Moonlight and Miscalculations
“What are you doing here!?”
Lanyi hissed in a voice barely above a whisper, yet filled with alarm. She stumbled backward until her back nearly struck the bedpost.
“Are you deaf? I already told you that I came to redeem myself over the matter of the poems.”
Bajie answered with a perfectly straight face as she shifted into a steadier position upon the windowsill. She appeared entirely unconcerned, as though climbing into another person’s bedchamber in the middle of the night were something she did every day.
‘This is the best way to sit. I look incredibly charming like this!’
Lanyi, who had been raised under the strictest rules of etiquette and propriety, flushed crimson with anger.
For this woman to intrude upon an unmarried lady in her private bedchamber at such a late hour was beyond anything Lanyi could have imagined.
‘How utterly lacking in propriety. She has no shame whatsoever!’
Drawing in a deep breath, Lanyi launched a poem at her in a sharp voice.
“The sun has vanished from the sky,
Yet one still comes when night draws nigh.
With neither manners nor common sense,
Such shameless conduct knows no end.”
Bajie’s brows knitted tightly together. Her expression twisted as though she had just heard someone speaking an otherworldly language.
“Stop! Stop right there! Could you speak like a normal person? Listening to you is giving me a headache. What are all these upper lines and lower lines supposed to mean?”
“Morals cannot guide a heart gone blind,
When twisted thoughts corrupt the mind—”
Lanyi continued without relenting, wielding her poetry like a sharpened sword against the ill-read Bajie.
“You! Why must you be so cruel to me?”
Bajie’s cheeks puffed out in frustration. She swung one leg into the room, intending to find her footing and properly defend herself.
“I only wanted to speak with you nicely!”
Seeing Bajie preparing to enter, Lanyi did not retreat.
‘This will not do. I cannot allow her inside!’
She quickly took several small steps toward the figure perched upon the windowsill.
The faint fragrance surrounding her and the chilling presence of a Rouling pressed close before Bajie could prepare herself.
The red-haired Zhenyuan’s heart suddenly lost its rhythm.
“…!”
Startled by Lanyi’s abrupt approach, Bajie recoiled and nearly toppled backward from the windowsill.
“Wah!”
Lanyi looked deeply into her eyes and asked in a cold voice,
“What exactly could a Zhenyuan such as yourself possibly have to discuss with me?”
Bajie froze.
For a brief moment, she began questioning herself as though she had suddenly forgotten the reason she had come.
‘That is true… What did I want to say to her? Why did I go through all this trouble to come here?’
“I… I only wanted to be your friend!”
Bajie blurted out the first thought that flashed through her mind.
Lanyi raised one eyebrow.
“Friends? You wish to be friends with a ‘Rouling’ such as me?”
“Of course! I want to be friends with you. Is there something wrong with that?”
Bajie lifted her chin stubbornly.
Lanyi stared at the woman before her, who appeared so straightforward that it was difficult to believe her eyes.
‘What is this…? This arrogant woman… Is she speaking sincerely, or is she lying to me? I cannot tell at all.’
She studied Bajie’s unusually honest eyes for a moment before setting a condition to test her.
“If you sincerely wish to become my friend, then you must first apologize to me.”
“Apologize? What am I supposed to apologize for?”
Bajie asked in genuine confusion, her pride still evident in her expression.
At the sight of the utterly hopeless woman before her, Lanyi finally lost her patience.
She did not wait for an answer or explanation.
Her slender hand seized the heavy wooden window panel and slammed it shut directly in Bajie’s face.
Bang!
She immediately fastened the bolt securely, leaving the red-haired Zhenyuan sitting outside the window alone, stunned beyond comprehension.
“Huh!?”
Bajie’s light-brown eyes, bright enough to appear almost flame-red, stared at the firmly closed window in absolute bewilderment.
“Wait! I do not understand. What did I do wrong?”
Even after having the window slammed in her face, Bajie still refused to give up.
‘She is angry with me for some reason… I should try complimenting her!’
She moved closer to the thick wooden panel and attempted to speak through a narrow gap in the window, her voice becoming gentler.
“Lady Lanyi… I know that we may not have started on the best of terms. But everything I did… it was because I… I had never seen…”
The red-haired woman paused and swallowed with difficulty.
“I had never seen another Rouling who possessed as much charm as my mother. And your Qi seemed powerful enough to rival mine, so I…”
Her voice grew strangely bashful.
“…felt… I felt as though I were being challenged. And truthfully, you play the pipa very well.”
Standing on the other side of the wooden panel, Lanyi rested her back against the window and listened quietly.
The Zhenyuan’s confession was so direct that it nearly sounded foolish.
‘And what does any of that have to do with this…?’
Lanyi folded her arms tightly.
A faint blush appeared upon her cheeks at the unexpected praise, but she still chose not to open the window.
‘That is still not what she ought to apologize for. Could it be that she truly does not understand?’
Bajie continued staring hopefully at the closed window.
“Or was it because of the knuckle guards? If you disliked that gift, I already told you that I would take you to the Willow Forest instead.
“The air there is wonderful, and more importantly, it is beneficial for calming Qi. Many Roulings with severe conditions go there to recuperate.”
‘The Willow Forest is beneficial for calming Qi?’
Bajie’s words immediately caught Lanyi’s attention.
This information about the Willow Forest was something she had never heard before.
‘No, Lanyi. You cannot give in to her merely because of this. Besides, I could simply ask Aunt Yufan about such a matter later, could I not?’
Even so, Lanyi remained mindful of her dignity.
If she opened her heart too easily, she feared she would surrender her advantage over this stubborn Zhenyuan.
‘I must test her. If I give her a hint and she still pretends not to understand, then I shall refuse to speak with her any further.’
The young Rouling finally decided to offer her a hint, her voice laced with sarcasm and a trace of wounded pride.
“A weak Rouling such as myself could hardly deserve the kindness of such a magnificent Zhenyuan.
“After all, I am merely one of those mad and unstable people who must be exiled and sent away to live in isolation within the Cursed Lands.”
Upon hearing this, Bajie’s mind began working rapidly.
The events of that afternoon returned to her—the words she had spoken while mocking Lanyi’s power and circumstances.
‘Ah! C-could it be…? Is she angry about what I said earlier?’
Bajie jolted and hurriedly began defending herself, stumbling over her words.
“I…! I never said that you were weak! And I did not say that your family cast you out either!
“I was praising you! Yes! I meant that you were an incredibly powerful Rouling. You had to come here because you are so talented! Only the most exceptional people are allowed to stay here!”
Lanyi listened to the clumsy excuses, which made very little sense, and could only shake her head.
‘The Third Wife did not exaggerate at all… It appears that teaching the Fourth Young Miss truly will not be an easy task.’
Although Lanyi was beginning to suspect that Bajie was far too simple-minded to be genuinely malicious, she still chose to remain silent in order to teach her a lesson.
‘Since she insists upon twisting her own words—turning wrong into right and black into white—I should not continue speaking with her.’
The surroundings eventually fell silent.
After a brief pause, a quiet whisper came from the other side of the window.
“…I am sorry.”
Still leaning against the wooden panel, Lanyi allowed a small, satisfied smile to appear upon her lips.
The coldness in her eyes began to waver.
“I am sorry… for saying that your family had driven you away. Will you forgive me?”
‘Perhaps… this woman is not as unpleasant as I believed. At the very least, she still knows right from wrong.’
The black-haired woman reached out, released the latch, and slowly opened the window.
Moonlight washed across Bajie’s delicate face, which immediately brightened when she saw the window opening again.
“It is good that you have finally understood,” Lanyi said in an even voice, though it was no longer as harsh as before.
“But remember this well. If you ever insult my family or look down upon my origins again, I will never speak to you again for the rest of my life. Do you understand?”
“I understand! I promise!”
Bajie quickly pressed her palms together as she answered, resembling a frightened child who feared being abandoned.
“And…”
Lanyi paused and narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
“What you said about the Willow Forest just now—was it true, or were you merely trying to deceive me into opening this window?”
The moment Lanyi took the bait, Bajie’s face broke into a broad smile.
“It is absolutely true! The Willow Forest is where Roulings with severe conditions go to circulate their Qi and restore its balance.
“It is incredibly beneficial, Lady Lanyi! If you train there for one month, you will achieve the same results as six months of training within the estate. And if you train there for only one day… it is equal to ten days of ordinary training!”
Lanyi fell silent for a moment.
‘Wait… Why do the numbers in her calculation sound so strange?’
She quickly attempted to calculate them herself before frowning.
“Wait. If one month is equal to six months, then one day should be equal to six days. How did it suddenly become ten days?”
Bajie froze.
Her smile remained stiffly fixed upon her face as she began secretly counting on her fingers behind her back.
“Er… well… it is…”
She hesitated.
“Let us simply say that it is extremely beneficial! Those numbers are only rough estimates. You should not concern yourself too much with the details!”
Bajie hurriedly pulled the fan from her waist and snapped it open, fanning herself to conceal her embarrassment.
Lanyi watched her desperately attempting to brush the matter aside and silently shook her head.
‘So… not only does she possess no poetry within her heart, but she is also incapable of simple calculation.’
Her earlier distrust gradually returned, though now it concerned her safety rather than any suspicion of hatred or malice.
“If the forest is truly so beneficial, why did the ladies refuse to allow me to go? Is it because that place is dangerous?”
“It would be dangerous if you went with someone else, but if you go with me, you will certainly be safe!”
Bajie snapped her fan shut with a sharp clap, her confident smile immediately returning.
Lanyi, however, narrowed her eyes at her with obvious doubt.
“Should I truly trust the words of someone who makes mistakes in such simple arithmetic?”
“Oh, come now! I may occasionally make mistakes with numbers, but I never make mistakes regarding directions or Qi!”
Bajie hurriedly continued, her demeanor becoming serious.
“Listen carefully. Within the Cursed Lands, the estate where we are currently staying is located in a region with Level Three Qi density.
“The Willow Forest stands upon the border between Levels Three and Four. But the Qi density inside the forest itself has already reached Level Four.
“You understand that the denser the Qi, the more effectively and rapidly you can circulate your energy, do you not?”
Lanyi considered the explanation carefully.
“The denser the Qi, the easier it becomes to circulate one’s power… But would that not also mean a greater risk of encountering vicious demons or dangerous beasts?”
“That is why I told you it is located on the border!”
Bajie waved her hand and swept her open fan through the air as she explained.
“It lies directly between the two regions. Its Qi is as dense as Level Four, yet it remains as safe as a Level Three Zhenyuan zone!”
Deep within her mind, she began looking down upon the woman who was considerably more intelligent than herself.
‘Why is something so simple so difficult for her to understand? She is remarkably slow.’
The young Rouling’s expression became hesitant.
Part of her was undeniably tempted by the possibility of progressing far more quickly.
“If that is truly the case… then tomorrow morning, I shall ask the First Wife for permission once more.”
“No! You absolutely must not ask!”
Bajie immediately waved both hands in frantic refusal.
“The mothers are far too cautious. If you ask them, they will surely order you to remain confined within your chambers.
“For something like this…”
The red-haired woman smiled at Lanyi, her voice filled with bold enthusiasm.
“Trust me! Sometimes one must be willing to take a risk!”