Chapter 26 -

Chapter 26: Chapter

Yimei pushed against the small wooden door, but it didn’t budge. The iron latch on the inside was firmly locked tight.

"Miss... this one is locked too!" Qinqin sobbed, her hands shaking uncontrollably as the freezing storm blew around them. "What do we do now? We’re going to freeze!"

Yimei’s face remained completely stone-still, showing no emotion at all. Without a word, she turned back toward the front of the manor, her long steps steady against the deep snow.

They walked back to the main gates and stopped under the small wooden overhang. It gave very little cover, but it blocked the direct fall of the blizzard. Yimei gathered her fur cloak beneath her and sat down directly on the freezing stone floor, resting her back against the cold wooden gate.

Qinqin sat beside her, hugging her knees tightly as tears streamed down her red, frostbitten cheeks. "It is so cold... why are they doing this to us? Miss, I can’t feel my toes..."

Yimei looked at her terrified maid, her dark eyes softening slightly.

"Stop crying. Complaining won’t make the air any warmer," Yimei said softly, her voice steady and calm. 𝑓𝑟ℯℴ𝓂

She opened her thick fur cloak and stretched her arms out toward Qinqin. "Come here."

Qinqin didn’t hesitate. She quickly crawled closer and wrapped her arms around Yimei, burying her face into her shoulder. Yimei pulled the heavy cloak around them both, holding the young maid tightly to share their body heat against the bitter winter night

Huddled beneath the thick fur cloak, the bitter chill of the blizzard seemed to soften.

Qinqin sniffled loudly, her small body trembling against Yimei’s side. "They are absolute monsters, Miss!" she muttered into Yimei’s shoulder, her tone thick with tearful anger. "Second Young Madame and her mother-in-law think they own the sky! Throwing their weight around just because they have a little power in the main courtyard. I hope their dinner turns to ash, and I hope their heaters burst and burn holes in their silk blankets!"

Yimei let out a soft, low laugh, the quiet sound carrying warmly into the freezing night air.

"Wishing ruined blankets on them, Qinqin?" Yimei murmured, resting her chin lightly atop her maid’s head. "That is quite a heavy curse."

"It’s true!" Qinqin huffed, pulling the cloak tighter around her back. "They are petty bullies! Locking the gates early and pulling the guards away... they think they are starving us out or breaking your spirit. It’s cruel!"

"Let them be petty," Yimei said calmly, her voice smooth and unbothered as she stared out at the swirling white snow. "People only resort to small, cheap tricks when they realize they have no real power over you. An Yulan locked the door tonight because I slapped her ego at the gates this morning. She thinks sitting in the snow will make me cry and beg for her mercy."

She tightened her arm around Qinqin, her dark eyes reflecting the faint, icy light of the lanterns.

"But tomorrow, when the grand shipments from Wenlong Tea House arrive at our shop, and when our new winter menu fills the East Market..." Yimei smiled faintly, a quiet, dangerous spark dancing in her gaze. "...she will realize that locking a wooden gate was the smallest obstacle she could have possibly thrown in my way."

Qinqin listened to Yimei’s steady, unshakable voice, her shivering gradually slowing down. "You really aren’t scared of them at all, are you, Miss?"

"Never," Yimei whispered softly into the wind. "Save your strength, Qinqin. We won’t be out here for long."

Immediately, the heavy wooden gates creaked loudly, the iron bolt sliding back with a sharp, heavy clank.

Qinqin gasped, scrambling up from the cold floor as the doors slowly swung open.

Standing in the warm glow of the lantern light was Lin Feng, his hand still resting on the gate’s heavy iron ring. But Yimei’s gaze didn’t stay on the guard. Her eyes shifted immediately to the man sitting right beside him.

For the very first time since she had transmigrated into this body and married into the Bai Manor, An Yimei laid eyes on her husband, Bai Zhengyu.

He sat motionless in a simple, carved wooden wheelchair, wrapped in a thick, dark velvet cloak lined with black fox fur. A blanket covered his legs completely.

He was breathtakingly handsome, yet sharp like a polished blade. His face was pale, his jawline sculpted, and his long, ink-black hair fell smoothly over his shoulders. But it was his eyes that caught Yimei’s attention... dark, deep, and terrifyingly cold, looking down at her like an icy winter abyss.

’Nine,’ Yimei called out in her mind, her eyes never leaving his face. ’Identify.’

[Target identified: Bai Zhengyu. Current status: Disabled.]

Zhengyu looked at Yimei sitting on the cold stone floor, her thick cloak wrapped tightly around her maid, her hair dusted with white snow. There was no embarrassment in her posture, no panic, and no tears. She looked back at him with total, unyielding calm.

"Is sitting in the snow your new hobby, Young Madame?" Zhengyu’s voice broke the quiet night, deep, smooth, and laced with quiet mockery.

Yimei slowly stood up, brushing the white frost off her fur cloak with complete grace.

"Not by choice, First Young Master," Yimei replied smoothly, her tone as cool as the winter air. "Someone decided the main gates needed to be locked early tonight."

Zhengyu’s sharp eyes flickered slightly, his gaze dropping to the small paper basket sitting on the snow beside her feet, filled with fresh ginger and jujubes.

Lin Feng stepped forward immediately, bowing his head to Yimei. "Young Madame, please enter. The Young Master ordered the gates opened the moment he learned you had not returned."

Yimei picked up her basket, gently pulling a shivering Qinqin along with her as she stepped past the threshold.

"Thank you, Husband," Yimei said, her dark eyes meeting Zhengyu’s cold gaze once more, a faint, unreadable smile playing on her lips. "It would have been a shame if your ginger soup froze before I could boil it for you."