Chapter 58 – Skin as White as Tofu! (2)
Dai Mei, who was outside, hurried in. “What’s wrong, Third miss?”
Ye Zhen was panting and sweating. She looked at Dai Mei in front of her with a lingering fear. It took her awhile to wake up from her dream.
“I’m all right.” Ye Zhen whispered and looked out of the window until she realized it was finally dawn.
“Is the third miss having nightmares again?” Dai Mei looked at her anxiously. She had been better these days. Why did she start having nightmares again?
Ye Zhen shook his head and said, “I should bathe, I am covered in sweat.”
Only then did Dai Mei look at Ye Zhen’s body. Indeed, even her clothes were dripping with sweat! Not only that, her clothes were also smudged with dirt!
“The miss should quickly take off her wet clothes so as not to catch a cold.”
Strange, didn’t she change her clothes yesterday? Why did it look so dirty?
Ye Zhen also found something strange in her body. She dismissed the maid immediately. “Go fetch some water first and I’ll change my clothes.”
Right after her handmaiden left, Ye Zhen took of her gown. There was a layer of black stuff on her gown and even on her body! Some of it, mixed in with sweat, made her whole skin look like it was covered in grime.
‘What is happening?’, she thought to herself, confused.
She was sure that, when she went to bed last night, she was still clean. When did she stick on these black things?
Ye Zhen took the towel to wipe away the sweat from her forehead and wiped her arm, only to be surprised to find that her skin was much whiter and smoother than yesterday.
Wait. Was this because of…
Looking at her arm, Ye Zhen was reminded of the fact that she drank a drop of the miraculous liquid last night before going to bed.
Her mouth went dry all of a sudden.
Was this related to the miraculous liquid? Could it really discharge dirt with sweat?
Ye Zhen was shocked and uncertain. She quickly took her new clothes and dressed. When Demi knocked in bringing a basin of hot water, Ye Zhen handed over her dirty clothes to the servant.
“This dress is too dirty. Don’t bother was.h.i.+ng it. Take it and throw it away.” She commanded before turning around, beginning the motions of preparing her bath.
Seeing her doing a ch.o.r.e she was supposed to do, Dai Mei insisted to serve her mistress.
“No, I’ll do it myself.” Ye said, still feeling troubled and confused. She didn’t want anyone else to be here.
“Then, this servant will go fetch the Miss her breakfast.” Dai Mei said, bowing before turning away, already haven gotten used to the habit of Ye Zhen refusing her service.
Ye Zhen sat in the bathtub, washed away the stains on her body and then, sood in front of a tall bronze mirror. She looked at the person looking back at her and only two observations appeared in her mind.
Her face had the color of a lotus flower, and her skin became as white as tofu!
Unexpectedly, the miraculous liquid had such a magical effect.
Ye Zhen was secretly pleased, but a little nervous. Which woman didn’t want to be beautiful? But, still, now was not the time to become prominent. It was impossible to change in a span of hours!
If she went out today, she would certainly arouse suspicion.
Her mind was tangled up. Pretending to be sick wasn’t an option for her, people would start visiting her in her chambers!
Gathering all her wits, she carefully thought for a moment and called the maid stationed outside. She ordered her through the screen to pick a certain gra.s.s from the courtyard.
Fortunately, she had her sister’s knowledge of herbs in her mind, and knew hat kind of gra.s.s in the courtyard can temporarily cover her skin. As for her body, she could just cover it with her extravagant clothes. It was more important to tan her face, a bit..
The miraculous drops, she would not dare to drink eat any more! If it became too severe, it would be impossible to hide it.
The little maid followed Ye Zhen’s description and found the gra.s.s. Ye Zhen let her go towards town later in the day as a reward for a job well done.
She smashed the gra.s.s and smeared the juice all over her face, hands and neck. The jade-like skin immediately turned dark yellow!
Dai Mei brought in the breakfast. Seeing that Ye Zhen was dressed up and her black hair was tilted on the soft couch, she walked over and said with a smile, “Third Young Miss, this servant has brought breakfast. When you have finished, this servant will comb your hair.”
Ye Zhen smiled and gave a grateful yes.
Dai Mei looked at the third miss whose face was yellowish.
For some reason, she felt that something was off with her today. However, she could not say what was different. Looking at the third miss, she noticed that she looked a little better than yesterday.
After eating breakfast, Ye Zhen went to the study to find Mister Shan and learned the etiquette for two hours. Finally, she got half an hour’s rest time.
Remembering the disgruntled expression on Pei s.h.i.+’s face last night, she gave a word to Mister Shan to give her more time and went to find Lu Xiangzhi.
To her disappointment, Lu Xiangzhi was just as unaware as she was. He’d been following his mentor Mister w.a.n.g for days that he didn’t know the whereabouts of his parents. Thus, he became worried as he heard it from his sister.
Ye Zhen said, “Don’t worry about it either. I’ll go to mother and ask her. I’ll talk to you when I have news.”
Lu Xiangzhi felt that his sister and his mother must talk personally with each other, so he nodded, “Then you should go ask her yourself.”
In the end, when Ye Zhen turned to leave, Lu Xiangzhi snickered and called her out. “Yao Yao! You look better everyday. If only you knew the capital was such a nurturing place, you should have visited here much earlier!”
Ye Zhen turned back and gave him an angry look. “Even in the border town, I am already a beauty!”
Lu Xiangzhi burst out laughing, “Yes, yes, my third sister is the first beauty in here and in the Border Town!”