She Holds the World After Being Reborn
Chapter 48: Chai You’s Past, Proving Worth

Chapter 48: Chapter 48: Chai You’s Past, Proving Worth

Seeing Chai You kneeling, she didn’t rush to help him up.

Instead, she held the newly served hot tea in her hands, her face unexpectedly devoid of emotion.

"What does the gentleman seek from me? Please, speak your mind first."

She yearned for worthy talents, but also did not wish to be manipulated by others.

If she couldn’t fully subjugate Chai You, then it was undoubtedly like nurturing a vicious dog at her side, which was not the result she wanted.

Chai You’s forehead pressed tightly against the ground, his voice hoarse and rough, knowing the attitude one must have when begging for favors.

"I beseech the Commandery Princess to avenge the murder of my sister!" he prostrated himself on the ground in an attitude of complete submission, his fingertips already bleeding from frostbite, looking both frail and tenacious.

Yan Wanqing felt some pity, but still averted her gaze and continued, "Mr. Chai should know the relationship between that person and this Commandery Princess; do you trust me so easily?"

Chai You, still pressing close to the ground, replied, "That depends on how much I am worth to the Commandery Princess."

Silence...

It wasn’t until the maids brought in a fresh pot of hot tea that Yan Wanqing let out a quiet laugh, not as gentle as usual, her eyes filled with shadows. She said with a smile, "I can agree to your request, but before that, please, sir, clarify your doubts."

"Please speak, Commandery Princess."

"The ground is cold; help the gentleman up," Yan Wanqing instructed, and a maid hastened to help Chai You rise.

The two sat in chairs, facing each other from a distance, with Yan Wanqing’s smile not quite reaching her eyes. "You’re willing to sell yourself for revenge for your sister, yet why do you gamble away the money she earned selling herself at the Fireworks Tower? Are you being hypocritical?"

Her words were exceedingly chilling to the bone, causing Chai You’s body to shiver.

After a long while, he told a story in a hoarse voice.

At the age of six, Chai You’s mother passed away, and his father married a stepmother, who brought with her a three-year-old girl, the later Chai Shu.

Chai You was naturally intelligent, and upon seeing Chai Shu, he knew instantly that his parents’ daily affection was a façade, or else why would his father have a mistress who bore a child only three years his junior?

The stepmother then bore several brothers and sisters for his father, but none had the fortune to survive long. After several losses, she gave up on bearing more children.

She focused all her attention on raising the only male of the Chai Family, Chai You.

But at that time, Chai You only felt that his stepmother had a kind face but a cruel heart, and combined with the pain of losing his mother, he detested returning home. He spent his days outside with dubious friends, drinking and reveling, leaving the household mess for his stepmother to clean up. After back and forth quarrels, Chai You seldom came home.

At that time, his father still held the family together, until he missed his examination due to drunkenness, and cut ties with him.

Losing the support of his family, he fell into poverty, with only Chai Shu secretly selling her jewelry to help him, gradually developing a sibling bond.

Later, the Chai Family was caught in a collective punishment; the father, unable to bear the burden, died overnight, and the stepmother followed with a white silk noose, leaving only Chai Shu, who was trafficked on the road to exile and lost contact.

At that time, Chai You was free, having left to study abroad, thus escaping the disaster. From then on, the siblings lost touch, until they met again when Chai Shu was trapped in the Flower Building.

What a scene that was.

After Chai Shu left the bed of one benefactor, she was immediately dragged by the old procuress to the room of another guest.

But she had not expected this guest to be her long-lost brother.

The siblings faced each other without a word, yet before Chai Shu could recognize him, Chai You fled in a panic.

He, a scholar, held onto his prideful reserve, unable to accept that Chai Shu was still alive after falling into the Fireworks Tower and thus bringing disgrace upon the Chai Family, so in a moment of weakness, he became even more debauched, eventually falling into the clutches of the Gambling House and its vices.

Soon, he lost all his family’s property to gambling, and when he was beaten up by the Gambling House’s enforcers for the first time, it was Chai Shu who saved him.

In the following instances, it was also Chai Shu who used the money she earned from selling her body to pay off Chai You’s gambling debts, but the debts only grew larger, suffocating both of them until that day when he was almost beaten to death, only to be saved by Yan Wanqing.

"...I had promised Shu that I would never gamble again, but..." Chai You’s eye sockets were hollow, filled with tears, and he couldn’t help but blame himself: "That day, I took money to buy Shu’s freedom, but the snow was getting heavier. Just as I passed by the Gambling House, I thought to go in and take shelter... I really just went in to avoid the snow, I didn’t gamble." Chai You began to choke up: "I lost myself for a moment, and by the time I got there, Shu had already been beaten."

"If I had gone there earlier, maybe none of this would have happened... The one who should die is me, it’s me! Why her? She’s so kind and beautiful, why does God make her suffer so much, why!"

Chai You was so emotionally agitated that his lips split and bled, and he looked disheveled and wretched.

"...I stuffed all the money for redeeming her into the hands of the procuress, only then asking who the guest was with Shu that day." Chai You forced his emotions to stabilize, frantically pounding his chest with his fist, his expression growing more and more hysterical, his voice stuck in his throat: "Chai here knows that he alone cannot fight against officials, but..."

He suddenly looked intently at Yan Wanqing, his eyes filled with madness and fervent flames of revenge: "Chai here knows, the Commandery Princess can, the Commandery Princess has plans for Chai, don’t you?"

Yan Wanqing did not avoid his gaze: "Although Sun Wenxing is a son born to the Sun Family outside of wedlock, he is a relative of my mother’s family, and has a sister who is an Imperial Consort. If this Commandery Princess helps you, it would mean risking alienation and rebellion."

She needed Chai You to prove his loyalty and his value.

Chai You’s eyes turned blood red, his expression stoic: "What does the Commandery Princess want Chai to do?"

"Within three days, become a retainer for the Seventh Prince." Yan Wanqing stated plainly: "As long as the Seventh Prince personally invites you, Sun Wenxing - this Commandery Princess will deliver him to your hands."

"A gentleman’s word—" Chai You said resolutely.

Yan Wanqing’s thin lips parted slightly: "A promise that cannot be recanted. Rest assured, my lord, this Commandery Princess guarantees with her honor."

Chai You looked deeply at Yan Wanqing, bowed respectfully with clasped hands in the manner of a scholar, then turned and left for the snowy world without looking back.

Yan Wanqing did not stop him; watching that determined figure disappear, she could not quite identify the feeling in her heart.

In three days, how could Chai You make Xiao Hongshen favor him, inviting him to become a guest of honor at the Seventh Prince’s mansion?

This problem was no small challenge, hardly less difficult than Yan Wanqing searching the entire Capital City for Sun Wenxing and Yan Minsheng’s hiding spots.

Yan Wanqing habitually licked her sharp canine tooth with her tongue, her eyes brimming with deep implications.

But after all, isn’t it the difficulty of the matter that makes it interesting?