In his eighteen years of life, Liu Buwang had never interacted with women except for his junior martial sister. Even though she was gentle and well-mannered – he had never encountered someone as fierce and unique as Mu Hongjin. His senior martial brothers said he was pure-hearted, which was true. Despite his lofty demeanor, he repeatedly found himself helpless against Mu Hongjin.

Having no other choice and unable to shake off Mu Hongjin, he planned to wait until his mountain business was complete, then bring her to Qiyun Mountain where Master Yunji would decide how to handle her.

Suddenly having a delicate young lady by his side made Liu Buwang very uncomfortable. However, this discomfort was quickly replaced by anger. Mu Hongjin wasn’t at all like she claimed when she said, “I don’t eat much, and I won’t cost you much money. Having me around won’t be trouble.”

While Mu Hongjin indeed didn’t eat much, she spent considerable money. She was extremely picky, choosing only the finest restaurants for meals, insisting on wearing beautiful clothes, and refusing to stay in anything but the best inns. Fortunately, she had her own money, and quite a lot of it, enough to cover all expenses. She was even generous enough to share: “Young Hero, the roast duck at Wu Fang Restaurant is delicious, why don’t you try some!”

Liu Buwang frowned at her: “Didn’t you say you were brought here by kidnappers? How do you have so much silver? Surely the kidnappers wouldn’t have been kind enough not to search you?”

Mu Hongjin froze, then apologetically said: “So you figured it out? Well, I wasn’t brought here by kidnappers. I…” She leaned close to Liu Buwang and whispered in his ear: “I ran away from an arranged marriage.”

Liu Buwang looked at her in surprise.

“It’s true! I’m not lying. My father wanted to marry me off to an old man even older than himself. Look at me, how could someone so young and beautiful be thrown to the wolves? I heard that man is a pervert who had three previous wives, all of whom he tortured to death. I had no choice,” she made as if to cry, covering her face with her sleeve, “I just didn’t want to die so miserably.”

Liu Buwang was skeptical: “Nonsense. Given the amount of silver you carry, your family must be well-off. Why would your father marry you to such a person?”

“That man’s family status is even higher than ours!” Mu Hongjin said pitifully. “You don’t understand – one rank higher crushes people beneath it. He took a fancy to me and demanded I become his wife. My father had no choice. But I refused, so I fled in the night. If they catch me, I’m dead. So, Young Hero, you absolutely cannot abandon me.”

Liu Buwang replied irritably: “I’m not your husband.” His words made it sound as if he were abandoning her after taking advantage of her. They were merely strangers who met by chance – if her family found her and wanted to take her back, what reason would he have to stop them?

“That won’t do,” Mu Hongjin grabbed his hand. “You saved me, so you must see it through to the end. If you abandon me halfway, I’ll die sooner or later. Rather than that, I might as well die now.” She suddenly snatched the sword from Liu Buwang’s waist, placed it on the table, and looked at him fiercely. “Dying by your sword is better than being tortured to death by that scoundrel. Young Hero, kill me!”

People passing by pointed and whispered at this scene, making Liu Buwang blush with anger. “What nonsense are you talking about!”

“If you don’t promise to protect me always, I’ll keep this up.”

The young man felt utterly helpless. How could there be such an unreasonable woman in the world? Yet she had said everything, leaving him no room to argue.

After a moment, he conceded defeat and said through gritted teeth: “I promise you.”

Very well, this mountain training would only last a month. After that, he would take her back to Qiyun Mountain where Master Yunji would handle it. Then, no matter how aggressive this woman was, they would never meet again.

Hearing his words, Mu Hongjin’s face lit up. She suddenly moved closer to him and looked at his face: “Actually, there’s another solution. If I get married now, that old man won’t be able to do anything to me. Young Hero, you’re handsome and skilled with the sword, far superior to him. Why don’t you marry me? Wouldn’t that make everyone happy?”

The young girl smiled sweetly, her eyes as clear as mountain springs, clearly reflecting his image. The white-robed youth jumped as if bitten by a snake, shouting: “Who wants to make everyone happy with you!”

“Oh,” Mu Hongjin spread her hands in disappointment, “That’s too bad.”

That’s too bad.

A sudden “zheng” sound brought him back to reality. His fingertip had accidentally touched the zither strings on the table, shattering his memories into pieces.

He paused for a moment, seemingly hearing the girl’s clear, mischievous voice from years ago, calling him “Young Hero” repeatedly, filling him with impatience and confusion.

After a while, Liu Buwang lowered his head and smiled faintly.

All things past cannot be pursued. It only adds to the sorrow.

……

Because of encountering Mu Hongjin at the prince’s mansion during the day, He Yan also had something on her mind. That night, she couldn’t sleep well, tossing and turning for most of the night before finally falling asleep, fortunately without disturbing Xiao Jue.

Having slept late at night, she woke up later than usual the next day. Upon waking, she didn’t see Xiao Jue. Hong Qiao smiled and said: “Master left early in the morning and told this servant not to wake Madam.”

He Yan responded with an “Oh” and asked Hong Qiao: “Did he say where he was going?”

Hong Qiao shook her head.

He Yan got up to wash and eat, then walked to the courtyard where she saw Liu Buwang brewing tea, with Lin Shuanghe sitting beside him in admiration.

“Master,” He Yan called out.

“Ah He,” Liu Buwang smiled: “Would you like some tea?”

“No thanks.” He Yan waved her hands repeatedly. Though Liu Buwang’s tea-brewing skills looked impressive, his tea was always very bitter, almost like medicine. While she wasn’t afraid of bitterness, she wasn’t one to seek it out either. She immediately said: “I’m going for a walk, you two continue, continue.”

He Yan walked away with an embarrassed smile.

In Jiyang, unless there was something to do, days were quite boring. In the past, on such a fine morning with good weather, she would have been practicing martial arts to strengthen her body. Unfortunately, now wearing women’s clothing, it wasn’t convenient to do these things, and she feared exposing herself. After some thought, she had to give up the idea.

Just as she was feeling regretful, Cui Jiao came running hurriedly, saying: “Madam, there are guests!”

“So what if there are guests?” He Yan was puzzled. “What does that have to do with me?”

She wasn’t the master of the Cui mansion, but rather a guest herself. Even if guests came, it wasn’t He Yan’s place to welcome them.

“No,” Cui Jiao carefully observed her expression, “You know this guest. It’s the young lady from Dianbu Hall’s Official Ling’s family. She came to the mansion today specifically to visit you.”

He Yan felt confused. Ling Xiu? Was she that close with Ling Xiu? They had barely exchanged a few words – their relationship hadn’t reached the point of visiting each other’s homes, had it?

“Madam, do you want to go see?”

He Yan sighed. The person had already come to the house, could she refuse to see her? Well, she might as well meet her and see what they were really up to.

In the small garden, several young ladies sat together, all dressed elegantly, beautiful and graceful, outshining the spring scenery in the garden. They chatted and laughed like orioles, truly a pleasing sight to behold.

Concubine Wei stood in the corridor, wringing her handkerchief angrily, saying: “These people are too much, bullying our Yuyan right to her face!”

Second Concubine was painting her fingernails with rouge, the color bright red against her delicate white fingers. “There’s nothing we can do about it. Who told Young Master Qiao to be so handsome? Jiyang hasn’t produced such a fine specimen in many years. His age is just right too. If I were ten years younger, I’d try my luck as well.”

“Try what nonsense!” Concubine Wei was so agitated she let slip crude words. “Be careful, I’ll tell the Master!”

“Dear sister, I was just joking, why so serious?” Second Concubine laughed, holding her rouge-painted fingers up to the sunlight for inspection. “With so many wolves chasing one piece of meat, I’d rather avoid the trouble.”

“Poor Miss Yuyan,” Third Concubine liked to be sentimental, covering her chest with a handkerchief and frowning with a sigh, somewhat empathizing: “Just arrived in Jiyang and already targeted by so many people. How will her days be if she stays in Jiyang? Though she’s young and beautiful now, if other women keep appearing before Young Master Qiao’s eyes, how long can he resist? A man’s true feelings change too easily, they can’t withstand a few sweet words from vixens.”

“Who are you calling names?” The second Concubine gave her a sidelong glance. “Would you dare say that in front of the Master?”

Third Concubine pretended not to hear, continuing to wipe tears from her eyes.

Fourth Concubine was the youngest, originally a street performer, always laughing carelessly while eating melon seeds: “It all depends on whether Young Master Qiao truly loves his wife or not. I quite like Miss Yuyan, she’s not proud like other young ladies. Last time she even helped my maid carry water buckets. I’ve never seen a master help servants with work before, how nice!”

“That’s terrible,” Third Concubine made a big fuss, “Men all like gentle and timid girls. Carrying water buckets… that’s just inviting people to look down on her. They’ll think she’s naturally meant to be treated carelessly.”

The fourth Concubine was displeased, spitting out a melon seed shell with a “pei” sound. “What do you mean looking down on herself? I used to perform on the streets, carrying five water vats at once, and the Master still loves me dearly. What’s all this about being gentle and timid? The Master gets tired of dealing with people like you who complain of headaches and illness every few days!”

“Enough, stop arguing.” Concubine Wei was getting a headache from their squabbling and scolded: “We’re talking about Miss Yuyan now!”

“Well, she’s in a tough spot,” Third Concubine muttered. “You’ll see, Miss Ling isn’t easy to deal with, and the other young ladies won’t be easily dismissed either. Young Master Qiao may be handsome, but he’s quite cold to people. I don’t see him being very attentive to Miss Yuyan either. Something’s bound to happen sooner or later.”

“Third Sister,” Second Concubine looked at Third Concubine, “Do you know why you’re the least favored among us four? It’s because you have such poor judgment.”

Third Concubine glared at her, tears welling up in her eyes, looking like she was about to cry again.

“But Young Master Qiao does seem cold in temperament and appears not very attentive to Madam Qiao. I don’t know the reason, perhaps there were no feelings before marriage? However, judging by his behavior these past few days, he has some affection for Madam Qiao. Ordinary people’s affection isn’t remarkable, but when someone like him shows affection, it’s truly significant.”

“There’s a type of person who, once their heart is moved, can only see that one person,” Second Concubine held up her fingers, smiling like a fox spirit sharing experience. “No matter how many other beautiful women there are, in his eyes, they’re all meaningless.”

“Qiao Huanqing is exactly this type of person.”

At these words, everyone fell silent for a moment, perhaps because such men were what women yearned for, leaving them temporarily speechless.

After a while, Concubine Wei finally spoke, asking: “You mean we don’t need to help her?”

“What help?” Second Concubine smiled dismissively. “That Qiao Huanqing is extremely protective of his own. Let’s make a bet – before Wen Yuyan faces any real difficulty, her husband will already step forward to defend her.”

……

When He Yan arrived at the small garden, she was hit by a wave of fragrance that nearly made her dizzy.

She didn’t understand why Jiyang women were so fond of wearing fragrance pouches, especially such strong-smelling ones. One person was fine, but many gathered together and created what seemed like a cloud of powder and perfume.

At that moment, He Yan deeply missed the Moon Scale fragrance that Xiao Jue wore, subtle and light – just perfect.

“Madam Qiao has arrived,” Ling Xiu stood up and smiled at her.

Among these young ladies, He Yan only knew Ling Xiu and Yan Min’er; she didn’t recognize the others. After thinking for a moment, she said: “I heard Miss Ling came specifically to see me?”

“No need to be so formal,” Ling Xiu smiled. “It’s just such nice weather today, and we sisters had nothing to do, so we gathered to chat. Since Madam Qiao is here now, we thought you might join us. You won’t find us bothersome, will you?”

“Of course not.” He Yan smiled while inwardly snorting. Even though she wasn’t particularly sensitive to women’s affairs, she could tell these people had ulterior motives. They weren’t here to see her at all – they came to see Xiao Jue.

Sure enough, Ling Xiu’s next question was: “Why haven’t we seen Young Master Qiao?”

“My husband left early this morning,” He Yan replied with a particularly pleasant smile. “He might not return until late at night.”

Why should they get to see him whenever they wanted? He was the Right Army Commander of Great Wei after all, not some exhibition piece for casual viewing. If they couldn’t see him, they simply couldn’t see him.

Ling Xiu and the young ladies behind her showed obvious disappointment at these words.

He Yan smiled: “Didn’t Miss Ling come specifically to see me? Don’t tell me you were joking?”

“How could that be?” Ling Xiu recovered, warmly taking He Yan’s hand and sitting down at the stone table in the courtyard. “Please sit. My father and Lord Cui are very close friends, and I often came to the Cui mansion in the past but never had a sister to talk to, which was quite lonely. It’s wonderful that Madam Qiao is here now. When Ah Xiu comes to the Cui mansion in the future, I won’t worry about having no one to talk to.”

He Yan thought to herself, this wasn’t about finding a sister at all – they came to see the handsome man. Xiao Jue should come to see this, what it means to be even better at lying with a straight face than she was.

He Yan sat at the stone table. Truthfully, she barely knew these people and didn’t know what to talk about, so she just casually ate some fruit, planning to sit there like a decoration and just listen to them talk.

Unfortunately, since they came for Xiao Jue who wasn’t present, his “wife” couldn’t escape their attention. As they talked, the conversation eventually turned to He Yan.

“I heard Madam Qiao is a renowned talented lady in Huzhou. Earlier, I sincerely wanted to hear Madam Qiao play the zither, but was unfortunately stopped by Young Master Qiao. I still feel regretful thinking about it now,” Ling Xiu smiled as she spoke.

He Yan smiled: “What’s there to regret? Didn’t my husband play a piece?”

“But Young Master Qiao said his zither skills weren’t even one-tenth of yours,” Ling Xiu stared into He Yan’s eyes. “That’s truly hard to imagine.”

Indeed, it was hard to imagine, He Yan thought. Xiao Jue’s lie was a bit too exaggerated – hearing it from someone else’s mouth now made even her blush.

“My husband overpraises me,” He Yan poured herself a cup of tea and took a sip. “My zither skills are probably just about the same as his. Since you’ve heard him play, it’s as if you’ve heard me.”

“How could that be?” Ling Xiu wasn’t going to let her off so easily. “Here in Jiyang, we most admire those with outstanding talent. Since Madam has such exceptional abilities, you shouldn’t keep them hidden. The weather is lovely today, why don’t we exchange poetry here? It would be both entertaining and allow us to witness Madam’s talent.”

Here it comes, He Yan thought with growing irritation. Why was Ling Xiu always either asking her to play the zither or compose poetry? If she said she couldn’t write poetry, would they move on to chess and calligraphy next? He Yan pondered, even if this young lady was captivated by Xiao Jue’s appearance and harbored feelings for him, she should direct that toward Xiao Jue himself, perhaps displaying her talents before him – why come trouble her instead? Did they think Xiao Jue would favor whoever gave her a hard time?

Once was fine, but this repeated behavior made He Yan unwilling to keep patiently playing along with their games. She simply smiled and said: “Today I don’t want to compose poetry, play chess, nor write calligraphy, and absolutely won’t play the zither.”

She left no room for negotiation, directly refusing Ling Xiu.

Even with her diplomatic nature, Ling Xiu hadn’t expected He Yan to respond this way. After a moment, Yan Min’er, who had been quiet until now, snorted and mockingly said: “They say women from the Central Plains are gentle and courteous, but I see Madam Qiao’s manner of speaking is more like our Jiyang girls – very direct.”

“Just adapting to local customs,” He Yan smiled impenetrably.

“Madam Qiao, do you look down on us?” Ling Xiu lowered her head and asked uncertainly.

“It’s not about looking down on you,” He Yan replied puzzledly. “I simply don’t want to today. Isn’t Miss Ling supposed to be talented? How can you not understand such a simple statement? Are my words that hard to comprehend?”

If these troublemakers had been men, He Yan would have challenged them to a fight long ago. But with women, such unrefined behavior wouldn’t do. After consideration, she decided it would be better to gain a reputation as a fierce demoness, so these young ladies would understand she wasn’t to be trifled with. Once scared, they wouldn’t come knocking again with their “arts and culture” schemes.

Ling Xiu stared at her blankly, speechless. The other young ladies nearby showed dissatisfaction with He Yan’s attitude. Ling Xiu held great influence among them – when she was wronged, everyone wanted to stand up for her.

A girl with a rather loud voice said: “Madam Qiao refuses this and that – could it be that you don’t know how? Perhaps your reputation as a talented lady is undeserved, which is why you keep making excuses.”

“How could that be?” Another young lady chimed in as if on cue, expressing surprise: “Young Master Qiao is no ordinary person – he plays the zither so well, clearly a man of refinement. He was already wealthy before, and now that he’s been acknowledged by his family, he’ll soon be someone of status in Jiyang. I heard Madam Qiao comes from an ordinary family – if she has no special talents, what did Young Master Qiao see in her?”

Yan Min’er smiled insincerely: “Beauty, of course. After all, Madam Qiao has skin white as jade and a face like flowers and moonlight.”

She emphasized the words “skin white as jade” heavily.

He Yan: “…” Wasn’t it Xiao Jue who said she was dark? How did this become her fault? What logic was this?

“Face like flowers and moonlight – Jiyang has plenty of beautiful young ladies. Isn’t Ah Xiu beautiful? She has good family background, a gentle temperament, and outstanding talent. By that logic, Ah Xiu would be more suitable for Young Master Qiao.”

“Don’t talk nonsense,” Ling Xiu said with reddened eyes.

He Yan finally understood just how bold Jiyang girls could be and how directly they spoke. But what were they implying? Ling Xiu was still an unmarried maiden, while Xiao Jue was now a “married man” – did they expect her to become his concubine? Or were they suggesting He Yan step down to make way for Ling Xiu? Were they out of their minds?

“We’re not wrong. With Madam Qiao being like this, she’ll eventually lose her husband’s favor,” the loud-voiced girl smiled. “Madam Qiao, don’t blame us for speaking harshly – we’re only speaking this way because we consider you one of us. Don’t take offense.”

Oh, since the direct approach failed, they were trying to sow discord?

Having spent time with Xiao Jue, He Yan had learned a thing or two about his ability to infuriate people without using vulgar words. She immediately shook her head indifferently, smiling with particular sweetness: “No offense taken, none at all. I know you sisters mean well. However, you’re worrying too much.”

“My husband treats me wonderfully. Even if I didn’t know these arts like zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting – which I do – he wouldn’t blame me one bit. I have a bad temper and often get angry and ignore people, but my husband always patiently coaxes me. He cooks noodles for me, takes me to buy clay figurines, remembers every casual word I say, and even keeps better track of my monthly cycle than I do.” He Yan glanced at Ling Xiu, seeing her expression had soured, and felt pleased, becoming even more enthusiastic in her bragging: “Learning these arts is nothing difficult. When I’m unhappy, my husband uses his skills to please me. What you’ve glimpsed is just the tip of the iceberg – there’s so much more you haven’t seen.”

Outside the courtyard, Xiao Jue hadn’t yet reached the garden, having just turned the corner when he heard He Yan affecting a dramatic sigh and speaking in a sickeningly sweet tone.

“Ah, such an outstanding and unique man, yet he exclusively favors me alone and can’t see anyone else. What can I do about it?”

Old Cui has quite the melon-eating squad _(:з」∠)_