“That’s why we have to go together to work together…” Ning Yi whispered, his hot breath blowing into her ear, his voice filled with laughter, “Ordinary women will only mess things up when they enter the villa. Of all the women in this world, who else but you can do this?” 

“Why does it feel like Your Highness is saying that among all the women in the world, I am the most treacherous and vicious?” Feng Zhi Wei blocked her temple with her hand, getting ready to push him away. 

Ning Yi took the opportunity to lick her palm. Feng Zhi Wei quickly wiped her palm on her clothes, her face turning bright red. Ning Yi’s low laugh sounded in her ears, seemingly in a good mood, “You are poisonous and I am traitorous. Aren’t we a perfect match?” 

“I dare not to be listed alongside Your Highness.” Feng Zhi Wei flashed him a fake smile. 

“And…call me Yi.” Ning Yi smiled slightly, his eyes sparkling, his voice as soft as a cloud, tickling one’s inside but with no way to scratch, “Come…say it once.” 

“Yi…” Feng Zhi Wei is also smiling. She smiled mischievously even as joyous surprise shone brightly in Ning Yi’s eyes, “…Huh? What did you just say? I didn’t hear you clearly.” (This is a play on words. In Chinese, Ning Yi’s “Yi” and the word “Huh? are the same sound. So our heroine allowed Ning Yi to think for one second that she granted his wish only to take it away by saying she was only making a puzzling sound. Allowing someone to call you by a term of endearment signals a special relationship to the world-especially someone in Ning Yii’s station where very few people would be given that privilege. If our heroine had actually gone ahead and called Ning Yi by the term of endearment he had joking suggested, that would’ve been a sign that she had officially accepted him.)

Hearing this despicable woman forcefully change her tone halfway, Ning Yi, whose hope was left hanging, glared at Feng Zhi Wei for a few moments before shaking his head with a smile, “What can I do, I just like your naughty side.” 

He stood up straight and pointed at the clothes in Feng Zhi Wei’s hand, “Apologies, you will be pretending to be Madam Huang. She was a famous actress in the early years of Dexing Society, one of the four major troupes in Shanbei province. She later became Inspector Huang’s wife. Inspector Huang came with Imperial Envoy Xu this time to hand over the Shanbei criminal case over to the imperial justice department. They were invited by Second Prince to visit Shuyu Villa tonight. You were a famous actress and have always liked pretty and fancy things, especially to show off, so…” 

He continued with a smile, “The latest trendy halter top in the imperial capital, Madam Huang will definitely make sure to be the first to wear it.”

Feng Zhi Wei stared at the exquisite halter top, the corner of her mouth twitching, wondering if Ning Yi had picked this identity on purpose. 

“Where are the real Inspector Huang and Madam Huang?” Feng Zhi Wei asked as Ning Yi handed a mask to her. 

Ning Yi patted the human skin mask in his hand with indifference, “In your hand.” 

The corner of her mouth twitched again, Feng Zhi Wei resisted the urge to vomit. She was silent as she held the mask in her hand, staring at the pile of clothes. 

“Two choices.” Ning Yi said leisurely, “Have someone help you put it on, or I can help you myself.” 

“I dare not to trouble Your Highness.” Feng Zhi Wei promptly made her choice. 

“Manchun.” Ning Yi turned his head and called out. 

There was a faint sound of jade rings (hanging by the waist) and a fragrant aroma that preceded the slim shadow that turned in the long corridor. The door curtain was lifted, and Feng Zhi Wei felt as if the room brightened as a woman wearing a lotus-colored skirt, stood prettily in the doorway. 

The light from the Begonia lamp on the porch reflected the dazzling flower between the woman’s eyebrows. Her eyebrows were very finely sculpted, and her eyes were slightly raised with dark red eyeliner. She was as cool and delicate as Begonia under the moon. She did not look at Feng Zhi Wei but only bowed prettily to Ning Yi. Her voice sounded very calm but in the calmness, there was a hint of joy that could not be hidden. 

“Your Highness…”

Ning Yi pulled aside the door curtain and went out. Leaning against the porch railing, he said casually, “Help this miss bathe and change clothes.”  (the wording “help” here is used for those in subordinate positions. Meaning Ning Yi is telling this girl to serve Feng Zhi Wei.)

The woman named Manchun froze. She came with excitement on her face but who would’ve thought this sentence was what greeted her. After a few moments, she slowly turned her gaze to the room. Feng Zhi Wei had already turned her back to put on a spare mask. Although she knew that the person Ning Yi summoned must be reliable she is still unwilling to let any one of her masked faces be exposed. 

Manchun stared blankly at Feng Zhi Wei’s back, and turned her gaze onto the clothes, before woodenly wanting to turn her head to look at Ning Yi. Her head was halfway turned before she forced herself to turn back and silently bowed. 

There was a deep darkness in her eyes, like a starless night. Compared with the sparkling eyes just now, the woman’s eyes at this moment were like the coldness of the sinking abyss. 

There was also a surprise of disbelief. 

And the despair of thinking all the hardship is finally being awarded only for that dream to suddenly be shattered. 

She stood there, her long nails pressed into the palms of her hands, tightly. 

Feng Zhi Wei drew the curtains close a bit uncomfortably, before deciding to bolt all the windows as well. The woman stood rigid, watching her casually walking back and forth in the room Ning Yi had never allowed anyone to enter. Her fingers curled up even tighter, drawing a faint redness as she watched Feng Zhi Wei haphazardly move around Ning Yi’s things. 

Feng Zhi Wei didn’t pay attention to any of this. She has been in a high position for a long time, and was so used to figuring out the thoughts and actions of emperors and generals that she has almost forgotten that a woman’s inner thoughts were the most complicated thing in the world. Although she did not have the habit of looking down on others, but she had long developed the mannerisms of one being in command. Offhandily, Feng Zhi Wei said, “Miss, please close the door tightly. Oh, and please turn your back, I want to take a bath.”

Her tone was mild, but the indifference and nobility revealed in her words, caused the woman to tremble. 

Feng Zhi Wei, however, had already taken off her clothes to wash away the smell of medicine on her body. 

She had been reluctant to look at the woman this whole time– to look at her pinned-up hairstyle with beaded pearls that are obviously only used by married women. (Single woman keep their hair down but married women pins their hair up.) Obviously, she was one of Ning Yi’s concubines. This word, along with that golden bed, made her feel sick to her stomach for no reason, not wanting to spare one more glance at it. 

The hot steamy air filled the air. Feng Zhi Wei thought with amusement that she had soaked in the bathtub twice in the span of one hour. 

Thinking of the shock she had a short time ago, a certain picture flashed across her mind, causing her face to blush slightly. She quickly stopped herself, feeling a bit embarrassed. Sensing the woman behind her standing rigidly and silent, Feng Zhi Wei felt a bit uncomfortable and wanted to say something to break the silence. Letting out a dry cough, she said “You are…Prince Chu’s concubine.” 

She regretted it the moment she finished speaking. What is she doing? Is there any point in asking this sort of question? Also, with all the questions she could’ve asked, why did she blurt out this question the moment she opened her mouth. 

But instead of answering the woman just stood there in silence. 

There was a mist of white air all around, with a slight condensation on the window lattice. There was only a slight sound of water being moved around. There is something strange in the silence, like a dream that is inescapable.

After a while, Feng Zhi Wei heard a sound from the woman behind her that seemed to be a laugh. It was a short laugh, with a hint of coldness in it. In the shadow of the candlelight, the alluring curvacious figure gradually expanded on the wall. 

By the time she came in, Feng Zhi Wei had already hurriedly finished washing and had taken a dry cloth to wipe dry. The candlelight shone on her back that was as bright as pearls, as white as jade, and as beautiful as flowing water, like the most beautiful spring days. 

A pair of ice-like eyes appeared in Manchun’s crimson eyeliner. She looked at Feng Zhi Wei coldly, watched as she took the beguiling halter top and carefully rubbed it in the palm of her hand. As she watched, she thought of the women in Prince Chu’s manor who held those titles (royal concubines), thought of herself who walked in loneliness into a deeper loneliness, a desolate smile gradually appeared in her eyes. 

“Concubine….?” There was a sarcastic curve on her lips as she walked towards Feng Zhi Wei who had her back turned to her. 

“Concubine…” An answer that wasn’t quite like an answer, more like a question. Confusing even the person who spoke it, as she muttered, uncertainty filled her eyes. 

Feng Zhi Wei listened to the voice that was so soft that it could be dispersed by the warm steam in the room and felt the woman had spoken a bit strangely. Perhaps her question was inappropriate? She smiled, picked up the halter top with her fingers with a hint of mockery, frowned, and handed it to Manchu, “Thank you…Madam.” 

As soon as she said the word madam, she frowned again, a stuffy feeling filled her heart again. 

Upon hearing the word “Madam”, something flashed across Machun’s eyes but she didn’t say anything. She took the silky smooth halter top and carefully caressed the exquisitely embroidered figures with her fingers. 

This outfit…belongs to her.

All text copyright @ www.Ninja-Reflection.com

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