"How could I possibly lose to her?"
The swing installation was only halfway done when Jiang Fang rushed over urgently to find Xie Yu. Coincidentally, Xie Yu was tired too, so the two of them went into the study to rest.
The matter was urgent but not serious. Xie Yu quickly signed off on the documents. Through the window, she saw Shen Changyin still sitting quietly on the rocking chair in the courtyard, reading an ancient book.
She told Jiang Fang about what Shen Changyin had done that afternoon.
After hearing it, Jiang Fang was utterly impressed. "Your Highness, you have zero chance of winning. She's terrifyingly good."
"Be honest—were you tempted?"
Xie Yu stubbornly refused to admit it. "I can flirt with her too. When it comes to seduction, who wins and who loses isn't certain yet."
Jiang Fang leaned back, pulling her gaze farther away, and looked Xie Yu up and down a few times, taking in her straight posture.
"You know everyone has different kinds of charm, right?"
Xie Yu said, "If you dare say I don't have charm, you're dead."
"That's not what I mean," Jiang Fang said. "Some people have the kind of charm that makes others fall in love at first sight and think about them day and night."
"You're charming too—but it's the kind of charm that makes people want to go through life and death with you, fighting battles together."
Xie Yu was unconvinced.
Jiang Fang coaxed patiently. "Seductive romance requires softness, ambiguity, and subtlety. You're… a little lacking in talent there."
Xie Yu sneered. "I don't believe that."
She immediately began racking her brain, forming a strategy, and kicked Jiang Fang out.
She shooed Jiang Fang out of the courtyard like chasing a chicken, then turned around.
Shen Changyin was sitting on a rocking chair beneath dense green shade. She put down the book in her hands, her brow bone sharp and clear, and looked toward Xie Yu. "It's getting late. Why didn't you keep her for dinner?"
Obviously because she would be inconvenient here.
Xie Yu said, "She had plans. Besides, I need time to finish the swing."
She raised her voice. "I'm going to use the saw now."
Shen Changyin simply nodded and picked up her book again.
Xie Yu knelt in front of a white poplar plank, grabbed the saw, and started pulling it back and forth. "This saw is really sharp."
Seeing that Shen Changyin still hadn't put down that hateful book, she added another line.
"The teeth are really scary."
She pretended to wipe her forehead with the back of her hand. "I'm so hot. So tired."
Shen Changyin turned a page and said with concern, "Why not have the steward call a carpenter?"
Xie Yu put down the saw, planted one hand on her hip, and looked at Shen Changyin—who still hadn't looked at her even once. She puffed out her cheeks like a pufferfish.
Just then, the steward happened to pass by outside the courtyard, vaguely hearing her name, and hurried over. "Do you need anything, my ladies?"
Xie Yu waved her hand sharply. "Leave."
Without another word, she picked up the saw again and continued working. Not long after, a splinter stabbed into her fingertip.
A pinpoint of blood seeped out, staining the white wood fiber red.
She rushed under the tree shade, holding her finger up high. "I'm hurt!"
Shen Changyin immediately put down her book, first scanning her whole body. Seeing no serious injuries or bloodstains on her clothes, she looked puzzled.
Xie Yu pushed her finger closer to Shen Changyin.
On the pale pink tip of her index finger was a tiny spot of red. The blood had already clotted—if the splinter weren't still lodged in the flesh, the wound would have healed.
Shen Changyin called a maid over. "Is there a seamstress in the residence with steady hands? Have her bring two needles to pick out the splinter."
Xie Yu exaggeratedly supported her injured right hand with her left, stubbornly holding her finger out in the air. "That's it?"
Shen Changyin paused, then realized what she meant. "The splinter is small and the needle sharp. Picking it out requires both strength and precision. I'm not skilled at this—let the seamstress do it."
The seamstress arrived quickly, had Xie Yu sit by the table with her hand spread out. The needle tip pricked the fingertip for an instant. After a brief, sharp pain, the blood-stained splinter was pulled out.
After the seamstress left, Xie Yu tilted her head up and looked at Shen Changyin standing nearby, her eyes slightly widened.
"Little Xie, your eyes are red," Shen Changyin said.
Xie Yu nodded and nudged her gaze closer to Shen Changyin.
Yes, yes, my eyes are red. I'm very fragile.
Shen Changyin said, "I saw you rubbing your eyes."
Xie Yu's hand stiffened.
Shen Changyin spoke earnestly. "You just did carpentry. Your hands must be covered in dust and wood chips. It's best not to rub your eyes directly."
Xie Yu squeezed out a smile. "You're right. Thanks for the reminder."
Defeated, she went back to working on the swing. By the time dinner was ready, a wooden double swing already stood on the lawn—white poplar wood against lush green grass, fresh and pleasing to the eye.
Xie Yu stepped back several paces, admiring her handiwork with satisfaction, which eased the frustration from her failed flirting earlier.
Shen Changyin stood at the doorway. "Little Xie, dinner's ready."
Xie Yu washed her hands and returned to sit at the small round table in the hall.
Dinner was shredded pork with wild rice stems, stir-fried shrimp, water chestnut–stewed meat patties, and a vegetarian dish of stir-fried lettuce stems. Two small bowls of glossy rice sat quietly by the table.
Xie Yu sat down, picked up her chopsticks, and her eyes flicked around.
She deliberately took small bites only of the lettuce stems and wild rice stems closest to her. After finishing one small bowl of rice, she leaned toward Shen Changyin and said softly, "Could you pick a shrimp for me?"
She looked up at Shen Changyin, trying hard to imitate the way Little Flower begged to be fed.
Shen Changyin glanced at the small round table—barely two feet across—and paused with her chopsticks.
Then she obligingly picked a shrimp for Xie Yu.
Xie Yu was very pleased. She blinked at her twice, eyes curving into a smile. "Thank you—"
She ate the shrimp and added, "So sweet—"
Her tone was playful, the ending drawn out, her normally clear voice deliberately made syrupy.
Shen Changyin smiled at her. "As long as you like it."
Feeling she had succeeded, Xie Yu began eating seriously, thoroughly enjoying herself, her chopsticks moving frequently.
Until she absentmindedly picked up another shrimp and put it in her mouth. Feeling the shrimp's distinctive texture, she froze.
She slowly raised her head and looked at Shen Changyin.
As if she hadn't seen the action at all, Shen Changyin calmly picked another shrimp and put it into Xie Yu's bowl.
Xie Yu silently ate the shrimp together with the rice.
She wanted nothing more than to crawl into a crack in the ground.
People are like this—just like how middle schoolers only realize how cringeworthy they were after growing up. Only now did Xie Yu realize how clumsy her little act had been.
A tiny round table, only four dishes total—she could reach everything herself, yet she'd still put on airs and ask Shen Changyin to serve her.
For the rest of the meal, she only shoveled rice into her mouth, pretending the dishes didn't exist.
It was Shen Changyin who kept occasionally using the communal chopsticks to put food into her bowl.
Although she said "no" out loud, she honestly ate everything that was given to her.
She even finished all the lettuce stems.
After dinner, she wilted for a while, then hurried back to her room to regroup.
She had to return to her room, because seeing Shen Changyin felt like looking at a failing exam paper—unbearable.
She lay on the bed for a bit, then changed the metaphor.
Seeing Shen Changyin was like placing her own failing paper next to her deskmate's perfect score—extremely painful.
But in the end, she still climbed out of bed.
And enthusiastically invited Shen Changyin to come try out the new swing with her.
Shen Changyin was very cooperative and sat down on the swing.
The two of them sat close together. Xie Yu pushed off the ground lightly, and the swing began to sway gently, like a small boat.
The moon spilled down bright, clear light. The courtyard was almost as bright as daytime. Shen Changyin seemed to like the swing as well—she set the book in her hand aside for the moment and looked up at the few scattered stars in the sky.
Xie Yu watched for a while too, then sneaked a glance at Shen Changyin.
She had one ultimate move she wanted to try. This would be a burn-the-bridges kind of attack.
First step: close in quickly, catch the enemy off guard.
"Can I borrow your shoulder as a pillow?" she said.
Without waiting for Shen Changyin's answer, she gently leaned her head against Shen Changyin's shoulder.
Shen Changyin froze for a moment before responding, "Mm."
Second step: push her luck.
She reached out, hooked Shen Changyin's hand into her own, interlaced their fingers, and gently swung their hands in the air. She looked at the shadow their hands cast on the ground, as if she found it fascinating.
Third step: boiling the frog in warm water (gradual change that goes unnoticed until it is too late)
She gradually stopped swinging their hands, seeming a little tired. Her eyes slowly closed, her breathing evening out.
Shen Changyin stayed like that quietly, letting her rest against her shoulder while she herself calmly admired the moon. Their shadows stretched long under the moonlight.
Fourth step: body and spirit in sync—a gentle, fatal strike.
Xie Yu pretended to doze off. After a while, she was supposed to "wake up" and complete a full combo: rub her eyes + stretch lazily + soften her voice + slightly messy but cute hair + gently massage Shen Changyin's shoulder.
Then she actually fell asleep.
She slept very soundly.
She even snored twice, startling herself awake. Thinking it was thunder, she immediately grabbed Shen Changyin's arm and the swing's handrail, entering combat mode.
She froze for a second, then came back to her senses.
Afraid to hear the answer but asking anyway, she whispered, "Did I… snore?"
Shen Changyin's ancient book was almost finished. Despite having Xie Yu resting on her for so long, her appearance was still impeccable. "Mm."
"You were probably just too tired from building the swing today. Don't worry—Third Highness, you don't usually snore."
She was still gently comforting Xie Yu.
But Xie Yu couldn't hear a word. She stared at her shadow in the moonlight, utterly dejected.
Failing once could be called amusing, but even in a game, losing three times in a row was enough to make someone doubt themselves.
Jiang Fang hadn't been wrong at all. She truly didn't have that kind of charm—the kind that tempted others.
She knew what kind of charm people liked.
The kind Shen Changyin had.
When Shen Changyin did those things, it felt natural. They made her heart speed up just a little.
If that was a perfect-score exam paper, then she was a failing one—despite having answered every question with care.
She lifted one foot and rubbed the tip of her shoe against the grass over and over, saying nothing.
For the first time, she realized she might actually be foolish. Her chest felt heavy, and she was sulking at herself.
It hurt a little.
She said hurriedly, "I'm going back to my room."
She turned to leave—but someone caught her wrist.
Shen Changyin's hand slid from her wrist into her palm, firmly interlocking their fingers, and tugged her back.
Xie Yu was still looking down. Shen Changyin bent slightly to examine her expression, then gently cupped her face and lifted her head.
"I'm very moved," she said, looking straight into Xie Yu's clear amber eyes.
She said seriously, "You're not stupid at all. You're adorable—and you make me want to kiss you…"
Xie Yu slammed her lips into hers.
A very forceful kiss—their teeth knocked together, making their lips ache.
Xie Yu's eyelashes trembled as she carefully looked into Shen Changyin's eyes. "I—"
—
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