99. Chapter 99: The Maid

Old Nine had chosen the menu himself, so Yan Yan of course made sure to prove her worth. Besides preparing the spicy Sichuan water-boiled fish that Younger Lord Ten adored most, she also considered people like Mu Jingyuan and Qin Daoran, who disliked chili. So she quickly made seven dishes and a soup and sent them to Old Nine’s study.

Of course, Yan Yan did not carry them herself; it would never do for a concubine to appear in Old Nine’s study. Cui’er was the one who had warned her—she had not realized this before. But Yan Yan had one virtue: she could listen. If Cui’er said it was improper, then it was indeed improper. In any case, she had no interest in standing in Old Nine’s kitchen pretending to help.

Only after bathing the three children, fussing with them for a while, and sending the nursemaids to put them to bed did Yan Yan remember Old Nine’s instructions about the late-night meal. She hurried to the kitchen and saw Aunt Chen already starting to wrap dumplings. She could not help but smile. Aunt He had been right: having a trustworthy person nearby truly is a priceless comfort.

In the courtyard of Qimeng Garden, Aunt He was still plainly on Old Nine’s side, while everyone else could now be counted as Yan Yan’s close allies, entirely worthy of trust. Thinking of that, Yan Yan suddenly recalled that a few days earlier, Lady Dong’e had brought a young maid to Qimeng Garden, claiming she feared Yan Yan lacked help and had sent the girl for her.

Even at a glance, Yan Yan knew she would never accept it. After a bit of exchange between them, Lady Dong’e took the girl back. Once she left, Cui’er even scolded Yan Yan for insulting the Primary Consort’s dignity, arguing that she could have simply kept the maid and dismissed her later on some pretext.

Yan Yan glared at Cui’er and said she had no need to perform such insincerity. If that girl ever laid a hand on the children during the few days in Qimeng Garden, where would Yan Yan be expected to weep in peace?

Cui’er, after hearing this, acknowledged her error with good grace, and from then on paid even greater attention to the safety of Qimeng Garden and the triplets. That is why Yan Yan felt this much relief now.

Still, Older Lord Ten and the others had clearly not worked as hard as Yan Yan had expected, because when she had Wu Tong send the dumplings over to Old Nine, she found that there were no other outsiders left in the study, and only Old Nine remained, writing with fierce concentration.

Yan Yan sighed to herself, a little pained for him, and then carried the dumplings herself to Old Nine’s study. She never expected that, the instant she stepped into Old Nine’s courtyard, a maid would crash into her. She was quick on her feet and dodged in time; otherwise, an entire pot of hot dumplings would have been spilled over her all at once.

“What are you doing?” Old Nine barked from inside the study.

The maid was clearly startled and dropped to the ground at once, plunging her small, delicate hands directly into the bowl that still held a few dumplings, then crying out in pleading, “Forgive me, Secondary Consort, forgive me. I was only obeying orders to bring the late-night snack to Lord Nine. I did not mean to collide with you. Have mercy on me, Secondary Consort.”

Yan Yan stepped back two paces and stared wide-eyed, watching this maid act out her own little drama with almost exuberant devotion.

Old Nine must have heard her cries as well, for he strode out of the study. He saw Yan Yan standing there while a maid knelt on the ground, in complete disarray, her hands reddened and still hot.

The maid was quick. Without waiting for Old Nine to ask, and without letting Yan Yan speak, she hurried to his feet and wept beneath his gaze, “Master, save your servant. I truly do not know how I offended the Secondary Consort. Master….” The girl lifted her face, eyes large and glistening, half-spoken and then silent, looking up at him.

Somewhere in her struggle, her collar had come loose, exposing a long swath of fair neck and the edge of a red bodice beneath. Yan Yan narrowed her eyes and saw the exposed skin instantly flush pink in the icy night, glowing under the bright lamp light. What a deliberately enticing performance. If Yan Yan were Old Nine, she would have been drunk by now.

Old Nine truly was drunk. He stared at the maid’s neck for a long time, his eyes sinking deeper and deeper. Yan Yan felt her own heart sink little by little; a tightness gripped her throat and made her almost unable to breathe.

She parted her lips, wanting to speak, then swallowed the words. Inwardly she berated her own weakness. She knew well that Old Nine was a shameless libertine. If he were not such a fool, she could never have become this concubine. In truth, at the beginning, she herself would have been no different from this very maid.

At this thought, a wave of nausea rose in her. Instinctively, Yan Yan looked toward Old Nine and his dark, fathomless eyes, and suddenly felt herself deceived by his familiar face. He is not a man she should ever tie her life to. She must not lose her senses. She had already been melted by his arsenal of temptation for far too long; she could not keep circling around him. She had to find her own rhythm.

With that thought, Yan Yan shot Old Nine a hard look and turned on her heel without hesitation.

“Stop!”

Old Nine, though he had not been looking at her, seemed to have predicted her reaction exactly. Yan Yan had barely begun to turn when his sharp command rang out.

But who was Yan Yan to freeze at one roar from Old Nine? She simply pretended not to hear and kept walking. Yet before she had taken a few more steps, a horrifying shriek came from behind her—and was gone in an instant.

Yan Yan jumped in alarm and turned back in panic. Before she could make out what was happening in the courtyard, Old Nine had already pulled her tightly into his arms, blocking her view.

Even so, she could guess what had happened. She lightly gripped the fabric of his robe, her body trembling. As someone who believed human rights above all as a modern person, she could not understand this brutality at all, nor face such a moment.

Yet Old Nine, holding Yan Yan, felt her shiver like a frightened child and could not help but laugh. Yes—this was his Yan Yan as he knew her: clever at times, but far too often confused. Brave at times, but far too often soft.

With a subtle pressure of his hands, Old Nine lifted Yan Yan and carried her across his arms. In a low voice he said, “I’m hungry. Go make me another late-night meal.”

Yan Yan flinched, ready to cry out, but held it back in time.

Old Nine carried Yan Yan off toward Qimeng Garden in long strides. By then, the people in the study courtyard had melted away as quickly as mist, leaving behind only a spreading pool of blood near the gate, enough to make onlookers’ hearts race.