Those three scoops of finely ground pepper powder were intensely spicy; even Hutao, standing to the side, swallowed nervously just from looking at it, feeling apprehensive.

But Ning Yin didn’t hesitate at all, accepting the cup and draining it in one gulp.

Even Yu Lingxi was somewhat shocked by this.

In her memory, she recalled that Ning Yin couldn’t tolerate spicy food at all.

She had given him this cup of wine partly to test whether his temperament was truly different from his previous life, and partly because she noticed his knuckles were red from the cold, thinking a small drink would help ward off the chill.

But unexpectedly, the young Ning Yin was so earnest.

“Thank you, Young Miss…”

Before he could finish speaking, Ning Yin felt the intense spiciness burning his throat. He hurriedly turned his head aside, raising a fist to his nose. The corners of his eyes visibly reddened, and his thin lips, glistening with wine, added a touch of color to his otherwise pale, handsome face.

He looked as if he had just been bullied, giving him a sense of vulnerability.

As Ning Yin was about to drink more, Yu Lingxi quickly covered his cup with her hand.

Her jade-like hand was extraordinarily white, with fingernails showing a slight pink tint, like plum blossoms fallen on snow.

She said: “The tusu wine contains Sichuan peppercorns. If you can’t handle spicy food, drink less.”

“I can drink it,” Ning Yin said, his thin lips reddened, looking at Yu Lingxi, “Young Miss treats me well. I cannot disappoint your kindness.”

She withdrew her hand, softly contradicting: “Who’s treating you well?”

“Young Miss took me in to recover, gave me new clothes to wear, and even personally poured wine for me.”

Ning Yin enumerated each item as if counting treasures, earnestly saying, “Young Miss is the person who has treated me the best in this world.”

Fine snow curled in from beneath the bamboo blinds, coated with a warm yellow glow from the gauze lanterns, melting in the boiling steam of the small stove.

Yu Lingxi had always felt that Ning Yin’s deep voice was pleasant to hear and that if he were to speak words of love, surely no one could resist. Unfortunately, what came from those lips in the past had always been nothing but cold-blooded killing intent.

She never expected that the sweet words she’d never heard in her previous life would be made up for in this one.

Yu Lingxi shifted her gaze from Ning Yin’s face, feeling inexplicably self-conscious.

She was kind by nature, reluctant to kill or harm others, but she still harbored misgivings about what Ning Yin had done in his previous life. Anyone who died inexplicably in his bed, whose corpse was abandoned without care and became a wandering ghost, would find it difficult to let go.

She knew Ning Yin liked bright colors, yet the new clothes she gave him were inconspicuous dark blue; she also remembered Ning Yin couldn’t eat spicy food, yet she still shared the pepper-laced tusu wine with him…

Yu Lingxi couldn’t be as ruthless as Ning Yin, but no matter how spineless she might be, she knew that in this life she shouldn’t live according to Ning Yin’s preferences.

When he said she was the person who treated him best in this world, it might be a lie, but Yu Lingxi still softened her gaze.

She rested her chin on her hand, her almond eyes animated and clear, pointing her finger at Ning Yin’s mouth from a distance, mimicking his tone from the previous life: “Smile.”

Ning Yin was momentarily stunned, then obediently lifted the corners of his mouth, revealing a harmless smile.

That smile was like spring wind melting vast expanses of snow, passing through Yu Lingxi’s eyes like gentle ripples.

Yu Lingxi had never seen Ning Yin show such a clean smile, without schemes or bloodthirsty aura, only the youthful nature that could warm one’s heart.

Docile and temperate like a flour figure, Yu Lingxi suddenly felt deflated—playing little games with him seemed pointless.

The wariness and reservations in her heart gradually wavered and faded with that smile.

So she smiled too, for the first time showing a relaxed, uninhibited smile to Ning Yin.

Ning Yin didn’t understand why she was smiling, but seeing her happy, he made an even greater effort to lift the corners of his mouth, his deep black eyes firmly fixed on the lantern-lit beauty whose smile was like flowers.

“I’ve changed my mind,” Yu Lingxi said, bathed in warm light, smiling at the young man before her.

In her previous life, the oppressive and tragic pressure Ning Yin had exerted on her was so strong that her first reaction upon seeing him in this life was to settle accounts and draw clear boundaries, staying as far away from him as possible…

Perhaps there was a second path they could take?

Yu Lingxi’s cheeks flushed with the redness of wine, but her eyes had never been clearer.

“After you finish this wine and food, go back to your room and rest early,” Yu Lingxi said. “Don’t bother sweeping the snow in the courtyard.”

Ning Yin thought she was going to send him away again and quickly looked up, a hint of something like panic flashing through his dark eyes.

Yu Lingxi stood up, gazing at the fading traces of fireworks in the distant night sky, laughing lightly: “There will be plenty of time in the future. Who knows, I might still have use for you?”

Hearing her implication, the panic in Ning Yin’s eyes dispersed. He stood up, his Adam’s apple bobbing: “Does Young Miss mean…”

“Yes, I can keep you here,” Yu Lingxi answered, looking into his eyes. “I hope you won’t disappoint me.”

Ning Yin immediately replied: “I’m willing to do anything for Young Miss.”

Yu Lingxi parted her lips, with much she wanted to say, but ultimately said nothing. She simply picked up the lantern resting on the bluestone steps and walked directly toward her quarters.

In the corridor, the young man bowed and stood for a long time.

Only after watching her lantern disappear beyond the moon gate did he straighten up, lift his robe, and sit down, picking up a cup of still-warm tusu wine from the table and pouring himself a drink.

Ning Yin raised the wine cup but didn’t drink. The shadows cast by the bamboo blinds obscured his expression.

The wind rose, the bamboo blinds rolled, and in the rippling wine, the young man’s coolly curved lips, like those of a hunter, were reflected.

“Just staying here isn’t enough, is it?”

Next, he needed to gain her trust, get close to her, and openly set a trap that had been lying dormant for a long time.

…

Returning to her quarters, Yu Lingxi leaned against the door and let out a long breath.

Hutao set the gauze lantern on the table, then lit the candlestick. Turning back to see her mistress deep in thought, she couldn’t help but speak up: “Young Miss, although our household is wealthy enough to feed dozens or hundreds more servants, he is after all just a nameless vagrant beggar. You not only treated his wounds but also want to bring him into the household—isn’t that too kind and impulsive?”

Yu Lingxi also felt that her decision was hasty, but she didn’t regret it.

Although she had resolved the immediate crisis of the Northern Expedition, her father and brother still hadn’t been able to investigate who was behind the trap.

Whoever the enemy was, they were certainly powerful, possibly even a member of the imperial family…

That was someone Yu Lingxi couldn’t shake, so the best approach was to take advantage of Ning Yin’s current misfortune and secretly support him. When he wielded supreme power two or three years later, he could become the Yu family’s protector and eliminate the villains hiding behind the scenes.

The only problem was that she knew Ning Yin too well.

Even though he now appeared harmless, Yu Lingxi couldn’t forget his cruel temperament from her previous life—how he only remembered grudges and never gratitude. Such a person was undoubtedly an extremely dangerous blade that could harm others as well as oneself.

With the slightest misstep, she would lose everything.

How to make Ning Yin change his nature somewhat and acknowledge the Yu family’s kindness was Yu Lingxi’s most vexing problem at present.

“Since I’ve promised him, let’s take it one step at a time.”

Yu Lingxi called Hutao to her side and instructed: “Give him a cleaner, more spacious room. Don’t let him come to the front courtyard, and don’t let anyone order him to do dirty or heavy work. Also, if Father or Brother ask, just say I kept him to take care of my cat.”

Hutao agreed: “I understand.”

After the New Year, Ning Yin’s wounds had almost completely healed.

Strangely enough, from the moment she agreed to keep him, the speed of his recovery increased significantly.

Yu Lingxi hadn’t yet figured out how to proceed, so she simply let him stay in the rear courtyard, allocating a portion of her monthly allowance to support him and having him take care of her little cat, Hua Nu.

Without realizing it, half a month passed.

By the time she came to her senses, the snow had melted to welcome spring, and the dozen or so peach trees in the flower garden were tremblingly revealing their buds and new sprouts.

The Tang household sent an invitation, asking the Yu siblings to join them for a spring outing and hunt at Guiyun Mountain on the outskirts of the city in seven days.

In her previous life, Yu Lingxi had been confined to the Zhao household and the Prince’s manor for many years. In this life, she’d been distracted by her father and brother’s Northern Expedition and Ning Yin’s affairs since her rebirth, never having had the chance to properly go out and relax. Naturally, when invited by her close friend, she was eager to go.

Moreover, the Tang family held considerable prestige. The old matriarch’s only granddaughter was hosting the hunt, and most of the capital’s officials’ children would attend, providing Yu Lingxi with an opportunity to gather some information.

The hunt would last two or three days. Madam Yu concerned that her delicate youngest daughter might catch a cold or get hurt, initially didn’t agree to let Yu Lingxi accept the invitation.

But unable to resist her daughter’s persistent pleading, she finally relented: “Your brother is busy with court affairs and cannot accompany you, so let Xinyi go with you. Take more guards and grooms. Just watch the hunting from a distance, and don’t run into dangerous places.”

Yu Lingxi nodded repeatedly in agreement before going to make travel arrangements.

In early March, the biting cold in the wind had receded, replaced by warmth.

Yu Xinyi had already organized the people and horses for the hunt, and outside the mansion gate, there was a bustling sound of hoofbeats.

Yu Lingxi changed into a narrow-sleeved spring outfit suitable for travel. Just then, Hutao came carrying a jewelry box, smiling as she asked: “What hairpins would Young Miss like to wear? I’ve inquired—there will be many noble ladies attending today, and the young miss from the Zhao family will be there too! Young Miss must choose some luxurious and beautiful jewelry to outshine them all!”

Hearing the words “young miss from the Zhao family,” Yu Lingxi’s hand paused as she was selecting her jewelry.

The experiences at the Zhao household in her previous life, as well as the face that Ning Yin had scarred after her death—that bloody mess—were still vivid in her mind.

Suppressing the complex emotions in her heart, she took a deep breath and casually selected a pair of jade butterfly pearl flowers that caught her eye from the box, saying: “I’ll wear these.”

Hutao recognized these pearl flowers and smiled with pursed lips, wearing an expression that seemed to say “Of course, you’d choose these.”

At the hour of Chen (7-9 AM), the hunting entourage set out from the Yu mansion with impressive momentum.

Yu Lingxi and her maid traveled by carriage, while Yu Xinyi, being an excellent fighter, rode her horse alone at the front to lead the way.

At the city gate, Xue Cen and several sons of aristocratic families had been waiting for some time with their entourages.

Xue Cen merely nodded at Yu Xinyi in greeting before riding his horse toward Yu Lingxi’s carriage, reining in and calling out: “Second Sister.”

Yu Lingxi lifted the carriage curtain, poking her head out to respond: “Brother Cen, why are you still here?”

“Waiting to travel with you.”

As he spoke, Xue Cen noticed the pair of pearl flowers pinned to Yu Lingxi’s hair. His eyes brightened, and a slight flush appeared on his handsome face. “Is Second Sister wearing the pair of jade pearl flowers I gave last year?”

Yu Lingxi’s smile faltered as she unconsciously touched the top of her head.

Xue Cen mistook her silence for shyness, thinking that he had been overly sensitive before—Second Sister did have feelings for him!

Otherwise, why would she specifically wear the pearl flowers he had given to meet him?

“Second Sister understands my intentions; that is enough.”

After saying this, Xue Cen gazed at Yu Lingxi lovingly before finally spurring his horse forward at his companions’ urging.

Yu Lingxi was left sitting in the carriage with a dazed expression.

Complex hairpins were inconvenient for hunting, and she had simply chosen these pearl flowers because they were clean and elegant in design, suitable for travel. She hadn’t realized they were a gift from Xue Cen.

After two lifetimes, she truly couldn’t remember whether these hairpins were purchased or received as a gift. No wonder Hutao’s smile had been so strange this morning.

Yu Lingxi thought about removing the pearl flowers, but doing so would seem like a deliberate attempt to cover up something, so she reluctantly decided against it.

The carriage traveled for nearly two hours, finally arriving at the foot of Guiyun Mountain at noon.

Outside, many luxurious carriages were already parked, with laughter and greetings mixing with the sound of hoofbeats, creating a lively atmosphere.

A gentle breeze blew, the sunshine was warm, and the air was filled with a fresh scent.

As the maid lifted the carriage curtain, Yu Lingxi had just bent down to exit when a strong arm wearing a wrist guard extended from one side.

Yu Lingxi instinctively placed her hand on the attendant’s arm, turned her head to look, and unexpectedly met a pair of beautiful, deep black eyes.

Ning Yin?

Yu Lingxi recalled that he wasn’t on the list of those accompanying them, and was surprised: “Why are you here?”