A Disguised Scum Alpha Marked Her Aloof Ex-Wife - Chapter 26

The visit to see Bai Shuzhou was arranged for late at night.

Zhu Yu was very conscious of her role as a mysterious family member. She changed clothes many times throughout the afternoon and still was not satisfied. In such an enormous walk-in closet, there was actually not a single thing she could wear.

The scummy Alpha’s wardrobe was practically Miracle Little Fish Dress-Up to her. It dazzled her eyes, and the range of styles was enormous.

If she wore formal clothes, it felt too serious, not like she was going to meet family. She looked at herself in the mirror again and again and unconsciously sat up straight, imagining a reporter across from her carrying a camera and filming her. It made her seem very distant.

Then there was the outfit placed at the very front, already matched by the original body. At first glance, it was an ordinary floral shirt. But after putting it on, it unexpectedly had hidden shaping lines, outlining broad shoulders and a narrow waist. The shallow V-neck naturally exposed a small stretch of collarbone and a long, slender neck, instantly making her proportions look perfect.

The feeling was very novel. Her back felt itchy, as if she were about to spread her tail like a peacock.

Zhu Yu looked at the mirror, and the young woman in the mirror looked back at her. She waved, and the clear, carefree young woman opposite also waved. Even her voice became affected, lowering magnetically.

“Long time no see, Sister.”

So pretentious.

So unfamiliar.

She laughed, froze for a few seconds, then quickly restrained herself. Alert, she suddenly thought: the original body had matched so many outfits in this style. Could it be because Bai Shuzhou liked it?

The bad-woman style.

This would be the first time seeing Bai Shuzhou after that night. Zhu Yu wanted to show her a better side of herself. She wanted Bai Shuzhou to like her just a little more.

If Bai Shuzhou liked her a little more, would she stop leaving without a word?

At least tell her a little.

Then she could not help feeling that imitating someone else seemed like a not-so-good thing.

But then again, this other person had not applied for a patent. She could wear it. She could!

Moreover, she had to play the original body in front of outsiders anyway. This would be safer. It was just forced by circumstances…!

Zhu Yu guiltily found herself an excuse.

Unfortunately, the floral-butterfly outfit she had finally decided on did not last long. The chief attendant’s eyes were a ruler. When she brought dinner, she inspected Zhu Yu with a strict gaze and finally delivered the verdict:

“Not allowed.”

It exposed the gland.

Not allowed.

It was very much like quality inspection at the nutrient-solution factory. After circling once, with a clack, the “unqualified” stamp was pressed down and she was sent back to redo it.

Although the Royal Academy of Sciences was under the Feng family’s control, not falsifying reports was the bottom line of scientific research. Bai Shuzhou’s illness was indeed related to abnormal mental-power fluctuations. Feng Jiyan’s words had not been completely made up.

Zhu Yu could not be cleared of suspicion. She was only being protected.

Zhu Yu, who had secretly practiced winking in front of the mirror for a very long time, suffered a crushing defeat. Unwilling to give up, she put on a loose white shirt over the outfit and buttoned it one by one all the way to the top, making herself look unusually obedient.

The chief attendant looked at her cheerful appearance, and for some reason, her right eyelid twitched.

A moment later, a Michelin bread person fully armed in protective clothing slipped into the Academy through a small utility-room door.

Zhu Yu completely understood the chief attendant’s caution. After all, both of their identities were special. Public figures truly did have to keep a low profile. After changing outfits, it felt even more like a secret tryst.

So exciting.

She liked it.

It made her—made them—seem especially different from everyone else.

The chief attendant was named Melno. She was also a noble, though the suffix of her surname was too long, and Zhu Yu had not remembered it. Calling her by her first name seemed impolite, so Zhu Yu firmly called her Sister.

Her own older sister had taught her that when dealing with people and matters, having a sweet mouth never caused losses.

Zhu Yu had already experienced this deeply on the barren planet.

Unfortunately, iron-blooded Melno remained expressionless and very seriously tightened Zhu Yu’s protective suit more and more until she could barely be recognized as human.

A fish seducing its master was absolutely not allowed.

It was already late at night, yet the Royal Academy of Sciences was still brightly lit. The corridors here seemed especially long, pure white stretching far into the distance, filled with a cold, high-tech atmosphere.

Their quiet footsteps echoed through the hallway.

Before entering, Zhu Yu had vaguely seen staff members moving inside through the windows and had even sighed that they worked so hard, not getting off work even this late.

But after entering, they did not encounter a single person along the way.

The constantly repeating white path made it feel very much like they had run into a ghost wall.

If one wanted to escape from here…

It would probably be very difficult.

The more Zhu Yu walked, the more nervous she became. Her fingertips unconsciously went faintly numb. For some reason, she was a little afraid of this place.

Even through the mask, she could still smell the faint scent of disinfectant and medicine. Perhaps because her mother was a doctor, she had always been very sensitive to this smell.

From stiffly taking steps to quietly walking on tiptoe, Zhu Yu’s abnormal state was very keenly noticed by Melno. Melno slowed her pace, moved from slightly ahead of Zhu Yu to her side, grabbed her, and quickened their steps.

At the end of the corridor, Melno said softly, “When you see Her Highness, do not say what should not be said. Do you understand?”

She did not understand, but Zhu Yu still nodded.

She discovered that everyone in the palace seemed to love speaking in riddles.

The door opened. A yellow-haired researcher lifted her head from a pile of data and happened to meet the white bread person, Zhu Yu. Both of them seemed very nervous.

Zhu Yu stood up straight, though from the outside, one could not tell any difference. That researcher also immediately stood up.

But after seeing Melno beside Zhu Yu, she asked nothing and only bowed to the woman, greeting her respectfully.

It seemed Melno’s status was very high. Zhu Yu could not help glancing sideways at her.

“Take her in for a blood draw,” Melno said.

Zhu Yu became very alert. “There’s a blood draw too?”

Melno did not even lift her eyelids. She only asked, “Do you still want to see Her Highness?”

“…”

Fine.

Zhu Yu very warily followed the researcher in for a blood draw.

After removing the inner three layers and outer three layers, Zhu Yu finally exposed her arm and politely asked, “Can you take a little less?”

The yellow-haired researcher was very young and seemed not to have encountered this situation before. She also answered very politely, “Sorry, no. Then can I try to be gentler?”

“Oh, okay. That’s fine.”

In the subtle and awkward standoff, Zhu Yu added, “Thank you.”

This bread person had only exposed her arm, not her face. But the researcher lifted the needle and suddenly asked, “Are you Zhu Yu?”

How could she tell even from this!

Zhu Yu was very worried about causing trouble for Bai Shuzhou, so she did not speak.

That was the same as admitting it.

The researcher’s movements instantly became slower. “Then you’d better go in a little later. His Majesty is inside.”

Bai Qianze hating Zhu Yu was something everyone knew.

But thinking about it, it made sense. The Empire’s rose, raised by her own hands, had met a poor girl who crawled out of the slums. Their doors did not match, their households did not match. Zhu Yu completely understood.

If she imagined their future daughter meeting some little delinquent with dyed yellow hair, Zhu Yu would absolutely not trust them to be together either!

She had escaped death by surviving disaster after disaster. No wonder she had felt cold all over the moment she walked in.

“Thank you. It’s all thanks to you.”

“No need to thank me.” The researcher paused, then continued, “I watched the livestream that day too. Everyone really admires you.”

Admire.

That was truly an extremely high evaluation. Zhu Yu felt somewhat overwhelmed by the favor. For the first time, she felt that someone else’s passionate and pure gaze was reflected entirely on her.

Not on the original body’s shadow.

After the blood draw, the researcher came over very enthusiastically to shake Zhu Yu’s hand. She even specially brought up a surveillance screen of the corridor, preparing to let Zhu Yu out only after the emperor’s ceremonial entourage had left.

Their abilities were limited, but they could still do what they could.

However, it was already very late. Zhu Yu remembered that Bai Shuzhou had to lie down and sleep on time before twelve every night, and now there was less than half an hour until her rest time.

She stood up and, before the researcher could take out a high-grade nutrient block, repeatedly waved her hand to indicate there was no need to be so polite.

Just then, a group of figures flashed onto the large screen.

Zhu Yu lifted her head, her eyes lighting up. But very quickly, she discovered that the white-haired figure who appeared was not Bai Shuzhou, but Bai Qianze.

As biological sisters, the two of them undoubtedly looked very alike. Both had long silver hair and blue eyes, but there was a great difference in their temperaments.

Bai Qianze’s eye color was deeper, as if it could devour everything.

Unlike Bai Shuzhou’s, which was pale blue like the sky and would gently refract brilliant sapphire-like light when it caught the light.

This emperor, who was rumored to be cold as frost and only gentle to her younger sister, was currently embracing the woman in her arms with a cloak, covering her tightly. Under the surveillance camera, only a stretch of ankle occasionally appeared.

Pale as jade, suspended in midair, swaying lightly like a wind chime.

Thin and fragile.

The staff on both sides of the corridor all lowered their heads very low, not daring to look directly upon the imperial countenance.

Where no one was allowed to look, Bai Qianze’s eyes, deep as the sea, revealed an almost crazed tenderness. Seeing it, the researcher could not help feeling startled and instinctively turned to look at Zhu Yu.

Zhu Yu also frowned.

From the enormous image, she accurately captured Bai Shuzhou’s shadow and murmured, “Why isn’t she wearing socks? She’s already sick, and the air conditioning here is so low.”

Researcher: Was that the important point?!

“You…”

Before the researcher could finish, Zhu Yu had already mysteriously wrapped herself back in her outfit and rushed outside impatiently.

The emperor’s ceremonial entourage had just left when the white bread person had already bypassed the staff and sneakily poked her head out from outside Bai Shuzhou’s room like a cat.

When she was watching the surveillance, she had memorized the route along the way. She walked even faster than Melno. Unfortunately, the room Bai Shuzhou was in seemed to be a luxury suite. From the entrance, one could only see the foyer and the living room. A fluffy white tail was guarding there.

It was a Snow Leopard Knight.

Zhu Yu was alarmed and turned to run, but Melno behind her calmly swept through the iris verification and pushed Zhu Yu inside.

“You may leave first,” Melno said to the Snow Leopard Knight.

“Yes.”

The Snow Leopard Knight glanced at Zhu Yu, also not looking surprised at all, and quietly left.

Could it be that the emperor had tacitly allowed her to come see Bai Shuzhou?

Zhu Yu secretly rejoiced in her heart.

The furnishings inside were completely different from those outside. Only one wall separated icy white from a magnificent royal atmosphere.

For a moment, Zhu Yu felt as if she had crossed back from the Academy to the palace. It was even much more luxurious than her own bedchamber. Even many of the instruments were glittering.

This was Bai Shuzhou’s exclusive room.

From childhood until now, she might have spent even more time here receiving treatment than in the palace.

Zhu Yu inexplicably felt a sense of familiarity toward this place. A phrase flashed abruptly through her mind.

A canary in a golden cage.

Pah. She was not a canary. She was a dragon! In the future, she would also be a very powerful dragon!

The temperature in the room seemed even lower. Even wearing the protective suit, Zhu Yu could feel waves of chill.

Amid a low-key yet luxurious glow, only the woman on the bed was white as the first snow of a winter night. Her eyes were tightly closed. The clock just happened to light up.

Twelve o’clock exactly.

For a moment, Zhu Yu seemed to hear a bell toll.

The warm yellow light reflected on Bai Shuzhou’s side profile, illuminating her skin into an almost translucent porcelain white. Faint bluish veins appeared at her neck, fragile and easily broken.

Zhu Yu’s nose stung. She gently touched Bai Shuzhou’s fingertips.

Thick exhaustion hung over the woman’s curled lashes. She did not open her eyes. She no longer had the strength to open them. Only her fingertips hooked slightly.

Zhu Yu saw her thin lips part. Clearly, no sound emerged, yet it felt as though there was an unusually gentle, hoarse call.

“Zhu Yu.”

In this icy room, they sensed each other’s presence. As if their hearts were connected, they touched lightly like snails extending their feelers.

Zhu Yu removed her mask and bent down to kiss her. Points of warm light silently gathered in her palm, but in the next second, Bai Shuzhou gripped her wrist tightly.

The woman opened her eyes. Tonight, those pale blue eyes looked especially damp and cold.

She held Zhu Yu’s hand and tugged.

This soft kiss had nowhere to escape, like snow falling across the sky, landing on each other’s hair and brows.

Zhu Yu braced one knee against the edge of the bed and very naturally held her icy hand back, warming it in her palm.

Author’s Note:

Zhu Yu, dressed strangely and exuding Bai Shuzhou’s unique rose scent: How did you know I was Zhu Yu? [Pitiful]