Fair-skinned and delicate, with an exquisitely appetizing charm.

The poison ink had made no progress for a long while. Gu Fei spent most of her time in the Ink Chamber, and even after learning that Gu Min had returned, she could not be bothered to go to the shop any more. Since You Hu had also stopped going, everything was being handled only by Shang Quan.

When Ku Ma came to report that on the third day after Gu Min’s return, he had gone to the shop, summoned all the stewards and clerks together, not only lectured them severely but also stripped the junior manager promoted by Gu Fei of his post, and even fined Shang Quan silver as punishment, Gu Fei merely listened.

After that, he took control of all the account books. Even when the figures showed not even half a tael of silver, he was not angered in the least, seeming in no way troubled by the matter of the formula or the money.

Later that day, Gu Fei heard that the fragrance-ink formula she had deliberately thrown out as a diversion had already, by Gu Min’s decision, been sent to Mo Feast earlier that morning, presented under the noble pretext of being Gu Wanting’s dowry.

Having received a formula for nothing, Mo Feast was naturally delighted. As for Gu Min’s predicament, having forcibly seized back the Gu family shop but lacking silver, he waved a hand and took a batch of silver from the small Mo family’s warehouse to send over. He did not even demand repayment from the Gu family in the future, but instead seized the chance to insert himself into the Gu family’s business, stating plainly that he would not interfere and would merely take a share of the profits at year’s end.

The Gu family had suffered a silent loss, bitter as wormwood, yet did not dare utter a word of complaint. They had already offended Gu Fei to the core, and now only the small Mo family possessed the silver and the formula; Gu Min had no choice but to rely on them.

When Gu Fei learned of it, she tossed away another scrap of waste ink. Facing Ku Ma’s worried gaze, she gave a faint smile. “If it had been before, how could Mo Feast have gotten away with it? Now that the Gu family is being swallowed up, it is only a matter of time. Gu Min has already endured it, and even Gu Zhong has remained silent. So I can only assume that the main branch is plotting something far greater, and because the important matters can wait, they are allowing Mo Feast to do as he pleases.”

After Gu Fei explained it this way, Ku Ma immediately understood. Her drooping eyelids suddenly flashed with sharp brilliance, and she said at once, “This old servant will go and investigate.”

Yet Gu Fei had already begun tidying the ink-making tools on the table. Turning her wheelchair, she said, “No need. I want to see what tricks Gu Min can stir up.”

Ku Ma stepped forward and skillfully pushed the wheelchair out of the Ink Chamber. Since Gu Fei had said so, she no longer insisted, and instead brought up something else. “Shopkeeper Shang has not come for many days, and the income from the shop these past few days has not been delivered either. Miss, do you think we should do something? We cannot simply let Gu Min take back control of the shop so easily.”

“Why not?” Gu Fei asked.

As she turned past the covered corridor, she saw You Hu in a blue robe, leisurely playing against himself. One hand held white stones, the other black, and he seemed thoroughly content. “That was originally the Gu family’s property. If he wants to take it back, let him. If the small Mo family wants to help, Mo Feast’s intentions are as plain as day. Let them make a fuss on their own. If they turn on one another, that would be best.”

As she spoke, her gaze had not yet left You Hu when he turned his head, and their eyes met. Both were momentarily stunned, breath held in that instant.

Gu Fei tapped the armrest with one finger. Ku Ma understood at once and pushed the wheelchair over. When they stopped a few paces away, Gu Fei was silent for a moment before speaking. “Leave Qingmo Courtyard. I do not keep idlers.”

After placing another stone, You Hu straightened and looked at Gu Fei with eyes as deep and dark as old ink. Beneath the lush shade of the trees, a breeze rose, leaves rustling softly, his blue robe and long sleeves stirring as though he were truly a wash of mist and ink on paper.

“Since the young lady has given an order, this humble one is naturally no longer an idler,” he said lightly, without the slightest awkwardness of shameless persistence.

Gu Fei suddenly tightened her grip on the armrest. Her eyes filled with shattered ice and snow, with a coldness that sank into the bone. “If you seek your own death, no one can stop you.”

As the words fell, Gu Fei had no wish to say more. She motioned for Ku Ma to turn the wheelchair around, silver ornaments on her hair glinting softly as she spun away.

“Is the young lady worried about this humble one?” he asked suddenly, placing another stone beneath his fingers. His field of vision contained only the crisscrossing board before him. “Is the young lady worried that this humble one will be taken a fancy to, or eaten, by that barbarian woman?”

Gu Fei gave a cold laugh. She could not be bothered to speak further to this man, so long as he did not bring trouble to Qingmo Courtyard.

In the next few days, with Mo Feast’s support, Gu Min easily reclaimed control of the Gu family shop. Gu Fei did not make a single move about it, as if the Gu family shop were something entirely dispensable in her eyes.

Ku Ma could not understand this. When it had been wrested from Gu Zhong, every scheme under heaven had been used, yet now she no longer cared.

Gu Fei merely smiled faintly and said softly, “What belongs to others will always belong to others. No matter how cleverly one seizes it, no matter how much control one exerts, it is still not one’s own. So if it is not mine, what is there to regret in losing it?”

Though Ku Ma was older and understood much of the ways of the world, she could not fully decipher Gu Fei’s thoughts. So she was not entirely clear on those words.

“Does the young lady already have a plan?” she asked.

Gu Fei only smiled in a manner so profound it was impossible to read, neither confirming nor denying.

Over the next several days, the whole of Yizhou heard only of the matter of the rare old pine and cypress Gu Min had brought back. Among the formulae Mo Feast had given the Gu family, there was not only the signature fragrance-ink recipe of the shop, but also several other formulas unique to the small Mo family. Ambitious and restless, Gu Min intended to hold an Ink Appraisal Gathering, to make ink balls from soot burned from century-old ancient pine and cypress, and with the small Mo family’s assistance, stage the most bustling Ink Appraisal Gathering Yizhou had ever seen.

Gu Fei dismissed it all with scorn. In the past, she might have spared thought to appraising ink balls, but now she had no interest whatsoever.

She knew very well the skill of the ink-makers at the Gu family shop. She could make those few formulas the small Mo family had offered as well. In truth, the only thing of genuine worth in Gu Min’s hands this time was the century-old ancient pine itself.

At the last moment, Ku Ma somehow managed to obtain a handful of soot from the ancient pine. At first Gu Fei was pleased, but when the soot was placed before her, she only glanced once before shaking her head with a look of regret and mockery.

“This is absolutely not soot made from century-old ancient pine. The color is far too impure. The pine and cypress used for this soot were no more than fifty years old.”

Only someone with Gu Fei’s sharp eye could distinguish, from a glance at the soot, roughly how old the pine and cypress had been when burned.

Ku Ma was shocked and immediately said, “Miss may not know this, but Gu Min had the century-old pine and cypress sent to the small Mo family’s ink kiln to be burned, saying the Gu family’s kiln was too small.”

Gu Fei laughed then. She lowered her head and blew the handful of soot onto the floor, her lips curved in deep derision. “Mo Feast certainly has a huge appetite.”

He was interfering more and more in the Gu family shop’s affairs, and now he had even swallowed the century-old pine and cypress Gu Min had gone to so much trouble to obtain. Yet Gu Min was helpless. The formula and the silver had been provided by Mo Feast, which was the same as clutching the Gu family by the throat. If they did not want to die, they had no choice but to obey.

Gu Fei neither confirmed nor denied this. She put all her energy into the poison ink, pondering it daily and producing two ink pellets a day. Yet the more she made, the more waste ink accumulated. Fortunately, she had previously earned quite a lot of silver from the Gu family shop, or else she truly would not have been able to sustain such extravagance.

That day, after she finished making ink as usual, she altered the formula. The revised recipes, with additions and subtractions, had long become a thick stack. By her reckoning, they were all useless and should simply be discarded, but Ku Ma insisted on sorting and arranging them neatly every time, then storing them away carefully. In her words, these formulas might hold no value in Gu Fei’s eyes, but in others’ eyes, even the waste ink was excellent, and as for the formulas, they were all the more prized.

After writing down the day’s insights, Gu Fei let out a breath. She had not left the Ink Chamber for two days. Now that she had reached a pause, she wheeled herself out.

Outside the Ink Chamber, the sun still blazed bright. She squinted uncomfortably, and through the slits between her lashes, she suddenly saw an unfamiliar woman in her courtyard circling around You Hu.

The woman had honey-toned skin, and her long hair was simply braided into a rope and draped down her back. The skirt she wore looked rather strange on her.

Gu Fei’s heart stirred. Once her eyes adjusted, she slowly opened them fully, only to find that the woman, she did not know when, had already darted swiftly in front of her. A pair of dark golden vertical pupils studied her coldly.

She met that gaze without the slightest timidity.

In an instant, the woman bared her teeth in a smile. Her small pointed fangs glinted with a cold light. “Such delicate skin, and so tender. Very appetizing.”

Curving her lips, Gu Fei answered leisurely, “You are not bad either. Fierce as a beast. No one is your match.”

At that, the dark gold in the woman’s eyes grew even brighter. She turned and pointed at You Hu, saying to Gu Fei, “Give him to me.”

Her words were a blunt command, but Gu Fei showed no anger at all. She cast a light glance at You Hu and, seeing that he was still slouched there in that lazy, carefree manner, said, “He is not a member of my Qingmo Courtyard. If you want him, seize him yourself.”

The woman heard her clearly, and so did You Hu.

He turned his head to look at Gu Fei, and there was even a trace of helplessness in his expression. Yet it seemed he still could not suppress her; between them, it was simply an endless tug of war.

The woman also looked at You Hu. She laughed softly, her dark gold vertical pupils like scattered molten gold, beautiful beyond measure. “You are good. I have decided not to eat you in the future.”