“Young Master Lin Nuo?”
Lin Nuo, who had stopped in his tracks, didn’t respond.
Instead, he pressed his ear to the door and heard the female voice outside continue:
“Butler Hans said this is the young master’s first time in bed, so he might lack experience and be too embarrassed to ask. He specially instructed me to bring some Liyang Grass from the garden’s collection to help the young master and the princess enjoy their evening.”
After identifying the voice, Lin Nuo opened the door.
He looked at the maid standing before him, dressed in a black and white maid uniform, with a laurel leaf herb emblem—a symbol of “purity” and “health”—adorned on her headscarf.
She held a tray with several sprigs of vibrant green grass, bowing respectfully.
“I don’t need this stuff.”
“Is the young master feeling embarrassed? This has no side effects on the body at all.”
The maid said, “Young master might not know yet, but the old accountant who manages the finances is ninety-two years old. More than nine years ago, he spent a lot of savings to have me keep a sprig of Liyang Grass in the garden, just so his first child would be born smoothly and he could enjoy a late-in-life son.
“I heard it’s so powerful that the little girl it ‘torments’ can’t even get out of bed the next noon. If everything’s right, it can even make her spring up like a shot~”
Among the maids in Claremont Manor, she was known as one of the liveliest.
Those responsible for Lin Nuo’s daily needs and relatively close to him knew that even if they joked about embarrassing topics in front of the young master, at most they’d get a light tap on the head and a helpless glare.
But this time, even the maid’s expression was subtle as she mentioned matters of the bedroom.
The words stirred a strange sense of dissonance in Lin Nuo’s mind.
A weird dissonance.
Almost immediately realizing something, Lin Nuo pinched his waist with the hand behind his back and quickly gathered his thoughts to say, “Is it really that powerful? Wait a moment… let me think.”
He slammed the door shut.
When he opened it again, he was stroking his chin thoughtfully.
“Say that again—how many years ago did the old accountant buy that… what’s it called again?”
“The accountant is ninety-two this year, and his son is eight. He purchased the Liyang Grass in the garden nine years ago, and I personally introduced it to him. You can check the records; there’s no mistake,” the herbal maid replied.
“Liyang Grass is very precious. No matter how much someone offers, it’s hard to buy. The young master will understand once you use it.”
“Alright, give me the stuff. You work in the garden, right?”
“Mm-hmm, herbal maid Mina.”
“Mina… I’ll remember your effort and your name. Next week, you can go to the accountant to collect your reward.”
“Thank you, young master.”
“Bang—”
Lin Nuo closed the door and sat down on the stool at his desk.
In his hand, he was still rubbing the Soulstone he had swiftly taken from the jewelry box just as he shut the door.
“Chirp chirp…”
Seeing Lin Nuo not move, Fatty Bird flew over and tugged at his pant leg.
Lin Nuo frowned tightly, still unmoving.
Fatty Bird fluttered its wings, pulled out Princess Amidina’s white silk stockings, and dropped them beside Lin Nuo’s hand, as if asking, Aren’t you afraid Sister Xiaofua will come back?
“If the maid hadn’t just brought that Liyang Grass, I probably should’ve gone back. But now—”
“Better not go out,” Lin Nuo put Fatty Bird on his shoulder.
“Didn’t you notice? There’s an assassin inside.”
***
“Sis, have you noticed that bird is really chubby? Must be tasty meat… If it weren’t Lin Nuo’s pet, I’d want to catch it and cook it into soup for you…”
After dinner, while holding Yulilian’s little hand and turning a corner by the fountain garden, a wooden hair clip dropped from upstairs and happened to hit Amidina’s forehead.
It was very light, as if someone had deliberately chosen it and perfectly calculated the timing.
The impact was so gentle that she didn’t feel any pain.
While Yulilian curiously picked up the clip, Amidina looked up.
A breeze stirred the exquisite sheer curtains, wrapping them around a young man with a head of finely curled golden hair.
His eyebrows and eyes bore the calm dignity that only a noble upbringing could cultivate, and as he hung clothes on a rod, his delicate face radiated a gentle, bright, and extraordinarily homely husband vibe.
It was Lin Nuo, smiling apologetically and waving at her.
Amidina’s brows furrowed slightly, her lips pressing together just enough to betray a faint reaction.
This guy had snuck into her room again…
While putting back the curtain, his hand slipped on the rod, and the falling clip hit Amidina right on the head.
She was about to get angry but turned around to see the handsome Lin Nuo, and instantly, all her anger vanished…
‘Damn it…’
This kind of felt like the accidental encounter of Pan Jinlian and Ximen Qing?
It was because of this meeting that the two later…
‘Forget it, I’m not going to get involved with Amidina anyway… Why am I even thinking of such a weird comparison like Pan Jinlian and Ximen Qing!’
***
Soon, footsteps and voices sounded outside the door: “You go back to your room first. No need to come down tonight.”
“Okay, sis. You go to bed early too. It might rain at midnight, so cover yourself with two quilts tonight.”
“Mm.”
“Knock knock—”
Amidina knocked twice before opening the door and stepping to her bedside.
“Chirp chirp…”
The little round bird, all white, chirped twice, glanced behind at her, and seeing no one had come to catch it for soup, looked relieved—like a bird that had just been scared to death.
Amidina reached out and patted its fluffy head.
Pretty cute.
But compared to a little bird, she still preferred raising other things.
“Chirp chirp chirp…”
Fatty Bird, after being patted, suddenly crossed its wings around its neck, then bounced up and flopped its round body onto the bed, sticking out its tongue from its beak as if it were about to faint.
“Can you be straightforward?” Amidina’s peripheral vision landed on the blond boy leaning against the wardrobe, watching her.
“Does your little pet have something it wants to tell me?”
Lin Nuo opened his palm, revealing the Soulstone to Amidina and motioned for her to use her magic to see for herself.
“You said again—the old accountant bought that… what’s it called… grass a few years ago?”
“…Nine years ago, from the garden. I personally introduced him to the Liyang Grass…”
“Mm-hmm, herbal maid Mina.”
“…”
“Better not go out”
“Didn’t you notice…”
The images and voices on the Soulstone captured everything—from Lin Nuo opening the door and talking with the herbal maid, to her leaving the Liyang Grass behind, and finally Lin Nuo shutting the door with his last sentence:
—There’s an assassin.
“Our first meeting did have a bit of a misunderstanding. The situation was urgent, so I did something… not very proper and rather intrusive. But apart from that day, I believe my attitude afterward has been polite.”
“Mm, yes.”
“So, can we stop being mad about that time?”
This was the first time Lin Nuo abandoned his usual avoidance and formally communicated with Amidina.
“Who’s mad at you?”
Amidina’s cold, peach blossom eyes narrowed slightly, as if silently asking, Do I look that petty?
“…”
‘No, I was just trying to break the ice and get closer… But you still look like you’re mad?’
“Ahem, let’s get down to business. I guess her first target is probably you,” Lin Nuo said.
“Do you want to hear the countermeasure I came up with?”