She was used to the man’s superior attitude; his tone towards her had always been contemptuous and sarcastic, but now, because he had helped her, she felt that everything that had happened tonight wasn’t so bad.

Mu Zhao had broad shoulders, long legs, and a straight back, seeming a head taller than her. He took large strides and didn’t deliberately wait for her, so she had to quicken her pace to keep up.

She thought idly, no wonder so many ladies in the capital admired him.

To be fair, with such looks and age, he was truly exceptional among the mostly middle-aged and elderly men in the court.

Even his concise and merciless mouth seemed more humane than roundabout, ambiguous words.

She decided to write about him more gently in the future.

The rain outside had stopped.

The Marquis’s carriage had been waiting in the alley, taking her and Mu Zhao towards the Yue Mansion. In the night, the stone lions of the mansion grew larger and larger before her eyes. Yue Si Chao saw a figure holding an umbrella waiting not far from the mansion gate.

Ji Shu?

She turned to Mu Zhao, “That… Marquis, just stop at the alley entrance, I can walk back myself.”

Mu Zhao didn’t lift his eyelids, “Suit yourself.”

“Right, the clothes…” she fumbled to untie them.

“No need,” he said casually.

“But that’s not right.”

What would it look like to return to the mansion so late wearing a strange man’s clothes?

And his clothes looked very expensive.

“Should I compensate you some money?”

Mu Zhao saw her hesitation from the corner of his eye, “They’ve absorbed too much of your poor-quality scent, I don’t want them anymore, and you don’t need to give me money.”

“…Oh.” The good feeling she had just developed diminished again. She still politely said, “Thank you, then goodbye.”

He was incredibly troublesome; it was better not to see him again.

And goodbye? Did she really want to see him again?

He perfunctorily “med” (a sound of acknowledgement).

Even after the scent of tea on the woman had dissipated in the carriage for a long time, Mu Zhao didn’t see Ling Chuan intending to drive away.

He impatiently asked, “Why aren’t you going yet? Or are you going to personally send her back to the mansion?”

“That’s not it, I just think Miss Yue is very interesting.”

Ling Chuan’s voice came from outside the carriage.

“You said, who is she going to see when she returns to the mansion so late? As soon as she got out of the carriage, she loosened her hair and quickly tied it up again…”

As he spoke, Mu Zhao had already lifted the curtain of the carriage window.  Coincidentally, he saw her hiding in the shadows, taking off his outer robe and casually stuffing it into the flowerpot of the lucky tree in front of the mansion. She hurriedly covered the tear in her skirt, then walked gracefully towards the tall man standing in front of the mansion.

The fabric of Yue Si Chao’s clothes was quite thin. After being delayed for a long time with Mu Zhao, it was almost dry now.

She walked from the darkness into the light, stopping a few steps away from Ji Shu, and asked, “Young Master Ji, why are you here?”

Ji Shu turned around when he heard her voice.

The worry in his eyes gradually dissipated, finally turning into his usual gentle smile.

“You ran away in a hurry, and you were alone, so I thought I’d wait for you in front of the mansion. Seeing you return safely, I’m relieved.”

She suddenly remembered the words he hadn’t said before she chased after the thief, “Right, what were you going to say to me then?”

Ji Shu’s breath paused slightly, gazing at her serious eyes.

Wasn’t she running away because she didn’t want to hear this?

Why was she asking now?

Unfortunately, the impulsive decision he had made earlier had been forced to cool down, and he had thought of a better time.

“…I wanted to ask if you’d be willing to start another business with me.”

He evaded the question.

“Okay,” she readily agreed, “If there’s a suitable opportunity, you can ask me directly. I trust you.”

He softly “med” (a sound of acknowledgement), “Then go back quickly, it’s cold at night, don’t catch a cold.”

The girl nodded and started to walk. At the same time, the slender fingers that had been holding up the small curtain were lowered.

“Have you seen enough? Aren’t you going yet?”

A calm, low voice came, still with a lazy tone.

“Going, going, I’m going now.”

Ling Chuan couldn’t see Mu Zhao’s expression, but he inexplicably felt that the man in the carriage was unhappy.

He tentatively asked, “Marquis, who do you think that man is?”

“Could he be Miss Yue’s lover?”

The man answered without hesitation, “Impossible.”

Because she liked him.

Ling Chuan fell silent, thinking, why is it impossible?

“…But if it wasn’t her lover, why would she specially tidy herself up and hide your clothes?”

“Isn’t she afraid of being misunderstood by that man?”

Mu Zhao thought that Ling Chuan was just an onlooker, so he naturally wouldn’t know how unscrupulous she was towards him.

“There are no women trying to seduce you, it’s understandable that you don’t know.”

He generously offered his advice, “If a woman meets a man she likes, she will usually try her best to use seduction.”

For example, she got her clothes wet and appeared in front of him, she blushed when she looked at him, and her body was still filled with the scent of tea that he always preferred.

“She wouldn’t be so careful to hide it, afraid of losing her composure.”

“So that man must be her father,” Mu Zhao said confidently.

He was from the military, the Yue family was from the civil service, and Yue Si Chao’s father wasn’t a high-ranking official, so he hadn’t paid attention to him, and he didn’t know what he looked like.

But who else would be waiting for her in front of the mansion so late at night besides a family member?

After all, when his mother was alive, she always worried about him like that.

Thinking of this, Mu Zhao lowered his eyes slightly.

Ling Chuan continued to ask, “Then why did she throw away your outer robe?”

When Mu Zhao raised his eyes again, impatience was already evident, “If you have a daughter, and you see her wearing another man’s clothes late at night, wouldn’t you be furious?”

“Wouldn’t you want to know who that man is and skin him alive?”

“…She’s really incredibly thorough.”

At this point, Mu Zhao rubbed his forehead, feeling a little troubled.

He had previously thought that Yue Si Chao was no different from those women who wanted to sleep with him, trying their best to create opportunities to be with him, and then climb to the top to enjoy wealth and glory.

If she were that kind of person, she should have swaggered into the mansion wearing his robe, showing it off to everyone, and creating rumors to force him to give her a status.

But she didn’t.

She carefully hid his clothes.

It seemed that she didn’t like his power and status, but him as a person.

Dealing with such a woman would be much more troublesome, at least giving her money wouldn’t work.

Ling Chuan swallowed, doubting, “…Is that really the case?”

Yue Si Chao didn’t really leave Mu Zhao’s clothes in the flowerpot, but secretly picked them up after Ji Shu left.

The reason was simple: there were people cleaning in front of the mansion every day. If she carelessly left the gold-embroidered clothes there, someone would hand them in tomorrow, and it would definitely cause a commotion in the Yue Mansion.

Holding the clothes, she walked towards her small courtyard, pondering how to deal with them.

It was still impossible to return them.

He didn’t want them anyway, so it was better to burn them.

But if she really burned them…

Yue Si Chao touched the fabric; it was high-quality brocade.

The weaving was exquisite, and its price was as high as gold.

She was always reluctant to waste good things.

Forget it, let’s wash and put them away first.

If she was desperate in the future, she might be able to exchange them for some money.

“What do you have in your hand?”

Yue Si Chao came to her senses and saw Yue Si Xian emerging from the bamboo forest beside the stone path.

“I’ve seen it all, you were talking to a man in front of the mansion just now.”

“Is it his clothes?”

She walked forward, trying to grab the robe from her hand.

Yue Si Xian was her elder sister.

Thanks to her stepmother, she usually treated her condescendingly, never treating her as a sister. She would grab whatever she wanted, just like her stepmother would arbitrarily deduct the supplies from her courtyard.

Before Yue Si Xian could take it, she moved the robe behind her back.

“Yes,” she answered casually, just wanting to get rid of her quickly, “I took some clothes-mending jobs.”

“Who are you kidding, Yue Si Chao? I can tell at a glance that the fabric is very valuable. Does someone like that need mending?”

“Do you think you’re the same?”

Yue Si Xian glanced at her torn skirt, her expression contemptuous, “Does that man like you?”

“Just like your mother, you’re all vixen who only know how to seduce men.”

Yue Si Chao frowned, “Vixen refers to whom?”

“You.”

She calmly “med” (a sound of acknowledgement), “You know it’s true.”

Yue Si Xian finally realized this, and was momentarily furious.

“Do you think you can climb to the top like this? Even if you marry into such a family, you’ll be like your mother, destined to be a concubine.”

“And you should change your personality. If you would please Mother and me, you wouldn’t have to show your face outside like this—”

“The reason I show my face outside is because I don’t want to please you.” Yue Si Chao looked into her eyes and interrupted her.

Yue Si Xian looked at her incredulously, “Do you know what you’re saying?”

Yue Si Chao said, “All these years, the food, clothing, and supplies in Mother’s courtyard have been paid for by my private funds. How much money did Mother save from it? Where did that money go?”

“If Mother really couldn’t stand my mother, she could have found a reason to send her to a country estate, like she did with other concubines. But why didn’t she?”