Chapter 12: Appreciating the Almost Sweet Aroma
Qingfeng Courtyard returned to its former quiet, with only the half-closed gate swaying slightly.

Shen Ji strolled back to the study.

As he passed the stone table, his gaze swept over it casually, and an object on the table caught the corner of his eye.

Shen Ji turned to look and saw a lustrous and translucent white jade bracelet lying quietly beside a teacup.

A white jade bracelet?

Unexpectedly, the image of the young lady rolling up her sleeves surfaced in his mind.

Hmm, she most likely took it off for convenience when she was testing the sleeve arrow just now. She probably left in a hurry and forgot it here.

Shen Ji slowly approached and reached for the white jade bracelet.

Before he could touch it, the courtyard gate creaked open, followed by Ping An’s excited voice. “Young Master, I’m back!”

Shen Ji abruptly withdrew his hand, let out a soft “en,” and picked up the teacup next to the bracelet. “How did it go?”

The tea had been sitting for a while and was a bit cold.

“Fourth Young Master Gu liked it very much. He kept me for a snack and even rewarded me with this.” Ping An was beaming with joy, presenting the reward money to his young master as if it were a treasure.

—Several days ago, at Jing’an Hou’s residence, Shen Ji had met the fourth young master of the Jing An Marquis Estate, Gu Yuanjing. Fourth Young Master Gu was the second son of Second Master Gu Niansheng. He was seventeen this year, had been in poor health since childhood, and had an extreme love for painting and calligraphy, to the point of being called an art fanatic. During their conversation, Fourth Young Master Gu had expressed a desire to see Shen Ji’s paintings.

Shen Ji was not skilled in painting, but for a clever person, so-called lack of skill was only relative. After finishing his work on the sleeve arrow, he painted a picture and had Ping An deliver it to Fourth Young Master Gu.

Glancing at the reward money in Ping An’s hand, Shen Ji said flatly, “Fourth Young Master is very generous.”

“He is, but it’s a pity his health is so weak. I heard he and the Gu family’s third young master are twins, and even in the womb, one was strong and the other was weak…” Ping An chattered on, his face animated. Suddenly, his gaze shifted, and he let out a soft “eh?” “Whose jade bracelet is this? It’s so pretty. Did Miss Su come by earlier?”

Shen Ji’s expression was as placid as ever. “She just left and left this behind. You can return it to her later.”

“Oh,” Ping An agreed and reached for it.

The moment he extended his hand, Shen Ji tapped him lightly on the arm.

Ping An was puzzled. “Young Master?”

“Wash your hands before you touch it.” Shen Ji frowned, then added, “Who knows how many people have touched those copper coins.”

Ping An thought about it and realized it was true. Without another word, he obediently did as he was told.

…

In fact, the moment Su Zhenyue stepped out of Qingfeng Courtyard, she realized she had left the bracelet behind. But since she was deliberately trying to get close to Shen Ji, how could she let an opportunity for contact slip by?

Thus, she feigned ignorance and continued walking with the wooden box in her arms.

When she returned to the West Wing Courtyard, Nanxing immediately came to greet her. She looked at the wooden box, a puzzled expression on her face. “Miss, this is…”

Su Zhenyue placed the wooden box on the table, her features relaxed. “A sleeve arrow. I asked Cousin Shen for help a few days ago, and he gave it to me.”

“A sleeve arrow?” Nanxing was a little baffled.

Su Zhenyue raised her arm to show her in detail. “Yes, it’s a short arrow hidden in the sleeve. A type of hidden weapon for self-defense. At most, it can fire six arrows in succession.”

Nanxing didn’t understand, but the word “arrow” made it sound formidable. When she heard her mistress say it could fire six in a row, she was even more delighted.

The assassination attempt that night had left an indelible impression on Nanxing’s mind. If her mistress had an extra weapon for self-defense, Nanxing would feel more at ease.

She sighed with genuine feeling, “Then we must thank Young Master Shen properly.”

Su Zhenyue nodded lightly, in complete agreement. “Yes.” Then she asked softly, “So how do you think I should thank him?”

“This…” Nanxing was also troubled.

Cousin Shen had shown them great kindness, so by rights, he should be thanked with a grand gift. But the Longwei Inkstone her mistress had personally presented to him before had been politely refused.

Su Zhenyue clapped her hands lightly, a smile playing on her lips. “He won’t accept valuable things, so I’ll have to make a thank-you gift by hand to show a small token of my appreciation.”

—It was all just a pretext anyway. The ultimate goal was Shen Ji himself.

“That could work,” Nanxing softly concurred.

Su Zhenyue felt she had made another step forward today and was truly happy. She unfastened the sleeve arrow, loaded it with six short arrows, and retied it to her forearm, studying it slowly.

After all, she had encountered it in her dream, so she knew a thing or two about its simple principles.

Suddenly, a thought struck her: why not try to make one herself?

She could make one for Nanxing and Doukou each, so they would also have a weapon for self-defense.

Or perhaps she could improve the sleeve arrow herself? Hadn’t that mysterious person in her dream said that hiding it in a sleeve was nothing special? That true concealment meant outsiders couldn’t even tell it was there?

Once this idea took root, it was impossible to stop.

She took out a brush, ink, paper, and an inkstone, and tried to write down the necessary materials.

The other parts were manageable, but she couldn’t figure out the principles of the internal mechanism for the time being, and she couldn’t very well take it apart for a detailed study.

Just as she was scribbling and drawing, Ping An arrived to return the bracelet.

“Miss Su, you left your bracelet behind. The Young Master sent me to return it.”

“I left my bracelet?” Su Zhenyue feigned ignorance, a look of surprise on her face. She raised her hand to look at her wrist. “Oh my, I was so careless, I didn’t even notice. This bracelet was a gift from the Old Madam for my coming-of-age ceremony.”

Ping An grinned. “As long as it’s not lost.”

Because his young master had instructed him, he had specially washed his hands and placed the white jade bracelet in a delicate little box, carrying it over with great solemnity.

Su Zhenyue thanked him, accepted the bracelet, and invited Ping An to have some candied fruit and pine nuts.

Ping An wasn’t hungry, but he had always been a glutton. After a couple of polite refusals, he grabbed a handful of each. Noticing the brush, ink, paper, and inkstone on the table, he asked curiously, “Is Miss Su writing a poem?”

“No, just writing some things down…”

Ping An had sharp eyes and could read. He had already spotted a few familiar items and exclaimed in surprise, “Hey, these are materials for making a sleeve arrow.”

“You know about this too?” Su Zhenyue was surprised.

“I do. When the Young Master was making the sleeve arrow a few days ago, I was the one who went to buy the materials.”

Su Zhenyue was taken aback. Although she had long suspected that Shen Ji had made this sleeve arrow himself, hearing it from Ping An’s mouth still moved her heart slightly.

She smiled faintly, her tone utterly sincere. “Thank you, Cousin, and thank you as well.”

Ping An was rather embarrassed. He scratched his head and added a few more materials from memory.

Su Zhenyue noted them down carefully. After Ping An left, she had someone purchase and prepare the necessary items and began to try making one herself.

In her spare time, she picked up her needlework again, making an exquisite pen case and embroidering a crane in a subtle spot with light-colored silk thread.

After several busy days, Su Zhenyue visited Shen Ji again.

It was afternoon again, and the sun shone on the entrance of Qingfeng Courtyard.

Ping An was lazily sunbathing at the gate when he suddenly heard footsteps approaching from a distance. Opening his eyes, he saw Miss Su holding a wooden box.

“Miss Su.” He shot to his feet.

“Pardon the intrusion.” Su Zhenyue smiled faintly. “Is Cousin in?”

Ping An’s gaze shifted slightly, and he said slowly, “He wasn’t, but he will be very soon.”

“Hm?” Su Zhenyue was a little confused.

But then she saw Ping An point. Following his finger, she saw Shen Ji walking toward them.

The afternoon sun fell on Shen Ji’s face, casting a faint golden glow over his features.

Seeing him, a smile bloomed on Su Zhenyue’s lips. She turned and took two steps toward him before stopping. “Cousin.”

Shen Ji’s gaze fell on the wooden box in her hands, and his long brows furrowed slightly. “Is there a problem with the sleeve arrow?”

Given his skill, that shouldn’t be the case.

“No, it’s my problem. The sleeve arrow is excellent.”

“Come in and talk.” Shen Ji assumed she had encountered a problem while using it. The moment they entered the courtyard, he said, “Open it and let me see.”

Su Zhenyue opened the wooden box as requested.

Upon seeing what was inside the box, Shen Ji’s gaze froze for a moment. “This is…”

It was a sleeve arrow, but not the one he had made before.

Su Zhenyue gave an abashed smile, looking very embarrassed. “I tried to make it myself, but I don’t know what went wrong. The arrow won’t fire.”

“You made it yourself?” Shen Ji’s brows rose slightly, quite surprised.

“Yes. Nanxing and Doukou are always by my side, so I wanted to make some defensive tools for them too. But I couldn’t keep troubling you, Cousin, so I tried to make one myself. Unfortunately, I didn’t do a good job. I’ve made a fool of myself in front of you.”

Shen Ji raised a hand to stop her self-deprecation. “No need to be so modest. To make it like this on your first try is very impressive.”

When he first met this young lady, he only thought she was gentle and frail. He never expected her to have such a skill.

Shen Ji examined it carefully, dismantling the sleeve arrow in a few moves.

He quickly came to a conclusion. “Inside the arrow tube, there’s a problem with the torsion spring here.”

“Where?” Su Zhenyue leaned in curiously to get a closer look.

As she drew near, Shen Ji felt a strand of her hair drift across his hand with the breeze, and a nearly sweet fragrance lingered at the tip of his nose.

It tickled.

For a moment, he couldn’t tell if it was his palm or the tip of his nose that was itching.

Shen Ji held his breath for an instant, his gaze lowered.

The young lady’s brows were like kingfisher feathers, her skin like white snow, and she was looking at him intently.

His reflection was clearly visible in her dark, dark eyes.

Shen Ji’s heart skipped a beat. He nonchalantly averted his gaze and said slowly, “You used gut string. Although it’s flexible, it needs to be wound with multiple strands and twisted very tightly. You probably don’t have enough strength. It would be better to use cow or deer sinew.”

“Cow or deer sinew?” Su Zhenyue had a moment of realization, then a troubled look appeared on her face. “But those two things…”

“Are not easy to obtain,” Shen Ji finished her sentence. He removed the torsion spring and re-wound it.

He had practiced martial arts for many years, and his strength was far beyond what Su Zhenyue could compare. With a slight adjustment, the original problem was solved.

Shen Ji handed the sleeve arrow back to her. “Why don’t you try again?”

“Alright.” Su Zhenyue took it, loaded a short arrow, and tried to fire it.

With a swoosh, the short arrow was firmly embedded in the ground.

The corners of Shen Ji’s lips curled up slightly, a hint of admiration he himself hadn’t noticed appearing in his eyes.

Su Zhenyue beamed, utterly delighted. “Thank you, Cousin.”

That problem had troubled her for a long time, and it turned out it was simply because she wasn’t strong enough.

Shen Ji raised a long eyebrow. “Is there anything else?”

Su Zhenyue composed herself slightly. “Yes.”

“Hm?”

Su Zhenyue put down the sleeve arrow, carefully took something out from her sleeve pocket, and said earnestly, “Cousin has helped me so much, I really don’t know how to thank you. I made this. Please don’t disdain it, Cousin.”

The young lady’s eyes shimmered as she looked up at him.

Shen Ji’s brow twitched. This light cyan, cloth-made, bag-like thing… it couldn’t be an embroidered pouch, could it?