Chapter 34: Wet Hair

The lychees were somewhat dry. After consuming seven or eight of them, Ning Yin’s cold and prickly gaze finally softened a bit. He played with the cup in his hand and glanced at the empty space behind her. “Miss, why didn’t you bring any attendants when you came today?”

Wasn’t she afraid that he, still angry, would crush her delicate and beautiful neck?

Yu Lingxi continued to peel the lychees seriously. After a moment of thought, she honestly said, “If I try to soothe you when you’re angry, and the servants see it, wouldn’t I lose face?”

Saying that, she handed the peeled lychee to Ning Yin’s lips.

Ning Yin squinted and took a bite. Yu Lingxi flicked her fingertip, which got stained with lychee juice, a bit sweet and sticky. She didn’t have a handkerchief, feeling uncomfortable with the stickiness, and her eyebrows lightly furrowed.

Ning Yin looked at her for a long time before getting up to go to the room to fetch a clean cotton cloth, covering her fingertips. His actions were casual and indifferent, with pale and slender knuckles, gentle but giving a tingling sensation.

Yu Lingxi felt uneasy, curling her fingers. Ning Yin found it amusing.

When she flirted, she was very open and straightforward. Now he just touched a few of her fingers, and she couldn’t stand it?

He was restraining himself; he hadn’t even bitten her on the lips.

His eyes were deep, his voice cold, “Miss, do you want me to find someone to investigate the cause of that woman’s death?”

“Yes.”

Yu Lingxi looked at him as he wiped her fingers, the black hair falling down from his shoulders. “She was poisoned, and even the palace physicians couldn’t identify it.”

“You believe me when even the palace physicians can’t figure it out.”

Ning Yin seemed to smile but he didn’t, holding the cloth he used to wipe her hands. “Miss, please leave.”

Yu Lingxi raised her eyes and hesitated. “So, you agreed?”

Ning Yin stood with his hands behind his back, not speaking.

Yu Lingxi took it as his agreement, though still being doubtful, hurriedly stood up, and said, “I’ll wait for your message tomorrow.”

She took two steps, as if remembering something, turned back, and took the cloth from Ning Yin’s hand. “I’ll have it washed before returning it to you.”

After saying this, she smiled brightly, carried the food box, and left lightly.

Ning Yin watched her graceful figure disappear under the hanging flowers, curled his tongue to savor the lingering sweetness of lychee on his lips, and chuckled.

It was sweet now.

Back in her room, Yu Lingxi wondered if Ning Yin would successfully find the apothecary in the black market and trace the source of the poison. Just in case, she needed to gather more clues.

After contemplating for a while, Yu Lingxi called for Hutao and instructed, “Take Doctor Chen with you to Zhao Mansion. Check if Hongzhu has awakened. If she has, bring her to see me. Be cautious and don’t arouse suspicion.”

Hutao, aware of her mistress’s concern about Zhao Yuming’s sudden death, responded cleverly and left to make arrangements.

In early summer, with frequent rains and heat, Yu Lingxi worked for half a day and rested on the couch. She fell into a drowsy sleep, dreaming of a confined dark room and the cold face lying on an ice bed in her past life.

Ning Yin stood by the ice bed, with black blood splattered on his snowy-colored robe, and his cold eyes beckoning her, “Lingxi, come here.”

She woke up abruptly, soaked in cold sweat.

Yu Lingxi hadn’t had such vivid dreams for a long time. After a moment of daze, she leaned on the couch, drank two cups of cold tea to calm herself, coincidentally, Hutao returned.

Seeing her furrowed brows, Hutao knew that things probably didn’t go smoothly.

Sure enough, Hutao, with a troubled expression, said, “Miss, Hongzhu is missing.”

Hutao explained that when she arrived at the firewood room in Zhao Mansion, the door was half-open, and there was no one inside, only a few not-yet-dried bloodstains on the straw mat.

“I searched secretly for a long time, but there’s no trace of Hongzhu. I don’t know if she ran away or if someone took her out and buried her.”

Hutao blamed herself, “If I had arrived a moment earlier, maybe…”

“Never mind, it’s not your fault. Have the guards investigate Hongzhu’s whereabouts secretly,” Yu Lingxi said calmly, hiding her disappointment.

She was aware that losing Hongzhu meant losing an important clue.

“Those who haven’t completely escaped servitude can’t run far. As long as she is alive, she will definitely leave traces.”

Yu Lingxi comforted Hutao a few words, becoming more convinced in her heart that Zhao Yuming’s death was far from as simple as it seemed on the surface.

Since the path of Hongzhu was temporarily blocked, all she could do now was wait for news from Ning Yin.

…

The wind rose at night, and drizzling rain began to fall. The next day, after the rain stopped, Yu Lingxi accompanied Lady Yu for breakfast and took a walk together on the veranda. 

Discussing the matters of Zhao Mansion, Lady Yu sighed, “Yesterday afternoon, your cousin’s coffin was hastily pulled out of the city and buried, without even a decent funeral. Despite her usual timidity and quietness, who would have thought she had such deep thoughts and ended up like this?”

Yu Lingxi calmly said, “It shows that a deceitful heart will eventually lead to self-restraint.”

“Who can deny that? Blame it on her parents being too focused on personal gain, neglecting family ties, resulting in the child becoming like this.”

Lady Yu sighed again, “Yuming committed suicide on the day she entered the palace to serve the Crown Prince. It’s a great disrespect. Regardless, your uncle can’t escape the punishment of ‘teaching a daughter improperly’ and will be demoted to the unprosperous region of Lingnan tomorrow.”

Having spent two years by Ning Yin’s side, witnessing various manipulative tactics, Yu Lingxi naturally understood the implications of being demoted to Lingnan.

Although officially called demotion, it was, in reality, exile—a lawless and pest-ridden wilderness where surviving was a question in itself.

In her previous life, the Zhao family considered Yu Lingxi as nothing more than a decorative vase, keeping her confined in the backyard to be sold at a good price. They even sent her to the Regent Prince’s residence, considered by everyone as a purgatory, just to gain power and benefits.

In this life, after all the calculations by the Zhao family, they ended up with empty hands. Dying in the poverty they feared the most, it could be considered karma.

While contemplating, she saw Ning Yin coming from afar, standing outside the corner gate.

Seeing Yu Lingxi, Ning Yin’s steps slightly paused, and he gave her a slight salute. Understanding that Ning Yin had found a reason to bid farewell to Lady Yu, Yu Lingxi walked towards the garden pavilion.

Waiting inside the pavilion for about half a tea time, she heard familiar and steady footsteps approaching from behind. Turning around, Yu Lingxi saw that Ning Yin’s hair tips and the boots carried a dampness. Surprised, she stood up and asked, “You didn’t return last night?”

The rain had stopped around the hour of daybreak, so the dampness all over him must have been picked up during the night.

Ning Yin remained noncommittal. Yu Lingxi handed him the cotton handkerchief she had washed yesterday, frowning slightly, “Where did you go?”

“Exhuming.”

Ning Yin took the handkerchief, showing no change in expression. Yu Lingxi paused and, raising her eyes, collided with Ning Yin’s profound gaze.

After a moment of confusion, she realized that by “exhuming,” he meant opening whose grave.

“Miss, there’s no need to worry. Dirty work like digging graves and opening coffins naturally has others to do it; there’s no need for me to personally intervene.”

Although he said that, he unfolded the scented white cotton handkerchief, wiping his slender and fair fingers one by one. Yu Lingxi was thinking of something else: since Ning Yin went to open a grave for an autopsy at night, does it mean he found the apothecary capable of testing poison?

Thinking about this, a glimmer of hope floated in her heart, and she asked, “So, did you find out anything?”

Ning Yin glanced at her and said, “Examining bones and dissecting corpses takes at least three days, sometimes up to five.”

Yu Lingxi nodded in understanding.

“That’s fine. I’ve waited for so long; I don’t mind waiting for three or five more days.”

Her gaze fell on Ning Yin’s soaked hair tips, and she pointed, saying, “Your hair is still wet.”

Following her gaze, Ning Yin looked at the strand of ink-black hair hanging down his chest, casually rubbing it with the handkerchief.

It was the same in his previous life; he always seemed impatient to dry his hair after a bath, forbidding others from touching it, allowing the wet hair to hang loosely. Water droplets from his hair would fall onto his chest, wetting the undergarments along the curves of his waist and abdomen. He appeared like a handsome water spirit running out from the lake, emitting a damp and cold air.

When on the couch, Yu Lingxi would often shiver from the water droplets falling from his hair.

As memories converged, the young man in front of her found that the strand of hair wasn’t drying fast enough, losing patience, and increasing the force in his movements.

Treating such beautiful hair with such rough methods was truly a waste.

Yu Lingxi sighed inwardly, taking the cotton handkerchief from his hand and saying, “Let me do it.”

In her previous life, she didn’t dare touch his hair; in this life, she had her fill of it.

She wrapped the handkerchief around the tips of his hair, gathered them in her palm, pressed and absorbed the moisture. Her expression was naturally open, without the shy awkwardness or flattering attempts to please.

Ning Yin made a sound, squinting his eyes, and said, “Miss, how did you become so skilled at serving others?”

Yu Lingxi’s eyelashes quivered, thinking: Did you notice again?

“In this world, only you deserve this treatment.”

Suppressing the heat rising in her body, Yu Lingxi snorted, “After receiving my care, you should help me with the investigation and find the results I want.”

The curtains around the pavilion gently swayed, and Ning Yin, with a smirk, looked at her, his eyes reflecting a flickering and uncertain glimmer.

“Alright,” Yu Lingxi returned the handkerchief to Ning Yin.

Ning Yin stood without taking the handkerchief. Glancing at his shoulder, he said nonchalantly, “My clothes are also wet.”

“That’s enough, Wei Qi.”

Yu Lingxi handed him the cotton handkerchief, glaring at him, “Go back and change your clothes; don’t catch a cold.”

Just as she said this, they heard Hutao’s voice from a distance.

Yu Lingxi refocused her thoughts and, ignoring Ning Yin, stuck her head out of the pavilion, saying, “Hutao, what’s the matter?”

“Miss, why are you still here?”

Hutao looked anxious, hurriedly saying, “Miss, the Young Miss is looking for you, saying something has happened!”

Elder Sister doesn’t easily look for her unless… it involves a major family matter.

Yu Lingxi’s heart skipped a beat; the uneasy feeling from the past two days finally manifested.

Without further delay, she turned to Ning Yin, “Investigate the matter regarding Zhao Yuming, and inform me as soon as there are results.”

After saying this, she hastily left for the main hall.

She left in such a hurry that she completely failed to notice Ning Yin’s calm and amused expression, showing no surprise about the impending storm in the Yu Mansion.

Standing in the pavilion for a while, Ning Yin reached out to grab a strand of hair, twisted it, and raised his eyebrows with a slight scoff.

“Why the hurry? It’s still wet.”

With a sudden thunderclap, thunder resounded, and the clouds churned, the strong wind rustling through the courtyard trees.

Yu Lingxi, with her sleeves filled with swift winds, pushed open the side hall’s door, shutting out the wind and rain from the courtyard.

Yu Xinyi immediately stood up and called, “Sui Suii.”

She was still wearing the military uniform of the Hundred Cavalry Division, apparently returning hastily from the palace without changing clothes. Her expression was unusually serious.

“What happened?” Yu Lingxi closed the door, isolating the storm outside.

Yu Xinyi didn’t know how to begin, but Yu Lingxi had already guessed, softly asking, “Did… something happen to Elder Brother?”

Yu Xinyi suddenly looked up, and Yu Lingxi knew she had guessed correctly. Her heart sank immediately.

“We just received an urgent message from Father, the convoy escorted by Yu Huanchen, encountered a problem with the disaster relief grain.”

Yu Xinyi no longer concealed it, holding Yu Lingxi’s hand, sitting down and saying in a low voice, “The thirty thousand stones of life-saving grain have all been replaced with husks.”

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