Empress’ Game: Make-up Master Chapter 57 - A Night Visitor

Sure enough, after Wu Sheyue heard it, she only nodded casually. “Oh. She probably heard something.”

Ning’er thought for a moment and asked, “Was it… about that night?”

“Yes. I guessed she should have heard by now.” Wu Sheyue placed the wooden carving in her hand on the table and studied it carefully, considering how to modify it.

Ning’er stood to the side and could not see what Wu Sheyue was making. After staring for a long while, she sighed. “Thinking about it like that, she is kind of pitiful…”

Only then did Wu Sheyue look up at her. Ning’er nervously waved her hands. “Ah, Miss, I know. I’m not sympathizing with her. Ning’er won’t be kind to just anyone anymore.”

Only then did Wu Sheyue lower her head and continue.

At night, Ning’er entered to trim the lamp wick and asked with concern, “Miss, aren’t you resting yet?”

“Not yet.”

Ning’er looked at the piece of wood Wu Sheyue was carving. At first glance, it was actually a lifelike finger.

Ning’er shivered. “How… how many fingers are you going to make?” If she remembered correctly, yesterday had also been fingers.

She did not know when Miss had developed this hobby, making frightening things every day. In the past, one glance would have given her nightmares for several days. Recently, perhaps because she had seen so many, her mentality had improved quite a bit.

Wu Sheyue shook her head in dissatisfaction. “These still look defective. I have to make the highest quality ones. Ah… the old lady’s birthday is coming, so I have to practice my craft. You can help me think about what to give too… Or you can go back.” As she spoke, she stood the cross-section of the finger upright on the table and carefully carved the fingernail.

Ning’er asked in astonishment, “These fingers already look real. How can they be even better? You aren’t thinking of giving… giving this, are you?”

“…” Give this? Was she insane?

Seeing Wu Sheyue remain silent, Ning’er continued nagging, “Miss, don’t stay up too late either. Your complexion will darken. And… even if Bailian isn’t serving in the room now, if anyone sees this, they’ll start spreading bad rumors about you again.”

“I know. That’s why I’m hurrying.” Wu Sheyue finally could not stand her nagging. She stabbed the carving knife into the table and swept the wood shavings, wood blocks, and half-finished products into a box. “I’m stopping. Happy?”

Seeing that Wu Sheyue had stopped, Ning’er quickly stepped forward, took the box, and placed it under the bed.

Ning’er was making the bed over there, while Wu Sheyue propped her chin in her hand and stared out the window. The summer night breeze blew in. Beside her ears were the faint cicadas outside and a soft sigh, as light as the wind.

Wu Sheyue asked gently, “What did you just say?”

Ning’er, who was making the bed, turned back in confusion. “I… didn’t say anything.”

Wu Sheyue returned to her senses and asked warily, “Is that so? Did you hear any sound?”

Ning’er walked to the window and looked outside. “Could Sisi and the others still be awake and making noise?”

Wu Sheyue waved tiredly. “I’ve been a little sensitive lately. It’s nothing. Go back.” Perhaps she really should sleep properly for two days.

After Ning’er left, Wu Sheyue dawdled for a long while before blowing out the lamp. She felt her way through the darkness to the bed, but before she could get on, a light knock sounded behind her.

She instinctively almost asked who it was, but the words caught in her throat before she could speak.

It definitely was not Ning’er. Ning’er had gone to the side room. If it were her own maids or servants, they would have spoken when they knocked. Who would come in the middle of the night?

Wu Sheyue stood silently in the dark, looking at the door. Panic stirred in her heart.

The first time had been a mysterious note. The second time had been Wu Jinghua. The third time had been Wu Hantian. Was her courtyard truly that easy to enter? One person after another came to make trouble for her.

As Wu Sheyue thought this, killing intent flashed in her eyes. She did not know what tricks these people were playing now. Suddenly, she ran two quick steps to the table, stepped on it, and leapt upward. As she flipped out the window, she grabbed the carving knife that had been left on the table.

The instant she landed outside the window, Wu Sheyue spread her feet, braced one hand against the ground, and immediately stood.

She looked up and saw someone standing at the door. The person was tall, dressed in white with black hair, facing the door and with his back to her. Seeing that it was indeed a stranger, Wu Sheyue raised her arm and attacked. The sharp carving knife cut through the air.

The person knocking on the door seemed to hear the sound and quickly turned to look at Wu Sheyue.

In the instant their faces met, Wu Sheyue, who had seen countless faces, had a stupid thought flash through her mind: was this person male or female?

The other person’s handsome features looked especially soft and cold in the moonlight. His thin lips were lightly pressed together, and his eyes, like falling stars, calmly looked at Wu Sheyue without a ripple. If Wu Sheyue had to describe him simply, she could only think of one sentence: devastatingly beautiful.

He—or she—had ink-black hair simply tied behind the head, and wore clean white without unnecessary ornament. He seemed like a visitor from beyond the mortal world, untouched by smoke and fire. Yet in his right hand, he held a bluish-purple demon head that clashed dramatically with the rest of him.

It was the ghost head that had once frightened Wu Jinghua. Later, Wu Sheyue had hidden it near the door. If someone tried to sneak in at night, they would easily knock it down.

The contrast of a beauty holding a ghost head was enormous—eerie, strangely harmonious, and somehow… mysterious.

In the moment Wu Sheyue was startled, the carving knife in her hand had already reached the other person.

But he raised his empty left hand, and his long fingers pinched Wu Sheyue’s wrist as fast as lightning. Wu Sheyue inhaled sharply from the pain. His hand twisted slightly, and the carving knife fell to the ground with a crisp sound.

“Who are you?” Wu Sheyue demanded in a low voice. This person was also highly skilled in martial arts. She did not want to draw Ning’er or anyone else over; they would only be hurt by mistake.

He did not answer immediately. Instead, he looked Wu Sheyue over. Wu Sheyue, of course, was not willing to accept defeat. Following the force at her wrist, she spun, trying to wrench free. But the other person’s fingertips suddenly tightened, making it even harder for Wu Sheyue to withdraw her hand. She used her other hand to claw toward his chest.

She wanted to feel whether this was a man or a woman.

But the white-clad beauty remained calm. He lifted the ghost head in his hand, and Wu Sheyue’s fingers dug into the ghost face she had made herself. She had used full force; the impact jarred her fingers painfully, and she could not help yelping.

Then the other person’s voice sounded, cool and jade-like. “Third Miss Wu?”

Startled, Wu Sheyue yanked her hand back and retreated two steps. The other person did not entangle her further and released her wrist as if showing goodwill.

The two stood facing each other. Wu Sheyue suspected that this person did not actually recognize her. That made sense. She wore only white inner clothes, her hair loose, with no valuables on her body. In the darkness, she had probably been mistaken for the maid keeping watch inside.