Chapter 209 - A Hot Bath and the Artist

There was nothing else for Yujia to do, now that the day was coming to an end. After dinner, she prepared herself another hot water bath, sinking herself in it. 

Today had been such a chaotic and busy day. She could easily say that out of all her days living in this transmigrated world, today was the most tiring one.

As she leaned her head back, the memory of Zixu's teasingly smiling face surfaced. Yujia found herself grinning at this memory. Yet when she realized that she was grinning, she quickly splashed her face with the hot water, wiping the smile away. 

She supposed that despite the day being so tiring, it was worth it. 

While she thought about the events that occured, she recalled the fact that she fell asleep while at the Yu Villa. 

Well, that was, frankly speaking, embarrassing. 

If it weren't for Zixu changing the topic so easily, diverting her mind away from apologies and the embarrassment of falling asleep while she was supposed to take care of him, Yujia wasn't sure if she could escape the situation without being emotionally scarred. It was almost as embarrassing as the time when she tripped in the carriage and fell on Zixu. 

But then again, there was a whole other level of embarrassment, which would be given as the crown of all awkward situations: the time where Yujia impersonated Yu Ziyang to take the Lingxin examinations. She thought that Yu Zixu, who she ran upon in the line and met formally for the first time, would expose her immediately. She was prepared for the worst embarrassment of her life. And although to her surprise, he didn't, she could still recall the anxiousness and panic building up in her chest. 

Yujia then realized just how many embarrassing moments there had been involving her and Zixu. Yet nonetheless, somehow, she still found herself comfortable when around him. 

She could clearly recall that this wasn't the case before. There had even been a period of time where she avoided him at all cost. 

When had things changed? 

Yujia sunk herself a little deeper into the water, to the point where the steaming water washed over the tip of her chin. 

Her thoughts changed from this question to how grateful she was to have a place where she could frequently bathe herself. This was such a luxury in this current time period. 

And even better, unlike the modern world, there were no water bills. 

The perks of living at Lingxin were indeed wonderful. At times, if it weren't for the need for her to figure out the mysteries behind her background and the relationships she built at the Yang Villa, she wouldn't hesitate to just live the rest of her life at Lingxin. 

Yujia decided that once the whole mystery behind the poisoning and the thieves was solved, she would bring Hui'er to Lingxin, as a companion, not a maid. She knew that Hui'er would like it here.

Of course though, this all rested on the idea that Hui'er was not the one who poisoned her. Yujia hated this feeling of distrust, but she couldn't ignore it. She quickly allowed it to sink back into the depths of her thoughts with the idea that without evidence, everyone was innocent. For now, unless she found concrete evidence or suspicion that Hui'er was the culprit, she would treat her like she did before.  

Once she made this decision, Yujia raised herself a little higher from the water. Even though she knew that the bath was shallow enough that she couldn't possibly drown, the idea of submerging her head completely in the water did terrify her a little. It also made washing her hair a bit difficult, and also the reason for why Yujia washed her hair separately from bathing. She did it in the morning, with a basin of water, rather than in the bath. 

Yujia knew that this fear of water when she was in a shallow bath was irrational. She supposed for now, however, she could only work on it a little. Rushing things would be no good. 

With all these thoughts sorted out, Yujia came back to her original idea: having this bathtub and the ability to frequently bathe was indeed a luxury that she wasn't quite sure that she would trade for anything else. 

It also brought up the idea of the original owner of this courtyard. She made a deal with her master that as long as she completed a week's worth of plum blossom studies and memorized the Six Principles, he would tell her the truth behind everything, especially the existence of all the advanced technology in the courtyard he allowed her to reside in. It felt like it was a long time since she last made the bet, but the week was now finally up. 

She could get her answer tomorrow. 

A little giddily, Yujia went through the Six Principles one more time in her mind. She knew that she memorized them. She just wanted to make sure that when tomorrow came, she would be perfect with her answer. 

She had been waiting to hear the truth about this courtyard for what seemed like forever. It would be terrible if she allowed a simple "memorize the Six Principles" to mess up her entire opportunity. 

As she went through the principles to herself, Yujia found a wave of drowsiness overcoming her. It seemed like thinking about anything that required more than a few strands of consciousness took too much energy. 

Especially with the warmth and steam of the hot bath, Yujia found herself on the verge of falling asleep. She splashed water in her face again to keep herself awake, finished scrubbing and cleaning the rest of her body as quickly as she could, then exited the bath. 

It was time to go to bed. 

And in all honesty, considering how exhausted she was, Yujia couldn't wait. She practically fell asleep the moment her head touched her pillow.