Cao Yunyun coaxed the twins into the bedroom, put on makeup and changed into a dress.
When I came down from the second floor, I saw Lin Yuan still sitting on the windowsill, looking daydreamy.
She looked like a gentle and quiet guide, who at best just preferred to daydream.
But Cao Yunyun felt vaguely in her heart that it was just a kind of disguise, a shell that made her look like a creature that could abide by the "rules" here on the surface.
Everyone living in this world has a shell, it’s just a matter of whether or not you have the courage to break out of it, Cao Yunyun thought.
"Where did you get this dress? It doesn't seem to fit you well?" Cao Yunyun asked.
Lin Yuan usually wore the white dress issued by the academy. Today, probably because she came from home, she found a black dress from somewhere.
Tuan sat on the windowsill. Her skirt, as black as smoke, made her limbs look slender and her skin look porcelain white.
It's just too fierce, too cold, and doesn't seem like what a guide should wear.
"I don't know. I found it at home. It might belong to my mother." Lin Yuan replied.
See, this guy knows he needs to wear a dress to a dinner party.
For her, all she had to do was get the dress and put it on.
As for whether the clothes fit well or whether they could highlight the guide's gentle temperament, she didn't care at all.
"It's a little too big. Let me help you modify it." Cao Yunyun sighed, took out the sewing kit, and helped Lin Yuan to fix the waistline and hem of the skirt.
"Your mother seems to be a sentry?" Cao Yunyun bent over and bit off the thread. She knew a little about Lin Yuan's life experience.
"Well," Lin Yuan stretched out her hand and gently smoothed the hem of her skirt, "She is very tall and runs very fast. She is a strong person."
I dreamed about her a few days ago, Yunyun.
After the skirt was altered, Cao Yunyun took Lin Yuan's hand and turned around.
The raven-colored coat, ash-gray petticoat, and gradient-colored skirt are simple and neat, with no other decorations except for a row of rhinestones extending downward along the waist.
Lin Yuan had a cold personality to begin with, and with this skirt on, she looked like an unknown being, a creature from the underworld, and she was about to leave the world in the next moment.
Cao Yunyun was dazzled by her appearance. She vaguely felt that even as a guide, she was still very beautiful.
She quickly shook her head to get rid of the thought.
No no, this is out of place.
She helped Lin Yuan to tie her hair again and picked up her makeup box.
Lin Yuan held her wrist and declined.
"Putting on makeup is also to please oneself." Cao Yunyun thought it was very funny. "At this kind of banquet, even the male guides and even the sentinels will dress up beautifully."
"If you want to please yourself, you must want it first." Lin Yuan shook her head repeatedly. She didn't like the feeling of having something stuck on her face, and the tentacles didn't like it even more.
The tentacles raised their heads one by one, opened their suction cups of varying sizes, and nodded to show their dislike.
Cao Yunyun took out a lipstick and coaxed her, "At least put on some lipstick. I made it myself. I added beeswax and rose essential oil. It smells very fragrant and a little sweet."
When Lin Yuan heard the sweet words, he licked his lips to show his agreement.
The two girls dressed themselves up and walked out, lifting their skirts.
Time was a bit tight, so they almost jogged.
Cao Yunyun's garden is very beautiful, with many layers of flower branches, and champagne-colored roses blooming all over the garden in this season.
Arm in arm, they ran through the flowers wet with evening dew, feeling the cool, smooth touch of each other's skin.
A snow goose flew out following the two of them. It was Cao Yunyun's spirit body.
The pure white bird flew over the high and low branches, chirped, and its small figure rushed into the sky and circled in the distance.
Cao Yunyun thought, she didn't know why, but this bird rarely spread its wings and flew like this over the years.
She saw Lin Yuan, who was walking in front of her, looking back. She was wearing a smoky skirt, and there were faint spirits surging in the shadows under the flowers in the forest.
In the hazy night, the pair of painted lips were slightly curved, as if about to smile.
After knowing each other for so many years, Cao Yunyun has hardly ever seen Lin Yuanxiao.
She was about to leave here and live the life she wanted.
This thought suddenly flashed through Cao Yunyun's mind, making her feel inexplicably frightened and reluctant.
In the lounge of the Earl's Mansion, the sentries were busy ironing their clothes and styling their hair, while some of them were applying foundation on their faces in front of the mirror.
It’s not too exaggerated. It’s common to apply a little powder, draw eyebrows, and dye lip color.
In the evening, an amazingly luxurious dinner will be held here, with a large number of nobles, princes, ministers and even royal family members attending.
The security of the banquet is particularly important. As sentinels of the Capital Security Department, they must be on high alert.
The capital of the empire is protected by the holy light of the White Tower, and no horrific pollutants will ever approach.
Living here, a dignified appearance and handsome looks are more important to the sentinels than their fighting ability.
Although they were only responsible for the security patrol at the banquet, who would want to lose their image in a place where so many nobles gathered
Everyone thinks that dressing up is important.
If you are noticed by a noble person, your life may be different.
"Brother Ni, can I help you take care of it?" The sentry who spoke was named Song Yuansi. He was a junior student that Ni Ji had taught when they were in the Sentinel Academy.
Ni Ji sat on the chair, stretched out her long legs, reached out and held his wrist, and shook her head.
Song Yuansi looked around.
Everyone else was busy dressing up and no one paid any attention to this place.
"I'll just tidy it up for you, Senior." He persuaded quietly, "You see, everyone does this."
He knew that since Ni Ji came back a few days ago, the people here were very indifferent to him. It was not because Ni Ji had been away for a long time and everyone had forgotten him, but because the principal's attitude towards Ni Ji was still ambiguous.
But Song Yuansi never forgot that when he first entered the Sentinel Academy, he was a crybaby who was always bullied.
He lowered his voice and said, "Teacher, he likes people like us."
Ni Ji held his wrist tightly, stared at him for a long time, and slowly let go.
Song Yuansi was very happy. He had skillful hands and good aesthetic sense, and was very good at this kind of thing.
It was also because of this skill that he was brought here by the then principal, now the Chief of the Public Security Department, Cao Junmin.
Dress yourself up and put on makeup.
He knew that this would be a humiliating thing for a sentry like Ni Ji who had just come down from the battlefield.
But what can I do? If I want to live in this capital, in this place where luxury is shameful and flowers and wine are wasted, if I want to stay and survive, I have to obey the rules here.
Bend your back, smear something on your face, and treat yourself as an embellishment at the banquet of noble gentlemen.
He was very happy that Ni Ji listened to him.
Being a little gentler this way can make life a little better for the senior in his heart.
He knew that his senior might have encountered some bad things in recent years.
What kind of sad experience would make a person who used to be sunny and cheerful become so silent and taciturn
He blew Ni Ji's bangs up, giving her a refreshing hairstyle, trimmed her sideburns neatly, and also applied a thin layer of foundation on her face to blend her skin tone.
Ni Ji leaned back in the chair, closed her eyes, and let him fiddle with her, until he brought the lip gloss and wanted to put it on Ni Ji's lips.
Ni Jicai opened his eyes, shook his head, and reached out to stop him.
When Ni Ji took off his barber's apron and stood up, all eyes in the lounge were attracted to him.
He was very tall, and even among the sentinels, he stood out. When he stood up, his lean and straight body exuded something that none of the sentries here had.
Whether walking, standing or looking over.
They are all steadier and sharper than others, with a bloody taste ingrained in their bones, stained with blood on the battlefield.
In the past, he was only considered fierce, but now, after being groomed by Song Sizhe, his murderous aura has been softened, allowing his delicate features to be suddenly noticed.
It turns out that this notorious Blade of the Empire actually has a handsome face.
The mixture of beauty and strength stood up, fastened her discipline button, and her eyes swept over everyone like the cold sea.
He put on his black gloves, put on his pistol, and walked out with his long legs.
Cao Junmin was giving instructions to Tan Shu and others about the tasks for the evening.
Of course, as the head of the Public Security Department, he doesn't have to arrange the specific details.
He has many capable confidants. He only needs to give them orders and give a few words of guidance on the most critical points to demonstrate his authority.
Cao Junmin has his own selection criteria. The first requirement for all the sentinels promoted by him is that they must be handsome and well-built.
Regardless of gender.
He knew in his heart that if he wanted to mingle in that glamorous upper world, everything he did had to conform to the interests of those people above him.
This is his skill in handling affairs, and it is also one of the secrets of his promotion from the president of the college to his current position.
Just then, he saw Ni Ji walking in.
Everyone present couldn't avoid looking at the beautiful sentinel.
With a rare appearance and silent temperament, broad shoulders, narrow waist, and long legs, he walked to Cao Junmin's desk with a soldier's gait, lowered his head and called him "teacher".
Cao Junmin just sat there and looked up at him.
When he saw Ni Ji’s carefully groomed hair and beautified face, he smiled.
He has been leading sentinels for so many years, and the one in front of him is the most outstanding genius.
Back then, he was as dazzling as the sun, and nothing could hide his light.
He is just too arrogant, aloof, wild and disobedient.
Cao Junmin remembered that at that time, Ni Ji brought him the title of the single-soldier champion of the Sentinel Academy League many times, and many people wanted to meet him.
Cao Junmin asked Ni Ji to dress up and look nice so that she could attend banquets with him, those high-end banquets that ordinary people would have to try their best to get into.
But Ni Ji always refused ignorantly.
Every time, asking him to comb his hair or change into a dress was like asking for his life.
That undisciplined student always disappears at the critical moment without any care.
He totally disregards his own reputation and no matter how you punish him, it will be useless.
Finally, because of something intolerable, the teacher and the student had a complete falling out.
He actually likes Ni Ji.
Ni Ji is a good knife, fierce and tough, and very useful at critical moments.
But what he wanted was a knife and a dog, not a young man who always went against him.
No matter how proud I was in the past, what can I do about it, Cao Junmin thought in his heart.
Who hasn't been young, who hasn't been arrogant? But who can live in such a world with a clear conscience
No.
So, when he saw Ni Ji dressed up like everyone else and stood in front of him with her head down, he felt comfortable from the bottom of his heart, as if every pore in his body was relaxed.
He has always been a tolerant elder towards such a capable and sensible child.
So, he stood up from behind the desk, walked to Ni Ji, patted his shoulder with his hand, and smiled kindly.
"Xiao Ji has been back for several days. You and Tan Shu will stay with me at the dinner at the Earl's Mansion tonight."
(End of this chapter)