Watching Count Kangle turn and leave, Bi Xin stood beneath the steps with his head bowed for a long time before slowly making his way back to his own courtyard.
Every servant he encountered along the way stepped aside to avoid him.
By the time he returned to his room, the candles had already been lit. Because of the shabby treatment he received, even as a legitimate son of the Earl's Residence, he could only use the smoky candles ordinarily used by servants.
The faint, acrid smell filling the room had been softened somewhat by the fragrance of flowers Yuzhu had secretly picked.
When he came in again, Bi Xin had no need to speak. One look at his red, swollen face made Yuzhu cry out.
"Young master! What happened to you?!"
"Who hit you? How could they be so brutal?"
"I'll fetch some water to cool it down!"
Bi Xin sat in his chair without a word, letting Yuzhu hurry out to fetch cold water. She soaked a towel in it, wrung it out, and gently laid it against his swollen cheek.
"Young master, does that feel any better?"
"Yuzhu, thank you." Only after a long while did Bi Xin turn his face toward her numbly. "In this residence, you're the only one who treats me as a young master. Everyone else probably wishes I'd drop dead this instant."
"Young master!" Bi Xin's words startled Yuzhu.
She was Bi Xin's personal maid, and perhaps one day she might have the chance to become his bedchamber maid or concubine. In her eyes, all the other masters of the Earl's Residence put together mattered less than Bi Xin.
But precisely because of this, Yuzhu panicked. She hurried to the doorway and looked around, only breathing a quiet sigh of relief when