Gentle as Silk - Chapter 1

Chapter 1

My father was only a lowly sixth-rank official. The fact that my elder sister managed to marry the Third Young Master of the Marquis’s Mansion was entirely thanks to her own skill.

I knew exactly how much hardship she had endured over the years to marry into the Marquis’s Mansion.

Today, she lost her temper with me only because the Marquise had suggested that my sister send me back home.

After all, I was already seventeen. It was hardly proper for me to keep living at my sister’s house year-round.

When my sister saw that I truly meant to leave, she smacked me on the back, crying even harder.

She hugged me and said, “Are you stupid? If you go back, that money-grubbing father of ours will only marry you off to some sixty-year-old wealthy merchant as a concubine.”

The two of us cried in each other’s arms.

After leaving her rooms, I wiped away my tears, my heart filled with helplessness and fear.

When my mother was alive, she had been astonishingly beautiful and knew better than anyone how to win men over.

My sister, too, was as lovely as a flower and could keep men wrapped around her finger.

I was a bit dull, perhaps, but I was still fairly pretty.

So why was my luck with men so terrible?

On the way back, I saw the Young Master and the Sixth Young Master, the concubine-born son of the Third Branch, sobering up in the garden.

Both of them seemed quite drunk. Even from far away, I could smell the alcohol on them.

I bit my lip and thought to myself,

I’ll risk it all!

Since respectable young masters with good reputations had nothing to do with me, then I might as well hook a flirtatious one like the Sixth Young Master!

As for the Young Master, he was not someone a person like me could even dream of.

Speaking of the Young Master, he truly was a first-rate good man.

Despite his youth, he was greatly valued by His Majesty, and he kept himself pure and upright.

He often gave gifts to the young ladies of the family, and even I benefited from it by association.

Alas, if only he were my elder brother. How wonderful that would be.

My head muddled, I walked over.

The moment the Sixth Young Master saw me, he propped his chin on his hand and smiled.

It was the dead of night, and a young lady was walking over alone. What else could it mean?

The Young Master stood by the lake, also looking at me.

I was so ashamed I wished I could throw myself into the water.

I picked up the wine on the table and drained it in one gulp.

I wanted to offer myself to the Sixth Young Master, but I simply could not get the words out.

Under the Sixth Young Master’s gaze, I downed another cup.

Then another, and another!

By the end, I shook my head, feeling that the Sixth Young Master’s face seemed to have changed somehow.

The Sixth Young Master was terribly kind. He even poured me a cup of tea to help me sober up.

I was instantly moved.

Grabbing the Sixth Young Master’s sleeve, I began to cry as though my heart were breaking.

“Sixth Young Master, tell me, am I really that bad?”

“I did scald Young Master Chen’s hand, but he clearly said he didn’t mind. So why did he stop writing to me after that?”

“Young Master Wang injured his leg, and back then I even said I would be willing to become his honored concubine. He clearly said he would come to propose, but then there was no word from him either.”

“And Young Master Li. He spoke so sweetly about his deep affection, but now he’s as silent as a dead man too.”

I pawed at the Sixth Young Master’s eyes, wanting to see what I looked like reflected in them.

I leaned closer.

Then I smiled foolishly. “Aren’t I still quite pretty?”

The Sixth Young Master chuckled softly as well. Pinching the back of my neck, he replied, “You are quite pretty.”

With the determination of someone burning her boats, I said, “I heard the Sixth Young Master never refuses anyone who comes to him! If even you don’t want me, then I truly have no hope left in this life!”