“Not that kind of person?” Shu Qin scoffed: “If you don’t believe it, go in and see. You’ll know if the Second Young Miss is already dressed and groomed.”

Shu Qin accompanied Rou Shu to pay their respects and serve in Jiang Yang’s room. Sure enough, they saw Jiang Yang drinking Di Xian Jian with her head lowered. Rou Shu’s face immediately changed.

Since he was trying to climb up, why pretend to be aloof! This was Rou Shu’s only thought at that moment.

“Second Young Miss stayed up drinking, your waist must be tired and your shoulders sore? Shall this humble servant give you a massage?” Shu Qin’s face lit up with a bright smile.

Jiang Yang nodded.

Shu Qin immediately moved closer. His hands were rough from working in the countryside, but this also gave them some strength. The pressure of his massage was very comfortable. He occasionally asked if the pressure was too light or too heavy, fawning and flattering to a degree that left Rou Shu dumbfounded. But he was not willing to let Shu Qin steal the limelight, so he joined in: “Second Young Miss, this humble servant will sing for you.”

“Second Young Miss, are you going out tonight?” Shu Qin asked. His voice wasn’t as sticky as Wen Hua’s, carrying a hint of innocence that was quite pleasant to hear. But after hearing Chi Mei’s voice, no matter how beautiful other men’s voices were, she found them tasteless. Even her old favorite courtesans in the brothel said that since she came back, she no longer cared for them, and had questioned her several times if she was keeping someone else outside.

Indeed, she wasn’t keeping anyone else, just a silly, stupid fish.

“I’m a bit tired today, so I won’t go out.” Jiang Yang said. In these days since her return, her mind had been preoccupied with that scarred fish on the lonely island. She couldn’t even enjoy herself when she went out to play, her mood heavy.

She didn’t even dare to think that the stupid fish might hate her like Chun Jian resented Xu San Niang.

During this time, she had tried countless ways to go back, but Lady Liu treated her like a precious pearl, fearing she might encounter danger again, and wouldn’t let her leave Changnin County at all. Even if she wanted to leave, she couldn’t. She was helpless and frustrated, going to the brothel only to drink away her sorrows.

Shu Qin laughed like silver bells: “It’s good not to go out. This humble servant will keep you company in the courtyard.”

Jiang Yang lightly pressed her forehead: “No need to keep me company. Go about your own business, you may leave.”

“…Yes.” Shu Qin pursed his lips.

For the entire afternoon, Jiang Yang didn’t leave the courtyard. Shu Qin and Rou Shu didn’t dare to go too far either, so they did needlework in the small room outside Jiang Yang’s chamber. The sandalwood incense burned quietly. Jiang Yang lay on the rocking chair, drowsiness overtaking her again as she slowly fell asleep.

Seeing Jiang Yang asleep, the two began to chat quietly again.

“Why hasn’t Brother Wen Hua come back yet? He hasn’t done anything rash, has he?”

Shu Qin smiled and gave him a reproachful look: “Done anything rash? Don’t joke. His face is as thick as that one outside, how could he do anything rash?”

“Then why hasn’t he come back after so long?” Rou Shu asked.

“He’s probably gone to vent his anger on someone. He’s not the type to swallow his pride. Having been snubbed by the Second Young Miss, he naturally needs to find a soft target to take it out on.”

“Who’s this soft target?” Rou Shu couldn’t help but ask.

Shu Qin smiled: “Who else could it be? That Chi Mei outside.”

Chi Mei was just a small book attendant in the Fu Chen Hall, no match for inner servants like Wen Hua and Shu Qin who had masters. Even among the servants in the Jiang household, there were different levels. The lowest were the menial laborers, then those like Chi Mei, followed by the servants of the concubine-born young masters, then the servants of the legitimate young masters and concubine-born young misses, then the inner servants of legitimate young misses like Jiang Qingzhou and Jiang Yang, and the highest were the inner servants of the main wife.

Shu Qin and Wen Hua naturally feared that Chi Mei’s good looks might truly captivate Jiang Yang’s favor, so they guarded very strictly in front of Jiang Yang, never letting any wind of it slip. It was only now that Jiang Yang was asleep that they dared to discuss in low voices.

Rou Shu covered his mouth and smiled: “Chi Mei? Good, he should be taught a good lesson!”

Bang–

The inner folding door was suddenly pushed open. Jiang Yang’s long hair was slightly disheveled, the amethyst hairpin had slipped off, and her dark eyes were filled with shock.

−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−

“Teach this lowly creature a good lesson! Absolutely shameless! Refusing to leave the front of Hui Xue Residence, what kind of thing is he!” Wen Hua commanded several menial servants of Hui Xue Residence, pulling at Chi Mei’s hair.

Chi Mei endured the pain: “I was just passing by.”

“Passing by?” Wen Hua rolled up his sleeves, showing none of the coquettishness he had in front of Jiang Yang, like a fierce tiger with a bloody maw, gnashing his teeth: “So many courtyards to pass by, and you just happen to pass by our Hui Xue Residence? Full of lies, tear his mouth apart!”

The few menial servants all looked to Wen Hua to raise their status, naturally currying favor by doing Wen Hua’s bidding. Moreover, Chi Mei had relied on his good looks to steal the hearts of many female servants in the Jiang household, making many men both envious and jealous. How could they miss such a good opportunity for revenge? One by one, hands stained with bright red safflower juice, some pulled his hair, some scratched his face.

Chi Mei, cherished and loved by his parents since childhood, had never suffered such humiliation. Suffering humiliation and unable to retaliate, he could only beg for mercy in a low voice. Otherwise, he would never see Jiang Yang again. The once proud merman prince, now held down by his hair and torn at, his eyes reddened, thin lips trembling despite his best efforts to hold back.

“I never imagined that such a shrew had mixed into my Hui Xue Residence!” Jiang Yang clapped her hands, walking out of Hui Xue Residence unhurriedly.

Wen Hua’s face instantly turned pale. He quickly knelt down to beg for forgiveness: “Second Young Miss, it’s not like this. It was this person, he provoked us first.”

Jiang Yang gave him a cold glance: “You still dare to quibble? I think there’s no place for you in my Jiang household anymore. Get out!”

A thunderous sound echoed in Wen Hua’s mind. He crawled to Jiang Yang’s feet, crying and begging: “Second Young Miss, this humble servant knows his mistake. Please—”

“Get away!” Jiang Yang impatiently kicked him. Shu Qin, with excellent awareness, held Wen Hua down.

Jiang Yang squatted down in front of Chi Mei, who was pressed into the mud with his face covered in dirt. Her heavy deep-colored robe piled up, exuding elegance and nobility. The once radiant prince had now become a pitiful creature. Something in Jiang Yang’s heart seemed to be stabbed violently, making it difficult for her to breathe.

But on the surface, she still had to pretend to be flirtatious. She lightly lifted his chin: “This young gentleman is indeed of outstanding beauty. No wonder they’re so jealous of you. You truly evoke pity. What’s your name?”

Tears welled up in Chi Mei’s reddened eyes. It was hard to tell if it was joy from reunion, or sorrow and resentment that Jiang Yang didn’t recognize him even though he was right in front of her. He opened his mouth, but tears flowed uncontrollably. Just moments ago, when Wen Hua was humiliating him, he could hold back his tears, but upon seeing Jiang Yang, he broke down crying, unable to speak a complete sentence.

Jiang Yang reached out her hand, gently wiping the dirt from his face, and said softly: “I remember now, your name is Chi Mei, isn’t it?”

Chi Mei nodded, crying, his hands tightly clutching her wide sleeves, afraid she would leave again. The overflowing tears had already blurred his vision of Jiang Yang’s face, and he couldn’t see the tenderness and deep affection in her eyes at that moment.

“Stop crying. Come with me to Hui Xue Residence.” Jiang Yang helped him up, gently patting the dust off his clothes.

Shu Qin and Rou Shu couldn’t hide their jealousy on their faces, and couldn’t help but speak up: “Second Young Miss, do you really want to bring him into Hui Xue Residence? He’s just a book attendant from Fu Chen Hall.”

Jiang Yang gave them a cold glance: “From now on, he’s my person. If Zou Da has any objections, tell her to come find me.”

Shu Qin and Rou Shu immediately fell silent, exchanging a glance, thinking to themselves that this lowly creature had indeed succeeded.

Inside Hui Xue Residence, all attendants were driven out of the inner courtyard. Even Shu Qin and Rou Shu could only wait in the outer courtyard.

Behind the thick, faint golden silk curtains with crabapple patterns, Jiang Yang took off her wide, heavy outer robe made of double-petaled purple lotus satin. She held Chi Mei in her arms, kissing from his swollen eye corners to his bitten lips. Her soft lips whispered comforting words: “Good Chi Mei, good Your Highness, don’t cry anymore.”

Chi Mei cried almost to the point of fainting, as if venting all the grievances and bullying he had suffered these days: “You left without saying a word to me. They all said you didn’t want me anymore. I didn’t believe it… but I also kind of did.”

His eyes were so swollen he could barely open them. Nestling in Jiang Yang’s arms, he choked out: “I know you don’t particularly like me, that you chose to be with me only because you couldn’t return to land. I actually knew all along, but I still had a little hope. I thought maybe, just maybe, you might actually be a little reluctant to part with me?”

Jiang Yang gently patted his back: “That’s not true. I said I would spend my life with you. The situation was urgent then, I could only leave first, waiting for an opportunity to come back for you. But you…” Jiang Yang touched his legs, now no different from humans’, hiding pain in her eyes: “How did you come ashore?”

He knew nothing about humans, so innocent and foolish, finding his way from the seaside all the way to Changnin County. Jiang Yang didn’t want to think about how much hardship he had endured, how much wrongdoing he had suffered, how much of human cruelty and cold indifference he had tasted along the way.

Chi Mei tightly clutched Jiang Yang’s collar, his tears completely soaking the neckline of her clothes. He cried with a hoarse voice, speaking incoherently: “Because I couldn’t wait for you anymore, so I came ashore to find you. I was afraid that if I didn’t come to find you, everything between us would be completely over. A Yang, I don’t want it to be over with you. I really like you so much.”