She stopped two feet away, looking down at him with a critical eye.
"Do you know why I cooked for you?" she asked.
Xie Wangchen shook his head slightly, his eyes fixed on her boots. "To... punish this slave?"
"Don't be thick. I don't waste spirit ingredients on punishment." Ji'an crossed her arms, adopting the air of an eccentric genius. "I am... pursuing the Dao of Food. My cultivation requires the creation of dishes that can purify the body and soul. But the problem is, the ingredients I use are volatile. One wrong herb, and the eater could explode, or lose their cultivation, or turn purple for a month."
She paused for dramatic effect. It was total nonsense, of course. Her "Golden Finger" was that her food was perfect. But he didn't need to know that.
"I have no interest in testing these dangerous experiments on myself," she lied smoothly. "And the other servants are too weak; they'd die from a single bite of Spirit Boar meat. But you..."
She reached out. Xie Wangchen flinched violently, expecting a blow. Instead, her finger merely tapped his shoulder, lightly, impersonally.
"...You have a unique constitution. You survived the slave pits. Your meridians are broken, yes, but your foundation is stubborn. You are resilient, just like a cockroach."
She stepped back, sneering. "So, congratulations. You have been promoted. You are no longer a water-hauler. You are my Poison Tester."
Xie Wangchen stared at her, blinking. Poison Tester?
"You will live in my courtyard," Ji'an continued, pacing around him. "You will eat whatever I put in front of you, whether it is delicious or deadly. You will tell me how the spiritual energy flows, how the texture feels, and if you feel like dying, you will inform me promptly so I can take notes. In exchange..."
She leaned in, her voice dropping to a whisper that sent a shiver down his spine.
"...I will ensure you survive. No one else in this mansion is allowed to touch my test subject. If the Eldest Young Master tries to take you, if the servants try to beat you, if a dog barks at you... They answer to me. Because if they damage you, they damage my tool. And I am very possessive of my tools."
Xie Wangchen processed this. A transaction. A contract. I eat her dangerous food. She gives me protection.
It made perfect sense. The wealthy young masters of the cultivation world often had eccentricities. Some collected swords, some collected beasts. This one collected recipes and needed a disposable body to test them on.
The crushing weight of "unknown kindness" vanished, replaced by the sturdy, understandable weight of exploitation. He could survive exploitation. He was good at it.
Slowly, the tension in his spine uncoiled. The murderous glare faded, replaced by the dull, guarded look of a servant who had accepted his lot.
"This slave... understands," he whispered. "I accept."
[System Alert: Blackening Value dropped to 52%. Trust Level initiated. Host, you are surprisingly good at lying.]
"Good," Ji'an said, turning away to hide the small smile of victory on her lips. "Now, get up. You smell like a stable. Go to the side room. There's a tub. Scrub yourself until the water turns black, then change the water and do it again. I can't have your filth contaminating the flavor of my next dish."
She tossed a small wooden token at him. He caught it, a pass to use the hot water supply.
"And Xie Wangchen?"
He paused at the door, clutching the token. "Yes, Young Master?"
"If anyone asks," she said, her voice sharp and clear, "You belong to the West Courtyard now. If they have a problem with it, tell them to come find me."
The Lin Mansion was a sprawling beast of a complex, divided into territories like a kingdom at war.
The East Courtyard belonged to the First Wife's children, specifically, Lin Zhaoyu, the Eldest Young Master. He was talented, handsome, and viciously insecure about his position as the heir.
Lin Ji'an knew the timeline. In the original novel, Lin Zhaoyu had seen Xie Wangchen by the well three days from now.
Struck by the boy's beauty and seeing an opportunity to humiliate his crossdressing "brother," Zhaoyu had framed Wangchen for stealing a jade ring.
He had dragged the boy to the East Courtyard, intending to "search" him, a scene that ended with Wangchen being whipped and humiliated, pushing his Blackening Value to the point of no return.
Ji'an stood on the veranda of her pavilion, watching the moon rise. She had accelerated the timeline by taking Wangchen in today. The Eldest Brother's spies would already know.
They won't wait three days, she reasoned. If I took a slave they were eyeing, or even just a slave they didn't think I deserved, they'll come to mark their territory.
As if summoned by her thoughts, a commotion erupted at the moon gate entrance of her courtyard.
"Out of the way!" a shrill voice barked. "I am acting on the orders of the Eldest Young Master!"
Ji'an's eyes narrowed. She recognized the voice. Steward Sun. A classic lackey, a man who bullied the weak and groveled to the strong.
She adjusted her robes, checked the binding on her chest to ensure it was secure, and strode into the courtyard.
Down by the servants' quarters, Xie Wangchen had just emerged. He was wet, his hair dripping, wearing a set of clean, gray cotton robes Ji'an had left for him.
The bath had revealed the shocking extent of his beauty, porcelain skin (albeit scarred), high cheekbones, and an ethereal, fragile elegance that seemed to glow in the moonlight.
Steward Sun, a rat-faced man with a thin mustache, was currently gripping Xie Wangchen's arm. Two burly guards stood behind him.
"Let go," Xie Wangchen said, his voice low. He wasn't struggling, but his body was rigid.
"Shut your mouth, thief!" Steward Sun sneered, his eyes roving over Xie Wangchen's freshly cleaned face with a look that made Ji'an's stomach churn.