Power Up, Artist Yang!

Zixu closed the book he held, shelving it back where it belonged.

"Junior Sister, are you here today to talk about your plan?" he asked. 

Yujia asked him back during their "forest trip" to help her along her plan of infiltrating the Yang Villa to investigate. Because Zixu was busy, the two didn't get to discuss exactly what time they would execute the plan. Yujia wasn't quite sure if it would be appropriate to bother Zixu, who needed to study for such an important exam, now thinking about it. 

Every second he spent on her matters felt like they were taking away from his study time, which made a wave of guilt rise up in Yujia. She didn't want to be so selfish about things. 

Deciding to get to her point fast, Yujia said, "When are you free? I would like to get this matter done as soon as possible, but I don't want to do it if you're too busy."

Zixu shrugged. "I'm free today. It's best to do so today."

"Oh." 

Yujia thought for a second that maybe she wasn't prepared enough to do so today, but at another thought, she had been planning this for almost a week now. If she wasn't prepared now, a few days more wouldn't make her any more prepared. 

Still, it was somewhat nerve-wracking to see everything unfolding so quickly. 

"You want to… go right now?" Yujia blurted.

"Sure. Not a problem with me." 

…

Yujia found her palms sweating as she went back to her courtyard. She dressed herself in the set of maid robes that she "borrowed". Recalling the memory of Hui'er's typical hairstyle, along with the hair that most maids in the villa wore, Yujia brushed her hair quickly in the mirror. The good news was that it wasn't elaborate at all. Thus, even with Yujia's lacking styling skills, she could still pull her hair into the usual bun that maids had.

While she got ready, Zixu went back to the Yu Villa. Yujia was supposed to meet him there once she was done. 

Truthfully, Yujia didn't need to do much besides dressing up as a maid. The key to her whole plan relied upon Zixu, and what he was about to do. 

Still, Yujia couldn't help getting nervous. All the anticipation she had during the past few days boiled down to this point, Zixu's performance, and her performance as well. 

Her heart raced at the thought that today— a day which she didn't expect to turn out like this when she woke up in the morning— could be the day that her trust was either restored or completely broken.

In a way, preparing herself in a maid costume right now was also a chance for her to calm herself down. 

Once she was completely ready, which only took ten or so minutes, Yujia raced down to the Yu Villa. Thankfully, it was near Lingxin, so though she walked super fast— or pretty much almost ran— to reach the villa, she wasn't too out of breath. 

She wasn't quite sure why she ran. Maybe she didn't want to delay Zixu's time, if he was already ready. Or maybe she couldn't wait to figure out the truth, and the adrenaline racing through her blood pushed her to move faster. 

A carriage was already prepared whenever Yujia arrived. A minute or two later, Zixu exited the villa as well, followed by a few servants. One of them carried a tray with a gift, which looked like a jade sculpture of some sort. 

He gestured for Yujia to get on the carriage with him, and Yujia followed. Once they were on the carriage, and felt the carriage jolt forward in movement, Zixu glanced at her. "You're nervous?"

"You noticed?" Yujia asked, but the moment she said it, she realized that of course Zixu noticed. It wouldn't be Zixu if he didn't notice. "I'm just…" she said, "a bit scared of what I'll discover."

He sighed. "It's inevitable that you have to face it. It's only a matter of if you face it sooner or later. Might as well get it over with early on."

"You have a point," Yujia sighed as well, biting the inside of her cheek. A part of her knew this fact too. 

She could only pray that it wasn't Hui'er or Xiaoyi. Those were the two people that she didn't want it to be. She wouldn't know what to do if she found out that it was them. 

"What's the gift for?" she asked, attempting to divert herself. 

Zixu answered, "It's etiquette to bring gifts. That way, your father may feel more inclined to let me speak with the Fifth Miss."

"Makes sense. Do I need to pay you back?"

"No. There are plenty of these things lying around in the Yu Villa. No one would miss one or two that disappeared." 

After hearing this response, Yujia fell silent. She looked down at her hands, going through the plan in her mind. 

The first step to infiltrating the Yang Villa was getting Zixu to request for an audience with Yang Xiaoyi. Since the two were now not even in an engagement, both Madam Zhang and the Old Master would have to be present as chaperones. This left an opportunity for Yujia to sneak in and search the rooms of the main suspects. 

It wasn't foolproof. But with the details all planned out, Yujia hoped that it would all go well.