The Dragon Mansion was quiet.
In her inner studio, Li Longling sat alone at her desk. She lightly slid her fingers over the pages of the account book on the table, reading the contents through the tactile sensation of the ink and paper.
She started to administer the ledgers of the Dragon House since she was nine years old.
Things like the daily expenses of food and drinks for the mansion guards, monthly wages for the servants, the funds for repairs needed in the mansion...
Normally, in a typical aristocratic family, these things would be left to the wife of the head of the family.
But her mother died giving birth to her, and Li Feng never married again, so these things became his attributes.
When she was nine years old, after learning about this matter, Li Longling took the initiative to take up this matter to ease her father's burdens.
At first, Li Feng, worried about her blindness, arranged for a maid to help her read the contents of the account books and to write the bills for her.
But one day, Li Longling noticed a discrepancy between the account book and what she remembered. Finally, after interrogating the maid who helped her read the accounts, she found out that the maid had accepted bribes from someone in the Dragon House and occasionally underreported some of the bills, thus helping some gangsters to embezzle money.
It was because of that incident that Li Longling started to learn to use her fingers instead of her eyes.
Thus, for any matter involving paperwork, she could do it herself.
However, fingers could never compare to eyes.
It would take her a quarter of an hour or more to read documents that a normal person could read in a few minutes.
At the moment, just dealing with the manor's servants' ledgers took up most of her time, so what would she do if her father wanted to pass the position of head of the Dragon House to her in the future?
Li Longling thought about this issue almost every day.
There were two methods she could think of.
---The first way was for her father to marry someone and have another child so that her younger brother or sister could take over as the leader of the Dragon House .
This was something she had mentioned to her father before. However, he became furious with her and even made her kneel for three days and three nights before her mother's mourning hall.
As for the second method...
---She would marry herself and then manage the Dragon House with her husband.
This was not a bad idea.
But who could guarantee that the person she married in the future would always treat her and the Dragon House well?
Maybe it would be like the maid who reported the fake accounts, who usually addressed her very considerately, calling her 'Miss' but would take advantage of her because she couldn't see.
Anyone could easily fool a blind person like her...
Thinking of this, Li Longling bit her lip lightly and wanted to pick up the teacup and wash away her anxiety with a sip of tea.
However, when she reached out toward where the teacup was in her memory...
Crash--
There was the sound of porcelain breaking.
Knowing that she had broken the teacup again, Li Longling pursed her lips helplessly and shouted. "Ling'er."
There was no answer.
"Ling'er..."
Again, no one answered.
Li Longling hesitated for a moment. She then stood up, holding the chair armrest, wanting to go out and call someone. Unexpectedly, as soon as she took a step, she stepped on a piece of porcelain, and a sharp pain shot through her foot.
"Hiss--"
The evading instinct caused by pain broke her balance, and she fell straight back.
"Ah!"
Li Longling gritted her teeth and quickly raised her hands to protect the back of her head.
However, next, she felt herself falling into someone's arms. The person supported her with one arm around her waist and the other on her shoulder.
Stunned, Li Longling called softly. "... Ling'er?"
She slowly reached out to touch the hand of the person holding her and found that the skin was as smooth as silk, which meant that the one who caught her was not Ling'er.
As a maid, Ling'er had to do a lot of menial work on a daily basis. Her hands were very rough, and she had no time to take care of them.
"Who are you?"
Feng Yu Die looked at Li Longling with a playful smile. She wanted to let her guess, but then she felt it was impolite, so she answered honestly. "It's me."
"Feng... Sister Feng?"
"It's me, hehe."
Feng Yu Die grinned, helped her sit back down, then crouched to clean up the teacup shards. "Sister Li, how come you are alone and have no servant to accompany you? Look how dangerous it was. If I hadn't come, you would have fallen badly."
Li Longling turned to face Feng Yu Die's direction, following her voice, and smiled bitterly. "Ling'er should be here. I don't know where she went. By the way, why are you here, Sister Feng?"
Feng Yu Die brought a stool to sit on and replied, "Can't I just come to visit Sister Li, who is as beautiful as a fairy?"
"... Sister Feng, you're joking." Li Longling smiled awkwardly. She thought for a while, then asked, "Do you need to borrow something like the Spirit Gathering Array? If so, you don't need to come to tell me, just find..."
"I came here to convey that the two disciples of the Black Star Sect who found the demonic cultivator in the Dragon House said they will meet you in the forest outside of Duchun City the day after tomorrow."
Li Longling was slightly surprised. "The day after tomorrow? Why didn't you bring them here?"
"That's because the mansion is not safe."
Li Longling frowned and nodded. Thinking that Feng Yu Die was complaining, she tried to apologize. "Sister Feng, please rest assured. My father is in charge of the Dragon House , so no matter how lawless those demonic cultivators are, they will never enter the inner mansion. The Dragon House will definitely protect you and Sister Xiao."
"Ah?" Feng Yu Die hurriedly waved her hand. "I wasn't complaining, this matter is not your fault."
"The demonic cultivators infiltrating the mansion is indeed Dragon House 's responsibility. That's okay to say it, Sister Feng."
"I really don't blame you. There was nothing you could do about it."
"Nothing I could do?" Li Longling frowned slightly and tilted her head. "Could it be that you already know how those demonic cultivators got into the Dragon House ?"
"You could say that..."
Li Longling cupped her hands and interrupted. "Sister Feng, please speak frankly."
"The day after tomorrow when you meet that brother and sister of mine, they will explain everything. For now, forget it."
"Why?"
"There is no reason."
Feng Yu Die looked at Li Longling with helpless eyes. Although Ye Anping didn't tell her whether she could talk to her already, right now, she really could not bring herself to repeat what he said.
"Sister Li, there is only one thing I want to say."
"Well, please speak, Sister Feng."
Feng Yu Die was silent for a while, then grabbed Li Longling's hand and said seriously, "We will always be on your side."
Li Longling was startled. "Sister Feng, what do you mean by this?"
"I'll take you to see my brother the day after tomorrow. I'm going now."
"..."
With this, Feng Yu Die gently pinched Li Longling's cheek, turned around, and ran out.
Li Longling froze in the chair, then raised her hand to touch her cheek.
"What does that mean?"
At this time, she heard footsteps entering the room.
Wu Yue walked past Feng Yu Die at the door. Seeing her running so fast, she was a little confused, so she entered the room and asked, "Young Lady, Miss Feng was here just now. Did something happen?"
"Sister Feng said that she found the two Black Star Sect disciples who captured the demonic cultivator, and she will take me to see them the day after tomorrow."
Hearing this, Wu Yue's eyes widened slightly, and she almost smiled. However, she took a deep breath, suppressed the excitement in her heart, and answered as calmly as possible. "I see. Then, I'll accompany you the day after tomorrow."
"There's no need, Sister Feng will take me there."
"This is not possible. Master Li ordered me to protect you, Young Lady. What if this is a trap?"
A trap... Li Longling frowned slightly and suddenly remembered Feng Yu Die's words-- "We will always be on your side."
She felt as if Feng Yu Die's words hid a secret meaning, but...
She really couldn't understand what she meant...
"Oh, well..."