The security was stricter than in other courtyards, with small stone lions flanking both sides of the front courtyard. Even the red-lacquered carved decorations had an imposing air—this was almost certainly General Yi’s main residence.
“Miss!” A guard beside her pointed his sword at her. “If you’re looking for the young miss, you should go to the South Court. You can’t enter here…”
“Nonsense!” Twisting around, Feng Yue glared fiercely at the speaker: “That servant Sun Li who led the way deceived me, and now you want to deceive me too! With such a grand courtyard, who else could it be but the young miss? Step aside, I’m going in!”
How could they possibly allow that? Four or five guards surrounded her, and seeing that she knew Sun Li’s name, they thought she wasn’t lying. While they blocked her, they hurriedly sent someone to the South Court to report.
Since they wouldn’t lay hands on her, Feng Yue stood on tiptoe to look around at everything, like a country bumpkin at their first market fair, exclaiming in wonder: “This truly befits a general’s mansion, how beautiful!”
The younger guards were more easily embarrassed, and seeing such a disheveled young woman, their faces turned bright red. One asked softly: “Would the miss like a robe to cover herself?”
“I’d love one, but you won’t let me in to get it!” Feng Yue looked utterly pitiful, her eyes blinking rapidly, innocently brimming with tears.
The guard’s face reddened further as he whispered: “This is the General’s quarters, so naturally the security is stricter. Lucky for you that you only entered the outer courtyard—if you’d gone inside, you might have been turned into a sieve by arrows.”
That formidable? Feng Yue raised an eyebrow but stopped insisting on entering, quietly waiting instead.
Yi Zhangzhu and Ye Yuqing arrived shortly after. Seeing her state, Ye Yuqing’s brows furrowed: “What happened?”
“Your Highness, Miss Yi.” Feng Yue turned around, looking at them pitifully, choking out: “Sun Li led me in but then tried to force himself on me. In my panic, I ran here blindly. Seeing how grand this courtyard was, I thought it might be Miss Yi’s residence, so I came in looking for you.”
Yi Zhangzhu started, looking around: “Where is Sun Li?”
A servant came over and whispered something to her. Yi Zhangzhu’s expression changed slightly as she glanced at Feng Yue and waved for someone to bring clothes.
“Perhaps because of your special status, Sun Li wanted to get close to you and lost his sense of propriety.” Smiling at her, Yi Zhangzhu said: “Don’t take it to heart.”
A courtesan was considered so lowly that she had no rights—if someone violated her, people would only say they were trying to patronize her business. If unsuccessful, she shouldn’t take it to heart; if successful, at most they’d compensate with some silver.
Having anticipated such a response, Feng Yue hadn’t expected Yi Zhangzhu to do anything to Sun Li—that wasn’t the point anyway.
“If that’s the case, then I suppose I overreacted.” Forcing a smile, Feng Yue said: “May we go inside to sit? It’s unseemly for me to stand here in such disarray.”
Looking up at the courtyard, Yi Zhangzhu hesitated, about to speak when Ye Yuqing cut in before her, saying gravely: “Let’s go in and wait for the clothes to arrive.”
“Your Highness.” Yi Zhangzhu grew anxious: “This is Father’s courtyard.”
“I know.” Looking at her, Ye Yuqing said: “General Yi is stationed in the Northern Desert, and the courtyard is empty—Feng Yue won’t offend anyone. Moreover, the General himself said I’m welcome to visit his quarters anytime.”
The implication was clear: if the owner had agreed, why was she standing in the way?
Glancing around with some concern, Yi Zhangzhu fell silent and signaled the guards to open the front hall doors.
Feng Yue maintained an innocent facade, curious about everything, eyes wide as she looked around, constantly exclaiming: “What a magnificent place!”
Seeing her provincial manner, Yi Zhangzhu sneered, snorting lightly: “Father’s courtyard took hundreds of craftsmen a year to build. It was the last courtyard completed in the entire residence—how could it not be magnificent?”
“What? Hundreds of craftsmen for a year?” Feng Yue clicked her tongue, her eyes showing clear disbelief as she muttered: “Sure, it’s grand, but it’s just one courtyard. How could it take a year? It’s not a palace…”
Yi Zhangzhu snorted: “What do you know? Every detail of this courtyard is exquisitely crafted, without a single flaw. Ordinary workers couldn’t achieve this!”
“Really?” Feng Yue pouted, whispering to Ye Yuqing: “What does Your Highness think? When I ran in earlier, I saw many flaws.”
Ye Yuqing appeared to contemplate for a moment, then surprisingly played along: “I seem to have noticed some as well.”
Now Yi Zhangzhu was truly annoyed. With a temperament easily provoked by challenges and having been pampered since childhood, she hadn’t experienced much of life’s deceptions. She immediately stood up: “Since you both say so, let’s make a bet! If you two can find a single construction flaw in this main courtyard today, I’ll immediately present you with the finest jade hairpin just received by our household! But if you can’t…”
Turning to Feng Yue, Zhangzhu smiled: “Then you’ll take Sun Li as a client.”
Feng Yue laughed dryly—what kind of deal was this? The reward would be shared with the Crown Prince, but the punishment would be hers alone.
“Agreed.” The Crown Prince, who wouldn’t face punishment, answered decisively: “Let’s start looking. To avoid any offense, both I and Feng Yue should be accompanied by your household guards. If we encounter anything we shouldn’t, they can advise us.”
This arrangement was even more proper. Yi Zhangzhu nodded without hesitation, and as a guard arrived with clothes for Feng Yue, she pointed to him: “Little Tang, follow this lady and don’t let her enter any forbidden areas.”
The young guard responded with a red face, watching as Feng Yue put on the outer robe before leading her outside.
Ye Yuqing followed, fanning himself as he crossed the threshold. His gaze lingered on Feng Yue’s retreating figure for quite a while before he leisurely headed in another direction.
“Did I make a bad bet?” Once away from the front hall, Feng Yue muttered regretfully: “This place is full of mechanisms—it’s normal for it to take a year or more to build, ah.”
Guard Tang, still blushing, said softly: “I’ve guarded here for over a year, and indeed often hear people praise this place as flawless, a perfect residence. Finding flaws might be difficult.”
“What should I do then?” Feng Yue stopped, standing there with tears in her eyes, looking like a lost lamb: “I don’t want to take Sun Li as a client—Miss Yi is making things difficult for me!”
Everyone has compassion, especially young men toward pitiful women. Guard Tang looked helpless and hurried to comfort her: “Let’s look carefully—perhaps we’ll find some flaws?”
Looking at him gratefully, Feng Yue stepped into the back courtyard.
“Stop!” Guards at the back courtyard entrance blocked the way. Guard Tang quickly went forward: “These are the young miss’s orders. Brothers, take a break—His Highness might come this way later too.”
“This?” The back courtyard guards were confused: “The General ordered that no one be allowed into these courtyards.”
“Who knows these rules better—you or the young miss?” Guard Tang waved his hand: “Since the young miss gave such orders, you should go rest. I’ll watch this lady—she won’t touch anything she shouldn’t.”
With Miss Yi backing them, the back courtyard guards’ further protests would be useless. After some hesitation, they withdrew.
Feng Yue watched with a smile, thinking how much better it was to deal with young ladies—they were softer-hearted. If General Yi had been home, she probably couldn’t have entered this area even if she crawled.
“Be careful.” Seeing her about to walk in, Guard Tang quickly called out, pointing to the stone lions at the study’s entrance: “There are mechanisms there—follow my steps.”
Raising an eyebrow slightly, Feng Yue agreed, watching him step onto the bluestone path in the middle of the courtyard and follow his exact footsteps.
“Can’t we step on the dirt path beside it?” The curious baby Feng Yue asked innocently: “What happens if we do?”
“You’ll be pierced by countless arrows.” Guard Tang said seriously: “The round plates on top of those two stone lions are mechanisms. The soil on both sides is loose and filled with thin wires. Once stepped on, arrows will shoot out instantly from all directions—there’s no space to dodge.”
Indeed, besides those two stone lions, there wasn’t even a tree nearby to hide behind.
What normal study needs such mechanisms? Feng Yue smiled and silently continued following him in.
The structure of this east courtyard was indeed complex, with five rooms: besides the study, bedroom, and front hall, there were two guest rooms. Feng Yue walked around once, with Guard Tang conscientiously warning her about every mechanism so that after half an hour, she had a thorough understanding of all the traps in the east courtyard.
“We can’t enter the study, but shall we look for flaws in other places?” Guard Tang said softly.
Giving him a grateful look, Feng Yue nodded and turned toward the guest rooms.
The guest rooms hadn’t been occupied for a long time—they were dusty, and opening them revealed a mass of cobwebs. Feng Yue coughed twice, frowning: “Why not clean up such filth?”
Guard Tang smiled: “Because the east courtyard is complex, the General usually doesn’t let anyone stay in these guest rooms. With no occupants, the servants naturally become lazy.”
Glancing inside, Feng Yue had no interest in entering. After a casual look, she prepared to leave.
“Won’t the miss look further?” Guard Tang asked worriedly: “Your bet…”
“Let fate decide.” Feng Yue smiled.
Yi Zhangzhu was still sitting in the front hall. Seeing Feng Yue return dejected, she smiled: “What? Giving up?”
“I concede to the exquisite construction of the General’s mansion,” Feng Yue sighed: “Truly, I found no flaws along the way.”
Snorting with laughter, Yi Zhangzhu was about to gloat further when a voice came from the door: “Perhaps you simply didn’t look carefully enough.”
Both turned to see Ye Yuqing stride in smiling, fanning himself as he said: “I alone found one hundred and eight flaws. Zhu’er, it seems you’re going to lose this bet.”
“One hundred and eight flaws?” Yi Zhangzhu immediately shook her head: “Impossible!”
One flaw might be attributed to a craftsman’s carelessness, but if there were one hundred and eight, how could they not have noticed?