Not only had Su Ye not gotten anything out of it, she had paid dearly for it. She closed her eyes and rubbed her temples at the thought.
What was she thinking last night?
She should have run away when she had the chance; If Su Qing was going to be taken advantage of, so be it! What did a big man like him have to fear? Was he some fragile flower that had to be cared for?
As the thought crossed her mind, Su Ye remembered the rare flowers in her back garden. Opening her eyes, she said, "Bring two guards and follow me to the back garden. We'll dig out the flowers and sell them."
Those flowers were worth quite a lot of money, and Xiao Xing quickly nodded in response. "Yes, milady."
Keeping her sleeves rolled up, Su Ye strode to the back garden.
***
Under the scorching midday sun, Su Ye stood on the pebble path of her own back garden, staring silently at the empty patch of land. A few seconds later, she turned towards Xiao Xing, dumbfounded. "Where are the flowers? Were they dug out and sold off?"
The handmaiden appeared stumped, but quickly shook her head. "No one would dare to sell them without your orders, milady—you treasured those flowers the most."
Su Ye turned towards the empty garden again. She looked down at the soil closely and saw some remains of the plants. None of them seemed to have been plucked, but they looked as if they had wilted overnight instead. In the vast garden, all that was left was a single flower bud, standing upright in the center of the garden.
Realizing that Su Ye was in a bad mood, Xiao Xing quickly reassured her, "Look—there's still one left, milady. It's the one you personally planted last night, and the one you treasure the most!"
Su Ye turned towards the flower and walked up to it, treading upon dirt as she went.
That was probably the vine she contracted with last night.
Judging from how it was now standing upright and looked like it was about to bloom, it was no longer a vine. In fact, it was now up to her waist, and its stem was almost as thick as her arm. Its leaves were dark purple while its stem and roots were black—even its flower bud was jet black.
She could only imagine how ugly the flower would be when it bloomed.
Meanwhile, the plant appeared to sense her presence. It twitched, shifting its flower bud to rub the back of her hand intimately.
Su Ye patted it in return. It appeared pleased by her touch, and even flipped its leaves a little. Thanks to the contract, Su Ye could distinctly sense its delight. Keeping her eyes on it, she lowered her head and muttered, "Were you jealous that my other flowers were prettier than you, and bullied them to death?"
At those words, the flower bud that had been snuggling up to her suddenly slapped the back of her hand, and turned away dramatically. It seemed offended, as if Su Ye's suggestion was tarnishing its reputation.
Su Ye lifted a brow at the humanistic reaction of the plant. Was it really just a plant? It could understand human speech and show anger… wasn't that a little too human?
Xiao Xing had been standing on the pebble path and watching her mistress. She walked over to help Su Ye, but the instant she put one foot on the dirt, a dark purple tendril coiled itself around her foot. There was a loud crunch, and before she knew it, she was being pulled downwards into the ground. Startled, she shrieked, "Agh!"
Su Ye quickly turned around, and found Xiao Xing and two guards sinking into the ground.