“What?” Shen Yao Xing didn’t even look at her.

Chu Yi pulled her stool closer to the young girl, leaning in, her peach blossom eyes flickering, asking mysteriously: “I heard… you obtained a deerskin map?”

Her chopsticks paused, and Shen Yao Xing’s gaze finally fell on her: “Who did you hear that from?”

Those rumors outside were all about seven-foot-tall strong women, without a hint of her information. How would this person, who stayed in the capital all day, know about this?

The woman pulled back, shrugging: “Just this and that.”

After saying this, she suddenly leaned close to the young girl again, her eyes shining: “So is it true or not?”

Shen Yao Xing didn’t hide it from her, nodding faintly. Who knew that as soon as she nodded, she was suddenly hugged tightly by the person next to her.

Chu Yi rubbed her tender cheek vigorously, her smile infinitely expanded, her face and words full of pride: “As expected of my woman, so impressive!”

“……”

Shen Yao Xing’s face was distorted from the rubbing, and just before she exploded, the person let go of her.

After laughing, Chu Yi looked a bit worried: “But what do you want that for? It’s useless with just one piece, and it might bring trouble later. It doesn’t seem worth it.”

“I just happened to obtain it by chance, so I’m keeping it for now. I’ll make plans for it later.”

Actually, Shen Yao Xing didn’t know what use it had in keeping it. Seeing Meng Xin Yi speak of it as so important, she might as well keep it for now. If it proves useful later, she can take it out then.

“You must remember,” Chu Yi suddenly put away her smile, her face showing unprecedented seriousness: “You absolutely cannot tell anyone else about this matter, not even Madam Shen. You can’t mention this to her.”

It was rare to see this person so serious, Shen Yao Xing blinked, unable to help but voice her doubt: “Why?”

Chu Yi slowly sat up straight, frowning slightly: “I accidentally overheard that the court seems to be plotting something about this map…”

“Plotting what?”

Chu Yi didn’t continue, suddenly grabbing her oily hand, her peach blossom eyes full of seriousness: “I don’t know either, anyway, just promise me you won’t say anything.”

A chopstick struck the woman’s hand hard, and she painfully withdrew it. Shen Yao Xing picked up her chopsticks properly, calmly saying: “Don’t worry, I don’t intend to mention this matter either.”

If this person hadn’t suddenly asked about it, she would have almost forgotten about it herself.

Chu Yi resumed her improper demeanor, rubbing her reddened hand, her peach blossom eyes full of grievance: “How could you bear to hit so hard?”

Seeing that the young girl didn’t respond to her, she retracted her hand boredly, changing her expression again, her eyes sparkling, smiling flirtatiously: “By the way, I have an appointment with Young Master Situ to go boating on the lake. Come with me!”

“Not going.” The refusal was without hesitation.

Chu Yi seemed to have anticipated this, swiftly opening her jade fan to cover half her face, leaving only a pair of curved peach blossom eyes looking at her: “If you don’t go, I’ll pay a visit to Madam Shen. By then, would Madam Shen still be interested in going boating with us?”

Shen Yao Xing was thus easily caught by her weakness. The chopsticks snapped with a “bang”, her gaze fixed on the woman fiercely, wishing she could press her head to the ground and rub it vigorously.

————

In the end, Shen Yao Xing reluctantly followed along. In the capital, boating on the lake could be said to be the biggest hobby of the wealthy. Almost every festival was inseparable from this lake, whether it was releasing lanterns or night tours of the lake scenery. Even during the day, there were many people boating on the lake.

The two arrived at the lakeside where they were to board the boat. A man wearing a long cyan robe was already waiting there. Seeing Chu Yi appear, he excitedly took two steps forward to greet her: “Miss Chu, you’re here!”

The man wore a face veil, his eyes full of tender feelings fixed on the woman’s flirtatious face. As for the young girl beside her, it was as if he had a filter that directly filtered her out.

Chu Yi closed her jade fan, smiling with grace and charm: “I apologize, I was delayed by something earlier, making Young Master Situ wait long.”

Situ Chang Qing’s face reddened slightly, fiddling with the handkerchief in his hand, demurely shaking his head: “Chang Qing has just arrived…”

It wasn’t until they boarded the boat that Situ Chang Qing, seeing the young girl who had jumped onto the boat first, realized that there was an additional person. His brows showed some displeasure, and biting his lip, he couldn’t help but ask: “This young lady is?”

“Hmm?” Chu Yi looked towards the young girl who was crouching at the bow of the boat, peering into the water, and smiled: “That’s my friend. Young Master Situ doesn’t mind, right?”

Although it sounded like she was asking for his opinion, in reality, it was just stating a fact. Whether he minded or not was his own business.

Situ Chang Qing’s face turned slightly pale, forcing a smile: “Of course Chang Qing doesn’t mind…” Though he said this, the hand clutching his handkerchief grew increasingly tighter.

Chu Yi stepped onto the pleasure boat, then very gentlemanly extended her hand towards the person on shore.

The man’s face blushed again, pretending to be shy for a moment, before demurely extending his hand. Following the force of the woman’s hand, he gracefully stepped onto the boat, finally shyly saying a word of thanks.

“Ugh” Shen Yao Xing, lying at the bow of the boat, had an expression as if she had eaten excrement.

Chu Yi called for quite a while but couldn’t get the young girl to come into the cabin, so she had no choice but to enter with the man first.

This lake was very large. As the designated boating spot in the capital, its scenery was undeniably beautiful. Now that it was past noon, the sun was no longer as scorching as at midday. The reddening sunset falling on the lake surface was particularly beautiful, and the number of boats on the lake was increasing.

Suddenly, a boat caught Shen Yao Xing’s attention. Looking over, that boat had an absolute advantage in appearance, even larger than their boat, and more luxurious and exquisite in design. Even the lanterns hanging on both sides of the bow were carefully designed, so beautiful that she had never seen such a style before.

“That boat is quite something.”

A woman’s voice came from behind, and Shen Yao Xing turned her head: “Why did you come out?”

“To keep you company.” Chu Yi sat down on the ground beside the young girl.

Shen Yao Xing rolled over on the ground, changing to a lying position, hands cushioning her head, yawning: “Why aren’t you keeping your Young Master Situ company?”

“Even looking at such men every day can get boring.”

“Heh” Shen Yao Xing sneered.

Chu Yi didn’t mind, raising her chin to point at that distant boat, saying softly: “If I could spend a night with the young master on that boat, it would be worth dying for.”

“You can eat shit,” Shen Yao Xing cursed.

Chu Yi’s deep peach blossom eyes stared fixedly at that boat, ignoring the young girl’s cursing, continuing on her own: “The one inside is the dream husband candidate for women in the capital. Not to mention his outstanding appearance, just his financial power alone is enough to attract people. Almost half of the capital’s businesses are his property, and even the person in charge behind the Imperial Treasure Pavilion is him.”

“Heh, just a mere man…” The woman’s voice was unclear whether it was sighing or mocking.

Shen Yao Xing rolled over again, looking towards that luxurious boat. No wonder, so he was that rich. It seemed rich people all liked to display their wealth in such an ostentatious manner.

For some reason, Shen Yao Xing suddenly thought of that luxurious and not at all low-key carriage from before. It was quite similar, equally flamboyant.