The Spring Room’s Peculiar Embrace

When they arrived at the box, the luxurious scene appeared before their eyes again.

When Lin Mo pushed open the heavy, warm and lustrous spiritual wooden door leading to the “Spring” private room, the interior space suddenly became clear, and the luxury of the private room was on full display.

The surroundings were not merely walls in the traditional sense; each partition was crafted from a single, unobstructed sheet of crystal, utterly transparent and gleaming.

These crystalline walls, appearing almost ethereal, allowed the misty expanse of Mirror Lake and the fiery hues of the setting sun to flood the view, entirely unhindered.

The sunset’s molten-gold light streamed inward, spilling across the warm jade floor, which was as smooth as polished fat, creating a brilliant river of radiance that bathed the entire space in a luxurious, reddish-gold sheen.

Heaven’s light and cloud shadows danced together where water met sky; standing before these walls, one felt suspended directly over the lake’s heart, completely immersed within this priceless tableau painted by nature itself.

This, then, was the irreplaceable core value of the ‘Spring’ room: it encapsulated the very essence of Mirror Lake.

Remarkably, from the outside, the interior structure remained completely invisible.

It was clearly a one-way design; those outside could not glimpse within, yet occupants enjoyed an unobstructed view of the world beyond.

However, mere scenery alone would not have stirred such a profound impression in Ji Xue.

The interior decor, too, was exquisite; the supporting structures were grand pillars, meticulously carved from solid millennia-old zitan wood, whose deep, somber tones shimmered with a subtle purple-gold luster, adorned with continuous, ancient cloud-and-bat motifs, each line flowing with smooth elegance, a testament to masterful craftsmanship.

At the heart of the private room, the spacious dining table and accompanying chairs were also fashioned from millennia-old zitan, their edges inlaid with warm, flawless mutton-fat jade, and their polished surface reflected like a mirror, capturing both the elegant palace lanterns above and the shifting glow of the twilight outside the windows.

Upon the chairs rested cushions of exceptional rarity, entirely pristine and resembling white jade, woven from the finest cold ice snow silkworm threads—a specialty of the Xuan Nv Sect—offering a sensation both cool and smooth, as if one were sinking into clouds; even Ji Xue, a princess accustomed to royal opulence, felt a flicker of imperceptible surprise in her eyes as her fingertips grazed the fabric.

The room boasted numerous other decorations; to complement its setting as a lake-center pavilion, every area beyond the central dining space in the ‘Spring’ room was transformed into a serene pool of water, where lotus flowers bloomed and stood tall, perfectly replicating the vast and misty scenery of Mirror Lake—a truly breathtaking sight.

When the door finally closed, a cascade of shimmering light, like a flowing waterfall, slowly descended from its top, enveloping the entire portal.

Ji Xue recognized this as a form of secrecy enchantment, though she couldn’t fathom why such measures were necessary for a mere dining room.

Withdrawing her gaze from the door, Ji Xue looked at Lin Mo’s back before her. ‘This fellow… consistently stepping forward on my behalf… before, it could be attributed to money… but what about this time?’

Her nanny had once told her that her status predestined her to a life devoid of true confidantes, a life perpetually navigating the treacherous currents of human deceit and intrigue.

She was to grow accustomed to betrayal, to schemes and entrapment.

‘Yet… this fellow…’

Ji Xue regarded Lin Mo with a complex expression, a stark contrast to their initial animosity, their mutual disdain, which had now evolved into something else entirely.

Ji Xue sometimes found herself utterly bewildered.

‘Does this Lin Wan’er truly care for money or not?’

‘If not, I wouldn’t be able to take this fellow as my subordinate.’

‘If she does, then why was she so indifferent to Nangong Xuan’s invitation?’

Ji Xue was quite perplexed.

What puzzled her even more, however, was what Lin Mo was currently doing.

Lin Mo stood right before Ji Xue, his back to her, his body trembling like a sieve.

Before Ji Xue could even walk around to face him, she noticed him pulling out one of the chairs.

Lin Mo, at this moment, was drenched in cold sweat, a rare expression of panic marring his exquisitely beautiful face.

“Why are you so flustered?” Ji Xue asked, somewhat bewildered.

“How… how can I not be flustered! From your conversation, it seemed even you couldn’t contend with that Nangong woman, yet I actually struck her… What if she, in a fit of rage, sends a letter home to her family… I, I, I’ll be finished! It was an impulse, a complete impulse!”

Ji Xue was left speechless.

‘How is it that this fellow constantly oscillates between shrewdness and foolishness? And why does her manner of speaking sound exactly like a boorish man?’

‘I still hold leverage against her; if she dares to send a letter home, my recording stone could spread throughout the land.’

‘The Nangong family wields immense power, so much so that even my own mother likely distrusts them, perhaps secretly awaiting an opportunity to seize a weakness.’

‘Many covet the Nangong family’s position; one could say that while their influence is vast, they walk a precarious tightrope. A single misstep, a solitary weakness exposed, and countless hands would seize it, dragging them forcibly from their lofty perch.’

‘Therefore, Nangong Xuan surely wouldn’t dare to act rashly upon her return.’

Ji Xue had assumed Lin Mo must have calculated all this, which was why he dared to strike… but was that not the case?

‘Is he… a fool?’

Muttering to herself, Ji Xue also took a seat, unconsciously settling right beside Lin Mo.

With no one watching, and the secrecy enchantment in place, they were truly alone.

Ji Xue disregarded all decorum, simply collapsing onto the tabletop with a sigh of relief. ‘Today… was a little exhausting.’

Yet, the constant chattering of Lin Mo’s teeth beside her left Ji Xue somewhat exasperated. ‘Still afraid?’

“If you’re so terrified, why did you strike her? Wouldn’t it have been enough to just teach her two subordinates a lesson?”

“It’s all your fault,” Lin Mo immediately grumbled, sprawling across the table and blaming Ji Xue.

“Me? What does this have to do with me, I—”

“If you hadn’t told me all those things that night, I wouldn’t have stepped in to help you,” he retorted.

“…?”

With his face buried in his arms, Lin Mo’s muffled voice slowly emerged. “Saying such things to someone who deeply respects their mother, isn’t that just asking for a beating? My mind just heated up, and I swung.”

‘How to put it… this is incredibly foolish.’

‘For me, I should be as low-key and cowardly as possible… but… I couldn’t endure it.’

‘It’s hard to explain… it felt as if that needle was piercing my own flesh.’

‘I simply couldn’t control these impulses.’

‘Sigh… another enemy added to the list.’

‘Never mind, never mind. Just consider it a paid assignment! When I get back, I’ll find every way to get Boss Ji to raise my wages.’

‘As long as I survive long enough to leave the Xuan Nv Sect, once I shed this female disguise, the identity of Lin Wan’er will vanish with the wind!’

‘Enough talk, time to order!’

For some reason, the Xuan Nv Sect’s ordering system bore a striking resemblance to modern mobile payment methods.

It was much like ordering takeout.

Having been paralyzed before, he had only watched his mother order; now, ordering himself held a certain enjoyment.

And he didn’t even have to spend money!

He could order as much as he wanted—

Suddenly, something rushed towards him.

There was no massive impact, no sudden hidden weapon; merely a pair of arms wrapped around him.

Then, just as swiftly, they released him.

As if nothing had happened, Ji Xue calmly looked outside.

“…?”

‘What just happened?’

‘Did this girl… just hug me?’

“Consider it your reward; do not misunderstand, commoner. To be embraced by a noble princess such as myself is, is your honor!”

Ji Xue turned her head away, preventing Lin Mo from seeing her face.

But Lin Mo wasn’t having it! ‘What do you mean, a ‘hug’ as payment? For you, I offended someone with immense power, and you think a mere hug will dismiss me without extra pay?’

Lin Mo promptly stood up and hugged her right back!

“Here’s your hug back! Now give me my wages! I only recognize money!”

Ji Xue, on the spot, was not pleased.

‘My noble self embraced you, and you disdain it? It’s not even worth as much as money to you?’

‘If you don’t want it, I’ll insist!’

And so, within the lavish ‘Spring’ private room, the two of them engaged in a flurry of hugs.

The soft collisions sparked a subtle, hidden delight within Lin Mo.

Gradually, the demand for money seemed to transform into something else entirely.

As for Ji Xue… she found herself feeling quite peculiar.

‘She knew the tomboy’s chest wasn’t large, but this was… excessively flat. It felt strange… no matter how flat, it shouldn’t be this flat, should it?’