Fu Yin did not complain as she cleaned the floor. For her mother, she was not afraid of hardship.
As the sun rose the next day, Fu Yin was already done with a lot of her chores. However, she had no choice but to help Ling Long wash her clothes. She struggled to carry the wooden pail. While walking past Ling Long’s room, she suddenly heard a man’s voice. But it was not Lu Qi’s voice. Fu Yin sneakily peeped through a small crack by the window.
Ling Long was wearing a glamorous pearl dress as she turned around to assess herself in the copper mirror. She looked proud. Lu Hanxing was standing behind her. The two of them were so intimate it would make anyone who saw them jealous.
“Didn’t I tell you that we can’t keep this? We have to get rid of it.” Lu Hanxing reached out to stroke the pearl dress.
When the Lu father and son pair were in prison, Lu Hanxing had taken the chance to get this pearl dress from Lu Yingying, using the excuse of exchanging it for money. He then gifted it to Ling Long to please her.
“I took it out because we have to get rid of it. It is so beautiful. What a pity. I wanted to wear it for a while before getting rid of it.” Ling Long pouted and took off the pearl dress, quickly cutting off the pearls. “Are you satisfied now? No one would be able to tell.”
Lu Hanxing could sense her unwillingness. “It is just a pearl dress. Wait for me to finish another two more battles and I will bring one back for you.”
“Forget it, how can a servant like me where this? Even if you really gave it to me, I can only keep it at the bottom of my closet. Sigh, we have different fates. Why wasn’t I reincarnated in a good family?”
She hated it. When she wore the pearl dress, she was comparable to Lu Yingying in terms of looks.
“Stop complaining. Isn’t it great that you met me?” Lu Hanxing hugged Ling Long from behind. “When Lu Qi wanted to take that beautiful Fu lady as a concubine, didn’t you hate her to death? I even helped you get back at her.”
“Show off. Of course I know you helped me.” Ling Long turned around. Lu Hanxing blurted, “I was the one that set the Fu family’s house on fire…”
Stunned, Fu Yin quickly walked to the arched door in the small yard. However, her vision was blurry from tears and she tripped over the door sill. The wooden pail she was holding fell to the floor with a loud sound.
Ling Long and Lu Hanxing dashed out and saw Fu Yin sitting on the floor. They exchanged glances as they walked over to her.
Ling Long became fierce. “Yin’er, you useless thing, what have you done now?”
With tears still in her eyes, Fu Yin answered timidly, “I finished washing the clothes and was about to hang them out to dry. But the clothes were too heavy and I lost my balance…”
“Eh, which noble lady are you? You just washed a few sets of clothes and you look so wronged? Wait! Isn’t this the new dress that I just wore yesterday?”
Fu Yin picked it up. “I will go and wash it now…”
“I’ll say, how can a pail of clothes fall to the ground so easily? Very good! You just can’t bear to see me have a beautiful dress. You black-hearted witch! You did it on purpose!” Ling Long grabbed onto Fu Yin and started to pinch her.
“Stop hitting her. It is just a skirt, I will buy you a new one. Look at her white neck, there are bruises from you hitting her. If Lu Qi sees, he won’t be happy.” As Lu Hanxing spoke, he reached out his hand. His face seemed to be smiling as he made a move to touch Fu Yin’s neck.
Ling Long slapped Lu Hanxing’s hand away and glared menacingly at Fu Yin. “What are you looking at! Go and do your job! You wave your tail every time you see someone. Who is going to fall for your tricks?!”
Fu Yin wiped away her tears and picked up the clothes to place them in the wooden pail. She turned to leave.
“Stop right there!” Ling Long suddenly shouted.
Fu Yin was extremely frightened that they might have found out that she was eavesdropping. However, Ling Long just wanted her to buy perfume powder. She could not help but breathe a sigh of relief. She left the yard and ran to a hidden corner where she sank to the ground. Hugging her knees, her entire body trembled and she cried bitterly.
She had found her mother’s murderer!
Chapter 34.1: Drawing Beauty
“Picture of a beauty?” Prince Zhou raised his brows as he looked at Fu Rou. It was extremely rare that Fu Rou would take the initiative to come to Lingxiao Palace and he did not expect her to make such a request.
Fu Rou had gone to see her fellow sisters in the Seamstress Department today and found out that Grand Prince Liang had requested for them to do an embroidery of a beauty. However, they submitted a few pieces but he was not satisfied. Head Seamstress Yuan wanted to ask Prince Zhou for help as they knew he was skilled in drawing beauties but did not know how to ask. Hence, Fu Rou agreed to help.
“Just one picture will do. I will repay you.” Fu Rou did not say more.
“Do I look like a random street artist?” Prince Zhou’s tone changed as his interest seemed to be piqued. “What kind of reward?”
“What kind of reward would Your Highness like?”
“Fu Siyan, you can’t get angry after hearing it…”
“Then don’t say it.” Fu Rou immediately strangled the cradle, “I will sew you an embroidery piece as your repayment.”
Prince Zhou felt like it was not enough. “You should make me another set of new clothes. Although the previous set has been mended, it has been torn before. I want a new set. It is very reasonable.”
“Okay.” This was easy.
“I have another condition.” Prince Zhou was pushing his luck. “The next time you are allowed to leave the palace, accompany me for a day.”
Fu Rou did not hesitate. “No.”
Prince Zhou did not feel good. “Are you afraid that Sheng Chumu will be angry? He has a complicated relationship with that female pirate. Can you really stand this kind of man?”
Fu Rou did not waver. “That is my business.”
“If you do not accompany me, then I will not do the painting of the beauty.”
Fu Rou turned to leave.
“Okay okay, isn’t it just a picture of a beauty? I will give it to you.” Prince Zhou saw that she could not take the joke and hurried to open his cabinet. He grabbed a bunch of drawings and sat them on the table. “These are all fresh, you can choose any you like. Since I am feeling good today, I will let you have it easy.”
Fu Rou flipped the drawings over and was surprised to find that they were all paintings of her. Prince Zhou stared intensely at the side of Fu Rou’s face. “That’s right, they are all of you.”
Fu Rou looked down and continued flipping through the pictures. They were all paintings of her reading, embroidering, looking at the moon, and sick in bed. She had never seen these sides of herself before. Eventually, she picked a half-body picture of her front view and was satisfied.
Prince Zhou laughed. “Mmhm, good taste. I believe I have managed to capture your grace in that piece.”
“Thank you for the picture, Your Highness.” Fu Rou bowed. “After I hand this drawing over to Seamstress Xue, I will work on the new set of clothes.”
“Seamstress Xue?” Prince Zhou held back his smile. “Isn’t it for yourself?”
“Grand Prince Liang says that the embroidery of a beauty presented by the Seamstress Department is not up to standard and wanted to ask you for a picture.” To prevent Prince Zhou from thinking that she was vain, Fu Rou explained the situation.