cold clothes

Warm Winter's expression darkened slightly: "You mean..."

"I think you've probably guessed it by now. That's right, after five years of lying low, we've started our operation. Yunmei's death was the first step. Madam Hu is in dire need of people right now, and you are naturally a pawn she wants to use. Even if you're an outsider, she'll use you by any means necessary. If you're not useful to her, she'll destroy you. She will definitely do that."

"So take better care of yourself, dear sister. You're all struggling to take care of yourselves." Yun Qiu's tone was light, but her eyes were serious.

“…” Warm Winter closed her eyes. “Thank you for reminding me.”

Yun Qiu chuckled softly, her emotions running high without a hint of hysteria; it was more a display of kindness than mere politeness. Her gaze shifted to the silent snowfall outside the pavilion, the snow melting quickly into a damp carpet on the ground. The warm winter was as gentle and serene as the fine snow of early winter.

I'm afraid this winter will be exceptionally cold.

-

"It's snowing?" Leng Yi vaguely heard someone say this outside the door, which piqued her curiosity. She was from the south, growing up in the delta plain of southeastern China. The climate in her hometown only had winter and summer, no spring or autumn, and it never snowed, although hail did occur. She remembered one year when her boss's Tesla was hit by hail and pierced through it. The boss took his anger out on his subordinates, and Leng Yi was miserable for days. So, Leng Yi had seen snow in person and longed for it.

The next second she was disheartened; she was now blind and couldn't see anything.

What she saw before her eyes wasn't pure black, but a vibrant, multicolored black that the client was ecstatic about. She didn't know if she was the only one experiencing this, and the colors swirled like a vortex, appearing like smears of paint. With each change in color, different nerves throbbed with a dull ache, a feeling akin to different people randomly plucking the strings of a piano. In short, she was feeling terrible.

"Miss Ningbi, Miss Ningbi—"

Leng Yi was startled. The voice seemed to come out of nowhere and drilled into her mind. Her main way of getting information from the outside world was through her eyes. It was really painful to be unable to see. Moreover, her hearing was not only dull but also impaired. This was different from what she knew before.

"Who are you?" Leng Yi asked cautiously.

"I am Qingtan. Miss Yunqiu sent me to take care of Miss Ningbi and Lingcao."

Leng Yi wasn't stupid; she instantly realized something: "You were sent by Yun Qiu? You'll help me with what happens in a few days, right?"

"Yes, Miss Ningbi."

“Very good,” Leng Yi nodded, suddenly feeling a sense of security that her superiors had assigned a senior employee to mentor her, an intern, ensuring stable performance—to have transmigrated to a feudal dynasty while still retaining the mentality of a modern corporate slave, that’s just how I am! And the feeling of being called “Miss” and still feeling inferior as a lowly employee… I’m hopeless! Hey, “Miss” isn’t a good word in modern times, but on second thought, it does fit my current situation, doesn’t it!

In just a few seconds, Leng Yi frantically berated herself. Once she started complaining, her mind raced, but unfortunately, her damaged brain couldn't withstand such high-speed operation, so she quickly got tired, covered herself with the blanket, and fell asleep.

Unfortunately, her sleep quality wasn't very good either. When Leng Yi woke up, she felt dizzy and also felt someone pulling at her bandages!

Leng Yi instinctively grabbed the suspect's wrist, eliciting several screams.

"I was just curious, no, I was worried about how your eye injury was. Did you have to react so strongly? My wrist hurts so much from your grip!" Breeze exclaimed, clutching her wrist. Her voice had become even sweeter after about a month apart, but her emotional intelligence had clearly not improved.

"I'm really curious if I can let you experience it firsthand. Qingtan, are you there?"

"The servant is here."

"Let's grant Miss Breeze's request~"

"Ningbi, don't go too far!" Weifeng roared, and from the roughness of her voice, one could guess how ferocious her face was.

"Alright, Breeze, Ningbi just got back, and she's seriously injured. So please be quiet and don't disturb her rest." At this moment, a gentle and conciliatory voice rang out at just the right time, which was very endearing and undoubtedly belonged to Nongyue.

It's been a month since I last saw Nongyue, and she's still as "cold" as ever...

Wu Xue remained silent and taciturn. Although she could neither see nor hear Wu Xue's voice, she knew that Wu Xue was in the room.

As for Xia Hua... she's probably still practicing hard outside; she's always the last one to rest.

Hmm, it's been a while since I've seen my best friend, but her persona hasn't crumbled, which gives me a sense of security. And there's Bellflower sleeping next to her; speaking of which, she's been asleep for almost a day and hasn't woken up yet, but her breathing is even and she seems fine.

With her injuries, she couldn't wait until Xia Hua returned. She drifted off to sleep, but couldn't sleep well. Even in her dreams, she felt tired and irritable. In her daze, a strong medicinal smell entered her nose. At first, she couldn't stand the smell, but the fragrance inexplicably eased the pain as it entered her brain. At the same time, she couldn't hear some hazy sounds clearly.

"Xia Hua, why did you change the incense? Wow—this scent, sandalwood, thyme, chrysanthemum, atractylodes? What is this…" Breeze said, pinching her nose.

"Ahem, Xia Hua even changed the tea, to chrysanthemum and cassia seed..." Xia Hua coughed lightly after taking a sip of tea and wiped her mouth with a handkerchief.

"I've been having trouble sleeping and my eyes are dry lately. These things are calming and good for my eyes. Stop talking nonsense, it'll be good for you too."

"Then why did you put the incense burner next to Ningbi's bed?" Nongyue asked.

"Hmph, this fragrance is too strong. Her bed is the furthest from mine, so the scent that drifts to my bedside is just right. It'll suffocate that guy!"

"Wow, Xia Hua, you're so smart!" said the breeze.

"Shut up, I'm going to sleep, don't make any more noise."

After that, there was no sound at all. The rich fragrance enveloped Leng Yi, making her feel exceptionally comfortable, and she was finally able to sleep soundly.

The next day was the monthly performance review—

It snowed overnight, and the snow melted at sunrise, causing the temperature to drop. Charcoal stoves were lit in the four corners of the main hall of Zhuoyu Pavilion, with four maids standing guard beside each stove to ensure the room was heated.

There was no need for the big boss, Madam Hu, to appear for such a trivial matter as the monthly exam. So, the four courtesans sat in the center as examiners, and all the teaching matrons of Zhuoyu Pavilion appeared and sat upright on the right, a total of eight people. On the left were Xia Hua, Wei Feng, Nong Yue, and Wu Xue, who knelt on the futons in light dance costumes.

The examiners were four courtesans and several headmistresses. The courtesans gave the majority of the scores, while the headmistresses also scored, but with very little weight. In Lengyi's understanding, this was equivalent to the difference between each judge/guest having 10 votes and the audience having a total of 10 votes.

Xia Hua and the other three waited quietly for the matron to announce the exam order. The exam order was also carefully considered, as the assessments were conducted one after another, with immediate evaluations. The order in which they were asked to take the exams would affect their individual scores; for example, if Xia Hua was ahead of Wei Feng, Wei Feng would be able to copy her homework.