277 The Detective Listens

As Yujia sat there, she thought about the knife, resheathed back against her arm.

She pulled it out, staring at the blade. The cold metal caught the warm glow of the lanterns above, glinting with a reflection.

The dagger, in a way, also saved her life today. Even if in the eyes of A'Yan, she was a stupid, weak girl, she was still a girl with a blade. Yujia wasn't confident that she could hold him back for so long if she hadn't held a knife up to him.

If she hadn't escaped earlier to investigate the villa, would she be in the position of Lianye? In that scenario, if she was drugged, would she be able to use the dagger? Yujia found that thought a bit terrifying. She might have to invent pepper spray for future purposes, but even then, under the influence of drugs, she might be too defenseless.

In the end, this came down to a fundamental problem of trust. She had trusted the wrong person. She told herself before to never truly trust someone, but perhaps she didn't listen to her own words. Otherwise, why would she feel so betrayed, at this very moment?

She stared at the dagger some more.

Could she even trust Xie Yufeng?

Yufeng had saved her life today, but Yujia was feeling uncertain. There was something strange about Yufeng's unknown past, something that made Yujia feel wary. Xie Yufeng didn't even question why Yujia had a dagger on her. What normal maid would carry knives up her sleeve? Wouldn't a normal person question the existence of such weapons in the hands of a maid?

Yujia set the dagger next to her with a clatter, leaning her face into her hands.

Did she just blow her cover?

Groaning and scrunching her face up, Yujia decided to resheath the dagger. Regardless of what Yufeng thought of her, from what Yujia knew about that woman, she wouldn't go around telling others. She was simply not the gossip-loving type. Her cover could be considered secure for now, even if she didn't trust Xie Yufeng.

Yujia reached in her other sleeve, taking out the pendant that belonged to Yu Zixu.

On the topic of trust, her mind had inadvertently wandered to his name. 

She trusted him. 

It was a thought that jumped to her mind immediately, without a second thought. She couldn't quite put her finger on the exact reason why she trusted him so much. Perhaps there wasn't an exact reason in the first place. Perhaps, in the end, it all came down to the fact of everything that she had seen so far about him. After being saved by him, getting taught by him, drinking with him, and taking care of him when he was ill, she knew that she could trust him.

This was the same kind of trust she had for her master and other people in her life. It was impossible to navigate this world without any trust in any individuals. Yujia decided that she would allow herself to keep this trust, for now.

It was all her fault.

She put the pendant back in her sleeve, closing her eyes.

Yujia wasn't sure how long had passed, but eventually, a maid tapped at her shoulder. Looking up, Yujia saw that it was the face of a maid who shared the same room as her and Lianye.

"What are you doing, sitting out here, Ling'er?" the maid asked. "It's so late. Why not sleep?"

"I was just… getting some fresh air. I must've fallen asleep," Yujia replied, rubbing at her eyes although she hadn't dozed off for a single moment. The sounds of the festival had died off. "You're coming back from the festival?"

"Yes! It's over now, and I'm exhausted. But fun." The maid went to go inside the room.

Yuija was about to stop her, but noticing that the sound of Lianye crying had stopped, she didn't. She followed into the room with the maid. Lianye had fallen asleep.

Washing her face with a damp cloth, Yujia decided to call it for the night as well.

…

The next morning, as Yujia got dressed for the day, Lianye had gotten up, getting dressed as well, her movements careful. She was slow, so Yujia changed slowly as well, staying back until all the other maids had left the room.

When they were alone, Yuija turned to ask, "Would you like to talk now?"

Lianye looked at her with red, puffy eyes. 

There was silence for a few moments, so Yujia added, softly, "You don't have to if you don't want to. I'm just here to listen, if you need that." 

At this, Lianye burst out into tears again. Sitting down on the bed, she covered her face up with her hands, as if she was ashamed to face Yujia. "I— it's all my fault. I shouldn't have liked him, shouldn't have gone to the festival— I practically asked for it."

"No, no, no." Yujia rushed to sit down next to her. "It's not your fault. At all."

Lianye went on, some of her words blurred by her sniffles and tears, but she went on, venting out all her emotions to Yujia. And Yujia listened, sitting there. She passed Lianye a handkerchief, but otherwise, she simply listened.

At the end of all of it, Yujia only asked one thing. "Can I do anything for you, or get you anything? Just let me know."

A few seconds of silence later, Lianye said, "I want to take a bath."

"Alright."

And so, Yujia went to fetch two buckets of water, no other questions asked.