Nangong Muyan woke up feeling hungry.
The carriage was still swaying as it made its way forward. She lifted the curtain to look outside, and the scenery was no longer the familiar streets of the Capital City.
"What time is it?" Nangong Muyan asked Li Jiu while eating some pastries.
"Ah, young miss, you're awake."
Li Jiu glanced back at her, and seeing her eating, slowly pulled the carriage to the side of the road to prevent her from choking.
"We'll reach Mulberry Leaf Town in about an hour and a half. It's a small town, and you'll be able to see the young master soon."
Li Jiu knew what Nangong Muyan really cared about, and after answering, he took out some flatbread from his bundle on the carriage shaft and began eating.
Nangong Muyan's eyes curved with a smile playing on her lips. After methodically finishing a piece of chestnut cake, she dusted off her hands to remove the crumbs.
"He just left me behind like that. Li Jiu, do you think I should give him a beating when I see him?"
Nangong Muyan was still feeling quite vexed as she chatted with Li Jiu.
Li Jiu paused mid-bite and turned to look at his mistress with her pleasant expression, suddenly remembering that she was the one who had killed Chang Jian with a hairpin during the palace coup.
"M-miss, perhaps the young master had important matters to attend to..." Li Jiu felt some sympathy for Zhou Yi and tried to speak up for him.
Nangong Muyan let out a light snort, finishing another piece of chestnut cake before continuing, "And here I was thinking of taking things slowly, wearing him down gradually, but this man chooses to learn things the hard way."
Li Jiu caught a hint of her meaning but dared not speak. As a guard, it was better to play deaf and dumb about matters between his masters.
But Nangong Muyan suddenly turned to him, looking him up and down before asking, "Do you have a girl you like?"
"Yes, I do."
"What do you like about her?"
Li Jiu hesitated for a moment, then replied somewhat embarrassedly, "It's not just her, but them."
Nangong Muyan was momentarily taken aback, having almost forgotten that this was ancient times where multiple wives and concubines were common.
"Then what kind of girls do you think men generally like?"
Li Jiu understood the intent behind her question and, thinking of his impression of Zhou Yi, tentatively said, "I think someone with a simple mind would probably like a girl who treats him well."
Nangong Muyan fell silent for a moment, reflecting on whether she had treated Zhou Yi well.
She should have been quite good to him, right?
Zhou Yi had called her a bastard so many times, and she hadn't taken offense - anyone else would have been stabbed to death eight hundred times over by now.
Li Jiu quickly finished his flatbread and offered Nangong Muyan some advice: "Miss, a beauty's tears can break a man's heart."
Nangong Muyan raised an eyebrow - was he suggesting she cry in front of Zhou Yi?
She had acted pitiful and coquettish in front of Zhou Yi before, but she had never cried. Perhaps it was worth trying.
"If it works, I'll have Butler Zhong give you three months' worth of wages as a reward."
"Thank you, miss!"
Li Jiu was overjoyed, never having dreamed that being a guard could earn him matchmaker's money.
Because of this promised reward, for the rest of the journey, Li Jiu gave Nangong Muyan detailed instructions on "the art of managing men." He explained in minute detail how his various sweethearts usually handled him, including his own analysis and insights, along with numerous positive and negative examples, making it sound like an academic report.
Nangong Muyan listened with particular attention, and if she had had paper and brush, she would have taken notes.
The carriage arrived at Mulberry Leaf Town near dusk.
The town got its name from the large number of mulberry trees planted there. Surrounded by mountains on all sides, the air was cold and humid, making it a perfect summer retreat, though it was rather cold now in early spring.
The Zhou Family estate was located in a mountain basin, mainly employing people to grow mulberry trees and raise silkworms. After the silkworms made their cocoons, the silk was woven into products to be sold in city shops. They also had a small winery that made mulberry wine.
This estate provided jobs for many people in Mulberry Leaf Town and thus had quite a reputation. When Li Jiu asked around, someone immediately gave him directions. After another half hour of travel, they finally found Zhou Yi.
Zhou Yi was standing beside a leafy mulberry tree picking and eating mulberries when Qu Xiaowu came running over, calling out, "Young master, someone from the city is here to see you."
The estate was managed by Qu Xiaowu's family, with Zhou Yi being their young master.
Zhou Yi was surprised by this news - people from the city surely meant visitors from the Capital City, but who would come looking for him?
Before he could fully process a sudden thought that crossed his mind, a clear, crisp voice called out from nearby.
"Zhou Yi!"
His heart leaped at that voice. Zhou Yi looked up to see Nangong Muyan running toward him, holding up her skirts, but she stopped a few steps away, staring at him intently with a hint of sadness on her face.
Zhou Yi swallowed the mulberry in his mouth, standing motionless, unsure of what to do.
"Zhou Yi..." the person before him called out again in a plaintive tone, wearing an injured expression. Then she lowered her eyes, and in the next moment, tears as big as beans began falling like broken strings of pearls.
She's crying?
She's really crying!
Zhou Yi was greatly startled and rushed to Nangong Muyan's side in a few quick steps, completely flustered: "Hey, don't cry, we can talk about this, don't cry, don't cry..."
Li Jiu, who had just parked the carriage, appeared behind Nangong Muyan and looked at Zhou Yi while shaking his head and sighing: "Young master, the miss has been crying all the way here and hasn't eaten anything. And in her condition, expecting a child... ah, such a shame!"
Zhou Yi's heart clenched at these words, and he awkwardly raised his sleeve to wipe away Nangong Muyan's tears, but the tears flowed like a spring, and he couldn't dry them.
"Please stop crying."
"Nangong Muyan, please stop crying!"
"I'm begging you, alright?"
Zhou Yi was beside himself with anxiety, but Nangong Muyan showed no sign of stopping. Her eyes and nose were red from crying, yet she made no sobbing sounds, just biting her lip and silently shedding tears, looking as if she had suffered the greatest injustice in the world.
Qu Xiaowu, standing to the side, watched the scene in astonishment, thinking that his young master must be a heartless scoundrel who had wronged this lady so badly that she had to chase him all the way here.
Li Jiu, seeing that his mistress was performing excellently, knew he was no longer needed. He grabbed Qu Xiaowu and half-dragged him away, saying, "Brother, come on, please show me to my quarters."
After the two left, Nangong Muyan continued crying for a while, but Zhou Yi only circled around her, speaking softly and trying to comfort her while wiping her tears. She was so frustrated she could have ground her back teeth to dust.
This fool, why wouldn't he just take her in his arms and comfort her properly!
There was no help for it - if she cried any more, her eyes would be swollen tomorrow. Nangong Muyan lifted her head, called out "Zhou Yi" in a hoarse voice, and threw herself into his arms.
Zhou Yi froze, looking down at the person sobbing in his arms. After a moment's hesitation, he stiffly raised his arms, one hand around her waist, the other on the back of her head, completely enveloping her in his embrace.
"Don't cry anymore. It's my fault."
Nangong Muyan heard his sighing words and slightly curved her lips in a smile.
"Zhou Yi..." Nangong Muyan raised her head from his embrace, looking at him with tear-filled eyes. Her red lips parted as if to say something, but then her brows furrowed and she fainted.
"Nangong Muyan! Hey! Hey! What's wrong? Wake up! Wake up..."
Zhou Yi was panic-stricken, his eyes filled with uncontrollable alarm. He swept her up in his arms and strode quickly toward the house. Seeing a silkworm worker on the way, he shouted without regard for propriety: "Go fetch a doctor! Quickly, get a doctor!"
The silkworm worker trembled at his shout, and the Nangong Muyan in his arms had her eyelashes flutter slightly.
Had she taken it too far?
Li Jiu had said that to make a man fall in love with her, she needed to make him feel sorry for her first, but she felt that Zhou Yi seemed more frightened than anything else.
Zhou Yi kicked open the door and placed her on the bed. Just as he was about to go out and hurry the doctor along, the person on the bed slowly came to, grabbing his sleeve and weakly calling out "Zhou Yi."
"You're awake!"
Zhou Yi was overjoyed, his anxious heart settling considerably. Seeing Nangong Muyan trying to sit up, he quickly pressed his hand on her shoulder, his voice uncharacteristically gentle: "Don't move yet, just lie down. I'll go find a doctor to examine you."
"I'm fine." Nangong Muyan struggled to get up - what doctor did she need? She wanted to get up and snuggle into his arms; she hadn't had enough of his embrace earlier.
"Listen to me!" Zhou Yi firmly held her down.
Nangong Muyan had no choice but to comply.
Soon after, Li Jiu knocked on the door outside: "Young master, I heard the young lady fainted. Let me check on her."
Zhou Yi instantly rushed to the door and pulled him in: "Quick, see what's wrong with her."
Li Jiu responded "Yes, young master, don't worry," while glancing at Nangong Muyan and placing his fingers on her wrist.
After a moment, Li Jiu withdrew his hand and said with an affected manner: "The young lady is suffering from emotional stagnation and liver qi stagnation. Upon seeing the young master earlier, her emotions became turbulent, causing her blood to rush up, which led to her fainting."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Yi became instantly anxious - didn't this mean that Nangong Muyan's illness was entirely his fault?
"Then what should we do? Does she need any medicine?"
Li Jiu now only regretted not having a beard to stroke mysteriously, which would have made him appear more profound.
"Young master, the young lady's ailment is of the heart. Matters of the heart need heart remedies. As long as the young lady's mood improves and her qi flows smoothly, this illness will heal without medicine."
After saying this, Li Jiu cupped his hands in farewell and left, leaving the space for Nangong Muyan to work her magic.
Nangong Muyan sat up in bed, seeing Zhou Yi standing beside it with his head lowered and a face full of guilt, she internally exclaimed: This has gone too far!
"Zhou Yi, I'm fine, don't worry..."
Nangong Muyan lifted the blanket and got out of bed, hurriedly speaking as she walked to Zhou Yi's side.
While she had indeed wanted Zhou Yi to feel concerned for her, she found she couldn't bear to see him in such a depressed state. She preferred the silly, easily flustered Zhou Yi.
Zhou Yi raised his eyes to look at her steadily, and after a moment, he sighed and, to Nangong Muyan's surprise, pulled her into his embrace.
This was the first time Zhou Yi had hugged her on his own initiative!
Her heart skipped a beat. Nestled in Zhou Yi's embrace, Nangong Muyan didn't know where to put her hands and feet. The warmth of another person's body transmitted through their clothes, and her heart was pounding at this moment.
"It's my fault."
Zhou Yi's muffled voice came from above her head: "From now on, if you want to hug me, just do it. If you want to kiss me, just do it. Whatever you want - I won't dodge anymore. Just... don't be unhappy."
"Bang!"
Nangong Muyan clearly heard the sound of fireworks exploding in her heart.
She slowly raised her hand to her neck: one, two, three, four... eleven, twelve, thirteen.
Very good, this time her heart rate reached one hundred and fifty-six.
This person truly knew how to captivate her.
Just as Zhou Yi finished speaking, he noticed the person in his arms covering her neck again. After a while, Nangong Muyan looked up at him, her tear-stained eyes still rimmed with red.
A pair of arms wrapped around his neck, and Zhou Yi understood her intention. He cooperatively lowered his head, and the next moment, a gentle kiss landed on the corner of his lips.
"Zhou Yi, you really make it impossible for me to resist..."
Zhou Yi only heard Nangong Muyan murmur this like a dream, and then a passionate kiss pressed against his lips, just like yesterday.
The moment Nangong Muyan kissed him, she decided to give up using any schemes or tactics on Zhou Yi.
It didn't matter if Zhou Yi didn't love her, it didn't matter at all. As long as this person stayed by her side forever, that would be enough.
True to his word, Zhou Yi didn't resist at all, obediently holding her as she kissed him to her heart's content.
Only after a long while, when Nangong Muyan finally pulled away, did he quietly ask, "Are you done kissing? If you're done, let's go eat."
Looking at Zhou Yi, whose ears had turned completely red, Nangong Muyan buried her face in his shoulder, unable to contain her amusement.
"Zhou Yi, you're such a wooden block."
Yet he was a wooden block who knew how to charm people.
Zhou Yi didn't understand, only thinking about how Li Jiu had said she'd been crying all the way and hadn't eaten, worried she might be hungry.
"Let's go eat, don't let yourself go hungry."
Zhou Yi repeated, and fearing she might misunderstand, added: "We can kiss after eating too." His ears turned even redder after saying this.
"Alright, alright, let's eat."
Nangong Muyan didn't know whether to laugh or cry - how had she fallen for this person, who was such an adorable fool?
Zhou Yi led her toward the dining area, taking the opportunity to introduce her to the estate.
"My great-grandfather was from Mulberry Leaf Town. He started from nothing on this estate and built up the Zhou Family business..."
Nangong Muyan nodded repeatedly - so Zhou Yi wasn't second-generation rich, he was fourth-generation rich.
"That hillside is the mulberry field, mainly for growing mulberry trees. The leaves are used for raising silkworms, and the berries for making wine..."
Nangong Muyan looked where Zhou Yi was pointing, realizing it was the same place where she had fainted from crying earlier.
"You can eat the mulberries directly too, they're quite sweet. Have you tried them before?"
Of course Nangong Muyan had tried them, but she deliberately said no.
"Then I'll take you to try them later."
"Yes, yes!"
Zhou Yi smiled unconsciously and pointed ahead, where there was a row of nearly identical houses: "Those are for raising silkworms. Once the cocoons are formed, they're taken to those larger buildings next door to be made into silk products for sale. The big building at the end is the winery. Those buildings have a hollow level underneath - that's the wine cellar. I'll have to let you try the mulberry wine sometime..."
Zhou Yi's voice was steady and unhurried as he patiently explained the operation and production of the estate to Nangong Muyan. His demeanor showed a confidence and ease she rarely saw in him, oddly reminding her of those modern businessmen who discussed matters over wine with natural grace and strategic minds.
The mountain breeze felt cool on her face, but as Nangong Muyan looked at this somewhat unfamiliar Zhou Yi, she felt her own face growing warm.