CHAPTER 15

When Chu Jinyao returned to her courtyard, Jiegeng, who had followed her, patted her chest. “Young Lady, I was scared to death today! Fortunately, you were able to write in the end; otherwise, we would have been thoroughly discredited!”

Chu Jinyao nodded, “Yes.” Jiegeng was excited and yet felt a lingering fear as she spoke loudly, “And the verse that you wrote. It seemed to be ‘distance tests a horse’s strength’. It was simply brilliant! Not only does it prove one’s strength but also slaps their faces viciously!”

‘Distance tests a horse’s strength; time reveals a person’s heart’. Chu Jinyao had written these words in front of everyone and not only had it cleansed her from all the dirty water that they splashed but also secretly expressed her honest heart and instead criticized Chu Jinmiao and the others.

Jiegeng asked happily, “Young Lady, how did you think of writing that?”

Chu Jinyao sighed “It is not what I thought. It was just too dangerous today.”

Chu Jinmiao and the rest had guessed correctly. Chu Jinyao actually did not know how to write. At least not with a brush.

She was after all raised in a poor farmer family. Which farmer family would bear to send their daughter to read and write? Chu Jinyao only knew most of the characters, and that itself was considered extremely rare in the village.

Although the Su family was poor, that year, when Chu Jinyao and Chu Jinmiao were born, Madam Zhao stayed the night at the Su family and gave them a box of golden hairpins as rewards. Not mentioning how much the craftsmanship of the hairpins was worth, just relying on a few taels of gold was already enough for the Su family to not worry about food and clothing for a long time. However, Mother Su was a born miser and would treat Su Hui and Chu Jinyao exceptionally stingily, saving whatever could be saved. Even the clothes had to be worn by the elder until they were worn out before letting the younger one wear them. However, towards the only son, Su Sheng, Father Su and Mother Su were very willing to spend. They even gritted their teeth and sent him to a private school in the township, hoping that they would be able to nurture a scholar.

Chu Jinyao did not think that Su Sheng, that straw bag, would achieve any scholarly merit. He was spoilt by the family, behaved lawlessly, and only knew how to command his two elder sisters. After spending all the money at the private school daily, he would not even flip a page of the books. Instead, it was Chu Jinyao, who was only one year apart from him, who borrowed his benefits and recognized some characters. However, even though she could roughly recognize most of the characters, she did not know how to write at all. Obviously, the Su family would not give her any opportunity to practice writing. She would hide away from her family when she was young and practice on the sand instead. However, how could writing on the sand be the same as writing on paper?

Moreover, the brushes that were used in the residence of Marquis Changxing were all made of superior rabbit hair with soft tips. Without years of practice, how would one be able to use the brushes?

It was all thanks to Qin Yi that Chu Jinyao was able to write the five words ‘distance tests a horse’s strength’. Qin Yi really did not have the patience to watch her do needlework, and her time in her boudoir was just too boring. He could only chase her into the study room and teach her to write. Those five words were handed to her for self-defense, in case things happened. Who knew that it would actually be used?

Jiegeng brought the sewing basket over and asked, “Young Lady, will you be doing needlework today?”

“No. Momo has lectured a lot today, so I want to review it in the study.” Chu Jinyao stood up and walked towards the study rooms in the east. She specially instructed the maids, “I will be reviewing books in the study; don’t come in and disturb me.”

“Yes.”

After the doors were closed, Chu Jinyao immediately turned obedient and softly called out, “Qi Ze. Qi Ze. Are you there?”

“You are usually very impatient when practicing calligraphy. Why the sudden change in attitude now?” Qin Yi responded softly.

Towards Qin Yi, Chu Jinyao’s skin would be exceptionally thick. “Aren’t I thinking you right now! If it were not you who often urged me, I would have made a fool of myself today! But one can only hide it for a moment, not forever. I can only write these five words; this will be disclosed sooner or later! When the time comes and Fourth Young Lady seizes this flaw, Chu Jinyao was fighting a chill as she thought about it before continuing. “I don’t want! I have mocked Chu Jinmiao severely today and if she finds out that I cannot write in the future, she would definitely return it to me three or four times! Qi Ze, Qi Ze…!”

Towards the end, Chu Jinyao’s words were stretched out, leading to a coquettish tone of ‘it would not do if you didn’t promise me’.

Qin Yi sighed. Coquetry was truly a woman’s natural talent. Chu Jinyao was born to wear him down. Without another choice, he said helplessly, “All right, I will not leave you alone. Go and prepare the ink.”

With a crisp “En”, Chu Jinyao ran over to prepare the ink happily. Just as she laid the paper out, she suddenly heard Shan Cha calling her from outside. She could only put aside what she was doing and go out to see what happened.

Chu Jinyao spoke to Jiegeng and the rest as she headed inside: “It is hot these few days. Go and wash these jackets and put them away. Oh yes. It is easy for fur clothes to get damp so they must be absolutely dry before they are stored!”

“Yes.” Jiegeng and the rest went out carrying the clothes and Dingxiang followed Chu Jinyao.

Chu Jinyao passed the dazzling door frames and said, “I do not need you to wait upon me. Go and keep yourselves busy with other matters. I will be in the study reading. Don’t let the rest of the maids come in to disturb me.”

Dingxiang complied and turned around to leave obediently. Pulling the yarn curtain, Chu Jinyao looked up unsuspectingly before seeing a male standing in front of her desk.

She was so shocked that she took a step back and knocked her back against the cupboard. At that moment, her legs went soft.

Chu Jinyao opened her mouth slightly and was unable to make a single sound for a long time. Dingxiang had not gone far, and upon hearing the noise, she quickly ran over to ask, “Young Lady, what happened?

The Eastern rooms had been converted to a study by Chu Jinyao. Since it was a study, it had to be cut off from the outside world; otherwise, it would be messy. At this moment, Chu Jinyao was supporting herself with the cupboard and through the thin veil partition, she was able to see the shadow of the oncoming maid. Dingxiang’s voice seemed to be by her ears as Chu Jinyao nervously leaned against the cupboard, unsure whether to open the doors to let others in.

And the culprit was standing in front of the desk, looking through the copybook as if one were in one’s own courtyard. Upon hearing Dingxiang’s voice, he did not raise his head or show any signs of urgency. Instead, he looked up with a smile in his eyes and watched Chu Jinyao.

It seemed that he, too, wanted to see what Chu Jinyao intended to do.

Chu Jinyao took a deep breath, and her gaze involuntarily went down to look at the other party’s shadow. Upon seeing her movement, the other party raised his eyebrows and a light chuckle appeared on his chest.

There was no shadow appearing suddenly and silently in her room. And appeared to be extremely condescending too. Chu Jinyao had originally thought that she had encountered a ghost but upon seeing this person’s arrogant posture, she felt it was familiarly arrogant. She recovered herself and lowered her voice to ask tentatively, “Qi Ze?”

The other party just smiled and did not answer, and instead, continued to look through the copybooks on the table. At this moment, Dingxiang was outside. Since she did not hear any noise from within, she became slightly flustered and called out again, “Young Lady?”

From her tone of voice, she was about to push open the doors to enter.

Chu Jinyao shouted hurriedly, “I am fine. I just accidently knocked the brush holder down. It is all right now.”

“Young Lady, are you really all right?” Dingxiang was still unsettled about it, “Should I come in to help clean up?”

“No need. No need…”

Right at this moment, Qin Yi said, “The calligraphy copybooks you chose are not good…”

“Don’t talk!” Chu Jinyao quickly turned her head and glared angrily at Qin Yi. She turned her eyes slightly and gestured outside as she whispered, “I am busy. Don’t cause trouble!”

Oh. There was still someone under Heavens who dared to despise him for causing trouble? Qin Yi smiled inexplicably as he shook his head but did not make another sound thereafter.

When Chu Jinyao had finally dismissed Dingxiang, she breathed a sigh of relief. Before she had time to drink some tea to clear her dry throat, she hurried over to see Qin Yi.

“You have turned to a human?” She looked at him with bright, sparkling eyes. Her eyes were very beautiful, a well-defined outline extending all the way to the corner of her eyes. Her eyelashes were thin and curled at the tip; it looked charming. Her pupils were black and so clear as though a gem immersed in water shimmering along the light.

When the sunlight shone from the window pane and onto her face, it was surprisingly soft. Chu Jinyao looked at him so intently that, at that moment, Qin Yi felt that the sun and moon could not compete with her eyes.

Qin Yi was unprecedentedly absent-minded and replied lowly, “En.” After a while, he realised that something was amiss and turned his head to stare at Chu Jinyao, “I have already said that I am originally a human; why do you dare to say that?”

Chu Jinyao mumbled her complaints: “You just now admitted that.” Qin Yi’s eyes swept over and she instantly changed her stance after being threatened: “All right, it is me who spoke wrongly just now.”

Qin Yi nodded in satisfaction. He was a man but had a long neckline and exquisite jaw. A random movement looked beautiful and had an innate arrogance to it.

Chu Jinyao gazed at it for a while, unexpectedly feeling a little awkward, she then avoided his eyes. As they were living together day and night, she was quite comfortable facing Qin Yi because he was formless and only had a voice. Even though it was a male voice, in her heart, Qin Yi did not have a defined gender. But now, when such a slender, handsome and sharp-featured man stood in front of her, she could no longer treat him as a close friend. Suddenly, she was at a loss.

Qin Yi waited for a while only to discover Chu Jinyao’s head was lowered; he did not know what she was thinking. Frowning secretly, he asked, “What is the matter?”

“Nothing.” Chu Jinyao shook her head slowly. After a while, she added, “I did not become estranged with you. I am just… I am not used to it at the moment. It will get better once I am used to it.”

“What an arrogant tone.” She even dared to tell the Crown Prince that she would get used to it. Qin Yi glanced at her before he lowered his head to continue reading the copybook. This time, he finally found a satisfactory book. He quickly flipped half the book and waved to her without turning his head, “Come here.”

Chu Jinyao moved over and looked at the copybook. “You want me to copy this piece?”

“Yes. You are a beginner and have to work with well-structured characters. Those elegant style scripts are not suitable for you.” Saying so, he picked up the brush from the holder and glanced down at Chu Jinyao, “Look at your dazed little eyes; you still won’t prepare the ink?”

Chu Jinyao replied with an “Oh” in hindsight. She half rolled up her sleeves and revealed her wrists as she prepared the ink for Qin Yi. He then soaked the brush in the ink and, with his wrist hung in the air, moved it across the paper like a dragon. A line of small characters appeared on the paper. Those words looked beautiful, clean and tidy, not at all inferior to the ones in the copybooks. Chu Jinyao looked at it for a while and sighed, “Looks good.”

Chu Jinyao had seen Marquis Changxing’s words and also Eldest Brother’s writings at Old Madam’s. That was perhaps the best one written by Eldest Young Master and it had always been Old Madam Chu’s pride. She would always bring it out to look when there were guests. However, after Chu Jinyao saw Qin Yi’s, she suddenly felt that Eldest Young Master’s characters were shapeless. The one who really wrote well was like Qin Yi.

Chu Jinyao sighed with feeling. “How can you know everything?” He was obviously a spirit not too long ago. Were spirits this scary when they learned about humans?

“After practicing since youth, one will know it.” Qin Yi replied indifferently.

“The few older brothers in my family have been practicing writing from seven years old and they diligently did it every day. Why does one not see they write well?” Chu Jinyao did not believe Qin Yi’s words. She carefully patted his shoulder and whispered as she leaned over, “I see that you learn everything so quickly. Is it that you have a secret method? You can tell me secretly. I will not spread it around!”

A soft chuckle appeared in Qin Yi’s heart; his entire chest was shaking. His laughter was deep and seductive and obviously sounded amusing. He could not help but stop writing and wait till his hands were steady again before he continued writing, “Chu Jinyao, you are indeed talented.”