It seemed she understood very well.

Having written those kinds of things, she must have frequented such places, right?

Being entangled by such a woman was simply bad luck.  Looking at Yue Si Chao again, there was more contempt in his eyes.

“I’m not that cheap,” he sneered.

He casually took out a bank note and threw it out of the carriage window.

“Five hundred taels. Don’t appear in front of me again.”

“Neither you, nor those indecent things of yours.”

“Ling Chuan, let’s go.”

The gentle breeze raised by the luxurious carriage caused the bank note to spin in mid-air. Yue Si Chao caught it, cherished it, and put it into her purse, somewhat bewildered.

Don’t appear in front of him…

Did that mean he tacitly approved of what she had done, as long as she didn’t bother him anymore?

Powerful people always spoke concisely, leaving the rest to be inferred. But looking at the bank note, worth dozens of times more than the small gold ingot, she felt there was no need to pass up the money.

Some people were willing to spend more money to buy this kind of feeling of being pondered over and over.

Having unexpectedly gained a windfall, Yue Si Chao was in a good mood, her steps even lighter.

The calligraphy and painting shop closed early today. Ji Shu had booked a restaurant early, and after they had given their gifts, and after a few rounds of drinks and birthday celebrations, it was already dark.

At some point, a light rain began to fall, not heavy, but enough to dampen the bluestone steps.

Yue Si Chao was hesitating whether to wait for the rain to stop or simply run back to the mansion in the drizzle when an umbrella suddenly appeared above her head.

She came to her senses and met Ji Shu’s gaze.

He said softly, “Let me walk you back.”

Yue Si Chao trusted him and naturally didn’t refuse. She took the first step down the stone steps.

Slightly cold moisture filled the air, and she felt that the umbrella above her head inexplicably felt larger.

The two shared an umbrella, their arms occasionally brushing against each other while walking, and then tacitly separating quickly. When they passed a slightly loose bluestone slab, Ji Shu gently supported her shoulder to prevent the water from the cracks from splashing on her skirt.

“Be careful,” he cautioned.

“Thank you,” she smiled gratefully.

Then silence fell again.

In the dim night, Yue Si Chao saw that the man’s body was unknowingly already mostly wet.

Actually, Ji Shu was hesitating whether to confess his feelings to her.

Falling for her seemed natural.

There were many beautiful women in the world, and many well-educated women, but most of the girls from good families were content to be parasitic vines dependent on their families.

Girls like her, who tried their best to earn their own money, were few and far between.

In a way, they were alike.

When he first met her, she could even go up the mountain to pick mushrooms to sell, as if she were never a spoiled official’s daughter.

In the silence, Ji Shu mustered his courage to speak, “Miss Yue, I want to tell you something.”

“Oof!”

Before he could utter his thoughts, the girl beside him exclaimed and fell into his arms.

Warm and soft, his already nervous heart fluttered even more.

Ji Shu looked at the girl in his arms, but saw no shame on her face, only panic as she reached for her waist, then decisively took a step, chasing after the figure that had already run several meters away.

“Let’s talk about it tomorrow!” her anxious voice gradually drifted away.

He took a step to chase after her, but her instructions followed, “Don’t follow, don’t let the gift get wet!”

Ji Shu stopped, pursed his lips.

After getting along for so long, he wasn’t unaware of her habits. There were at most ten taels of money in that purse.

…Was she running away because she didn’t want to hear his unspoken words?

He shook his head helplessly, his expression somewhat downcast.

Oh well, it wasn’t a good time.

He might as well mention it to her after the imperial examination results next year.

Yue Si Chao held up her skirt, braving the rain to chase after the thief.

Actually, she had learned to chop wood and do chores since she was a child, and she often climbed mountains and crossed rivers, so her physical strength was quite good. If it were usual, catching him wouldn’t be difficult.

Unfortunately, the dress she was wearing today made it difficult for her to take large strides, and her purse also contained the five hundred taels bank note Mu Zhao had thrown to her.

That was five hundred taels!

Even if she and her savings were sold together, it wouldn’t be enough.

So she had to get it back no matter what.

Not far away, she decisively picked up a stone and ripped a long slit in her skirt.

Without the restriction of the fabric, she could run much faster.

Seeing that she was persistent, the thief deliberately ran to crowded places. In a short time, he led her back to the street full of restaurants and bright lights.

Seeing that she was still following closely and getting closer and closer, he didn’t say a word and turned into a place full of light gauze curtains.

Without thinking, Yue Si Chao followed in, even the madam who greeted guests outside the brothel didn’t react in time.

Fortunately, she managed to grab his arm before the thief broke into the room.

The thief was panting, tears welling up in his eyes, “You can really run, granny.”

“…Cut the crap, hand it over.”

She was also panting heavily.  As she reached out to take it, the thief deliberately threw it towards the building opposite.

She watched as the purse landed on the corridor opposite.

“If you don’t let go of me, someone will pick it up soon!”

The thief violently broke free from her and ran in another direction.

Getting the purse back was more important than catching the thief.

Yue Si Chao pursed her lips and immediately went to the opposite side along the curved corridor. As soon as she picked up the purse, she saw the madam with a red hairpin and several thugs running towards the floor where she was, pointing at her and shouting, “It’s her, it’s her! She forced her way in! And she bumped into several of our girls!”

Light gauze curtains fell from the side, the thin curtains swaying, vaguely revealing the enchanting embroidery within.

Yue Si Chao realized where she was.

…She had mistakenly entered a brothel.

She wasn’t unaware of her own beauty. On the contrary, she quite liked her own temperament and appearance. Although she wasn’t as charming and enchanting as a beauty, she could also be considered a beautiful young lady.

No matter what, she couldn’t fall into the hands of those thugs!

She didn’t dare to imagine what would happen to her, and even if she managed to escape from here, her stepmother would definitely deal with her under the pretext of maintaining family dignity.

She secretly cursed the thief in her heart, took a deep breath, forced herself to calm down, chose the quietest room among the many rooms where (soft and lingering music) was coming from, and pushed open the door, quickly latching it from the inside.

If she remembered correctly, when she was catching the thief, she had seen a richly dressed man leave from here, so there should be no one here now.

Her heart was beating fast, after cautiously looking around, she breathed a sigh of relief.

She had guessed right, there was indeed no one.

Next, she just needed to carefully climb down from the window, and everything that had happened would be over.

She quickly went to the window, leaned down to look, and considered where she should land.

During the most difficult times, she had to climb mountains to pick mushrooms during the rainy season. The usually firm soil, having absorbed water, became soft and prone to collapse.

Even so, she could still return safely.

It was only three floors, it shouldn’t be too difficult.

She encouraged herself and put her hands on the window sill.

Unexpectedly, as soon as she exerted force, something suddenly wrapped around her waist, pulling her back.

She exclaimed “Assault!”, and then a slightly cool hand covered her lips.

She also fought back, biting hard on the other person’s finger.

The man finally let go of her. When their eyes met, he coldly said, “Yue Si Chao, are you sick?”

The room fell silent, the shadows cast from the wooden window falling on Mu Zhao’s rather impatient brows.

It was already bad enough that his uncle had tricked him into coming here under the guise of a “welcome dinner,” and he had just gotten rid of his uncle when Yue Si Chao barged in.

Not only that, she also latched the door.

Her intentions were too obvious.

He remembered that she had looked around, specifically checking for people, and not seeing him, she tried to escape by jumping out of the window.

Time and again, she was using his kindness to blackmail him with her life.

The room was not lit, only the lights and night scene from outside the window, but the blush on the girl’s face was still very obvious. Her eyes were sparkling, filled with shame and anger, but when she saw the cold and handsome face, she was stunned for a moment, and said, “You’re the one who’s sick, why did you take advantage of me?”

Good.

She had mastered this preemptive strike.

Mu Zhao leaned against the window, looking down at the teeth marks on his finger, the previously warm touch seemed to linger, making him even more annoyed.

“…Who took advantage of you?” he denied impatiently.

He didn’t dare to admit it?

Yue Si Chao’s gaze shifted downwards, towards that pair of tall and slender hands.

It was them, one arm had forcefully pulled her, the other had covered her lips.

This was the first time she had been treated so rudely by a man, and in this kind of place.  She was embarrassed and angry, but the culprit didn’t even admit it!

She looked up again at the man’s cold face.

His usual aloof demeanor was so convincing. If she hadn’t encountered him in the brothel today and experienced this herself, she probably wouldn’t have known that he was such a despicable person inside!

Staring at those sharp eyes, he added calmly, “Miss Yue, you clearly barged in yourself, and I’ve already warned you not to appear again.”

“How would I know you were here?” she was furious.

“What are you pretending for?”

“Actually, your appearance here doesn’t surprise me at all.”