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墨書 Inktalez
Ruyi Rouge Pavilion
The night was as dark as ink.
Xing Ruyi tightened her cloak and stepped down from the carriage. As she looked around, all she could see was a solitary house, which appeared to be quite old. The front door, seemingly freshly painted, emitted a pungent smell in the dark night, while two lanterns inscribed with the character "Yun" swayed gently in the spring breeze.
This place was not the Yun Residence.
Xing Ruyi glanced at Yun Zhu's personal maid, who lowered her head with a smile and raised her hand, saying, "Please, Madam."
"Is your lady here?"
"Yes!" The maid nodded in response. "This is our Yun family's villa, one of the dowries given to my lady by the old master of the Yun family when she married. In the past, she would only come here when she was feeling down. Although this courtyard may seem simple, it is regularly cleaned and maintained, so it is still quite tidy."
"I'm not asking about that."
"Oh." The maid responded lightly and continued, "You want to know why my lady chose this place, right? Actually, it’s nothing special. Such matters are not something my lady would want outsiders to know about either, I suppose. This is property owned by our Yun family; after my lady married, it returned to her ownership. The people serving here are all from our Yun family, making things more convenient than in other places.
Additionally, everything you instructed us to prepare has already been arranged. It’s dark in the courtyard; please follow closely behind me. If you happen to trip or bump into something, it would be my fault."
As the maid spoke, she walked to the door and gently knocked twice. The door creaked open, revealing half of an elderly woman's face—a wrinkled matron with a stern expression. She did not seem like an easy person to deal with. Fortunately, Xing Ruyi was not alone. She exchanged a glance with the fox and stepped up onto the first step of the entrance.
The matron narrowed her eyes and stared at Xing Ruyi for a moment before asking Yun Zhu's maid, "Is this her?"
Yun Zhu nodded and stepped aside slightly. "Let me introduce you; this is the owner of Ruyi Rouge, Madam Xing Ruyi. This is one of our family's elders and has watched over my lady since she was young—Nursemaid. After my lady married, she has been responsible for managing everything in the villa. Nursemaid has been widowed for many years and has spoken less since my lady's marriage. If she says anything inappropriate, please don’t take it to heart."
Upon hearing this, the matron nodded at Xing Ruyi and then opened the door wider.
Xing Ruyi responded with a nod but thought to herself that no wonder Yun Zhu's words were somewhat unpleasant; it seemed she had learned from this Nursemaid. It appeared that Yun Zhu's life in the Yun family was indeed as unappreciated as Yun Xi had described; otherwise, how could they allow Nursemaid to teach her that way?
The fox did not respond but took a step forward, holding Xing Ruyi's hand and whispering, "Be careful; watch your step."
Xing Ruyi smiled slightly and allowed the fox to lead her by half a step into the house.
The maid held up one lantern at the front while the matron carried another lantern at the back. Occasionally, a gentle breeze would pass through the courtyard, causing their lanterns to sway back and forth while they could hear the rustling of leaves stirred by the wind.
"Do we have much further to go?" Although Xing Ruyi was unclear about the layout of this courtyard, she could clearly sense that the maid leading them was deliberately taking a longer route. She tugged on the fox's hand and yawned half playfully as she said, "I'm tired! If we have to walk much longer, we might as well come back another time."
“Shopkeeper, what does this mean?” The maid stopped and glanced back at Xing Ruyi. “Since it was agreed upon, how can Shopkeeper suddenly go back on the deal for personal reasons?”
“If your lady does not trust me, why should I waste my energy?” Xing Ruyi replied, leaning against the fox and continuing to yawn. “Your lady does not want to be treated in my Xing, and as a doctor, I agreed; your lady does not want to be treated during the day, fearing she might see something that frightens her, and I also agreed; your lady wants to choose the time and place for treatment, and I still agreed. It’s deep in the night, and I am not traveling thousands of miles but at least several dozen miles at night to get here. Yet your lady still wants you to lead us around this courtyard, playing hide and seek. To be honest, I have no interest in this.”
“What do you mean by that, Shopkeeper Xing?” The maid's expression clearly darkened as her intentions were exposed. She lowered her head and exchanged a glance with Grandma, then awkwardly smiled and explained, “It’s not that I deliberately led Shopkeeper astray; it’s just that I don’t often come to this villa, especially at night, so it’s inevitable to take a wrong turn. How about this? Let Nursemaid lead the way. I think your lady must be getting anxious.”
“Then let Old Servant lead the way! Although Old Servant’s eyesight isn’t great anymore, I’ve taken care of this courtyard for many years and won’t get lost.” Grandma said as she picked up the lantern and walked ahead.
Just as Xing Ruyi was about to follow, she suddenly heard a woman’s cry echoing in her ears. She stopped in her tracks and exchanged a glance with the fox. “What was that sound?”
“Sound? Where is there any sound? The wind in this remote villa is stronger than in the city at night; perhaps Shopkeeper misheard it.”
The maid said this while also carrying a lantern ahead. When she walked alongside Grandma, she quietly asked, “What’s going on?”
“Well… Old Servant doesn’t know either.” Grandma replied, slightly turning her body to glance at Xing Ruyi. Seeing that Xing Ruyi still looked drowsy and the fox wasn’t paying attention to her, the wariness in her eyes relaxed slightly.
“Old Servant was just temporarily instructed by my sister to take these two around the courtyard for a while. As for the specifics, Old Servant doesn’t know. It seems something unexpected happened with the guest we brought.”
The maid nodded, pressed her lips together tightly, and lowered her head towards Grandma.
“I’ll walk a bit faster later and check it out first. If something really is wrong, I’ll find a way to stall these two.”
Grandma lightly acknowledged with an “mm” and deliberately slowed down her pace.
Though Xing Ruyi appeared extremely sleepy, her gaze never left the maid and Grandma. Previously, the fox had asked her if she wanted to know what Yun Zhu and her maid were plotting behind the scenes. Being curious by nature, she naturally wanted to know; hence she agreed to all of Yun Zhu’s unreasonable requests.
Now that she was on the verge of discovering the answer, how could she truly feel sleepy? She was merely annoyed by Yun Zhu’s attitude towards work and pretended to be drowsy to frustrate them a bit. However, it seemed that both the maid and Grandma were completely focused on avoiding her instead of being concerned about her; they were secretly scheming something that made them appear heavy-hearted and anxious despite their efforts to conceal it.
At this moment, seeing Grandma discussing something quietly with the maid, Xing Ruyi couldn’t help but rub her arms and asked the fox telepathically: “What are these two plotting? Could it be they want to harm us under cover of darkness?”
“Not likely.” The fox smiled slyly and pointed towards a house lit up in the distance. “I suspect they overlooked something in their previous plans and are now racking their brains to remedy it. Don’t rush; just follow along slowly. Watching a show requires following the lead of those performing it; otherwise, where would be the fun?”
“Speaking of fun, I want to ask you where Brother Chang and Yin Yuan have gone?” Xing Ruyi stopped walking. “The Deer Lady and Lord Pixiu went out shopping. Surely Brother Chang and Yin Yuan aren’t delayed because they’re shopping too?”
“Yin Yuan isn’t a child; why worry about that?” The fox took hold of Xing Ruyi’s hand again. “Don’t worry; they will return before the wedding.”
“Hmph!” Xing Ruyi snorted lightly. “Why do I feel like you’re keeping more secrets from me?”
"Not at all, you're just overthinking it." The Fox turned its head to look at her. "Could it be that my Fox Demon has also come down with that thing called pre-marital syndrome?"
Xing Ruyi shot a glance at the Fox and said nothing.
Yun Zhu had specified a particular room, and it was clear that this place had been recently renovated. With the Fox by her side, Xing Ruyi felt at ease and simply took the Fox's hand as they stepped inside.
Inside the room, many candles were lit, arranged according to Xing Ruyi's previous instructions. In the center of the room stood a bed, surrounded by a circle of white gauze curtains that fluttered gently in the breeze. It wasn't as romantic as she had imagined; instead, it gave off a somewhat eerie vibe.
The maid gestured for Xing Ruyi to stay in place while she stepped inside the gauze curtains to check. After a moment, she came back out.
"According to your previous instructions, Shopkeeper Xing, I have already administered sleeping medication to my lady. I just checked, and she is already asleep. So please, Shopkeeper, treat her as soon as possible."
Xing Ruyi glanced at the maid and walked into the gauze curtains. Just one look was enough for her to see that the person lying on the bed was not Yun Zhu. Although their sizes were similar and her appearance had been deliberately altered by Master, even the candles had been placed far away to obscure her identity, and half of the woman's face was hidden by the curtains. However, they clearly overlooked one thing: even without her Ghost Technique, she was a Shopkeeper who sold Rouge and Face Powder. She relied on her keen eyes and sensitive nose for a living, and just the scent coming from this woman was vastly different from that of Yun Zhu.
"Did you really see carefully? Is that person sleeping in the bed truly your lady?"
"Of course it's my lady!" The maid stood with her head bowed. "I have always followed my lady closely; how could I possibly mistake my own master? It's getting late, so please don't delay any longer, Shopkeeper!"
"Alright!" Xing Ruyi replied as she approached the bed. "My knife!"
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