Chapter 13 Chapter 13

Chapter 13

1

Early morning.

"Bang, bang, bang!"

A shadowy figure was peeking around outside the door.

After a moment, a tentative voice called out from outside the door.

"Are you in there? I'm coming in."

The moment the words left her mouth, the study door opened from the inside. Lin Chenxin stood in the doorway, taken aback, withdrawing her hand that hadn't even touched the door yet.

She flexed her fingers, set the watering can down by the door, and said, "Remember to water my... our flowers later."

After saying that, she added with concern, "Don't overwater them, or you'll kill them. I'll inspect them when I return."

Leaving the watering can, Lin Chenxin turned to leave. But she had only taken a couple of steps before she suddenly whirled around.

She was too late.

The study door was open, and the watering can was still outside.

She clicked her tongue in disappointment and strode away.

After she left, a hand reached out from inside the door and picked up the watering can.

—

Lin Chenxin stood in the central hall, tray in hand. Servants stood just outside the doorway, all with their heads bowed in silence.

She hadn't been standing for three minutes when, seeing that no one had come yet, she picked up a teacup from the tray and took a sip of tea.

Suddenly hearing footsteps outside, she immediately swallowed the scalding tea, set the teacup back neatly on the tray, and pretended nothing had happened.

Ms. Liang swept past Lin Chenxin, followed by the Second Young Miss and a middle-aged woman, her expression aloof and cold.

After everyone was seated, Lin Chenxin bowed slightly to offer the tea.

"Madam, please have some tea."

Ms. Liang remained seated, unmoving, staring down impassively at Lin Chenxin.

The Second Young Miss sneered. "It's too hot to drink!"

"It's not hot," Lin Chenxin said softly.

"What was that?!"

"Shall I blow on it for you?" She looked up, raising an eyebrow.

Clearly, the Second Young Miss was neither emotionally controlled nor eloquent.

She drew herself up, glaring furiously at Lin Chenxin, but couldn't muster a single word. She snorted coldly and looked away.

Lin Chenxin placed the teacup on the table and said, "Drink it while it's hot. It turns bitter when it cools."

Ms. Liang glanced at her, flicked her hand, and the teacup rolled off the table. The spilled tea instantly soaked Lin Chenxin's sleeve.

"Since you're afraid of it getting cold, then clean it up while it's still hot."

Ms. Liang sat in the seat of honor, looking down at Lin Chenxin from above.

The Second Young Miss let out a sneer.

Lin Chenxin lowered her eyelashes slightly. After a moment, she slowly bent down.

Ms. Liang spoke again. "Since your sleeve is already dirty, there's no need to waste a cloth."

After saying that, Ms. Liang gave a cold laugh. "After all, the Chen family has never stinted you financially. Surely you can afford to soil one piece of clothing."

The retribution for greed had arrived.

Lin Chenxin squatted down nonchalantly, using her sleeve to wipe up the tea on the floor.

Anyway, the clothes were provided by the Chen family. She wasn't the one paying for them.

"Madam is right. Then I must trouble Madam to prepare a few more sets of clothes for me. My skin is delicate; I only like wearing expensive things."

She looked up, her beautiful, bright eyes staring unblinkingly at Ms. Liang.

This wasn't a humiliation for her. Instead, she seized the opportunity to climb the proffered pole and gain some benefits for herself.

Ms. Liang's face became expressionless, looking down at this young face.

The other's posture was submissive, her attitude indifferent, yet the stubbornness in her eyes was glaring.

This face, devoid of makeup, was elegant and refined. Her untamed eyes were lively and beautiful.

So real, so full of vitality.

Ms. Liang's hand, resting on the chair, tightened forcefully. It was hard to tell who she saw in Lin Chenxin's face.

Lin Chenxin's gaze pierced like a thorn into the unfathomable depths of Ms. Liang's eyes.

After a moment, she averted her gaze and said nonchalantly, "I wonder if the Eldest Young Master misses me."

"You don't need to use the Eldest Young Master to pressure me."

The young girl was clever.

She could bend and stretch, yet she was unwilling to truly suffer a loss.

Whenever she found the slightest opportunity, she would grasp it firmly.

"Not at all," Lin Chenxin said, looking up.

Ms. Liang: "..."

She abruptly stood up, leaving behind a cold remark: "I want to eat a dish made by your own hands tonight."

As she left, the Second Young Miss deliberately knocked over a teacup on the table, giving Lin Chenxin a cold smile.

The spacious central hall emptied, leaving only the tea splashed on the floor and a mess of broken pieces.

Lin Chenxin stood up and kicked away the fragments on the floor.

"What a waste."

She strode out, and the middle-aged woman outside the door blocked her path, saying, "Young Mistress, you haven't cleaned up the spilled tea on the floor."

"Your Second Young Lady has an unsteady hand and knocked over the teacup—what does that have to do with me?"

She walked out without looking back.

—

The Chen residence was a vast traditional Chinese garden.

Its enormous area and complex pathways made it easy to lose one's way inside.

Lin Chenxin couldn't find the Chen family's ancestral hall; instead, she turned into a courtyard bursting with flowers.

For an instant, Lin Chenxin thought she had stepped into the imperial palace's back garden.

Inside, lush green grass and blooming flowers filled every corner, imbuing the entire place with an exhilarating vitality.

Lin Chenxin unconsciously softened her breath, overwhelmed by the vibrant life that washed over her.

"Sister-in-law?"

Hearing the voice, she snapped back to reality and looked toward the young master holding a book.

"What are you doing here?" The young master seemed pleasantly surprised to see her and quickly walked over.

Lin Chenxin looked at him and asked, "Is this your courtyard?"

The young master lowered his head somewhat shyly.

"Yes, is it too gaudy?" He glanced up at her.

"No, it's beautiful."

It could easily be described as a riot of colors.

The young master smiled.

"I don't know how it happens, but even in winter, the flowers here never wither. When I was little, I thought there were too many flowers and refused to live here, but Father wouldn't let me change courtyards. Over time, I got used to it."

The young master smiled helplessly, but Lin Chenxin's eyes darkened.

One courtyard was withered and decaying, with dead grass and not a trace of vitality, while another was bursting with flowers, brimming with life.

It was eerie, far too eerie.

If there were no ghosts here, Lin Chenxin didn't believe it.

"Sister-in-law, what's wrong?"

Meeting Lin Chenxin's scrutinizing gaze, the young master spoke cautiously.

"Nothing. Could you give me a flower?" She smiled, looking at the vibrant colors inside.

"Of course!"

The young master agreed happily.

He set down the book, rolled up his sleeves, and personally transplanted a flower for her.

Lin Chenxin glanced at the book's cover—it wasn't modern literature or a professional skills book.

She casually asked, "Is there a study in the residence specifically for reading and looking up information?"

"You mean the library?"

A library.

That really fit the Chen family's style.

"Yes."

The young master turned to look at her and said, "There is, in the Shufang Study at the rear courtyard. You can go anytime you want, Sister-in-law."

"Can anyone go?"

The young master looked at her strangely, as if puzzled by her question.

"Of course."

"Good, thank you." She smiled.

The young master carefully wrapped a peony and, looking somewhat shy, said, "Sister-in-law, here you go."

The plump, round peony stood with noble grace, its pure white petals both innocent and elegant, breathtakingly beautiful.

Lin Chenxin took the flower and smiled. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." The young master glanced at her.

She politely bid farewell with the flower in hand. Even after she had walked far away, the young master remained standing at the courtyard entrance, watching her retreating figure.

—

Back at the Junzi Courtyard, Lin Chenxin said with bright eyes, "Chen Gujun, come out quickly."

She really wasn't being polite at all now.

Her clear voice echoed throughout the courtyard, and soon, a ghostly figure appeared in the shadows of the corridor.

Lin Chenxin beckoned to him. "Come here."

Chen Gujun: "..."

There was no sun today, but it wasn't overcast like yesterday either. Blue sky and white clouds made for a cool, pleasant day.

She stood by the stone table in the front courtyard, her eyes sparkling as she looked at Chen Gujun. One hand was conspicuously hidden behind her back, while the other waved him over.

"Hurry up."

After a long moment, Chen Gujun slowly took a step forward, dragging his shackles as he stepped into the bright light.

Lin Chenxin stared intently at Chen Gujun, watching as his inhuman, ghostly face was fully exposed in the light.

There was no trace of abnormality in her eyes; she simply focused on him.

His ash-white hair, crimson sigils, pale skin, and tall, thin frame made him look like a lonely ghost in this desolate courtyard.

Those eyes were exceptionally dark, like a placid, deep pool without a ripple.

But Lin Chenxin's eyes were bright, like a lamp that lit up Chen Gujun's form.

She watched as he stopped before her, still unwilling to get too close, but she didn't mind. Smiling, she produced the flower from behind her back.

"Look!"

A vibrant, dazzling ranunculus trembled slightly, a drop of water quivered and fell from its snow-white petals, delicate and enchanting, more exquisite than a snow lotus.

Chen Gujun's pitch-black, lifeless eyes trembled faintly, as if ripples had disturbed the quiet surface of a lake.

In that instant, a faint stir arose in Lin Chenxin's heart, a ripple spreading within her as well.

At that moment, the way Chen Gujun gazed at the flower was even more moving than the flower itself.

She said softly, "Let's plant this flower together."

Chen Gujun snapped out of his reverie, looking at her without speaking.

The wind stirred the white hair at his temples.

After a long while, his hoarse voice broke the silence.

"It won't live."

Lin Chenxin's brow furrowed slightly.

"How do you know it won't live if we don't even try?"

She didn't like hearing such words.

Holding the flower, she walked up to Chen Gujun, but he seemed startled by the overwhelming vitality it exuded, leaning back as if to turn and leave.

A wave of inexplicable irritation washed over Lin Chenxin, and she forcefully reached to grab his hand.

"Don't you want to touch this flower?"

Chen Gujun paused for a moment, and in that brief instant, Lin Chenxin seized his hand.

Lin Chenxin's gaze flickered.

It was so cold.

And the gaunt joints of his hand were dry and grating against her skin.

Chen Gujun seemed scalded by the warmth of Lin Chenxin's soft touch, a flicker of change crossing his expression as he immediately tried to pull his hand away.

But Lin Chenxin's stubborn streak kicked in—if he didn't want it, she was determined to make him take it!

Unyielding, she tugged at his hand, determined to place the flower in his grasp.

In the struggle, his long fingernails were about to graze Lin Chenxin's palm. Chen Gujun's eyes abruptly changed, and he quickly curled his fingers inward, but the sharp nails instead sliced his own fingertip.

A drop of dark red blood fell onto the flower's petals.

In an instant, the noble, pure flower rapidly withered, its vitality drained before their very eyes.

Lin Chenxin's pupils contracted in shock, her hand freezing mid-air.