A Lovely Disguise of the Artist

First things first, Yujia searched around Lingxin for any signs of Yu Zixu. 

She didn't want to run all the way to the Yu Villa to find that Zixu was in the library this whole time. That would've been a waste of energy, and Yujia really just wanted to go to sleep right now. She was extremely tired from all the "cooking" she did in the kitchens. If it weren't for the fact that she was determined to give her steamed buns to Yu Zixu, she might as well just pass out right now. 

Without much surprise, she didn't find Zixu anywhere. 

So Yujia moved onto the next step: getting into disguise. 

She decided to disguise herself for primarily two reasons. One, she was practically walking into the place she ran away to avoid. If the Yu Household discovered her existence in the villa, they would surely abduct her and keep her from escaping a second time. Yujia wasn't dumb enough to risk throwing away her freedom just to deliver some food to Yu Zixu. Two, Yujia also figured that the idea of a young girl visiting Yu Zixu privately would be quite scandalous if word got out. She didn't want to ruin Zixu's reputation. 

As a result, Yujia came up with the idea of cross-dressing once more. 

She did it once before. It was when she officially met Yu Zixu for the first time, during the entrance examinations for Lingxin. She had impersonated his younger brother, Yu Ziyang, that time, and the entire event caused her lots of distress and panic. 

Obviously, Yujia wouldn't assume the identity of Yu Ziyang again this time. That just wasn't a logical move. Dressing up as a junior brother of Zixu would likely be more suitable. Yujia had all the materials she needed too— makeup for a more masculine look, a set of male disciple robes, and the Lingxin jade pendant. She could definitely pull this off. 

Yujia asked Lili to take the steamed buns for Zixu back to the kitchens temporarily. Meanwhile, she made an excuse to get away from Lingxin Pavilion and retreated to her courtyard, where she began to transform herself into a man.

She recalled the things she did the first time she underwent this transformation. Yujia grabbed a pair of scissors and some glue. She snipped the tips of her hair off once more, using the hair and glue to thicken her eyebrows. Once she managed to do that, she drew her eyebrows into a more masculine shape to further emphasize masculinity. 

Amongst the few things that she brought from the Yang Villa, there were the makeup materials that she used to make herself seem more like a man, dark rouge included. As she dusted and blended some of this rouge to contour her usually soft features, the actions felt familiar. 

She tied her hair into a top knot like how she had seen students at Lingxin wear, securing it with a simplistic and scholarly white ribbon. Once her hair was all done, she switched into the set of male disciple robes. 

Yujia felt thankful that she didn't have much of a chest. Because she was so flat, and because the robes had so many layers, she could just throw on her outfit and be good. One couldn't tell that she had any feminine curves at all. She strung the white jade pendant on her waistband, as usual. 

Taking one look at the mirror now that she finished dressing up in her disguise, Yujia decided that she could pass off as a delicate young master from far away. Up close, under careful scrutinization, the risks of being discovered as a girl doubled. Her identity back then as Yu Ziyang helped since he was supposed to be pale, sickly, and frail, but she didn't quite have that identity to take on right now.

She needed something more to reinforce her disguise. 

Yujia's eyes trailed to the side at the two folding fans that Bo Zhizhong gifted her. She set them on her dressing table before, unsure of what she would do with it, but it seemed like they would come to good use now. 

These folding fans, peculiarly enough, didn't feel like they belonged in this time period. If Yujia remembered her historical facts well enough from the few times where she went to the museum to look at artifacts, folding fans would become popular later on in history. Currently, the type of fans that should be popular were round fans, not the type that Zhizhong gifted her. 

However, Yujia credited the fact that these folding fans were out of the correct time period because of the alternate dynasty that this universe seemed to have. Surely, because of this change in history, some inventions that appeared currently might not fit with the original timeline of ancient China.

Yujia picked one of the folding fans— the one with bamboo painted on the white paper— and fanned it out in front of her. Judging by the near-summer weather, the fan would be appropriate, and it also matched the habit of young masters from good families carrying fans around with them. Yujia looked at herself again, deciding that with one hand held behind her back and another hand holding a fan, she did look quite like a young master. She was a bit feminine, but charming enough. 

Her disguise complete, Yujia walked in long strides to the direction of the kitchens, copying and practicing the walking style of Zixu. The entire concept of posture was key in carrying out a good disguise as well, wasn't it?