Looking at Ling Jingyan’s pitiful, pleading expression, how could Ling Jingshu possibly bring herself to say no?
“Alright, you can keep the calling card.”
She figured that even if she refused, Ling Jingyan probably wouldn’t hand the card back anyway. Besides, she’d never intended to make use of the card at all — might as well let Ling Jingyan keep it as a memento!
Seeing Ling Jingshu agree so readily, Ling Jingyan first let out a sigh of relief, then felt something seemed off. “A’Shu, when you saw Prince Yan today, did you really feel no fondness for him at all?”
Ling Jingshu seemed to find this rather amusing, asking in return, “Why would I have any fondness for him?”
Ling Jingyan, as if she had completely forgotten that she had just been crying her heart out in despair over Prince Yan moments ago, answered without a second thought. “He’s so handsome and good-looking, especially those eyes — even when he’s not smiling, they seem to carry a hint of a smile. When those eyes look at you, it’s like being pulled into a whirlpool, leaving you flushed and breathless, unable to escape…”
In short, what it all came down to was that Prince Yan had a fine face.
A teenage girl with a heart full of romantic dreams, faced with a young man whose handsomeness carried a hint of dark allure — how could she possibly resist?
Prince Yan’s extremely handsome face flashed quickly through Ling Jingshu’s mind, yet her heart remained as cold and indifferent as ice and snow, and her voice carried a similar chill. “There are plenty of handsome young men in this world — Prince Yan isn’t necessarily the finest of them all.”
As far as looks went, the refined and handsome Lu Hong was in no way inferior to Prince Yan, lacking only that innate air of nobility.
And then there was the cold, handsome Crown Grandson, whose bearing was utterly different from Prince Yan’s, yet equally dazzling and outstanding.
For once, Ling Jingyan had a flash of insight and actually guessed at Ling Jingshu’s thoughts. “A’Shu, are you trying to say that Cousin Hong and the Crown Grandson are both quite handsome?”
“Now that I think of it, your heart really is cold and hard enough. Cousin Hong is so deeply devoted to you, yet you remain utterly unmoved. His Highness the Crown Grandson clearly shows you special regard too, yet you don’t take it to heart at all. And the calling card Prince Yan sent you — you didn’t even glance at it once. Surely your heart isn’t made of stone!”
By the time she reached this last sentence, Ling Jingyan instinctively lowered her voice, muttering it under her breath.
Ling Jingshu’s hearing was sharp, and she caught every single word without missing one, saying half-jokingly, “You’re not wrong — I do have a heart of iron and stone. Whether others like me or not is none of my concern. It’s not as if I have to respond just because someone happens to have some fondness for me!”
Ling Jingyan gave a light huff, her tone tinged with envy. “That’s right, the men who like you just keep coming one after another — no need to rush, just take your time picking the one that suits you best.”
The very thing she herself longed for but couldn’t have — in Ling Jingshu’s hands, it meant nothing at all, even tossed aside like worthless trash…
It really was bitter and envy-inducing all at once!
Ling Jingshu fell silent for a moment, then looked up. “Cousin Yan, actually, there’s no need to envy my exceptional beauty. If I had the choice, I’d rather have been born plainer, into an ordinary family, living out an ordinary, peaceful life.”
Ling Jingyan: …
What woman wouldn’t wish to be beautiful, instead hoping to be plain and unremarkable, attracting no attention at all?
This was nothing but a roundabout way of showing off, surely!
“I’m not showing off. Everything I’ve told you is the truth from my heart.” Ling Jingshu’s voice remained calm, yet her gaze grew extremely complicated, as though filled with darkness and pain, which quickly sank back beneath the surface of her eyes. “I don’t intend to marry, not in this lifetime.”
Whether a person is joking or speaking in earnest isn’t actually hard to tell.
Ling Jingyan was completely shocked.
Because she could tell that Ling Jingshu’s words just now carried not the slightest hint of joking.
“What woman doesn’t — doesn’t get married?”
Ling Jingyan nearly bit her own tongue, hastily blurting out, “A’Shu, please don’t take to heart the nonsense I said earlier. Even though I like Prince Yan, he simply doesn’t like me, and that’s no one’s fault. If you and Prince Yan are fated to be together in the future… I would never feel even a trace of jealousy — I would only be sincerely happy for you!”
To prove that her words came from the heart, Ling Jingyan urgently pulled Prince Yan’s calling card out from the hidden pocket in her sleeve and pressed it into Ling Jingshu’s hand. “This is what Prince Yan gave you — I shouldn’t have forced myself to keep it from you. Take good care of it. Perhaps there will come a day when it proves useful!”
After Ling Jingyan had accepted that calling card, she had tucked it into her hidden pocket, never having taken it out since.
It still carried the warmth of Ling Jingyan’s body.
Holding the warm calling card, Ling Jingshu felt rather surprised. “Cousin Yan, didn’t you say you wanted to keep the card as a memento? Are you really willing to give it back to me just like that?”
Ling Jingyan glanced at the card with both pain and conflict, then quickly turned her head aside, as if afraid she might regret it. “This was always yours to begin with. Not mine!”
Her words came out bitter, and she felt like crying again.
Ling Jingshu looked at Ling Jingyan, so childlike and naive, and felt a deep warmth welling up in her heart.
Although Ling Jingyan could sometimes be mischievous and sometimes willful, her heart was kind and lovable all the same.
In her past life, Ling Jingyan had been infatuated with Prince Yan, yet in the end it had brought her no good match at all, and she had died young, at just twenty years of age. In this life, having been reborn, she intended not only to change Ling Xiao’s fate of dying young, but also to change Ling Jingyan’s fate.
Cutting off Ling Jingyan’s lingering attachment to Prince Yan completely — this was the first step, and also the most critical one.
A moment’s pain was always better than endless torment in the future.
Having made up her mind, Ling Jingshu said nothing more, took the calling card, and left.
Ling Jingyan heard the sound of the door opening and closing, heard Ling Jingshu’s footsteps gradually fading away. Thinking of how Prince Yan’s calling card had been taken away as well…
Feeling reluctant one moment, heartbroken the next, and sorrowful after that, she began to cry softly once more.
At the family dinner that evening, Ling Jingyan used a headache as her excuse and did not attend.
Ling Daye was out attending social engagements and hadn’t returned, Ling Ji was still at the Imperial Academy and hadn’t come back either, and on top of that, Ling Jingyan, with her “headache,” was unable to come. At the dinner table there were only Madam Sun, Madam Jiang, and the Ling Jingshu siblings.
“She was perfectly fine when she came back — how did she suddenly get a headache? I said I’d call for a physician, but she refused, saying she’d be fine after a night’s rest.”
Madam Sun grumbled a few words, both worried and displeased. “If I’d known, I shouldn’t have let her go out today.”
Madam Jiang, having vaguely guessed at part of the truth, covered for Ling Jingyan with a smile. “A’Yan is naturally lively by nature, and staying indoors all day inevitably makes her feel stifled. Going out to get some fresh air is always a good thing. She probably caught too much wind and ended up with a slight headache. A small ailment like this truly doesn’t call for a physician.”
If a physician really were called for, Ling Jingyan’s pretense of illness would surely be exposed.
Ling Jingshu also chimed in to agree. “Cousin Sister-in-law is right. It’s really nothing much, and she’ll be fine after a day or two of rest. If a physician were called and outsiders found out, who knows what wild speculations might arise.”
Madam Sun, having only muttered a few words out of concern for her daughter, was persuaded by Madam Jiang and Ling Jingshu’s words and finally gave up insisting on calling for a physician.