As she spoke, her feet naturally moved towards the dining table.

Qing Lian looked back at the young girl’s retreating figure, his eyes dark and unfathomable.

When the man also took his seat, Shen Yao Xing grinned at him, making no attempt to hide her desire for the food. She stood up and ladled two bowls of white porridge, first placing one in front of him.

The man lowered his gaze to look at the porridge in front of him, then at the smiling person. His slender fingers raised to grip the porridge spoon, elegantly stirring it twice before scooping up a small mouthful.

Seeing this, Shen Yao Xing felt reassured and began to eat heartily. The porridge was cooked just right, with some unknown ingredients added that gave it a hint of sweetness. It was incomparably better than what was available outside.

After drinking two bowls of porridge, just as Shen Yao Xing was thinking of ladling another bowl, her sharp eyes caught sight of a small round plate on the tea table by the window where the man had been sitting earlier. It was a black object covered in unintelligible engravings.

“Is my benefactor curious about that object?”

Qing Lian across from her spoke slowly, his beautiful eyes rippling with an unfathomable depth. Without waiting for her to respond, he walked over and picked up the small round plate, gracefully returning to his seat.

His slender fingers lightly traced the engravings on the small round plate as he spoke in a low, gentle voice: “There’s something quite adorable inside.”

Adorable?

Shen Yao Xing was somewhat curious. How could such a small round plate contain something living?

The man raised his eyes, his pitch-black pupils reflecting the young girl’s image. The fingers resting on the round plate paused slightly. After a moment of silence, he suddenly raised his hand, holding out the plate to the person sitting across from him: “Since my benefactor is so curious, would you… like to open it and take a look?”

Shen Yao Xing, chewing on a fragrant pastry in her mouth, fixed her clear black and white eyes on the small round plate in the man’s hand. After a long moment, she swallowed her food, stood up, and leaned slightly forward, reaching her hand towards the man.

The fingertips holding the small round plate twitched slightly. A cold light flashed in Qing Lian’s eyes, but he saw the young girl’s hand bypass the plate entirely, taking a piece of pastry placed in front of him before sitting back down, biting into it with a crisp sound.

“There’s no need to show me your things,” Shen Yao Xing refused. Her earlier curiosity had already transformed into appetite.

The man was visibly stunned for a moment, his gaze falling on the half-eaten pastry in the young girl’s hand. His fingers, appearing snow-white against the light green gauze, tightened slightly as he silently withdrew the small round plate.

The room fell quiet, with no sound other than the young girl eating.

“Qing Lian is rather curious about what kind of man could make my benefactor so concerned. It truly makes one envious.”

The man’s eyes were lowered, his fingers constantly turning the round plate. His long, dense eyelashes cast shadows under his eyes, and his blue-black hair fell forward, hiding the red at the corners of his eyes, making it impossible to guess how much truth was in his words.

To be honest, this was just something she had blurted out at the time when she couldn’t find an explanation. She hadn’t expected him to bring it up again. Shen Yao Xing scratched her brow, unsure how to smooth things over.

Faced with the man’s pressing gaze, Shen Yao Xing frowned and thought for a moment: “He’s just an ordinary person, nothing worth being curious about.”

“Is that so? Qing Lian thought that someone my benefactor likes must be an exceptionally outstanding young man.”

In her eyes, he was indeed very outstanding in appearance, but what use was that? He was already married!

Just thinking about this made Shen Yao Xing feel a wave of discomfort. Even the remaining half of the pastry in her hand no longer seemed appetizing.

“What’s wrong with my benefactor?” The man’s voice grew even softer, like thick fur covering an ice pick, still unable to suppress the chill seeping through.

“It’s nothing…”

Shen Yao Xing replied listlessly, slowly finishing the remaining pastry. After wiping her hands clean, she wanted to leave. Walking to the door with an empty mind, she only came to her senses when her hand touched the cold wooden door. The person behind her hadn’t called out to her, and she had almost left without even saying goodbye.

She turned her head back, only to meet the man’s gaze, as deep as a dark pool, pitch-black without a trace of light. Backlit by the light coming through the window behind him, his face in the darkness was expressionless, appearing particularly gloomy and terrifying.

Seeing her turn back, the corners of his crimson lips curved up slightly, like a poisonous snake flicking its tongue: “Is my benefactor leaving?”

Shen Yao Xing’s heart skipped a beat. The hand hanging at her side scratched her thigh as she slowly turned her body and asked: “Did you have anything else to discuss with me?”

Was it really just to invite her for breakfast?

The man lowered his gaze, his fingers playing with the exquisite small round plate. Shen Yao Xing’s gaze followed, falling on his hands, noticing that this person seemed particularly focused on that object.

“Nothing much,” he said softly, stopping his fidgeting with the small round plate and raising his eyes to stare directly at the young girl. His crimson lips parted slightly: “Qing Lian invited my benefactor over merely to apologize for yesterday’s events.”

Shen Yao Xing waved her hand dismissively: “It’s fine, it’s fine. You treated me to a meal yesterday and again today. I should be thanking you instead. There’s no need for any apology.”

Having freeloaded two meals, she felt a bit embarrassed. Shen Yao Xing thought for a moment, then took out two taels of silver from her pocket and placed them on the tea table.

“Consider this payment for the meal.” Spending two taels of silver on a single meal made the currently “impoverished” Shen Yao Xing feel a bit of pain.

Qing Lian glanced at the two pieces of silver, then fixedly gazed at the young girl’s serious yet reluctant expression. Suddenly, he covered his mouth and laughed lightly, his eyes like deep pools rippling with waves. In an instant, the room seemed to bloom with a hundred flowers.

“If Qing Lian doesn’t accept, will my benefactor not come again in the future?”

“…” Actually, whether he accepted or not had nothing to do with it. The food here was so delicious that she might come back even if he didn’t accept. Shen Yao Xing was about to shake her head and say no, but she heard him continue.

“Then Qing Lian will accept it.”

“…”

Shen Yao Xing, who had been expecting some polite refusal, was disappointed. She forced a slight smile, gripping her clothes tightly, and left Ru Yun Yuan under the man’s watchful gaze.

At the end of the second-floor corridor, Qing Lian looked down imperiously as the young girl’s figure weaved through the colorfully dressed crowd, finally disappearing at the main entrance.

The softness vanished entirely from his bewitching face, his eyes covered with frost. He turned and slowly walked back to the Clear Residence. His gaze swept over the two pieces of silver on the table, pausing for a moment, before he walked into the inner room without looking back.

A black shadow appeared silently in the room. He knelt on one knee facing the direction of the inner chamber, his voice hoarse.

“Young master, the sect leader summons you back to the sect.”

The inner chamber was silent. After a long while, the pearl curtain was lifted, and Jiang Ming Yue walked out gracefully in snow-white robes edged with silver threads. His icy gaze glanced at the person on the ground, then he passed by and sat down at the window viewing area.

The black shadow remained half-kneeling on the ground, motionless, like a statue.

“Knock knock” A soft knocking sound came from outside the door. Jiang Ming Yue’s eyes shifted slightly as he lazily propped up his face to look over.

Without waiting for a response from inside, a youth pushed open the door: “Young master, I’ve come to clear the dining table.”

As soon as he entered, the youth noticed something amiss in the room. The young master sitting by the window had changed, and someone was kneeling on the ground. Even though the man’s gaze towards him seemed proper, it still made him feel inexplicably uneasy.

He was also a young male courtesan, but due to his slightly inferior looks, the madam had assigned him to work as a servant first. When he was sent to serve Young Master Qing Lian, the madam had repeatedly instructed him not to meddle in affairs, not to displease Young Master Qing Lian, not to look around carelessly, and many other “don’ts” which he had agreed to, though inwardly he didn’t take them seriously.

They were all just courtesans in a pleasure house after all. If not for their exceptional looks, how could they receive such treatment?

Thinking this way, the youth grew bolder. His gaze swept around the room, finally fixing on the man’s face, as beautiful as a painting. A hint of jealousy arose in his heart: “Who are you, young master? Why are you in Young Master Qing Lian’s room?”

The man remained silent, his cold eyes looking at him as if he were a dead man. Suddenly, he produced a jade bottle about two fingers wide from somewhere, curved his lips and gestured to the youth, shaking it slightly.

As the bottle was raised, it began to shake violently. If it were someone skilled in martial arts with keen senses, they would have heard the roaring of the creature struggling inside the bottle.

“Is this for me?” the youth asked uncertainly. The jade bottle looked exquisite and adorable, surely it must be valuable.

After confirming it was indeed for him, the youth put down the tray and excitedly went over to accept it.

Jiang Ming Yue lazily propped up his chin, observing the youth’s greedy expression. His thin lips curved up eerily: “Why don’t you open it and take a look?”