7 - Jealous

Chapter 7 – Jealous

Di Jing’s eyes twitched. She is truly capable! She can sleep while standing and even without closing her eyes!

He knew that some people could sleep with their eyes opened but did not expect this girl to have such an ability and was deeply asleep. It made him angry and at the same time, he found it amusing.

These few days, he had deliberately tortured her and also kept her busy at night. At first, he thought she was not a simple girl and could even endure for so long, but it turned out that she was blatantly sleeping in secret.

Originally, he had wanted to wake her up but somehow, the words got stuck in his throat. He did not want to admit that he was feeling soft-hearted and felt it was better to take this opportunity to carefully study her.

Whenever both of them quarreled, her eyes would always appear very lively. It is obvious that she has an ugly face but her eyes are very nimble and he felt her eyes are very beautiful. With such beautiful eyes, she should have good looks but after getting along for some time, gradually he began to feel that the pockmarks on her face were no longer ugly.

He knew she is not an ordinary maid. To hide in the Qin Mansion as the lowest-level servant, she must have her reason and despite her status as a lowly servant, no servility of a servant could be found on her.

To speak frankly, he did not treat her as a servant and had built up a tacit understanding with her. He put up the appearance of a distinguished guest while she pretended to be a servant and both did not hinder each other except occasionally, he would use his status to make her work like a slave and she would also deliberately play tricks on him.

However, they were only bickering and at the same time, maintaining an invisible boundary that they would never cross.

Just like these few days, although he deliberately made her work like a slave, she also understood the reason, thus she was willing to submit to his enslavement. She also knew that he had found out about those nasty tricks that she played, therefore, she willingly accepted his orders and allowed him to order her around.

She is really capable as she can still sleep soundly while standing here and it is admirable that she can live so willfully these days!

Di Jing scolded her in his heart but he was also careful not to wake her. After staring at her for some time, a strange thought flashed into his mind.

She……..can it be she had disguised her face?

He always had his suspicions that she should not have such ordinary looks. Taking advantage that no one was around and she was sleeping so soundly, he could not suppress the itchy feeling in his hand and quietly reached out to touch her face.

No matter how expert one is with changing appearance, it is always inferior to the real face.

He touched her cheek and then gently slid his fingers to her ear but he could not feel any seams at all. Then he touched her chin but could not feel anything plastered on either. The touch was the same and the skin was also warm.

If the skin is fake, how can the body temperature be felt? And the touch feels unexpectedly smooth……..

Suddenly, the rate of her breathing changed a little and he was startled. He quickly withdrew his hand behind his back as if his fingers were burnt and saw her originally dull and drowsy expression become alive. A moment later, her eyes widened, and she stared at him in surprise.

She is awake!

Shangguan glared at him and was speechless for a while. As soon as she woke up, she saw Di Jing standing in front of her and it would be a lie to say she did not receive a fright.

“Humph, you’re not simple! How can you sleep while standing and your eyes weren’t even closed?” Although Di Jing’s face looked stern, the hand behind his back was clenched into a fist. That soft touch just now actually still felt a bit hot.

Perhaps it was to conceal his guilty conscience, he did not wait for her to recover from the surprise and commanded sharply.

“Withdraw and don’t remain here as an eyesore! The sounds of your breathing are so loud and disturbing that I can’t write!” After speaking, he walked back to the desk to sit down and ignored her.

Shangguan Yan turned around and withdrew. When she left, she touched her face with a puzzled expression.

Was she dreaming just now? She felt someone touching her face but it was impossible. She must have been dazed with sleep.

However, she was happy to be driven away by Di Jing. After all, it was uncomfortable to sleep while standing, and now she can go back to the room to make up for her sleep. Thinking of this, she left cheerfully.

After she had left, Di Jing quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

What happened to him? Why did he touch her face while she was asleep? This behavior is like a lecher and he is being possessed……..

Thinking about this, he could not help but look at his palm in a daze then immediately he returned to his senses and could not help but shake his head.

He came to the Qin Mansion on a mission and he was not here to hook up with women. Although he realized that he has a good impression of Ma’er, he believed that the good impression was just because he found Ma’er interesting.

After staying in the Qin Mansion for many days, he had become a close friend of Qin Jikang. Today, he learned something from Qin Jikang and it was that Old Master Qin has a lover and she is Yan Niang in Ru Yue Fang.

The clue is worth investigating, so he will pay a visit to this Yan Niang in Ru Yue Fang.

He held up the brush and wanted to dip it into the ink but then he remembered that the ink had dried. As a habit, he wanted to call Ma’er but remembered that he had just ordered her to leave and the girl had most probably sneaked back to her room to sleep.

He shook his head again and then poured water to grind the ink himself. After writing the secret letter, he put it into an envelope and sealed it. Then he called…….

“Qiu Dan.”

A shadow immediately appeared soundlessly inside the room. “Subordinate is here.”

“Send this letter.”

“Order acknowledge.”

Qiu Dan was about to leave when Di Jing called him again.

“Qiu Dan.”

Qiu Dan turned around and thought that his master still had instructions for him.

“Can you sleep while standing up?”

Qiu Dan was stunned but still answered. “No.”

“How about sleeping with your eyes opened?”

“No……”

“It’s alright, you can withdraw.”

“Yes……”

***☆☆☆***

Today’s weather was fine, and the Qin Mansion servants were busy taking out the thick heavy bedding to wash and dry.

Shangguan Yan had collected the bedding that was changed and needed to be washed. On the way to the laundry room, her path was blocked by someone and when she raised her head to look, she found it was Xu Chang who was working in the stables.

“Hello, Brother Chang.” She greeted him with a smile.

Xu Chang beamed a fawning smile at her. He was purposely waiting here for Ma’er.

“Ma’er, are you going to the laundry room?”

“Yes, Mama Shun said that the sun is strong today and told everyone to sun the quilts.”

“These are heavy, let me help you with them.”

“It’s not nice for you to help, I can do it myself.”

“It doesn’t matter, why should you treat me with politeness? If there’s anything, just ask me for help.” Xu Chang eagerly took the whole pile of bedding from her. He was robust with great strength and wanted to show off in front of Ma’er.

“Thank you, Brother Chang.” She gave him a dazzling smile.

“You’re welcome……..you’re my own people.” Xu Chang quietly leaned towards her.

(T/N: My own people – these words frequently pop up in Chinese stories and to understand this better, let me give you a simple explanation. If this is said between friends it means that one regards the other person as a member of his clique or treats him/her as a member of his family. If this is said between a man and a woman, the person has feelings for the other person and regards that person as his woman/her man.)

Of course, Shangguan Yan could see that his intention to fawn over her but she still deliberately pretended to be stupid. The two people laughed and talked as they walked and along the way, they met the young kitchen procurement male servant, Jia Lu.

“Ma’er, this bun is made by my mother. This morning, you must not have eaten yet, right? This is for you.”

When she saw the warm bun, she raised her eyes to stare at Ji Lu’s bright smiling face and deliberately showed an expression of being touched.

“Brother Lu, Auntie Jia made this for you, so how can I take this?”

“I’m giving this to you, so accept it. If you refuse, you’re not giving me face.”

“If that is so, then I’ll accept it. Thank you, Brother Lu.”

After taking the bun, Shangguan Yan took a bite and began to chew as she smiled happily. “It’s so delicious!”

Jia Lu felt proud when he was praised and Xu Chang took in the scene in front of him.

“Hey, where is mine?” Xu Chang asked.

“There are no extras. You eat faster than anyone else. When everyone ate one bowl, you have already eaten three bowls, isn’t that enough?”

Xu Chang choked and his dark face turned red. He secretly scolded Jia Lu for exposing him and fearing that Ma’er would think he is a glutton, he quickly refuted.

“I do a lot of work, of course, I will eat a lot. My work is not as relaxed as someone’s work and when he goes out, he even gets the opportunity to stroll on the streets.”

“Hey, who are you talking about?”

“The person who answered!”

Because of Ma’er, the two men started to argue and became jealous of each other.

“Alright, alright, stop arguing! Come, have a bite……..here!” Shangguan Yan tore the bun into two pieces and stuffed the pieces of the bun into Xu Chang and Jia Lu’s mouths respectively.

The two men’s mouths were stuffed with the bun that she fed them and feeling a sweetness in their hearts, they no longer argued. Both of them, one on the left and the other on the right started to joke with her.

It just so happened that Di Jing was passing by and witnessed everything. He stared at the three people and thought deeply. He did not expect that this ugly girl, Ma’er, could still make others feel jealous and fight over her.

When he thought of the scene where Xu Chang and Jia Lu were fawning over her, his eyebrows knotted involuntarily as if something was blocking in his heart. When he saw her smiling sweetly at the both of them, a feeling of unhappiness arose for no reason but this feeling was quickly suppressed again.

He put aside the matter of Ma’er and did not think much of it. Two days later, again he ran into Ma’er talking and laughing with another man in a courtyard’s pavilion. This time, the man is a servant named Fang Dahu and if he remembered correctly, he is the son of Steward Fang.

Fang Dahu has good looks and a good physique which made him the best-looking male servant in the residence.

That Fang Dahu was blushing when he was facing Ma’er and with a glance, it could be deduced that he has good feelings for Ma’er.

Today, Ma’er is wearing a light pink dress. She has a slim figure and her complexion looks brighter. Now only did he discover that except for the pockmarks on her face, everything else about her is exquisite.

Suddenly, Di Jing felt that her smile today seemed to be a bit more dazzling.

Can it be that she also has feelings for Dahu?

For some unknown reason, the discomfort he felt in his heart a few days ago, arose again.

After Shangguan Yan and Fang Dahu finished talking, she returned to the guest courtyard. As soon as she walked through the entrance, she met Di Jing who was standing on the verandah.

Today, he seemed to be extremely serious and his eyes were especially sharp when he looked at her. In fact, this person constantly shows a stern face and the only thought in Shangguan Yan’s mind was that he is in a bad mood.

Most probably, something had gone wrong.