Chapter 15
Ye Rui lowered her head and ate, then lowered her head again to pick up some vegetables; she didn’t dare so much as glance at Xie Tinglan.
She was mortified beyond words. Just moments ago, the mood had been so charged it was practically ready for a kiss, and then her stomach had ruined the entire ambiguous silence with two growls.
After that, Xie Tinglan’s laughter had made Ye Rui want to dig a hole and disappear. She grabbed her belt and bolted all the way to the dining hall.
Hu Tu said: 【Your hunger will automatically navigate.】
Ye Rui said: 【Shut up! Who knows how my legs ended up running all the way to the dining hall!】
Xie Tinglan did not speak during the meal, but her mood seemed rather good today. The corners of her mouth curved in a smile, as if she had come across something pleasant.
Huan Jing looked left and right, and the chicken she had picked up with her chopsticks suddenly lost all appeal: “Ye Rui, why are your ears red?”
Ordinarily, subordinates and superiors were not supposed to eat at the same table. But the people seated here were all Xie Tinglan’s confidantes, and Xie Tinglan didn’t bother with so many rules around them. They had always eaten together.
Ri Xi and Yin Yue each sat on either side of Xie Tinglan every time, like two guardian deities. Hearing Huan Jing’s words, they both looked up as well.
Under everyone’s gaze, Ye Rui quickly covered her ears and instinctively glanced at Xie Tinglan. Unfortunately, that woman remained composed and unhurried, the corners of her mouth still carrying a faint, unreadable smile, as if the person Ye Rui had nearly kissed earlier had not been her at all.
She was clearly waiting to see how Ye Rui would handle this; that woman was indeed wicked!
“I was too hungry just now, so I came out without putting my clothes on properly. Thinking about it now, it really was improper.”
Huan Jing burst out laughing several times when she heard that. Ri Xi, sitting beside her, rolled her eyes, but Huan Jing showed no intention of letting it go. “You’re too funny. What did you even do? What a pity; if I’d been in the residence, I would have had to laugh at you!”
You’re already laughing at me.
Ye Rui scratched her ear and sighed. “I was just too hungry; my stomach kept growling, and it made me so flustered I couldn’t even get my clothes on right.”
Without even looking at Xie Tinglan, Ye Rui knew she was smiling.
Sure enough, after hearing that, the smile at the corner of Xie Tinglan’s lips deepened. This time, however, she didn’t let things continue. “Enough. Eat.”
Huan Jing gave an obedient little “oh” and really did stop pestering her. But the next moment she suddenly looked up again, studied Ye Rui from head to toe, and was so shocked her mouth nearly fell open.
Ri Xi lightly tapped Huan Jing’s heel with her foot and said, “Don’t talk while eating.”
“...Fine.”
This time Huan Jing finally lowered her head and ate properly, though her gaze still kept flicking toward Ye Rui’s dark green robe. Her round eyes were full of confusion, and for the moment she couldn’t make sense of what Xie Tinglan was doing.
By the time the meal ended, Ye Rui was finally satisfied; however, Yin Yue’s voice made a wave of fear rise from within her.
“What are you good at?”
Yin Yue frowned deeply, as if struggling to remember something important.
“Archery. I’m a hunter, and my bow skills are pretty good.”
Ye Rui answered almost without thinking. According to Hu Tu, her archery had already reached an advanced level; ordinary people’s shooting simply couldn’t compare with hers.
Yin Yue said nothing. Suspicion was plain on that stone face of hers. Ye Rui noticed that Yin Yue rarely showed emotion, but when she did, she could never hide it; it was all written on her face.
“If you don’t believe me, hold an archery contest. I’ll prove it to you.”
Ye Rui thought she was really quite clever; she could even conjure up her own side quest out of thin air! This excuse happened to fit perfectly, and now it was just a matter of whether Yin Yue would agree.
“Fine.”
The one who spoke was not Yin Yue, but Xie Tinglan, who had just stood up with Ri Xi’s support. “Three days from now, hold an archery contest in the residence. Ri Xi and Yin Yue will handle all arrangements.”
After Xie Tinglan finished speaking, she turned to look at Ye Rui, the corners of her mouth curling into a smile that made Ye Rui’s scalp tingle.
Good heavens, what was that woman plotting now?
“But a mere contest is rather dull. This official is feeling a little restless and would like to place a wager.”
You’d better stop feeling restless.
The words nearly slipped out of Ye Rui’s mouth. Her gaze, however, couldn’t help drifting to Xie Tinglan’s jade-like hands; indeed, those hands were anything but well-behaved.
“If you win, this official will grant you a handy weapon. If you lose...”
Xie Tinglan drew out the last syllable, a glint of mischief flashing through her eyes as she once again hooked Ye Rui’s appetite.
“How should I punish you?”
Xie Tinglan merely gave a light laugh, then left together with Ri Xi; no answer, no follow-up, just like getting to the most exciting part of a drama only for it to tell you to wait for the next episode if you wanted to know what happened next.
Ye Rui barely held back the urge to curse. This so-called “punishment” was already making her deeply irritated.
After eating, her brain finally started working again. She could see that Xie Tinglan wanted to cultivate her, but she also had to prove her own value; this was a very good opportunity.
Although she did not want to get involved with a dangerous woman like Xie Tinglan, the System had pushed her onto this path, which meant she had no choice but to follow it.
Since things had come to this, she might as well settle in and adapt.
As for Xie Tinglan making her put on Xie Tinglan’s clothes after she had run around the residence in her inner robe, that might very well have been a way of telling everyone in the residence that, no matter how muddled she might be, she was still someone under Xie Tinglan’s protection.
Once she finished eating, her mind became clearer. But even after sorting things out, Ye Rui still felt somewhat uneasy.
She didn’t know how things would develop in the future, but so long as she became entangled with Xie Tinglan, it would definitely have something to do with the power struggle in this country.
Since ancient times, struggles for power had been a road paved with bones; every step was built on human lives. Ye Rui did not want to walk it, but now it seemed she had no choice.
Sunlight spilled across the courtyard. Compared with the sun and wind in the mountains, the courtyard of the Xie residence seemed to carry more of a worldly bustle, with voices everywhere.
Only then did Ye Rui finally feel, in a real sense, that she was living in this world.
**
Over the next two days, Yin Yue unexpectedly stopped tormenting her. Although she still had to train her fundamentals, the intensity had been reduced a great deal. While holding horse stance, Ye Rui thought that this definitely was not Yin Yue’s own decision; it probably had something to do with that wicked woman.
She... really did care about me?
What was the real reason behind those blatant flirtations of hers? Ye Rui couldn’t figure it out. She couldn’t read that woman at all.
By noon, at mealtime, Ye Rui learned that Xie Tinglan would not be back until after dark. After she finished eating, she brought up a thought that had been on her mind for the past few days: “I was thinking of going to the market. Is that all right?”
She had been in the Capital City for so many days and still hadn’t been out. She had not yet seen whether the Capital City was really as others described it: the official roads winding nine times over, the marketplace bustling with three thousand walks of life, merchants and laborers living side by side with powerful ministers; taverns in the south of the city, gambling dens on the northern streets, blades and fine wine all hidden beneath surging currents.
Morning glow gilded the roof tiles, twilight entered the inner palace; the capital was a painting, with mountains and rivers as its frame. She truly wanted to see just how prosperous this Capital City was, to see the words she had once read in books become living reality before her eyes.
Huan Jing and Yin Yue both looked toward Ri Xi. Ri Xi set down her chopsticks and smiled as she nodded. “Mm, I’ll take you around.”
“Thank you, Ri Xi!”
Ri Xi smiled, then turned to Yin Yue. “Let her rest for half a day today.”
“Yes.”
**
The Capital City lay in the north of Great Yan and was divided into the inner city and outer city. The inner city had nine wards and eight offices, where the nobility gathered; the outer city had nine streets and eighteen lanes, a thriving place of countless trades.
Xie Tinglan’s residence was in the northern part of the inner city. A turn out the door led straight to the bustling market wards; the nearest of them was Beichenfang, lined with shops and offering every conceivable thing.
As Ye Rui walked along the streets of Beichenfang, she couldn’t help staring in awe, not even knowing how to describe these scenes that seemed to have leaped straight out of a book. Merchants and laborers came and went in busy streams; those draped in brocade spent money as if it were nothing; the fragrance of wine was intoxicating, the scent of tea overflowing, and Ye Rui could even catch the aroma of fried snacks drifting from not far away.
All kinds of scents mingled together without competing, each one revealing its own edge. The moment Ye Rui plunged into the crowd, everything seemed fascinating.
“Ri Xi, could you take me to a tavern?”
Ye Rui had long since been lured by the smell of wine. In her previous life, she had liked drinking a little; after coming here, she hadn’t had a sip, and she was honestly craving it a bit.
“Thinking of getting drunk at just noon?”
Ri Xi didn’t sound reproachful; she was simply teasing Ye Rui. Ye Rui could naturally tell, and grinned. “You’re the best, Ri Xi. Let me take a look, all right?”
Ri Xi shook her head with a wry smile and pointed toward the end of the street. “We’ll start from the far end and work our way back. Then we’ll buy some wine to take back to the residence. You have a contest tomorrow, so you mustn’t drink too much.”
Hearing that, Ye Rui hurriedly agreed, her steps even turning light and quick as she could hardly wait to experience the liveliness of this world.
These days, although she spent more time with Yin Yue, she always felt a strange fear toward her. By contrast, Ri Xi was gentle and warm; she was willing to indulge Ye Rui, the newcomer, and Ye Rui liked her more.
Thus Ri Xi led Ye Rui down the street, accompanying her as she browsed all kinds of shops. Ye Rui was clearly curious about everything, glancing at almost anything she saw. Yet the light in her eyes was not greed, but joy.
That reminded Ri Xi of the day Xie Tinglan had rescued her from hell; the joy born from the bottom of one’s heart could not be hidden.
Ye Rui bought some food. At first Ri Xi had wanted to pay for her, but Ye Rui refused. In return, Ye Rui even bought Ri Xi a scallion pancake.
Ye Rui wandered through rouge and powder shops, clothing shops, all kinds of food stalls, jade shops, weapons shops, and more. The variety was abundant, and the colors and patterns were astonishingly numerous. At last, Ye Rui finally understood the value of being dazzled beyond one’s capacity to take it all in.
She bought a lot of food and eventually arrived at the tavern she had been thinking about. But when she looked at the red paper labels pasted onto the wine jars, she ran into trouble. She could only make out a few characters, and even if she could read them, she still had no idea what kind of wine they were.
Names like Clear Breeze and Bright Moon, Silver Bell Ringing, and Red Dust Laughing—because the wines had such literary names, Ye Rui found herself completely powerless.
“Ri Xi, why don’t you pick one for me?”
Seeing Ye Rui’s troubled, bewildered look, Ri Xi quickly understood. She asked the shopkeeper for a small jar each of Broken Stars and Red Dust Laughing before leaving the tavern.
“These two jars are both first-rate wines in the Capital City, but don’t drink too much. If you don’t perform well tomorrow, the lord will be unhappy.”
Ye Rui pouted inwardly. That wicked woman probably wanted her to lose so she could find all sorts of ways to punish her.
“Got it; I’ll just drink a little.”
Still, Ye Rui was completely unconcerned about tomorrow’s contest. Yesterday she had gone to watch the guards in the residence train for the competition. They were excellent at close combat, but their archery was fairly average. There was only one person worth noting: a guard named Li Yun.
Her archery was quite good, but what made Ye Rui remember her was the hostile look she had given her. That hostility was unusual; it didn’t feel like the hostility of a competitor. It was something deeper than that...
After returning to the residence, Ye Rui was dragged off by Yin Yue again to practice basic skills. At dinner that night, Ye Rui still did not see Xie Tinglan, and her mood inevitably became somewhat complicated. She wondered whether Xie Tinglan would come watch her competition tomorrow.
Back in her room, Ye Rui cheerfully poured herself a little Broken Stars. The wine was pale orange, with tiny purple grains floating in it. Ri Xi had said those were small seeds called Purple Stars; they tasted faintly sweet, and when paired with strong wine they complemented each other perfectly, making it impossible to put down.
It truly was impossible to put down.
Ye Rui was still savoring the astonishing sensation on her tongue, staring at the jar of Broken Stars as though facing the hardest choice in the world.
Should she indulge herself or not?
At that moment, an exhausted figure had quietly returned to the residence and, taking the hollowed hand warmer handed over by Ri Xi, asked in a low voice, “Where is Ye Rui?”
“In her room.”
Author’s Note:
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[dog head][dog head]There’ll be more tomorrow too!
TL Note:
socially dead (社死) means extremely embarrassed or mortified beyond saving, internet slang.
Don’t talk while eating. (食不言寝不语) is a traditional etiquette maxim meaning don’t speak while eating or sleeping.