Visitors with Ill Intent

Jingya realized that she had never properly thought about the concept of 'loyalty' before.

After being sold to the Sword Clan, there had been many people who had been kind to her.

And she thought she had been faithful in repaying and returning their kindness.

Such actions basically stemmed from the idea of repaying what she had received.

She realized she had been approaching the First Young Master in the same way.

Thinking that if she did this much for the First Young Master, he would protect her.

But what about from the First Young Master's perspective?

***

Upon returning, Jingya could see Yuan Zhaoxian leisurely reclining while reading a book.

This time it was a medical text.

Jingya first announced her return and took out the Second Young Master's letter.

"Here is a letter from the Second Young Master."

"Oh?"

He threw it into the brazier beside him as soon as he received it.

The flames flared up briefly with a whoosh, then emitted black smoke, and instantly the letter turned to ashes.

"F-First Young Master...?!"

This time even Jingya couldn't hide her surprise.

"What?"

Yuan Zhaoxian turned a page as if nothing had happened.

"That letter was from the Second Young Master to you, First Young Master."

"I heard."

An indifferent answer.

"Ah, well, I believe that letter might have been related to me."

"To you?"

A page turned.

"Yes... I think it was likely a letter from the Second Young Master to you regarding my status."

"I see."

Another page turned.

Jingya licked her dry lips and spoke again.

"Is it alright not to read it?"

"Yes."

Another page turned.

"Ah, yes... I understand."

Only then did Yuan Zhaoxian briefly add:

"If it's really important, he'll come himself."

At those words, Jingya's mouth fell slightly open and wouldn't close.

"..."

Yuan Zhaoxian waved his hand from behind the book.

"Bring some tea. And snacks."

"Yes, yes. Understood, First Young Master."

As Jingya hurriedly collected herself and tried to withdraw, Yuan Zhaoxian asked:

"If you were so curious, why didn't you read it?"

"What do you mean by that...?"

Jingya looked at him, but he still kept his gaze fixed on the book.

"If you were that concerned about it, why didn't you read it beforehand?"

Jingya hastily knelt.

"How could this lowly maid dare to do such a thing!"

His page-turning finger stopped momentarily.

"...Really?"

"Of course!"

Jingya carefully raised anxious eyes to look at Yuan Zhaoxian.

But his expression still couldn't be seen.

"Go bring the tea."

***

It was incomprehensible.

Saying why didn't she read it if she was curious - as Jingya waited for the water to boil, she sighed at her increasingly complicated thoughts.

'What could he mean, really...'

If someone else had said it, she could have taken it as a joke or been led astray by it.

But it was none other than that First Young Master who had said it.

Though she had only seen him directly for a day, even so, she found it difficult to imagine that First Young Master speaking without meaning.

"..."

Her wandering gaze fell on the dining table set aside in the corner.

The table where she and the First Young Master had eaten.

"...Oh?"

Jingya suddenly stood up and began carefully observing the food placed on that table.

And she recalled Yuan Zhaoxian's behavior during meals since yesterday.

The next thing that came to mind was the story told by the main gate's chief - the expert who had been made into a messenger by Yuan Zhaoxian.

'...Ah, so that's what it was.'

After hurriedly finishing preparations, she left her place.

***

"First Young Master, the tea and snacks are ready."

"Alright."

Jingya carefully approached Yuan Zhaoxian and began brewing tea with practiced movements.

"May this lowly maid drink together with you?"

"Yes."

Jingya nodded slightly and finished preparing her portion as well.

"The tea is ready."

"Alright."

Yuan Zhaoxian responded but seemed absorbed in his book.

Jingya drank her tea with elegant posture while trying her best not to be conscious of Yuan Zhaoxian.

It had an excellent aroma.

Then Yuan Zhaoxian's hand fumbled for the teacup, and he began drinking without taking his eyes off the book.

Jingya then began enjoying the snacks one by one along with the tea.

And she gained certainty.

'So that's how it was.'

The First Young Master, Yuan Zhaoxian, only ate after Jingya had eaten first.

That was exactly what she had just seen at the dining table.

When Jingya had to leave during meals, there was a dish that she had worked hard to make but hadn't tasted, and it remained untouched, didn't it?

And that dish was made by Jingya, not Yuan Zhaoxian.

Would he have appeared quietly to help whenever she prepared meals if he had nothing better to do?

'Poison...'

He didn't trust her at all.

No, to be more precise.

He simply regarded his relationship with Jingya as one of definite give and take.

Yuan Zhaoxian probably wouldn't have minded even if she had read the Second Young Master's letter first.

Because that letter was about her.

Instead, he would never show her any letters that were important to the First Young Master himself.

Come to think of it, Yuan Zhaoxian hadn't even asked why the Third Young Master and Second Young Master's subordinates had visited.

As her thoughts raced to that point, words leaked out like a sigh without her realizing:

"...This lowly maid was also just another uninvited guest."

Yuan Zhaoxian's page-turning hand stopped.

"...Yes."

Then the page turned again.

Jingya spoke with a hollow laugh:

"I am late in reporting, but after the Third Young Master's Three Supreme Warrior, the Second Young Master's Lake Garden Steward came."

"I see."

"And I turned them all away. I took the liberty of saying that the First Young Master would not receive guests."

"I see."

The words inside Jingya began to burst out.

"I am a foolish woman."

"Oh?"

"Though I pretended to be so smart and know everything, I didn't know what was really important."

This time there was no answer.

Only the sound of turning pages could be heard.

But Jingya found that much more comfortable.

"I think perhaps I was only desperate to survive until now. And I think perhaps it was a problem that I worked for a long time in the reception hall where there was no one to truly serve. It all started when I was sold to this Luoyang Sword Clan."

The story began from when she first came to the Luoyang Sword Clan.

Now even the sound of turning pages had stopped, but Jingya no longer paid attention to that.

And the story she was laying out eventually reached the tale of the Second and Third Young Masters.

"...That's how the Second and Third Young Masters became aware of my existence. Of course, nothing happened at first. But soon..."

Thus the story continued to how a pride battle developed between the Second and Third Young Masters over Jingya, how that battle began to intensify, and how she eventually came to the Wang Pavilion with the Head Steward's help.

She revealed everything about her conversations with the Head Steward as well.

She spoke in detail about what thoughts and judgments led her to seek out Yuan Zhaoxian.

She even laid out what she had been thinking in front of the Second and Third Young Masters' subordinates today.

And finally, she finished with the story about her 'Eyes.'

"...First Young Master."

"Yes."

At some point, Yuan Zhaoxian had put down his book and was silently watching her.

Looking into Yuan Zhaoxian's eyes whose thoughts she couldn't read, Jingya asked:

"If this lowly maid were to pledge complete loyalty to you now, would you accept it?"

She wished for a simple answer like 'yes' or 'mm,' as before.

"...Hmm."

But unlike before, an answer didn't easily come from Yuan Zhaoxian's lips.

Instead, Yuan Zhaoxian asked back to the seemingly discouraged Jingya:

"Can you remain loyal to me no matter what happens, no matter what you learn, no matter what dangers arise?"

Jingya nodded firmly.

"Of course."

But Yuan Zhaoxian added another question with a subtle smile:

"Do you know about my father?"

It was an absurd question.

"Isn't he the Retired Clan Leader? I heard he's now confined to his bed due to illness, handling all matters large and small from his sickbed..."

That was also why the First Young Master's father was the Retired Clan Leader rather than the Clan Leader.

The Clan Leader who could no longer perform normal activities stepped back to become the Retired Leader, and currently the Luoyang Sword Clan's leader position was vacant.

Then lightning struck in Jingya's mind.

"Surely not...?!"

Yuan Zhaoxian nodded.

"It's not illness. Father has long been in a comatose state due to poison."

"How...?!"

Jingya's eyes fell on the medical text Yuan Zhaoxian had tossed aside.

"Forget matters large and small, he's not even conscious. Right now, the Luoyang Sword Clan is effectively being run by the highest decision-making body."

"..."

Jingya dared not say anything in response to the tremendous secret she had suddenly learned.

It was a secret of secrets, one that would mean death just for knowing it, permitted to be known only by an extremely small number of people even within the Luoyang Sword Clan.

"That's how I've managed food and drink inside the Wang Pavilion since I was young."

"..."

It was possible because of the Wang Pavilion's impressive size and ability to farm in any season thanks to the formation.

"How many attempts at poisoning do you think there have been until now?"

"...I dare not even guess."

Yuan Zhaoxian gave a bitter smile.

"Well, after I achieved mastery in medicine and pharmacology, mere poison became meaningless, but it had become a habit."

Moreover, now he was also the reader of the Dark Scripture, an ancient demon artifact.

He slowly drank the now-cold tea and opened his mouth again.

"Until you mentioned it, I hadn't even realized I was still only eating things others had tasted first."

"..."

He rolled the empty teacup in his palm and asked:

"What I just told you is merely a fragment of the darkness the Luoyang Sword Clan harbors. Still want to serve me?"

Jingya answered while suppressing her trembling hand with her other hand:

"...Please allow me to serve you as my master."

Yuan Zhaoxian still didn't answer her words.

Instead, he took out a bundle of documents from his sleeve.

"Look at this."

Jingya respectfully received the document and carefully opened it.

The moment she saw its contents, she felt her breath stop.

The document was none other than a kind of report sent to Yuan Zhaoxian by the Head Steward.

It contained everything the Head Steward had grasped about Jingya.

Even things she herself couldn't remember were mentioned, and it wasn't just limited to facts.

Further on, there was also content analyzing and evaluating Jingya from various angles.

"Read the last page aloud."

Jingya opened the last page with trembling hands.

"...Therefore, if this child confesses all the above facts honestly, please take her in and use her like a horse or ox."

Cold sweat ran down Jingya's forehead.

"If she cannot abandon her innate nature and tries to make deals with the First Young Master..."

Her voice trembled.

"...I recommend quietly eliminating her, so that the First Young Master's peace will not be threatened by the other Young Masters."

The bundle of documents fell from her hands with a thud.