Power Up, Artist Yang!

Eventually, Yujia came to the conclusion that the end goal was to infiltrate the ring of thieves. Therefore, the first step was getting out of the South Courtyard. Yujia realized that after what happened with her crazy screaming and thief-exposing, the thieves in the South Courtyard would have their defenses up against her. 

She needed to find a way to get into some other courtyard. The main courtyard where Madam Zhang resided was a no. She felt like it would be very suspicious for her to transfer over there. This also meant that since the First Miss lived in the same courtyard, Yujia only had one choice left: the North Courtyard, otherwise known as the courtyard of the Fifth Miss. 

And so, Yujia began to scheme ways to get into that courtyard through any possible means.

A few days passed by, without Yujia taking much action to keep herself low on the radar. Besides subtly digging up more information, she focused on her maid duties. Xie Yufeng continued pushing difficult and undesirable tasks onto Yujia, like scrubbing chamber pots. Xin'er continued being quiet. Lu Biyao, the head maid, seemed more sharp than before. Xu Nuo, who Yujia wanted on the hook, stopped talking to Yujia. 

The behavior of Biyao and Nuonuo only made Yujia more suspicious. Even if she couldn't catch these people red-handed yet, she was positive that they had to be involved with the thieves in some way.

The only person who continued to treat Yujia well was none other than A'Yan. He was the only one to show concern about the thievery case after her pendant was almost stolen. For the next few days, Yujia also relied on him for just socializing purposes. She could see why he was so popular around the villa now— with a personality that kind and friendly, it was impossible not to like him.

One morning, after those slow days before, Yujia finally found an opportunity. 

Xie Yufeng passed another bucket of laundry to her— clothes from the North Courtyard. Yujia never thought she would be happier to see that she was given laundry tasks again.

Humming under her breath, she made her way to the river. Halfway, after making sure that no one was following her, she deviated from her path, heading to Lingxin.

It had been a while since she stepped into the academy. Yujia knew she couldn't stay for long, however, so she went through the back entrance. Once in the villa, she didn't try visiting her master or senior brother. Even though she wanted to, she knew that they would definitely enter a long conversation, and when people in the Yang Villa discovered that she was gone the whole morning and afternoon, she would end up appearing even more suspicious. 

She went straight to her purpose. Sneaking into the bathroom of her courtyard, Yujia grabbed a whole lot of soap and detergent, all the while throwing the soap she received from the Yang Villa to the side.

At the river, Yujia used the new soap to wash the clothes. Immediately, she could see a difference.

The soap that Yujia used previously was low quality. She noticed it the second time washing clothes, how it didn't work that well. 

Now, the soap she used now was formulated specially by her master's late wife and fellow transmigrator like her, Wei Yunjing. Not only was it made of higher quality ingredients, but the way that the soap was created was also at a higher level than whatever technology was used to make the Yang Villa's soap. 

Yujia found the stains washing from the clothes with much more ease. As she washed, she also noticed that the soap was scented, like how she remembered it to be. The delicate floral scent within the soap freshened the clothes, clinging onto it even after the robes had been rinsed in water. When they dried, the clothes would definitely still hold some of the floral scent of the soap. 

Some of these robes belonged to Yang Xiaoyi. Yujia recognized the silk that her younger sister liked to wear. Xiaoyi habitually used the kinds of perfumes that were around during this era, but Yujia was confident that Xiaoyi never had her clothes washed with soap this nice.

If her plan worked out well, then perhaps she would find herself moving to the North Courtyard as early as tomorrow morning…

…

The next morning, the Fifth Miss, Yang Xiaoyi, got out of bed as usual, stretching her arms in front of her. She waited as her maid, A'Ling, carried over a set of robes for her to wear. 

As she put them on, Xiaoyi raised the sleeve to her face, a faint floral scent greeting her nose. Upon noticing that, she paused, paying more attention to the scent, which was a refreshing fusion of jasmine, rose, and sandalwood. Whoever paired the aromas together had an obvious skill in fragrances. 

She dropped her sleeve, a light smile tracing her lips. She glanced over at A'Ling, asking, "Did you add some sort of fragrance to the clothes?" 

A'Ling shook her head. "No, Miss. These robes were washed by the South Courtyard servants yesterday and sent over. I haven't done anything." 

"I see." Xiaoyi nodded, raising the sleeve to her face again. The fragrance was light, nowhere near overwhelming or obvious. She liked that, how it was more subtle. "Ask for who washed the clothes yesterday, and bring them to this courtyard. I want them to work for me," she informed A'Ling.

A'Ling nodded and headed out, likely finding a servant to send to fetch that maid who washed the clothes.

…

Yujia was washing vegetables when a servant came to fetch her. She apparently came from the North Courtyard.

Hearing this, Yujia slowly set the greens in her hand down in the basin. 

Then, she smiled. 

…

What Yujia did not expect was being brought in front of Xiaoyi. 

She wanted to work in the shadows, yet the Fifth Miss requested for a personal audience with her. Yujia couldn't refuse. She would be an insane servant to refuse going to your master when called for. 

Her plan of getting into the North Courtyard went well, but a little too well.

So, in the next moment, she was alone in the room with her younger sister, an awkward smile spreading across her face. Yujia could only think of six words to say.

"Hey Sis; it's been a while."