Chapter 94
Chapter 94: The Stupid Buddhist Scion Is About to Be Dumped
Xiao Man slept like she’d been knocked out cold. When she finally surfaced, daylight was blazing beyond the window.
Every joint in her body felt loose, her mind strangely clear. She couldn’t help it—workers really did need holidays to refill their blood bar.
She’d barely finished a lazy stretch when a wrinkled, beaming face crowded in at her bedside.
Granny Chen.
The old woman lowered her voice, but her eyes burned with gossip, bright enough to light a lantern.
She wasn’t here to fuss. She wanted one thing from Xiao Man—confirmation of whether the Eldest Grandson Young Master had finally gotten what he wanted.
“Xiao Man, yesterday you and Eldest Young Master… busy in the room all night. You must be worn out, huh?”
Xiao Man hadn’t even finished processing that sentence when Granny Chen, far too pleased with herself, barreled onward.
“Oh, look at me—my memory! Young Master specifically instructed this old servant early this morning. Told me to cook you a fragrant bowl of meat porridge, said you should ‘build yourself up.’ It’s still warming on the stove!”
Build herself up?
Build up what?
Heat roared into Xiao Man’s face so fast it climbed straight to her scalp.
Was Lin Qing Xuan being deliberately vague, or had Granny Chen written an entire scandal in her own head?
This sounded wrong in every possible way.
If word got out, how was she supposed to live in this manor? How was she supposed to keep her head down until she could leave?
Xiao Man snapped upright, forced her expression into something proper, and explained each word with painful sincerity.
“Matron, please don’t misunderstand.”
“Last night I was at the Auspicious Cloud Residence copying sutras for Eldest Young Master. I did nothing else.”
“It may have run late. Young Master is kind and pitied how hard I worked, so he asked you to prepare something to eat. Truly. It was only copying sutras.”
“Oh—so that’s what it was!”
Granny Chen dragged the sound out like she was savoring it, face arranged into a smug little mask that said, I understand. I understand completely.
Her eyes, however, flicked round and bright, and what they actually said was, I believe you about as far as I can throw a stone mill.
“Then hurry and drink your porridge. Don’t go hungry!”
She shooed Xiao Man along, grin stretching wider as she turned away.
A cold, sinking dread thumped in Xiao Man’s chest.
She slipped into her shoes and shuffled toward the small kitchen. She made it only a few steps before the unease spiked hard enough to twist her around.
“Matron!”
“It really was only copying sutras. Please don’t go guessing and talking nonsense outside!”
She bit down on the words copying sutras as if they were the only thing keeping her from drowning.
With the bowl cradled in both hands, she wedged herself into a corner of the small kitchen and perched on a low stool. She ate slowly, spoon by spoon.
The porridge had been simmered perfectly. The rice collapsed on her tongue; the meat aroma was rich, cut through with the sharp warmth of ginger. It slid into her stomach like a small mercy and chased the morning chill away.
And yet Granny Chen’s look—loaded, knowing—kept brushing her nerves like a feather. Light, relentless, unbearable.
No.
She had to ask. Now. Immediately.
She had to find Lin Qing Xuan.
What, exactly, had he said to Granny Chen?
If that big mouth spread it through the manor, Xiao Man wouldn’t just be embarrassed—she’d be finished. How was she supposed to keep working here day after day until she could leave?
She drank the last of the porridge in a few quick gulps, washed the bowl and spoon, smoothed her wrinkled clothes, and strode toward the Auspicious Cloud Residence with a storm in her chest.
Morning there was as quiet as ever. The courtyard held only a few bright birdcalls, crisp as snapped twigs.
Xiao Man softened her steps and slipped inside. At a glance, she saw him.
Lin Qing Xuan.
He’d changed out of his monk’s robe into plain white clothes, sitting alone on a stone stool. He wasn’t chanting or copying. He was simply tilted slightly back, watching clouds drift across the sky, gaze unfocused.
Morning light outlined the clean line of his profile—and somehow made him look even more distant, like he’d stepped half a pace out of the world.
Lonely.
He was so lost in it that he didn’t notice her until she stopped behind him, bowed properly, and cleared her throat.
“Eldest Young Master.”
His shoulders paused, almost imperceptibly, then he slowly turned.
His eyes were calm at first—clear, still—until his gaze landed on her face. Then something flickered. He looked away too quickly, like he’d touched fire.
The tips of his ears flushed faintly.
“Ahem.” He cleared his throat, as if that could erase the moment. “You’re awake.”
His voice was steady, but something taut hid beneath it, fine as a drawn string.
“The porridge… did you have some?”
At the mention of porridge, Xiao Man’s mind betrayed her. Dream fragments from last night surged up—blurred, intimate, too close for comfort. Heat crept into her cheeks again before she could stop it.
Silence grew between them, delicate and awkward, as if the air itself had forgotten how to move.
“I did.” She lowered her eyes, forcing her voice into dutiful flatness. “Thank you for the reward, Eldest Young Master.”
Then, without giving herself time to hesitate, she went straight for the blade.
“Young Master, this servant came to ask… when you spoke to Granny Chen this morning, what exactly did you say?”
“Matron seems to have misunderstood what happened last night.”
Lin Qing Xuan’s brows drew together, faint and slow, as though he was only now catching up to the problem.
“Misunderstood?”
He thought for a moment, searching his memory.
“I only told her you worked hard last night. I asked her to prepare food for you and let you rest well.”
He looked at her, genuinely puzzled. “What is improper about that?”
Then, as if he’d caught the edge of something sharper, his voice dropped, and a quiet hurt slipped through.
“Xiao Man… you…”
“You’re not calling me Lin Qing Xuan anymore?”
Xiao Man felt the familiar helplessness claw up her throat. She forced it down and answered softly, carefully.
“Eldest Young Master, you are the master, and I am the servant.”
“There is a line between high and low. How can this servant call your name so freely? If others hear, who knows what they’ll say about me—or what they’ll think of you.”
“But we… in the dream, we clearly—”
“Eldest Young Master.”
Her tone stayed gentle, but her refusal was absolute.
“That was only a dream.”
“When you wake, you forget it. It does not count.”
The instant the words left her mouth, a furry black blur shot onto the stone table with a sharp thump.
Tuan Tuan.
The black cat flicked its tail like it owned the courtyard and opened its mouth in a theatrical, sing-song voice, delighted to stir trouble.
“Did you hear that? Did you hear that? Xiao Man’s going to play around and then toss you aside! Lin Qing Xuan, you stupid Buddhist Scion—you’re getting dumped!”
Then it twisted, trying to hook Xiao Man’s sleeve with a paw, voice turning syrupy in an instant.
“Xiao Man, darling, don’t dump me! I’m so good. I’m way more useful than him!”
Xiao Man didn’t even glance at it. She slapped its paw away with perfect aim and snapped, low and sharp, “Go.”
“Meow…” Tuan Tuan wilted instantly, ears drooping. It shrank into a corner of the table like a wronged child, muttering under its breath. “So fierce… sucking up doesn’t work… we really are getting dumped…”
Xiao Man lifted her gaze—and met Lin Qing Xuan’s.
The light in his eyes had dimmed, leaving only confusion and something raw, something wounded.
Beside him, the heart demon cat sat like a smug little spark, eager to set the whole place on fire.
Xiao Man’s head ached.
This was ridiculous. All of it.
She bowed properly again—no more, no less—then turned and walked away without looking back.
If she stayed another heartbeat, she was afraid she’d soften.
She’d barely taken a few steps when Tuan Tuan howled behind her, loud enough for the entire courtyard to hear.
“Idiot! You block of wood!”
“She’s leaving! Are you just going to let her go?”
“You’ve chanted your courage right out of your bones!”
The cat sprang down and trotted after Xiao Man on its four short legs, still babbling like a tiny demon preacher.
“Useless Buddhist Scion, trash! If I had a human body, I’d have Xiao Man dizzy and obsessed in three days!”
Xiao Man walked faster.