The Scheme of a Beauty - Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The young lady threw her embroidered ball and hit a beggar. When the master found out, he nearly tore the roof off. Madam cried so hard she could barely breathe.

I said, “Stop crying, all of you. I’ll marry him!”

The master’s rage cut off instantly.

The steward immediately brought over a tray of gold and said on the master’s behalf, “Shutong, thank you!”

The young lady said, “I’m willing!”

I was baffled. “Willing to what?”

The young lady threw herself forward and hugged the tray full of gold. “Give me the money! I’m willing to marry the beggar!”

The master was so furious he actually tore the roof off. Madam sobbed and shouted for everyone to drag the young lady back to her room, while the steward hurriedly stuffed the gold into my arms.

With trembling hands, I picked up a piece of gold. Feeling the weight of real, solid money, I suddenly understood.

No wonder the young lady loved money so much.

So this was how amazing it felt to hold gold in your hands!

I put the gold away piece by piece, hiding some under the soles of my shoes and some against my chest. When there was only one piece left, the eldest young master kicked the door open, grabbed my hand, and said, “Father! Your son is in love with Shutong. She cannot leave!”

The eldest young master was as refined and handsome as an orchid and jade tree. Every maid in the estate harbored improper thoughts about him.

But I was different.

I prayed for marriage not because I actually wanted one, but because I needed to use the excuse of visiting a temple to hide my other identity:

I was an employed assassin. With an official post and everything.

Men would only slow down my sword draw.

I was very career-minded!

The young lady prayed to Buddha for fortune, while I prayed to Buddha only so I could go on a long trip.

Because I had just accepted a new mission: find and kill the Second Prince, who had been lost among the common people.

I felt that if my bosses had even one peanut to snack on while drinking, they never would have gotten drunk enough to send an undercover agent like me, who had spent years buried inside a private estate, to do the work of finding and killing someone.

But they had clearly drunk themselves senseless.

So I had to complete the mission.

I pulled my hand out of the eldest young master’s grasp and said, “Eldest Young Master, Shutong is not blessed enough for this.”

The eldest young master frowned slightly. “But the look on your face seems to suggest you want me to get lost.”

Me: “…”

Really?

Well, yes.

My face was still looking straight at the eldest young master, but my body had already turned away while hugging the gold.

So heavy!

If the young lady saw this, she would definitely go mad with jealousy, right?

For the first time, I experienced the problem of having too much money.

I was very worried money would make me and the young lady turn against each other, but the truth was, not only was she not jealous of me, she even climbed over the wall just to come say some thoughtful words.

I looked at the wolf-tooth clubs, heart-piercing nails, and meteor hammers spread all over my bed. “…”

Oh no. I had been exposed.

The young lady froze for a few seconds, then took a burlap sack off her shoulder.

Crane’s Crest Red, Seven-Step Knockout, Smiling Half-Step Stumble, Heartbreak Grass.

The two of us: “…”

In the end, it was the young lady who broke the silence.

“If he bullies you, poison him to death.” She paused, then added, “My family runs the yamen. Don’t panic.”

I said, “The magistrate may burn down houses while the common people are forbidden to light lamps.”

She said, “Then go be a pushover. I’m not helping you anymore.”

I shook out my bundle. The blades inside clinked against one another, crisp and pleasant to the ear.

Only then did the young lady pat my shoulder in relief. “You’ve grown up.”

Haven’t I?

See? This is the kind of security a man could never give me.