The housekeeper led them to East Park, where he had arranged for their rooms. A large pavilion, with two rooms on either end bracketing a reception hall, would do nicely.
‘Doesn’t it look like the layout of a tavern flat?’ Ji Yunshu could not possibly be happy. She turned to the housekeeper and asked, “Don’t you have another room?”
The old housekeeper’s waist was hunched. He was wearing mourning clothes and a matching mourning hat on his head. His head ever faced the ground; it was absolutely impossible to see his face.
With reverent and respectful gestures, the old housekeeper replied, “Teacher, in East Park, these rooms are the cleanest. You are our precious guests, so I cannot allow any neglect as per milord’s commands.”
“But…”
Jing Rong interrupted, “Teacher Ji, it’s only for one night. There’s no need to trouble yourself so much. This place is not that bad: calm and peaceful. Our sleep won’t be disturbed at night.” As soon as his words fell, he turned to the old housekeeper and continued, “This place no longer needs you. Hurry and leave.”
“Yes. Then, I wish you a good rest. I’ll send the servants to attend both of you.”
The housekeeper kept his head down as he retreated from the East Park’s courtyard.
What Ji Yunshu loathed the most were those types of lords like Jing Rong. She was unable to stop herself from saying, “This isn’t the Rong Estate. When your highness ordered the Zhou family’s servants about, it seemed as if you were at your residence.”
‘That little guy, his speech is really amusing!’ Jing Rong laughed. He clasped his hands behind his back as he walked into the anteroom, his gown fluttering with each step. Right before he entered, he slyly turned around to throw a sentence at her. “Wash your hands before going inside. This Prince doesn’t want to smell that corpse scent all over the place.”
Ji Yunshu didn’t retort. If she had any rotten luck, she would have spread it to that two-faced cheap prince first!
She washed her hands in the water basin outside before entering the pavilion. Inside, she saw Jing Rong sitting in the reception hall, studying her as she entered.
“Did you wash them properly?”
Ji Yunshu remained silent. She barely kept herself from beating him to a pulp. Instead, she spread her hands in front of him.
Jing Rong narrowed his eyes as he looked at her still damp palms. Under the light, they sparkled, almost translucent.
After a moment, he pinched her exquisite wrist. His mouth hooked into a pondering smile. “They say that men’s hands are rough, wild and powerful. But why are Teacher’s hands so soft and tender? Are you maybe using cream?”
When her wrist was suddenly grabbed, Ji Yunshu instinctively clenched her hand into a fist and twisted her wrist to free herself.
“May I ask Prince to let go of my hand?”
“I’m not letting go.”
“It hurts.”
“Where?”
“My hand.”
“I still won’t let go.”
He absolutely intended to tease her. That alone was clear from the nefarious smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. He pulled on her wrist with one hand, causing Ji Yunshu to fall toward him. As she fell, he took the opportunity to grab her slender shoulder with his other hand. Then, he started to methodically evaluate her. “What a small frame. Is it possible that you didn’t get to eat when you were young? Nevertheless, have you had such a bad temper since you were young? Was it because you got beaten up a lot?”
He talked too much like a modern stand up comedian!
Ji Yunshu’s body was now very close to him. Merely a fist’s distance separated them now. She was a head shorter than him, so when she looked straight, her line of sight fell directly on his chest. She could feel the heat of a man’s body at the tip of her nose, causing her heart to tighten from the shock. She quivered and used all her strength to push him away.
“Your Highness, don’t go so over the line. This humble one is bearing with you.”
‘Bearing? A Bear?’
Jing Rong reckoned that such a word doesn’t exist. His smile was absolutely despicable. “With a body like that, you think you’re a bear? From what I see, you look more like a cat with its claws out, all bluff but no power.”1
“You-”
Ji Yunshu was so furious that she nearly stomped her feet. But she ended up gritting her teeth in order to maintain her cover. Unfortunately, she was unable to do anything to him.
Now, she finally understood that philosophical quote from ancient times: I like the way you look when you hate me but can’t bear to push me away!
Jing Rong saw her sullen expression from enduring him. He made an arrogant “I won” expression.
Fortunately, right at that moment, several maidservants came in while carrying food, breaking the gunpowder-like atmosphere.
The leader of the group stepped forward and greeted them. “Milord has instructed us to bring you your supper. If the food is not to your taste, we will redo them again.”
With fish and meat in plate after plate, each dish was more sumptuous than the Ji family’s food.
Ji Yunshu suddenly grew gloomy. She asked the maidservant, “Girl, your miss only had Qiaoxin as her maidservant?”
“No. There’s also Suyun.”
“Oh? Then, where is she?”
The maidservant shook her head. “Several days ago, Suyun returned home because of an emergency. I believe that she will be back tonight. Teacher, do you have any other commands?”
“No. You can go take a rest. I don’t need to be served.” Ji Yunshu waved her hand.
The several maidservants bowed and left.
Ji Yunshu’s expression sank further. She was in the middle of pondering when she found Jing Rong looking at her with a strange expression.
“Your Highness, not only do you have the habit of grabbing people’s wrist, do you also have a fondness for staring at other people like this?” Ji Yunshu’s tone gave away her bad mood.
Jing Rong’s frivolous appearance had vanished. In a solemn voice, he asked her, “Did you find something?”
1. This part is a very “Chinese” pun/joke that doesn’t make sense in English. What’s more It’s a double layer joke! Let me explain.
小的可不是受。= (accurate translation) This humble one is suffering(受/shou).
受？兽？= (accurate TL) Suffering? Beast? (Both characters have the same pronunciation)
就你这种还想称兽？= (accurate TL) With a body like that, you think you’re a beast?
你就是一只长着尖爪的猫 = you look more like a cat with its claws out
To sum it, first layer of the joke, Jing Rong didn’t understand the “shou” meaning suffering and thought Yunshu was describing herself as a beast if she was anger. So, he was jeering at her and saying she was more of a cat than a beast. Second layer of joke is probably the author joke and a BL joke at that. The current situation is too men hugging, the 受 Yunshu used could also means bottom in BL, and beast is…well.. You know. 😉 And finally, you got the cat reference. Let’s stop the explanations here.
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