"……"

The maidservant quietly clenched her hand. It was her own fault for letting that young fellow's looks addle her wits.

Asking for an audience in the name of an old acquaintance — plenty of cultivators reached for that pretext.

But picking a name the Immortal Maiden had never heard of at all — that was a first.

"I'll go and refuse him at once."

"Mm."

The Immortal Maiden Baohua gave a slight nod, pushed the door open, went in, and shut it softly behind her.

Only one maidservant remained inside. She seemed to have anticipated her return exactly: the pot of flower tea in her hands had reached the very moment its fragrance was richest.

"Bicui, I'm so sick of this."

The moment she was through the door the Immortal Maiden Baohua became another person entirely, head down and thoroughly glum.

She flung herself spread-eagled into the warm, soft bedding.

"You've had a hard day, Immortal Maiden. Drink your tea." Bicui smiled and carried the cup over to the bed.

"Oh."

The Immortal Maiden Baohua pushed herself up off the bed, sat cross-legged, gave her pink little toes a tug, and reached out for the cup.

"……"

Bicui withdrew the cup and reached for a scented cloth instead. "Don't touch your feet before you drink your tea, Immortal Maiden."

"They smell nice! Smell them!" The Immortal Maiden Baohua thrust her fingers out.

"Of course they smell nice."

Bicui shook her head. With a Baohua Pill taken every day, how could they not?

"What's this? Something on your mind?" The Immortal Maiden Baohua widened her eyes and looked over curiously.

"No… only that good-for-nothing brother of mine is back." Bicui squeezed out a smile.

"Pah, I thought it was something serious. Say the word if he's short of anything — you and I don't stand on that sort of thing." The Immortal Maiden Baohua thumped her ample chest, for all the world a gang boss standing by her own, not a trace left of her earlier dignity.

"It isn't that. The Immortal Maiden has helped him a great deal already."