Lin Jinlou, raised in luxury and steeped in sensuality, had sampled all varieties of rouge. Earlier at the banquet, he had specially ordered two sedan chairs to bring three leading courtesans from the Yi Hong House. Even now, he wore at his waist a green silk handkerchief that the famous courtesan Xiao Cuixian had used to wipe his mouth. Yet the simple appearance of this girl before him suddenly caught his eye.

From afar, he had only thought her somewhat pretty, but up close, he was stunned, unable to stop staring. Her black hair framed a snow-white oval face, with long eyebrows and red lips. Her large eyes were clear and bright, though now downcast, with thick lashes like fans. Though young, she possessed a natural, radiant beauty. The more carefully he looked, the more he found her ethereally outstanding, truly one in a hundred.

Lin Jinlou felt his mouth go dry, his heart pounding in his chest. He wanted to lean down and smell the magnolia in her hair, wondering if it was as fragrant and alluring as he imagined, but he felt frozen in place, as if under a spell. It was laughable – she was just a little maid, yet he felt she possessed such nobility and dignity that one couldn’t casually tease or violate her.

Xiang Lan had already noticed Lin Jinlou’s increasingly heated gaze, which made her extremely uncomfortable as if she were a piece of meat being salivated over. A breeze brought the smell of alcohol and heavy perfume from Lin Jinlou. She thought to herself, “Lin Jinlou may be handsome, but what a shame he’s such a libertine. He must have just been dallying with courtesans somewhere, and now that his passions aren’t satisfied, he’s set his eyes on a little maid like me?” Her expression grew colder as she stepped back two more paces, keeping her head down as she asked, “Does Young Master have any instructions?”

Lin Jinlou coughed lightly twice: “What’s your name? Which household’s maid are you? How have I never seen you before?”

Xiang Lan kept her hands lowered and replied properly: “In reply to Young Master, this servant is called Xiang Lan, serving the Young Miss at Luo Xue Courtyard.”

Lin Jinlou frowned: “You’re a Cao family maid?”

Xiang Lan respectfully replied: “This servant belongs to the Lin family, First Madam assigned me to serve Young Miss.”

Lin Jinlou’s brow finally relaxed slightly. Seeing Xiang Lan’s lowered head, he felt somewhat displeased. Just as he was about to ask her to raise her head, he noticed her snow-white, graceful neck, like fine porcelain or warm mutton-fat jade. He couldn’t resist the urge to reach out and touch it, but just as he raised his hand, someone behind him said, “My lord, I’ve finally found you, so this is where you were.”

Lin Jinlou turned to see it was Ji Xiang, his attendant. Ji Xiang hurriedly ran over and whispered something in Lin Jinlou’s ear. Lin Jinlou raised his eyebrows and said, “This happened? Weren’t they all properly sent back earlier?”

Ji Xiang whispered, “Of course, they were specially escorted back, but who knew Second Young Master Li would take a fancy to Xiao Cuixian and insist on keeping her overnight. Later, hearing that Miss Cuixian was…” he glanced at Lin Jinlou’s expression before continuing, “was Young Master’s kept woman, he didn’t dare go too far, but then demanded her sister Xiao Cuiyun instead. But Cuiyun is still innocent, and these days she’s written many poems for Young Master and even made a five-colored cord with her hair as a gift, which Young Master accepted. She believes Young Master has feelings for her, so she considers herself Young Master’s person and naturally refuses to comply… Now Cuiyun is threatening suicide by both hanging and cutting her throat, and Second Young Master Li is being stubborn, determined to take her virginity.”

Lin Jinlou laughed and said, “Little Li still has that bull-headed temperament. Treating a beauty like a bull chewing peonies won’t do. Well, I’ll go mediate.” He turned back to look but found Xiang Lan had already disappeared. Thinking he’d look for the little maid later, he followed Ji Xiang.

Xiang Lan ran a short distance carrying the magnolia pot, then set it down and wiped her sweat with her sleeve, shuddering as she recalled Lin Jinlou’s burning gaze. She comforted herself that Lin Jinlou was just drunk and would surely forget about a little maid like her once sober. As she approached Luo Xue Courtyard, she suddenly heard someone calling her. Turning to look, she saw Song Ke standing in the bamboo grove, waving to her.

Xiang Lan was puzzled but walked over to ask, “Does Young Master have any instructions?”

Song Ke smiled like a spring breeze, his eyes sparkling with light, and pointed to his hem saying, “Do you happen to have a handkerchief?”

Xiang Lan looked down and saw a large dirty spot on his hem, like wet mud. She quickly set down the flower pot, took out a handkerchief from her pocket, and bent down to help Song Ke clean it.

Song Ke quickly waved his hands saying, “No need, I can do it myself.” He took the handkerchief and started wiping, saying, “Thank you, if I hadn’t met you, I couldn’t have shown myself to anyone in these clothes.”

Seeing Song Ke’s warm smile making his handsome face even more extraordinary, combined with his friendly attitude, Xiang Lan smiled too, thinking: “Such a jade-like gentleman, even Xiao Hang who was called the most handsome in the capital back then was no better than this. No wonder those Lin young ladies are all stirred up.” Thinking of her husband from her previous life, her heart grew somewhat melancholy, and she just looked down at the dirt, saying, “Fortunately it’s just mud, it will wash out easily without leaving a stain.”

Song Ke seemed to breathe a sigh of relief: “That’s good.” Then, as if casually, he asked, “I haven’t asked yet, what’s your name? Are you a maid at Luo Xue Courtyard?”

Xiang Lan only answered: “I serve at Luo Xue Courtyard.”

Seeing that Xiang Lan wouldn’t tell her name, Song Ke frowned slightly. Noticing an orchid embroidered in the corner of the handkerchief, he smiled and said, “This orchid is beautifully embroidered. I wonder if your name contains the character for ‘lan’ (orchid)?”

Xiang Lan had to say: “Yes, there is a ‘lan,’ but this handkerchief was just carelessly embroidered…”

“Even your careless embroidery is this good.” Song Ke’s eyes sparkled as he untied the pouch at his waist and handed it over, saying, “Could you look at where this pouch is torn and see if it can be mended?”

Xiang Lan took it and saw it was a new five-colored gold-thread “Five Sons Passing the Examination” pouch, but there was a hole in the delicate embroidery. She said regretfully: “This pouch is so finely made, with such excellent embroidery. It’s a shame it’s torn. Mending it will be difficult, but not impossible…”

Song Ke quickly said: “In that case, could you help me mend it?”

“What?” Xiang Lan’s mouth fell open, “I help you mend it?”

Song Ke found her dumbfounded expression endearing and put on a worried look, saying, “This pouch was made by my mother, hoping for the good fortune of ‘five sons passing the examination.’ I accidentally tore it a few days ago, and I don’t have anyone skilled enough around me. Wouldn’t my mother be sad if she knew? I see your handkerchief is well-embroidered, so you must be skilled. Why don’t you help me mend it?”

Just as Xiang Lan was about to refuse, Song Ke cut her off: “Let’s do this – the day after tomorrow at the hour of Si, I’ll wait here for you to bring me the pouch.” With that, he tucked her handkerchief into his sleeve and turned to leave.

Xiang Lan wanted to call out but feared being heard. She hurriedly lifted her skirt to chase after him, but when she rounded the hillside, Song Ke had vanished. Worried about losing the flower pot, she had to return, dejected, carrying the pot back.

When she returned to Luo Xue Courtyard, Cao Lihuan hadn’t returned yet. Xiang Lan placed the flowers on the Eight Immortals table in the hall, then went back to examine the pouch carefully. Sighing, she lounged on the soft couch, complaining inwardly: “Young Master Song just needs to say the word, and First Miss, Second Miss, and Third Miss would all rush to mend his pouch. Never mind mending, they could even make him an identical one. Why ask an unfamiliar little maid like me to mend it? Aren’t you afraid I’ll ruin it? This young master is too trusting. He might not care, but if rumors spread about something between us because of this pouch, not only would the young ladies tear me apart, my whole life would be ruined.” The more she thought about it, the more frustrated she became, unable to resist throwing the pouch on the ground and stomping on it twice. A moment later, she dejectedly picked up the pouch, dusted off the dirt, and listlessly pulled out her sewing basket, beginning to mend the pouch stitch by stitch.

After quite a while, Cao Lihuan finally returned. Xiang Lan had thought that after being slighted by the Lin family’s young ladies, Cao Lihuan would return in a rage ready to take it out on others, but surprisingly, she went to her room quietly, calling Hui’er in with her. They closed the door tightly, and for a long time, there was no sign of them coming out.