Chapter 17: Secret

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Translator: Kats  Editor: Perriemix

The situation made Ye Jiayao nervous. She didn’t want to know other people’s secret. Secrets that were this type could sometimes cost a life. She had to restore the brush pot, otherwise, she was a dead meat.

How do I do this? Ye Jiayao tried to put the pieces back together and failed.

Damn! I’m doomed this time!  Ye Jiayao was so anxious, she kept pulling her hair. If she knew this would happen, she wouldn’t have gone into the study. They were right – the curiosity does kill the cat.

Since she was going to get killed anyway, Ye Jiayao decided to go down swinging and unfolded the small piece of paper that was hidden in the brush pot.  What the hell! If Chunyu’s going to strangle me, I might as well know what I’m being killed over.

Wasn’t that the map of Black Wind Ridge? She could clearly see the outline of the Panlong mountain and the Yanxia lake. There were also markings that indicated covert and undercover officers. There was even a landmark that was especially marked with “Mi”. Ye Jiayao also noted the bold, thick lines in twists and turns, drawn from Juyi hall to the back of Black Wind Ridge. Was that a secret tunnel? It seemed like there was an alternate route to the Black Wind Ridge.

This must be the top secret of Black Wind Ridge! Ye Jiayao’s heart raced and she immediately grabbed a pen and paper to copy down the map.

Her escape from the mountains might depend on this map.

However, Ye Jiayao could not rejoice just yet because there was a more pressing matter. She still had to figure out how to restore the brush pot. If she could not fix it, she was sure that she wouldn’t even get a chance to use the map she just drew.

Ye Jiayao folded the map and put it back at the notch at the bottom of the pot. She carried the brush pot and took a candlestick before returning to her bedroom. She did not want Song Qi to know that she was in Chunyu’s study. She needed to find a way to restore the brush pot even if she had to sacrifice her sleep to do it.

Peng Wu unexpectedly came back early and shouted from outside, “Sister-in-law, why are you not asleep yet?”

Ye Jiayao was so startled that she dropped the brush pot on the bed. “I am not sleepy. I am just reading some books,” she answered quickly.

“Alright,” Peng Wu said. After she heard him return to the east bedroom, she continued to study the brush pot.

Ancient people were surprisingly smarter and more advanced than she thought. The brush pot’s mechanism design was so delicate that she couldn’t figure it out, and she had been at it for more than two hours!

Ye Jiayao was already feeling dizzy from the lack of sleep and she still hasn’t fixed the damned brush pot. She wanted to just smash the whole thing but she knew she couldn’t. Her life literally depended on that stupid thing, so she had to force herself to figure it out.

“Big sister, haven’t you slept yet?” Peng Wu called from outside.


“Slept,” she croaked, lying because she did not want Peng Wu to suspect her.

After a while, Peng Wu said, “Be careful with the candle fire.”

“I know. I’m just afraid of being alone in the dark so I lit it up.”

Peng Wu didn’t answer but she heard him retreat to his quarters once again.

I can’t do this anymore! My brain is fried!  Ye Jiayao was frustrated and so sleepy that she decided to just take a nap. Maybe after sleeping, her mind would be clear enough to make a viable solution for her problem.

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