Imperial Treasure

Sui Yi couldn't find her clothes, nor could she find anyone; it seemed as though the entire house was empty, extremely quiet. Out of options, she had to leave the room and stood in the corridor draped with grapevines, taking in the scenery of the backyard.

A pond full of lotuses, no, it should be said that as far as the eye could see, ponds, Green Lake, they were all covered with lotuses.

Water surrounded the area on all sides, with two springs embedded within, making up a two-acre pond.

In the middle of the pond, in the water, there were only pure lotuses that sprouted from the mud without becoming tainted.

"Breakfast is in the microwave, go get it yourself,"

An unexpected voice came from beside her, blocked by a stretch of ivy. Sui Yi took a few steps before she saw a person sitting on a chair in the courtyard, with some food and water laid out on the table—clearly, this was his breakfast.

He seemed to have eaten already, resting against the chair back, his neat sapphire blue loose shirt fitting snugly to his body, with exquisitely pristine white cuffs, and his long legs in casual suit trousers were crossed, holding a book in one hand, his fingers well-defined, the joints prominent.

Around him were the breathtakingly beautiful brocade-like mountains and rivers, and a pond of indescribably shimmering lotuses.

Sui Yi paused before approaching, "Thank you, Teacher, for coming to my rescue last night"

The bookmark clamped between the pages, he closed the book and rested it on his crossed legs before finally lifting his gaze to Sui Yi.

A pair of gold-rimmed glasses sat upon his high-bridged nose.

He had shed some of the sharp aristocratic air from his handsome exterior, adopting a warmth of gentle scholarly elegance.

"No need to thank me. Last night I had intended to fish, yet you bit my hook..." His expression was so serious and his tone so mild as he picked up his coffee cup...

Bit the hook?

Did he mean that Sui Yi shouldn't be thanking him but rather should be apologizing?

"I apologize for disturbing your leisure last night," said Sui Yi, her voice faintly hoarse and weary, causing his gaze to falter for a moment as he looked at her more carefully.

She was quite young, seventeen or eighteen, a rather reserved girl.

After observing for a while, he lowered his gaze, took a sip of his coffee, and said indifferently, "Do you expect me to serve you breakfast?"

"That won't be necessary... I don't eat breakfast," Sui Yi planned to leave as soon as possible, but there was still one thing she needed to clear up.

"Allowing a woman to leave on an empty stomach is a very impolite thing. I hope you won't make things difficult for me."

Sui Yi was taken aback and saw his frowning expression. She couldn't help but chuckle and glanced at the food on the table, "Would you mind, Teacher?"

"As you wish,"

Sui Yi?

Sui Yi smiled to herself, took a piece of untouched bread with a napkin, and ate it. After wiping her hands, she asked, "Will this do?"

The man glanced at Sui Yi and gave no definite response, "Your clothes will be brought over by someone; you can wait a little longer before leaving."

Great, was he hinting for her to leave? But it was a very tactful way of doing so.

Sui Yi was already planning on leaving, so she wasn't too embarrassed and nodded, "Thank you for the trouble..."

She hesitated, then asked, "May I ask you a question, Teacher?"

"Your clothes have been changed by the lady in the manor," he didn't even lift his head as he went back to reading his book.

"Hmm~~" Sui Yi nodded her head, "But that's not what I meant to ask. I want to know if when you rescued me, was I already... like this."

Sui Yi didn't want to expose too many details, so she could only ask so much.

She wanted to know if when she was rescued, she had any injuries. If not, that would be best. But if there were, then it would be a big deal.

How would she explain the injuries on her body healing overnight?

Would he notice?

"Hmm?" He was somewhat surprised by Sui Yi's question. He pushed up his glasses and his gaze sharpened as he swept over Sui Yi momentarily, saying offhandedly, "If you weren't in human form now, would you have been in the form of a fish?"

Do you think you're a mermaid? Coming ashore turns you human!

Sui Yi easily understood the other's meaning, though she found herself at a loss for words because this seemingly "delicate" man appeared to have some unusual thoughts, or you might say... secretly salacious.

His tone was warm and gentle, and his actions were elegant, but the words that came out of his mouth... could silently choke a person to death.

Perhaps he didn't even realize how suffocating he was being.

That was the most speechless part.

Sui Yi didn't respond, or perhaps couldn't be bothered to. Catching sight of a woman coming down the corridor from the corner of her eye, she got up and walked over.

"Miss, since you were wearing a school uniform before, I wasn't sure what kind of clothes you would like, so I bought some casual outfits for you, hoping you'll feel comfortable in them,"

The woman's demeanor and speech reassured Sui Yi once again that this place was highly unusual; otherwise, a servant from an ordinary household wouldn't be so "approachable," not imposing their thoughts on others—a display of integrity.

Although the man before had been rather sharp-tongued, his gentlemanly demeanor was impeccable, which could be inferred just by the change of clothes. Sui Yi's impression of him improved slightly, and she chuckled lightly, replying, "Thank you, aunty."

"It's no trouble at all, miss..."

The woman watched Sui Yi enter the changing room, a shining look in her eyes. Last night, she had helped the girl change her clothes, and to be honest, the school uniform was sopping wet and rather worn, with several ripped edges. She had thought this was a "messy" girl, but when she saw that jade-like body during the change, she immediately dismissed the thought. Such a physique couldn't possibly come from an ordinary household!

And looking at her in the pajamas this morning, she was actually also clean and elegant...

How to put it, her bearing and appearance were truly like that of a lotus.

Had she been fished out of the water?

She might really be a lotus from the water then~~

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Sui Yi quickly changed her clothes. Although the underwear and other items were bought by someone else, that person was also a woman and, what's more, quite older; Sui Yi didn't fuss over it. She smiled softly at the woman waiting outside The Gate and spoke gently, "The clothes fit well, thank you, aunty."

"As long as it fits... By the way, miss, this is your school uniform. Although it is damaged, I thought you might want to keep it, so I washed it and kept the money in the pocket for you,"

She washed it even though it was damaged?

Sui Yi could no longer describe how noble the woman's character and manners were; she could only offer her sincere thanks.

After the woman left, Sui Yi picked up her own clothes and touched the pocket of the school uniform, feeling the "thickness" inside it. Thankfully, there were still 1,023 yuan...

She let out a sigh of relief. Suddenly, she paused.

She felt the pocket again—

Why did she know there was 1,023 yuan inside?

Because she just "saw" there was 1,023 yuan in the pocket.

But why could she see it?

The problem was she hadn't opened it to look inside! She hadn't even glanced at the pocket...

She had merely touched it.

Sui Yi immediately opened the pocket and took out the money, counting it carefully. 1,023 yuan, not a yuan more or less!

Sui Yi sat down on the chair. Did she remember there being 1,023 yuan from before?

No, after she went home last time, she had 1,123 yuan on her, that much she remembered very clearly. So, according to her memory, she should recall 1,123 yuan, not 1,023 yuan. And after her series of frantic running and falling into the water, it was natural for money to fall out of her pocket.

She had lost 100 yuan!

But that was something she didn't know; the current 1,023 yuan was an amount she shouldn't be aware of.

So then...