At midnight, Yun Shou felt extremely hungry. Yun Huan had been caught by Mother, so naturally there was no fat chicken delivered. The family guards had been replaced with Xuanjia Army grandfathers—there was no room for sentiment.

Yun Shou rubbed his belly and drank a large cup of tea, feeling even more famished. He pushed open the door and walked into the courtyard. The moon in the sky was round and large. The fruit on the trees wasn’t ripe yet and couldn’t be eaten. Seeing that his father’s study still had its lamp lit, he quietly walked over and stood before the window looking inside.

“Little brat, I haven’t changed clothes, so you can’t peek at anything. However, I can help you peek at others. Tonight it’s that one called Hongmei on night duty. Maybe she’s bathing right now. You used to always peek at her—why not go now?”

Xiao Wu’s languid voice came from inside the study. When Yun Shou heard this voice, his scalp went numb. He gritted his teeth and argued back: “I didn’t peek at you changing clothes, and I didn’t peek at Hongmei either. You’re slandering me.”

Xiao Wu suddenly stuck her head out the window, startling Yun Shou so that he quickly stepped back and watched Xiao Wu carefully.

“The moon is at its zenith, the birds are all asleep—little fatty, why aren’t you sleeping yet? Sneaking around furtively, knowing full well that only your Sister Xiao Wu is in the room, and you still want to peek. Little brat! Give me a reasonable explanation!”

The face that had been full of smiles an instant ago became sinister and cold in a flash, her words seemingly laced with ice.

“I wanted to see if there were thieves. My father’s study is an important place in the family. As the eldest son of the Yun family, what law am I breaking by taking a look? On the contrary, you need to properly explain what you’re doing cooking hotpot in my father’s study.”

Yun Shou gritted his teeth and didn’t back down, but his stomach betrayed him by rumbling loudly.

“Little fatty, since I’ve been caught by you, come in and eat together!” Xiao Wu’s pretty face once again became amiable. After considering for a while, Yun Shou found he really couldn’t resist the temptation of delicious food, so he went with the flow and entered the study.

A small red clay stove was set up on a small table, with red oil roiling in the pot. Five or six small dishes were arranged beside it. Taking one whiff of the spicy fragrance wafting up, Yun Shou discovered he was even more hungry.

“When inviting someone to eat, there should be some appearance to it. This little bit of stuff is only suitable for feeding chickens!” Yun Shou skillfully dumped the vegetables from the plates into the pot and urged Xiao Wu to go get some more from the kitchen.

Xiao Wu lifted the curtain beside her and pointed to a bamboo basket, saying: “Knowing that you, little fatty, didn’t have dinner, I specially prepared this for you. Your Sister Xiao Wu is a beauty—eating too much late at night and getting fat like you, how could that do?”

Yun Shou looked at the various meats in the basket. An expression of gratitude had just floated onto his face when it immediately changed to one of vigilance. He forced himself to put down the chopsticks in his hand and said: “Just state your conditions. Let’s make things clear first before eating—it’s not too late.”

Xiao Wu glanced at Yun Shou and sat down opposite to start fishing things from the pot to eat. Yun Shou slurped his saliva several times and forcibly turned his head away, straightening his body: “I’m extremely hungry. Right now I could eat an entire ox. But I’m not stupid. Sister Xiao Wu, you never do useless things. Today Empress Grandmother discovered that Li Xiang has no sense of responsibility and was already very unhappy. I’ve been playing the fool all day. And now you still treat me like a fool?”

After Yun Shou finished speaking, he was about to push open the door and leave. Father had taught him that people cannot be controlled by their desires. Not eating this meal tonight didn’t mean he would starve to death. If he ate Xiao Wu’s meal in a muddle-headed daze, there might be even more uncomfortable things waiting for him.

Xiao Wu ran over like the wind and slammed the study door shut with a bang, forcefully pushing Yun Shou back into the chair. She ladled a big bowl of vegetables and pushed it in front of him, saying: “Let’s eat and talk at the same time. Oh my, how did I forget there’s also a bottle of wine here—I heard it’s been cellared for dozens of years.” As she spoke, she pulled out a bottle of wine from behind the chair.

Yun Shou picked up the bowl and ate. He decided not to speak anymore, but hearing Xiao Wu’s boasting, he couldn’t help frowning and saying: “The longest-aged wine in the family is the batch my father buried ten years ago. This bottle of yours is grape wine in a glass bottle—at most it’s been cellared for eight years, which is already impressive. Why boast about dozens of years?”

Xiao Wu smiled charmingly and didn’t argue back. She opened the bottle and poured Yun Shou a large cup of grape wine, saying: “Drink. Eat and drink together. Master said that when eating hotpot, you should drink that wine called… what was it? We don’t have it, so we’ll substitute with grape wine.”

Yun Shou carried out his willpower very resolutely. When food came, he ate. When wine was poured, he drank. He wolfed down a bellyful of vegetables and ate four or five golden thread steamed buns before throwing down his chopsticks. Without thinking, he was about to leave. Anyway, he was already full and couldn’t vomit it back out. Whatever Xiao Wu wanted to do was up to her.

After leaving the room, he discovered Xiao Wu hadn’t chased after him. This was too strange. So he peered in through the window and found Xiao Wu crying very sadly. This time she was really crying—tears streamed all over her face, her body convulsing. She looked extremely heartbroken. He had suffered this kind of loss several times before. Yun Shou decided not to fall for it again.

By the time he draped a blanket over Xiao Wu and comforted her with kind words, he realized he had entered the study again. Rolling his eyes to look at the ceiling, he saw it was painted with one of the Twenty-Four Filial Exemplars—lying on ice to obtain carp.

“You’re grown now. Sister Xiao Wu can’t move you anymore. So be it. Who told me my father died early and I was bullied growing up? Even someone like you now gives me attitude.”

Yun Shou quickly reviewed everything he knew about Sister Xiao Wu and discovered that apart from her bullying others, it seemed no one else had ever bullied her. He didn’t know where these words of hers came from.

“You’re getting older now—it’s time to find a personal maid. Sister Xiao Wu searched all over Chang’an and finally found you a good one. I was planning to send her to you in a few days. Who knew you wouldn’t appreciate it and would ignore me. Wuwu, I held you and raised you from when you were small, and now you’re starting to have a temper. Wuwuwu.”

Yun Shou didn’t remember Xiao Wu ever holding him or anything like that. He only remembered she often pinched his cheeks, and when his wet nurse bathed him, she would often rush in with Aunt Xiao Ya to grab his little bird, and they wouldn’t let go even when he cried loudly.

“That little girl is one in ten thousand in looks. When she grows up, she’ll definitely be even more beautiful than your Sister Xiao Wu. I went to great pains to get her for you, yet you’re so heartless as to anger me.”

Yun Shou sighed and said, imitating his father’s tone: “A maid’s affairs—you can decide for yourself. Is there any need for such crying? Tomorrow bring her into the household and let Mother arrange things. No need to give her to me specifically—I don’t like it. Once she’s in the family, we certainly won’t let her go hungry. What’s the big deal?”

Xiao Wu’s body immediately straightened. There were still tears on her face, but no matter how you looked at it, they didn’t seem to have flowed from those eyes full of laughter. Yun Shou glanced at the water cup beside her. What was there left to not understand? He waved his hand at Xiao Wu and planned to leave. This method of hers worked on him almost every time. He needed to seek advice from Grandfather Li Gang on how to deal with it.

After taking just two steps, he was locked around the neck from behind by Xiao Wu, who said softly in his ear: “If it were just arranging a maid to enter the household, would your sister need to flatter you, young master? Let me tell you, that girl is my niece. Her looks naturally go without saying—just look at your Sister Xiao Wu and you’ll know. It’s just that her birth is a bit humble, so she can’t be your proper wife. However, as a concubine, she’s more than adequate. When Helan arrives at our home, she naturally won’t suffer any grievances. Our family has no one who suffers grievances—except you, of course. Helan is a little girl who has eaten bitterness. She’s two years younger than you. If you don’t treat her well, just try staying alive.”

Yun Shou’s breathing almost stopped. Sister Xiao Wu’s body was very soft, extremely soft, and a very pleasant scent came over. He didn’t know what things he groggily agreed to with Sister Xiao Wu. He only felt his mouth was terribly dry.

When he left, he saw Xiao Wu with one leg propped on a chair, tilting her neck back to drink wine, utterly heroic and unrestrained—except she shouldn’t have been wearing an embroidered flower skirt. She should have been wearing fitted riding clothes.

Returning to his own room, Yun Shou slapped himself once. After drinking an entire pot of cold tea, the flush on his face finally receded. Too late to think carefully about what he’d agreed to with Xiao Wu, he only remembered that Sister Xiao Wu’s body was very soft.

The next morning, Yun Shou hesitantly emerged from his room. His wet nurse’s expression was strange, and Yun Shou’s face was full of embarrassment—he had actually wet the bed. Fortunately, the wet nurse was close to him. She threw all the sheets and bedding into a water basin at once, helping the young master cover it up and swearing not to tell anyone else.

The Academy elementary curriculum posed not the slightest difficulty for Yun Shou. After muddling through half a day at school, he only returned home at noon. Fortunately, the wet nurse’s hands and feet were quick and clean—no one discovered his bed-wetting incident.

However, Mother’s room was quite lively. As soon as he entered, he saw a very small girl with big eyes but an extremely thin and small body. Her hair was yellowish. She held her finger in her mouth, eyes unblinking as she gazed at the pastries on the table.

Yun Shou’s head rang with a boom, and he groaned and cried out in his heart: “This is the niece who’s more beautiful than you? Liar!”

Xiao Wu took the little girl’s hand and walked over with a smile. She placed the little girl’s small hand into his own, pointed outside the room and said: “You two go play outside. The adults have things to discuss.”

“Play?” Yun Shou’s eyes nearly popped out. He was already twelve years old, not a child of several years. One phrase about playing stripped away all his right to choose?

“Xiao Wu is absolutely right. This girl is indeed a beauty in the making. She’s just a bit thin and weak now. After being nourished in the family for some time, she’ll naturally blossom. A few days ago I was still worried about this matter. Who would have thought Xiao Wu’s family would have someone suitable? From now on, Shou’er’s quarters will have one more person. Old Qian, from now on follow the portions for a senior maid, and in the future…”

Yun Shou couldn’t listen anymore. He seemed to already see his own bleak future. When Father left, why didn’t he firmly demand to go along? Even eating sand in the desert would be ten thousand times better than being here.

The little girl tugged Yun Shou’s hand, awakening him from his daze. The little girl pointed at the pastry plate in the room, meaning she really wanted to eat…