«Well, well,» Yang Yusheng covered his mouth with his hand and smirked.
Yang Yulan pushed the shocked Shin Zuzhou off her and jumped to her feet. The latter followed her example and also stood up from the floor. She brushed off her clothes and returned to her serious expression. Yang Yulan couldn't help but be surprised at her composure.
«Your Highness, please forgive my inappropriate appearance.»
«It's nothing, Princess. It's my fault. I distracted you. You seemed very busy.»
Hearing the prince's last words, Yang Yulan frantically waved her hands. Yang Yusheng pretended not to notice.
«Your Highness, it's not what you think,» Shin Zuzhou said calmly.
«And what do I think?»
Yang Yusheng smiled as he answered the princess, but at the same time kept glancing at his sister.
«Perhaps you decided that the princess and I had a disagreement, but that's not the case at all.»
At these words, Shin Zuzhou looked sternly at Yang Yulan, awaiting a reaction.
«Actually, I accidentally fell, and the princess tried to help me up.»
Yang Yulan didn't know what the villainess wanted from her, but she hesitantly nodded in agreement.
«A disagreement? Why would you think that? On the contrary, I thought you were getting along very well.»
«There's no need for you to make excuses,» he again cast a meaningful glance at his sister. «I understand everything.»
Yang Yulan sighed wearily and covered her face with her hands.
«May I ask why you decided to visit us?»
«To be honest, I really missed my sister. Besides, I have a small gift for her.»
«You really are that close.»
«Of course. Who else would take care of this unfortunate girl? Just look at her. She's already withering away. My heart aches just looking at her.»
«You have such a kind soul, Your Highness.»
«Indeed I do, Princess. That's just the way I am. I can't leave a family member in trouble.»
Yang Yusheng cheerfully winked at his sister. She, in turn, rolled her eyes and quickly left the room while she had the chance. Shin Zuzhou did not try to stop her.
«Allow me to invite you to have dinner with us tonight,» the princess offered in a somewhat dejected voice, regretting the lost opportunity.
«I would be delighted. You are, as always, very hospitable, Princess.»
«I am glad to have such a guest. My husband's family is my family.»
«Husband, is it?» Yang Yusheng interrupted the girl.
«Hmm... Allow me to ask a personal question.»
Shin Zuzhou nodded.
«Go ahead.»
«Lately, there have been rumors that you've taken a lover. Do you really need my brother? You don't even love him.»
«His Highness is the only man in the world for me,» Shin Zuzhou answered dryly.
«Really? I've just heard various stories about princesses who refused an arranged marriage and ran away from the palace with their beloved. Isn't that romantic?»
«I don't concern myself with such foolishness.»
«Is that so,» Yang Yusheng finally backed off. «What a pity.»
«Why pity?» the princess asked without a hint of interest in her voice.
«No, no. Nothing. Pay no attention. Just thinking out loud.»
After Yang Yulan finally returned to her room, she immediately wiped her face with a towel. From such a tense situation, she had worked up quite a sweat.
This story was becoming more and more intense, and she just wanted to enjoy a vacation in another world. Every time she tried to fix the situation, something would inevitably go wrong. And once again, the person ruining all her plans was Mr. Always-Appearing-At-The-Wrong-Time.
Yang Yulan fell onto the bed and pulled her bow out from under the mattress. Lately, she hadn't even been able to look at it properly. This bow had brought color to her life after many years of aimless wandering. It gave her purpose, but she couldn't return to helping people and practicing archery because she was constantly busy saving herself. She could be bringing justice, she could be doing what she loved, if only she had more time, if only the villainess would finally leave her alone.
«She will leave,» Yang Yulan suddenly thought. «She'll leave when she's publicly executed.»
At this thought, Yang Yulan felt uneasy, and her heart grew heavier.
Why did she care whether this woman died or not? She would end up dead by the end of the story anyway, just as the main couple would end up together regardless.
Yang Yulan shook her head from another bout of sadness. She couldn't forget about today's business and get distracted.
«Knock, knock. May I come in?» a familiar voice came from behind the door.
«You'll come in anyway, even if I forbid it,» Yang Yulan complained.
«What a low opinion you have of me. And I came to you not empty-handed.»
Yang Yulan cast a skeptical glance at her brother. Yang Yusheng held a theatrical pause and pulled an archer's bracer from behind his back.
«Here. I sewed it myself. You're still using some red rag instead of proper protection. That's very unsafe.»
«Why did you suddenly start caring so much about my safety? I thought you were ready to betray me for the sake of a good show.»
«You're still angry.» Yang Yusheng laughed, then suddenly became serious. Yang Yulan had never seen him like this before. «I really did think that way, and I still do think that way about other people. But not long ago, I realized that I don't want to lose the only person who sees something significant in me. I don't want to lose my only family... and my friend.»
Yang Yulan didn't say a word, shocked by the scene unfolding before her.
«I really value the fact that you admire me. And I'll do everything to make sure you don't stop being proud of me.»
Yang Yulan didn't know what to say. She never imagined she would hear such words from someone like Yang Yusheng in this life. Miracles really do happen when you least expect them.
Yang Yusheng was silent for a while, waiting for a reaction, but not receiving one, he continued speaking.
«I'm ready to help you with anything. I can make Shin Zuzhou fall in love with you. I've often heard about girls from the Golden Orchid, and I want to say that I'm absolutely not against that way of life. Especially for you. No man in the world will ever deserve such a bride as you. Although I don't know why you were so afraid of men before, I'm sure you don't need to start liking them anyway. The general and I are enough for you.»
«What made you think I want to please Shin Zuzhou? I don't remember if I mentioned it, but what happened at that celebration was a complete mistake. I don't love women. Not in that way.»
Yang Yusheng smiled and shook his head.
«I already said. There's no need to deny it.»
The prince stood in front of the girl and embraced her.
«I'll help you.»
«No, wait. You don't understand.»
Yang Yusheng didn't let the girl finish and gently stroked her head.
«Shh. Everything will be fine now. Your big brother is on your side.»
Yang Yulan was bursting with indignation, but before she could utter a single word in protest, the prince left her room.
«What a headache.»
«Fine. Never mind. Time to prepare for the first act.»
***
Around noon, Xin entered Shin Zuzhou's study. She had urgent news for the princess.
«Your Highness, the masked boy has returned and is waiting to be brought to the new palace.»
«He took his time visiting his family. Did he say anything else about his absence?»
«No, Your Highness.»
«Anything else?»
«Yes, Your Highness. If the masked boy has indeed returned and will appear at the palace, it means we suspected the wrong person.»
«Don't worry. We'll test it.»
Shin Zuzhou turned to her bird. It was sitting on the floor, preening its feathers.
«Storm, I have a task for you.»
The spirit immediately stood up straight, awaiting orders.
«I need you to temporarily distract that boy's pet. I need both of them gone from the palace until tomorrow morning. Do you understand?»
The bird nodded its head, as if understanding every word and accepting the mission. Xin was again amazed at the connection between her mistress and her spirit.
***
Storm quickly found his target. Over years of hunting magical spirits, he had greatly improved his skills, and now he could detect his dinner from kilometers away almost without difficulty.
However, Little Bell was no ordinary spirit either. He was known throughout Southern Nan for his hiding abilities. Nevertheless, Storm was lucky today. He quickly found the little beast by the lake. He wasn't hiding. Perhaps he was confident that he could escape at any moment, or perhaps he just wanted to toy with Storm, thinking, «You won't be able to do anything to me anyway.»
But Storm didn't want to harm him. He had a different tactic. When Little Bell glanced at the approaching spirit, he noticed a dead rat in Storm's beak.
Little Bell tilted his head, not understanding what the newcomer was trying to achieve. Storm placed the offering at his paws and stepped back a little, waiting for his reaction.
Little Bell stood still for a while, unsure whether to approach, then sniffed the dead rat to check if it was poisoned, and finally decided to take a bite.
The taste was wonderful. Just how he liked it. A freshly killed rat, all bloody. What could be better?
Storm cautiously watched the gray beast, who was devouring the offering with great enthusiasm. He was terrified of distracting him. One wrong move, and the forest spirit could vanish for the rest of the day. If not for the mass of feathers on the bird's body, one might have noticed him sweating and covered in goosebumps.
Meanwhile, Little Bell finished his meal and waited for further action from his new benefactor.
Storm shifted on his feet. He couldn't bring himself to do what he had planned. Little Bell looked at him curiously.
Storm moved a fair distance away, gathered his courage, and began wiggling his wings from side to side. At first glance, it might have looked like the bird was trying to shake something off its feathers, but in fact, it was a dance. A very strange bird dance. The kind that members of his species sometimes performed when trying to attract a mate. In this case, it was supposed to be a distraction tactic.
Storm might have been a Spirit of Death, a magical creature, but no one ever said such beings had to be particularly intelligent. Storm wasn't lacking basic understanding, but when it came to devising and executing plans, he clearly had problems.
If Little Bell had understood what was happening, he would clearly have thought:
«And with this you're going to distract me until tomorrow morning?»
But unfortunately, Little Bell didn't understand. And thus, the scene before him was terribly absurd and illogical.
At one point, Storm was waving so much from dancing that he started to get a little out of breath. The performance didn't last long, but during it, Little Bell began to feel so sorry for the poor fool that he decided to stop him.
When Little Bell was about to leave for another place, leaving the bird behind, Storm panicked. The little beast didn't understand why this bird suddenly craved someone else's attention so badly. Was he lonely, or did he have something planned? Maybe he had no one to play with?
Little Bell hesitated. He stood still, not knowing what to do with this nuisance. Storm looked at him with hope in his eyes. Little Bell felt as if he was about to cry.
He sighed heavily and nodded to Storm, as if saying, «Follow me.»
Storm was overjoyed and offered Little Bell to climb onto his back. The latter was so happy that he immediately climbed on top, and they both flew off to seek adventures in the palace forest.
***
Late in the evening, before going to the dining hall for dinner, Yang Yusheng decided to stop by his sister's room. Knocking and entering, he immediately realized that the girl sitting there, who looked very much like his sister, was not her. The face shape, the eyes, the absurdly bright makeup—all of it was literally identical to what he had seen just a few hours earlier. Fortunately, Yang Yulan had already warned him about the events, so he went to dinner with his sister as if nothing had happened.
Shin Zuzhou was already sitting at the table. When the guests entered, she stood up to greet them.
Examining the newcomers from head to toe, she also immediately sensed that something was wrong. But she couldn't say exactly what. She felt that something had changed in the mad princess's gaze. It was softer, and from her stern look, it immediately became wary. That calm confidence was gone.
However, Yang Yusheng's attitude toward his sister remained the same. It seemed he hadn't noticed any changes.
«Sit down, Your Highness,» Shin Zuzhou invited them to the table.
«Thank you.»
The pair sat down at the table and after a short time began to eat.
Shin Zuzhou carefully watched the girl's movements. She was behaving very reserved and carefully.
Then she summoned Xin and said loudly enough for everyone at the table to hear:
«Has my servant returned to the palace yet? Bring him here so he can have dinner with us as well. You don't mind, Your Highness?» she addressed the last sentence to Yang Yusheng.
«Not at all,» he replied briefly and took a sip from his goblet to hide his delight at the unfolding situation.
The masked boy entered the dining room and sat in his place, greeting everyone at the table. His voice remained the same.
Shin Zuzhou glanced at his hands. The scars were still there.
Looking at all the food on the table, the boy lifted his mask and began to eat in his usual manner. Grabbing food with his hands and smacking loudly.
«It's definitely him.»
Shin Zuzhou watched the pair of suspects throughout the entire dinner but remained uncertain in her suspicions. Everything was too natural and ordinary.
Noticing Shin Zuzhou's disappointed expression, Yang Yulan smiled, pulling her mask down.
Go on. Try to do something. I know you want to.
When everyone finally finished dinner and went to their rooms, Yang Yulan approached the Northern Princess.
«Come to my room in half an hour,» the villainess told her. «I need to talk to you. Xin will show you your room.»
«Here it is,» flashed through Yang Yulan's mind. «Act two is approaching.»
***
After Yang Yulan settled into her new room and secretly moved her bow, arrows, and the new bracer there, she went to see Shin Zuzhou.
She entered the room without knocking and lounged on the couch next to her desk. Shin Zuzhou relaxed at such familiar behavior.
«Did you see your family?» she asked, moving away from her papers and sitting on the couch opposite. Between them stood a small round table with wine goblets arranged on it.
«Yes, everything went well.»
«Nevertheless, you were late. I believe we agreed on a couple of days. I already thought you weren't coming back.»
«I apologize for that. I got a little lost on the way home.»
«Is that so.»
The room was shrouded in semi-darkness, lit only by the soft flicker of a thin candle standing in the center of the table. The candle cast its light on the porcelain dishes, creating colorful reflections. A tense silence hung between the girls for a while, broken only by the quiet drone of the rain outside the window.
Shin Zuzhou winked at Xin, who stood nearby. She stepped away for a while and returned with a vessel of wine.
«How do you handle alcohol?»
«What's with the sudden desire to drink?»
«They say drunk people often spill their secrets. I hope to find out what you're hiding thanks to wine.»
«I'm not hiding anything. Nothing for you to worry about, anyway.»
«Then you won't deny me the pleasure?»
If he really is hiding something, he won't drink this wine.
If I don't drink the wine, she'll continue to suspect me.
«How do I know you didn't poison it?»
«I'll drink it with you, of course.»
«You could have the antidote.»
«Why would I want to poison you? You're still useful to me.»
«That's not an excuse.»
«I'm not making excuses. I'm just making an offer. You don't have to drink if you don't want to.»
Shin Zuzhou looked at Yang Yulan with an uncertain gaze. The latter thought she saw red sparks in her eyes.
She took the bottle and poured wine for both.
«Let's drink to your return.»
Yang Yulan took the goblet in her hands and took a sip. Shin Zuzhou followed her every move with the greed of a beast that had spotted its prey in the bushes.
When Yang Yulan drained the goblet of wine in one gulp, Shin Zuzhou smiled with satisfaction.
«Obedient boy.»
A shiver ran down Yang Yulan's spine. After some time, she felt slight fatigue and yawned. She glanced at Shin Zuzhou only to make sure that she was not feeling the same weakness. So it wasn't the wine?
«If this test of yours is over, I'll go back to my room. I want to sleep.»
«Of course. Go.»
Leaving the room with a strange feeling, Yang Yulan shuffled to her room. The weakness in her limbs was becoming more noticeable with each passing second.
«That woman drugged me after all. Damn.»
She entered her room but didn't see her little beast inside as usual. Had he gone for a walk so late at night? How inconvenient. Nevertheless, her strength was quickly leaving her, so she didn't waste time thinking, and without taking off her clothes, she fell onto the bed and fell asleep.
The night was quiet. The moon shone brightly in the sky. In the room filled with the quiet snoring of the masked person, the creak of an opening door was heard. A short woman in a red dress entered. She approached the sleeping person very quietly and loomed over him like death. Examining his mask for a short while, she reached out her hand to his face. With a careful movement, she untied the strings of his mask and removed it. The face that greeted the woman greatly amazed her. Not because it was something special – on the contrary, it was so ordinary and unremarkable that the villainess couldn't believe her eyes.
The face of the sleeping boy was relaxed. Thick eyebrows, a crooked nose, thin lips. You could meet such a boy at the market selling vegetables and forget his face as soon as you stepped away from the stall.
«Strange,» Shin Zuzhou concluded. «That can't be right. Who is this?»
When the girl decided to lift the boy's sleeves, he suddenly stirred.
The sleeping pill's effect wore off so quickly? They really don't know how to make these things in this country.
Not staying any longer, Shin Zuzhou left the room as quietly as she had entered, after first putting the mask back on the boy's face.
As soon as the door closed, the curtains in the room rustled, and Yang Yulan stepped out from behind them. She had been standing outside and climbed into the room through the window. She approached the bed.
«And so ends the third act.»
The boy lying on the bed opened his eyes and sat up.
«Thank you, my friend,» Yang Yulan whispered. «Consider this saving my life.»
«I didn't do it for free,» the boy replied completely emotionlessly.
«From what I know, General Qing paid you and your friend at the theater when he hired you.»
«Nevertheless, I believe I deserve a bonus for my excellent performance.»
«You little bastard, you were literally just sleeping... Argh... Fine.»
Yang Yulan handed the boy another bag of coins. He counted the money under Yang Yulan's indignant snorts, then left the room through the window, after returning the mask to its owner.
«Your friend will go out through another window. You'll meet at the lake.»
«A pleasure doing business with you.»
«Not mutual,» Yang Yulan thought, closed the window, and lay down on the bed.
When she finally closed her eyes to rest, she felt something strange. Like a bad premonition. Early in the morning, a familiar pink screen shone above her head.
「Event: The Massacre at the Temple of Rain. Time until event: 23:59... 23:58...」