Spoiled Eldest Miss x Two-faced Madman

CHAPTER 39: Women Are So Hard To Understand.

 

　　[Why do you feel that way?] 

　　After stroking the angry but silent owl messenger until its feathers became fluffy, An Jiu opened the letter to find that single line. Seeing the more elegant script than usual, betraying the sender's inner turmoil, she almost burst out laughing. 

　　An Jiu slowly wrote back: [I was drunk last night and went to the wrong room. Then the next day I woke up and found that my mouth felt a little strange, numb and a little painful... I suspected that Pei Ji molested me! He must have a crush on me, but he didn't dare to tell me, so he did this secretly.]

　　Not long after the letter was sent, it quickly came back. 

　　[There's no evidence to support such an accusation. Don't falsely accuse someone of wrongdoing!] 

　　There was a stray ink blot beside the words, showing just how shocked the recipient was. 

　　An Jiu finally couldn't contain herself, laughing uncontrollably. 

　　Those words sounded exactly like something an innocent person would say! But he wasn't innocent at all! 

　　He dared to do it but not to admit it! 

　　An Jiu softly snorted, then petted the owl again, whispering to it: “Don't you think he's a coward?”

　　The owl hooted twice, tilting its head. Its amber eyes, round and bright, gazed obediently at the strange human. 

　　An Jiu smiled and wrote again: [If I had evidence, I would have exposed him! It's infuriating! A cripple dares to covet this young lady—he's got more guts than brains!] 

　　Her pen paused. She added a sentence, her tone extra cautious: [Fei Yi, do you mind about this…he took advantage of me, aren't you angry?] 

　　After a long while, An Jiu received a reply. 

　　[Since there's no evidence, perhaps it was a misunderstanding. Doctor Pei is a man of high moral character, he wouldn't do such a thing. If it's a misunderstanding, I naturally wouldn't mind, and you shouldn't worry about it either.] 

　　Holding the letter, An Jiu could almost imagine Pei Ji's internal struggle. 

　　She picked up her pen, her expression relaxed as she wrote: [Okay…so you don't mind…then I guess I was just imagining things.]

　　She added a ╭(╯^╰)╮ emoticon at the end, looking utterly dejected. 

　　She'd mastered the ancient art of sending messages by an owl, turning it into a modern instant messaging service, complete with emojis. 

　　Upon receiving the letter, Pei Ji instantly understood the meaning of the strange little symbol. 

　　The symbol was incredibly expressive. Though he'd never seen it before, he could intuitively grasp its meaning. 

　　Looking at the emoticon, he felt as if he'd witnessed the girl pouting in front of him, her expression one of disappointed dejection. 

　　What was she upset about? The fact that he'd taken advantage of her? Or that Fei Yi didn't believe her? 

　　The young man in white furrowed his brows, his thin lips unconsciously pressed into a line, once again feeling the situation was thorny. 

　　When she said ‘Pei Ji’ had a crush on her, he'd been completely taken aback, as if someone had unexpectedly punched him hard. He'd hesitated for a long time before coming up with a response. 

　　And now, he was once again in this helpless situation. 

　　Why did he always fail to keep up with her train of thought?

　　Pei Ji sighed deeply, pressing his hand to his temple. The piece of paper felt like a hot potato, yet he had to reply. 

　　He had a vague feeling that he absolutely couldn't ignore this message; the consequences would be unimaginable. (T/N: LoL!😂)

　　With this in mind, he deliberated for a long time before writing a single line: 

　　[Of course I care about you, but don't worry about this.] 

　　After sending it, the owl returned with a message: 

　　[No need to explain, I understand.] 

　　Followed by a smiling emoticon: :) 

　　Pei Ji breathed a sigh of relief and quickly replied: [Then get some rest.]

　　That should be the end of it, right? 

　　After sending the owl away and receiving no further messages, Pei Ji finally relaxed completely. Only then did he realize a thin layer of sweat was on his back. 

　　In the short period of time that the two of them were communicating, he actually broke out in a sweat.

　　Yet, his spirit was unusually relaxed, a hint of a smile playing on his lips.

　　An Jiu genuinely didn't remember what happened that night; he didn't need to figure out how to deal with her right away. 

　　He finally understood why she was avoiding ‘Pei Ji’ like the plague, giving him the cold shoulder—it was because she'd misunderstood him as having a ‘crush’ on her. 

　　A misunderstanding was a misunderstanding; it wouldn't affect anything, so it was fine. 

　　The next morning, everyone gathered together again. 

　　An Jiu still wasn't friendly towards Pei Ji, chatting happily with Ming Yi. At the dinner table, she mentioned their plan to go to the Jiaoquan Mountain hot springs behind Jinshe Villa that day. 

　　Lin Qingyan suggested, “If you're going to Jiaoquan Mountain, you can stroll around Jinshe Town after the hot springs. There's a lantern festival in town tonight.” 

　　An Jiu blinked curiously. “It's not a holiday today, why is there suddenly a lantern festival?” 

　　Lin Qingyan explained, “Jinshe Town has been extremely lively recently. Martial artists are flocking here. Even those who can't enter the villa want to join the fun, and the town is packed. The shopkeepers have never seen such prosperity, so they want to do some business and make some money.”

　　An Jiu nodded understandingly. “I see.” 

　　So it was decided: they would go to the hot springs in the morning, have lunch at a villa on the mountain, and then stroll around in the afternoon before the lantern festival in the evening. 

　　As they were talking, Lin Qingyan suddenly remembered something and turned to Pei Ji, who had been sitting quietly. 

　　“Pei Ji, will you be watching the lanterns tonight?” 

　　Before Pei Ji could answer, An Jiu interrupted. “With his condition, how could he go out? Wouldn't he get trampled?” 

　　The girl's words were sharp and unkind, causing everyone to look at her. 

　　The young man in white, however, smiled faintly, shaking his head slightly. He said gently, without a hint of annoyance, “My legs aren't very good, so I won't go. Have fun.” 

　　An Jiu rolled her eyes and muttered under her breath, “Putting on an act.”

　　The smile on Pei Ji's lips seemed permanently fixed, unchanging. Against the backdrop of the girl's petulance, his good temper was almost unbelievable. 

　　Ah Qi, who was about to speak up, was stopped by a fleeting glance from his young master and immediately became incredibly docile. 

　　At the same time, his conviction grew stronger. 

　　His young master must like Miss An! Otherwise, how could he tolerate her rudeness without getting angry? 

　　In the past, if anyone displeased his young master, he would usually retaliate immediately; he would never be so gentle. 

　　Sigh, he really loved her! 

　　After the meal, the group separated. 

　　Lin Qingyan and He Ziqing walked together as usual. A faint sadness clouded the young woman's eyes. “I wonder what happened between An Jiu and Pei Ji. I don't think their relationship is very good.” 

　　He Ziqing said indifferently, “Don't worry about them.” 

　　“Why not?” 

　　He Ziqing said matter-of-factly, “My master once said, if someone truly dislikes you, they won't even bother to pay attention to you. Miss An and Brother Pei probably just had a small disagreement; once the misunderstanding is cleared up, it'll be fine. It's like children fighting—they fight because they care. If they didn't care, they wouldn't fight.” 

　　Lin Qingyan thought about it and felt that it made sense, so she stopped worrying about it.

　　She then remembered something else and tentatively asked, “Brother He, I saw you talking to Miss Yu from Emei Sect yesterday. Do you know Miss Yu?” 

　　He Ziqing scratched his head. “I don't know her personally. My master has an old connection with Emei Sect. She came here on behalf of the Emei Sect, so I went to greet her.” 

　　The heavy stone hanging in Lin Qingyan's heart fell. She smiled brightly. “I see.”

　　He Ziqing was confused. He'd said he didn't know Yu Hongyi well, so why was Lin Qingyan smiling so radiantly? 

　　Did she have a bad relationship with Yu Hongyi? 

　　Lin Qingyan continued, “Speaking of which, Miss Yu's swordsmanship is excellent. I really want to learn from her sometime.” 

　　That didn't sound like a bad relationship. 

　　He Ziqing bluntly said, “Her swordsmanship is slightly better than yours; you wouldn't win.” 

　　As soon as he said that, the girl's smile vanished. She looked at him suspiciously. “Have you sparred with her?” 

　　“I… I've sparred with her a few times…”

　　“A few times???” Lin Qingyan's delicate eyebrows shot up. 

　　He Ziqing didn't know how to respond; he felt that the more he said, the angrier Miss Lin would get. She was like this often, and he just didn't understand her. 

　　Sigh, women are so hard to understand.

　　On the other hand, An Jiu and Ming Yi set out together for Jiaoquan Mountain. 

　　Jiaoquan Mountain was the mountain behind Jinshe Villa. It wasn't a high mountain, but the scenery was beautiful, with numerous springs. The most attractive feature was several hot springs that flowed with warm water year-round, perfect for bathing. 

　　Since the establishment of Jinshe Villa, Jiaoquan Mountain had been largely controlled by the Jin family. Ordinary people weren't allowed near the springs. The Jin family had even built a hot spring villa above the springs to specifically entertain the villa's guests. 

　　Now, with so many martial artists in the villa, the hot spring pools were opened for everyone to enjoy to accommodate the many guests. 

　　Because it wasn't far, the two walked there. 

　　There were two paths up the mountain: one outside the villa and one inside. They chose to take the path inside the villa. It was a neatly paved path of blue stone slabs. After climbing three or four hundred steps, they were almost there. 

　　The villa was halfway up the mountain. As they approached, they could see the white steam rising from the eaves and ridge tiles amidst the lush greenery.

　　It was the steam from the hot springs, looking especially ethereal against the backdrop of the green mountains. 

　　Upon arriving at the villa, before they even entered, servants from Jinshe Villa came to guide them, leading An Jiu and Ming Yi to separate men's and women's hot spring pools. 

　　Entering the room, the temperature noticeably rose several degrees, and the air was filled with moist steam. 

　　An Jiu changed into a bathrobe in the changing room and went to a spring. 

　　The Jin family had managed it well; the hot spring water was channeled from outside, and the pool's height was just right. An Jiu sat by the pool; the warm water submerged her shoulders, and the comfortable temperature made her feel relaxed. 

　　At that moment, someone else entered the pool. Dressed in a snow-white bathrobe, pale-faced and slender, it was Miss Jin Yanwan. 

　　Seeing someone already in the pool, Jin Yanwan paused slightly, then politely nodded to An Jiu. 

　　Jin Yanwan silently entered the water and sat on the opposite side of the pool from An Jiu. 

　　An Jiu splashed some water, glanced at Jin Yanwan, whose expression was quiet and melancholic, and suddenly said, “Miss Jin, you seem worried. Are you feeling unwell?”

　　Jin Yanwan was startled, as if suddenly awakening from a daze. She took a moment to realize that An Jiu was speaking to her.

　　She looked up and saw the girl's translucent skin. Her wet bathrobe clung to her body, outlining her graceful figure. A pair of bright, moist peach blossom eyes looked at her with an ambiguous smile, like a spirit emerging from the water. 

　　Jin Yanwan had seen An Jiu once at the racetrack. Although they hadn't spoken, the memory was fresh. 

　　At that time, the girl had been sitting on a white horse, her red dress billowing, her expression bright and sharp. Her eyes and brows held a boldness and freedom rarely seen in ordinary women. Looking down at her from above, she was like a burning flame. 

　　A girl with such stunning beauty and unique temperament—even a single glance was unforgettable. 

　　Jin Yanwan's lips curved slightly. For some reason, perhaps because she'd been suffering internally for days, reaching a point she could barely bear, or perhaps she wanted to see what choice this girl, so different from herself, would make, she unconsciously spoke, revealing the voice hidden in her heart. 

　　“There's something I'd like to ask you…”

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