Chang Yuncheng walked through the front door, flicking the horse whip in his hand, which the following servant caught steadily.

“Lord, shall I have the clothes sent to the study?” the servant asked.

Chang Yuncheng’s clothes were already soaked through and covered with quite a bit of dust.

These days he always stayed in the study. For someone who had been wielding swords and spears since childhood, the study was a very unfamiliar place. Although he had a study room like his younger brothers and studied reading and writing at night, in his twenty-four years, the times he had entered it could be counted on one hand, and even adding them all up wouldn’t equal this recent period.

Whispers that the Lord was avoiding the Young Madam had already begun spreading secretly throughout the mansion.

The Young Madam was quite formidable now—hadn’t they seen how Madam Dong was dismissed from her duties without even daring to make a fuss…

Was the Lord afraid of the Young Madam…

What a joke! Why should I avoid her? If anyone should avoid someone, it should be her avoiding me!

Hearing the servant’s words, Chang Yuncheng inexplicably changed direction and headed toward his own residential courtyard.

The servant, accustomed to leading the way to the study, turned back to find his master had already walked far away. After a moment of confusion, he hurried to catch up.

Chang Yuncheng strode into the courtyard, then froze. For a moment, he doubted he had walked through the wrong door.

The originally clean and tidy pathways on both sides were now lined with various flower pots, and the air was instantly filled with floral fragrance.

Chang Yuncheng couldn’t help but sneeze, then he heard familiar voices speaking, confirming he hadn’t walked through the wrong door.

“Qiu Xiang, you don’t understand. These flowers and plants placed in the room aren’t just for looking good and smelling nice—they’re also good for the body,” Qi Yue said with a smile, personally selecting a pot of emerald cloud grass to place on the large table by the window, admiringly examining it from left to right.

“But the Lord doesn’t like them,” Qiu Xiang said with thick dissatisfaction.

Qi Yue smiled.

“Nobody likes bitter medicine, but can you not take it? Everything is just a matter of habit,” she said, not looking at Qiu Xiang but only examining the flower pot placed on the table.

“Young Madam, you’re going too far!” Qiu Xiang’s lips were nearly bitten to bleeding. “You’re doing this on purpose! I clearly said so, and you still…”

Qi Yue was just picking up a paperweight from the desk. Hearing her words, she set it down with a sharp clap.

The paperweight made a crisp sound, causing Qiu Xiang to shudder and stop speaking.

Qi Yue slowly raised her eyes to look at her, saying nothing, just staring at her like that. Her face, which had been wearing a gentle smile, was now stern.

Under this silent gaze, Qiu Xiang felt somewhat breathless. When had this little beggar developed such an oppressive presence?

Qiu Xiang finally lowered her head.

“You’re a second-class maid now, and you’re not newly promoted either, so you shouldn’t need me to teach you the rules, right? If you continue like this…” Qi Yue only then withdrew her gaze, pushing the paperweight back to its original position as she spoke slowly, “then you should go and properly learn the rules again.”

Qiu Xiang was greatly alarmed.

“Young Madam, this servant was assigned by Madam to the Lord…” she hurriedly said.

She was actually going to dismiss her?

“This servant belongs to Madam,” Qiu Xiang felt the resentment in her heart could no longer be suppressed, and added this sentence.

Qi Yue laughed.

“Look at what you’re saying—what do you mean ‘Madam’s person’? If you’re Madam’s person, aren’t you still a person of the Marquis Dingxi’s mansion?” She picked up the fan from the table and gently fanned herself while smiling and looking at this maid.

Qiu Xiang was stunned by the question. This… this…

“As long as you’re a person of the Marquis Dingxi’s mansion, I can manage you. Never mind replacing you—so what if I sold you?” Qi Yue smiled.

Qiu Xiang watched this beauty smile, feeling a chill in her heart.

Sell her…

She very much wanted to shout “You wouldn’t dare!” but when the words reached her lips, she couldn’t say them.

In her heart, she was already certain that the Young Madam really dared to and really could. The Lord hadn’t driven her out, and the Marquis liked her so much. Even if Madam stood up for her, if the Marquis and Lord stood on her side…

Qiu Xiang’s face finally showed panic and dejection.

“Young Madam, this servant was wrong,” she knelt down and kowtowed.

“Knowing one’s mistakes and being able to correct them is the greatest good. Good girl,” Qi Yue smiled, fanning herself as she walked past her. “Get up.”

Qi Yue stepped over the threshold and saw Chang Yuncheng standing in the courtyard, watching her with cold eyes.

“Lord, you’ve returned,” Qi Yue smiled, her manner composed as she walked down.

Chang Yuncheng just looked at her coldly.

“You really think highly of yourself,” he said coldly from the side as Qi Yue swayed past him.

Qi Yue also stopped and turned to look at him.

“If others don’t think highly of themselves, and they don’t think highly of themselves either, then there’s really no way to live. People have to find ways to survive, don’t they?” She smiled. “Lord, as someone who leads troops into battle, you understand this principle better than I do, right?”

After saying this, she paid no more attention to this lord’s expression and walked into her own room. After all, he had never shown her a pleasant face.

The room had three new pots of flowers and plants, lush and green, quite pleasing to the eye. A’Ru was dampening water to wipe the leaves, her face full of worry.

“Young Madam, don’t always clash with the Lord. The Lord is actually a very good person—talk to him properly,” she couldn’t help but say in a low voice.

Qi Yue casually rested one foot on the kang and reached out to touch a newly placed flower.

“A’Ru,” she interrupted A’Ru’s words, “your Lord said he finds my very existence disgusting, so no matter what I do or say, it’s all disgusting to him. Since that’s the case, I might as well be comfortable. He’ll be disgusted anyway—a little more or less makes no difference. I won’t put my warm face against someone’s cold ass…”

A’Ru’s face flushed red, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

“Young Madam, you… you should speak a bit more tactfully,” she said.

“That depends on who I’m talking to. When I talk to you, I don’t need to be tactful,” Qi Yue smiled at her.

A’Ru looked at her and finally smiled helplessly.

“Actually, the Lord is really a very good person. You… you…” she walked over and looked at Qi Yue, hesitating before speaking.

Qi Yue looked up at her, and seeing this maid’s expression, she understood her meaning.

“If you’re worried about this servant…” A’Ru knelt down by the kang, looking at her, “this servant would rather die…”

Qi Yue sprang up and slapped the table with a sharp clap, making the flowers and plants on it shake.

A’Ru was so frightened that her remaining words got stuck.

“I hate it most when people talk about dying and living at the drop of a hat. You young people always fail to cherish what you have most. Do you know how many people give their all just to survive? Even if they’re stiff and paralyzed and can’t move, as long as they have one breath left, they desperately want to live. No matter how painful the treatment or how bitter the medicine, they accept it without hesitation. You’re young and strong, you have work and family, yet you so easily speak of death? You’re simply too ungrateful for this life you’ve cultivated through several lifetimes,” Qi Yue looked at her with a stern face and scolded.

A’Ru was completely bewildered by this sudden scolding.

“What is this servant’s life worth?” she came to her senses, both amused and touched. This Young Madam always treated servants like them as precious treasures, wasting such valuable medicine—medicine unique in the world—on servants like them…

“Enough, don’t say such things to me anymore. I don’t like to hear it. I know the rules here, but that doesn’t mean I should follow them,” Qi Yue said with some impatience, reaching out her hand to her. “You don’t even know how difficult it is to save a life. I just don’t like hearing you talk about life so carelessly…”

A’Ru looked at her and smiled, hesitating before gently placing her hand on Qi Yue’s outstretched hand and standing up.

From that day on, Qi Yue and Chang Yuncheng saw each other more and more often—at breakfast, at dinner, and even occasionally after Qi Yue’s routine meetings with the stewardesses ended, she would sometimes see Chang Yuncheng in the courtyard cleaning his swords and weapons, making those stewardesses increasingly respectful toward Qi Yue.

The Lord’s room still had no concubines, so breakfast was served by their respective head maids, while the rest waited outside the dining room. Both inside and outside were completely quiet.

Although the two spent more time together in the same courtyard, they still rarely faced each other directly, and spoke even less.

The silence during meals continued from beginning to end.

Qi Yue was actually the first to feel uncomfortable, and she was also puzzled by Chang Yuncheng’s sudden change.

“Do you like the flowers and plants placed in the room?” Qi Yue put down her chopsticks and looked at Chang Yuncheng, who was sitting there drinking soup, speaking with a smile.

It looked like an ordinary scene of a harmonious married couple getting along.

“No, I don’t like them,” Chang Yuncheng answered concisely and decisively.

Qi Yue looked at him with a smile.

“Then what does the Lord like? I’ll go change them,” she said.

“Hmm, you go ahead and change them. Let me see what you bring, then I’ll decide,” Chang Yuncheng put down his bowl and chopsticks, looked at her, and said indifferently.

This answer was beyond Qi Yue’s expectations. She was stunned for a moment, and was about to ask something more when Chang Yuncheng had already stood up and walked out.

Well then, when the enemy advances, I retreat; when the enemy retreats, I advance. Living in someone else’s courtyard, sometimes one can’t be confrontational about everything. After finishing her meal, Qi Yue really did take her maids to select a few pots of flowers and plants to change.

“How about this one? It’s blooming beautifully,” Qi Yue pointed to the flowers the maids were holding and asked.

Chang Yuncheng sat cross-legged on the arhat bed in the west room, with an ancient qin placed in front of him. He sat boldly examining the qin as if in meditation, and didn’t even look when he heard Qi Yue’s words.

“Fine,” he said with a simple and forceful wave of his hand.

So easy to talk to. Qi Yue looked at him strangely and gestured to the maids.

Jiu Zhi carefully yet unable to hide her joy, carried a pot of orchids to the table beside Chang Yuncheng.

“Young Madam, do you think placing it here is appropriate?” she asked Qi Yue carefully while looking at Chang Yuncheng.

This maid… Qi Yue couldn’t help but smile.

Chang Yuncheng didn’t even glance at the person speaking so close to him, still contemplating his qin.

“Set it down,” Since the person wouldn’t give face to subordinates, the direct supervisor couldn’t also fail to give face. Qi Yue smiled and said.

Jiu Zhi carefully placed it down, even arranged the trembling leaves, secretly glanced at the Lord again with her head lowered, and could only retreat with obvious regret.

Qi Yue didn’t leave but walked around to Chang Yuncheng’s front out of curiosity.

“Can you play this?” she asked. This was a qin, right? “Play something for me to hear.”

Chang Yuncheng gave her a very concise three-word answer.

“Get out,” he said without even lifting his eyelids.

“Your sister!” Qi Yue also gave him a straightforward two-word reply.

Chang Yuncheng sat steadily like a mountain. Only after hearing the door move and that woman disappear from the room did he raise his head.

“My sister?” he frowned slightly with some confusion and some disdain. “Would my sister play for you? Really think highly of yourself!”