The day Shi Lingyi returned was the second day of the second lunar month, the day known as the Dragon Raising Its Head.
She wore a silver-red beizi, with a red-gold hairpin adorned with dangling pearls in her hair. She looked much more spirited than she had at the Shi residence, and her face had gained a little color as well.
“Father, your daughter has returned.” Shi Lingyi knelt before Shi Yuanzhi and respectfully kowtowed.
Shi Yuanzhi reached out and helped her to her feet, looking her up and down. “It’s good that you’re back, good that you’re back. You must have suffered at the Shen residence, didn’t you?”
“It was no hardship. It was all what I deserved.” Shi Lingyi lowered her head.
Shi Huai stood to one side, watching the scene unfold. He could not quite put his feelings into words.
Although Shi Yuanzhi was an inadequate father, he had still treated both his daughters well.
Unfortunately, in Shi Lingyi’s eyes, that paternal love was probably worthless.
The day after Shi Lingyi returned, she began making the rounds of the marquis’s residence.
First, she went to Madam Liu’s courtyard, where mother and daughter shut the door and talked for quite some time.
Then she went to Shi Youlan’s courtyard. The sisters sat by the window embroidering, chatting and laughing for most of the day.
After that, she went to the kitchen, claiming that she wanted to stew some soup for her father. She personally watched over the fire and busied herself for more than an hour.
Finally, she arrived at the Shou’an Hall with a bowl of steaming tremella and lotus seed soup in her hands, a gentle smile on her face.
“Little Brother, Big Sister stewed some lotus seed soup for you. Have a taste.” Shi Lingyi set the bowl down in front of Shi Huai, then took a step back and watched him with a beaming smile.
Shi Huai lowered his head and glanced at the bowl. The clear, glistening soup filled the white porcelain bowl, with several red dates and lotus seeds floating on top. It looked sweet and delicious.
“Thank you, Big Sister.”
He lifted the bowl, stirred the soup with a spoon, and brought it to his lips—then suddenly stopped.
“Big Sister, have you had some already? Why don’t you take a sip first?”
Shi Lingyi’s smile did not change in the slightest. “I already had some in the kitchen. This was specially saved for you.”
A moved expression appeared on Shi Huai’s face. He raised the bowl and drained it in one gulp.
Of course, he did not really swallow it. The instant the spoon touched his lips, he had already poured all the soup into his sleeve.
Standing behind him, Qinghe’s heart leapt into her throat, but her face remained expressionless.
Shi Lingyi watched the empty bowl, the corners of her lips lifting ever so slightly. The curve was so faint that it was almost impossible to notice, but Shi Huai saw it clearly.
“Little Brother, Big Sister will be going now. Study hard, and don’t tire yourself out.” Shi Lingyi gathered up the bowl and spoon, then turned and left the study.
Only after she had gone some distance did Qinghe dare to speak, her voice trembling.
“Young Master, that bowl of lotus seed soup…”
“It was poisoned.”
Shi Huai took the soaked handkerchief from his sleeve, wrung it out, and tossed it into the water basin on the table.
Qinghe’s face went as pale as paper. Her lips trembled, but for a long while she could not utter a word.
“Don’t be afraid.” Shi Huai rose to his feet. “She wouldn’t dare use a deadly poison. That would be discovered during an investigation. All she can do is use a slow-acting poison.”
Tears spilled from Qinghe’s eyes, and her voice broke with sobs.
“Young Master, why would Eldest Miss do this? You’ve always treated her so well. Why would she still harm you?”
Shi Huai looked at Qinghe. “Sister Qinghe, some people don’t harm you because you’ve treated them badly. They harm you because you’re standing in their way.”
Qinghe did not understand what he meant, but she did not ask any further. She silently wiped away her tears, then went to the kitchen and brought back a fresh bowl of mung bean soup.
“Young Master, drink this instead. I watched the kitchen prepare it myself. No one tampered with it.”
Shi Huai accepted the bowl and took a sip. The sweetness was just right, and he narrowed his eyes contentedly.
“Sister Qinghe, you’re becoming more and more like Nanny Zhou—handling everything personally. Aren’t you tired?”
“Not at all.” Qinghe shook her head. “As long as Young Master is well, I won’t feel tired no matter what I have to do.”
The days passed one after another.
Every month, Shi Lingyi returned to the marquis’s residence and stayed for five days without fail.
Each time she came back, she would bring Shi Huai a bowl of lotus seed soup or tremella soup, smiling as she watched him finish it.
Each time, Shi Huai pretended to drink it all. In reality, he poured everything into his sleeve, then wrung out the soaked handkerchief once she was no longer paying attention.
Three months later, there was no longer any agarwood powder in the bowls Shi Lingyi brought.
She probably believed that Shi Huai had already “become stupid,” and that there was no need to continue poisoning him.
That was right. The purpose of the slow-acting poison Shi Lingyi had used was not anything else—it was to make a person stupid.
Shi Huai cooperated by pretending that he could no longer concentrate.
In front of Master Meng, he occasionally let his mind wander. When writing essays, he deliberately made a few mistakes. Even Qinghe believed that he had not been himself lately.
“Young Master, have you been too tired recently? Would you like to take a few days off?” Qinghe asked as she combed his hair, her brows tightly furrowed.
Shi Huai watched her through the bronze mirror, the corners of his lips curling upward.
“No need. I’ve just been a little sleepy lately. I’ll be fine in a few days.”
Ding! Current appearance: 99. Facial symmetry increased to 100%, skin smoothness increased to 100%, hair luster increased to 95%, eye-color saturation increased to 92%. Passive effect unlocked: Ultimate Allure. Within a ten-meter radius of the host, others’ trust in the host increases by 80%, while strangers meeting the host for the first time will develop an intense fondness for and dependence on him.
Shi Huai stared at his reflection in the bronze mirror for a long time.
The person in the mirror could no longer be described simply as “good-looking.”
His features seemed not to have grown naturally, but to have been sketched stroke by stroke by some deity.
Every curve was perfectly measured, and each blink was like a painting turning to its next page.
Qinghe’s hand stopped in midair. The bronze comb slipped from her fingers and fell to the floor with a clear, ringing sound.
“Sister Qinghe?” Shi Huai turned and looked at her.
Tears fell from Qinghe’s eyes without warning, silently tracing her cheeks before dripping onto the floor and spreading into a small patch of moisture.
“Young Master, are you a god?” Qinghe’s voice was as soft as a dream.
Shi Huai froze for a moment, then smiled. His smile was like the first warm breeze of spring, carrying a tenderness that could intoxicate the heart.
“I’m not a god. I’m the Young Master you watched grow up!”
That evening, Shi Huai went to the main residence to pay his respects to Shi Yuanzhi. Halfway there, he encountered a group of people.
They were relatives from Madam Liu’s maternal family—the Liu family’s several madams and young ladies, who had come to visit the marquis’s residence.
Shi Huai had intended to take another route, but it was already too late.
The woman walking at the front, the Liu family’s First Madam, saw him and froze as if struck by lightning. Her mouth fell open, and for a long while she could not close it.
“W-Who is this child?”
The Liu family’s First Madam’s voice trembled. Her eyes were as wide as bells, fixed unblinkingly on Shi Huai’s face.
Shi Huai stopped and properly bowed. “Shi Huai pays his respects to all the madams.”
The several young ladies behind the Liu family’s First Madam were stunned as well.
One of them dropped the round fan in her hand without even realizing it. Another covered her mouth, her eyes even wider than her lips.
“You’re that… that…”
