No matter how much Lu Shi tried to remain the same, the news that he’d become Tang Qiling’s student still spread to the back courtyard.

The scholars’ attitudes toward him changed overnight.

They warmly called him Brother Lu.

They knocked on his door at midnight to humbly ask him questions.

They invited him to stroll the gardens, drink wine, brew tea, discuss the Way.

Lu Shi understood these people’s intentions clearly but didn’t respond. When he left the teacher’s study, he went straight to the stables to read.

Though beasts smelled bad, their hearts were clean. He preferred staying with beasts.

Actually, the teacher had suggested several times that he move to the front courtyard, but he politely declined each time.

The Tang residence’s inner quarters had only one girl. Her mother was gone. Her future marriage wouldn’t be easy. He couldn’t let people gossip.

The incident occurred one clear morning three months later.

One of the scholars claimed he’d lost five liang of silver, suspected it was stolen, and demanded to search everyone else’s rooms.

Lu Shi had done nothing wrong and wasn’t afraid of ghosts knocking. He openly let them search.

Unexpectedly, the silver appeared in his bundle.

No way to defend himself.

That scholar was furiously angry, clamoring to report Lu Shi to the authorities, and immediately called servants from the back courtyard to notify Master Tang.

Master Tang didn’t come. A girl came instead.

The girl had Lin Bi bring her a chair. She sat down openly, then looked coldly at the plaintiff. “What’s your name?”

“In answer to the eldest miss, I’m called Li Xing.”

“You say he stole your silver. Do you have any evidence?”

“The silver was found in his bundle.”

“How do you know the silver in his bundle is yours?”

“Eldest Miss, this person is poor as a church mouse. How could he possibly have accumulated five liang of silver? If he didn’t steal it, where else could it come from?”

“What if someone gave it to him?”

Li Xing looked aggrieved. “Eldest Miss, saying that—aren’t you just protecting him?”

The girl raised her delicate brows and said lightly, “I’m protecting my senior brother. So what?”

When she said this, Lu Shi had already been harassed by these people for a long time and was on the edge of violent rage. The fist in his sleeve would strike out the next moment.

His mouth wouldn’t defend him, but his fists would.

The girl’s words made his fist suddenly soften. This was the first time in his life he’d heard someone say they would protect him.

And from such a small, small little thing.

“If my senior brother were willing to accept, his bundle would contain more than five liang. But you—a poor scholar living, eating at my Tang family’s expense—where did you get five liang of silver?”

Li Xing became anxious. “Eldest Miss, you can’t say that. Over this past year I…”

“Shh!”

The girl extended one finger and placed it on her lips. “Let me guess—could it be that several of you pooled this five liang to frame my senior brother?”

“Eldest Miss, there’s no such thing.”

“Eldest Miss, you’ve wronged us.”

“Eldest Miss, how would I dare!”

“Eldest Miss, I’m not that kind of person.”

The girl laughed lightly.

Spring sunlight fell on her. Her dark eyes were cold and proud, as if nothing before her could enter her sight.

“I’ll give you one chance—only one. Whoever tells the truth, I’ll let them continue staying in this back courtyard. Otherwise…”

Lin Bi stepped forward and said coldly, “My young miss has already reported to the authorities. The officials are on their way. When they truly investigate and find something, think about the consequences!”

The back courtyard instantly fell deathly silent.

Someone jumped out. “Eldest Miss, it was Li Xing’s idea—he said to teach Lu Shi a lesson.”

“It was him.”

“Eldest Miss, Li Xing came to the Tang family earlier than any of us. We all listen to him.”

“Eldest Miss, please don’t let the authorities arrest us.”

The girl looked up at Li Xing’s ashen face and shook her head.

“A grown man with such a petty heart. Being jealous of my senior brother is one thing, but actually trying to frame him—tsk, tsk, tsk. All those books read into a dog’s belly.”

Li Xing’s face flushed red. After a long while, he dropped to his knees with a thud and slapped himself twice.

“Eldest Miss, I was wrong. I was momentarily possessed. You’re magnanimous—please give me another chance.”

“Senior Brother.”

She winked at him. “Do we give it?”

Lu Shi hadn’t expected things to suddenly take this turn and didn’t react immediately.

“My senior brother says no.”

She snorted. “Someone, escort Li Xing from my Tang residence.”

“Eldest Miss, Eldest Miss…”

“Before framing my senior brother, you should have thought about the consequences. Say one more word and don’t blame me for ruining your future and treating you to prison food.”

Li Xing didn’t dare say another word.

“Lin Bi?”

“Miss.”

“This place reeks—can’t live here anymore. Help my senior brother pack his things and move them to the front courtyard.”

“Yes!”

The girl walked to Lu Shi’s side and tugged at his sleeve corner.

“Senior Brother, what should we do with the rest? Give me a word—I’ll listen to you.”

Lu Shi said dazedly, “…Let it go.”

“Hear that? My senior brother says let it go. Remember his kindness. Otherwise, you’ll end up like Li Xing too.”

The girl pulled his sleeve. “Senior Brother, let’s go.”

She held her head high, a smile playing on her face. Lu Shi’s lips moved but he said nothing, only obediently following behind her.

Since childhood he’d been a bastard. No one wanted to speak an extra word to him. He had no words to say to others either. He preferred hiding alone behind his own door, living proudly.

With this tug, she seemed to pull him out from behind that door.

The quiet bluestone path, the rustling bamboo forest in the wind, and before him, this small, intelligent girl.

The world in Lu Shi’s eyes seemed to become different.

It seemed to gain some flavor.

This flavor was sweet.

…

Lu Shi moved into the Tang family’s front courtyard—a very secluded courtyard right by the back garden, some distance from the inner quarters.

He still tended the Tang family’s horses and took no monthly salary.

That beast Brain had been raised by him until it was sturdy and solid, its coat smoother than other horses.

Tang Qiling had to go to the Crown Prince’s residence early and would only return from there in the evening. Of the three daily meals he could sit and eat with his daughter, only the evening one.

Though Lu Shi tended horses, he was ultimately Tang Qiling’s student, not a servant, so he also had to be present at the evening meal table.

Lu Shi ate very quickly—three bites, two bites and he’d finish, barely touching the dishes.

After eating, he’d stand outside the study door waiting for the teacher and the others to arrive.

Three days later, someone exploded.

That person slammed chopsticks on the table and tearfully complained to Master Tang.

“Father, he eats so fast it makes me feel I have to eat quickly too. Look, I’m choking—it’s so uncomfortable.”

Lin Bi busily patted her back to help her breathe.

The thirteen-year-old girl’s back had that age’s thinness—thin like a piece of paper that a gentle breeze could seemingly break.

“Shanshi.”

The teacher glared at him. “From now on, eat slower, eat more vegetables, and wait for her.”

He looked at her pale face and nodded. “Alright.”

A few days later, she took a sip of soup and suddenly vomited.

This time Lin Bi glared at him, then somehow produced several garments and tossed them into his arms.

“Young Master Lu, change into these. At least don’t let the smell affect Miss.”

I smell?

Impossible!

When he came out from the stables, he’d already washed himself inside and out with well water in the courtyard.

“Blegh—”

She vomited again.

Lu Shi quickly stood up and went behind the screen to change. Suddenly feeling something was wrong, he whipped his head around just in time to see her smiling and winking at Lin Bi.

That smile carried a hint of triumph and a bit of cunning. Lu Shi’s pupils contracted as he felt his heart drop into warm water.

It was warm!