“Little sister, don’t cry anymore. Take this. From now on, you’ll follow me.”
As she spoke, He Shu removed the white jade hairpin from her hair and gently placed it in Mu Xinlian’s hair.
“After that, when you took me in as a maid to handle odd jobs around the mansion, I kept following you. When I turned fourteen and decided to venture out alone to Cloud Mist Immortal City, you were worried and even asked Uncle Yang Jingwen to accompany me.”
“Xinlian has always been your maid, my lord. Being transferred here now is simply returning to my original duties. I’m thrilled about it. Look, I’ve kept the hairpin you gave me all this time.”
Mu Xinlian pointed to the white jade hairpin adorning her own hair as she spoke.
Listening to Mu Xinlian recount her experiences over the years, He Shu felt like her own daughter had grown up. The stifling depression weighing on her heart eased considerably.
It’s rather laughable when you think about it. My current circumstances are worse than those of my former little maidservant. At least Mu Xinlian is still a free person, whereas I am imprisoned by my enemy and not treated as human at all.
“Better not call me ‘my lord’ anymore. It sounds strange. Just call me ‘Miss.’ In my current miserable state, I don’t deserve the title of ‘my lord’ anyway.”
“Mm… Then from now on, I’ll call you Miss He.”
Mu Xinlian adjusted how she addressed He Shu. She too felt that calling her “my lord” constantly was awkward. Not only had He Shu’s appearance changed dramatically, but she was now even shorter than herself.
“Little Mu, speaking of Yang Jingwen, how is he doing nowadays?”
“Mm… Uncle Jingwen is doing quite well. When we left together, he had already been stuck at Foundation Establishment Perfection for many years. After arriving in Cloud Mist Immortal City, he joined the Qintian Hall. Then, the year before last, he successfully formed his Golden Core and became the lowest-ranked among the Twelve Star Observation Envoys.”
He Shu felt secretly delighted in her heart. Yang Jingwen was a subordinate she had personally promoted back then. Now he was not only a Golden Core cultivator but had also become a Star Observation Envoy.
Now that I can fully trust Mu Xinlian, and Yang Jingwen can be leveraged to some extent, the current situation is no longer completely beyond my control.
He Shu mentally calculated the forces she could draw upon. Although the connection with Yang Jingwen could be used, it wasn’t entirely reliable. In the end, her former subordinate was still just a subordinate, even though she had promoted him herself.
The current Yang Jingwen had long since pledged his loyalty to others. As a Golden Core cultivator with a bright future ahead, he was unlikely to risk it all for old times’ sake.
Therefore, for the time being, she could only rely on Mu Xinlian to help her.
He Shu thought for a long while until her head began to throb faintly. She decided not to dwell on it any further and spoke to Mu Xinlian.
“Little Mu, do you have any more food? Two dumplings aren’t nearly enough to satisfy my hunger.”
In five days, He Shu had only eaten two sugar-frosted dumplings. It could not make up for her energy expenditure over this period at all. However, Mu Xinlian’s reply left her stunned.
“About that… Before I came here, I was personally summoned by Her Majesty. The Monarch confiscated nearly all the food I was carrying, leaving only the two dumplings I gave you earlier, Miss…”
He Shu could feel Hua Yanyun’s profound malice.
“Hua Yanyun! You have no heart!”
But there was no point in getting angry. Hua Yanyun could not hear her anyway, and even if she could, she would not bother with her.
“Then what are you going to do now? Hua Yanyun can’t possibly plan to starve both of us, right?”
“Her Majesty said that although I cannot leave Wanyi Tower, dedicated staff will deliver food to me every day at noon—one meal per day.”
“And me?”
“Um… Her Majesty didn’t mention anything about that.”
Upon hearing this, He Shu flopped down onto the floor with a thud.
“Hua Yanyun… She really wants to starve me to death…”
Mu Xinlian looked at He Shu lying there looking half-dead and offered comfort.
“Please don’t be sad, Miss. I’ll save my noon meal for you every day. I’m a cultivator now, and we don’t require much food. One meal a day is usually sufficient. I’m in good health; skipping a few meals won’t be an issue.”
He Shu remained silent. This was probably the best solution available at the moment. It seemed Hua Yanyun was forcing her into a choice. One portion of food obviously was not enough for two people. Either she went hungry or Mu Xinlian did.
“Sigh, it looks like we’ll have to do it this way for now.”
He Shu sighed and agreed to Mu Xinlian’s suggestion. She then asked her a few other questions.
“Mm, I have my own room in Wanyi Tower, right below yours, Miss.”
“Yes, that’s correct. I can’t freely leave Wanyi Tower at the moment and can only remain inside the building.”
“……”
She chatted with Mu Xinlian for quite some time. When He Shu started feeling drowsy, she told Mu Xinlian to return to her room to sleep. The windows in her room were latticed anyway. Even if closed, wind would still blow through, so she did not make Mu Xinlian go through the extra effort.
Before leaving, Mu Xinlian retrieved a thin blanket from her storage artifact and pushed it through the gaps in the cage.
He Shu lay flat on the soft cushion, her head resting on the pillow. She wrapped the blanket around herself. She felt quite happy because she would not have to use her own hair as a blanket at night anymore.
The night passed dreamlessly, and time advanced to noon the following day.
He Shu was awakened by Mu Xinlian. After getting up, she stretched lazily and rubbed her sleepy eyes as she gazed at the gray-haired girl standing outside the cage.
Mu Xinlian carried an exquisite wooden food box. She opened it to reveal a small portion of white porridge and one tiny steamed bun.
The bun was so small that He Shu could grasp it entirely in one of her petite hands. She ate it in just two or three bites. Then she reached her arm through the cage bars, scooped up the porridge with a spoon, and finished it all.
Feeling the warm sensation spreading through her stomach, He Shu could not help but feel a wave of bitterness. She had gone hungry for five full days and had finally eaten a decent meal.
After sending Mu Xinlian away, she felt somewhat bored. The black-haired girl lifted her head to look at the top of the Golden Birdcage that imprisoned her. There was a small ring up there, but she had no idea what it was for and decided not to worry about it.
She imagined the day when she would pin Hua Yanyun beneath her foot and ruthlessly trample her. She pictured extending her delicate, fair, jade-like little foot in front of Hua Yanyun, watching as the woman, with eyes full of resentment and fury, humbly extended her tongue to lick her toes.
People are like this. Once their stomachs are full, they start indulging in unrealistic daydreams.
Her fantasies grew more and more exciting as she envisioned scenes of Hua Yanyun’s defeat. Even though she knew it was completely unrealistic, it did not stop her from imagining it.
In reality, she was already being bullied by Hua Yanyun. If she let herself be bullied even in her own mind, that would be far too depressing.
She did not know how much time had passed before He Shu started feeling tired from all the thinking. She closed her eyes to rest.
It would be even better if I could bask in some sunlight right now. But trapped inside the cage as she was, with such limited space to move, He Shu could not reach any sunlight at all.
……
That evening, after handling her official duties, Hua Yanyun arrived at the top floor of Wanyi Tower. She saw He Shu sleeping in an undignified posture, covered by the blanket.
She opened the cage and stepped inside. With one kick, she woke He Shu from her pleasant dream. Hua Yanyun watched her with an amused expression.
Being rudely awakened by a kick left He Shu somewhat angry, but the moment she saw Hua Yanyun’s face, all her defiance vanished.
“Um… Your Majesty, hello there… What… what brings you to see me…?”
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