Chapter 18 Chapter 18

Chapter 18

1

The hall was brightly lit with a high ceiling, yet it inexplicably exuded a cold, silent gloom.

Seeing Ms. Liang sitting expressionless inside, Second Young Miss's heart gave a lurch. She stood frozen for a long moment before she could force her feet to move across the threshold.

"Mother," she said softly, head bowed.

Ms. Liang said nothing, but Second Young Miss broke out in a cold sweat.

After a while, Ms. Liang stood up and walked over to Second Young Miss. With deliberate slowness, she removed the ring from her finger. Second Young Miss held her breath and looked up. "Mother..."

*CRACK!*

A heavy slap sent Second Young Miss's head snapping to the side.

The middle-aged woman outside the door flinched and immediately lowered her head.

"Try using your head next time."

Ms. Liang's expression remained placid as she put her ring back on, her tone icy. "The list I gave you from the last banquet contains young masters from good families. Pick one. Soon."

With those words, Ms. Liang turned and left without a backward glance.

Second Young Miss, clutching her stinging cheek, kept her head lowered, her thin shoulders trembling slightly.

A closer look revealed her wide-open eyes, which held not just fear, but also anger and resentment spreading like red threads.

"Young Miss..."

"Get out!"

—

Lin Chenxin returned to Junzi Courtyard and, for the first time ever, saw Chen Gujun standing under the withered tree in the front courtyard.

He stood with his hands clasped behind his back, looking up at the sky through the gaps in the bare branches.

Without thinking, Lin Chenxin slowed her pace and quietly walked up behind Chen Gujun.

She playfully opened her mouth wide, ready to startle him, but the tall, straight-backed Chen Gujun suddenly turned and looked at her.

Meeting those calm, unrippled eyes, her playful mood evaporated and she withdrew her hand.

Boring.

And after she averted her gaze, those placid eyes rippled with faint waves.

"Oh, right, was the pastry fragrant?" Lin Chenxin suddenly turned back, her eyes curving into crescents.

Chen Gujun averted his eyes, then after a moment, looked back at Lin Chenxin.

"Mm."

Lin Chenxin beamed.

"Did you eat it?"

Chen Gujun didn't speak, just looked at her.

Lin Chenxin didn't mind, her eyes still curved in a smile.

Chen Gujun stood under the withered tree, his gaze resting intently on Lin Chenxin's face.

In Lin Chenxin's eyes, he saw the stars missing from the sky.

Lin Chenxin still remembered what Second Young Miss had said, but it was still early, not quite the right time for mischief.

Thinking that the sun had been out today and the temperature was starting to rise, Lin Chenxin took the watering can and small shovel, planning to loosen the soil for the flowers in the plot.

"Come on."

Lin Chenxin looked back at Chen Gujun.

—

In the quiet of the night, Chen Gujun held the watering can, wordlessly watching Lin Chenxin as she squatted on the ground, shoveling soil.

Even though the seeds in the plot hadn't sprouted after all this time, Lin Chenxin showed no sign of disappointment or weariness.

She remained as earnest as ever, still hopeful for the seeds she had planted with her own hands.

The clear moonlight filtered through the bare branches, casting long, twisted shadows in the desolate backyard.

Chen Gujun's tall, slender shadow merged with the withered branches, keeping a respectful distance behind Lin Chenxin. Far from seeming strange, it conveyed a sense of the solitary chill of pine and bamboo, a quiet vigil.

Suddenly, he asked, "Do you really like flowers?"

This was the first time Chen Gujun had actively asked Lin Chenxin a question.

Lin Chenxin was a little surprised, then smiled and nodded.

"I do. Back home, both the front and back yards were filled with flowers of all colors."

Her eyes shone as she said, "My dad planted them for my mom. They were beautiful."

Chen Gujun fell silent.

He didn't want the hope in this girl's eyes to be dashed.

But no one knew better than him that no seed would ever sprout here.

After a long while, he asked, "Do you like flower arranging?"

Even though cut flowers wouldn't last more than a day here, they could still bring a flash of color to her world.

Lin Chenxin, however, shook her head. "I don't like flower arranging."

She firmed the soil back into place, paying no mind to the mud on her hands.

"No matter how beautiful arranged flowers are, they're just cut flowers forced into a vase. How can they compare to the beauty of flowers growing naturally?"

She looked up and said, "I like the way flowers bloom, not the way they look in a vase."

The question Chen Gujun asked her was one her mother had asked her when she was little.

Back then, she had fallen in love with beautiful bouquets and even begged her mother to send her to flower arranging classes.

Her mother agreed to her request and sent her.

However, after just a few lessons, she lost interest. No matter how she trimmed them, the flowers never looked as good as the ones back home.

Later she realized, the moment a flower is cut from its roots, it's dead.

How could a dead flower be beautiful?

But she really liked the teacher and didn't want to be seen as a child with only a three-minute attention span.

Then her mother asked, "Do you like flower arranging?"

She thought for a moment and said no.

Her mother looked into her eyes and asked why.

She said that once the flower dies, it's not the flower she likes anymore.

Her mother told her to say this to the teacher, to honestly tell the teacher what she was thinking.

She did. The teacher was surprised, and said gently that it was a good way to think. The teacher said it was good she thought for herself and gave her a packet of seeds.

Later, she planted them in the backyard, and in the summer, blue, purple, pink, and white larkspurs bloomed.

Lost in her memories, Lin Chenxin didn't notice the way Chen Gujun had been watching her.

There was a subtle ripple in his eyes, like a breeze passing over a moonlit lake.

Suddenly, Lin Chenxin snapped back to reality, realizing it was getting late and she still had business to take care of.

She quickly stood up, but Chen Gujun suddenly asked, "What will you do if they don't bloom?"

"They'll bloom," she said firmly.

Chen Gujun looked at her, saying nothing, yet his eyes conveyed everything.

Lin Chenxin was suddenly annoyed.

She hated hearing that kind of discouraging talk over and over.

"Since I was born, no flowers have ever bloomed here."

Chen Gujun slowly withdrew his gaze and, as he spoke, went back to watering with the watering can.

Lin Chenxin glanced at the shackles on Chen Gujun's feet and asked, "So, have you had those shackles on your legs since you were born?"

Chen Gujun paused.

The girl was clever, always finding a way to steer the conversation in the direction she wanted.

"Yes," he said, his eyes downcast.

Lin Chenxin's eyes widened in shock.

"But your feet grow..."

Chen Gujun turned to look at her. "The shackles grow too."

Lin Chenxin suddenly felt her breath grow heavy.

She couldn't imagine a child growing up with such heavy shackles from birth.

It was even crueler than clipping a bird's wings.

Lin Chenxin took a deep breath to calm herself down.

Today wasn't the right time to discuss this; she still had things to do.

"Are you afraid?" Chen Gujun asked her.

Chen Gujun seemed unusually talkative today.

"Of what?"

"Me."

She looked at his shadow on the ground, chin up, and said, "I'm not afraid."

Chen Gujun gazed at Lin Chenxin's profile, his voice low, hoarse, and eerily cold as he spoke slowly.

"But I am a monster, a people-eating monster."

The wind brushed the hair at Lin Chenxin's temples, bringing a chill.

Her heart skipped a beat. She whipped her head around, her gaze sharp, but Chen Gujun had already looked away.

Long hair fell from Chen Gujun's shoulders, covering half his face. Below his straight nose was a mouth with well-defined lips.

His expression was calm, the shadows cast by his lowered eyelashes concealing his dark eyes.

At that moment, Lin Chenxin suddenly noticed that Chen Gujun's hair seemed much whiter than when she first saw him.

A sense of melancholy, like a nobleman in his twilight years, suddenly welled up in her heart.

She looked at Chen Gujun and declared, "I'm not afraid."

After saying this, she started walking away.

Chen Gujun raised his eyes, looking at the withered tree ahead, then glanced sideways at Lin Chenxin's retreating figure.

He didn't look away for a long time.

In the silent stillness, his dark eyes seemed to surge with countless indescribable emotions in a fleeting moment.

—

In the dead of night, all was silent, and the paths were crawling with night-patrolling servants.

Lin Chenxin hadn't expected the Chen estate to be so heavily guarded at night.

She didn't have the skills to slip past them and felt like she couldn't take a step without being seen as soon as she left Junzi Courtyard.

Seeing a servant walking straight toward her, she backed up further and further until she was hidden behind a rockery.

Just as she was considering whether to hide in the pond, a strange wind blew. The servant rubbed his eyes and turned to walk in another direction.

Lin Chenxin peeked out from behind the rockery, relieved, thinking today's almanac probably wasn't favorable for travel and she might as well go back.

But after a moment's hesitation, she went ahead anyway.

After all, she was already here.

She moved cautiously, yet the servants always managed to steer clear of wherever she was. The journey was creepily smooth, almost as if someone made a slight 'mistake' on purpose each time.

Lin Chenxin was too focused to think about anything else.

Her heart was in her throat the whole way. By the time she finally entered the Shufangzhai study complex, she was sweating bullets.

When she noticed a light still on in one of the studies, her breath caught in her throat.

She had originally intended to search for information about the Chen residence, never expecting someone to be there at this hour.

It seemed she had stumbled upon a big fish!

She tiptoed over and carefully flattened herself against the wall.

Inside were Mr. Chen and Ms. Liang.

Perhaps Lin Chenxin's luck was exceptionally good today; she'd hit the jackpot with her timing.

"Let's put Xiaoqing's business on the back burner. We need to get Xiaozhi's situation sorted out first," Mr. Chen's low voice rang out.

Ms. Liang remained silent.

After a moment, her voice was heard: "Xiaoqing shot her mouth off today and nearly caused a major disaster. Keeping her at home would only cause more trouble. It's better to nail it down early and send her away..."

"I said, put Xiaoqing's matter aside for now. She still has her uses," Mr. Chen's voice instantly took on a chilling edge.

Ms. Liang didn't say another word.

Outside the door, Lin Chenxin crouched on the ground, frowning.

"Will the Eldest Young Master's matter succeed?" Ms. Liang suddenly spoke up.

Lin Chenxin immediately pricked up her ears.

*Bang!* The sound of a teacup being slammed heavily onto the table.

"It must succeed, even if it seems impossible."

Mr. Chen's icy gaze fell upon Ms. Liang, whose lowered eyes revealed no emotion.

Ms. Liang was really running her mouth today.

Without looking up, Ms. Liang continued, "But I noticed the Eldest Young Master seems really hung up on her. What if he doesn't want to?"

"If she survived with his blood in her body, then she is a qualified sacrifice. When the time comes, instinct will make him lose control. This isn't about what he wants, but whether he can control himself. Over the centuries, our Chen family has had more than just this one case. In the end, there is only one outcome: every sacrifice is used to its fullest potential."

Mr. Chen's voice was bone-chillingly cold, every word dripping with menace, carrying both the confidence of the family's centuries-old legacy and a warning to Ms. Liang for her loose tongue.

"Furthermore, daughters of the Chen family only take in husbands; they do not marry out."

The air was deathly still.

After a long while, Ms. Liang's voice slowly sounded.

"Yes."

Crouched outside the door, Lin Chenxin froze, barely daring to breathe, her pupils trembling uncontrollably.

The conversation inside hadn't specified who, but Lin Chenxin understood instantly.

On her wedding day, what she drank wasn't tea—it was Chen Gujun's blood.

No wonder it tasted so metallic.

No wonder it felt familiar.

Her stomach turned. She clapped a hand over her mouth, gagging.

In that instant, numerous images raced through her mind.

The two women who dropped dead, the instantly withered flowers, and Chen Gujun's actions of avoiding her.

Lin Chenxin suddenly felt the air leave her lungs; a chill seeped into her bones.

It was hard to say whether it was fear or anger.

She was shaking all over.