26 The Mantis Stalks the Cicada

What could drive a girl to do that to herself?

Yan Zheyun spent the rest of the morning pondering about this as he swept the stables. It was quiet here, as it often was, like all the commotion going on inside the main compound at the moment couldn't infringe on this little sanctuary he'd found for himself.

Xiao Ma had returned and was currently lying in his pallet because he wasn't feeling well. Yan Zheyun had tried talking to him earlier, both to reprimand him for just running off, and to try and figure out if he'd been threatened or bullied.

But Xiao Ma was being uncharacteristically tight-lipped about this subject, so Yan Zheyun had given up. The boy was young in his eyes because Yan Zheyun had a modern person's perspective, but he knew that in this era, 13—no, almost 14 now—14-year old boys were already expected to shoulder the responsibilities of adults. For Xiao Ma's sake, Yan Zheyun shouldn't pamper him.

So he left Xiao Ma moping in the room and came out to fulfil some light tasks that wouldn't require him to strain his thigh too much.

How had he even perched in Young Master Huang's lap for so long yesterday? The pain must have been even more intolerable then. It was a testament to how strong the effects of the spring medicine were that he hadn't paid it any mind—

Hold up. He was thinking about that again.

Cheeks aflame, he tightened his grip on the leaf rake and worked fervently to neaten the pile of fallen maple leaves.

"Young Master."

Yan Zheyun paused at the sound of this familiar voice. He turned around hesitantly to face Wu Roushu's maid. She regarded him solemnly, but without any censure like Yan Zheyun hadn't almost taken liberties with her yesterday.

But it was harder for him to dismiss how inappropriately he'd behaved, even if he hadn't intended to. Drugs or whatever were just a poor excuse and didn't minimise any harm that had been done to her.

"I'm sorry," he said, bowing his head deeply. "I did not mean to treat Maiden so carelessly." He decided to call her 'maiden' in the end instead of 'big sister', which he felt was too familiar for someone he hardly knew.

"Young Master has already apologised," she replied, seemingly unaffected. "There is no need to bring this up anymore."

"I'm not a Young Master anymore either," he reminded.

The maid tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "My mistress said that you carry yourself like one and behave like one. And hence are worthy of being called one."

Yan Zheyun didn't know how to respond to the abrupt praise. He inclined his head in wordless acknowledgement, then waited for her to explain the reason behind her visit. He didn't think she would have bothered sneaking all the way to the stables just to exchange pleasantries, and given what he'd already been told about Wu Roushu's 'unintended' tryst with the fourth prince, he suspected it would have something to do with that.

Sure enough, the maid said, "My mistress would like to thank you for your assistance."

Assistance for what? Yan Zheyun didn't think Wu Roushu was talking about rescuing her from the pond. Or at least, she was referring to more than just that.

"It was this humble servant's duty," he replied perfunctorily. "This servant is glad to hear that the third young mistress is all right."

"You've done more than you think," the maid said. She looked straight at Yan Zheyun, her eyes dark and serious. "My mistress had been convinced that she would only find reprieve in death. She'd resented you initially after you saved her life, but then she saw the way you'd manipulated the master into protecting you."

Yan Zheyun kept silent and waited for her to continue. He couldn't tell if that was a compliment or not but he didn't exactly take pride in the implication that he was a conniving bitch.

The maid sighed. "My mistress' life is unfortunate. Young Master was a noble once, you would know how hard it is for illegitimate children, especially daughters. But she has decided to take matters into her own hands. She won't be a bargaining chip for the master to barter away in exchange for a new alliance."

Yan Zheyun's thigh was starting to complain. He forced himself to ignore it because the sooner he failed to, the sooner he'd have to prepare that horrid-sounding concoction to help relieve the pain. Propping himself up on the rake handle, he asked, "Is this why she chose to seduce the fourth prince?"

The maid lowered her gaze. "Opportunities abound for those who would seize them," was her obscure reply. "My mistress has sent me here to elicit a promise from you. In exchange for our help yesterday, she asks that you would remain silent on your speculations about the role we played in the...accident."

Yan Zheyun sighed, his heart heavy with mixed feelings. But he couldn't express any of the troubles that he felt because he couldn't justify any of them to her. On one hand, he wanted to warn the maid, and by extension, Wu Roushu. This young mistress clearly thought that she had made a decision that would be of most benefit to her. And it was true that her status would be elevated once she was a Wang's side concubine and she would have the luxuries in life that had been denied to her by virtue of being an unfavoured child.

But on the other hand, her actual situation had gone from bad to worse. Marrying into the Liang Family might have left her lonely, with a philandering husband and a couple of high and mighty in-laws that find fault with her at every chance.

But the alternative was this fourth prince, and Yan Zheyun didn't even know where to begin describing the horrors of him. Wu Bin might be a two-faced controlling hypocrite that only wanted sex from his unfortunate childhood friend, but Yan Zheyun's sister had said that he was pretty normal in the bedroom otherwise.

Scumbag 2, on the other hand, sounded like he needed to be arrested.

He reminded Yan Zheyun of a predator camouflaging itself in the wild, wearing a disguise that was fair and just to earn the respect of the civilians for his political ambitions. Yan Zheyun hadn't had much chance to go to the inns and listen to the talk about the officials in court, but from what he'd gathered from Yan Lixin, Scumbag 2 was the most beloved member of the imperial family, second only to his father, the current emperor. He campaigned for the maligned, handed out rations to the poor, and perform all sorts of good deeds that made the capital sing his praises.

But unbeknown to these citizens, the prince that they so revered was actually a monster with a sick fetish. He could only get hard in bed if he was inflicting pain upon his partner. The more violent he was, the more pleasure he derived. Poor Yan Yun had been a victim of this and it'd been a miracle that he'd even survived the torture long enough to give other scumbag gongs a shot at his bruised, broken body.

And now, Wu Roushu had walked right into her own trap. She'd thought she'd captured a genteel deer but didn't know that a vicious wolf was lying in wait.

"Warn your mistress," Yan Zheyun said suddenly. "Tell her not to let her guard down. The fourth prince will not forgive her easily and he will not believe her to be innocent." Especially since she was not.

There was a slight flicker of uncertainty on the maid's face. "The fourth prince is known to be of good character," she said hesitantly. "We have considered the consequences, but surely he wouldn't go to any lengths just to harm an unimportant girl..."

"No one had ever disparaged Big Young Master's character either," he retorted. "And yet, knowing what you know about yesterday's arrangement, would you still believe that?"

He didn't wait for her to respond before going in for the kill. "Does your mistress truly believe that the oh so noble fourth prince was unaware of Big Young Master's intention to gift me to him?"

The maid fell silent. Yan Zheyun turned away from her and resumed his duties. "This servant thanks the both of you for saving him yesterday and hopes that your future endeavours may be smooth-sailing."

He had already advised them as best as he could, without actually outright prophesising about Scumbag 2's future actions. Wu Roushu had already chosen her path and would have to bear with its consequences herself. This left a bitter taste in his mouth, because she was so young, looked to be around the same age as his little sister was.

But he'd already learnt his lesson from Xiqing. He wasn't a martyr, wasn't going to offer himself up instead. Besides, she might not even appreciate it.

It was a whole two hours before the stable master finally came out of his quarters, which was another dilapidated hut just opposite the one Yan Zheyun shared with Xiao Ma. It had an equally leaky roof but more space in general.

Yan Zheyun had thought initially that the stable master was also suffering from a hangover. It was common for the older servants of the house to be granted more privileges, such as bonus income during festivals or treats like wine and hearty meals. But the red-rimmed edges of his eyes convinced Yan Zheyun otherwise.

He seemed sober enough, just unusually morose.

"Stable Master," he greeted, limping over to stand before the old man. He noticed how the stable master's eyes gravitated towards his bandaged leg, bloodshot stare fixated on it as his face turned so white Yan Zheyun reached out to grab his arm because he thought he was going to faint. "Is everything all right? Do you need to sit down?" He panicked a little because he wasn't sure if this was a heart attack in the making or what.

"You're back," the stable master rasped out. The wrinkles on his forehead deepened with his frown, but Yan Zheyun didn't get the impression that he was angry, just very upset. But at least it wasn't a medical emergency. Yan Zheyun had had enough of those for a while.

He couldn't think of any reason other than Xiao Ma's and his disappearances from the night before that could be aggravating the old man so much.

"This servant must apologise for leaving his post without warning yesterday," he began, but the stable master shook his head.

"Ah Yun ah," he said wearily. He didn't usually address Yan Zheyun with such familiarity, preferring to refer to him as 'Hey' or 'Oi'. But today, he sounded like a tired father, kind of how Yan Zheyun's dad had whenever he came back at 3 a.m. from bloodthirsty negotiations, and it made Yan Zheyun's eyes burn.

"Yes?" he replied, his throat unusually dry.

"It's good that you're okay."

Yan Zheyun froze. But before he could ask the stable master to elaborate on what he meant, the old man beckoned Yan Zheyun to follow him.

Yan Zheyun complied.

They went back into the servants' hut, where Xiao Ma was still lying motionless on the bed. Yan Zheyun fidgeted with the sleeves of his robes. He was still wearing the fresh hemp ones from Gongzheng Hall, and the part of him that wanted to distract himself from this foreboding feeling ended up focusing on whether Young Master Huang had paid for the clothes too. Whether they could be considered a present from him.

"Xiao Ma. Get up."

Everyone in the room could tell that Xiao Ma was awake. He wasn't snoring loud enough to rouse the dead, for one thing. But instead of his usual upbeat perkiness, the lifeless young boy just rolled listlessly to the side of his pallet before slipping off the edge.

His gaze was empty. Yan Zheyun didn't know what could have happened to this boy that he'd grown so fond of. They'd only been apart for half a day.

He was afraid of the answer.

Instead of standing up, Xiao Ma fell quietly to his knees in front of both Yan Zheyun and the stable master.

Yan Zheyun's lips thinned as he stepped forward to try and hoist him up to his feet, but a harsh bark from the stable master rooted him to the spot.

"Let him kneel!" the old man gritted out, voice shaking. "Let this ingrate confess his mistakes!"

Xiao Ma's eyes, already swollen, welled up with tears. He bit on his lower lip to try and hold in the sobs, and Yan Zheyun looked at him and felt his heart breaking.

Even without an explanation, Yan Zheyun could guess what Xiao Ma had done. It all made sense now, or maybe it already had even earlier on, which was why he hadn't let himself dwell on the events of his capture. Or the drink beneath his bed that had been spiked.

He'd even preferred to think about the events that had happened in the carriage, and how much of a fool he must have made of himself in front of someone he had a budding interest in.

Considering the possibility of Young Master Huang resenting him was excruciating in its own way, but at least it wasn't betrayal.

"Tell me what happened," he said monotonously, when it became evident that Xiao Ma wasn't going to talk without being pushed.

A single tear trickled down the side of Xiao Ma's face. He bent forward slowly until his forehead touched the ground.