Chapter 17

“Whoever loses becomes the winner’s subordinate. How about it?”

Sometimes Ye Rui really thought people were absurd. Who would accept a wager sprung on them like that?

“Sure!”

Hu Tu: 【……The System is speechless.】

“Add another bet. Whoever loses pays the winner one hundred taels of silver.”

Ye Rui loved money. In this unfamiliar world, she needed cash on hand. Just yesterday, she had spent quite a bit in Beichenfang, and that had still been leftover silver from when she was living in the mountains. Xie Tinglan had said she would give her money, but Ye Rui couldn’t keep waiting around for her to hand it over.

When Li Yun heard that, she looked troubled. One hundred taels was nearly half her savings from the past few years...

“If you’re scared, forget it.”

Ye Rui turned as if to walk away, but she still couldn’t help shooting Li Yun a sly glance. She knew the fish would bite, so she wasn’t in a hurry.

Sure enough, after only a few steps, Li Yun rushed after her. “Fine, I agree!”

Ye Rui turned back to look at Li Yun. Her features were a little plain, but her gaze was incredibly steady; one look and you could tell she was the type to stubbornly cling to her own principles.

“Good. Then a bet is a bet.”

“Of course!”

Their conversation naturally reached Xie Tinglan’s ears as well. Yin Yue felt it was somewhat improper; after all, who belonged to whom in this residence had been arranged by Xie Tinglan and Ri Xi, and there was absolutely no room for private deals like this.

“Milord...”

Xie Tinglan lifted a hand to stop her. “This is more interesting.”

Huan Jing clapped excitedly from the side, then lowered her voice. “Milord, this is far too entertaining.”

Seeing Huan Jing look as if she might stir up even more trouble if given the chance, Yin Yue could only sigh.

Hu Tu’s voice popped up again at this moment: 【You have one hundred taels?】

Ye Rui answered honestly: 【No!】

Hu Tu: 【Then what are you betting with?】

Ye Rui: 【I’m not going to lose.】

Hu Tu: 【……】

Very quickly, the match began.

At first, neither of them gave an inch; every shot hit ten rings, and the spectators couldn’t help but marvel at the two women’s archery skills. Sitting upright in the main seat, Xie Tinglan watched the arrows strike the bull’s-eye one after another, and a pleased curve appeared on her lips.

By the final round, they were still tied. Ye Rui felt she had to use a little trick, or else if she missed lunch because of this match, that would be far too unworthy.

She glanced at Li Yun and saw that Li Yun kept sneaking looks at Xie Tinglan, like a puppy desperate for its owner’s approval. Ye Rui didn’t particularly want to compare a person to a dog, but Li Yun’s pitiful, admiring gaze really did look like one.

That’s it!

Ye Rui walked up beside Li Yun and lowered her voice. “Want to add another bet?”

With a slight curl of her lips, Ye Rui could see Li Yun’s whole body tense; her confidence had already started to crack.

“If you lose, you’re not allowed to go near Xie... Xie Xiang for a year. How about that?”

Ye Rui knew Li Yun didn’t handle pressure well. She could tell from the fine sweat on her face, and before every shot, Li Yun would touch her money pouch, as if drawing courage from it.

Ye Rui was much calmer. Her confidence came not only from the fact that her archery had already been raised to an advanced level, but also because she had been through far too many competitions in her previous life. As someone who lived and breathed competition, she was far too used to this kind of atmosphere.

She had won prize after prize in every contest, all for the sake of earning her mother’s praise; but she had never gotten it.

This time... would she get praised?

Ye Rui glanced at Xie Tinglan, then turned back to Li Yun. Li Yun bit her lip and looked at Ye Rui, her face full of indignation. In the end, she steeled herself and agreed. “Fine!”

The final round began. Watching Li Yun grow sweatier and shakier by the second, Ye Rui knew she was going to win.

Whoosh—!

“Ye Rui, ten rings. Li Yun, nine rings.”

As Ri Xi announced the final score, Ye Rui officially won the match. Even the guards who had looked down on her began to see her in a new light, their gazes full of curiosity and scrutiny.

Li Yun’s face was ashen. After Xie Tinglan announced that the match was over, she walked up to Ye Rui and said, “A bet is a bet. From now on, I’ll be your subordinate. And also...”

Li Yun was just about to open her money pouch when Ye Rui immediately pressed her hand down. “Forget it. I only beat you by one point; I’ll let you keep the fifty taels.”

“That won’t do. A loss is a loss...”

Ye Rui had never seen someone so eager to force money into her hands. She couldn’t help shaking her head with a wry smile. “You’re my subordinate now, so you have to listen to me.”

Li Yun froze. Her eyes reddened; it was impossible to tell whether it was from humiliation or from being moved that she could still keep her savings.

“As for the last bet, I was joking.”

“You...!”

“I’m your superior. Don’t insult me, or I’ll punish you.”

As expected, Ye Rui saw Li Yun’s face turn red as she swallowed her anger and didn’t dare say another word. The expression was rather funny.

“Hey, you understand psychological warfare, right? At times like this, you have to play mind games; being stubborn and going head-to-head gets you nowhere.”

In her past life, Ye Rui had been a chief game planner. To get to that position by thirty, she naturally had her own way of surviving. Besides, game worlds were no less complicated than the real world. She had been the kind of shameless planner who designed all those roundabout plots and mechanics. Li Yun, with her straightforward mind, was naturally easy for her to handle.

Hu Tu: 【Side quest complete. Adding twenty points of stamina; you now have forty-five points of stamina, enough to handle Yin Yue’s basic training!】

Ye Rui: 【At last!】

Ye Rui couldn’t help smiling. Others thought she was simply happy because she had won the match, but in truth she was happy because she could finally endure Yin Yue’s torment.

Very soon, Ri Xi came over to congratulate her, but when Ye Rui looked toward Xie Tinglan’s direction, she discovered that Xie Tinglan had already left.

The feeling of disappointment was impossible to describe. It was just like every time she won an award and wanted to look for her mother in the crowd, only to find nothing.

Her mother had simply never come.

This was not a grand competition to begin with. After it ended, Yin Yue took all the guards who had been eliminated away to train, while Ri Xi told Ye Rui to go to Xie Tinglan’s courtyard, saying that Xie Tinglan wanted to see her.

Her sinking mood suddenly lifted. Ye Rui didn’t know what she was hoping for. Maybe there had always been a corner in her heart that held a deep unwillingness to be ignored; as long as even the smallest spark of expectation was lit, it could illuminate that corner and let her see it clearly.

Ri Xi led Ye Rui to Tinglan Pavilion, knocked on the door, and after the person inside responded, Ri Xi sent Ye Rui in.

It was that familiar gardenia scent again, that familiar screen again; the memory of nearly kissing, only to have it ruined by a rumbling stomach, almost killed Ye Rui all over again.

So awkward!

After rounding the screen, she saw that Xie Tinglan had already poured the tea. In a black long robe, her softened brows and eyes made even her clothes seem gentler.

She only lifted her eyes slightly and smiled. “Sit.”

Ye Rui wasn’t polite at all; she sat down directly and accepted the purple clay teacup Xie Tinglan pushed toward her. Seeing that Xie Tinglan still hadn’t spoken, she said, “I won... where’s my reward?”

“You really do act like a child.”

Xie Tinglan had expected Ye Rui to boast a little, maybe even tease her for having no chance to punish her. She hadn’t expected Ye Rui to ask for her reward the moment she opened her mouth.

When Xie Tinglan looked at Ye Rui again, she found her gaze burning bright, carrying a kind of pressure that was hard to describe. That wasn’t simply a desire for a “reward”; then what was it?

For the first time, Xie Tinglan felt a little uncertain. She looked away, lowered her eyes in thought, lifted the purple clay cup, took a small sip, then looked up at Ye Rui again.

The other woman was frowning, as if she had suffered some grievance.

Ye Rui said nothing. That single word, “child,” struck pain straight into her heart. She also wanted to be praised like a child.

It sounded ridiculous, didn’t it? What was the point of one little compliment? For Ye Rui, it mattered. Very much. It was recognition she had never received before from someone she cared about.

But Xie Tinglan said nothing for a long time, and a familiar sense of disappointment settled over her again. Ye Rui could only smile helplessly and say in a deliberately light tone, “Remember to give me my reward. Don’t be like those five fire sparrow grasses, owing things for ages.”

Oh? Bringing up old scores?

Xie Tinglan could hear that Ye Rui was still holding some resentment, but she didn’t continue down that path. After two silent breaths, she said, “You did very well today. Shooting from a hundred paces and hitting the bull’s-eye; you’ve made people look at you in a new light.”

In that instant, Xie Tinglan noticed Ye Rui’s eyes light up brighter than the daylight, so brilliant it was almost blinding.

The smile on Xie Tinglan’s lips deepened. In her heart, she thought: So that’s how it is.

Meeting that scorching gaze, she said with a trace of anticipation, “I wonder how else you’ll make me look at you differently in the future?”

Upon hearing that, Ye Rui lifted a confident smile like a child who had just been handed a huge piece of candy. “Then you can wait and see.”

Wait and see? She really did learn fast. That reminded Xie Tinglan of something else.

“From now on, come to my study at noon. I’ll teach you to read and write.”

When Ye Rui heard that, she looked at Xie Tinglan in surprise and asked uncertainly, “Really?”

“Of course it’s true.”

Ye Rui was thoroughly satisfied. Not only had she received praise, she could also keep learning to read and write with Xie Tinglan; all at once, she was wrapped in a deep sense of security. Her heart brimmed with joy, though she still kept her expression under control. After a few breaths, she suddenly remembered something.

“Last night... did you go to my room?”

Xie Tinglan smiled meaningfully and sipped her tea, not answering Ye Rui right away. Those few seconds of silence made Ye Rui fidget like a cat being scratched from the inside, unbearably itchy.

“Of course I did.”

Xie Tinglan paused, the shifting light in her beautiful eyes carrying an ambiguous glint. “What you did to me, do you not remember?”

Ye Rui drew in a sharp breath. Her hand trembled, and tea nearly spilled everywhere. Looking at Xie Tinglan’s faintly furrowed brows, she unexpectedly felt a kind of flustered helplessness, as if she had taken liberties with the other woman.

“You really don’t remember?”

She blurted out reflexively, “I-I remember, who wouldn’t remember!”

Xie Tinglan’s fingertips traced the rim of the cup. The curve of her lips was like a hook, catching the foolish big fish.

“Is that so? Then why don’t you do it again and prove to me whether you remember?”

Huh?!

Ye Rui was shocked to the core. I don’t even know what I did—how am I supposed to do it again?! And why should I do it again? Just because you said so, I have to?!

“Forget it, you little coward.”

With that, Xie Tinglan lowered her head to drink her tea, even shaking her head, looking every inch like she had completely pinned Ye Rui as a coward.

Seeing that, Ye Rui’s courage somehow surged from some nameless blaze. She suddenly stood up and walked to Xie Tinglan’s side, lifting her chin gently with one hand and meeting those misty, water-bright eyes.

What should I do? Ye Rui had no idea.

“Too scared?”

Just as Xie Tinglan was about to turn her head away, Ye Rui held her in place a little firmer with her fingers. Then she leaned down, her warm breath brushing over Xie Tinglan, and pressed a light kiss to her face.

Xie Tinglan froze. Only after Ye Rui stepped back did she lower her head and laugh softly.

“So that’s what you wanted to do...”

Huh?!

Ye Rui was completely stunned after hearing that. What did that mean...

Xie Tinglan’s fingertips slid over the cheek Ye Rui had just kissed, and she said in a low voice, “You could be a little bolder, little coward.”

Author’s Note:

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[dog head][dog head][yellow heart][yellow heart]

Prime Minister Xie really knows how to play [dog head][yellow heart]

Next chapter on Tuesday.