Chapter 23

Proofreader: Mim

Footsteps echoed outside the house. Li Zhi took a step back, leaving Xie Lanxu’s hand hanging in the air.

A maid with double-bun hair entered to clear away the empty bowl.

The night breeze blew into the quiet room. To break the silence, Li Zhi asked, “What did Physician Qiu say about Your Highness’s illness?”

“Poison from gansui.”

“Then why did Your Highness have me drink the medicine?” Li Zhi pressed. “What about the poison in Your Highness?”

“I have my methods to detoxify it.”

Just as Li Zhi was about to probe further, a thought flashed through her mind like lightning.

The poison in Xie Lanxu’s body—he had administered it to himself.

That’s why, despite his meticulous nature, he still succumbed to the poison. That’s why he claimed he had a method to neutralize it. That’s why he never seemed despairing.

Because everything was still under his control.

No one likes to be seen through. Instinctively, Li Zhi lowered her head to hide her reaction.

“You’re right,” Xie Lanxu smiled. “The poison was my doing.”

“…Why?”

“To survive.”

His eyes were dark and fathomless, like an extinguished night sky, with emotions concealed deep within the blackness, rippling imperceptibly.

The wind stirred the slanted sunlight and solitary bamboo outside the window.

His belt trailed off the bed’s edge. Li Zhi inadvertently touched the purple mother-of-pearl inlay, its icy texture making her withdraw her hand as though it had touched fire.

“Since Your Highness chose to share this with me,” Li Zhi asked, her gaze fixed on him, “may I take it to mean that Your Highness has a certain degree of trust in me?”

Xie Lanxu looked at her for a moment before chuckling softly. “If I didn’t trust you, I wouldn’t have told you.”

A lie.

His gaze, his tone, and the faint smile at his lips—all so flawlessly convincing.

But it was this very perfection that made Li Zhi realize he wasn’t truly sincere.

“I don’t feel like writing today. Read to me instead,” Xie Lanxu said.

The topic of trust naturally came to an end.

Li Zhi walked to his bookshelf, which housed a variety of books. “What would Your Highness like to hear?”

“Anything.”

Since he left the choice to her, Li Zhi unhesitatingly picked a book she wanted to read herself.

Glancing around, she searched for a stool to sit near the bed.

“What are you looking for?” Xie Lanxu asked.

“May I sit?” Li Zhi replied. “I can’t very well read to you standing.”

“Xigua.” (Watermelon in Chinese)

“What?” Li Zhi thought she had misheard.

Xie Lanxu’s calm gaze remained on her, as if he were unaware of how peculiar the word he had just uttered sounded.

Still puzzled, Li Zhi was interrupted when the same maid from before timidly entered and said, “…Your Highness?”

“Bring a stool,” Xie Lanxu instructed.

The maid quickly returned with a cushioned stool, placing it beside the bed.

“…Xigua (Watermelon)?” Li Zhi tentatively repeated.

The maid gave her a confused look.

Peach, watermelon… Was there a grape somewhere in this courtyard too?

Li Zhi suspected Xie Lanxu was deliberately mocking her, trying to group her with his maids by assigning her a fruit name.

Doubtful, she sat down, opened the book Records of the Divine Mountains of Xian Naiyue, and began to read. But before she could start, Xie Lanxu’s eyes fell on her choice. In a straightforward tone, he remarked, “You like geography.”

“If Your Highness doesn’t, I’ll pick another,” Li Zhi replied.

“…It’s just unexpected,” Xie Lanxu said. “A woman interested in topography and geography.”

At that time, families of status strictly confined their daughters. The higher their station, the less they ventured beyond the inner courtyard.

Only women of the lower classes, like oil-sellers or tavern maids, could disregard societal judgment and appear publicly.

In this context, even an interest in geography or travelogues was seen as a sign of restlessness.

Whenever Li Zhi’s collection of books was discovered by Li Qiaonian, her father’s fury would erupt.

Unwilling to be misunderstood for her interests, Li Zhi closed the book and prepared to get up.
“I’ll fetch another—”

A hand grasped her wrist. Startled, Li Zhi turned back.

The youth lay on the bed, shadows of swaying bamboo outside the window framing him.

His raven-black brows arched over languid, narrow eyes.

“I enjoy it. Continue,” he said.

Li Zhi hesitated before resuming her seat on the stool.

She began to read from the first page, her voice steady.

Xie Lanxu listened intently. Though his words often veiled truths, his earlier remark seemed earnest.

As she read on, she became engrossed, no longer reading for his sake but fully absorbed in the text.

“…I passed by the mountain and saw a sunrise of golden yellow, with a shadow like a coin in its center,” she read, before musing aloud, “Could such a sight truly exist?”

“I believe so.”

It took her a moment to realize Xie Lanxu had answered her.

“Does Your Highness think this is not fiction?”

“The world is vast; there is no end to its wonders,” Xie Lanxu replied. “In the grand scene, our lives are but fleeting; there’s too little we can witness firsthand.”

Li Zhi brightened. “I think so too! Just because we haven’t seen it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Our perspective is too limited!”

Xie Lanxu did not refute her.

“Do you believe there’s a country where women can go to school, engage in trade, or hold government positions, and no one finds it unusual?”

“Everyone would find it ordinary, not shocking at all,” Xie Lanxu said without hesitation.

His calm demeanor left Li Zhi doubting her ears.

“You don’t find it shocking?” she asked.

Her question made Xie Lanxu laugh softly. “Merely women studying and holding office—is that shocking?”

“Women can not only study and govern,” Li Zhi hesitated briefly before continuing, “…They can even become emperors.”

“That is quite extraordinary,” Xie Lanxu admitted, his expression thoughtful. “And what else?”

“What else?” Li Zhi paused, reluctant to reveal how others reacted upon hearing about such a place.

When Li Qiaonian learned that Madam Qin had told her children such “treasonous” stories, he nearly had her sold off.

Since then, Li Zhi had never mentioned this story to anyone.

“I’ve heard of a kingdom of women, but never a country where both men and women could hold power,” Xie Lanxu mused. “Which book did you read this in?”

“It’s the story of my birth mother’s homeland,” Li Zhi said. “She was rescued from the sea and brought here.”

“Interesting.” Xie Lanxu then asked, “Is your birth mother still alive?”

“She passed away not long after giving birth to us,” Li Zhi replied.

In the elegant yet simple Bamboo Courtyard, Li Zhi and Xie Lanxu continued their back-and-forth conversation.

Within the small study, an air of quiet warmth began to emerge.

“Were you close?” Xie Lanxu asked.

“We weren’t distant,” Li Zhi answered.

Madam Qin, stranded in a foreign land and unwillingly married with children, remained perpetually melancholy. Li Zhi had few memories of her birth mother. Madam Qin only grew animated when speaking of her homeland, so Li Zhi often asked questions about the magical kingdom, hoping to bring her some happiness.

Thus, Li Zhi’s impression of this magical kingdom was stronger than her memory of Madam Qin herself.

Not wishing to linger on this topic, Li Zhi shifted the conversation back to Xie Lanxu. “And what about Your Highness? Were you close with your parents?”

Xie Lanxu fell silent for a moment before smiling faintly. “Of course, we were very close.”

By now, Li Zhi had begun to recognize his defensive mechanisms. This was clearly a false statement.

The conversation lapsed into silence, broken only when the maids, Taozi and Xigua, entered to light the lamps.

Unbeknownst to them, the sky had already darkened.

Magnanimously, Xie Lanxu granted Li Zhi permission to end her shift.

—–

After leaving the Bamboo Courtyard, Li Zhi hurried to the small side room where Li Xiangsheng was staying. After taking his medicine, his condition had improved enough for him to open his eyes.

“Let me do it,” Li Zhi said, taking the medicine bowl from Li Cien’s hands. She carefully fed the decoction to Li Xiangsheng, one spoonful at a time.

Li Xiangsheng stared intently at her, his lips moving faintly.

Li Zhi leaned in and heard him say, “…Thank… you.”

Startled at first, she then broke into a smile.

“This is what an elder sister should do,” she said.

After Li Xiangsheng fell asleep, Li Zhi urged Li Cien to rest as well, volunteering to stay by his side.

“But it’s only fair that I take my turn tonight!” Li Cien protested.

Drawing on her elder sisterly authority, Li Zhi commanded her to rest, and Li Cien reluctantly complied.

As Li Xiangsheng lay in bed, he watched his sister leave, then shifted his gaze back to Li Zhi.

“If you’re tired, you should rest too,” Li Zhi suggested.

Li Xiangsheng shook his head.

“If you don’t want to sleep, then let me tell you a story.”

Li Zhi, recalling the geography book she had just read, began to recount its descriptions of magical landscapes and natural wonders. Despite his earlier protests of not being tired, Li Xiangsheng soon fell asleep, lulled by her voice.

Though the poorly insulated room was bone-chilling in the depths of winter, Li Zhi felt a warm surge in her heart as she watched her younger brother’s peaceful slumber.

She tucked the corners of his quilt securely and leaned against the wall, eventually closing her eyes.

At dawn the next day, Li Cien arrived to take over, finally giving Li Zhi time to return to her small courtyard.

The bare jujube tree still stood in the yard. Nearby, a few ropes stretched from its branches, where someone was hanging bedding to dry.

Li Zhi, uninterested in identifying the person, headed straight for her room when a familiar voice called out to her.

“Miss!”

Li Zhi almost thought she was hearing things.

Turning around, she saw a woman in a blue jacket step out from behind the bedding, beaming.

“Jia Sui!” Li Zhi exclaimed in surprise.

Jia Sui quickly closed the distance, smiling brightly as she grasped Li Zhi’s hands. “Miss, I’ve been idle these past days, so this servant washed all your bedding and replaced it with new ones I brought…”

Unable to bear her rambling, Li Zhi interrupted, “Jia Sui, what are you doing here?”

“This servant sold the tea stall and the lodging, which took a few days,” Jia Sui replied cheerfully. “But don’t worry, from now on, this servant will be by your side every day…”

There was only one way a commoner like Jia Sui could stay in the Duhu Mansion permanently.

Li Zhi’s voice trembled in disbelief. “You signed a service contract with the Duhu Mansion?”

Jia Sui’s silence confirmed her suspicion.

“Was it a life contract or a fixed-term one?” Li Zhi demanded.

“What does it matter? Come, see your new bedding. This servant worked so hard on it…” Jia Sui dodged the question.

“Answer me!” Li Zhi pressed, gripping her arms tightly.

Seeing no way out, Jia Sui averted her gaze and replied in the most matter-of-fact tone she could muster, “We’re all just working to make a living. What difference does it make whether the contract is for life or a term?”

Her words made everything clear to Li Zhi.

The Duhu Mansion wasn’t an ordinary wealthy household; they wouldn’t casually take in staff. Jia Sui must have sold herself at a meager price to secure her place.

“You’re so foolish,” Li Zhi said, her voice quivering. “You worked so hard to earn your freedom. Why throw it away to become a servant again?”

“Because you’re here,” Jia Sui replied simply.

Her round face and almond eyes, unremarkable in a crowd, now shone with dazzling determination.

Taking Li Zhi’s hand gently, she reassured her, “Even if I can’t help you much, I once swore to follow you through fire and water.”

“Because what you want to achieve… is what this servant wants as well.”

—–

Translator’s Note:- What do you think does Li Zhi wants to achieve?

 

Translator’s Note :- Hello guys, you will get 2 chapters each on Mon , Wed , Fri each week on fixed time. Look forward to the next parts.