"The Eldest Young Master has reported a theft. A valuable Spirit-Gathering Ring. We have witnesses who saw this filth near the East Wing earlier."
"I have not left the West Courtyard," Xie Wangchen said through gritted teeth.
"Liar!" Sun raised a hand to strike him. "You'll come with us. The Eldest Young Master will conduct a thorough body search personally."
The implication was disgusting. The guards snickered. Xie Wangchen's eyes darkened, the pupils shrinking to pinpricks. His hand moved subtly toward his sleeve, where a sharpened piece of metal might be hidden.
[System Alert: Blackening Value Spiking! 55%... 60%... 70%! Host, please intervene before a blood bath happens!]
"HEY!"
The shout cracked through the air like a whip.
Steward Sun froze, his hand hovering mid-air. He turned to see Lin Ji'an storming down the stone path. She wasn't walking; she was marching, her dark blue robes billowing around her like storm clouds.
"Third... Third Young Master," Steward Sun stammered, quickly lowering his hand and bowing, though his eyes held a glint of mockery. "I didn't mean to disturb your rest. We are just retrieving a criminal—"
Smack!
The sound of flesh hitting flesh echoed through the courtyard.
Ji'an didn't stop to talk. She didn't argue. She simply walked up to Steward Sun and slapped him across the face with every ounce of cultivation strength she could muster in this weak body.
The Steward spun a full circle and crashed into the dirt, clutching his swelling cheek. The courtyard went dead silent.
Xie Wangchen stared at her, his eyes wide. He had expected her to hand him over. After all, Lin Zhaoyu was the Heir. No one crossed the Heir for a slave.
"Who gave you the courage?" Ji'an hissed, standing over the groaning steward. She didn't look at Wangchen; she kept her eyes focused on the enemy, radiating pure, spoiled arrogance. "Who gave you the courage to walk into my courtyard, grab my dog, and bark in front of my door?"
"Y-Young Master," Steward Sun sputtered, spitting out blood. "The Eldest Master... the ring..."
"I don't care about his ring!" Ji'an roared. She stepped forward, placing her boot squarely on the Steward's chest, pinning him to the ground. "This boy is my property. Even if he stole the Emperor's crown, he is mine to punish. If Lin Zhaoyu wants him, tell him to come here and beg me for him on his knees."
She looked up at the two guards, her gaze icy. "Are you two deaf? Get this trash out of my sight before I have your legs broken and fed to the hogs."
The guards, terrified by the sudden viciousness of the usually dismissive Third Young Master, scrambled to grab Steward Sun and drag him away.
"You'll regret this!" Sun screamed as he was hauled off. "The Eldest Young Master won't let this go!"
"Let him come!" Ji'an shouted back.
As the gate slammed shut, the silence returned to the courtyard.
Ji'an stood there for a moment, her chest heaving. She felt a little dizzy. Being a villainess was exhausting. Her hand stung from the slap.
She turned around. Xie Wangchen was still standing there, water dripping from his hair onto his shoulders. He looked at her with a completely new expression. It wasn't trust, but it was definitely a shock.
She had fought and humiliated the Heir's servant for him.
"Are you broken anywhere?" Ji'an asked gruffly, checking him over with a quick glance.
Xie Wangchen shook his head. "No... Young Master."
"Good. If you were broken, you couldn't work." She waved her hand dismissively, hiding the way her fingers were trembling slightly from the adrenaline. "Go to sleep. Tomorrow morning, I'm making Congee with Thousand-Year Ginseng. If you're late, I'll feed it to the koi fish."
She turned and marched back toward her room, desperate to get inside before her "tough guy" facade crumbled.
Xie Wangchen watched her go. He stood alone in the moonlight, touching the spot on his arm where the Steward had grabbed him, and then looking at the closed door where Lin Ji'an had disappeared.
For the first time in his life, the word "Mine" didn't feel like a cage.
When Lin Ji'an had said, 'He is mine,' it had sounded less like a claim of ownership... and more like a shield.
He looked down at his clean hands. He remembered the taste of the fried rice. He remembered the sound of the slap.
A strange, unfamiliar feeling bubbled up in his chest. It wasn't the scorching heat of hatred, nor the cold void of despair. It was something lukewarm, fragile, and dangerous.
'He is eccentric,' Xie Wangchen told himself, narrowing his eyes. 'He is using me.'
But as he turned to walk into the small, warm servant's room that had been assigned to him, a room with a real bed and a thick quilt, the corner of his mouth twitched upward.
'But... his food is good.'
[System Alert: Blackening Value: 49%.]
[Achievement Unlocked: The First Shelter.]
[Note: The Eldest Brother has been alerted. The difficulty level of the "Academy Entrance Arc" has just increased to 'Hard Mode'.]
***
The morning sun had barely crested the high walls of the West Courtyard when the peace was shattered.
Lin Ji'an was in her element, standing in the center of the kitchen, flour dusting her nose. She was in the middle of teaching Xie Wangchen the delicate art of folding dumplings.
Or rather, she was commanding him to chop scallions while she criticized his knife work with the precision of a drill sergeant.
"Thinner," she instructed, poking his shoulder with a chopstick. "I want them to melt in the broth, not choke the diners. You're chopping vegetables, not decapitating enemies."
Xie Wangchen, standing silently at the counter, didn't roll his eyes, though the urge was palpable. He simply adjusted his grip on the knife.
He was getting used to this strange rhythm: wake up, get yelled at about ingredient texture, eat food that tasted like heaven, repeat.
Bang!