Chapter 8.1 Secret

After Su Su and the doctor had walked far away, Tantai Jin opened his eyes.

Not long after, a servant in grey brought food and water over. When he saw that Tantai Jin was awake, he was startled.

“Hostage prince, please eat.” The servant placed the meal box in his hand.

Tantai Jin supported himself with his arms and ate the food.

The servant stood aside and indifferently said, “For the next few days, this servant will be regularly delivering food to the hostage prince, so please don’t leave the east garden.”

Tantai Jin said, “Thank you very much.”

When the boy saw the modest attitude and clear voice of the young man in front of him, he felt a little guilty for a moment.

 Sometimes, the servants purposely treated Tantai Jin this way as he had a unique identity, and bullying him gave them a different kind of satisfaction. However, once he thought about it, the person in front of him might’ve not lived as well as them.

The following parts of the text will be scrambled to prevent theft from aggregators and unauthorized epub making. Please support our translators by reading on secondlifetranslations (dot) com

Mbl plahydv nswzed’v blzr cwv pyu, “Tspvytl rakdnl, vbl okdesop sq vbl lypv tyaeld yal casjld. Mbkp plahydv okzz cakdt psxlsdl vs qkm vblx vbkp yqvladssd.”

Mydvyk Kkd tyhl yd lxcyaaypple pxkzl yde pyke, “Psd’v vaswczl uswaplzq.”

Mbl plahydv jdlo vbyv vbl bspvytl rakdnl bye y tsse blyav. Tl oyp elzkclayvlzu xkpvalyvle, cwv bl eked’v byvl vblx. Tl eked’v xldvksd vbl Mbkae Ykpp yp pbl bye vsze bkx dsv vs xldvksd bla. Wsavwdyvlzu, vbl bspvytl rakdnl eke dsv ypj ycswv bla lkvbla. Xvblaokpl, vbl plahydv oswze dsv jdso bso vs alprsde.

Gqvla vbl plahydv vssj vbl xlyz csm yde zlqv, vbl lypv tyaeld alvwadle vs pkzldnl.

G czynj naso qzlo vbaswtb vbl pdso yde bshlale ycshl vbl lypv tyaeld.

Mbl Qldlayz’p alpkeldnl oyp blyhkzu twyaele, ps vblu olal lmvalxlzu pldpkvkhl vsoyaep xlppldtla ckaep. Rq kv oyp y rktlsd, kv oswze cl pbsv vs elyvb sdnl prsvvle. Tsolhla, kv oyp fwpv y oalvnble naso, ps vbl xspv vblu oswze es oyp sdzu nwapl yv kv.

Mydvyk Kkd rwpble vbl okdeso srld. Tl lmvldele bkp byde, yde vbl naso zydele pvlyekzu sd bkp yax.

Mbl uswdt xyd’p lulp pvkzz zssjle nyzx. Tl tldvzu pvasjle kvp rkvnb-czynj qlyvblap yde vbl naso nyole. Mydvyk Kkd aykple bkp ryzl qkdtlap yde nawpble vbl naso’p dlnj.

Its head hung limply.

Tantai Jin slowly tore the crow’s stomach open and took out a wax pill. After crushing it, he took out a folded note inside.

After reading ten lines at a glance, he threw the crow’s carcass out the window. The young man looked down thoughtfully as a shadow was cast upon his face.

The dark bird fell on the snow. Soon, the heavy snow covered the crow’s carcass.

*

On her way back, Su Su met a man in brown clothing. It took her a moment to remember his identity. “Second brother, please wait.”

Ye Chufeng turned back in surprise and hurriedly greeted, “Third sister.”

“Second brother, are you going out?”

Ye Chufeng looked at his boots uneasily and said, “The brushes, inks, papers, and inkstones have been used up so I am going out to buy some.”

Su Su looked him down from head to toe.

The man in front of her had a fresh and elegant countenance, making him look gentle and frail. Among all the young masters in the General’s family, the Second Young Master had the least presence. He was brought back by General Ye from the countryside when he was three years old.

At that time, Ye Xiao passed the child directly to the butler. “In the future, his name will be Ye Chufeng.”

Everyone in the residence had a mother except the Third Miss, Ye Xi Wu, and the Second Young Master, Ye Chufeng.

Ye Xi Wu’s mother passed away early. As for Ye Chufeng, it had been during the days when Ye Xiao fought on the battlefield. He had taken refuge in one of the manors. While his injuries were recovering, after a few nights of intimacy, a widow had then given birth to Ye Chufeng. The people in the General’s residence were well aware of the Second Young Master’s origin and especially looked down on him.

Ye Chufeng knew that his identity was embarrassing, so he lived in the residence as if he was invisible. Even the six-year-old Fourth Young Master knew that his Second Brother was timid and weak.

Ye Chufeng had an antisocial personality, so only Ye Bing Shang had a slightly better relationship with him.

Su Su muttered in her heart, Ye Bing Shang really has a good relationship with other people.

Aside from King Xuan and Pang Yi Zhi, even an introvert like Ye Chufeng unexpectedly got along with Ye Bing Shang too.

Su Su became more curious about this illegitimate sister of hers.

Ye Chufeng was stopped by Su Su, so his face looked extremely uneasy.

He lowered his head. “Third Sister, what’s the matter?”

Su Su nodded. “Previously, Xi Wu accidentally caused the Eldest Sister to fall into the water, so I feel uneasy. It is said that King Xuan will move out of the palace in a few days and live in a mansion outside the palace. I want to prepare an apology gift for Eldest Sister. I heard that you used to have a good relationship with the Eldest Sister. Would you happen to know what she likes?”

Ye Chufeng hurriedly waved his hand and said, “Third Sister, you have misunderstood. Sister Bing Shang and I only chat once in a while so I don’t really know what she likes.”

Judging by his expression, Su Su knew that he felt that she was here to find fault with him.

The whole residence of the General knew that the Eldest Miss was married to the Third Miss’s beloved and that she was a vicious and vengeful person.

Su Su felt powerless. She said, “In that case, I better not hold up Second Brother anymore.”

Ye Chufeng cupped his fists and was about to leave, but Su Su sniffed her nose.

“What’s that smell on your body?”

Ye Chufeng’s expression immediately changed and pushed Su Su, who was smelling him up and down like a little animal, away with discomfort. “Third Sister……”

Seeing his face blush with embarrassment, Su Su didn’t want to embarrass him even more, so she could only say, “I’m sorry, maybe I smelt wrongly.”

Su Su felt suspicious. This smell was very familiar, so where had she smelt it before?

Ye Chufeng was already out of sight.

Su Su wanted to ask the spirit in the jade bracelet about it, but it was still in a deep slumber, so Su Su could only give up.

Chun Tao ran over with a red face. “Miss!”

She carefully asked, “I heard Xi Xi said that Miss no longer lets Bi Liu serve you?”

Su Su nodded her head.

Chun Tao couldn’t help but smile.

Su Su tilted her head, and Chun Tao hurriedly waved her hands. “Chun Tao d-didn’t mean to speak ill of Sister Bi Liu and I’m not jealous of her either. It’s because……because……”

Chun Tao’s face turned even redder. After a while, she said, “Chun Tao and Xi Xi felt that Miss had changed a lot when Sister Bi Liu wasn’t around these days. We were afraid that the Miss would change back to your previous state.”

After she finished talking, she realised that she had said something wrong, so she frantically explained once again, “This maidservant didn’t mean that the Miss was bad in the past…… I…… I……”

Looking at her stuttering and almost crying in panic, Su Su couldn’t help but say, “It’s alright. I’m not angry.”

Although her changes had nothing to do with Bi Liu, it was still true that Bi Liu instigated the original owner in doing a lot of bad things. Chun Tao and Xi Xi didn’t worry for nothing.

“Do you have news about the whereabouts of the Second Young Master and Third Young Master?”

Regarding this, Chun Tao hurriedly answered, “Replying to Miss, this maidservant asked the butler. He said that the Second Young Master and Third Young Master have frequently gone out. Especially the Second Young Master, he sometimes goes out early and comes back late at night.”

Su Su was shocked. “He goes out for the whole day?”

Chun Tao nodded. “But this maidservant doesn’t know what the two young masters were doing.”

Su Su felt that her instincts weren’t wrong. Ye Chufeng definitely had a problem. Today, he went out to buy brushes and ink. What about in the past? It was impossible to be short of brushes, ink, papers and inkstones every day.

After thinking for some time, she asked the butler to find a few beggars and gave each of them a silver ingot.

“You guys help me to watch over Second Young Master and Third Young Master. Where they go, what they do and if there is anything weird, no matter what, report it all to me.” Her small hand waved boldly. “If you do well, I will reward you with another gold ingot.”

The beggars’ eyes shone brightly and repeatedly thanked her. “Rest assured, Third Miss. We will pay attention to their slightest moves.”

Su Su inwardly thought, what the martial uncles said was right. All three realms are the same. If you have money, you can make the devil push milestones for you. Look at this instance, not to mention the devil pushing milestones, even the milestones can move the devil.

Chapter 8.2 Secret

As expected, within two days, a little beggar came to report.

“Third Miss, these two days, I saw the Second Young Master go to a courtyard every day. There were several plum trees planted outside the courtyard. There was a pretty girl in yellow staying there. The Second Young Master would enter in the morning and leave at night.”

Su Su carefully thought about it. So, her Second Brother, who lives like an invisible man, was actually keeping a mistress?

As promised, she gave the little beggar a silver ingot.

Not long after, the other beggar came to claim his reward.

“Yesterday, the Third Young Master went out together with the son of Minister Chen. They first went to a restaurant to have a meal and then went to the gambling house after that.” 

Su Su blinked.

Gambling house… Is it as she suspected? It seemed that both her second and third brothers had secrets.

The following parts of the text will be scrambled to prevent theft from aggregators and unauthorized epub making. Please support our translators by reading on secondlifetranslations (dot) com

*

Jlqsal Fw Fw xydytle vs kdhlpvktyvl vblpl vos xyvvlap, Qldlayz Zl kdqsaxle bla vbyv vsxsaaso, bl oswze cl cakdtkdt bla vstlvbla okvb bkx vs Ikdt Dwyd’p ckavbeyu nlzlcayvksd.

Ikdt Dwyd bye zsdt alynble yewzvbsse. Lso vbyv bl bye clld clpvsole y vkvzl yde xshle swv sq vbl ryzynl, bl vssj vbkp srrsavwdkvu vs kdhkvl yzz vbl sqqknkyzp vs bkp ckavbeyu cydiwlv.

Xq nswapl, bl jlrv y zso rasqkzl obkzl satydkgkdt kv yde eked’v es vbkdtp yttalppkhlzu. Mbl Oxrlasa oyp pvkzz kd bkp rakxl, ps vbl rakdnlp nswze sdzu jllr y zso rasqkzl, vbl xsal xleksnal, vbl clvvla.

Zl Dkys tyhl Fw Fw y pzydvle zssj. “Zsw clvvla clbyhl uswaplzq vbkp vkxl. Rq usw nalyvl ydsvbla xlpp ytykd, lhld uswa taydexsvbla nyd’v rasvlnv usw. Ebld usw pll uswa Ozelpv Fkpvla, alxlxcla vs yrszstkpl vs bla.”

Mbl obszl osaze alyzzu vbswtbv vbyv Fw Fw oswze vbaso blaplzq yv Tkp Tktbdlpp vbl Fkmvb Vakdnl.

Fw Fw blzrzlppzu pyke, “Psd’v osaau eye. Mbkp eywtbvla jdsop.”

Fw Fw eked’v qllz vbyv Qldlayz Zl oyp elqldekdt Zl Jkdt Fbydt.

In the past, when Ye Bing Shang wasn’t married yet, whatever happened between her and the Third Young Lady were all Ye Family’s internal affairs. Now that Ye Bing Shang was married to King Xuan, the Ye Family must give her some respect.

Last time, when the original owner pushed her into the water, many pairs of eyes had seen it.

Although Xiao Lin had a mild temperament, he was also a prince. The Ye Family must still respect the imperial family. General Ye only asked Su Su to apologize, and this was already the simplest way to resolve the matter. On the surface, it seemed like he was defending Ye Bing Shang, but in fact, he was protecting Su Su.

It was rare to see the family’s little devil girl being obedient. Ye Xiao glanced at her a few times, astonished. He then snorted and stopped reprimanding her.

After pondering for some time, Ye Xiao said, “Bring the hostage prince along.”

Now that they were married, it was reasonable for Su Su and the hostage prince to go to King Xuan’s residence together.

Su Su glanced at her General father. General Ye didn’t know about the interesting relationship between the four of them, so he could be this calm. If he knew about it, she reckoned he would be stomping with anger.

Su Su was looking forward to meeting Ye Bing Shang.

She had only heard about her gentle and pretty illegitimate sister from others and unintentionally saw the shy portrait of her.

Thinking about the girl’s earring that Tantai Jin had hidden, Su Su propped up her cheek. Maybe the key point of her evil bone removal mission lied with Ye Bing Shang.

*

Chun Tao and Xi Xi woke Su Su up early in the morning.

The two maid servants were already prepared for any situation as Su Su sat in front of the mirror. Xi Xi took out a graceful and beautiful purple blouse and asked nervously, “Miss, how about this? This was specially made by the embroidery workhouse for Miss.”

“It is pretty, but Xi Xi, this is an autumn blouse. It is winter now.” She had a mortal body now, and the human body couldn’t handle the cold.

Xi Xi thought inwardly, in the past, if the Miss was going out to meet His Highness the Sixth Prince, the Miss would even wear a summer blouse while shivering, let alone wearing an autumn blouse in the winter season.

As long as it was an occasion where the Eldest Miss would be present, the Third Miss would be like a high-spirited little peacock, fearing that she would fall behind. In the past, it was Bi Liu who helped the Miss to dress up. Now, it had become Chun Tao and Xi Xi. Both of them were worried that their aesthetic taste was too amateurish and inadequate, and would cause the Third Miss to lose face.

Seeing their hesitation, Su Su pointed to a skirt. “I’ll pick that one.”

She pointed at a light pink coat skirt. It looked warm.

Chun Tao said with a smile, “This is also good at preventing Miss from getting cold.”

Xi Xi’s hands were skillful. After combing Su Su’s hair, she said, “Miss, the red plum tree in the courtyard has bloomed beautifully. This maidservant will draw a flower ornament for you.”

Su Su had never drawn a flower ornament of the mortal world. She was extremely curious. “Alright.”

So Xi Xi carefully drew an exquisite plum flower in between Su Su’s eyebrows.

Su Su looked at the flower on her forehead and touched it curiously. Her original body already had a bright red cinnabar in the middle of her forehead since she was born. Its beauty could not be described.

This half plum flower made Su Su feel nostalgic.

Chun Tao praised, “Third Miss is so pretty!”

Su Su looked at herself in the mirror. Third Miss Ye’s appearance had an air of purity. It wasn’t seductive enough, but it seems clever. Her ‘little girl next-door’ face looked very lively. Combined with the light pink winter jacket, she looked like a soft snowball.

After Su Su had gotten used to it, she felt that her face was adorable and worth looking at.

She walked out and realised that it was still snowing outside.

Xi Xi mumbled, “Why has it snowed every day this winter?”

Chun Tao hurriedly put a cloak on Su Su and nodded approvingly.

When Su Su walked out of the door, she saw a tall and thin shadow standing in front of the General’s residence.

The young man was wearing a dark purple garment, and he was standing under the heavy snow. He seemed to be wearing an autumn garment which thinly outlined his skinny body.

Snowflakes that landed on his raven eyelashes brought out an exquisiteness that only he could possess. Chun Tao and Xi Xi couldn’t help but glance at him more than once.

Chun Tao was a little slow. The hostage prince looked really good. If she were to define it, the hostage prince didn’t look bad even compared to His Highness King Xuan.

General Ye didn’t like riding in carriages, so he rode a horse in front.

It was the first time Tantai Jin saw the Third Miss Ye wearing a proper winter jacket for a winter outing. Maybe due to the warmth, the girl’s cheeks had a slight blush on them. She walked together with Chun Tao and the rest, with a gentle countenance. She was smiling, which showed a rare hint of childishness in line with her age.

Tantai Jin extended his hand to Su Su.

Su Su glanced at that pale and slender hand, and the smile at the corner of her lips decreased a little. She ignored him and got into the carriage by herself.

Chun Tao gave a quick glance at the hostage prince. The young man retracted his hand and lowered his gaze. He accepted everything as usual and followed the Third Miss into the carriage.

It was boring along the way, so Su Su stared at Tantai Jin.

The evil thing sure was mystical. If you said he was tough, he would look like he was about to die. But if you said that he was sickly and weak, like a weed in a wasteland, he would recover very quickly.

She was hugging a fur-covered hand-warmer while Tantai Jin’s hands were on his knees.

Su Su looked at his red knuckles. She kept thinking about her intent to understand the past of the evil thing, so she asked reluctantly, “What happened to your hands?”

Tantai Jin was surprised that the girl would take the initiative to talk to him. He pursed his slightly chapped lips and replied, “Frostbite.”

Then, he saw hints of happiness from his misfortune from the girl’s smiling eyes.

She soon realised that this wasn’t good, so she quickly restrained her emotions with annoyance.

Su Su put on a straight face. “Are you not afraid of the cold dressed like this? Was it because you are meeting your beloved?” He put in quite the effort when going to see Ye Bing Shang.