Chapter 10: One Of The Conditions

It wasn’t until nightfall that Fang Rui left the teahouse, telling Rong Tai to wait there.

As expected, he climbed the wall from the usual spot, and unsurprisingly he still had a very obedient white cat tucked in his arms.

Gently patting the white cat’s head, Fang Rui smiled faintly. “I’m counting on you.”

Whether the cat had become sentient or not, it made no sound and only rubbed against Fang Rui’s chest.

A hint of surprise flashed in Fang Rui’s eyes. “Has it really become sentient?”

But he quickly relaxed. If it had, so be it. He’d died and was reborn, so what was a cat becoming sentient to him? Besides, this sentient cat seemed to be on his side, and if it caused trouble it would be someone else’s trouble.

The Grand Guardian’s residence was heavily guarded, likely because of Shen Yu’s status, so its defenses were far stricter than the neighboring General’s residence. But for someone with his keen hearing and sight, it posed no difficulty at all.

In his previous life he couldn’t count how many times he’d visited Shen Yu’s bedchamber. On late-night visits he’d lie on the roof, lift a tile and watch her sleeping face for a while, imagining he was asleep beside her, imagining restless nights and… AHEM! The point was, he could walk from the bathhouse to Shen Yu’s chamber even with his eyes closed.

Having avoided the patrols, the path to Shen Yu’s chamber felt much smoother, as if someone had deliberately sidetracked the guards. Fang Rui narrowed his eyes and smiled. Such smoothness surely meant a trap.

And that trap was certainly Shen Yu’s doing.

Fang Rui already knew Shen Yu looked refined, but she was stubborn to the point that not even a single extremely strong man could move her. Ten such men combined still couldn’t.

Arriving at Shen Yu’s room, Fang Rui placed the white cat beneath her window and pressed himself against the outer wall, holding his breath to listen for sounds inside.

“Meow~” A very faint sound came.

Inside, Shen Yu heard the noise and instinctively gripped the dagger tightly. Once she recognized it as the same cat’s mew she’d heard last night, she exhaled and tucked the dagger back under her pillow.

“Meow~” Another cat sound came from outside the window. Shen Yu frowned, thinking why the noisy neighbor’s cat always came to her side. She already had to deal with a rude intruder the night before, and now, even a cat was treating this place like its home.

Worried the commotion might draw attention, Shen Yu just wanted to chase the cat away quickly.

She hurried to the window and opened it, only for a white blur to leap onto the sill. Startled, Shen Yu nearly lost her balance and almost smacked the white cat off the window where it was crouched.

Once she saw it was the same white cat from last night, Shen Yu relaxed and looked at it with lingering nervousness, her voice very low, “Go away, I have no food here.”

She remembered overhearing two maids last night say the cat came because no one fed it, so she assumed it was hungry again tonight.

As she tried to shoo the cat away, it unexpectedly jumped down and, as if sniffing something, ran toward the bed. Alarmed at the direction it took, Shen Yu hurried over and scooped it up.

Just as Shen Yu lifted the cat, the unshut window let in a shadowy figure who quickly slipped and hid in the corner behind the screen.

Holding the cat, Shen Yu found it extraordinarily soft and stroked it curiously, musing, “So cats are this soft.”

Hiding behind the screen, Fang Rui heard that and almost wanted to step out and tell her, “Actually, you’re the softer one.”

That was Fang Rui’s honest thought. Though he’d only touched Shen Yu’s little hand so far, it was so soft, as if without bones, that after the first touch he kept looking for excuses to brush against her hand.

The white cat’s eyes were like blue gems holding water, dewy and utterly adorable. Watching it softened Shen Yu’s heart and she continued to stroke its fur.

“Don’t come running over here anymore. Coming to me is one thing, but if you go into the old madam’s courtyard I can’t protect you,” she said in an unexpectedly gentle tone, perhaps because cats were animals that couldn’t understand human speech, so her usually neutral voice was soft, sounding like a young lady scolding a child.

She even added, “Do you understand?”

Fang Rui listened to Shen Yu’s somewhat silly questions and couldn’t help but chuckle. He’d never seen this side of her before. Shen Yu, who usually looked clever, could become decidedly foolish at times, and that only made her more attractive to him.

Shen Yu walked to the window, set the cat out, and the cat, cleverly, leapt from her arm on its own, swished its tail, and leisurely strolled back the way it had come.

Watching the cat disappear, Shen Yu let out a breath and was closing the window when a voice spoke from behind her.

“You like it that much? Shall I give you one too?”

At the voice, Shen Yu turned and was startled to see a man in black with a mask seated on her bed, one leg crossed over the other, idly toying with the hilt of a dagger.

That dagger was clearly the very one she’d placed under her pillow!

Shen Yu’s face went instantly pale.

Fang Rui brought the dagger to his nose to sniff, smiling as he said, “Arsenic that kills on contact with blood…are you planning to murder your husband?”

“You!” Shen Yu, affronted by his teasing, flushed red with anger despite her earlier pallor.

Shen Yu could handle deliberate troublemakers at work, but she had no experience dealing with someone who flirted and teased her, and had never seen how others handled it, so she was at a loss for words.

“Don’t leave such a dangerous thing on the bed. If the murder of your husband fails and you injure yourself, I’d feel sorry for you,” he said, wrapping the dagger in the pillowcase.

“I’ll take such a dangerous thing with me,” he said, tucking the wrapped item into his bosom, then looking up at Shen Yu.

He froze for a moment. The scene was a bit…mesmerizing?

Shen Yu wore a white under-robe with her hair loose down her back. Seen like this she truly looked like a woman. His gaze lingered on her unbound chest. The garment was loose but still curved, and even if it had been flat he’d have accepted it. After all, back when he thought Shen Yu was a man he hadn’t cared about such things.

Even with the black mask, Shen Yu felt that unabashed stare on her body and immediately crossed her arms over her chest, adopting a wary expression.

Fang Rui chuckled lightly and teased, “So scared already? Weren’t you planning to dress like this to lure me in with your beauty, and then stab me with a poisoned dagger?”

He’d smelled arsenic the moment he came in, and seeing Shen Yu’s appearance he guessed her plan. He had been curious to see how she’d try to seduce him, but…

If she did seduce him, he’d certainly lose control. His wolfish instincts would break loose. So he decided it was better not to try. He knew he had absolutely no self-control around Shen Yu’s beauty.

Being called out on her plan steadied Shen Yu’s resolve. She vowed not to be led by the nose by this man.

Shen Yu kept her gaze steady, without a hint of shame, and looked straight at him. “How about we make a deal? You keep my secret and I’ll agree to three conditions, as long as they’re conditions that don’t involve harming anyone and…”

“Fine.” Fang Rui agreed before she could finish her sentence.

Shen Yu frowned. “I haven’t finished.”

“I’m a good man. How could I do anything that’ll harm heaven and mankind?”

Shen Yu glanced at the man in night clothes and a mask and rolled her eyes slightly.

With that outfit and appearing in her room at this hour, could he really have the gall to call himself a good man?

Fang Rui’s eyes burned like a torch as he stared at Shen Yu. He had been waiting for her to negotiate terms with him.

“First condition: call me ‘husband’.”

Shen Yu’s eyes widened slightly, then she glowered at the man on her bed. The temper she’d calmed had flared up again.

“Your only aim is to humiliate me, isn’t it?!” That flippant attitude was plainly an insult.

Fang Rui shook his head repeatedly. His real aim was to get Shen Yu sent into the palace, and while he was trying to tease her, he really wasn’t trying to humiliate her.

“If you won’t, I’ll leave. And if I do something, please forgive me,” he said, standing as if to go.

Panicked, Shen Yu cried out, “Wait.”

Fang Rui looked at her. Shen Yu took a deep breath, appearing to gather herself as if ready to risk everything.

“I…”

Her “I” had barely left her lips when a loud voice called out from outside the room.

“Shen Yu, come out and join me for a few cups!”

Fang Rui cursed inwardly. He suddenly felt an urge to kill this damned Lei Shengda!