“Tsk, look at that poor thing — what a besotted, lovestruck look on her face. It’s embarrassing. How do you suppose two sisters born of the same mother could turn out so differently from A’Yao?”

Xuan Yanyu couldn’t be bothered to keep watching. He looked away and picked up his teacup, turning it idly between his long fingers.

“Perhaps because she didn’t grow up at the Chancellor’s wife’s side from a young age, her temperament developed differently.” Ye Chen offered.

Fafa: [Mistress, Xuan Yanyu is talking trash about you.]

[???]

Fafa: [He said you have the lovestruck look of a besotted fool all over your face. An embarrassment!]

[??? Who does he think he’s calling out?! When was I ever lovestruck?!] Yan Yunning puffed up with indignation.

Fafa: [Hard to say how he figured it out.]

“Third Prince, Miss Yan — this way, please.” County Magistrate Chen’s eyes crinkled into narrow slits.

Yan Yunning drew a deep breath, turned to Qi Qingchen beside her, her voice still carrying a trace of lingering irritation, “A’Chen, let’s go.”

Qi Qingchen gave a small nod.

Before long, they arrived in the main hall of the county magistrate’s residence.

Chen Kai had already had his people lay out a lavish spread of dishes.

“Third Prince, simple country food — please don’t hold it against me.” Chen Kai pulled out a grand armchair, his face piled high with a fawning smile.

Yan Yunning’s gaze landed on the blue-and-white porcelain tureen on the table, filled with Buddha Jumps Over the Wall soup, followed by the fragrant braised mock chicken, then the tender chicken meat wrapped in glutinous rice — and she let out a quiet, awed murmur.

[Fafa, this is what he calls simple country food???]

Fafa: […]

“My lord, I heard we have distinguished guests in the residence today?” A soft, lilting voice floated in.

Yan Yunning looked up to see a woman in red robes, her brows and eyes brimming with allure. Her garments were tailored with exquisite precision, tracing the lines of her slender waist.

Her steps were small, her hips swaying gently, her entire bearing suffused with a captivating, seductive charm that made itself known with every sinuous movement.

Chen Kai’s eyes were filled with unconcealed, entranced adoration.

“My lord.” The woman covered her smile with her hand.

Chen Kai swallowed. “Third Prince, please forgive me — this is my concubine, Liu Sisi.”

Liu Sisi’s gaze drifted over the room. She dipped into a slight bow, and said in a honeyed voice, “This concubine greets His Highness the Third Prince.”

Qi Qingchen raised his hand, his voice clear and mild, “No need for formalities.”

Yan Yunning blinked. [Fafa, a concubine can sit at the same table as a prince???]

Fafa: [My dear Mistress, this is a novel world — or have you forgotten?]

Yan Yunning: […]

Qi Qingchen gracefully dabbed at the corner of his mouth with a handkerchief. “County Magistrate Chen, let us leave it at this for today.”

Chen Kai’s heart lurched. The Third Prince had barely touched his chopsticks to any of the dishes — was he dissatisfied with something?

The moment Yan Yunning heard they were leaving, she abandoned all decorum and hastily shoveled several bites of food into her mouth.

Fafa: [Mistress, your image!!!]

[What image — whenever I sit at the same table as Xuan Yanyu, I end up eating so little. I have to make up for it now!] Yan Yunning scooped up two more bites, her cheeks bulging like a chipmunk’s.

Fafa: […]

“Third Prince, please follow me.” Chen Kai’s every word was thick with ingratiating deference.

Qi Qingchen’s brow furrowed slightly, a flash of distaste crossing his face. He turned toward Yan Yunning, and his expression softened. “Ningning, wait here for a moment.”

Yan Yunning nodded obediently.

Liu Sisi’s eyes flickered.

“Miss, you and the Third Prince are…” Her tone carried a probing note.

Yan Yunning took a bite of a steamed bun, set down her bamboo chopsticks with her fair fingers, and said, “My surname is Yan. The Third Prince and I are…”

“The Madam has arrived.” A maidservant’s voice rang out.

Yan Yunning turned her head to see a frail, delicate beauty being supported by a maidservant as she made her way over.

Liu Sisi let a smile curl at the corner of her lips and spoke at an unhurried pace. “Sister, why have you come out? You’re not well — you ought to stay and rest quietly in the courtyard. Don’t go spreading your illness to my lord’s honored guests.”

As she spoke, she deliberately swept her hair aside to reveal the pale expanse of her collarbone beneath, where a suggestive red mark was visible.

Yan Yunning cleared her throat. She had transmigrated here right after turning twenty, and as it happened, the original host in the author’s setting was also twenty this year.

Neither she nor the original host had any experience with such things — but surely letting someone else see a mark like that was embarrassing for all parties, wasn’t it?

Bai Yue coughed once. Her complexion was very pale, and there was a hollow, exhausted quality to her brows and eyes. “Miss Yan, don’t be alarmed — my illness isn’t contagious.”

She managed to pull her lips into a faint smile.

Yan Yunning waved a hand. “I’m not alarmed.”

Besides, she had Fafa. What illness was there to be afraid of? The only thing she feared was being done away with by Xuan Yanyu!

Liu Sisi pinched her handkerchief with a practiced air of affectation, holding it daintily over her nose, and said in a shrill voice, “Miss Yan, you’d do well to stay away from this sickly wretch.”

Bai Yue’s already frail body trembled with emotion, and she suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood.

“Madam!” The maidservant Xiao Yu went pale with shock, her voice breaking into a near-sob.

“I’m fine — where is my lord?” Bai Yue forced herself upright through sheer will.

She had come out today only because she wanted to see Chen Kai. On ordinary days, with Liu Sisi always nearby, Chen Kai would never agree to see her.

But today she had heard there were honored guests in the residence, and she thought that for the sake of appearances, Chen Kai would have to see her.

She did not have much time left. If she were no longer here, how would her daughter survive in this household?

“My lord is busy with matters of importance and has no time to see you.” Liu Sisi wound a strand of hair around her fingertip, letting it curl.

“I’m not in a hurry. I’ll wait for him right here.”

A flash of revulsion passed through the depths of Liu Sisi’s eyes. Her sweet mouth curved into a cold smile.

Yan Yunning stared, utterly dumbfounded. How had the principal wife ended up under the thumb of a concubine?

Fafa: [Silly. Do you even need to ask, Mistress? Liu Sisi is the favored one. Bai Yue is not.]

Yan Yunning: […]

“Miss Yan, would it be convenient to speak with me for a moment?” Bai Yue looked at Yan Yunning with anxious eyes.

Yan Yunning pressed her lips together. “Of course.”

Liu Sisi was displeased. In a coaxing voice she said, “Sister, whatever you have to say, can’t you say it right here?”

Bai Yue seemed not to hear. A smile touched her pale face. “Miss Yan, please.”

In the rear garden.

Yan Yunning admired the flowers blooming in full, vivid color.

“Miss Yan, I beg of you.” Bai Yue suddenly sank to her knees before Yan Yunning.

“Madam!” Yan Yunning cried out, reaching forward to help her up.

Bai Yue did not move an inch, kneeling there with stubborn resolve, tears glistening in her eyes. “Miss Yan, I know that the one who came with you is His Highness the Third Prince. I beg you to obtain a single word from the Third Prince on my behalf.”

……

Back at the inn, Yan Yunning sat at the table, chin resting in both hands, a look of tangled distress on her small face. [Fafa, how can I help Lady Bai? Is Qi Qingchen the type to interfere in other people’s affairs?]

Fafa: [He is not. But if the female lead were the one to ask, he would almost certainly agree.]

Yan Yunning slumped forward on the table, eyes shut, and let out a long sigh. [Fafa, why didn’t I transmigrate as the female lead?!]

Fafa: [What’s so great about being the female lead, Mistress? She still ends up being taken back to Xuanzhao Kingdom by Xuan Yanyu and held under his thumb.]

[That’s still better off than me.]

Yan Shiyao passed through the outer hall and noticed Yan Yunning slumped sideways at the table. Her brow creased slightly. “Ningning, why are you sleeping out here?”

She glanced to the man beside her and said gently, “Yuyu brother, could you please bring a blanket?”

Hearing the voice, Yan Yunning opened her eyes. “A’Jie, I wasn’t sleeping — I just closed my eyes for a moment. Are you feeling better?”

Yan Shiyao looked at her warmly, a soft smile on her face. “Nothing too serious. A few more days of rest and we can set off again. Ningning, have you been bored sitting around here?”

“How could she be bored? Qi Qingchen just took her out for a walk around town.” Xuan Yanyu flicked a nonexistent speck of dust from his sleeve, his voice languid and unhurried.