Chapter 660 - Once Bitten, Twice Shy
Not a fool?
Sui’er stared at Wei Yi’s eyes, which had been cool and clear from the start, and shook her head twice as she reconsidered, “You… probably aren’t a fool?”
Wei Yi looked at that little lass as the corners of his mouth curved upwards unobtrusively, “Everyone says that I’m foolish and I truly am a fool, so just treat me as if I really am a fool.”
“What?” Sui’er was astonished. “Look at how nimbly you twist your words - in what way are you a fool? They must be saying nonsense just because you are easy to bully.”
“Is that so?” He didn’t care!
Sui’er had always been a talkative girl. Now that her curiosity had been stoked, she became even more unrestrained. She simply squatted down to face him and asked, “Let me ask you, why did Concubine Xiao lock you in here?”
He shook his head.
“You don’t know? Why not? How could you not even know why you had been captured? There’s no reason why you shouldn’t know. Could you not know if you did something that made Her Ladyship unhappy?” She sounded just like a tape recorder! Asking why countless times.
Sui’er truly was a pot calling the kettle black though. Previously, when Concubine Xiao asked her what mistake she had made, she similarly couldn’t come up with an answer.
Although Wei Yi was also a chatterbox, the sudden barrage of questions had overwhelmed him. He only said, “I truly do not know.”
“Strange. How could there be someone who didn’t even know why they had been captured?”
Wei Yi sighed softly and glanced outside with his crystal clear eyes. He turned a little more serious and met Sui’er’s perplexed gaze. “Sui’er, could you do me a favor?”
“What?”
“Could you help me find some thin strips of bamboo and white paper, as well as some writing materials?”
“What do you want these for?”
“I want to make a lantern.” His brows were raised in a sunny grin. How good looking! His deep eyes sparkled with tiny bits of light.
Sui’er turned a bit dazed as she looked at him and her eyes suddenly turned bashful. She thought to herself, This man is really handsome!
After a lengthy pause without an answer, Wei Yi prompted again, “Could you?”
Sui’er gathered her wits back together and nodded immediately. “Yes, of course I can.” She thought for a moment and continued, “If you wanted to make a lantern, why don’t I just add another one to your room? You can save yourself the trouble of making one then.”
He shook his head mildly and insisted, “I wish to make one myself.”
Sui’er didn’t say anything else and looked back warily at the courtyard. “Then I’ll leave first. You stay here obediently, and I’ll bring the things to you once I gather all of them.”
“Mn.”
Wei Yi thanked Sui’er before she left. The little lass was elated. Even after she had returned to her own room, she was still smiling faintly to herself. When the other palace maids that stayed with her saw that, they questioned her, “Sui’er, what’s with you?”
“Nothing.”
“Look at you. Could it be that another master bestowed you with a gift?”
When she heard that, Sui’er grew frantic and quickly said, “Enough with the nonsense.” She cradled her injured cheek. “How would I still dare to extravagantly request for rewards? How could I not be scared after the lesson I received previously?!” Once bitten by a snake, one would shy away from ropes for the next ten years.
“What’s with you then?”
She got up to close the door and lowered her head as she tugged a few of the other girls closer to ask, “Didn’t you say that the man that was locked up is a fool?”
Several of them nodded. “That’s right. Of course he’s a fool, do you even need to ask? The princess had previously brought him into the palace. That fool is really too amusing. He didn’t want any of the pastries we offered, nor any water. He just sat in the courtyard, staring into thin air as he waited. We were so amused by him then!” They started laughing and giggling as they recalled the incident.
“Why did the princess want to bring him into the palace then?”
“I don’t know. I think it might be because of Teacher Ji.”
“Teacher Ji? Who is Teacher Ji?” Sui’er asked curiously.
Several of the girls exchanged glances. “You don’t know how impressive a character this Teacher Ji is. The last time when the princess brought that fool into the palace, I don’t know what Teacher Ji said, but Her Highness just let him go like that. Then, Her Highness spent several days sulking after that.”
“Isn’t that right? I say, that Teacher Ji looks so prim and proper, who knows, maybe the princess…”
“Shhh!” Someone quickly nudged her, “don’t talk rubbish. If the princess heard you, she’ll take your head.” The little lass was terrified and quickly clapped her hands over her mouth.
Sui’er had only entered the palace not long ago and was from the countryside. Naturally, she had never heard of any Teacher Ji. After a moment of thought, her attention turned once again onto Wei Yi. She dragged them in again, “Sisters, what do you think? Why did Concubine Xiao lock him up and not let us say anything about it in public?”
“How should we know? Anyway, we just have to carry out whatever orders Her Ladyship has for us; you better not speak out of turn. Lass, you better just take care of that fool obediently and not create any trouble, in case the other side of your face also gets destroyed. There’ll be plenty for you to cry about then.”
Ah! They weren’t simply scaring her though. Everybody knew about Concubine Xiao’s temper. She would slap people or behead them at the slightest provocation; all the eunuchs and maids of Zhangzhi Hall lived in fear every single day, terrified that they would one day lose their heads.
Sui’er was certainly scared of that as well. She flinched backwards and cupped her own face, thinking, if the other half of my face were also destroyed, I wouldn’t want to continue living either.
Just as they were still trembling from the earlier conversation, a series of knocks came on the door. Oh no!
“Why did you lock the door? Open up!” It turned out to be a maid that shared a room with them. Everyone had thought that they had been overheard while gossiping behind their masters’ backs and were nearly frightened to death.
They hurried to open the door. It was the princess’s personal maid, Duan’er. Her face was twisted into a grimace as she supported herself with one hand on the doorframe, and the other pressed against her aching abdomen. “Which one of you is free to send the princess her meal in my place? My stomach is hurting so bad that I can’t take it anymore.”
Ah! They all took a wary step back, clamoring to give their excuses. “We can’t. The princess is not in her right mind recently, so we don’t dare to take your place. In the event that something goes wrong and Her Ladyship assigns blame, she would want our lives.”
“It’s simply bringing a tray of food over. It doesn’t take much time. I’m not going to talk anymore, I have to hurry to the pharmacy and get Imperial Physician Hu to take a look.” And she simply left.
The girls started nudging each other, none of them willing to go. You go! No, you’d better go!
In the end, they all looked towards Sui’er and pulled her up from the bed. “Sui’er, you’d better go instead.”
“You’re the most sensible and obedient.”
“That’s right, you’re the best choice.” They pushed her out the door.
Before Sui’er could even protest, this assignment was forcefully pushed onto her. It’s all because she was the newbie! “But I…”
“No more buts.”
“Her Ladyship instructed me to take care of that fool.”
“The fool isn’t going to run anywhere anyway, and the door’s locked. Quickly go on, Elder Sister Duan’er has always treated you the best. Now that she isn’t feeling well, you can’t just leave her in the lurch.”
“Go on, go on.” They didn’t wait to see what else she had to say before they closed the door with a bang.
She stared at the door for a long while as she sighed. Everyone knew that the princess was not in a good condition. Ever since she unsuccessfully tried to hang herself, she seemed to have changed into a completely different person. She spent her day in a daze, as if her soul had left her body. Just the sight of her was enough to make one worried and uncertain if she would one day do something foolish. Hang herself? Slit her wrists? The thought of it made people break out in cold sweat.
As a result, the maids that accompanied her were all extremely careful, and had kept away anything in her rooms that was sharp. They wanted to avoid the possibility of blame in case something happened to the princess.
But now, this hot potato of an issue has fallen into Sui’er’s lap. She couldn’t reject it either. After all, she was the newbie.