The next moment, Mu Zhao, accompanied by Ling Chuan, appeared in the teahouse opposite the calligraphy and painting shop.

Even though the calligraphy and painting shop was bustling with customers, it wasn’t difficult to find Yue Si Chao.

She was always the most inconspicuous one.

Her face was devoid of makeup, she wore the simplest and most ordinary clothes, and her hair wasn’t adorned with any expensive hairpins; only a sky-blue velvet flower was tucked in her hair.

There seemed to be some lifelike withered grass beside the velvet flower.

Wait, withered grass?

Mu Zhao recalled the bullock cart that had passed him, its weight seeming off, his thin lips slightly pursed.

Looking at her again, his eyes held a hint of inquiry.

He remembered that the cowbell sound had stopped for a moment at the alley entrance, and she must have gotten on the cart then.

Was she avoiding him?

But why would she avoid him?

If a woman admired a man to the point of obsession, even writing such things, would she want to avoid him when she could see him?

Ling Chuan exclaimed beside him, “She actually came? When did she come?”

Mu Zhao said indifferently, “She came hidden in the hay of that bullock cart.”

“You mean… she saw you first, then hid inside? But why?”

Although the bullock cart wasn’t dirty or smelly, it certainly wasn’t clean either.  Besides the damp, decaying smell of wood, there was also a faint smell of the cow shed.

Ling Chuan couldn’t understand why a girl would prefer to put herself in such an environment.

“Yes, why?”

Mu Zhao asked himself, lowering his eyes, for the first time doubting his judgment.

As the two were silent, they suddenly heard the playful voices of a couple nearby.

“Hong Lang, don’t look at me, don’t look at me! Shuangshuang is very haggard today, she doesn’t look good at all…”

“Nonsense! Shuangshuang is beautiful every day, she’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen!”

…

The cloying words came intermittently, Mu Zhao’s gaze fell again on the calligraphy and painting shop across the window.

So that’s how it was.

Today, she wasn’t adorned, her clothes were even more ordinary than the day they met at the city gate, so she would rather hide in the bullock cart, getting herself dirty, than be seen by him.

It is said that women dress up for the men they love. It seems that her admiration for him had reached an incurable level.

Mu Zhao’s handsome brows furrowed, feeling that it was even more urgent to clarify things with her.

The night was cool as water.

Under the candlelight, Yue Si Chao was carefully wrapping a wolf hair brush.

The maidservant Huanzhi pushed the door open. Seeing the beautiful silk knot tied on the brush handle, she slightly curved her lips, quickened her pace, and gently placed the tray in her hand aside, teasing, “This servant has never seen Miss so attentive to anyone before.”

Yue Si Chao glared at her, but didn’t stop her work, “Don’t talk nonsense.”

“Tomorrow is Young Master Ji’s birthday. He has no parents, and not many friends in the capital. He has helped us a lot, and if I don’t show any gratitude, wouldn’t that be ungrateful?”

Huanzhi was the only maid in her courtyard, even more diligent than she was. Although she was thin, she could chop wood, make fires, wash clothes, and clean, everything. Yue Si Chao often felt that she was even more efficient than the first-class maids in the main courtyard.

Huanzhi looked at the dress on the tray, slightly regretful, “It’s a pity that Miss’s spring dress hasn’t been dried after washing, so she can only wear last year’s style.”

“It’s not a big deal.” Yue Si Chao didn’t care about these things, “As long as the fabric is presentable, he’s not someone who looks down on others. Besides, if I dress too formally and cause him to misunderstand, what should I do?”

Huanzhi pouted and whispered, “A misunderstanding isn’t necessarily a bad thing… Young Master Ji is a good person…”

Yue Si Chao interrupted her sternly, “That’s not something we should be thinking about now.”

After saying this, feeling that she had been a little harsh, she sighed softly and softened her voice, “You also know that I’m just an unfavored concubine daughter in our family. My marriage is still in the hands of the lady in the main courtyard, and I can’t decide for myself.”

“And Young Master Ji came to the capital to take the imperial examination. With his appearance and talent, it’s only a matter of time before he achieves success. I heard that His Majesty favors talented men. Then, let alone the daughters of officials, even princesses are possible.”

“Since it’s impossible, why bother with these feelings? It will only cause unnecessary heartache in the end.”

Huanzhi looked at her fair and beautiful face, her lips moving, wanting to say something, but not knowing what to say.

She felt that her Miss was perfect in every way, but she didn’t look like a sixteen-year-old girl.

It was the prime of her youth, the age of budding love, but she looked like she had seen through the world, with a weary and world-weary appearance.

Only money could arouse her interest, nothing else.

With a myriad of emotions in her heart, she only uttered a resentful sentence, “Anyway, this servant thinks Miss is great, it’s fine to have any kind of feeling! Even if she wants to be an imperial concubine.”

That’s not possible.

The current emperor is older than her father, and she doesn’t want to be his concubine.

Yue Si Chao thought to herself, she was working so hard to make money so that she could leave the Yue Mansion as soon as possible, so as not to be casually given to someone else as a concubine by her stepmother.

Her father only had good looks and a silver tongue, and besides being able to sweet-talk women, he had no real ability.

He was originally only a seventh-rank official, and it was only because her stepmother married off her other concubine daughters to pave the way for him that he got his current fifth-rank position.

If it weren’t for the fact that she had an older sister who was a few months older than her and hadn’t gotten married yet, and her stepmother was preoccupied with her elder sister’s marriage, she might have been given to someone else as a concubine to pave the way for her useless father.

Yue Si Chao suppressed these complicated thoughts and finally reminded Huanzhi, “I know you’re doing this for my own good, but just think about these things yourself, don’t mention them to others, lest you get punished.”

Miss always thinks for her.

Huanzhi smiled warmly and agreed, “This servant knows.”

To prevent Yue Si Chao from continuing to avoid him, Mu Zhao specially waited in the carriage at the alley entrance today, and didn’t pretend to nap anymore.

When his gaze passed through several pedestrians and fell on the girl, he paused slightly.

She was very different from yesterday. She had abandoned her plain clothes and specially changed into a goose-yellow dress, making her already fair skin even more dazzling. Her exposed neck was slender.

Although it wasn’t expensive fabric, just ordinary gauze, it could be seen that she had dressed up carefully.

Her steps were light and graceful, her figure slender, perfectly balancing aloofness and allure.

Sure enough.

Yesterday, she was afraid that she wasn’t pretty enough to see him, and today, she was afraid that he would come again, so she specially dressed up to meet him.

His guess had been further verified, and Mu Zhao was now absolutely certain that she was trying to seduce him.

The same boring tricks as those other women.

“Miss Yue.”

The voice came from in front, slightly cold, mixed with some impatience and annoyance.

Yue Si Chao came back to her senses from thinking about where to find out about fake death medicine. The invisible pressure made her scalp tingle for a moment.

She raised her head and saw a hand as slender as green bamboo extending from the carriage beside her. The curtain was lifted, revealing a pair of deep and cold eyes.

Their eyes met, and she was clearly stunned for a moment.

Mu Zhao?

Why was he here again?

Was he looking for her?

How did he know her name?

Could it be that the matter of secretly writing those erotic stories about him had finally been discovered?

The last encounter made Yue Si Chao understand that his temper wasn’t very good, and this man was powerful and influential. If he came directly to her, he wouldn’t intend to take her directly to the government office to confiscate her earnings, would he?

A good girl can bend and stretch.

She could lose face, but she couldn’t lose money, and she had to go to Ji Shu’s birthday today, so it wasn’t good to delay too long.

Mu Zhao was a man after all, and a big shot, so he shouldn’t waste too much time on her.

As long as she softened a little, there was still room for reconciliation.

Thinking of this, Yue Si Chao took the initiative, “I’m sorry.”

After saying this, seeing that he hadn’t reacted yet, she quickly lowered her head and stared at her toes, putting on a guilty look, even blushing with guilt.

After living cautiously in the Yue Mansion for so many years, she was best at pretending.

Apologizing first.

She finally knew that admiring him was wrong?

Mu Zhao looked at her suspiciously, but only saw the girl’s blushing face.

He then noticed that she had even put on makeup today, and a refreshing scent of camellia wafted over in the spring breeze.

“Why are you blushing?”

Although he was good-looking and had a good figure, just looking at him wouldn’t make her blush so much, would it?

Yue Si Chao thought, of course, she was blushing because of guilt.

Wasn’t her guilt obvious enough?

She swallowed, and said softly, “I can give you money.”

Giving him some silver, buying the right to use his name, was not impossible.

…Money?

What did he think he was?

A gigolo in a brothel?

He was almost amused, “How much money can you give me?”

Yue Si Chao pursed her lips and untied the purse from her waist.

She had earned less than two hundred taels these days, all hidden in the secret compartment under her bed. She only carried a small gold ingot and some copper coins with her, about ten taels.

She was reluctant to give him all of it, and giving him copper coins was like giving money to a beggar. After much deliberation, she painfully handed over the small gold ingot.

“Is that enough?”

Mu Zhao’s temples twitched.

Although he didn’t like to get involved in romantic affairs, he had been among men, and he had more or less heard them talk about brothels.

For someone with an official position, if it wasn’t particularly extravagant, the cost of one night would be about this much.