“No need, let’s meet right now.”
Lin Huanhuan stood up, put on her clothes, and walked out.
Following Dong Yuner to the parlor, Lin Huanhuan immediately saw two well-dressed men sitting there. When they saw Lin Huanhuan enter, they quickly stood up and bowed.
“Greetings, Miss Lin. Good evening. We apologize for the late visit and hope you won’t take offense.”
‘It’s just a small gang at the Foundation Establishment stage, but they’re putting on quite the show. Ridiculous, really.’
Lin Huanhuan sneered inwardly, but outwardly she returned the courtesy. No matter what, a small faction with a Foundation Establishment cultivator was at least barely qualified to make deals with her.
“It’s no trouble. I was just burning the midnight oil reading,” Lin Huanhuan nodded, pretending to be puzzled as she asked, “But may I ask what brings you here so late at night?”
After all, what they were doing wasn’t exactly aboveboard. Letting the other side speak first meant that even if things fell apart, Lin Huanhuan would have room to maneuver and perhaps a chance to extricate herself.
The two across from her weren’t fools. Seeing Lin Huanhuan play dumb like this, how could they not figure it out?
The scar-faced man cursed ‘little fox’ in his heart, but didn’t dare play dumb along with her. If Lin Huanhuan suddenly said she wasn’t interested and pulled out, they’d be in real trouble.
The scar-faced man quickly spoke, “We’re here about the Youquan Spirit Vein. Do you recall? Our young master is very anxious, so he sent us here. We’re truly sorry for the disturbance.”
“So that’s how it is.”
Lin Huanhuan put on an enlightened expression, then made a generous gesture and said, “It’s fine, after all, this is a collaboration between our two sides.”
“Please, have a seat and let’s have some tea before we continue.”
Though the two from White Tiger Hall were anxious, they couldn’t refuse Lin Huanhuan’s hospitality, so they sat down as the maid poured them each a cup of tea.
“This is premium Yunding Spirit Tea, quite expensive. Please, have a taste.”
Lin Huanhuan gestured, then picked up her own cup, blew on it, and took a small sip.
Taking advantage of this pause, Lin Huanhuan began recalling the details of the previous incident.
After all, what she read before was a novel, and a lot of the fine details hadn’t been mentioned. Now that she had transmigrated, she could naturally get a clearer understanding.
‘About half a month ago, people from White Tiger Hall suddenly sought me out, saying they’d learned of Ye Jinxiu’s Youquan Spirit Vein and wanted to discuss it with me.’
‘My mind clouded by desire, I immediately agreed.’
‘Their goal was simple: just to pull in another person. With my background, even if things went south, the Lin family would step in to protect me, and might be able to cover up the whole thing.’
‘Interesting, they dragged me into this too. In that case, I don’t have to feel too guilty about taking you down with me. Ah, I really am such a good person.’
After silently praising herself again, Lin Huanhuan finished sorting through her memories.
Then, she finally spoke up and discussed the collaboration in detail with them.
However, when it came to timing, Lin Huanhuan disagreed with starting immediately.
“Miss Lin, what are you hesitating for? Time waits for no one—the longer we wait, the greater the risk of exposure!” the scar-faced man said anxiously.
Lin Huanhuan leisurely took a sip of tea before replying, “See, you’re anxious again.”
“We haven’t even acted yet. How could Ye Jinxiu possibly suspect anything? And besides, it’s so late at night—if she gets suspicious, all our efforts will go to waste, won’t they?”
“We’ve waited this long already; a bit more patience won’t hurt. Besides, I need to rest soon as well.”
‘Resting is your real goal, isn’t it?’ the scar-faced man grumbled inwardly, forcing a bitter smile as he nodded.
“If that’s the case, then let’s wait until tomorrow. We’ll take our leave for now.” They still had to prepare an explanation for their young master. Hopefully, his anger wouldn’t be taken out on them.
“Alright then, see you tomorrow. I won’t see you out.” Lin Huanhuan nodded and gestured politely. The two from White Tiger Hall took their leave.
‘Finally got them to go—now I have more time to prepare. If the backstab fails, that would really be embarrassing.’
‘Next, I should deal with my personal maid.’
Lin Huanhuan turned her gaze to Dong Yuner, who had been quietly standing at the side the whole time, her expression calm from beginning to end.
Lin Huanhuan was the first to speak: “Don’t you have anything you want to ask?”
Dong Yuner seemed to snap out of it, then smiled gently. “Actually, there are quite a few things, but I figured you probably don’t want to talk about them, so I didn’t ask.”
She continued, “After listening to the conversation just now, I more or less understand. You’re working with the White Tiger Hall to deal with Ye Jinxiu, right?”
“At that time, White Tiger Hall will get the Youquan Spirit Vein, and Ye Jinxiu will fall into your hands. But, may I ask, what do you intend to do with her?”
‘What to do with her? She’ll be rescued anyway, so what else is there to do—just smile at her, I guess.’
Lin Huanhuan thought to herself, then shook her head. “We’ll see when the time comes. If she cooperates, I’ll be gentle. If not, then she can’t blame me for being ruthless.”
“Oh, right.” Lin Huanhuan added, “You don’t object to me doing these things, do you? Or rather, you’ll help me, won’t you?”
Actually, the question was pointless—because in the original story, Dong Yuner was involved in this matter. Asking now was just to find out whether the original Lin Huanhuan had forced her into it.
Dong Yuner smiled softly. “Since this is what you wish to do, of course I’ll help. After all, I’m your personal maid—we’re in the same boat.”
‘Miss is still just as wicked and mischievous. She hasn’t turned good—I’m so relieved. That means Miss will still need me.’
Dong Yuner thought to herself, her brows arching slightly, her mood clearly lighter.
“Not bad. Looks like my usual kindness to you wasn’t wasted. You’re the only one who puts me at ease,” Lin Huanhuan praised happily.
“The only one who puts Miss at ease…” Dong Yuner repeated the words, her cheeks suddenly flushing crimson, as if they could drip with color.
“I’m Miss’s only one. I, I, I…”
She lowered her head, pressing her chin to her barely-there chest. Her expression was hidden, but her rising temperature was easy to sense, and a bit of mist even seemed to rise from her head.
“Hmm? Yuner, what’s gotten into you?” Lin Huanhuan asked with great interest from the side.
‘This kind of thing only happens in anime, yet I’m seeing it for real here. Even dying would be worth the ticket price!’
‘But why is Dong Yuner like this? Is she a lovesick maiden? I didn’t even mention anyone…’
Lin Huanhuan was quite puzzled, as Dong Yuner cried out in flustered panic.
“No, nothing at all, Miss! You must be mistaken!”