cold clothes

Is beauty inherent in itself, or is it a result of fanciful desires that make its blossoming seem fatal?

The prince had this thought flash through his mind. He paused in dressing, and after a few breaths, he slowly continued to put on his clothes.

"I'm leaving," the prince said.

Suddenly, Qingchun picked up the jeweled dagger from the table again, causing the prince to gasp. He immediately tried to snatch it from Qingchun's hand, but Qingchun did not draw the blade. Instead, she turned the dagger over and examined the details of the hilt and scabbard.

Made of beech wood, with rose patterns carved on it, and the center of the flower is adorned with gemstones.

“This dagger is so beautiful, inlaid with sapphires and emeralds… Don’t you like to carry swords? Why are you wearing a dagger today?” Qingchun exclaimed in amazement, then looked at the prince with a smile.

Under the cover of night, her smile was alluring and captivating, like the brilliantly colored wine in a glass. The prince relaxed completely, though he didn't know why, he sensed that Qingchun's mood had improved, even though she had seemed to be forcing a smile before.

His gaze softened as he looked at the dagger, and he said calmly, "This dagger was a gift from my fiancée as a token of our engagement. Since it's small and light, I always carry it with me."

His voice was calmer than ever before, even...gentle? Qingchun seemed to hear the crash of a bronze wine cup falling to the ground, the crimson wine spilling everywhere, leaving red marks on something. In an instant, Qingchun's hand clenched tightly, afraid she would lose her strength and drop the dagger—that would be terrible... Then she realized she had to smile, she absolutely had to smile.

"Fiancée... Oh, what a surprise. How come we didn't hear a word about it in the capital? The young master is actually engaged."

The voice must be sweet.

“I haven’t proposed yet, but the purpose of my request to return to the capital is to ask her to be my wife.” The prince’s expression suddenly softened. “When she sent someone to deliver the dagger from the capital to me at the border, I decided to marry her.”

The prince's slight tenderness pricked Qingchun's hand like a needle. Qingchun hurriedly handed the dagger back, "Ah... I see. I'm so sorry that I touched the token of love that your fiancée gave you."

"It's alright." The prince was very magnanimous, casually taking the dagger and wearing it at his waist.

Qingchun parted her lips slightly, wanting to say something like, "Your fiancée must be a kind and virtuous woman," or "The young master is truly devoted to his fiancée," but she found that she couldn't say it no matter what. Speaking felt like swallowing a knife, and the more she spoke, the more painful it became.

The young master generously said, "I'm going to propose marriage tomorrow, and I still need to take care of some things, so I'll be leaving now."

"Take care, Your Highness—" Qingchun said this subconsciously. This is what courtesans say most often, as essential as eating and sleeping. The second half of the sentence is "Welcome to come often."

Is it really appropriate to say "Welcome to visit often" to a man who is about to get married?

—Hey, if a man comes to meet you the night before he proposes, does that count as loving you?

-

"Ouch... Ouch..."

Inside a private room of the Fengxiang Pavilion, mist filled the air, and a sweet fragrance permeated the room. Several beautiful and graceful maids surrounded the bed, while a petite girl knelt on it, her body flushed, covered in sweat, and panting heavily, her body rising and falling with the rhythm... The man on the bed, naked from the waist up, was also flushed, his eyes glazed over, and he let out an uncontrollable sigh of pleasure...

"Stop!" Leng Yi shouted inwardly. What was the meaning of this third-rate erotic novel? There's a limit to bad writing!

Despite thinking this, she was panting heavily... to the point where she dared not let it out loud at home.

The lines he uttered were also quite suggestive: "Lord Dongfang... here... like this... are you satisfied?"

"Uh, not bad, not bad, you can push a little harder, a little lower... Yes, that's it, ha, that feels good!"

Fuck you!

Leng Yi now wished she could stomp on the man lying on the bed enjoying himself, cursing him as she did so... but it was just a thought. In reality, she could only obey the customer's orders and increase the pressure, vigorously kneading the customer's back with both hands.

I'm kneading and kneading... It's so tiring, damn it! Why does she have to work herself to death like an ox or a horse?!

Ah... this feeling, this feeling of working yourself to the bone while others enjoy the benefits, isn't this just like the life of a corporate slave that feels like a different world?

In reality, most people's lives aren't much different from those of hunting dogs. Wearing collars, they serve as dogs for others. The owner waves a marker at the finish line, shouting, "Run, dogs! The dog in first place gets special dog food!" Then a pack of dogs, tongues lolling out, sprints off, vying for the owner's favor. The best become the dog captain, the laggards are kicked out of the pen. The dogs work hard to find prey for their owners, but all the prey belongs to the owners, while the dogs only get dog food—because dogs are dogs!

Isn't she being treated like a dog right now? She's working herself to the bone, panting and groaning, and gets nothing but a mouthful of food. Ah, if that's the case, it's even worse than her previous life. In her previous life, she was a dog for her boss and had a salary she could freely spend. Now, she's a dog for Aunt Hu and doesn't even get a salary!

A bolt from the blue! Her life was truly hopeless!

What hope was left for her life...? Suddenly, a wave of dizziness washed over her, and her body felt heavy, as if she were sinking into a black swamp, so heavy that she could barely breathe. Her heart felt like it was about to burst, yet it pounded even harder, and all the blood in her body felt hot and boiling.

After an unknown amount of time had passed, Leng Yi was almost unable to continue her massage when she was rescued by a lady from Nuanfeng Pavilion. Although the lady's real purpose was not to save her but to take back the customers' attention from her, since Leng Yi had become a massage maid, she had received a lot of praise from customers. The news that a blind little girl was good at massage quickly spread in the small circle, and customers began to request Leng Yi to serve them. As a result, some of the regular customers of the second-class girls were taken away by Leng Yi.

Anyway, escaping from hard labor is a good thing, Leng Yi thought optimistically. Stepping out of the steamy room, she wiped the sweat from her forehead, then gasped involuntarily at the sharp temperature difference.

It's so cold outside, she needs to change out of her sweaty clothes quickly.

So she slowly walked to the servants' quarters, holding onto the railing. She was still blindfolded, but her vision had almost fully recovered. After more than ten days, she had become familiar with the route in the vestibule. As long as she was careful not to bump into the guests, she could walk alone without any problem.

Eh?

Leng Yi was forced to stop, as something suddenly blocked her path.