The cabin was quiet, sunlight streaming through the window. It fell upon Bai Shiqi's porcelain-white, nearly translucent earlobe, like a fine piece of jade revealing a hint of pink within, making it impossible to look away.
Zhao Wujiu's hand, which was drying her hair, paused involuntarily for a moment before resuming its rhythm.
Truth be told, he had never personally attended to anyone before. In the palace, his younger sisters were always surrounded by a retinue of servants. Moreover, they were not born of the same mother. The only way to express goodwill was to send gifts on their birthdays, all chosen by his subordinates according to the palace inventory, with his own input being less than a ten-thousandth of the effort.
Sitting down properly to dry someone's hair was a genuine first.
Bai Shiqi, likely feeling guilty for her mischief, was uncharacteristically docile and obedient. She sat quietly, letting his fingers run through her soft locks, as if the owner of such hair must also possess a gentle nature. This made Zhao Wujiu stumble mid-sentence in his reprimand, giving him the illusion that he was scolding the wrong person—this bad deed surely couldn't have been done by her.
He unconsciously stopped, swallowing the rest of his admonishments.
A short while later, her hair was almost dry, and Zhao Wujiu had figured out his own peculiar reaction.
The methods of raising princes and princesses in the palace were vastly different. Princes studied and practiced martial arts from childhood, requiring diligence and ambition. Princesses, however, were pampered and cherished, not allowed to have a single bruise on their bodies. If the one who had thrown mice into his room today had been a young man, he would undoubtedly have ordered them to be taken out for a caning. But the culprit was a daring young lady, which made things rather tricky—he couldn't have her caned, nor could he praise her for a job well done. A few harsh words of reproach meant nothing to Bai Shiqi.
He raised his voice and called out, "Tell Zhao Ziheng to get his ass in here!"
Zhao Ziheng, of course, wouldn't admit to being part of the prank. Standing at the doorway and witnessing the pitiful state of the five dead mice, he put on a look of surprise. "How did dead mice get here? The ship's crew is too careless! Did you need something, cousin?" He stood far away, refusing to take a single step inside.
Bai Shiqi silently critiqued him: Shifty eyes, trembling breath, exaggerated acting—terrible performance!
—Brother, you're giving yourself away, you know that?
Zhao Wujiu gave a cold laugh. "Ziheng, I truly didn't know you had developed an interest in military strategy." But the icy severity in his eyes made Zhao Ziheng's scalp prickle. Sensing nothing good would come of this, he instinctively cast a pleading look towards Bai Shiqi, who was sitting unusually quiet, hugging her knees on the footstool by the bed.
Bai Shiqi thought to herself: Sorry, good brother! When it comes to taking the blame, of course, it falls to your best pal!
She pretended not to notice Zhao Ziheng's pleading gaze and instead fawned over Zhao Wujiu. "Cousin, would you like some tea?"
"No need." Even without turning around, Zhao Wujiu could imagine Bai Shiqi's smug little look of having escaped punishment. A vein twitched at his temple. He took a deep breath to suppress the urge to grab her and give her a sound thrashing.
His plea for help ignored, Zhao Ziheng, confused, could only try to save himself. "I don't understand, cousin. Please explain."
Zhao Wujiu easily shattered his illusions. "I truly underestimated you. You employed the stratagem of 'luring the tiger away from the mountain' with remarkable skill."
Shu Changfeng awkwardly lowered his head, his face flushing red.
—Wasn't His Highness indirectly calling him stupid?
Zhao Ziheng wasn't hopelessly dense either; he finally understood the implication. Still trying to shake the blame off himself, he made a last, desperate struggle. "Cousin, don't wrong me! I didn't do anything!"
"Won't tell the truth, eh?"
Throughout the journey, Zhao Wujiu had been relatively mild-tempered. Now, he finally revealed his decisive, commanding side, having no patience to waste words on Zhao Ziheng. He directly ordered, "Drag him out and give him ten strokes!"
Amid Zhao Ziheng's piercing cries of "Cousin, have mercy! Mercy!", Shu Changfeng ruthlessly dragged him out. Moments later, the heavy sound of a rod striking flesh came from outside, accompanied by Zhao Ziheng's wails and pleas for leniency...
Bai Shiqi was dumbfounded, secretly wondering if Zhao Wujiu was so accustomed to ordering beatings in court that he resorted to corporal punishment at the slightest disagreement.
She stammered, "Cousin, Ziheng he..." As Zhao Wujiu's murderous gaze swept over her, she felt a phantom pain on her own body. Her tongue instantly tied, and the words of intercession died in her throat.
Bai Shiqi, a master at reading expressions, immediately grasped the meaning in Zhao Wujiu's look: Do you want to take Zhao Ziheng's place for the beating?
Bai Shiqi unceremoniously shrank back, abandoning all loyalty.
Zhao Ziheng, howling like a ghost, was dragged back after ten strokes and was also ordered by Zhao Wujiu to clean up the dead mice.
With tears welling in his eyes, he desperately wanted to defend himself: Shu Changfeng can testify! Cousin, you've truly wronged me!
But facing Zhao Wujiu's implacable, cold expression, he feared that defending himself might earn him another ten strokes. He shot a resentful, accusing look at Bai Shiqi, tremblingly cleaned up the dead mice, then clung to the ship's railing, retching endlessly into the canal water. Tears and snot smeared his face, a truly wretched sight.
Bai Shiqi stood up and took her leave from Zhao Wujiu. "Since you have matters to attend to, cousin, I won't disturb you further. Please rest!" She hastily excused herself, terrified of being detained.
Zhao Wujiu watched her fleeing figure, speechless. Hearing her footsteps quicken into a run the moment she left the room, he still held a sliver of hope that perhaps this incident would curb some of Bai Shiqi's mischievousness.
After some thought, he instructed Shu Changfeng, "Go keep an eye on Ziheng and Shiqi."
Bai Shiqi found Zhao Ziheng still vomiting and stood behind him, patting his back sympathetically. "Ziheng, look on the bright side. Everyone has a first time."
Zhao Ziheng almost burst into loud sobs. "Bai Shiqi, you bastard!" She had actually called it. In all his grown years, this was his first time being beaten with a rod, and also his first time cleaning up dead mice!
Bai Shiqi was uncharacteristically good-natured. "I'm a bastard, I'm a bastard!" She then offered him her post-beating pain relief experience. "Drink a couple of jars of wine now. It won't hurt as much when you wake up."
Zhao Ziheng wasn't listening at all, only growing more aggrieved. He accused her, "It was your bad idea, your mess, but I got beaten for it. Don't you have any conscience?"
"We're good brothers, aren't we? We share joys and sorrows." Bai Shiqi sighed wistfully. "That's the annoying thing about adults. They're stricter with those closer to them, but more polite with other people's children. They've mastered the art of 'killing the chicken to scare the monkey'."
Just as Wen Tao was to her father, yet she was the one who got beaten; she was to Zhao Wujiu, yet Zhao Ziheng was the one who got beaten.
When these words reached Zhao Wujiu's ears, they nearly made him choke with fury—Distinction between close and distant? Killing the chicken to scare the monkey?
By then, Bai Shiqi had already put her arm around Zhao Ziheng's shoulders and taken him back to his room to drink. Two jars of fruit wine were opened, and each took one, drinking directly from them. She even teased, "Do you want me to help you apply the medicine?"
Zhao Ziheng, despite the beating, remained incorrigible. Leaning sideways on the couch, he suggested, "How about we help each other apply the medicine?" He sat up and started to undo his belt.
Zhao Wujiu, who had rushed over upon hearing the news, nearly turned green in the face!
He took a few deep breaths, suppressing the urge to have a proper talk with Gang Leader Bai, and pushed the wheelchair into Bai Shiqi's room. With a dark expression, he asked, "What is all this?"
"Applying medicine!" Zhao Ziheng, having nothing left to lose, was even preparing to undo his belt. Fortunately, Fourth Miss Song entered with Zhen'er carrying some dishes, which stopped his foolishness.
After boarding the ship, she wanted to showcase her virtuous side. She had been eating in her own room at mealtimes and had sent Zhen'er to gather information. Originally, she planned to invite Bai Shiqi to her room for a chat after the meal. Who knew that Bai Shiqi hadn't even eaten, instead holed up in his room taking a bath.
Zhen'er suggested, "Since the young master is on an empty stomach, why not make a few dishes yourself and send them over?"
The suggestion appealed to her greatly, and she immediately put it into practice. Upon entering, she said softly, "You're injured and drinking on an empty stomach, why don't you take better care of yourself?"
Bai Shiqi said, "It's nothing serious." Catching a whiff of fragrance, his eyes followed the food box. "What is that? It smells wonderful?" Without any reservation, he invited Zhao Wujiu, "Cousin, come try some too. This fruit wine is smooth and mellow, sweet, and doesn't give you a headache."
Fourth Miss Song, with her delicate hands—and to prevent scarring on the skin, the few dishes she had learned were mainly steamed, along with two types of dressed seasonal vegetables and some baked stuffed pies from the kitchen—brought everything up, filling a small table.
Zhao Wujiu discovered that since meeting Bai Shiqi, he often found himself in a dilemma.
For instance, during the internal strife between the Bai father and son; or now, with Bai Shiqi having a beauty by his side, drinking merrily with Zhao Ziheng—these were all moments that gave him a headache.
Bai Shiqi was careless and didn't mind, but that Miss Song was gazing at him with tender affection, and Zhao Ziheng had a reckless nature. Unaware of the situation, he had even tried to undo his trousers to let Bai Shiqi apply medicine for him... It was all a mess!
He sat down, and Bai Shiqi fished out another jar of fruit wine from the corner, broke the clay seal, and handed it over.
Zhao Wujiu took the wine jar and, upon closer inspection, noticed quite a few jars piled up in the corner. He wasn't sure if they were originally on the ship or if Bai Shiqi had someone procure them. Remembering Bai Shiqi's heroic deeds after getting drunk last time, he resigned himself to meddling and called for Shu Changfeng to clear out all the wine jars from the corner.
Bai Shiqi jumped up to stop him. "Cousin, that's not fair. I invite you to drink, but you're taking everything? What's the logic in that?"
Zhao Wujiu said, "We're almost in Suzhou anyway. Can't you drink to your heart's content back home? Must you get dead drunk on the ship?" Who knows what kind of story would unfold if he got drunk again.
After downing a couple of mouthfuls of wine, Zhao Ziheng's mood became excited. He blocked Shu Changfeng, not letting him leave. "Is this one jar even enough?"
Zhao Wujiu shot him a glance, and he instantly lost his nerve, mumbling as he sat back down to complain, "You've hit me, you've scolded me, cousin, please spare me. Just let us have a peaceful drink!"
