1.3: Under the cherry blossom rain

"Master! I have finally got a clue about the spy in the wang fu!" Little Star cried out in joy as he floated to his side with a face written with 'Praise me! Praise me!' all over it.

Bai Yu calmly held the teacup with the freshly brewed tea in his hand and lifted the lid to blow on it gently. He took a sip of the tea and finally looked at the anxiously waiting cute little boy in the air.

Because Xiao Mo was also standing beside him this time, he didn't speak out loud to him and just asked through telepathy.

Bai Yu:"What did you find?"

Little Star said, "Master, these days I've been constantly keeping an eye on everyone inside the fu. Nothing strange had occurred for a while and I thought it would take longer to find the spy but unexpectedly, the spy actually gave herself out so quickly that I somewhat can't help but feel disappointed."

"Oh? And what did they do?"

Little Star quickly narrated the scene excitedly, "Because master was given poison through food that day, I had been keeping a close eye on the kitchen staffs to not miss out on the person next time it happened. And guess what? I actually saw a beautiful lady bribing the kitchen chef to mix the poison in the chicken soup for today's breakfast!"

Bai Yu raised an eyebrow at his words,"A beautiful lady?"

Where did this beautiful lady come from?

Feeling doubtful, Bai Yu stopped the still chattering Little Star and asked Xiao Mo who was standing still beside him in a nonchalant tone.

"Xiao Mo, do you remember having a beautiful lady in the fu?"

Xiao Mo, who was suddenly called by him was startled at his question. He remained silent for a few seconds in shock then realised that his master was still waiting for his reply. He quickly answered him,"Wang ye, are you asking about...miss Su?"

"Miss Su?"

Xiao Mo said, "Wang ye, you(formal) must have forgotten about her. Miss Su is a courtesan who was gifted to you by Ning Wang in celebration of you coming of age and starting your own wang fu."

Finally, a bell rang in his mind and a distant memory flashed through his eyes. He remembered. Miss Su, Su Si was a beautiful courtesan from the famous Red Fragrance brothel in the red-light district who was gifted to him as a concubine with an excuse of "being sick and having no women to serve him."

At that time, Ning Wang, Long Ji Jing had a disdainful smirk on his face as he showed concern on the surface while indirectly mocked him as being sick and useless to the point that no women wanted to serve him. So as his 'elder brother', he worried that he would feel lonely in the wang fu so he gifted Su Si to 'serve' him properly.

In Long Ji Wei's memories, he had to force a grateful smile and even thank him for his 'care'. So after he brought Su Si back to the fu, he had Xiao Mo arrange a courtyard far from the main courtyard for Su Si to stay and never spoke about her again as if he had already forgotten about her existence.

So when Bai Yu mentioned her after almost two years have passed since that incident, Xiao Mo was greatly shocked that he even remembered that there was a beautiful woman living in the fu.

'Is Wang ye finally interested to the opposite sex?' thought Xiao Mo hopefully.

So that's the case. Bai Yu thought.

A person gifted by Ning Wang. It wasn't a surprise to know that she was a spy sent to poison him to death. The culprit was already decided with this information. But just that...he felt like something wasn't quite right about this. As for what wasn't right...he couldn't tell either.

Seeing him deep in his own thoughts, Xiao Mo sneakily tried to guess his mind through his facial expression. But to his dismay, he could only see calm and indifference in that exquisitely beautiful face.

He sighed. 'Wang ye is so beautiful that I doubt there is any girl out there who can match him. It'd be good if he is at least interested in someone so that he won't be lonely anymore.'

Thinking upto here, he sighed again. 'Wang ye is so pitiful.'

"Hm. Why are you sighing?"

Bai Yu's cool voice drifted to his ear and brought him back to reality.

He felt a bit embarrassed and nervous for being caught by Bai Yu when he was lost in his own world. With a cough, he stuttered, "T-this servant...this servant was thinking how you finally asked about miss Su after so long."

He continued with that excuse and asked a bit cautiously, "Wang ye, are you finally...interested in miss Su?"

Bai Yu raised a brow at his question. Interested?

Indeed, he was quite interested in this little spy gifted to him by his dear imperial brother. He also wanted to see how capable this little chess piece was.

Not getting any answer for a long while, Xiao Mo thought he didn't want to continue this subject again so he decided to let this matter go but to his surprise, he heard Bai Yu say, "Let miss Su bring me my breakfast."

Shocked, Xiao Mo widened his eyes as he was unable to react to it for a few seconds.

"What? Did you hear me or not?"Bai Yu looked at the stunned man with a questioning look.

Xiao Mo stuttered, "Ah..ah! P-pardon?"

Bai Yu sighed lightly and only dropped a sentence at him. "I don't like to say anything the second time." He then continued sipping his tea leisurely, not caring whether his little eunuch understood him or not.

Xiao Mo shuddered a bit then quickly bowed. "Y-yes! This servant understood! This servant takes his leave."

Bai Yu only glanced at him once as if saying 'roll out' and didn't pay any mind to him again.

Xiao Mo kept his head bowed and scurried away from the study as if his tail was on fire, only heaving a sigh of relief after taking a turn in the corridor.

'Wang ye seems more intimidating than before even though he is only calmly looking at me and doing nothing else. I nearly forgot to breathe when he glanced at me just now.'

Still feeling his heart race in awe, he pounded his chest as if to calm it down and quickly headed to the direction of the inner courtyard meant for womenfolk of the fu to stay.

Xiang Wang Fu wasn't as big as compared to the two eldest princes' wang fu but it wasn't small either. There was the main courtyard where Bai Yu stayed and the study at the front while there were many other courtyards separated by the second entrance gate.

The main courtyard and the inner courtyard had their own separate kitchen and there was a small pond near the second entrance leading to the inner courtyard. The pond was right beside the garden neatly maintained by the servants. A pavilion was made on top of the pond with loose curtains hung in four sides with a wooden table attached to the ground.

Inside the pavilion, a beautiful woman wearing a simple pink jacket and light blue skirt with a pink cape draped on her dainty shoulders, was sitting while a delicate looking maid poured tea from the side. The beauty had her hair loosely made into a bun secured by a green jade hairpin and the rest were left flowing freely from her back, reaching her waist.

Looking at this picturesque scene from afar, Xiao Mo was a bit surprised to find himself indifferent to it.

'Maybe after attending to wang ye for so many years, I have become immune to other beauties that are no match to his highness.' He shook his head and sighed.

As he got nearer to the pavilion, the person inside also noticed him and turned her head to face him, showing an enchating face with light make up. She still had a sweet smile on her lips but her eyes betrayed the shock she felt when she saw who it was.

A little panic arose inside but she quickly forced it down and got up with a slightly flattering smile on her face as she greeted, "Mo gonggong*, how come you are here today?"

{gonggong*= how eunuchs are addressed.}

The maid beside her also bent her waist quickly who was apparently less experienced in masking her feelings from her expression. Fortunately, she had her head down or else anyone could see the anxiousness and fear in her eyes.

Xiao Mo returned the bow quickly as he said 'don't dare' for a while then said, "Miss Su, this servant came here today on behalf of his highness."

Su Si was shocked. "Wang ye sent you?"

"Yes. A while ago, his highness suddenly missed miss Su so he sent this servant to inform miss Su to bring the breakfast to him."

Xiao Mo was bullsh*tting when he said that Bai Yu missed her but he felt that it was the truth in his heart or else why would he suddenly mention her out of nowhere? Maybe she will finally earn his highness's favour today and become the mistress of the fu.

"Wang ye really said that?" asked Su Si doubtfully yet she couldn't help but feel a bit happy and apprehensive about it.

"I wouldn't dare lie to you, miss Su. This servant has finished informing you so this servant will take his leave." saying that, he bowed and quickly went back to where he came from, leaving behind the two confused young ladies.

"Miss, do you know why his highness called for you today?" Xiao Tong, Su Si's personal maid anxiously looked at her mistress and asked.

Su Si shook her head lightly and said, "I don't know either. Don't worry. It mustn't be anything important."

Xiao Tong was still worried. "But miss..."

Su Si cut her off before she could finish, "Enough! We shouldn't keep his highness waiting. Let's go."

Xiao Tong still wanted to say more but then gave up and said, "...yes."

.....

...

Inside the study, Bai Yu was practicing his calligraphy and Xiao Mo sat beside him to grind ink for him.

His left hand held the wide sleeves which showed his fair arm open to the eyes of everyone. His long and slender fingers held the brush as he wrote the word 'good fortune' on the plain paper, his movement smooth and elegant, his strokes powerful and profound.

Looking from the side, Xiao Mo couldn't help but exclaim softly in admiration.

"Wang ye, your calligraphy is really imposing and graceful, second to no one! If others were to see it, they would never dare to spread rumours about you being useless again."

He suddenly realised his blunder and shut his mouth with his hand as he worriedly glanced at Bai Yu.

Bai Yu acted as if he didn't hear anything and put the last stroke in the word. At his left side, Little Star suddenly reported,"Master, she is here."

Right after his words fell, two soft knocks came from the door. A gentle and clear voice came from outside. "Wang ye, this lowly servant has brought you breakfast."

Xiao Mo got up and waited for his master's order.

"Come in."

Hearing the cold yet pleasing voice, Su Si felt her heart jump in her chest as she paused in her step. She quickly calmed herself down and entered the study after her maid opened the door.

Right after she stepped inside the study, she saw an ethereal figure of a young and elegant man sitting behind the desk. His long black silk-like hair was casually held by a simple jade coronet while the rest flowed freely on his back. His slender and tall build paired with his fair and exquisite facial features cried out a sort of country-toppling beauty which could make even the god become infatuated. His sickly pallor only made him look delicate and graceful.

Su Si stood stunned in her place when her eyes landed in this scene that seemed to have come straight from a painting. This was the third time she saw his highness Xiang Wang where the first time was when she was gifted to him as a concubine while the second time was when she got a slight glimpse of him from afar while he was strolling in the garden a year ago.

No matter how she looked at him, she couldn't help but fall into a daze and lament how he was more beautiful than anyone she had ever seen before and feel guilty inside her heart when she thought about her own deeds and the future outcome of this beautiful man.

While she was dwelling in her thoughts and guilt, she forgot to even greet Bai Yu and also rudely stared directly at him like that. Seeing this, Xiao Mo frowned a bit and coughed, finally pulling her out of her daze.

Realising what she just did, Su Si became flustered and quickly knelt down.

"T-this lowly servant was impudent. Please forgive me, your highness."

Her maid, Xiao Tong also knelt down beside her and pled for mercy. As a servant, she didn't dare to keep standing while her mistress was kneeling in front of her. But she was still too young as she couldn't help but sneak a glance or two at the handsome man before her. She quickly bowed her head deeply to hide the blush that crept on her cheeks.

Bai Yu finally raised his sight from his calligraphy to the young woman kneeling before him. Her petite and delicate figure was bent, revealing the beautiful curves paired with her lovely, watery eyes that could make any man feel pity for her and even want to hold her on their palm to protect her from any injustice.

She was really a beautiful and enchanting woman who had a grasp in the arts of moving a man's heart and desire.

But it was a pity that Bai Yu was not affected in the slightest. His heart and mind were both occupied by only one person and had no more space for someone else.

Besides, he wasn't interested in women nor was he someone who showed compassion towards the opposite sex. He believed in gender equality so he would of course treat either girl or boy equally. And that is, he will not show mercy to her just because she is a woman.

He said, "Get up. Don't worry about these useless formalities."

"Thank you, your highness." seeing him not pursuing about this matter, Su Si secretly sighed in relief then got up as she thanked him. She gave a hint to her maid from her eyes. Xiao Tong understood and quickly got up from the ground and opened the food box to take the warm dishes out.

Su Si then looked at Bai Yu and smiled gently. "Wang ye, this lowly servant heard that you called for me so I made these dishes myself for your highness. I hope it is to your liking."

Bai Yu stood up from the chair and made his way to the table full of delicacies. They indeed looked very good. It's just that, the intention hidden behind this beautiful exterior was just as disappointing and ugly in comparison.

He sat on a chair as Su Si took Xiao Mo's place and helped him serve the dishes personally. Bai Yu didn't say anything and ate a bit then stopped for a second when a bowl of chicken soup was placed before him.

Seeing him suddenly stop eating, Su Si panicked a bit and smiled to cover it.

She asked, "Is something the matter, your highness? Do you not like to drink the soup?"

Bai Yu hooked his lips slightly when he heard the panic and guilt hidden in her voice. He picked up the bowl of chicken soup and said, "It's nothing." then finished it in three mouthfuls.

Setting down the bowl on the table, he looked at the young woman beside him and said in an ambiguous tone, "It was delicious. You have worked hard."

Hearing his slightly strange tone, Su Si felt her chest tighten but she quickly ignored that feeling and smiled bashfully. "It is this lowly servant's great fortune to be able to serve your highness."

Bai Yu calmly looked at her pretense as a light flashed in his eyes which no one could see as it disappeared quickly.

'Indeed. A very great fortune...'