Chapter Eighteen: Where Beauty Lies Hidden

The night was deep and still.

Chu Bing leaned against the headboard, while Li Haoran sat on a chair not far away. A faint awkwardness hung in the air.

“Aren’t you going to sleep?” Chu Bing rolled her eyes slightly.

“…You go ahead and rest. I’ll just make do here for the night,” Li Haoran replied, turning his head away, not daring to meet her gaze.

If he returned to the residence but didn’t sleep in his own room, it would surely arouse suspicion. Then, Chu Bing would be in even greater danger, alone and exposed. After all, those men in black outside were searching for her!

Chu Bing understood his reasoning immediately and awkwardly pulled the blanket up to cover her face. “Then I’ll sleep first.”

Li Haoran responded softly and blew out the candle on the table. The room was instantly plunged into darkness, so quiet that only their breathing could be heard.

Chu Bing had thought sleep would evade her, but to her surprise, she drifted into dreams soon after closing her eyes.

Li Haoran, on the other hand, found his heart pounding as he listened to the gentle sound of her breathing. The faint fragrance from her seemed to linger in the air, making his pulse race. He gulped down several cups of cool tea before he could calm himself.

At dawn the next day, Chu Bing was awakened by Li Haoran.

“Miss Chu, the physician will arrive shortly to examine you again,” he said, concern in his eyes.

Chu Bing sat up.

“I’m going to find out which of my brothers was the masked man,” Li Haoran said, a cold glint flashing in his gaze. He couldn’t rest easy until he found the one who had harmed her.

Chu Bing hadn’t expected Li Haoran to be so proactive this early in the morning. She was also eager to know the identity of the masked man—after all, he still carried the red envelope she wanted!

“Miss Chu, word of my return has probably spread. If any maids or servants come by, stay inside and don’t come out. I’ll have Long San guard the door and keep them out,” Li Haoran instructed gently.

“I understand, go on then,” Chu Bing replied, waving her hand with an impatient air.

She hadn’t expected Li Haoran to be quite so fussy.

Not long after he left, the physician arrived, examined Chu Bing’s injuries, and, finding her recovery satisfactory, soon departed.

Left alone and bored, Chu Bing began to wonder if she should go out and look for clues herself. Suddenly, voices drifted in from outside.

“Second Young Master!”

“Long San? Why are you standing out here? Where’s your master?” The man’s voice was cultured and pleasant, and to Chu Bing’s ears, faintly familiar.

“My master is resting and should not be disturbed. If you have any business, Second Young Master, you can tell me, and I’ll pass it on,” Long San replied.

“Resting? Oh? It’s rare for him to return home—I must see him.”

With that, the man pushed open the door and strode in.

Chu Bing was startled. If he saw her here, she would have even more trouble explaining herself to Li Haoran later! A young lady, lying in a man’s bed!

She quickly slipped on her shoes and looked around the room, spotting a folding screen. She darted behind it at once.

By then, the second brother had already entered!

Peering through a gap, Chu Bing saw a figure in a black robe step inside. The man looked about twenty-one or twenty-two, and bore some resemblance to Li Haoran, but his skin was paler and his features more refined and handsome. He exuded an air of nobility and grace, nothing like the villain she had imagined.

Chu Bing couldn’t help but scoff inwardly, but the second young master soon noticed the room bore no traces of Li Haoran’s presence. He raised an eyebrow, turned his head, and asked Long San in a calm, elegant tone, “Didn’t you say your master was here? Where is he?”

Long San glanced around the room, relieved not to see Chu Bing, and bowed his head. “Young master went out early for some fresh air and told me not to follow.”

“Then why won’t you let anyone in?” The second young master hooked his leg around a chair and sat down, clearly intent on waiting.

“Second Young Master, would you let our third young master enter your chambers so easily?” Long San countered.

Though he was a shadow guard in the household, he belonged to Li Haoran now, and his loyalty was unwavering. He had no fear of the second young master.

The second young master’s eyes narrowed dangerously, and he sneered, “As expected, a servant mirrors his master. You and my third brother are just the same—nothing but trouble!”

“Second Young Master, please mind your words!” Long San’s face flushed with anger at the insult to his master, his eyes fierce, ready for a fight.

The second young master laughed softly. “What? Do you, a servant, dare raise a hand against me?”

Hiding behind the screen, Chu Bing’s face darkened with fury at his words. With a flick of her wrist, a few pear-blossom needles appeared between her fingers, gleaming with a cold, deadly light.

Just then, her foot shifted slightly, the faintest sound catching the young master’s sharp ear. He turned to the screen, “Who’s there?”

Long San’s brow twitched, and he quickly blocked the way. “No one, just a mouse.”

Seeing the second young master about to walk toward the screen, Long San quickly interjected, “Second Young Master, it’s bad enough you barged into our master’s room uninvited. Now you’d turn the place upside down as well?”

The second young master immediately sensed that someone else must be hiding in the room, given Long San’s anxious demeanor.

Feigning indifference, he smiled coolly and brushed past Long San. “I’d like to see for myself just what my dear third brother is hiding in here.”

With that, he strode toward the screen.

Chu Bing held her breath, fingers tightening around her hidden weapon. The second young master’s shadow drew closer and closer—then, suddenly, a gust of wind swept through the room. Li Haoran’s hand clamped down on his shoulder.

“Second Brother, what are you doing in my room?”

“Young master!” Long San exclaimed in delight. “Second Young Master forced his way in, and now he insists someone is hiding here, wanting to search the place…”

“I understand. You may go,” Li Haoran said coldly, waving him off, his entire bearing icy and forbidding.

Long San’s heart clenched. Li Haoran was truly angry now. He shot a sympathetic glance at the second young master. The man clearly had no idea what Li Haoran was really capable of!

The second young master was about to turn away when his gaze suddenly fixed on something—a strip of white skirt peeking out from behind the screen!

There really was a woman hiding there!

“Second Brother?” Li Haoran’s voice grew colder, and his grip tightened.

The second young master grunted, twisting free with practiced ease. Suddenly, his eyes flashed; he lifted his foot and stepped directly on the hem of Chu Bing’s skirt.

With a mocking smile he said, “Little brother, it seems you have a lady hidden behind your screen!”