Chapter 13: The Hunter and the Trap

  It's late at night, and by the pond, frogs are croaking in unison. In the grass, the golden bell, the calling brother, and the weaving girl are chirping together.

  Xiao Di sat with her hands around her knees, leaning against a weeping willow tree, quietly sitting by the pond. It wasn't the first time Father had said such things to her. She remembered that when Young Master passed the imperial examination and became a scholar, Father was overjoyed and got drunk. She helped Father stumble back home, where he told Mother about Young Master's success, laughing and crying at the same time. As they spoke, he suddenly mentioned her.

  That time, she was drunk and didn't take it seriously, but unexpectedly her father remembered it after waking up. He mentioned it to her several times, but she just laughed it off. Seeing that he couldn't persuade her, Father started to think of a way to get to her through Young Master. However, she still didn't take it seriously, thinking that Young Master was her brother and would always be her brother. But today, Young Master's unusual attitude deeply stimulated her, making her start to think seriously for the first time.

  She liked the young master, and had been closest to him since childhood. When they were young, the young master would always hold her hand when they went out to play; he would fight with the boys who bullied her; when he studied, she would sit by his side and play with mud; after he fell asleep while studying, she would use a brush to draw a cat face on him, but he wouldn't get angry. When the fruit on the trees was ripe, she would crave it so much that the young master would climb up to pick some for her - at that time, the young master was quite chubby, and it's hard to imagine how he managed to climb up. She remembered that during that time, she was losing her baby teeth, and the young master would carefully peel the fruit skin and then feed it to her piece by piece.

  Young master, I really miss her...

  Is it that now that she's grown up, and because she's not the young master's biological sister, they have to distance themselves from each other? Thinking about how in the future the young master won't be as good to her as before, and when there's a mistress in the household, she'll be chased away from the young master's side, her heart feels very sad. But does she have to become the young master's woman in order to always be with him?

  "But he's my brother..."

  The goosebumps on Xiaodai's skin appeared again, she hugged her arms tightly, and a blush of shyness crept up to her face.

  Just then, she faintly heard a rustling sound, and Xiao Ding immediately became alert. She held her breath, perked up her ears, and listened carefully for a moment. Suddenly, she peeked out to see a human figure flashing in the bamboo forest. Xiao Ding stared with wide eyes again, but under the cold and clear moonlight, there was only a faint and sparse shadow of the bamboos - where was anyone?

  "What's wrong with your eyes? Impossible! My eyesight is fine. Could it be that there's a thief, sneaking around to steal our family's things?"

  As soon as she thought of this, Xiaodi immediately transformed into a loyal and devoted watchdog, tiptoeing after them.

  Xia Liu quietly made her way into the west wing of the courtyard, which was very quiet and uninhabited. The old houses in the yard were used to store miscellaneous items, and the entrance to the underground ice cellar was on the roof of the first house on the left as you entered the courtyard.

  Xia Liu carefully looked around, familiar with everything in the mansion, and could walk back and forth several times with her eyes closed. The little maid had already hidden in the shadows of the courtyard corner. Just now when she saw his figure, she recognized that this person seemed to be the young master of their own family, so she didn't shout or call for help. At this moment, Xia Liu turned his head back, and under the moonlight, the little maid clearly saw his appearance, and indeed it was the young master. The little maid couldn't help but secretly wonder: "Strange, in the middle of the night, why did the young master sneak here?"

  The courtyard was quiet, Xia Liu looked around and saw no one, then squatted down to quietly open the iron lock on the cellar cover. He took out a lighter and candle from his pocket, lifted the lid and crawled inside...

  "Young master is so strange!"

  Xiao Qi's goosebumps are coming out again...

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  As soon as it dawned, Xia Xun woke up.

  In those days at the Stone Shed Inn, because Zhang Thirteen would appear ghostly beside him at any moment, Hu Da Shu's teaching of fist and foot knife methods was not dared to be practiced, even the physical exercises that could be completed in the room were stopped. Last night, Zhang Thirteen had already told him that there was no need to get up early today, and now that he has returned to Yang Fu, he can no longer enter the master's residence at will. Xia Chuo only started exercising again, because after a break of over ten days, doing all the movements such as sit-ups, push-ups, single-leg squats, etc., he actually felt a bit strenuous.

  Xiao Guanshi had received the young master's instructions the night before, telling him to wake himself up early. As the time was approaching, Xiao Guanshi was about to knock on the door when he saw Xia Liu walking out of the house.

  "Good morning, Uncle Xiao." As soon as he saw Xiao Guan Shi, Xia Mo smiled slightly.

  Xiao Jing Tang bowed and said: "Young master, haha, young master really gets up early. Old Xiao was just about to call you to get up. I'll go call Xiaodi to help you get dressed."

  Xiao Ding slept very late last night. After seeing the young master's strange behavior of sneaking into the ice cellar, this curious baby returned to her own residence and thought deeply for half a day, but couldn't figure out the meaning of the young master sneaking into her family's ice cellar. She thought about it alone in her bedroom for a long time, but still had no clue, so she fell asleep soundly. At this time, Xiao Ding was sleeping very sweetly and was suddenly woken up by her father.

  Xia Lian brushed her teeth and washed her face, clearing her head. She had just sat down on the bench when she heard a "kick kick" sound. Xiao Ding was wearing a pair of straw sandals, walking in with sleepy eyes. Her cheeks still had a hint of red from just waking up, and her hair was only loosely tied up. She wore a moon-white narrow-sleeved short jacket, with a pair of matching trousers made of Songjiang fabric tied around her waist. The large pant legs dragged on the ground, covering her small feet, only revealing two rows of toes that looked like sleeping silkworms.

  When Xia Yu saw her coming in, he turned his head and smiled at her. Xiao Ding naturally returned a smile to him. After smiling, she suddenly remembered that he had been very wrong to her last night and should be angry, should be very angry, so she immediately raised her small face, raised her chin, and looked disdainful.

  Xia Liu coughed and asked, "What's wrong, are you still angry with Young Master Shao?"

  Xiao Ding pouted and hummed in discontent.

  "I got up early today, I'll be going out on the street in a while."

  "What's it to me?" Xiao Ding muttered under his breath, gave him a push, making him sit up straight, and then took the horn comb to start grooming his hair.

  Xia Liu continued: "The King of Qi is going to celebrate his birthday, we should go out and take a walk on the street to see if there's anything new and precious as gifts. Do you want to come with me?"

  Xiao Qi pouted and said: "Isn't there a perfect companion like Thirteen Lang by the young master's side? Why would they go and ask for trouble?"

  "What a pity, I thought you'd like to go shopping with the young master, and I was thinking that if we came across something you liked, I'd buy it for you."

  "It doesn't matter."

  Xia Liu smiled and said: "Alright, if Master doesn't let Thirteen follow you today, will you go or not?"

  "Others aren't as idle as you, young master. I'm a servant, and servants have their own rules to follow: sweeping the courtyard, cleaning the rooms, tending to the garden, watering and pruning... there's so much work to be done! Who has the leisure time to loiter around? A servant must mind their place!"

  Xia Liu couldn't help but smile as he gazed at her through the copper mirror, which reflected even the smallest details. Xiao Ding still had a very standard girl's figure, with only two delicate curves slightly raised on her chest. Her skin was tender and smooth, and even her plump shoulders were soft and rounded, with a cute baby fat. Baby fat? Xia Liu's mind suddenly stirred, and he began to think of something.

  Xia Liu coughed and said, "Forget it then, I'll just go out for a walk myself. I heard that there's something new out in the streets lately, supposedly if you eat it, you can get a slender waist, a pretty face, and make girls look especially slim and lovely in all the right places... what was it called again..."

  The small twig in Xiao Qi's hand, the cow horn comb paused for a moment, opened his mouth to ask, suddenly realized he was talking to himself, so he firmly closed it again, but his ears quietly perked up.

  Xia Liu said to herself, "I've heard that those things can not only make a person's figure slender and elegant, but also make their skin white and rosy, tender and smooth. Even Zhao Feiyan and Yang Yuhuan have used these things."

  Xiao Qi's eyes began to shine

  Xia Liu was like a creepy uncle trying to entice a young beauty, patiently continuing to tempt her: "And after using these things, you'll never have to go hungry again. You can eat whatever you want and however much you want, without ever getting fat. What were those things called again? Hmm... they're right on the tip of my tongue. If I saw them, maybe I'd remember. But as a grown man, I don't need those things anyway. It's too hot outside, and there's no fun in walking around alone."

  "Ah! Uh... Ah-choo!"

  Xia Liu smiled and asked: "What's wrong, caught a cold?"

  "If... if Master really wants someone to accompany him, then... that person will accompany Master for a walk."

  "Huh? Don't you still have a lot of things to do?"

  Xiao Qi's face turned red as she hesitantly said, "That... uh... actually, the flowerbed doesn't need to be pruned and watered every day..."

  "What about the courtyard? What about the room?"

  Xiao Qi hated him so much that she wished she could strangle him to death, but all she could say was: "Sweeping the courtyard and cleaning the room, people with hairy hands and feet, Cuiyun sister always says I'm more busy helping, why not follow Young Master out, hold an umbrella for Young Master, take some things... these chores are still doable. Father often said that one's hands and feet must be diligent, and do what is within one's power..."

  Xia Xun burst out laughing triumphantly.

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  "Master, where are you off to so early in the morning?"

  As soon as Xiao He saw Xia Xian walking out with a small bundle, Xiao Guan Shi hastily came up to ask him.

  Xia Liu waved her folding fan and said casually: "Oh, I'll take Xiao Qi out for a stroll."

  Xiao Guan said: "Young master, you haven't had breakfast yet..."

  Xia Xun said: "I and Xiao Qi will just eat something casually outside, take advantage of the cool morning, let's go."

  Xiao Guan watched the two of them walk away, suddenly bursting into laughter. What's going on? This is great! Could it be that last night's conversation finally opened her eyes? Or perhaps... the young master has come to his senses? Or maybe... both of them have come to their senses together? It's hard to say, but I still remember when we first met the girl's mother, neither of us could stand each other, always arguing and bickering. Then suddenly one day, looking into each other's eyes, it was different from before. Love is a mysterious thing...

  Xia Liu didn't disappoint little loli. He passed on the beauty secrets of "Qing Luan Yuan" to Xiao Ding, and the weight loss recipe was also from her hand.

  At first, because An Yuan was very generous when he went out, and said that this prescription was used for his own daughter, Xiao Er didn't know if An Yuan had a daughter or not, but judging from his physique, she estimated that his precious daughter was not just darker-skinned. She wasn't a spoiled and pampered beauty in Qing Luan Temple either, so she couldn't help but feel sympathetic towards her, and thus revealed all the whitening prescriptions she knew, as well as the weight loss prescriptions she had mastered, such as lotus leaf tea and winter melon porridge.

  These slimming recipes are indeed effective, and the young lady herself is using them. However, due to her innate physical condition, the effects are not obvious on her. These recipes are actually very effective, but since beauty recipes were not a focus of medical studies at that time, even the doctors in the pharmacies only had a vague understanding or were completely unaware of them. For ordinary people, it was even more difficult to access this information during an era when communication and information exchange were extremely limited. Only in high-end brothels where they placed great emphasis on beauty and continuously researched, developed, improved, and accumulated knowledge on beauty over generations could such beauty knowledge be passed down and flourish.

  So the young lady copied these prescriptions for An Yuanwai, and even if Xiaodai had been interested in asking about them before, she wouldn't have been able to find out anywhere. But once she got her hands on these prescriptions, it was like she had found a treasure. Xiaojun hadn't cheated her after all, because Xiaodai's baby fat wasn't really a problem - using this prescription just helped her improve her diet a bit, so she didn't have to starve herself unnecessarily. She was lively and active by nature, and got plenty of exercise in her daily life, so when the time came, her curvy figure naturally emerged.

  Two people had breakfast outside first, then went shopping around and had lunch outside before coming back. As soon as they entered the gate, Xia Fan said: "This trip made me sweat all over, put things away first, arrange a bath for me, I want to take a shower right away."

  Xiao Qi got the slimming and beauty recipe she wanted most, and the young master also generously bought her many ingredients and food materials. The little girl had already determined that this was the young master's way of apologizing to her, and her resentment towards Xia Fu had long since dissipated. After hearing his instructions, she happily agreed and ran back to her own place with the things in her arms.

  As soon as Xiao Qi left, Xia Xun's lazy expression on his face disappeared immediately. He vigilantly scanned around with a glance, and his dark and shiny eyes were like a leopard that had just discovered its prey, sharp and dangerous.

  The courtyard is deep and quiet, with only the sound of cicadas chirping.

  It was just past noon, the hottest time of day, and also the most lethargic time for people who had just finished lunch. Most people wouldn't be moving around in the scorching sun at this hour, but rather resting indoors to digest their food. At the same time, there weren't many servants in the Yang household, so there was no one walking around in the courtyard at this hour, which was exactly why Xia Xiu chose to return at this time.

  As soon as he saw that there was no one around, Xia Xun immediately quickened his pace and swiftly slipped into the overgrown western courtyard. By the time Xiao Ding's maid had put down her things and called a few servants to hurry to the backyard flower garden, Xia Xun was already waiting steadily in place.

  Everything is ready, now just wait for the prey to step into his trap!