Chapter 102
Chapter 102: Plan Exposed, Second Sister Defects
Lin Yu Ning returned to her small courtyard. When the first wave of excitement faded, regret began to sprout in her heart like grass in early spring: [Did I agree too fast?]
She paced the room over and over, her delicate eyebrows almost twisted into a knot: [Bringing an outsider, and a woman at that, to sneak into Elder Cousin’s courtyard… if we get caught…]
She shivered as Aunt’s icy face flashed in her mind, followed by her mother’s helpless sighs: [Maybe… I should tell Big Sister and Second Sister?]
The thought had barely risen when she smacked it down herself: [No, no! Absolutely not!]
[If Big Sister finds out, she will scold me until my ears ring. Second Sister is such a stickler; she will pull out a whole set of big principles to nag me. Both of them going at me from left and right… just thinking about it makes my head three times bigger!]
Annoyed, she clawed at her hair. Her gaze slid to the ten outrageously expensive sutras on the table, and the book called Capital Handsome Men Register shimmered in her mind with deadly temptation.
[Forget it!]
She steeled herself and stomped once: [Fortune favors the bold. Cowards die poor. This is my money path and my rare book. I can’t give it up! If the plan is tight enough, nothing will go wrong!]
If it must be done, she would do it alone.
Lin Yu Ning made up her mind to hide this from her two sisters and finish this great plan by herself, a plan tied to both silver and eye candy.
She plopped into a chair and racked her brains for a way to slip into Auspicious Cloud Residence without anyone noticing. After a long while, a thought exploded in her head: [Have Zhao Lv Liu dress up as my maid! Yes, that’s it!]
[Then I will say I’m showing a new maid around and “pass by” outside the courtyard. Doesn’t Elder Cousin sometimes put a rush mat in the yard to do seated meditation and chant? If we see him from far away, Sister Lu Liu can remember his face, and that will be enough!]
The more she thought, the more perfect it seemed, textbook-level perfect. Zhao could sketch, Yu Ning would get money and the book, and no one would ever find out.
She basked in her own brilliance, a proud smile blooming again.
But she forgot one very important thing: the season.
It was deep winter. Breath froze into ice shards at the door. The wind cut the face like a knife. How could her Buddha’s Chosen Elder Cousin still sit in a drafty yard to meditate like in spring or fall?
Right now, Lin Qing Xuan was surely in his study, warm as spring with the underfloor heat burning and sandalwood incense curling.
Poor Lin Yu Ning. Her “peerless plan” was doomed from the first step. Her trip full of hope for “making money” and “getting the book” had not even begun and was already shadowed by the chill of winter.
Early the next morning, Lin Yu Ning ran to Yunlang Studio and poured out her “perfect plan” to Zhao Lv Liu like spilling beans from a bamboo tube.
When Zhao heard she could observe the Buddha’s Chosen up close, her eyes lit up. She grabbed Yu Ning’s hand and asked without thinking: “Can we go today?”
“You have to change into a maid’s outfit first,” Yu Ning said, looking her up and down at the fine fabric and heavy embroidery. “If you go in like this, you’re basically telling everyone something is off. It’s too flashy.”
“I have one, I have one! I’ll swap with my maid right now,” Zhao said, throwing herself into art with zero hesitation. Her action power was off the charts. “No time like the present. How about today?”
She could not wait.
Yu Ning also wanted to strike while the iron was hot. The sooner Zhao drew, the sooner those sutras could turn into white silver.
They agreed with a clap.
Yu Ning led the disguised Zhao, now in a coarse maid dress, through her own side door, slipped through the moon gate that linked the two estates, and sneaked into the back garden of the Heir Apparent Manor.
Her heart pounded the whole way. Keeping her voice down, she warned Zhao again and again: “Stay close to me. Don’t look around. Don’t make a sound. We cannot draw any attention.”
But she was still young. No matter how quick her mind was, something would slip.
They had just rounded an artificial hill. The wall of Auspicious Cloud Residence was right ahead when they ran straight into the last person Yu Ning wanted to see at this moment: her second sister, Lin Yu Jiao.
From far away, Lin Yu Jiao saw her little sister sneaking around like a thief with a stranger behind her. The girl’s head was down, her face unfamiliar, yet her posture was not that of a maid who did heavy chores. They were both heading straight toward Auspicious Cloud Residence.
Her mind turned once and she remembered Yu Ning’s obsession with sutras a few days ago. She decided Yu Ning was greedy again and wanted to steal more.
Anger shot to her head.
She rushed over in a few long strides and blocked their path.
“Lin Yu Ning, have you grown bold? Are you trying to steal Elder Cousin’s sutras again?” Her willow brows lifted as she forced her voice low and sharp for the sake of being outdoors: “Didn’t you already take ten? You can’t be this greedy.”
Yu Ning almost jumped out of her skin. On instinct, she spread her arms to shield Zhao with her small body and stammered: “N-no… Second Sister, I was just… just walking around…”
Her tiny frame could not block anything.
Lin Yu Jiao’s gaze easily went over her head and landed on the “maid” who was pulling in her shoulders, trying to make herself smaller. One look, and Lin Yu Jiao’s eyes went round.
“Zhao Lv Liu?!”
She gasped under her breath, hardly believing her eyes: “Why are you dressed like this in my house?!”
Seeing there was no way to hide, Zhao tugged at the ill-fitting coarse clothes and tilted her head toward Yu Ning with a helpless look: “Your sister… told me to wear this.”
The scene was so ridiculous that after a beat of shock, Lin Yu Jiao’s mind raced. She understood at once that her little sister was about to cause big trouble again.
She swallowed her anger, grabbed both girls, and dragged them into a quiet corner. Her voice went stern: “You two! What are you up to? Tell me the truth!”
Seeing the plan fully exposed, Yu Ning wilted. With her head down, she mumbled: “S-sister Lu Liu wants to draw Elder Cousin… I brought her in to take a look from far away…”
“To draw Elder Cousin?” Lin Yu Jiao found it absurd. “If you want to see him, can’t you send a proper card and state your purpose? Why do you have to dress up and sneak around? What are you trying to do?”
“T-that’s because…” Yu Ning stole a guilty look at Zhao and spoke as soft as a mosquito: “Last time Sister Lu Liu said… maybe Elder Cousin would chant even in the wedding chamber… I was afraid Aunt would be upset if she heard that, and even more upset if she saw her…”
Afraid her sister would explode, Yu Ning added fast: “And Sister Lu Liu is amazing at painting. She only needs a long look from far away and can draw it quickly. She will not bother Elder Cousin at all.”
Listening to this hole-riddled plan, Lin Yu Jiao’s temple veins throbbed. One girl would do anything for money; the other would wear anything for art.
“Second Sister,” Yu Ning said, seeing things go badly and throwing out her last bait, “to be honest, Sister Lu Liu is drawing Elder Cousin for her Capital Handsome Men Register. She said when the album is done, she will give me a copy.”
“Capital Handsome Men Register? What is that?” Lin Yu Jiao asked with open disdain. “Elder Cousin is in it, ranked where? Who made this list? Don’t tell me you, Zhao Lv Liu, ranked them yourself.”
Zhao straightened with pride: “Buddha’s Chosen is naturally in the top three. The list is very authoritative. It is chosen by secret votes in the noble lady circle of the entire Imperial Capital.”
“What? The Capital City women have this kind of voting?”
Now it was Lin Yu Jiao’s turn to be shocked. Her powerful curiosity was hooked at once: “Can you show me the book?”
“Second Sister!” Yu Ning cried, anxious. “The album is missing only Elder Cousin’s casual-clothes page. Without that, what book is there to see?”
“Oh…” Lin Yu Jiao understood. She cleared her throat and made a full turn in attitude. Walking to the front with confidence, she waved for them to follow: “Then I will lead you.”
“You are doing this for art. I understand. But you have to tell me who the top three are.”