Subdued By The Beautiful Cry Baby - Chapter 1

Juexin Courtyard.

Yu Zhi gazed up at the red plaque with gold lettering above the entrance, her inner anxiety and apprehension magnified.

Her slender fingers nervously clutched the cuff of her washed out, faded sleeve, the frightening uncertainty of the road ahead constricting her throat until it was dry.

The maidservant standing beside her glanced at her indifferently: “Miss, please.”

Since I’m already here.

Yu Zhi comforted herself thus.

She took a deep breath, not letting anyone see her fear, and lifted her foot to step through the crimson gate.

It was the season of blooming spring flowers. All manner of flora and elegant trees lined the straight cobblestone path, swaying in the breeze and wafting a burst of sweet fragrance.

The courtyard was deep, rich, and grand, yet also refined and secluded.

A beautiful sight that moved the heart.

Had it been a normal time, Yu Zhi would have gladly slowed her steps to fully appreciate the beautiful scenery that couldn’t be found elsewhere.

However, she carried a heavy burden in her heart, for this trip was to beg a person for help.

Compared to the spring scenery and the spacious grandeur of this prominent family, she was more concerned about the identity of the courtyard’s owner.

Would that unacquainted owner be willing to help her?

Yu Zhi walked distractedly along the stone path beneath her feet.

She didn’t understand.

There was too much she didn’t understand.

She didn’t understand how she had earned the favor of a noble person and been brought to this place.

At the end of this path, would goodwill or malice await her?

No turning back now.

Yu Zhi pressed one hand to her fiercely beating heart.

Having stepped through this gate, no matter what, she had to find a good doctor for her mother.

Her mother’s eye condition could not be delayed.

She had come from her previous life and knew that in three months her mother would pass away due to the worsening of her eye disease.

Thinking of her mother waiting anxiously for her return at home, Yu Zhi’s eyes were slightly red. One part of her worried about her mother’s illness, while the other could only pin her hopes on the ‘noble person’ she had never met.

Her thoughts were a jumble. Her pair of slender willow leaf eyes were bright and expressive, with outer corners that upturned, and a fine, thin flush of pink at the ends, making her alluring for no reason.

The maidservant, having unintentionally caught sight of her captivating beauty, treated her with increased respect, instantly softening her tone: “Miss, please come this way.”

Yu Zhi followed silently behind her.

A prominent family had many rules, which was evident from the layout of the courtyard alone.

The yard was vast and winding. Upon first entering, one was inevitably dazzled by the beautiful luxury, but after walking for a while, one would realize that it resembled a maze more than a fairyland.

Without a guide, anyone who entered would lose their way and become trapped.

Clusters of peach blossoms bloomed passionately, their petals falling on Yu Zhi’s head with the wind. Yu Zhi’s mind was preoccupied with the ‘noble person’ she was about to meet, so she paid them no heed.

Caijie Hall.

In the center of the hall hung a highly eye catching painting of a beauty bathing, with a few lines of alluringly descriptive, flowery prose to its right.

Being a newcomer, Yu Zhi dared not show her displeasure, but the hot expectation in her heart suddenly cooled for a moment if the owner of this place was a pot-bellied, luxury loving, lecherous old man, what should she do?

The maidservant kept her eyes downcast, led the person here, and then retreated without a word.

Two cups of hot tea sat on the table. Without the owner’s permission, Yu Zhi dared not move.

She didn’t even dare to sit, standing there like a delicate white flower swaying in the wind, outwardly pure but with a core of hidden charm. Her seemingly soft waist was held ramrod straight, fearing that her natural looks might draw contempt from others.

All the furnishings in Caijie Hall were fine objects Yu Zhi had never seen before. Except for the bathing beauty painting, which looked like a new work, the rest of the items seemed to be quite old.

Standing in the middle of it all, Yu Zhi waited with a feeling of burning anxiety.

Every time she couldn’t resist the urge to flee, she thought of her mother who needed a good doctor for her eyes, and she clenched her jaw and endured.

Even if it was a den of iniquity, she had to venture into it.

Even if I die here…

Then so be it!

She steeled her resolve, failing to notice that her conflicted, distressed, and finally determined expression was being silently observed by someone.

A soft laugh arrived, and Yu Zhi, like a startled fawn, opened her eyes wide and looked at the newcomer with full vigilance!

It was a girl who was more beautiful than any she had ever seen.

The girl wore an elegant and graceful white robe, a jade crown on her head, a jade belt around her waist, and auspicious cloud patterned flowing cloud boots on her feet.

Her attire suggested a young man, but her brows and demeanor were distinctly that of a young woman.

Yu Zhi had never seen such a dashing woman. Her guard dropped, and she stared, mesmerized.

The longer she looked, a sense of familiar deja vu arose in her heart.

She stared at the person in a daze, while Wei Pingxi was also sizing her up at leisure. After a short while, her brow slightly furrowed with a hint of displeasure: I haven’t seen her for a few days, why is she thinner again?

She had originally taken a fancy to the girl’s beauty after a hurried glimpse in the marketplace. If this small face continued to lose weight, it couldn’t be called ugly, but it was inexplicably irritating.

A flaw in beautiful jade was the greatest pity in the world.

In that first encounter, Yu Zhi hadn’t yet figured out where the sense of familiar deja vu came from, while Wei Pingxi stared intently at her, like a sharp blade fixed on its prey.

Yu Zhi felt scorched by the hidden passion in her eyes, hurriedly turned her face away, and dared not meet her gaze.

Then came that light, teasing laugh again.

After laughing, Wei Pingxi’s slightly curved phoenix eyes lifted: “Come and look at this painting.”

She pointed to the bathing beauty painting hanging prominently in the central hall.

Judging from the other party’s appearance and temperament, Yu Zhi guessed her identity. Suppressing her shyness and an unnamed irritation, she obediently looked at the painting.

The beauty was bathing, with long jade like legs and hair as black as ink. Wei Pingxi smiled and pointed to the unclad ‘apricot tip’ in the painting. The apricot tip was plump and red, the white snow was pure and beautiful a rich display of seductive capital.

Yu Zhi had turned twenty-three two months ago. At twenty-three, she was considered an ‘old maid’ in Great Yan, whose marriage had been delayed.

Since she was an ‘old maid’ in the eyes of others, she understood what she should. Having lived for many years in a mixed crowd area like [Flowing Water Lane], she was also forced to understand what she shouldn’t.

Her face flushed with burning embarrassment, her small face red as an evening glow. For a moment, she didn’t know whether to look at the realistic, charming ‘apricot tip’ or the girl’s excessively pale finger.

“Is it beautiful?” Wei Pingxi asked.

Yu Zhi mustered the courage not to be looked down upon and whispered: “It’s alright.”

“Alright?” Miss Wei Si’s smile made the beauty in the painting look dull in comparison: “If it’s just alright, why are you looking down and not looking at it more?”

Yu Zhi had truly never met such a shameless girl.

She’s worse than a man.

But remembering that she had a request to make of her, she indeed lifted her head and stared fixedly.

Wei Pingxi’s finger traced languidly over the beauty’s sensitive area in the painting. The beauty, fresh from her bath, sat with her wonderful legs splayed on a round stool, where sensuality and peach blossoms intertwined, revealing an even more exquisite fissure.

Miss Wei Si was skilled at painting beauties, especially good at painting legs.

Few people in the entire Lingnan Prefecture had seen her, but from the elderly to three-year-old children, all had heard of her famously odd and vicious nature.

It was strange, too. She was clearly a pampered young lady raised in the golden cradle of a meritorious family, yet she always enjoyed doing things that were relentlessly condemned by moralists.

Both wicked and depraved.

But if they were to actually see her face, those self-proclaimed upright moralists wouldn’t be able to curse her.

Although the Fourth Miss was inherently wicked, her face was so beautiful that it commanded respect.

Yu Zhi was initially confused by her face, but now she had reacted, and smoke was practically rising from her ears, which felt like they were on fire.

She remembered.

With a face so unforgettable, she remembered why she felt a sense of familiarity.

She had seen her.

In her previous life, before her wrongful death.

Saying she had ‘seen’ her might not be entirely accurate. Yu Zhi pondered and silently corrected her wording it should be that she and her mother had received a favor from this person during their most destitute period.

Seeing her silence, Wei Pingxi thought she had frightened her, and the interest that had just arisen dropped by three points. Her pair of deep eyes slowly turned, and her voice actually deepened: “Is the painting I did not beautiful?”

“You… you painted it?”

Yu Zhi was startled.

She finally had another interesting reaction. Wei Pingxi’s dropped interest slowly floated back up. Her voice was pure and soft, and she glanced at her, quite unapologetically: “If I didn’t paint it, could it have been you?”

“…”

Yu Zhi twisted her fingers, thinking: I could never paint such a shameless picture!

She glanced at the scroll again, and thought with a sense of dejection: Nor could I afford such bright, lively pigments.

If she could afford such expensive materials, why would she worry about not being able to hire a famous doctor for her mother? And why would she have to risk her life to step into this Juexin Courtyard, which felt like a maze?

Her mood suddenly became low. Wei Pingxi truly liked her face. She leaned closer and whispered: “Why are you unhappy?”

A pleasant scent wafted over. Yu Zhi looked at the painting on the wall, and suddenly recalled the rumors about Miss Wei Si from her past life, and shyly backed away.

“What are you hiding from?”

The great beauty’s perfect face wrinkled into a small, bitter gourd. Miss Wei Si was displeased: “I kindly invited you to enjoy a painting. Who are you putting on this show for?”

She was born into the Wei family. When her temper flared, she wouldn’t give face to even the King of Heaven. She was not afraid of death or trouble. With the remark, “Who are you putting on this show for,” Yu Zhi was scolded until her eyes turned red, and she gathered her clothes to kneel down.

Wei Pingxi regretfully put away the ‘Bathing Beauty’ painting, her gaze slowly wandering over Yu Zhi’s long, slender legs. She immediately felt that the painting she had finished yesterday was no longer beautiful.

One moment she cherished it like a treasure, the next, upon seeing something more beautiful, she instantly discarded it.

The scroll was tossed beside Yu Zhi’s leg.

From small details, it was clear that this person’s nature was indeed as capricious and unpredictable as rumored.

“Alright, I won’t tease you anymore. Tell me, since you willingly entered my courtyard, what is your purpose?”

“I humbly beg the noble person to find a good doctor for my mother to treat her eye condition.”

Yu Zhi had received her kindness in her previous life. Twelve courses of rare delicacies not only saved her and her mother from starving but were also the best food the mother and daughter had eaten in two lifetimes.

She had received Wei Pingxi’s grace and knew that behind her wicked temperament, there was still a bit of soft kindness that saved people, so she spoke up boldly.

“Find a good doctor?”

Wei Pingxi smiled: “A good doctor is hard to find. If I find a doctor for your mother, what will you give me in return?”

“Naturally, I will dedicate myself to your service until death!”

“Tsk, you’re a beautiful lady, don’t talk about death so easily.”

The Fourth Miss picked up a cup of tea and splashed it onto the ‘Bathing Beauty’ painting scattered on the floor. The beauty was soaked by the water, becoming wet and soggy, the vibrant pigments mixed together, and the alluring colors were blurred.

“I quite liked this painting, but after seeing you, the beauty in the painting somehow lost her charm.”

She leaned down, using two fingers to lift Yu Zhi’s pointed chin: “You have to compensate me.”

Yu Zhi was naturally delicate and timid. Now, not only was she unable to find a doctor, but she was also ‘extorted,’ which frightened her greatly: “I, I can’t afford to compensate…”

“Why can’t you afford it?”

The Fourth Miss smiled, her eyes crescent shaped, her voice laced with temptation: “Compensate me with yourself. Become my concubine. I won’t pursue the matter of the painting, and I will find a good doctor for your mother’s eye condition. How about that?”