When he heard her final question, he put away his blade altogether.
A frail young lady who did not possess the strength to even bind a chicken could not possibly cause trouble in front of him, no matter what ulterior motives she might have.
Besides, he knew this young lady well. Her heart was filled with thoughts of his master, and she was terribly foolish. There was truly no need to take her seriously.
“That’s right. It’s my lord. Miss Yun, hurry and see if you can rescue him.”
“Oh, all right. I know where the mechanism is.”
Yun Si nodded, then felt her way through the darkness in search of the mechanism.
The guard watched her movements closely.
There was a soft click.
Yun Si suddenly cried out, “Look out!”
At the same time, a sleeve dart suddenly shot out from the mural on the wall opposite them.
The guard turned and raised his blade, easily deflecting the dart. He could not help but sneer inwardly. Did she really think he needed her to warn him about such a concealed attack?
However, in turning around, he left his back completely undefended before Yun Si.
Yun Si’s eyes turned cold. She pulled a silver hairpin from her hair, deftly spun it in her hand, and thrust it into the guard’s neck with all her strength.
The guard felt a sharp burst of pain. His pupils abruptly widened, and a hoarse “gurgle” escaped his throat as the long blade in his hand clattered to the ground.
He turned around and vaguely saw the pale face of Yun Si—and the eyes that had always appeared weak were now as cold as ice.
“You…”
The guard staggered backward, wanting to say something, but blood surged up his throat the moment he opened his mouth. Shock and terror filled his eyes.
Until the moment of his death, he could not believe that the frail young lady of the Marquis’s Residence—the one who would pant if she walked too quickly—could strike with such ruthlessness.
Yun Si watched quietly as he collapsed and said softly, “You should be grateful that you were only a guard. That’s why you were able to die so quickly.”
As for Shen Qian, he would not be so fortunate.
His family, his glory, everything he cared about—she would destroy it all!
After making sure the guard was truly dead, Yun Si dragged his body to the entrance of the secret chamber, then turned the mechanism again.
As the body fell inside, she heard Shen Qian shouting anxiously from below.
“Who’s up there? Let me out at once! Otherwise—”
The floor swiftly closed, cutting off every sound.
A sinister, icy smile curved Yun Si’s lips.
She was now incredibly grateful that she had not told Shen Qian about the secret chamber and mechanisms in her father’s study back then.
Yun Si rested on the hard chair for quite some time before she finally felt recovered.
She searched through the entire study but did not find anything unusual.
What exactly was Shen Qian looking for?
In her previous life, she had stayed at Qin Ye’s side, and Qin Ye had come to the Marquis’s Residence several times as well. He had indeed been searching for something, but he had never found it.
She thought carefully. Where would her father keep the most important things?
The Marquis’s Residence was neither particularly large nor particularly small. Finding something here would truly not be easy.
Time was pressing. She could not remain here for too long.
She had to return to Prince Xiao’s Residence before dawn.
Yun Si left the study and headed toward the boudoir where she had once lived.
She had taken only a few steps when she suddenly sensed a dark shadow flash behind her.
Her heart jolted.
Could someone else have followed her into the Marquis’s Residence?