Without waiting for the other party to ask more questions, Chunxing clutched the bundle and hurried back to her own courtyard.
Only after closing the courtyard door did she let out a long sigh of relief. This job was becoming increasingly difficult.
In the past, the young miss at most had small tantrums, but now, on the first day of confinement, she was already secretly preparing to sneak out.
As her personal maid, Chunxing felt she was worrying herself to death.
Xie Zhaofan, however, had no such self-awareness. Seeing Chunxing return, she immediately perked up and reached out to take the cloth bundle.
Opening it, she saw a set of moon-white men’s clothing inside.
The clothes had been specifically purchased according to her current height and build. The style wasn't particularly luxurious, but it was clean and crisp, not something that would stand out too much in a crowd.
Xie Zhaofan held the clothes up to measure them against herself, then curled her lip in utter disdain.
“Chunxing, your taste is truly lacking.”
Chunxing: “...”
“How can these clothes possibly display the handsome and dashing nature of this young master?”
Chunxing silently looked at her young miss. With skin like cream, exquisite features, and a slender frame, she looked like a delicate, celestial beauty no matter how one looked at her.
Handsome and dashing?
She really didn’t see it.
However, considering her own life was at stake, Chunxing ultimately chose to stay quiet. She could only silently accept the fact that her taste was lacking in her heart.
After all, the young miss’s fist was the strongest.
Xie Zhaofan was already excitedly researching the men’s outfit, her mind already conjuring images of herself swaggering out of the Prime Minister’s residence in drag.
Didn't her father say she was confined?
Then she just wouldn't leave as the Young Miss of the Xie family, wouldn't that work?
As for cross-dressing as a man, while it wasn't exactly a respectable thing in this era, as long as she masked her appearance slightly so people couldn't easily recognize her, it would be fine.
Thinking of this, the corners of her mouth curled up involuntarily.
Confinement?
Heh.
Xie Zhaofan never felt that a single courtyard wall in the Prime Minister’s residence could trap her current self.
Watching the increasingly bright smile on her young miss’s face, Chunxing felt an ominous premonition rise in her heart for some reason.
She felt that the young miss was about to cause some major trouble again. And she, as the personal maid, would likely have to worry herself sick alongside her.
...
The weather was fine and the sun was bright. People moved to and fro on the streets of the capital, the signboards of shops along the way swaying gently in the breeze. The sounds of hawking, horse-drawn carriages, and pedestrians chatting and laughing mixed together, revealing the prosperity and bustle belonging to the capital of the Great Zhou.
Xie Zhaofan, however, possessed none of the self-awareness expected of a person under confinement.
Today, she had changed into that moon-white men’s outfit, and her hair had been specially bound in a masculine style. In her hand, she held a folding fan, which she shook with a touch of affected refinement.
When she walked, she intentionally slowed her pace, occasionally giving the fan a gentle flick, believing she had perfectly captured the temperament of a romantic and elegant noble youth.
As for whether she actually looked like a man, that was a different matter entirely.
“Ah, this is what life should be.”
Xie Zhaofan walked through the bustling crowd, the smile on her face impossible to suppress. Her entire being radiated the joy of finally being released from a cage.
She, who was supposed to be confined for a month by Xie Chongshan, had just flagrantly leaped over the wall of the Prime Minister’s residence’s back garden.
Of course, the reason she dared to do this was because she was no longer the frail Second Young Miss of the Prime Minister’s residence she had once been.
In the past, facing a high courtyard wall, she could only look up and fret.
But now, that height was almost the same as a slightly higher doorsill in her eyes. With just a few steps for a run-up, she could easily flip over it, landing with her robes perfectly in place.
Chunxing and Xiahe naturally hadn't come out with her.
For one, someone had to stay in the courtyard to provide cover, lest the people in the residence discover the young miss was missing and immediately cause an uproar.
Secondly, neither of them knew Lightwork. Xie Zhaofan couldn't exactly leap over the wall and then turn back to carry the two maids out one by one.
That scene would be far too shocking, so Xie Zhaofan simply came out alone today.
She didn't actually have any particular purpose; she simply didn't want to be locked in a deep courtyard all day, doing nothing but eating, sleeping, and basking in the sun.
Although the life of a corporate slave in modern society was bitter, at least one could freely walk out of their home and go wherever they pleased. Even just wandering the streets alone was more comfortable than being trapped in a courtyard.
What’s more, she now had a very important mission.
Treasure hunting.
Ever since she discovered that the system could convert various precious items into attribute points, Xie Zhaofan had completely opened a door to a new world.
Who would complain about having too many attribute points?
Especially since she had already tasted the sweetness brought by the Great Restoration Pill. Now with twenty-four points of Strength, and Constitution and Agility far exceeding ordinary people, she could easily toss a hundred-jin stone lock quite a distance. This feeling of power was simply addictive.
So this time, slipping out was not only to satisfy her need for freedom but also a very practical idea.
What if she picked up some treasure on the street? Perhaps the system would light up again by accident.
In the past, as the Second Young Miss of the Prime Minister’s residence, although she was surrounded by a large entourage whenever she went out, it was ultimately inconvenient to have a crowd of people around her.
Especially now that she was exceptionally sensitive to things that might glow. If she truly saw some strange and odd curiosity, she couldn't exactly squat there and study it for half the day in front of everyone.
Now that she was out alone, she was much more at ease.
As for cross-dressing?
Xie Zhaofan didn't actually hold much hope for it.
After all, her current appearance was far too striking. Even if she put on men’s clothing, her slender frame, fair skin, and exquisite features weren't things a set of clothes could completely hide.
But she didn't intend to truly turn herself into a man; what she really wanted was for people not to recognize her as the Second Young Miss Xie.
To this end, she had specifically brought out the makeup techniques modern people took pride in, slightly adjusting the shape of her eyebrows to lower the tails, deepening her eye makeup, and making slight modifications to the bridge of her nose and her cheeks. She also intentionally darkened her originally fair and translucent skin tone.
She even made herself look slightly uglier to lower her recognizability.
It wasn't truly ugly, but she had forced her appearance down from a level that was stunning enough to be unforgettable to that of a delicate and pleasant, yet ordinary young maiden.
This change wasn't particularly obvious to her, but when she let Chunxing and Xiahe see the final effect, both maids were stunned for quite a while.
Especially Chunxing, who stared at her for a long time before even circling around her once, her face full of disbelief.
“Miss, you’ve... become a different person?”
Rate on N.U.
