In her previous life, Yu Lingxi had plenty of free time at the Regent Prince’s mansion. Besides reading, painting, and writing, she did needlework. After two years, her skill at making shoe soles had become quite refined.
With no other men to give gifts to, she would often embroider a sachet or sew a pair of shoes for Ning Yin, filled with perfunctory and clumsy attempts to please him.
But Ning Yin was too precious then—how could he appreciate things she had sewn? Those embroidered items were either thrown away or piled in some unnamed corner gathering dust.
Yu Lingxi didn’t mind. She sewed her things, and he discarded them, neither interfering with the other.
From the initially crooked stitches to the later fine and neat ones, in those two years, the only thing Ning Yin barely found acceptable was the last pair of cloud-patterned leather boots she had made.
Ironically, on the day she died, Ning Yin was still wearing those boots she had sewn, spattered with Xue Cen’s fresh blood.
That memory was almost carved into her bones. Yu Lingxi had sewn these deerskin boots with practiced ease, without thinking too much about it.
Unexpectedly, Ning Yin immediately noticed her slip.
The cat Huanu leaped down from the window frame, and circled Yu Lingxi’s feet with a meow, calling back her wandering thoughts.
After just a moment’s pause, she quickly regained her composure: “I saw you were about the same height as Qing Xiao, so I guessed.”
Ning Yin didn’t show whether he believed her or not. He picked up the cat that would give Yu Lingxi a rash and nodded: “Young Miss has a very accurate eye.”
“Sit down,” Yu Lingxi tilted her head slightly upward, gesturing toward the couch with her chin.
Only when Ning Yin obediently sat down and that sense of towering pressure disappeared did she look at him at eye level, trying to step out of her previous life’s prejudices and once again carefully examine the seemingly docile and harmless young man before her.
“Wei Qi.”
The beauty in the lamplight shifted her gaze and asked him, “Tell me honestly, how do I treat you?”
Ning Yin tilted his head slightly and replied without hesitation, “Young Miss treats my wounds, gives me a name, and provides superior food, clothing, shelter, and transportation. You are the person who has treated me best in this world.”
“What if, in the future, others treat you just as well?”
“Without Young Miss’s rescue, how could I even have a ‘future’?”
Yu Lingxi narrowed her eyes, suspecting that Ning Yin’s survival in his youth, besides his extraordinarily resilient willpower, probably also relied on his silver tongue.
She decided to follow this line of conversation to set a trap, curving her eyes as she said: “Then you must remember how well I’ve treated you.”
“Wei Qi would not dare forget.”
Unlike other servants who would be timid, Ning Yin looked directly into her clear autumn-water eyes and said softly, “If I could repay even a fraction of Young Miss’s deep kindness, I would be willing to do anything.”
From his tone, it seemed he wasn’t yet aware of his promotion.
Yu Lingxi felt mischievous and deliberately asked: “Oh? What can you do?”
“I am willing to serve Young Miss, attending to your every need.”
Seeing Yu Lingxi raise an eyebrow without speaking, Ning Yin thought for a moment, then added with a smile, “I can also fight. If Young Miss has enemies she wants to be killed, I can…”
“Stop!” Yu Lingxi raised her hand to halt him.
Listen, just listen—this must be how he grew crooked in her previous life, with his mind full of simple and brutal killing.
“I don’t want you to kill people. On the contrary, I want you to protect me and protect the Yu family.”
“Protect?” Ning Yin showed a slightly puzzled expression.
“Yes. If you truly want to stay by my side, you must follow my rules. No matter when or where you must never do anything that betrays the Yu family or goes against your conscience.”
Yu Lingxi stood in the lamplight as if countless stars were crushed in that shallow pool of her eyes. She gently laid out her bargaining chip: “I have no intention of exploiting your gratitude. If you’re unwilling, I still respect your choice, will give you a generous reward, and help you settle outside the mansion.”
“I am willing.” After her long speech, Ning Yin responded without hesitation.
He raised his head slightly, his ink-black pupils as deep as whirlpools, captivating and soul-stirring.
The fingers Yu Lingxi had been twisting in her sleeve gradually relaxed, her brow smoothed, and she smiled with raised eyebrows: “In that case, starting tomorrow, you will be an honored guest in my household. How does that sound?”
As if he hadn’t expected such “courtesy” from her, Ning Yin was momentarily stunned.
Although the title of honored guest sounded good, he would ultimately be an outsider, which would inconvenience his investigations and movements.
“Wei Qi is of humble origin and limited knowledge. I am willing to start as a guard, protecting Young Miss.”
Ning Yin lowered his gaze to cover the emotions in his eyes and said softly, “As long as I can stay by Young Miss’s side, anything is acceptable.”
Limited knowledge? That was doubtful.
In two or three years, both the country and the emperor would be ants in his palm, crushed at his whim.
Yu Lingxi inwardly scoffed, silently watching his self-deprecation and self-pity.
But he did remind her of something: Ning Yin becoming an honored guest of the Yu household would indeed be too conspicuous. It would make it easier for those with ulterior motives to dig up his identity, thus dragging her father and brother into dangerous disputes. Being a guard would provide better protection and discretion.
This thought flashed through her mind, and Yu Lingxi said: “Then start as a guard. But guards are people too, not slaves. You must not do those self-deprecating things anymore. For the rest, I will teach you gradually.”
Yu Lingxi left, a point of lamplight crookedly disappearing into the pitch-black night.
Ning Yin sat on the couch for a while, then waved his sleeve to close the door.
He took off the deerskin boots and examined them for a moment in the cold light spilling in from the windowsill. Then he released them from both hands, letting the brand-new boots drop to the floor with a thud. As if discovering some amusing game, he bent his elbow and curved his lips, bursting into a muffled laugh from his chest.
The little girl thought her thoughts were meticulous, yet she couldn’t even tell a proper lie: this deerskin was very new, impossible to be old stock from the storeroom.
Her care was more like trying to put a gentle shackle on him, a beast in sheep’s clothing.
Had she guessed his identity?