The Birth Of A Villainess

Qu Xing Xu saw her walking around the folding screen, "What are you doing?" He asked out of curiosity but his question made Lin Xiaofei frown.

With her hands on her lapel, she said, "I'm changing." She found his question stupid since he saw her wearing only her inner clothes and it was only natural for her to wear her middle and outer robes.

Startled at her honesty, Qu Xing Xu didn't know if she was blatantly trying to seduce him or she was oblivious of her actions that could cost her reputation.

No man and unmarried woman should be alone in one room unless they were related by blood. If the people outside were to know that a man was inside her room, not only will she will be talked about in the market, she will also have to marry the man who was with her.

Not only that, the way she acted like changing clothes in front of someone wasn't something she should care about annoyed him.

Narrowing his eyes, the thought that she would act like this too around other men soured his mood. However, the way the two of them acted harmoniously like a married couple somehow doused the ire inside him.

It seems that he needed to do something in the future to prevent others to see this side of her.

On the other hand, Lin Xiaofei continued to change her clothes behind the folding screen. She didn't know his train of thoughts and also didn't find her actions strange at all.

Probably, because the shame one should feel when young and innocent was stripped away from her by Yu Fangzhu's chains to control her, Lin Xiaofei herself once again acting and moving freely without anyone telling her 'no'.

When she got married to Yu Fangzhu, the moments that should be shared between a husband and wife, she learned it all but she still has a lot of things to know.

After all, Yu Fangzhu's inner courtyard has several beauties that he grooms to grow and use them as a decoration. And because of that, when Lin Xiaofei was married to him, she could only count the few times she was together with him with one hand.

Besides, Yu Fangzhu didn't marry her to bed her. He married her because he wanted to flaunt the fact that he got the empire's beauty as one of his women and with her intelligence, he felt as if he won the lottery.

As she was about to button the last button of her dress, she heard Bai Lu's voice outside of her door. "Young miss, the Old Master has already arrived in the residence."

Lin Xiaofei glanced at the door before her eyes fell on the figure of Qu Xing Xu who was sitting on a chair and with a cup of tea in his hand. He looked extremely comfortable like he was inside his own room and not somebody else.

"Alright. You can go back. Report to me if he decides to come by." Lin Xiaofei ordered her. Ever since she became Lin Xiaofei, she has been extremely cautious when taking actions and inside the Lin residence, she has to make sure that no one would come around her courtyard without her knowing.

When Bai Lu left, she tilted her head in confusion. She feels that something was off but she couldn't put her finger to what was wrong.

She looked back to the courtyard of her young miss and threw her uneasiness away. With her miss turning into a new leaf, she was sure that whatever evil comes her way, she'll be able to fend them off.

Unfortunately, the 'evil' that she was sure that her young miss would fend off was currently taking his third sip from his tea.

His eyes were on her all this time, watching as she got out of the folding screen and his eyes glinted in delight when he saw her wearing a dark outer robe.

Raising an eyebrow, Qu Xing Xu asked her, "Do you also think that your Lin family is your enemy?" He noticed how the young maid who informed her young miss of her grandfather's return acted with apprehension. Thus, he assumed that she was guarding herself not only against the Royal family but also against the Lin family.

Lin Xiaofei stared at him. "Did you come here to gossip about my family matters like a little girl?" She asked him without changing her face.

"If yes, the door is there." She pointed towards the door with her chin, "You can see yourself out."

Qu Xing Xu leaned forward, not even one bit intimidated by her glare. On the contrary, he finds her eyes even more beautiful when she glares at him.

Chuckling, Qu Xing Xu decided that it was better to not get involved with her family matters or she might put up her guard on him and avoid him.

Seeing that he didn't try to probe further, Lin Xiaofei shifted their topic to what he came here for, "You asked if what do I plan to do after yesterday. My answer to that is nothing. I won't do anything."

Surprised at her answer, Qu Xing Xu thought that her answer was interesting. He expected her to say that she planned to kill a royal family member or something more atrocious but instead, she said she will do nothing.

"And why would you do nothing?" He asked her. He stood up from his chair and went to pick something from her vanity, "I expected you to strike while the iron is hot and yet, you want to pour water and reduce the heat."

Lin Xiaofei silently watched him. That's right. If she were still the woman Yu Fangzhu married and who was still blindly in love with him, she would have thought that she needed to grab this opportunity to destroy Yu Fangzhu. However, if she really did strike while the iron is hot, there will be a chance that she will create more mistakes when she acts upon her plans without thinking.

"The Chu empire." She simply mentioned the empire beside the Zheng empire but Qu Xing Xu's eyes became profound and she could see from the way his eyes sparkled in anticipation that he understood her intentions.

"So that's why you wanted the bomb and the destroyed the cave? To put a wedge in the relationship between the two empires." Qu Xing Xu smiled.

Once the Chu empire finds out about the cave, they will ask for answers from the Zheng empire. Hiding the existence of the cave from the people who co-owns it while getting a lot of natural resources from the cave was the same as stealing money from the company you and your friend tried so hard to build.

The Chu empire will most probably send an envoy to investigate this and demand remunerations from the Zheng empire if they proved that the Zheng empire hid the truth from them.

Of course, Emperor Yun is a cunning man and will try to cover it up. He will try to hire some people to kill a group of bandits so he can put the blame on their heads and appease the Chu empire's anger.

However, how could Lin Xiaofei let him do that? The broken relationship between the two empires isn't the only thing she planned to achieve.

With a comb in his hand, Qu Xing Xu stood behind Lin Xiaofei. The comb was the thing he picked up from the vanity.

With his hands raised as if he was about to comb her hair, Lin Xiaofei turned to face him and stared at him like he was some kind of bug.

Sighing, he said, "Turn around. I'll tie your hair up."

"You know how to?" Lin Xiaofei found it weird for him to know how to tie a woman's hair. Now thinking about it again, he was braiding her hair earlier, and just from the feel of it, she realized that he was quite good at it.

"Where did you learn how to tie a woman's hair?" She asked him and felt his hand combing her hair. His hands paused when she asked this and she raised her head to look up at him.

She saw his smile becoming more prominent but the coldness of it made her think that it wasn't good to even talk about it.

She was about to say that it doesn't matter and shift the topic but she heard the man behind her speak.

"My mom taught me how to." Was his curt and simple answer but his tone told her that he wasn't willing to say more about the details.

She thought that he would stop with his actions after saying that since it seems that it brought out some unpleasant memories inside him, but who knew that Qu Xing Xu chose to continue combing her hair gently like it was made up of the high quality of silk and he didn't want to ruin it.

With nothing left to say, Lin Xiaofei also kept her mouth shut and let him do what he wanted to do with her hair.