Chapter 223.1

Yu Chan looked up at the house beam. It had been several days since the cat’s tail was hanging there.

That fellow was foolish. Clearly, he was a hidden guard, but he didn’t hide his actions properly. He always revealed some clues. She didn’t know how he managed to leave the death warrior camp and end up as the prince’s hidden guard.

Yu Chan also came out of the death warrior camp, but she was a woman, so she couldn’t become a hidden guard. She could only be sent to various places to serve as a spy just like the others. However, when it was her turn to leave, there was an order from above to select a maid to serve their master.

She was the right age and looked decent compared to the other girls, so she was chosen.

All of this was not important. What was important was that when she was being trained in the death warrior camp, the hidden guards by the prince’s side were always their targets. But when she finally saw the real person, she found that this supposedly heroic figure was so foolish.

Not only was he foolish, but he was also dull!

Yu Chan remembered what An Shiyi had said a few days ago, “Big sister Yu Chan.”

Big sister? Clearly, he was much older than her, alright? When she entered the death warrior camp at the age of eight, she had already heard that there were twelve hidden guards by the prince’s side.

He was the eleventh in rank. Even if he wasn’t an old man, he was still much older than her, yet he deliberately acted childish in front of her and called her big sister!

Thinking about this, Yu Chan furiously kneaded the piece of cloth in her hand, over and over again.

“Are you still angry?” A small voice rang in her ear. She looked up to find that someone had appeared on the house beam.

Seemingly afraid of waking their mistress who was sleeping inside, this entirely black-clad person hung upside down on the house beam, with his head just above Yu Chan. If Yu Chan hadn’t been accustomed to his boldness, she might have been scared out of her wits.

“What are you doing?” she whispered.

“I’m talking to you,” the soft voice made Yu Chan suspect that he actually had an old man’s face because only someone who couldn’t show their face to others would constantly hide under a dark hood while using such a soft voice to deceive young girls.

“I can’t be bothered with you,” she replied with resentment.

“Is that so?” With this statement, a bag made of paper appeared in front of her. Yu Chan sniffed it, and the smell seemed familiar.

“It’s for you,” he said, and with a swish, he disappeared. Yu Chan guessed he had climbed back onto the roof beam.

Indeed, when she looked up, a cat’s tail was hanging there, quite long.

She looked into the paper bag, and as she opened it, the scent of caramelized chestnuts wafted to her nostrils.

It was caramelized chestnuts, which had become her favourite recently. She had never eaten them before. When she was young, her family was poor, then later, she was in the death warrior camp. Only after arriving at the prince’s manor, did Xiao Shunzi offer her a bag and that was when she first tasted such a delicacy.

Yu Chan smiled, “You have some sense.”

“If you like it, I’ll buy more for you in the future, so you don’t have to eat Xiao Shunzi’s,” he said.

“Why are you being so nice to me?” Yu Chan asked.

There was no sound from the beam.

“Do you like me?” she asked.

She heard some movement on the beam. It sounded as if something was about to fall but then crawled back up. When she looked up again, there was no one there.

An Shiyi didn’t appear for several days, perhaps he did but he didn’t let Yu Chan notice him. When Yu Chan saw him again, it was many days later.

That night, Yu Chan wasn’t on night duty. When it was time for the shift change, she walked out, rubbing her neck, and was about to go back to her room to rest when she caught a glimpse of a black shadow in the corner of her eye.

It was already not very bright outside, and if it were an ordinary person, they might think they were seeing things. But Yu Chan was who she was, so she immediately realized that it was a person.

She walked a few steps to the middle of the courtyard, looking around, and then her gaze landed on a shadow on the roof of the eastern wing. The moonlight was bright, but that particular spot was in shadow because of the eaves of the main building, making it difficult to spot anyone hiding in black clothes.

“Come down!” she growled.

In these past few days, Yu Chan had been holding in her anger. This anger had been brewing for days and had turned into a deep-seated resentment. Now that she finally caught the culprit, she wouldn’t let him go easily.

“If you don’t come down, you’ll face the consequences!” she warned. She didn’t look in that direction anymore, turning to leave instead. Just as she stepped onto the corridor in front of the western wing’s door, a figure suddenly appeared before her.

Still entirely clad in black, the same attire he has always worn.

“Do you have something to tell me?”

This made Yu Chan burst into laughter. The one who had constantly provoked her was now asking her.

“You come with me!” Yu Chan grabbed his collar and dragged him to the corner behind the western wing. This was a dead-end, connecting the front yard and the rear courtyard. At a time like this, no one would pass through here.

The thin An Shiyi was dragged by Yu Chan as if he were a little chicken, and she pinned him against the wall.

“What do you want?”

“I don’t want anything…” An Shiyi said it with his voice shaking as he couldn’t help but feel that Yu Chan wanted to hit him.

“You don’t want anything, yet you keep hitting on me.”

An Shiyi couldn’t help scratching his head and asked in a low voice, “What does hitting on you mean?”

Yu Chan’s eyes narrowed, “Hitting on someone is slang from our hometown. It means an improper playboy who flirts with a virtuous young lady.”

An Shiyi couldn’t help but scratch his head and asked softly, “But I’m not a playboy, and you’re not a virtuous young lady either.”

Before the words were finished, Yu Chan slapped him on the chest, pinning An Shiyi against the wall.