As Roy and Liu Ji lost themselves in passion, the adjacent courtyard happened to be Yu Ji's residence.
Tonight the moon shone bright amidst sparse stars, its crescent hanging high to cast pale illumination upon the swaying tree shadows in the courtyard.
Beneath a ginkgo tree, the dark beauty knelt upon a soft cushion, her black dress blooming like a flower across the ground. A seven-stringed zither rested on her lap as moonlight filtered through leaves, projecting Yu Meiren's melancholic silhouette infinitely enlarged upon the opposite wall.
Her jade fingers plucked occasional notes from the zither—slow, experimental, lacking formal composition. Yet these scattered tones combined to fill the courtyard with desolate loneliness.
Yu Meiren's expression was distant, her gaze unfocused as fingers moved instinctively across strings while her thoughts wandered unknown realms.
Nearby, Tamamo-no-Mae still wore her ancient Indian-styled attire that bared her slender waist, though her face veil was absent tonight, allowing the moon to admire her peerless beauty. Perhaps the celestial orb grew shy before such loveliness—a thick cloud soon drifted across to obscure it, plunging the world into darkness.
Standing sideways, Tamamo's pink locks trembled slightly as her fox ears twitched. Though the wall was well-constructed with excellent soundproofing, to her acute hearing, the neighboring sounds might as well have been happening right before her eyes.
At first, when Roy and Liu Ji went to the house in the neighboring courtyard, she was merely curious. But as the commotion inside grew louder, Tamamo-no-Mae's expression darkened, until it could finally be described as outright anger.
"Those two... those two..."
Though Tamamo-no-Mae had no personal experience in such matters, she could still recognize what was happening. As the noises grew increasingly loud and the cries more shameless, her fair face gradually flushed crimson.
That wasn't shyness—it was burning fury.
Tamamo-no-Mae rolled up her sleeves, revealing a pair of jade-like arms, and strode proudly toward the neighboring courtyard with an air of indignation.
At this moment, Yu Ji finally snapped out of her daze and hurriedly called out to stop her, "...What are you planning to do?!"
"Roy didn't care about your feelings at all, A-Yu~~ Little Tamamo here will avenge you! I just recently developed my 'Polygamy Castration Fist,' so I'll go demand justice for you and help him lose some weight!"
Tamamo-no-Mae declared righteously, though while there was indeed a hint of genuine desire to seek justice for Yu Ji, her face betrayed far more excitement, as if she were deeply curious about what was happening in the next courtyard.
Tamamo-no-Mae was a rather progressive fox, disliking the polygamous system, but she also understood that it was the basic moral standard of this era, so she never thought to change it.
There's a saying: "Out of sight, out of mind." Perhaps because this wasn't happening to her, Tamamo-no-Mae's anger was tinged with a bit of schadenfreude.
She turned back to look at Yu Ji, who was sitting beneath the ginkgo tree, and for some reason, she suddenly felt as though Yu Ji's thick, raven-black hair had taken on a greenish hue. She quickly rubbed her eyes.
Hmm, A-Yu's hair was still black—must have just been her imagination.
"Fox, don't go causing trouble for the king. Someone of his status naturally has multiple wives and concubines. Besides, he has always treated me with the utmost respect and devotion. And I know… what he's doing with Liu Ji right now is actually for my sake."
As she spoke, Yu Ji's voice gradually grew quieter. Watching the man she loved entangled with another woman, yet knowing it was all to protect her from being pruned—as a gentle, understanding woman who didn't make unreasonable demands, what else could she do but forgive him?
Yu Ji's heart was heavy, her expression growing increasingly agitated. She struggled to suppress these emotions, barely keeping herself from exploding on the spot.
The king dotes on me, yet he's never touched me. Does he find my body unappealing? Am I not beautiful enough for his liking? But… I don't think I'm any worse than Liu Ji—in fact, I think I'm even prettier than her. Could it be that humans and spirits have different standards of beauty?
What should I do? If humans and spirits really have different tastes, how should I adjust…? Maybe… maybe when the king has some free time, I can subtly probe his preferences and then secretly alter my appearance accordingly?
It had to be said—women always overthink things, turning simple matters into convoluted dilemmas. At this point, Yu Ji was so desperate to make Roy interested in her that she was even considering cosmetic adjustments.
After all, changing her figure and appearance wasn't particularly difficult for her. Every time she reformed her body from the sea of blood, her height and weight would shift slightly anyway.
Tamamo-no-Mae watched in astonishment as Yu Meiren stood disheveled under the ginkgo tree, her face alternating between blushing and contorting with irritation, as if suffering from some mental disorder. What surprised Tamamo most was that Yu Meiren's fury and agitation weren't directed at Roy—she was angry at herself.
"Yu, what's wrong with you? Are you okay?"
After the initial shock came panic, and Tamamo quickly asked.
Hearing Tamamo's words, Yu Meiren took a deep breath to calm herself. She cast a sidelong glance at Tamamo, her expression sorrowful like Xi Shi clutching her heart, and uttered a melancholic remark that made Tamamo grit her teeth: "...You wouldn't understand. You've never loved anyone, nor has anyone loved you. You don't know these feelings."
Tamamo's lifelong wish was to become a good wife, a 'virtuous fox.' But to achieve that, she first needed to find a boyfriend and then elevate him to the status of a husband.
However, given the Nine-Tailed Fox's pickiness, though there were many men in the world, how many could truly catch her eye? Now, hearing Yu Meiren say she knew nothing of love or romance was like a nail driven straight into Tamamo's heart, puncturing her emotional defenses and leaving her utterly deflated.
"Fine, fine! I don't understand, I don't understand! I won't meddle anymore, okay?"
Tamamo was on the verge of tears. She had only wanted to do something nice—how had she ended up being verbally skewered by Yu Meiren instead? Was this woman actually a secret sadist?
Her ears and tail drooping, Tamamo, having been struck right in her weak spot, lost all her energy. She muttered something under her breath before leaving in a huff.
Ahh, little Tamamo also wants to find a beloved husband! If she could really find one, even if he glanced at other women a few times, she—she could forgive him!
With Tamamo gone, the courtyard was empty again except for Yu Meiren. She plucked a few more notes on her instrument before leaving the garden in a foul mood, retreating to her bedroom in hopes of out of sight, out of mind.
Her heart ached with bitterness and sorrow, filled with overwhelming grievance.