Chapter 35.2 [TSS 13] 

Meanwhile, Yan Yi Ming slowly washed the makeup off her face. Dissatisfied, she sat in front of the bronze mirror, working to reduce the swelling of her eyes. Little Apple peeked through the window and reminded her, “It’s raining, but Jian Yu Yan left without an umbrella.”

“Let him get drenched. It’ll help him clear his head,” Yan Yi Ming said, unmoved. “Since he can’t see what he truly wants and make a decision—be it when it comes to love or his ambitions for the throne. Then let’s leave him with no choice and force him to make one.”

Little Apple asked curiously, “How to force him?”

“You’ll see when the time comes,” Yan Yi Ming replied with a faint smile. Then, as if remembering something, she asked, “By the way, do you have anything that can make me feel no pain?”

“Feel no pain?”

“Yes, something that helps one not feel anything, even if one gets stabbed.”

“You don’t need anything like that. I can just shut off your senses.”

“You can do that? Then that’s even better,” Yan Yi Ming clicked her tongue. She glanced out the window while holding a boiled egg before calling the maid to send an umbrella to Jian Yu Yan.

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“Slyzzu?”

“Mawzu. Zswdt Yypvla kp pvkzz kd vbl alpkeldnl yp ol prlyj.”

Kkyd Zw’la oyp shlafsule yde iwknjzu ypjle bla xykeplahydvp vs blzr bla ealpp.

Ebu bye Ql-tl tsdl vblal sdzu vs nsxl cynj ulpvlaeyu? Tl bye rasxkple bl oswze bydezl kv, ps rlabyrp bkp hkpkv vs Vzwx Jzsppsx Vyhkzksd ulpvlaeyu oyp pszlzu vs alpszhl vbkdtp, dsv vs pvyu shla.

Gde dso vbyv bl oyp cynj, eke kv xlyd lhlauvbkdt bye clld vyjld nyal sq?

Jian Yu’er was practically bouncing with happiness as she went to find Jian Yu Yan. Upon entering his study room, she caught a faint scent of medicine. She soon spotted Jian Yu Yan with a pallid complexion.

Concerned, Jian Yu’er approached him. “Ge-ge, what’s wrong?”

Jian Yu Yan glanced up but did not put down his brush. “It’s nothing. I got caught in the rain last night.”

At his words, Jian Yu’er suddenly remembered that it had rained last night. Just then, a maidservant brought in a bowl of medicine. Jian Yu’er took it from her and handed it to Jian Yu Yan, casually remarking, “Why did you insist on going to Plum Blossom Pavilion? Since it was raining, then that courtesan…”

As Jian Yu’er spoke, she noticed Jian Yu Yan’s furrowed brows. She paused mid-sentence. “…What’s wrong?”

“She has a name.” Jian Yu Yan replied.

Jian Yu’er’s eyes widened in shock. She had assumed that Jian Yu Yan had finally resolved things with that courtesan, but Ge-ge’s tone was far more agitated than before. In fact, he seemed even less willing to tolerate anyone speaking ill of that person. Momentarily unable to process this, Jian Yu’er stammered, “What… What does her name have to do with -”

“She’s the one I love, Yu’er,” Jian Yu Yan interrupted. “I don’t like you referring to her in that way.”

Jian Yu’er stared at him, stunned. After a long silence, she hesitantly asked, “Ge-ge, you said you would take care of this. How are you planning to handle it?”

“I’ll bring her back to the manor,” Jian Yu Yan replied calmly.

“…What?”

Jian Yu Yan put down his brush and looked at Jian Yu’er with complete seriousness. “Plum Blossom Pavilion is too public. I dislike the thought of her being close to others. Keeping her outside the residence feels wrong, and I can’t bear it. The maidservants in the estate wouldn’t dare gossip, so it’s safer and more fitting to bring her here.”

Jian Yu’er would never have imagined that after thinking about it all night, Jian Yu Yan would come up with such a solution. The sheer shock left her momentarily speechless. Finally, she blurted out, “What if others still find out?”

Having contemplated this issue thoroughly the night before, Jian Yu Yan was now very clear in his stance. He no longer saw it as a significant issue.

“I was the one who developed feelings for you in the first place. Even if others find out, the consequences will fall on me and won’t implicate you. Besides, those who are innocent have nothing to fear. Furthermore, public opinion isn’t as terrifying as you think. Even Gentleman Jiang has known for a while, and he hasn’t spoken ill of this matter.”

Jian Yu Yan had never spoken with such clarity, and Jian Yu’er had never felt such despair.

She felt as though something incredibly important had been taken from her this time.

Something she would never be able to get back.

Jian Yu’er left Jian Yu Yan’s study almost robotically; her steps were rigid, and her mind was blank. She wandered aimlessly, unable to think or say anything coherent.

She did not dare tell her parents about this, but after much deliberation, she remembered Jiang Yi. She gathered her skirt and prepared to leave the residence to find him, only to stop when she overheard someone at the gate delivering something.

The steward at the gate asked what it was, and the servant girl crisply replied, “It’s a painting that Young Master Jian sent to my Miss. My Miss asked me to return it.”

At the mention of ‘Miss’, Jian Yu’er froze in her steps.

She immediately ordered the painting to be brought to her. As it was unrolled before her, her already pale face turned a sickly shade of green tinged by fury.

She had seen this painting in Jian Yu Yan’s study.

At the time, she had been puzzled by the unfamiliar outfit depicted and the odd, seemingly careless red dot at the corner of the person’s eye. Now, everything made sense in a devastating instant.

Jian Yu Yan had not been painting her!

He was painting that courtesan!

No wonder Jian Yu Yan had refused to give her the painting. No wonder his expression had been so off that day. Jian Yu’er trembled uncontrollably, her emotions surging like a storm. Unable to suppress her emotions any longer, she shoved the painting into the hands of a nearby servant and rushed toward Plum Blossom Pavilion.

The steward who caught the painting looked baffled, unsure of his next course of action before ultimately deciding to report the matter to Jian Yu Yan.

When Jian Yu Yan received the painting, he fell silent for a long time, his eyes fixed on it. After a while, he finally asked, “Did the maid pass on any message? ”

“She didn’t say anything else,” the steward replied hesitantly. Noticing how Jian Yu Yan scrutinized the painting with furrowed brows, the steward thought it must have been accidentally damaged and hastily added, “The young lady wanted to see the painting and, after looking at it, she tossed it carelessly to me before leaving in anger. Perhaps it was accidentally damaged then…”

Jian Yu Yan immediately looked up, “Where is Yu’er?”

The steward hesitated before replying, “I’m not sure… the young mistress boarded a carriage and headed east.”

The brush in Jian Yu Yan’s hand fell, leaving a blot of ink on the pristine paper. Ignoring the fatigue in his body, he rushed out of the study toward Plum Blossom Pavilion.

“What if one day, Young Lady Jian doesn’t even let me stay in the capital? What then?”

“Yu’er… wouldn’t be so unreasonable.”

The words from his conversation with Ah Ming yesterday echoed in his ears, but now, Jian Yu Yan could not be sure of anything. He moved quickly, more urgently than he ever had before.

Crossing the long street and stepping into Plum Blossom Pavilion. Just as Jian Yu’er reached that courtesan’s courtyard, Yan Yi Ming had long awaited her arrival.

Seeing this face again, its striking resemblance still left Jian Yu’er in disbelief. But upon entering the room, filled with traces of Jian Yu Yan, she completely lost her composure.

Jian Yu’er’s voice trembled as she said she would give her anything so long as Ah Ming would leave Jin Ling Capital.

Ah Ming lifted her eyes to meet Jian Yu’er’s gaze and smiled lightly, “I’m not leaving.”

“Why not!?”

“Because I love him,” Ah Ming said with a smile that held faint mockery. “What are riches compared to Zi An?”

“You… what did you call him?” Jian Yu’er’s fingers trembled violently.

“Zi An, of course. He told me to call him that.”

Zi An—Jian Yu Yan’s courtesy name. He had allowed her to address him as such?

Yan Yi Ming’s deliberate provocation and the surge of anger crashing over Jian Yu’er obliterated her restraint. Just as Jian Yu Yan stepped into the courtyard, he heard Jian Yu’er’s sharp voice ring out, ‘On what basis!?”

“You’re going to ruin him!” Jian Yu’er’s voice shook. “He’s destined to marry an aristocratic young lady from a reputable family! You’ll ruin his chances at a good marriage. If people see you, they’ll scorn him because of this scandal! You should never have come into his life. That face of yours shouldn’t even—”

Suddenly, Jian Yu’er’s words broke into a scream.

Jian Yu Yan’s heart seized with dread as he rushed into the room.

The moment he stepped through the door, the scene before him left him frozen in place.

Jian Yu Yan lost his composure for the first time in his life.

Ah Ming held a golden hairpin in her hand, its sharp tip had slashed across her delicate face. Blood trickled from the wound, streaking her pale skin and staining her white dress in striking, violent red.

“Now,” Ah Ming said quietly, her voice steady even as blood flowed from her cheek, “I no longer look like you.”