Whatever Ji Linxi did, he demanded a return for it.

Thanks to this freezing winter, Ji Linxi’s movements could be described as incredibly smooth.

In this kind of weather, many people huddled under their blankets to sleep. Even the servants on duty would look for a warm place to hide from the cold wind, or lazily shrink themselves into the padded collars of their jackets, closing their eyes to doze off.

Wandering back and forth through the Wang family mansion, although Ji Linxi was shaking so hard from the cold that his shoulders, hands, and lips were trembling, his blood and bones were hot with excitement. It was as if money, power, and the beauty were right before his eyes, within his arm’s reach.

He dug into the soil with his palms until blood came out from his fingernails. The chilblains he originally had became even more severe, swelling into lumps and making his entire palms look incredibly ugly. However, this also allowed him to dig up several corpses buried in the dirt. Some had not completely rotted away yet; one could still see maggots squirming in the flesh and blood, as well as the broken skeletons inside.

After Ji Linxi saw the corpses, he buried the dirt back again. Then he opened the bundle he brought and casually set up a small fake formation. In case Young Master Wang sent someone to look tomorrow, this would count as an explanation to deceive them and get by.

The heavy snow drifting in the night piled layer upon layer on his shoulders and hair. He exhaled breath that carried white mist, his fingers trembling as he said, “Do not blame me for digging up your corpses; this is also to seek justice for you.” More importantly, it was to seek a future for himself.

In the second half of the night, he used snow to wash his hands clean, shook off the thick snow from his body, and carried his bundle to the courtyard the servant had previously mentioned where the maidservants were locked up. He listened outside for a while. There was not a single sound inside, so he moved bricks and stones one by one to stack them up, climbed up, and looked left and right. Sure enough, the servants inside were also slacking off and sleeping. There was a person by the door, wrapped in a straw raincoat, also leaning against the door sleeping soundly.

He quietly slipped inside, wandered around the courtyard, and tiptoed to listen at each room before stopping in front of a firewood room.

Inside the firewood room slept a girl covered in scars, with only a blanket casually thrown over her body. Under her messy hair, the beautiful face of a young girl was still visible.

She had been captured and brought to this courtyard for half a month already. Because she resisted Wang He on the bed on the first day, she was ordered by Wang He to be locked in the firewood room. The other girls were all sleeping soundly in another room; only she, because it was too cold, could never sleep peacefully. She accidentally entered a dream, and inside the dream were her father and mother, so she woke up again shedding tears, letting out small crying sounds.

Just as she was sobbing while dimly missing her father and mother, a tiny sound rang out by her ear. She instantly snapped awake, thinking it was Wang He coming. Her shoulders shrunk back, and her back pressed against the firewood behind her, making a creaking sound.

Ji Linxi outside heard the noise and knew she was completely awake.

He lowered his head to write.

[Do not make a sound! Use the pencil to write it down and pass it to me! Someone took the case and entrusted me to come save people. Are you willing to leave this place?]

Right after he finished writing, he slapped his own head.

It was so dark inside the firewood room, how could she see his writing clearly? Besides, the woman inside most likely did not know how to read.

So he rolled the paper in his hand into a ball, threw it inside through a small poked hole to remind the other party of his presence again, and then pressed his body tight against the door, opening his mouth to call softly toward the small hole: “Miss, Miss, are you there? I am here to save you.”

The girl inside the firewood room, who was fearfully pressing against the firewood, heard his words twice before she barely heard them clearly. A huge brightness burst forth from her eyes, which had lacked spirit for many days, yet she was also afraid this was just a dream or a scam, not daring to act rashly.

Ji Linxi did not give up.

“Miss, are you willing to leave this place?”

The girl inside the firewood room swallowed hard.

Of course she was willing; how could she not be willing to leave this place? She wanted to leave this place so much she was going crazy!

“If you want to leave, reply to me quickly. If it’s too late and we get discovered, I won’t be able to save you.”

“I…” Should she really respond? What if it was Wang He’s trap? After hesitating for a long time, the girl inside the firewood room still could not resist her thirst to leave this place. She crawled in the dark to the front of the door and said softly, “I am willing. Who are you?”

Ji Linxi, who was persistently continuing to speak, felt wild joy appear on his face when he heard her voice.

It worked!

He immediately spread the remaining paper over his knees, held the lead holder in his hand, and began to record their conversation.

“I am the person who came to save you. Now I need you to cooperate with me, Miss.”

Relying on the paper and the lead holder, Ji Linxi exchanged a lot of information with the girl in the room. After collecting nearly enough evidence, he comforted the other party to wait for one or two days, saying he would bring her out immediately, and told her to hide this matter from the other girls.

Carrying a stack of pages written completely full, Ji Linxi climbed back over the courtyard wall and sneaked back to his own room. The chilblains on his hands were oozing pus, but his whole being was incredibly excited. Because he was too happy, he even paced around the room and let out laughs. Finally, he opened the window and looked toward the position of the beautiful young master in the Risheng Courtyard.

At this moment, whatever cold or pain there was could not compare to the burning heat in his heart.

Before the sky even turned bright, Ji Linxi did not even pack up; he carried the things and rushed straight to the Risheng Courtyard to see his beautiful young master.

Chu Yu’s sleep had always been as light as it could possibly be, but Yan Huai woke up even faster than him. Hearing the knock on the window, he flipped out of bed with a single motion and went to the window. As soon as the window was pushed open, there was a pale, flattering, smiling face.

Not seeing the beautiful young master, the smile hanging on Ji Linxi’s face faded instantly, but in the next moment, it hung back on his face again, incomparably bright.

“Young Master, I have finished prying, and I even got quite a bit of evidence.” He looked behind Yan Huai, his voice soft and filled with joy. “It will definitely help Young Master.”

Chu Yu stood behind Yan Huai.

Ji Linxi, standing outside the window, now had snow on his head and shoulders; even on his eyelashes, a shallow layer could be seen. On his clothes, traces of mud and blood could be fuzzily seen. The hands he extended to hold out the pages of paper were trembling from the cold.

Yan Huai was about to take that stack of paper and tell Ji Linxi to go back, but how could Ji Linxi be willing?

Whatever he, Ji Linxi, did, he demanded a return for it.

When Yan Huai went to take the pages, he dodged it and handed them back directly in front of Chu Yu: “Young Master.”

Chu Yu extended his hand.

Under the dark sky light, Ji Linxi could clearly see those long, slender fingers take the pages away from his rough hands that were covered in injuries. Then, the owner spoke in soft and gentle words: “It is cold outside. Young Master Xi, come inside to warm your body.”

Hearing this, the smile on Ji Linxi’s face became incredibly brilliant.

He responded with a willing “Aye,” grasped both sides of the window with his hands, and climbed inside through the window. Chu Yu held the pages in one hand. Eunuch Chen, who served in the room and had also woken up, brought a cloak to put over him. Chu Yu sat on the bed. The candle light was lit, and the fine, soft gauze was pulled to his side. His features under the candle light looked indescribably noble.

Ji Linxi, who was originally bending his waist, shifted his small steps without making a sound, attempting to get closer. Only this time, it was not as easy as the last time. Yan Huai, who had been staring at him tightly, called him out and said with a fake smile, “Young Master Xi, stand still first and do not move. I will go get a chair for you.”

The chair fixed Ji Linxi in place, forcing him to stay eight feet away from the beautiful young master.

“This is a girl I found when I went to that courtyard. The paper is entirely the conversation between her and me. Knowing that Young Master is going to save her, she was very excited,” Ji Linxi looked at the beautiful young master’s expression and weighed his words carefully as he said, “Because I was afraid of accidents, I only asked her.”

A girl locked in a firewood room who had the will to resist was obviously much safer than the other girls sleeping together in the main room.

If he had gone to the other room, if there was even a single girl inside from a poor background who no longer thought about resisting, felt that staying in the Wang family was actually quite good, and even wanted to maintain this current kind of life, it would startle the snake. With the beautiful young master’s identity, he would definitely be able to protect him, but since the beautiful young master did not want to make a grand scene, he naturally had to act cautiously.

Chu Yu read through the papers one by one. Those fingers, white like jade, also got stained with a bit of mud color.

“I really do not know how to thank you, Young Master Xi.” He folded the stack of pages neatly and handed them to Yan Huai behind him. He lifted his eyes, which were as moving as ripples on a lake surface, and spoke in a soft voice: “You have helped me a great deal.”

His gaze fell upon Ji Linxi’s hands, which were full of chilblains and scars. Showing a worried frown, he turned his head to look at Eunuch Chen behind him and ordered, “Butler Chen, bring a box of my Yuhen Ointment over.”

Eunuch Chen went to get it.

Once he brought it over, Chu Yu reached out to take it. He held up Ji Linxi’s hand and placed the ointment into Ji Linxi’s palm. His white, smooth hand pressed against Ji Linxi’s calloused, heavily scarred hand to close it together, saying gently, “Young Master Xi, this Yuhen Ointment is very effective for treating chilblains. Take it back and apply some on your hands every day; they will recover within three days.”

Ji Linxi showed a face of extreme gratitude, hurriedly thanked him, took it, and placed it inside his jacket.