Union

Chapter 26 Questions and Answers

Chen Yanzhou lay comfortably in the recliner, while Yun Ying stood silently at the entrance of the pavilion. Neither of them spoke, and for a moment, only the gentle breeze carrying the scent of river sand blew by.

Yunying was a little uncomfortable, but fortunately, this discomfort was quickly dispelled.

The maid He Sui rushed over and handed the sewing kit to Yun Ying, saying, "Aunt, Miss, the needle and thread are here."

Yunying really didn't want to go over and mend the clothes for the Second Master, so she spoke to him again, saying, "My needlework is barely satisfactory. Does the Second Master really not regret it?"

"Stop dawdling," Chen Yanzhou said lazily to Yun Ying without even opening his eyes. "Hurry up and mend it; we have important business to attend to later."

Yunying wanted to say, since there are still important matters to attend to, why don't you just go to the front yard and change into a new dress? Why make her mend it? It puts both of them in a difficult position, and neither of them feels comfortable. What's the point?
However, Yunying also understood that the Second Master did not want to appear in front of everyone in such an disheveled state, which was obviously due to his upbringing and pride.

What could she possibly say?
She only regretted that she wasn't as quick-witted as He Sui, and that when the Second Master asked her to mend his clothes, she didn't imitate He Sui and say, "This servant is timid, and my hands tremble when I see the Second Master." Instead, she honestly replied, "This servant's needlework is mediocre."

Because of this, He Sui escaped a disaster and now happily runs to the foot of the artificial hill to keep Mo Xue company, while she has to stay in this pavilion to serve this cold-faced second master.

With this second master around, why bother with a pavilion to escape the heat? This second master is like a built-in air conditioner; the air feels cool around him.

***
Yunying knelt on one knee and sewed the hem of the second master's clothes.

Second Master was probably in a hurry to leave, so he walked a little fast, which is why the tear in his clothes is quite large.

The tear was about half an arm's length long, and it happened right where the cloud pattern was embroidered. If it were a skilled embroiderer, she could surely follow the pattern and sew the garment back on seamlessly.

Unfortunately, Yunying's needlework skills were only mediocre. In addition, her current posture was very uncomfortable, so as time went on, Yunying's needlework became more and more sloppy, her brows furrowed more and more, and the second master's expression became more and more doubtful.

For what seemed like the umpteenth time, Chen Yanzhou's gaze fell on the woman beside him, then on the hem of his own clothes.

The woman said her needlework was mediocre. Chen Yanzhou initially thought it was a humble remark, but now he just wanted to ask, how dare she say her skills were mediocre?
She's completely ignorant of needlework skills!

She has a face that's quite intimidating, but why is this female worker so unpresentable?
Chen Yanzhou's brows furrowed into a knot.

He couldn't bear to watch Yunying mend the clothes any longer—he was worried he might get up and go back to the front yard in those tattered clothes.

Chen Yanzhou had to find ways to divert his attention.

He looked at Yunying, and after a while, he noticed that the woman's breathing remained steady and her expression remained unchanged under his gaze.

Chen Yanzhou raised an eyebrow and asked Yun Ying, "Do you... have something to say to me?"

"What did you say?" It seemed that kneeling on one knee was too agonizing, and the stone slab beneath her knees was too sturdy. Yunying's pampered body simply couldn't withstand this torment, so she frowned and took a slight breath.

Soon, she slightly raised her eyes and looked at the master in front of her.

The master's brows furrowed even more, and his eyes sharpened even further. He stared intently at her, as if he were looking at something rare and precious.

But upon closer inspection, his eyes appeared somewhat vacant, clearly indicating that he was lost in thought.

Yunying subtly shifted her legs, changing into a kneeling position.

After she knelt down and looked up at Chen Yanzhou, she found herself face to face with her master.

Yunying: So what if she sees it? We can't just stop her from changing her position.

To be honest, this mistress is really inconsiderate! And her needlework is really terrible; she's so slow at mending clothes.

Yunying seriously suspected that if she didn't change her position, her legs might be ruined by the time the clothes were mended!
Although she was caught red-handed, Yunying was not afraid at all. She acted as if nothing had happened and continued to mend the hem of her clothes with her clumsy skills.

Chen Yanzhou, however, frowned slightly as he carefully looked at Yun Ying, who was working with her head down, and still felt that something was wrong.

Wasn't she a maid sent from the manor to serve him?

This service, of course, is not limited to serving tea and water, making the bed and folding blankets; the real intention is obvious to everyone.

If that's the case, how does she manage to remain calm and composed when facing him, without even disturbing her breathing?
Even if he wasn't the master of this mansion, or the man she would be serving in the future, just considering that he was a young man with good looks, and she was a young woman in the prime of her life, it was rather strange that she reacted so calmly and composedly when facing a strange man.

This is the first point.

Secondly, recalling past outings with friends, the maids and courtesans who served them seized every opportunity to fawn over them. They were all obsequious and overly gentle, only wanting to win the favor of wealthy young men and secure a good future.

Compared to Yun Ying's current attempt to avoid her, Chen Yanzhou's gaze towards her became even more profound.

It was only when he gazed at her intently that Chen Yanzhou realized that the woman before him not only possessed an ethereal and beautiful face, but also had fair and radiant skin, a delicate and pert nose, and rosy lips. Her ten fingers were slender and delicate like scallion roots... Even her furrowed brows were exquisitely beautiful. And she seemed to be enveloped in a refined and pleasant fragrance, as if she had used some kind of rouge or incense.

Chen Yanzhou subtly leaned back, widening the distance between them.

"Hiss." Yunying suddenly gasped, her fingertip pricked lightly by the needle. She frowned and looked at Chen Yanzhou, "Second Master, what are you doing? You know perfectly well that my needlework skills are not good, yet you keep fiddling with me."

Chen Yanzhou looked at the tiny needle mark on her delicate fingertip; thankfully, there was no bleeding. But seeing her gasp in pain, Chen Yanzhou couldn't help but feel a little guilty.

Furthermore, being stared at so intently by her eyes, which held both anger and resentment, made Chen Yanzhou feel increasingly restless and want to get up and leave.

But, the hem of the dress... um?

The slight guilt that Chen Yanzhou had just felt vanished instantly when he saw that the hem of his clothes had been sewn into a centipede pattern.

Chen Yanzhou: "It was indeed my fault that you got pricked by needles. But you've retaliated."

Yunying frowned: "When did I ever take revenge on Second Master? I'm just a servant, how could I dare..."

Yunying was about to say something, but as a servant, how could she dare to retaliate against her master, the Second Master? But when she followed the Second Master's gaze to the patched-up marks, her pupils contracted, and she felt uneasy all over.

She knew her mending was bad, but she didn't expect it to be this bad.

This huge centipede was crawling on the Second Master's moon-white robe with its dark silver floral pattern. It was such an eyesore that she wished she could just brush it away with her hands.

Yunying: "Why don't I take it apart and sew it back together?"

Chen Yanzhou chuckled, "Would it look better after being stitched back together?"

Yunying shook her head; she couldn't guarantee that.

Chen Yanzhou picked up a book from the side and covered his eyes, pretending to be an out-of-eyes person. "Alright, hurry up and sew it up. I have important business to attend to later."

Yunying said "Oh" and continued to clumsily sew.

Chen Yanzhou was really disgusted by the centipede. Even though he couldn't see it, just thinking about how the centipede slowly took shape in her hands and even became stronger made him feel uncomfortable all over. He just wanted to take his sword and cut the thing down.

He couldn't think about it anymore. If he kept thinking about it, he would even kick the rather pretty woman next to him aside.

Chen Yanzhou shifted his attention again, asking Yun Ying, "When did you arrive at the manor on the outskirts of Chang'an Marquis's residence?"

Yun Ying was taken aback when Chen Yanzhou suddenly asked about this, and immediately paused. However, she wasn't surprised that Chen Yanzhou knew her background. But the fact that he asked about it now... Yun Ying's heart stirred, and an idea came to her.

Before she could delve deeper into that thought, she gasped again. The needle had pricked her fingertip once more. But this time, she wasn't so lucky; the needle had gone in deeper, and a bright red bead of blood immediately welled up from her fingertip.

Yunying quickly put her fingertip in her mouth and licked the blood away. Once the bleeding stopped, she took her fingertip out and replied slowly, "When I was ten years old, I was bought by the steward of the Marquis of Chang'an's mansion and have been raised on that estate ever since."

Chen Yanzhou pretended not to notice Yun Ying's unusual behavior just now, and also pretended not to hear her gasp in pain and the barely audible swallowing sound.

He continued to ask Yunying, "What is the state of your family? Why were you sold to someone else?"

This problem was no challenge for Yunying.

Yunying said, "My parents are still alive, and I have a younger brother and sister. As for why I was sold... my father was a gambler. When he lost money, the creditors came to our house to collect the debts. Since we couldn't come up with the money, the creditors wanted to take me away and sell me to someone else."

Her father was somewhat lacking in conscience, but not by much.

The fact that the debt collectors wanted to take her away to pay off their debts gave the father a new idea. He felt that he had raised his daughter all these years, and he couldn't bear to see her sold to a filthy, smelly place by those debt collectors. But the family needed to pay off their debts, and his younger brother needed to go to school; they really couldn't do without money. So, behind his wife and children's backs, he tricked Yunying into going to the county town and sold her to a relatively reputable human trafficker, even asking the trafficker to find his daughter a good home.

This kind of father is so bad that even complaining about him is a waste of breath.

As for Chen Yanzhou, after asking those questions, he didn't pursue the matter further, as if he had simply asked them on a whim to pass the time. He paid no heed to Yun Ying's answer.

Seeing this, Yunying became somewhat anxious, as she had other plans in mind. However, these plans wouldn't work without the Second Master's cooperation.

Yunying tentatively said, "Although I resented my father for selling me at first, my resentment has faded over time. Now I only care about my mother. She's always been timid and prone to tears. I don't know how much she'll cry if she finds out my father sold me. Her health isn't good, and she does embroidery all year round to supplement the family income. If she cries too much..."

Yun Ying hesitated, as if she wanted to say something but stopped herself... This time, Chen Yanzhou understood what she meant.

No wonder she answered his questions so fluently; it turns out she had ulterior motives.

However, this doesn't explain why she didn't blush or have disordered breathing when facing him, this man.

There must be other reasons for this.

Chen Yanzhou was silent for a moment, then asked, "You were already ten years old when you left home. Was there a marriage arranged for you at home?"

(End of this chapter)