An unusual silence fell over the room. Neither the owner, the eldest son of the Mei family nor Wu Zhen, the uninvited intruder, spoke a word.
After a moment, Wu Zhen made the first move. She calmly got up from the floor and smiled at the frozen Mei Zhuyu, grabbing his hand that had been holding her. This seemed to snap Mei Zhuyu out of his trance. He reacted dramatically, yanking his hand back and quickly retreating, accidentally knocking over a small screen stand nearby.
Wu Zhen hadn’t expected such a strong reaction and was momentarily stunned. She wondered if she had inadvertently shown her cat face, frightening this usually cold-faced young lord so much.
Inwardly cursing Huzhu for being unreliable and not buying her more time, Wu Zhen maintained a calm exterior. She brushed off the dust on her clothes and looked up at Mei Zhuyu with a smile, saying, “I’m sorry for startling you.” Her tone was exceptionally gentle and soothing. If her two deputies had heard it, their eyes might have popped out of their heads.
Wu Zhen reasoned that for an ordinary man to pull a living person out from under his bed in the middle of the night, being shocked was natural. If she didn’t improve her attitude, she might scare him badly. In her eyes, these bookish and introverted young lords were all too fragile. She recalled her first marriage prospect, Young Lord Fan, who had fallen ill for a long time just from accidentally seeing her fight a wolf spirit during a hunt, nearly not recovering.
While Wu Zhen was pondering how to smooth over the situation, Mei Zhuyu calmed down and straightened the fallen screen.
Thinking he might be questioning her identity, Wu Zhen explained, “I’m Wu Zhen, from Duke Yu’s mansion. I’m not a bad person. If you don’t believe me, you can come with me tomorrow to verify.”
“I know you’re Wu Zhen,” Mei Zhuyu said coldly.
The speaker’s ears were faintly red.
Observing the contrast between his calm facial expression and his reddening ears, Wu Zhen keenly sensed something. Could this young lord have feelings for her?
“What brings you here so late at night?” Mei Zhuyu asked, maintaining his cold tone.
Wu Zhen studied his expression and suddenly found it quite amusing. She sat down on his bed and changed her tone, asking, “I saw the goose at home today. I heard you caught it yourself?”
Seeing her sit on his bed, Mei Zhuyu visibly became uncomfortable. Although he tried hard to appear calm, Wu Zhen noticed his unconscious attempt to adjust his collar. Having prepared for bed, he was only wearing his undergarments with a robe over them, and his hair was somewhat disheveled. He seemed to want to tidy himself up but resisted the urge. One hand gripped his hanging sleeve tightly, then suddenly released it. Although he was talking to her, his gaze was fixed vaguely on her feet, not looking at her directly.
The most noticeable thing was his neck, which was gradually reddening and showing signs of spreading upward.
This slightly flustered appearance finally gave him the air of a ‘young lord’. It was completely different from his cold demeanor yesterday and earlier today, almost like two different people.
It was quite adorable.
Although one was standing and one sitting, the power dynamic seemed completely reversed. Wu Zhen saw him standing motionless and even felt as if she was bullying him. She thought to herself, “Am I crazy? I haven’t done anything outrageous at all.”
Seeing Mei Zhuyu becoming increasingly awkward, Wu Zhen finally reined herself in a bit. She coughed and explained seriously, “Actually, I came here today out of curiosity, wanting to see what kind of young lord was willing to marry me. Because it was so sudden and I was afraid of startling you, I hastily hid under your bed. I didn’t expect you’d still discover me. I’m truly sorry.”
Her behavior was utterly shocking. Anyone else would probably severely criticize her for such actions or think she is too frivolous. But Young Lord Mei once again displayed his astonishing calmness. After hearing Wu Zhen’s fabricated explanation, he didn’t question anything and simply nodded, saying, “I see, I understand. It’s late now, I’ll take my leave.”
After saying this, he quickly turned and left the room.
This forced calmness looked quite pitiful, but… Wu Zhen looked at the door in confusion. Young lord, what are you taking leave of? Isn’t this your room?
Just as she thought this, the door opened again, and Mei Zhuyu walked back in. His expression was indescribable as if he had finally remembered that this was indeed his room, and Wu Zhen was the one who had inexplicably appeared.
“This is my room. It’s not appropriate for Second Miss Wu to be here. The ward gates are already closed, so you can’t return to Duke Yu’s mansion. There are guest rooms in the back courtyard. I’ll take you there.”
Mei Zhuyu slowly spoke these words. The candlelight in the room cast his shadow long, and perhaps due to the flickering flame, the shadow trembled slightly.
Wu Zhen couldn’t bear to trouble him further. She swallowed the words she had wanted to say and cooperatively stood up to follow him to the back courtyard.
After leading her to the door of the guest room, Mei Zhuyu stiffly nodded, preparing to return to his room. Suddenly, Wu Zhen stumbled forward as if tripping. Mei Zhuyu instinctively reached out to steady her, and Wu Zhen fell against him.
The lantern in Mei Zhuyu’s hand dropped to the ground, rolling down the steps, its light extinguishing. He held the soft, fragrant body in his arms, his entire body stiff as a stone. Wu Zhen steadied herself, her hand on his chest, and said, “Thank you.”
Mei Zhuyu didn’t even pick up the lantern. He nodded messily and turned to leave hurriedly, his footsteps so unsteady he nearly bumped into a pillar.
Wu Zhen watched him leave and softly sighed, “His waist is indeed slender.” Then she raised her hand, holding up a small pouch. She had deftly untied it from him when he steadied her, and inside was indeed the Immortal Bone. In her other hand, another Immortal Bone appeared, which she placed in the same small pouch.
She had retrieved all the Immortal Bones, but the red round-collared robe she had worn earlier was still stuffed under the young lord’s bed. Oh well, it was just a piece of clothing.
Wu Zhen didn’t enter the guest room to rest. She glanced towards the front courtyard and then leaped over the wall. She had wanted to ask the young lord if he truly wanted to marry her, but now it seemed unnecessary.
He was already so shy; if she asked such questions, wouldn’t that be like harassment?
Huzhu was waiting for her in the shadows not far from the wall outside. Wu Zhen walked over and patted her to bring her back to attention. “You weren’t discovered, were you?”
Huzhu clutched her chest, her expression complex and resentful. “Of course, I wasn’t discovered. I slipped out of the jail cell… Cat Master, this is the first time in my life I’ve been in prison.”
“That Young Lord Mei, how could he be so inconsiderate of a delicate woman? I, a frail lady, and he handed me over to those soldiers without hesitation, having them lock me up?” Huzhu, still not recovered from the shock of being imprisoned, complained in disbelief, “Even if the form I took wasn’t as beautiful as my current appearance, I was still a first-rate beauty. For him to show no pity at all, could he be… preferring men?”
After saying this, she remembered that this Young Lord Mei might be the Cat Master’s future husband, and couldn’t help but worry for Wu Zhen. Frowning her beautiful brows, she sighed, “In my vast experience with people, this Young Lord Mei seems to be a cold-hearted and aloof character. To face such a person day after day, isn’t that too hard on you? Facing such a cold and heartless husband in the future, how dreary and unbearable life would be, not to mention experiencing any joy of love between man and woman…”
Wu Zhen had also thought Mei Zhuyu to be truly cold-natured earlier, but now, listening to Huzhu’s words, she only felt it peculiar. The rapid heartbeat of that ‘cold-faced, heartless husband’ from earlier was still vivid in her memory. That warm chest, with the heart inside beating so fast and hard, had made her fear the young lord might faint. That’s why she had quickly retreated after obtaining the Immortal Bone from his waist, not daring to linger a moment longer.
Huzhu was still muttering, “Cat Master, how will you live your days in the future? Why not change to a gentle and understanding young lord? Do you need me to find one for you?” Huzhu had a particular fondness for gentle men, believing that only men who cherished women could meet her standards.
Wu Zhen knew about this quirk of hers and didn’t say much. She simply pointed towards the southeast and said, “Enough. Let’s resolve the Immortal Bone matter first. We can discuss other things later.”
Hearing this, Huzhu stopped mentioning these matters. They both knew that while the Cat Master was usually lazy, she was quick and efficient when dealing with important matters and disliked people bringing up irrelevant topics at such times.
That night, they recovered six Immortal Bones, all of which were kept on Wu Zhen. Once they collected all the Immortal Bones and burned them, they could force out that Immortal Corpse. Wu Zhen estimated there were still a few left to find.
During the day, the resentful energy of the Immortal Bones was particularly faint and hard to locate, so Wu Zhen stayed at Huzhu’s place to rest. Since she was there, her group of playmates naturally followed, and everyone gathered to drink and make merry. During the feast, Huzhu suddenly remembered last night’s encounter and, on a whim, asked everyone a question.
“If a delicate, pitiful, and beautiful young girl knocked on your door in the middle of the night, saying she was being chased by evil men and begging you to let her stay for the night, what would you do?”
The group of young nobles laughed. Some said generously, “Of course, I would show compassion and comfort her well.”
Others winked and agreed, “Yes, indeed, take her in properly. Who knows, hehe, it might even lead to a romantic encounter.”
Some hesitated and said, “It’s not quite proper. Better to have a maidservant accompany her.”
“Perhaps give her the room to rest and find another room for myself.”
Huzhu nodded continuously. This was the right way! How could anyone be like the Mei family’s eldest son, arresting and locking people up? It was simply outrageous!
After everyone had spoken, it was Mei Si’s turn. He thought for a moment and said, “A beautiful strange woman suddenly appearing in the middle of the night might be some kind of fox spirit or ghost. One must be very careful to avoid losing one’s life.”
Hearing this, everyone burst into laughter.
Only Wu Zhen thought, this fool sometimes accidentally hits the mark.
Seeing Mei Si getting angry at being mocked by others, she clapped her hands to quiet everyone down and said, “This afternoon we’re going outside the city to hunt geese. Those who want to join, go prepare and come back.”