Chapter 321: Getting Caught? I Miss You So Much
"Who’s there?"
Ji Qingwu made her way to the door, following the carved red sandalwood partitions, and asked in a low voice.
Outside, there was only the sound of the howling wind. No one answered.
She held her breath, pressing her ear to the door to listen for any other sounds.
The person at the door seemed to notice her caution and said, "I’m a farmhand from the back courtyard. The scroll jar in the master’s room has a crack, and some of the scrolls have gotten damp. I need to take them out to air."
It sounded like a young man, but his voice was raspy and terribly dry.
’He’s here for the scrolls in the jar?’
Ji Qingwu recalled seeing a scroll jar in the room earlier, one painted with a design of a toad in the moon palace plucking a cassia branch. It did indeed have a noticeable crack on its right side.
A glint flashed in her eyes. She took a deep breath and opened the door.
She rested her wrist on the doorframe. The moment the man showed his face, she flung a handful of silvery-white powder from beneath her wide sleeve.
’Taking scrolls out to air them in the middle of the night? Is he going to dry them in the moonlight?’
’His story is full of holes. It’s obviously a trick.’
As the medicinal powder shimmered in the lamplight, Ji Qingwu looked up at the man who had entered.
At a glance, the man was tall but had a plain-looking face.
Suddenly, a strange gust of wind blew the powder straight out the door, perfectly avoiding the man. Not a single grain landed on him.
The wind lingered, causing her white sleeves and skirt to flutter, but the man’s gray cloth shirt remained perfectly still.
Seeing the powder had no effect, Ji Qingwu tried to run back inside, opening her mouth to call Wei Tongyou for help. But with lightning speed, he clamped a large hand over her mouth and nose.
Held captive, Ji Qingwu’s eyes darted around. ’How was my Disguise Technique seen through so quickly?’
He kicked the door shut with his long leg, closing it with ease.
Ji Qingwu calmly tried to think of a way to handle the situation.
Seeing she wasn’t struggling, he released her.
The man’s gaze lingered on her face for a long time before he whispered in her ear, "Miss Hanzhang, it’s only been a few days. Have we become such strangers already?"
Ji Qingwu’s eyes widened in shock. ’Could this man be Hanzhang’s lover?’
’I didn’t run into anyone else on the way here, yet the moment I get inside, I meet the one person who knows this maid best.’
The sound of washing up in the inner room faded. Wei Tongyou would be coming out soon. ’Could the two of us together overpower this coarse-looking farmhand?’
’But he’s so strongly built... he doesn’t look like someone who would go down easily...’
Ji Qingwu made up her mind: she had to keep him calm and not expose her true identity yet.
The man pressed his advantage, moving closer and eagerly pinning her against the wooden partition separating the parlor from the main room.
"Didn’t you miss me at all?"
The proximity set Ji Qingwu on high alert. She turned her head away, unwilling to meet his gaze.
He deliberately lowered his voice. "I missed you very much."
Soon, Ji Qingwu’s fine brows knitted together, but it wasn’t because the intimate, flirtatious words made her uncomfortable.
Rather, it was because she suddenly felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity from him.
Ji Qingwu lifted her chin and sniffed the air a few times. Her brow smoothed out, then immediately furrowed again.
He didn’t have the scent she knew. There was only the damp smell of wood shavings, as if he’d been doing carpentry work outside for a long time.
It wasn’t the unattainable, noble scent of ambergris.
Ji Qingwu pressed her lips together, annoyed with herself for thinking of *him* at a critical moment like this.
Zhao Mingyan watched her nostrils flare as she tried to catch his scent, his eyes brimming with amusement.
’I took special care to mask my scent today,’ he thought. ’There’s no way I’d expose my identity over a detail like this.’
’But her actions, trying to identify me by scent, show that she’s already starting to suspect me.’
’To be able to vaguely guess my identity after just this brief encounter... it’s less about her being keenly observant and more about her already being thoroughly familiar with me.’
Zhao Mingyan lowered his gaze, his eyes falling from the top of her head to the hand hanging by her side.
Something shiny flashed for a brief moment.
’Her level of vigilance is quite impressive, too.’
Ji Qingwu noticed the man before her was slightly distracted. She deftly slipped through the gap under the arm he had braced against the wooden frame.
Then, she turned her back to him and, putting on a voice, tried to imitate the way she had heard Hanzhang speak in the kitchen.
"The master will be back any minute! You have to leave, quickly! What if someone sees you?"
Her tone was coquettish, and she even stamped her foot.
But it was all to hide the movement of her hands.
Her hand was at her waist, a silver needle gleaming between her fingertips.
Standing behind her, Zhao Mingyan’s lips curved into a smile, and his thick, rugged brows softened into a gentle arch.
He played along with her act. "The master won’t be back for a while yet. He’s still at the Song family’s funeral service. It’s rare for us to get time to meet. I just want to stay with you a little longer."
His voice was still gravelly and hoarse, but his tone carried a soft, tender affection that was easy on the ears.
For some reason, Ji Qingwu’s heart started to pound along with his words.
She said, "Let’s meet again tomorrow night, okay?"
"No," he refused flatly.
Two more silver needles appeared just as crisply between Ji Qingwu’s fingers. ’This lecher is too persistent. It would be better to deal with him my way first.’
Then she heard the man say hesitantly, "Unless..."
Ji Qingwu’s ears perked up, and she temporarily hid the silver needles back in her sleeve.
She asked, "Unless what?"
"Unless you spend the entire night with me tomorrow to cure my lovesickness."
Ji Qingwu immediately replied, "No problem!"
’She wouldn’t be at the Su family residence tomorrow night anyway,’ she thought. ’The smart thing to do now is agree to anything to get him to leave.’
She turned around, her eyes smiling. "We’ll see each other tomorrow night, then. You should go back to your room and get some sleep. You must be tired after a long day’s work."
As she spoke, she walked to the doorframe and gestured with her eyes for him to leave quickly.
Then she urged, "Why aren’t you leaving yet?"
Zhao Mingyan watched her silently for a moment, then said, "Come here."
A sudden chill ran down Ji Qingwu’s spine.
A person’s face can change, and their voice can change, but their commanding tone and unquestionable, authoritative aura cannot.
If he had said anything else, she might not have recognized who was standing before her.
But those two words... she had heard them far too many times.
In Diligent Governance Hall, in Wutong Garden, in Zhaoyang Hall...
Ji Qingwu shuffled toward him, her scalp tingling more with every step. ’This man is definitely the Emperor. There’s no doubt about it.’
She trusted her intuition. The moment her heart had settled, it was back in her throat.
’Why would Emperor Wu Su show up at the Su family residence in the middle of the night, and in disguise, no less?’
Just then, the sound of a bamboo curtain being lifted drew their attention.
Wei Tongyou emerged from the inner room, rubbing her hands. Peering through the openwork wooden partition, she was startled to see a man in the parlor.
Ji Qingwu met her gaze, raised her left eyebrow, and then shook her head slightly, signaling her not to do anything rash.
It was unclear if Wei Tongyou understood, but she gave a solemn nod.
’With a third person present, it was even more imperative that she not expose Emperor Wu Su’s identity...’