The first time they met, she made no effort to hide her dislike for Qin Zhuan.
"Big Brother Qin, Yiyi has been spoiled by me, don’t be angry. I’ll have a good talk with her later. Although she may be rude at times, she has a good heart. You’ll understand as you get to know her better," said Ji Lanyi.
The young man watched the girl’s tall and elegant figure with a slight curve of his lips, "Uncle Ji, I understand." Latest content published on novel•fire.net
Ji Huaixi sighed with relief: "You’re always so considerate."
Ji Die hurried to catch up with Ji Lanyi and glanced back at the young man, catching his gaze. Her heart skipped a beat, and she quickly turned her head away.
"Miss, he has been staring at you," she said.
"Who can blame him when I am so beautiful?" boasted Ji Lanyi with a proud arch of her brow.
"Miss, why don’t you like him? He looks quite handsome and seems honest..."
Ji Lanyi gave her a sharp look that made Ji Die quickly bow her head: "Miss... did I say something wrong again?"
Ji Lanyi smiled: "There’s a saying, ’You can know a person’s face but not their heart.’ Don’t jump to conclusions so easily. As for whether he’s honest or not, we’ll see about that later. But tell me honestly, Xiao Die, do you like him?"
Ji Die’s face turned red instantly, and she shook her head desperately: "Absolutely not, Miss, don’t wrong me..."
"If not, then not. Why are you so nervous? Besides, even if you did like him, what of it? If I decided to make him marry you, a beggar would be a perfect match for you."
Ji Die shook her head vigorously: "No, Xiao Die wants to be by Miss’s side forever, Xiao Die doesn’t want to get married."
"Silly girl, you might want to stay with me forever, but I don’t want that. Let’s settle on this, when you grow up, I’ll have him marry you."
In that young man’s eyes, he only ever saw the Miss, and to him, her attendant was nothing more than a maid. When love begins to sprout, it can’t be stopped. Over time, his image had taken root and blossomed in her heart, but he only loved the Miss. She couldn’t betray the Miss, so she always suppressed her own feelings, until later when the Miss met Yun Shen. Behind their passionate relationship was another man’s desolate and melancholic outline.
On the night the Miss married Yun Shen, Qin Zhuan was drunk as a lord, passed out in the garden, where they had first encountered each other.
It was the first time she had tried to approach him.
She just felt sorry for him, loving the Miss so deeply, and now the Miss had married another man. He must be so upset.
"Big Brother Qin, don’t be sad," she said weakly, her attempt at consolation feeble.
"In what way am I not as good as him? He’s just a scoundrel, not worthy of Yiyi. Yiyi, don’t be fooled by him..." A drunken Qin Zhuan started spouting nonsense.
Crying, she knelt beside him: "Big Brother Qin, please stop talking. The Miss and the son-in-law are already married. Let’s just wish them well."
"No... I will never wish them well; don’t expect my blessing..."
"Big Brother Qin, why put yourself through this?"
"Yiyi... Yiyi, where did I go wrong? Tell me, where did I go wrong? I’ll change, I promise... Please don’t leave me..." Suddenly, he grabbed Ji Die’s clothing, starting to ramble insanely as he obviously mistook her for Ji Lanyi."
"Big Brother Qin... I’m Xiao Die, I’m not the Miss, open your eyes and see clearly," she cried, trying to break free from his grasp.
He suddenly pulled her into his embrace, holding her tightly: "Yiyi... Yiyi, tell me where I went wrong. I’ll change, I promise. Don’t marry Yun Shen, he can’t give you the happiness you desire..."
It was the first time she had been so close to him, the embrace she had dreamed of so often. Yet the first realization of her dream came under these circumstances. She was frightened, cowering in his arms without daring to move. That night, he mistook her for the Miss and poured out many words. Then she discovered just how deeply he loved the Miss. And that night, her heart ached unbearably.
Having talked himself tired, he fell asleep with the sky as his blanket and the earth as his mattress, lying right beside her, within an arm’s reach.
When he woke up the next day, he had forgotten everything that happened the night before, and she never mentioned it again. Things returned to normal. She remained the most loyal and capable maid by the Miss’s side, and she treated Qin Zhuan, the Ji Family’s Chief Steward, with the same respect and distance as before.
Reflecting on the past, she was flooded with a myriad of emotions.
The love of Qin Zhuan, hidden and restrained, would not be carried away with the tides of time; like the rich fragrance of aged wine, it grew only more potent with the passing years.