Chapter 2

I would not stand for it. I was furious.

Nothing in this world annoyed me more than “forget it.”

So I sold myself into the Xie household as a maid.

For my first three months there, I did nothing but tend the kitchen fire.

Only after bribing the steward did I get the job of delivering meals.

03

After delivering the chicken soup, I meant to find the steward for a chat. But as I reached the covered walkway, I heard Old Madam speaking to him inside.

“Hui spends all day solving cases and dealing with bloody corpses. There's still no sign of a wife. Perhaps we should find him a bedchamber maid first. Once he's learned a thing or two, he might want to marry.”

The steward hesitated.

“But with Second Young Master's temper… won't he be angry?”

Old Madam sighed.

“He's twenty-three. Am I not entitled to be angry? And his elder brother is twenty-five and still alone. Thank goodness he's coming home soon. I'll have to arrange some matches for him too.”

The steward agreed.

I turned away and hid beneath the walkway to nibble a pastry, secretly delighted.

Wonderful. The elder Xie brother I had been waiting for was finally coming home.

If Xie Hui did not want me, I would become his sister-in-law.

Then he would have to call me that every day.

An elder brother's wife was as good as a mother. I could torment him to my heart's content.

I finished my pastry happily and hummed my way back to my room.

I had barely lain down when Auntie Li knocked and told me to take Xie Hui a bowl of sweet soup.

I threw on a robe and got up, cursing inwardly but not daring to delay. Bowl in hand, I headed for Bamboo Courtyard.

He was still awake when I pushed the door open.

The candles were half burned down. Official papers towered on his desk. Xie Hui bent over them with a brush, writing, pausing, then writing again.

He really did work himself to death. No wonder he had risen so high so young.

I set down the sweet soup and turned to go.

“Drink it yourself. I don't want it.”

He did not even look up. His tone was flat.

“Oh.”

I picked it up and drank.

In three months of delivering his meals, he had never once looked me properly in the face. Whenever he spoke, it was always the same thing.

He even kept getting my name wrong. Xiaochun, Xiaoqiao—one could count on one's fingers the times he got it right.

I finished the soup, set down the bowl, and was about to leave when heat suddenly spread through my entire body.

Hm?

It felt as though someone had lit a fire in my stomach. The burning sent waves of panic through me.

I meant to walk toward the door. My feet refused to obey. Step by step, they carried me toward Xie Hui instead.

He looked so handsome with his head bent over a book.

His neck was long, fair, and smooth, like a swan's.

His hands were beautiful too: clean and pale, the joints clearly defined, veins faintly visible as his fingers tightened around the brush.

This was fatal. Even his breathing fascinated me.

I must have been possessed.

The fire seemed to burn my reason clean away.

Just as Xie Hui frowned and began to look up, my hand took matters into its own keeping. One chop, and I knocked him unconscious.

Now that he was out, what was I supposed to do?

I sat on the chair in misery.

My whole body felt wrong, as though something trapped in my chest was desperately seeking a way out.

I looked down at Xie Hui on the floor and licked my lips.

He looked… rather appetizing.

I opened the front of his robe.

Oh, dear. Even more appetizing.

I really only meant to look.

Who knew one glance would give me a nosebleed?

I do not clearly remember what happened next.

04

When I woke, dawn had not quite broken.

The floor was a complete mess. I had torn Xie Hui's clothes to shreds, tied his hands, and left a handprint on his face.

Heaven help me.

Terrified, I snatched up my clothes, threw them on, and ran for my life.

Luckily, no one was in the covered walkway.

I crept back to my room and burrowed beneath the quilt. My heart was still hammering so hard that even my ears felt hot.

When Auntie Li came to wake me, I was still dazed. Last night might have been a dream.

“A-Li! A-Li, get up! Second Young Master is furious. He's ordered everyone to Bamboo Courtyard!”

Guilt made my voice tremble.

“What for?”

Auntie Li lowered her voice mysteriously.

“They say some outrageously bold girl dared to… last night.”

She stopped and peered at me.

“What's wrong with your voice? Why are you so hoarse?”

I swallowed.

“I think I've caught a chill. My throat hurts.”

I caught her wrist, my expression utterly sincere.

“Auntie Li, if I go and give Second Young Master my cold, what then? You can see I've been here all along. Perhaps I should stay away for now?”

She felt my forehead.

“You are a little warm. All right, don't go. I'll explain to him.”

I nodded vigorously.

Later, I heard that Xie Hui searched for ages without finding anyone. Furious, he declared that once he caught the maid, he would teach her a lesson.

I breathed a sigh of relief.