“What? You said he discovered it?” Concubine Cai’s hand trembled as she was cutting Hangzhou silk, instantly tearing a large hole in the fabric.

Xiao Zhixuan sat down despondently, as if she had no strength left to speak, only silently nodding her head.

Concubine Cai quickly set the scissors on the table and hurried over, asking, “What exactly happened? How much does he know?”

Xiao Zhixuan looked up with vacant eyes, suddenly bursting into tears with a “wah,” rushing to hug her waist, “Mother, I’m so scared. Can we stop? Big Brother said as long as we’re willing to stop and tell him the whole truth, he won’t continue pursuing it.”

Seeing her in this state, Concubine Cai felt very distressed. She quickly held her tightly, gently stroking the back of her head, coaxing her like when she was little until Xiao Zhixuan finally stopped crying. She took out a handkerchief to dry her tears before saying gently, “Don’t panic first. Tell me exactly what happened?”

Xiao Zhixuan sniffled and told her everything about how Xiao Du had tested her and how he had waited for her to walk into his trap. Concubine Cai listened with her heart racing, frowning as she asked, “So you admitted to everything?”

Xiao Zhixuan shook her head, “I didn’t dare. I was afraid that if I told everything, Big Brother would hate me, so no matter what he said, I only admitted to eavesdropping on their conversation and wanting to take a look out of curiosity. But Big Brother…” She recalled Xiao Du’s expression at that time and still felt a chill, “But Big Brother seemed very disappointed. He said that originally, considering I was his sister, if I was willing to confess, he definitely wouldn’t pursue it.”

Concubine Cai sighed, “Silly child, how could you match your big brother’s scheming? He said that just to induce you to tell him everything. If you had really told him, I’m afraid Mother would never see you again.” As she spoke, she wiped her tears with her handkerchief.

Xiao Zhixuan felt panicked and cried again, “Then what do we do? What should we do? Since Big Brother already suspects, he’ll come for you sooner or later. If he tells Father, Father will definitely be furious. Will they drive us out?”

Seeing her frightened and helpless appearance, Concubine Cai’s heart ached, “It’s all Mother’s fault for harming you. But don’t worry, Mother still holds an important piece of leverage. I originally wanted to wait longer and plan slowly. Looking at the current situation, we can’t wait anymore. Now there’s only one person who can save us.”

She slowly raised her neck, a flash of determination and ruthlessness in her eyes.

In the deep silence of the third watch of night, all was quiet, and even the several cranes wandering by the pond had curled their necks in sleep.

On the bluestone path reflecting the sparse moonlight, a woman dressed as a maid, half-covering her face, looked around for a long time at the Buddha hall entrance before finally opening the red lacquered door with a creak. She bowed with clasped hands to the Buddha statues in all directions, then turned around to carefully close the door. The pale moonlight flowed over the lacquered door. A crane somehow awakened, stretched its neck and cried twice softly, then began pacing restlessly. The door opened again, and the woman emerged from inside, gently patting her chest as if recovering from fear. She smoothed her hair, straightened up, and revealed a satisfied smile.

She left the Buddha hall and began walking quickly forward with lowered head. Just as she passed through a grove of trees, a black shadow suddenly appeared before her, nearly frightening her into crying out.

The black shadow slowly turned around. When the woman saw her face clearly, she forced a smile while still shaken, “Oh, it’s you. What are you doing here?”

That person laughed coldly, “Cai Xiaotao, I should be asking you that question. What are you doing here?”

Concubine Cai’s eyes darted quickly, then she stared at her and let out a long breath, “The Marquis has already discovered our affairs.”

That person was startled, then coldly glanced at her, “Does he know about your affairs, or our affairs?”

Concubine Cai also laughed coldly, “Didn’t you say we’re already grasshoppers tied to the same rope? Since it’s come to this, I might as well speak plainly. Don’t even think about sacrificing pawns to save the king. Even if I die, what I hold in my hands is enough to drag you down with me.”

That person’s face was hidden in the darkness, her expression unreadable, “It seems I guessed correctly. You indeed kept something in reserve. It’s only because my master trusted you too much before.”

Concubine Cai raised her chin defiantly, “In any case, you’d better find a way to help me escape, or we can only die together.”

That person lowered her head in serious contemplation. The two confronted each other silently in the darkness until the cool wind brought subtle fragrances and light appeared on the horizon. Many hidden undercurrents began to surge, and many schemes began to unfold silently.

But at this moment, Yuanxi’s eyes held only the half-embroidered twin lilies in her hands. The rare warm autumn sunlight streamed through the window lattice onto her body, warm and comfortable, very much like the embrace of that person in her heart. The corners of her lips couldn’t help but curve up slightly, each stitch and thread seeming soaked in sweetness. After embroidering for a while, she rubbed her somewhat sore neck and was about to rest when she suddenly heard a commotion in the courtyard. She faintly heard Nanny Li and others exclaiming, “My lord, this simply won’t do!” Yuanxi quickly put down her embroidery hoop and hurried out the door, lifting her skirts.

She saw in the streaming sunlight that Xiao Du was standing in the courtyard with his sleeves rolled up high, holding a spade and loosening soil beside a tree directly opposite her window. Around him stood Nanny Li and several servants with panicked faces, all talking at once trying to persuade him of something, while he just glanced at them sideways, completely unmoved.

Seeing Yuanxi come out, Nanny Li quickly approached her, “Madam, please go persuade the Marquis. He insists on personally planting flowers here. Such work should naturally be done by the manor’s gardeners. If he accidentally gets hurt, how could we bear the responsibility?”

Upon hearing this, Xiao Du raised his eyebrows impatiently, “Do I look so weak that I’d get hurt planting a flower?”

Yuanxi couldn’t help but laugh softly. She held Nanny Li’s hand, “This isn’t such a big matter. Don’t worry, Nanny Li. I’ll go talk to him.”

She then walked to his side, took out her handkerchief to wipe the sweat from his face, and asked with a smile, “What are you doing?”

Xiao Du saw her smile blooming in the sunlight and couldn’t help wanting to hold her hand, but remembering his hands were covered in soil, he reluctantly let them fall. With some pride on his face, he introduced, “This flower is called Delicate Yellow, the finest among peonies. I saw you particularly liked them at Uncle Feng’s place, so I thought to get you a plant to grow beneath your window. This flower is very precious and difficult to cultivate successfully. I specially asked Uncle Feng for the planting method. Those rough people in the manor might not be able to grow it.”

Only then did Yuanxi realize he wanted to specially plant flowers for her. She gently leaned against him, saying softly, “Then I’ll accompany you.”

Seeing the two of them gazing at each other among the flowers, their eyes full of tenderness and sweetness, Nanny Li couldn’t help but silently curse herself for being meddlesome. The Marquis wanting to personally plant flowers for his wife was such a rare sentiment—what were they interfering for?

Thinking of this, she felt very superfluous standing there, so she called the servants to disperse and said with a smile, “It’s truly thoughtful of the Marquis. I’ll go prepare tea and water for you.” Having said this, she ran back into the house like a wisp of smoke and began whispering with the other maids.

As Xiao Du chatted and laughed with her while loosening soil and planting, he didn’t feel the least bit tired. Whenever Yuanxi saw sweat beading on his forehead, she would stand on tiptoe to wipe it for him. When she drew close, her sweet fragrance would drift into his nostrils like a feather gently falling into his heart, easily stirring up ripples.

Xiao Du suddenly felt somewhat heated by the sun. Each time she drew near, his heart felt as if gently scratched by small claws, creating an itchy dissatisfaction.

A slight smile curved his lips as he suddenly came up with an idea. He straightened up and frowned, “Oh no, it seems like a bee stung the back of my neck. It’s itchy and painful. My hands are dirty and inconvenient—quickly help me look.”

Yuanxi was startled and quickly looked up, but he was naturally tall and now standing straight without any intention of cooperating by turning his head or bending down, making it impossible for her to see clearly. She had no choice but to stand on tiptoe and keep leaning forward until she pressed against his chest.

Yuanxi earnestly searched his neck above, but suddenly felt his hot breath tingling into her ear, making her face inexplicably redden and her heartbeat quicken. At this moment, she heard a muffled laugh from above and realized she was practically throwing herself into his arms, while he had his arms spread as if embracing her.

She glared at him reproachfully and was about to pull away when she heard him whisper in her ear, “It really hurts. If you don’t believe me, touch it and see.”

Yuanxi’s face reddened even more, but ultimately couldn’t resist his pleading tone. She reached around to the back of his neck and gently felt around. Because she was unsteady standing on tiptoe, her lips would accidentally brush against his neck, each touch causing him to tremble slightly.

She carefully felt around for a long time but couldn’t touch any swollen area, so she glared at him reproachfully, “There’s no bee sting at all. In broad daylight, I won’t accompany your nonsense anymore.” But before she could step back, his arm pressed down, pushing her back against an apricot tree beside them. His wet, hot lips immediately covered hers, pulling at her tongue in constant entanglement.

Yuanxi was kissed until she was dizzy and her body went limp, but she unexpectedly felt something hard between her legs. Startled, she suddenly remembered they were still in the courtyard and struggled with a completely red face, “What are you doing? Others will see!”

Xiao Du moved away from her lips, breathing heavily, and suddenly swept her up horizontally in his arms, smiling with ill intent, “Then let’s go inside.”