The reflection in the bronze mirror captured Fu Rong’s heavy gaze, as if she were trying to see right through her.
Jiang Yue hurriedly looked away, shaking her head as she tested the water temperature with her hand.
Fu Rong stood up, lifted a jewelry box, and spread its contents across the table, fidgeting as she selected what to wear the next day.
Looking at the clay figurine and hairpin being pushed toward the edge of the table, as if about to fall to the floor, Jiang Yue could not help but remind her, "Madame, should I set out the items the Master bought for you? And would you like me to help you try on that hairpin?"
"Find somewhere no one is looking and throw them away."
Jiang Yue’s hand, holding the water basin, faltered. She hesitated. "But it was the Master's heartfelt gesture. Wouldn’t it be inappropriate to just throw them away?"
If Xiao Yunsheng returned and did not see the items, he would surely grow suspicious. And he would ask her first.
She was the one who had brought the things back; Fu Rong could easily claim she had never seen them. Or, she could say Jiang Yue had accidentally broken them. Either way, the blame would fall squarely on her.
"You think that when I asked him to buy things, I actually wanted whatever he brought back? Things from a street stall—even if they are a 'heartfelt gesture,' how much could they possibly be worth? He has some nerve."
With no one else around, Fu Rong dropped her facade, making no effort to hide the anger on her face. She picked up a hairpin and held it up against the earring she was wearing.
Jiang Yue realized then that Fu Rong had changed her earrings at some point. When they left the estate, she had worn a pair of ruby earrings to match her pomegranate-colored dress with its gold-embroidered clouds. Now, they were small, delicate gold-threaded pendants. Jiang Yue had been tidying up her jewelry every day, yet she had never seen this pair before.
"What? You’re pained that I threw away Xiao Yunsheng’s 'heartfelt gesture'? Are you in such a hurry to seek justice for him?"
Perhaps because she had stared too long, she failed to notice that Fu Rong had already put the items away and was now resting her chin on her hand, looking her up and down.
Jiang Yue’s face turned pale. Realizing she had spoken out of turn, she hurriedly knelt to apologize, "I would never dare, Madame."
She had only thought that after Xiao Yunsheng made his promises, and Fu Rong had taken his hand, the two had grown closer; she had assumed Fu Rong had accepted him in her heart. She hadn't expected that the woman before her loathed him even more than before.
Fu Rong’s eyes narrowed slightly. She stood up and began to pace around Jiang Yue, examining her step by step. "Actually, even if you did think that, I wouldn't blame you. After all, a night of intimacy brings a lifetime of affection. If you sleep in his arms every night, letting him take your body, how could your heart not follow?"
"I didn't! I wouldn't!"
It felt as though her heart had been seized by a claw. Before Jiang Yue could finish, Fu Rong grabbed her chin. Her freshly manicured nails traced along Jiang Yue’s jawline down to her neck, stopping at her throat.
The sharpness of the nails felt like arsenic lodged in her windpipe, making her very viscera tremble. Tears, which had long since gathered in her eyes without her noticing, spilled over and traced paths down her cheeks.
"Even if you did, I wouldn't care. But there is a rule I forgot to tell you these past few days—you must remember it. I am your mistress. No matter what thoughts you have, keep them hidden well so I never have to see them!"
Fu Rong knocked the bronze mirror off the table. It tumbled to the ground, reflecting both their shadows. If one ignored their features and looked only at their figures, they truly looked like twin sisters. Both had slender, graceful silhouettes and beautiful, supple waists.
No. If one were to cover their faces, Jiang Yue looked even more like a pampered young lady than Fu Rong—her skin was like snow, as smooth as silk, as if a single pinch would draw water.
To have such a face but be a lowly servant—born only to serve men. Even if it were she who wore the wedding dress, performed the bowing ceremony, and shared the bridal chamber in accordance with Xiao Yunsheng’s vows, so what? For a low-born slave, the chance to serve and be loyal was a blessing from her ancestors. If she didn't speak, who would know that someone else was beneath the bridal veil?
Even if she detested this marriage, even if she detested Xiao Yunsheng, she did not want to give anyone else the slightest possibility of touching him. Once jealousy took root, it grew with wild, frenzied speed.
Fu Rong suppressed the urge to ruin her. She opened the box of plum blossom cakes and stuffed them into Jiang Yue’s mouth, one after another. "Since it’s a 'heartfelt gesture,' you eat it for me, so Xiao Yunsheng’s sincerity doesn't go to waste."
Only when Jiang Yue could take no more did she release her grip. Seeing Jiang Yue slumped helplessly on the floor, clutching her throat and weeping silently, Fu Rong crouched before her with a mocking half-smile, threatening her with pointed intent: "While you are by my side, no matter what you see or hear, remember to keep your tongue in check. Answer only what I ask, do only what I tell you to do. You are not allowed to say more, and you are certainly not allowed to look at more. Do you understand?"
The intoxicating cake tasted like lethal arsenic at that moment. One careless move, and Jiang Yue would be destroyed forever. She didn't know why Fu Rong had suddenly turned on her; she could only nod continuously, her heart still hammering with terror.
Seeing the panicked look in her eyes, Fu Rong calmly used Jiang Yue’s clothes to wipe the cake crumbs from her own hands, not forgetting to lick a bit of the frosting from her finger. "So sweet," she said softly.
Her voice was gentle, but Jiang Yue felt a ringing in her ears, as if she were on the verge of suffocating. She was only released when the scene before her eyes seemed to sway, and she had to brace herself against the floor to steady her posture.
Fu Rong lounged back onto the bed, as if nothing had happened:
"I just remembered, I haven't rewarded you today. How about this—you can have the clay figurine and the cakes. Consider it a way to fulfill the Master’s 'heartfelt gesture.' After all, you two are like passing lovers; it will give you something to cherish later on."
As she spoke, she let out a cold, meaningful scoff: "I’m keeping the hairpin. If I ever discover you having any designs on him, I will use this hairpin to carve the words 'Bed-Crawling Slave' onto your face with my own hands, and then I will send you out to be paraded through the streets."
Jiang Yue trembled from head to toe. With a vacant stare fixed on the cake crumbs and the clay figurine on the table, she reached out, gathered them up mechanically, and fled the room as if escaping with her life.
Once she finally returned to her own quarters, she gasped for air, only then noticing the searing pain in her throat. Her eyes fell upon the star-shaped sachet on the table, and suddenly, it felt as though she had been punched in the chest. She curled into a ball on the floor, hugging her knees, and wept uncontrollably.
At first, she had thought this "transaction" was a rope to save a life. Only now did she realize she had fallen into a man-eating trap.
*Xingxing, Sister is almost at her breaking point.*
*But if I leave... what will happen to you?*
That night, Jiang Yue had a dream. She was back on Fu Rong’s bed, in the middle of that act with Xiao Yunsheng, when suddenly, the sky turned blindingly bright. The sound of bells coming from all directions shattered her dream. In the dream, Xiao Yunsheng seemed to wake up as well, recognized her face, and threw her off the bed in horror.
She couldn't defend herself. Everyone believed she was greedy for status and had intentionally seduced him to crawl into his bed. Within the estate, they whipped her a hundred times until her skin and flesh were torn apart.
When she finally woke, the cold, indifferent look in Xiao Yunsheng’s eyes from the dream still felt like a blade in her heart, chilling her to the bone. Jiang Yue was soaked in a cold sweat. In her ears, from the dream to reality, the sound of the bells rang incessantly, like a demonic spell.
For the past two days, Xiao Yunsheng had been away from the estate, and Fu Rong was perfectly content. In the mornings, she would admire flowers and stroll through the gardens; in the afternoons, she would drag Jiang Yue along to try on dresses and jewelry.
Most of the clothes were made of thin, sheer fabric, and their styles were so suggestive they made one blush just looking at them. When worn, they revealed every curve of her figure—even the women in the brothels might not wear such things.
Jiang Yue knew these were meant for serving Xiao Yunsheng at night. She could only endure the humiliation and let Fu Rong dress her up like a decorative vase, knowing full well that Fu Rong was striking a chord, warning her not to forget her place.
Since she was here, her duty was to do those things in bed and keep Xiao Yunsheng satisfied.
Within just two days, the entire Xiao family knew that Jiang Yue was the favorite confidante of the newly arrived General’s wife, and that Fu Rong treated her with such kindness, dressing her up in their chambers every day, that they were less like mistress and maid and more like inseparable sisters.
Jiang Yue heard the talk, but it only embittered her heart.
The days were one thing. No one knew that every night, Fu Rong would find new ways to torment her.
She lowered her eyes and sighed, then threw a jacket over her shoulders and hurried toward the main chamber.