Qiqi arrived even faster than they expected. In the afternoon, Shi Buyu was just about to go out for a walk when she reached the main gate and saw a beautiful young woman being stopped by the gatekeeper.

The woman wore plain clothes, without any jewelry, but had small fresh flowers decorating her outfit, making her already outstanding appearance even more charming.

Qiqi, facing this way, saw her and paused for a moment. Then she quickly bypassed the gatekeeper and respectfully bowed before her: “Qiqi is deeply indebted to the young master. I beg the lady for mercy and to allow me to see the young master.”

No wonder she had managed to keep her purity despite three years in the pleasure quarters. Her words showed humility while making her intent clear, and by calling herself “slave,” she confirmed her status.

Shi Buyu smiled ambiguously: “Do you know who I am?”

Anyone familiar with Yan Shian would know that he had neither wife nor romantic companion. Qiqi didn’t think in that direction; she guessed, “Are you the young master’s sister?”

“To call me a sister isn’t wrong,” Shi Buyu replied, smiling as she saw Qiqi’s expression confirming this guess. “But a cousin can be even closer.”

Qiqi was shocked: “Closer…?”

Shi Buyu waved the gatekeeper away and turned back: “Come inside.”

Qiqi bit her lip and lifted her skirt, following. Even if it was as she thought, she had to soften the other party’s heart first.

Shi Buyu was strong-willed and didn’t bring her back to her own courtyard, but casually entered a guest room to sit down.

Qiqi hurried over and knelt before her, urgently saying: “Lady, I’m not greedy, and I dare not have any foolish dreams. I only ask for a place to stay. Please grant me this.”

“To first get a place to stay, then, for that place to be safe, you want a child. After having a child, you’ll want a status. By then, even the official wife couldn’t just dismiss you.”

Shi Buyu took the tea that her maid handed her and sipped it. “Hmm, sweet.” She took another sip.

Qiqi felt a chill in her heart: “I, slave, would never dare think that way!”

“No need to rush to call yourself slave. If I don’t agree, you won’t be the Yan family’s slave,” Shi Buyu said sweetly with a good attitude. “So many young masters here, why do you only ask for my cousin?”

“The Yan young master is known for his kindness. Anyone who asks for his help, as long as he can, he will. So I…”

“Not just because my cousin’s a soft touch, right? Besides him, the other young masters all come from official families. If you dared ruin their reputations, even if they ransomed you out, there’d be someone waiting to send you off for good. My cousin is different — his parents aren’t around, he’s the only master at home. If you hold him, even if one day he marries a wife from a matching family, since you came first, his nature wouldn’t allow him to throw you out.”

Shi Buyu smiled half teasingly: “So, what did Zhang Shijin promise you to help him cause trouble for my cousin?”

One sentence after another, she guessed Qiqi’s intentions almost completely. Qiqi panicked inside, shaking her hands nervously as she said, “No, no, that’s not true! Zhang Gongzi only promised me a chance to see Young Master Yan. I never meant to harm him! Last year, Young Master Yan helped a certain sister out of trouble, and I started paying attention then, but he’s never fond of women’s company, so I never had a chance to meet him. Tomorrow is my debut day; I’m really anxious. Zhang Gongzi said he could help me with this favor, so I didn’t think about anything else!”

Zhang Shijin’s intentions were easy to guess; Qiqi’s were even easier, so this could be believed.

Shi Buyu took another sip of the sweet syrup; the sweetness made her words sound less harsh: “Stand up, sit and talk.”

Qiqi hesitated but sat down, heart pounding. Why was her fate so unlucky? After scheming her way out of the muck, the first person she grabbed onto turned out to be the fiancé of the young master she wanted to get close to! She didn’t dare imagine what consequences awaited her.

Looking at the nearly finished cup of sweet tea, Shi Buyu reluctantly put it down and looked directly at Qiqi: “Do you think being a concubine is your best way out?”

Qiqi didn’t dare answer but thought: Better than being pillow to a thousand jade arms, better than being tasted by a thousand red lips by far.

“If you become a concubine, the mistress and the master can give you away or sell you anytime. If the buyer’s intentions aren’t good, you’ll end up a household prostitute. When you grow older, they’ll toss you aside to survive in some corner — how much better is that than your current situation?”

Qiqi pressed her lips and whispered, “Young Master Yan isn’t like that.”

“He’s not, but the mistress might be.”

“….” No one said it was her.

Seeing she was thinking this, Shi Buyu sneered, “The mistress might not be me. Before marriage, anything can happen. From what I know, many families in the capital want him as their son-in-law.”

Qiqi knelt down again: “Since you’re willing to tell me this, you must pity me. Please point me to the right path. If I leave here, I have no way to survive.”

Indeed, Shi Buyu was smart. She smiled. She really had no way to survive—no family, no means of protecting herself, yet born with good looks. For a woman, that was a disaster.

“Follow me. When I leave the capital, I’ll bring you along. If then you want to marry, I’ll find you a trustworthy family.”

Qiqi never expected to hear this. No matter how she looked at it, it seemed like a reasonable way to drive away the people around Young Master Yan…

It was false to say she had no feelings for Young Master Yan. Just as the cousin said, if she could win Yan’s heart and have a child, her life would be stable. That was all she ever asked for, nothing more. Given her background, no matter how lowly she bowed, that would be the most she could grasp.

But if she had the chance to become the mistress, what harm was a lower birth?

She cautiously asked, “What do I have to do following you? When do you plan to leave?”

“You’ll do clean, honest things. You put in so much effort to get this far, I won’t let you get muddy again. As for when I leave… I can’t say for now.”

Shi Buyu leaned forward slightly, tone softer: “Follow me. No need to please men, no need to fear. If anyone schemes against or harms you, I’ll help you fight back. You can walk openly on the streets, face everyone proudly, no hiding, no shame. One day, there will be proper betrothal arrangements. Don’t you want to live that kind of life?”

Want it? She wanted it so badly! That was how she lived before she was twelve. But after that, her life turned upside down. If she could have it again, how could she not want it? She wanted it so much!