Squatting in the outhouse, Zhi Wei feels like her legs have gone numb. Several times she thought she was done and goes to get up then the churning begins again in her stomach. She squatted until her head starts to spin and her legs threatened to buckle but the vengeful seafood apparently is still not ready to let her go yet. 

Other than guards, this courtyard doesn’t have anyone else around and in the silence, she could probably hear a pin drop. Even if she doesn’t want to, she could hear everything that is going on over at Ning Yi’s room. She heard the sound of Ning Yi opening the door, the sound of him standing still in his room, the lack of angry rebuke, no rejection, no confusion, just a matter of course silence. Zhi Wei laughed at herself in derision– why should there be rebuke or questioning? What is she thinking? If Yan Huai Ying could enter into this courtyard then it must be because he allowed it. Oh, well, when she sees Miss Yan tomorrow, does she need to start addressing her as Yilang? (Yilang means aunt but in the olden days, it is how one would address a concubine belonging to one’s father or in this case, boss.) 

Holding a hand to her stomach, Zhi Wei laments that she certainly has a run of bad luck tonight, she must be mortal enemies with seafood in this life. Hearing the sound of footsteps and someone calling “Wei, Wei, come out.” Zhi Wei’s heart skips a beat. It is Master Gu who has gotten worried over how long she is taking and has come searching. Thinking that she can’t answer out loud and let Ning Yi know that she is squatting in this outhouse, Zhi Wei quickly tidied herself up to go out but Gu Nan Yi has already gotten impatient and split the outhouse in half. 

A woman threw herself into Ning Yi’s arms. In an instant, Ning Yi was enveloped in silky velvety softness and a strong peony perfume. In the darkness, her body is quivering in his arms, with a mix of timidness and plea for protection she calls out “Your Highness…” After the first moment of joy, Ning Yi quickly realized something was not right. Feng Zhi Wei would not be this soft, this fragrant, laying in his bedroom scantily dressed with heavy makeup to offer up herself. He would be lucky if Feng Zhi Wei would not push away his hand. So…this must be a woman sent by the Yan clan. The joy that was there a second ago dissipated, leaving behind only disappointment then irritation but he can’t pinpoint what he should be irritated about. 

The woman’s arms slowly moved up to his shoulder, the slander arms were shaking seemingly unused to the art of seduction, the arms were slightly rigid making his neck uncomfortable. Sneering coldly, he suddenly despises the smell of peonies, he is going to make sure all peonies in his prince’s manor be pulled out! And, what the heck is Ning Cheng doing to let someone like this climb into his bed?! 

A loud crashing sound came from his back window followed by a yell of surprise, the voice belonged to Zhi Wei. Alarmed, Ning Yi start heading towards that direction but the woman in his arms grabs onto him tightly. Raising an eyebrow, Ning Yi raises a hand to kill the woman with a single smack but he suddenly stopped. Why would Zhi Wei be outside of his back window? What is she doing? 

Rooted to the spot, several emotions flashed across Ning Yi’s eyes as the sound of the conversation outside of his window floated in clearly. 

“What are you doing!” There was a trace of shock in Zhi Wei’s voice.

“Too long.” Came Gu Nan Yi’s flat reply. “Go, to bed.” 

Seemingly choking on the dust, Zhi Wei starts to cough loudly. 

A small smile appears on Ning Yi’s face. At first glance, the smile seems identical to the one he had when he first pushed open his bedroom door but at a closer look, there were some differences. If the smile a short time ago was clear and bright, carrying with it a vibrant happiness then the smile now is cold, alluring, like the hypnotizing fragrance of the flower Devil’s Snare. (Jimsonweed or devil’s snare flower is one that has a lot of significance in Chinese literature. Legend has it that the long road everyone has to walk in hell after they die has one particular kind of flower growing all along the way. Devil’s snare is the flower and supposedly it’s fragrance has the mysterious power to allow the dead to remember the forgotten memory of their earthly life. Devil’s Snare is also often used to represent beautiful and dangerous women/men who have hypnotizing charm but are deadly if you dare to touch. This comparison comes from Devil’s Snare real life properties as a hallucinogen via its fragrance and the whole plant is poisonous.)

 Ning Yi slowly raises a hand to her shoulder, then with one forceful tug rips open Yan Huai Ying’s robe revealing a curvy white shoulder .Yan Huai Ying lets out a small yelp of surprise. She really had not expected that His Highness to be in this much hurry even knowing are people snooping…does this mean she will be sleeping with him right away? Feeling shy, her face turns bright red as she nervously looks towards the window, a bit scared yet joyous, hesitating yet afraid to say no. 

Ning Yi then raises another hand to unhook the button at his collar, exposing a sliver of his porcelain skin. Not quite averting her eyes, a blushing Yan Haui Ying gently lays her face on Ning Yi’s chest. 

An enigmatic smile tugging at the corner of his lips, Ning Yi walks Yan Huai Ying to the window then opens it with one pull. 

Not far from the back window, Zhi Wei has just struggled out of the outhouse. She really didn’t expect Gu Nan Yi would destroy the outhouse with one wack and is too busy finishing dressing herself even as Master Gu fished her out of the wreckage. Holding Zhi Wei by her back collar, Gu Nan Yi turns to leave until the sound of Ning Yi opening the window stopped him. 

Raising her head, Zhi Wei is greeted by the sight of Ning Yi with his half unbuttoned shirt and an arm around a woman whose robe is mostly in the state of undress, his hand pressed tightly against the woman’s bare shoulder as her face is equally pressed tightly against his exposed chest.  

She sees his slight smile, reminiscent of their first meeting at the brothel as he waves at her lazily with a grin “Official Wei, this is my new concubine. Very obedient and attentive. She has exhausted herself from taking good care of me. Since you are here, then you might as well come in and get a basin of water for us to wash up.” 

Zhi Wei’s slowly moved her eyes from top to bottom. Her eyes focused first on Ning Yi’s hand then to Yan Huai Ying’s clothes before finally falling on the two people’s waist. She carefully and slowly looked the two all over without a trace of anger, as if she had not heard a word of Ning Yi’s offensive and provoking words. 

After waiting a bit, Ning Yi raised an eyebrow and was about to say something when Zhi Wei suddenly languidly replied “To serve Your Highness is my honor.” 

All his waiting awarded with only a short reply for her, Ning Yi lowers his eyes and with his arms still around Yan Huai Ying strode away from the window. 

Feeling shy and triumphant at the same time, Yan Huai Ying couldn’t resist turning her head to give Zhi Wei a taunting smile. Meeting Zhi Wei’s steady gaze, Yan Huai Ying was taken aback by the sympathy she saw in them. 

All text copyright @ www.Ninja-Reflection.com

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