284 The Artist Looks Through Files

"About what?" Yujia took a seat beside Yufeng.

"You're an idiot," Yufeng said.

Yujia raised her eyebrows, and leaned back. She didn't expect to hear that, out of all things. "And… why do you say that?" 

Admittingly, Yujia entirely forgot about this sharp-tongued side of Xie Yufeng. She reminded herself that this time, she would actually listen to what Yufeng had to say, instead of blindly jumping to conclusions like her past self did.

Yufeng propped her chin up on her hands, her elbows pressed against her leg. She then turned her face, looking Yujia straight in the eye. "You shouldn't trust me. You barely know me, yet you invite me into your home. What if I was a thief? Or worse, a serial killer?"

With a blink, Yujia replied, "You saved my life twice. If you stole a few things, I wouldn't particularly mind. Life is priceless. To give up a few lost valuables in exchange for being saved twice… I wouldn't call that a loss on my side." She cracked a grin.

"Then, answer the second half— what if I was a serial killer?" 

"Have you killed someone before?" Yujia inclined her head, observing Yufeng's expression, which hadn't changed.

"Yes." Yufeng answered in a heartbeat.

Yujia didn't exactly see that answer coming. She stiffened, drawing herself back and feeling goosebumps rising on her skin. Forcing a smile to mask her discomfort, Yujia asked, "What serial killer would admit to being a killer? Would you not want your victims to lower their guard?"

Yufeng tapped her fingers against her face. "Perhaps it's part of my strategy, to make you think that." 

"Well, if you are a serial killer, I'm sure you can't do too much." Yujia thought about the duo in the kitchen— Chef Hong and Old Wu, who were criminals in the past before they were hired by Yujia's master. 

"Why do you say that?" Yufeng questioned.

For a second, Yujia considered bringing up Chef Hong, but she decided not to. "If you were a serial killer, you wouldn't want to kill me, at least. Last night, we were sleeping in the same room, and you could've easily killed me. I was defenseless. But you didn't. And, again, you saved my life twice."

"I still don't think that's enough reason to trust me," Yufeng insisted.

"Okay, sure— but I still have one more reason," Yujia blurted.

Yufeng eyed her with suspicion. "What reason?"

Standing up, Yujia dusted her skirt and said with a wink, "Gut instinct." 

"..."

"What?"

"This is why I think you're an idiot."

"Alright!" Yujia laughed. She gestured inside of her room with a nod. "Then, help this idiot out, will you? There's a lock I need picked, and if I remember correctly, you know how to pick locks."

…

"You're too strange," the young woman said, narrowing her eyes in concentration at the box in her hands.

Yujia crossed her arms. "How so?" 

"Many ways." Yufeng turned the box to get a better angle of the lock. "I had my speculations that you weren't an ordinary person ever since you pulled a dagger out that night, but I didn't expect that you would be… the Yang Family's Fourth Miss, or a disciple at Lingxin Pavilion. Tell me, how did you end up investigating for your family?"

"It's a long story," Yujia stated.

"Well," Yufeng looked up, replying, "the good news is that this lock on the box is incredibly tiny and will take me forever to pick. I have time for a long story."

"Fine," Yujia relented with a sigh, "I suppose it all began when my father tried to marry me off to an old man."

She went on to explain everything that happened after that— the agreement to save up five-hundred silver taels in exchange for her freedom, how the thieves stole the taels from her, how she ran away, how she ended up in Lingxin, how she landed herself in a sticky situation with Madam Zhang, and lastly, how she agreed to investigate the case with the thieves. 

"So you see, I have a bit of a personal grudge with these thieves as well. It would really make me happy to see them get exposed and suffer for their crimes," Yujia admitted, wrinkling her nose.

"A little bit of inclination towards revenge is not necessarily a bad thing," Yufeng pointed out. At this point, she pushed her hairpin a little further. There was the muffled sound of a click, and she drew the hairpin out. Satisfied that she managed to open the lock, Yufeng slid the box across the table and smiled.

"Thanks!" Yujia took the box and opened it. "I would've had to ask someone else for help, if you hadn't helped me out here."

That "someone" was Yu Zixu. And indeed, it would be a bit shameful for Yujia to ask Yu Zixu for help yet again, even if he was skilled at picking locks.

Yufeng gave a short nod while Yujia turned her attention to the contents of the box. Like her predictions, when she opened the box, she saw stacks of papers. Her fingers brushed against the pages, flipping through them and reading the content.

Sure enough, there were plenty of records, listing names, items stolen, and the amounts they sold for. The records were meticulous, carefully written to detail every little thing, which suited the careful manners of Steward Liu.

"Records?" Yufeng asked.

Yujia agreed. "Yep." She showed a few pages to Yufeng, who looked at them briefly without much interest.

The list of stolen items was much grander than the list Madam Zhang had given Yujia, showing how many items had truly been taken from the villa without falling under the radar. However, the list of names was the most useful. It listed every single person involved in the operations, which essentially fell under the category of most servants.

Pushing her chair back, Yujia put the records back in the box and stood up. "I have to pass this information on to Madam Zhang."

"How are you going to arrange a meeting? It might be difficult."

Yufeng was right. Yujia didn't want to risk going into the villa. It wasn't just because of Steward Liu. She speculated that Steward Liu might've informed her father already, which was not good news. She didn't want to get caught and married off again. Then again, it would also be difficult to call Madam Zhang over too. How could a madam of a household leave the villa and enter some art academy she showed no previous connections too just like that? It would raise suspicion.

She thought back to how Zixu easily called for a meeting with Madam Zhang. Yujia didn't want to trouble Zixu, but perhaps… she could learn from his ways.

…

Ye Yunhe was just minding his own business, painting in the pavilion, when his junior sister came running up to him, waving her hands. 

"Senior Brother!" she called out excitedly.

"What is it?" he asked, a bit puzzled at her energy. He set the brush in his hand down.

"I need to borrow your identity," Yujia openly declared.

Yunhe blinked.

He didn't like the sound of that. He knew, for sure, that she was up to no good again. And there was no way that he was going to agree to her.

…

After a millennium of pleading, Yujia managed to convince her senior brother to pass her his name. 

It took a combination of promises of extra good art supplies, food, and puppy eyes for Yujia to make Ye Yunhe, the most no-nonsense person she could think of, to agree to her demands. 

But then again, she also managed to convince Yunhe to help her with that "water-painting" prank they played on her master a week or so ago, so maybe she just really knew how to exploit her senior brother's soft spot for her.

In the end, the only important thing was that Yujia walked out of Lingxin, dressed like a man. She waved a fancy fan in front of her face and climbed up a carriage in that guise.

As "Ye Yunhe", she informed the driver that she was going to pay a nice visit to the Yang Villa, just to talk to the Madam of the villa about her talented "daughter", the Fifth Miss, who was naturally gifted at painting.

Things were going to be fun.