Clouds drifted through the slanted sunlight, red reflections bright in the windows.

Lu Tong’s steps slowed as she raised her eyes to look at the person beside her.

The setting sun gradually sank behind him, its trailing afterglow outlining the young man’s figure in an even softer shadow. His black brocade robe embroidered with golden cloud patterns rippled with a layer of pale gold in the slanted sunlight, extremely captivating.

Lu Tong felt somewhat dazed.

She hadn’t expected that Pei Yunying would still remember her casual, perfunctory remark.

It had been the same in Mangming Village – when he saw the yellow dog, he shielded her by his side. She had seen that black dog from the Palace Guard Office before; it was a beautiful and agile hunting hound.

Did he really think she was afraid of dogs?

Seeming to notice her gaze, Pei Yunying looked down: “What is it?”

Lu Tong shook off the strange feeling in her heart: “Nothing.”

The two walked side by side, their long shadows stretching across the slanted sunlight path, as if they would merge with the golden-red sunset.

Pei Yunying’s smiling voice came from beside her: “Doctor Lu helped me examine the prescription. What thank-you gift should I give you?”

Lu Tong said: “I told you it was a transaction. You need not take it to heart.”

“Is that so?” He spoke casually: “Then what about those golden butterfly hairpins?”

Lu Tong paused.

On New Year’s night, Pei Yunying had given her a pair of golden butterfly hairpins. The jewelry was precious, and such gifts were inappropriate to receive, so Lu Tong had tactfully returned the golden butterflies through Bao Zhu during her day off.

“How can there be reason to take back what’s been given away?” Pei Yunying said leisurely: “Doctor Lu is quite impolite.”

Returning someone else’s gift was indeed not the behavior of a well-mannered family. Even in her own Lu family back then, she would have been scolded by her parents for it.

But who told him to have no sense of propriety, giving such precious and generous gifts that could equal years of sitting in at Renxin Medical Hall.

Lu Tong pressed her lips together: “I don’t like butterflies.”

He asked: “Then what do you like?”

Lu Tong suddenly felt somewhat impatient.

She didn’t like owing people favors, nor did she like being owed by others, especially with her relationship with Pei Yunying being so complex. Under such complicated circumstances, what the future held was still unknown. She hoped all their interactions would be clear and transparent transactions, and she had expressed her intentions clearly, yet this person was always like this.

It was difficult to maintain proper distance, with murky and unclear boundaries.

No matter how much she calculated, she couldn’t figure it out clearly.

She simply looked directly at him and spoke bluntly: “I like the formula for your sachet. Can you give it to me?”

Pei Yunying was stunned.

He lowered his head, his gaze falling on Lu Tong’s face, his expression somewhat strange.

Lu Tong looked at him calmly.

That sachet formula seemed very precious, so much so that he hadn’t relented even in the carriage last time. But Lu Tong still didn’t understand – she was only asking for the sachet formula, not asking him to make an identical sachet. Even if the aromatic materials were expensive, she didn’t need him to provide them, so why did he look so troubled?

“You know I’m at the Imperial Medical Academy now and have no use for silver or jewelry,” Lu Tong said. “If you insist on thanking me, why not give me the sachet formula – that’s what I want.”

The more reluctant he was, the more puzzled Lu Tong became, and the more puzzled she was, the more she wanted it.

What one seeks but cannot obtain is always human nature.

He stared at Lu Tong for a while, then after a long moment, looked away and said coolly: “That won’t do.”

He walked straight ahead.

As expected.

Lu Tong watched his retreating figure, suddenly forming a guess in her heart. Perhaps she had been wrong – Pei Yunying didn’t seem like a petty person, and he was usually quite generous, yet he was so protective of this sachet. Could it be that the fragrance formula came from someone very important to him?

Sentiment was often more precious than silver.

While thinking this, Pei Yunying had already reached the gate of the Marshal’s Office. Further ahead, the carriage back to the Imperial Medical Academy was waiting at the street corner.

Pei Yunying handed her the medical box and said: “Be careful on the road.”

Lu Tong took the medical box, acknowledged with a sound, and walked toward the carriage across the street. Just as she crossed the street, she saw a familiar figure standing under the vermillion beams of a dye shop at the alley entrance not far ahead.

A young man in a fragrant-colored round-collared robe held something that looked like a food box or similar item. He was slightly plump and stood in front of the dye shop looking around.

Lu Tong’s steps suddenly halted.

It was that young master from the Grand Secretary’s household – Dong Lin.

In front of the dye shop, Dong Lin also spotted Lu Tong and his face immediately lit up with joy.

He had come specifically to find Lu Tong.

Ever since Madam Dong had sent Nanny Wang to cause a scene at Renxin Medical Hall and openly torn their relationship apart, the Grand Secretary no longer had any dealings with Renxin Medical Hall.

Dong Lin felt both angry and anxious – angry that his mother had ignored his objections and insisted on destroying his relationship with Lu Tong, and anxious that if Lu Tong was humiliated and in anger left Renxin Medical Hall to hastily marry someone, what would he do? For a young woman whose reputation had been damaged, continuing on would always be difficult.

But Lu Tong had not done so.

Not only had she not become dejected and furious over this, she had even taken first place on the red list in the spring examinations and successfully entered the Hanlin Imperial Medical Academy, shocking the entire capital’s medical community.

Dong Lin felt both ashamed and admiring.

He was ashamed that such an embarrassing situation had been caused by his own hand, yet he had no good way to help Lu Tong and had even been confined at home by his mother. He admired that even without anyone’s help and with an uncertain future, Lu Tong could still forge her own path.

After Lu Tong entered the Imperial Medical Academy, Madam Dong no longer confined him, but with Lu Tong not at Renxin Medical Hall, it became much more difficult to see her at the Imperial Medical Academy.

Dong Lin had once asked someone to send word to Lu Tong, hoping she could come out for a meeting so he could personally resolve past misunderstandings and apologize to her. But each time he was politely declined, with Lu Tong only saying that working at the Imperial Medical Academy made meeting him inconvenient.

Today was the same – he had gone to the Imperial Medical Academy and heard that Lu Tong had gone to treat the imperial guards at the Capital Camp Marshal’s Office, so he waited at the Marshal’s Office entrance. After waiting left and right until dusk fell, he finally saw the person he had been longing for. Dong Lin’s heart couldn’t help but feel excited, and he hesitantly started to approach. But then he saw that person suddenly stop moving.

Lu Tong halted her steps.

She hadn’t expected to encounter Dong Lin here.

This Young Master Dong’s intentions were too obvious.

Initially, she had allowed Dong Lin to show his favor toward her in order to take advantage of the Grand Secretary and Madam Dong’s relationship. But now Madam Dong already resented her for allegedly sowing discord between mother and son, and continuing to entangle with him would only bring harm without benefit.

She had already refused Dong Lin’s invitations several times and had tactfully indicated her rejection in various ways, yet this Young Master Dong remained particularly persistent.

Dragging things out was not good, but to make him retreat in the face of difficulty…

Lu Tong’s eyes flickered, and she slowly backed up two steps, then suddenly turned around and quickly ran back toward the Marshal’s Office.

Dong Lin became anxious and hurriedly followed.

At the small courtyard in front of the Marshal’s Office, Pei Yunying was still standing there.

The sun slanted down, and a gentle breeze began to rise. The young man stood under the plane tree at the Marshal’s Office entrance, lost in thought. The warm afterglow fell on him as he turned, just about to walk back into the office when he suddenly heard urgent footsteps behind him.

Pei Yunying looked up and saw Lu Tong running toward him.

She was always calm, steady, like a quietly flowing underground river with turbulent currents hidden beneath the peaceful surface.

But at this moment she was quite urgent.

Like that frozen stream had also broken free from its icy restraints, the flowing water became even more brilliantly dazzling in the afterglow, leaping and vividly roaring as it rushed into his sight, as if in the next moment she would crash into his embrace.

Pei Yunying was stunned for an instant, but the woman had already rushed to his front. Just as she was about to reach him, she suddenly stumbled as if stepping on a stone. He instinctively reached out to steady her, and she naturally grabbed his arm, solidly falling into his embrace.

Caught off guard, he held her fully in his arms.

Time seemed to freeze at this moment.

The golden afterglow became even more brilliant.

The spring flowers in the courtyard dimmed in comparison.

The sky grew dusky, the sun grew dusky, the clouds grew dusky. In the slanted sunlight covering the ground, even the last trace of sunset became tender, flowing gently over the interdependent figures in the courtyard.

The person in his arms gripped his sleeve very tightly, like a drowning person clinging to driftwood. Her posture was soft yet strange. In his slight confusion, he sensed something and glanced toward the courtyard gate behind him.

Not far from the gate stood a man in a fragrant-colored robe – that young master from the Grand Secretary’s household, holding a food box and standing dumbly in place. His gaze toward the two of them was full of disbelief, appearing somewhat pitifully forlorn in the lonely dusk.

Pei Yunying’s eyes moved slightly as he looked down.

She still kept her head lowered, as if curled up in his embrace. Her thin, frail body reminded him of those butterfly wings – seemingly so easily torn apart.

Pitifully weak.

One of his hands encircled her waist – that was his instinctive protective gesture when she had rushed over – while his other hand…

After a moment’s hesitation, he reached out with his other hand.

That hand was slender and pale, slowly and gently reaching toward the back of the person in his embrace.

It was a gesture of drawing someone into a full embrace.

The evening wind was cool and light, gently brushing over the fragrant grass in the courtyard.

That hand ultimately did not fall.

It only hovered behind her, restrainedly maintaining an unreachable distance.

The fragrance of spring flowers in the courtyard seemed to take on a bitter note by dusk, and the shadows of the intimate figures on the ground were also intimate.

Lu Tong calculated the time, estimating that Dong Lin had seen what he should and shouldn’t have seen, then raised her head. Upon lifting it, she met a pair of deep black eyes.

Pei Yunying was very handsome.

With elegant bearing and decisive excellence, though he seemed approachable and warm, he always carried a natural sense of detachment that kept people from drawing near.

Yet at this moment, he simply looked down at her, his dark eyes reflecting her image.

Only a trace of afterglow remained from the sunset. When it shone from behind, the reflection seemed to scatter like the moon on a silver pond, transforming into brilliant stars, and it seemed there were emotions she couldn’t understand – deeper things rising from the depths of his eyes, tangled and unclear.

She was very close to him.

Closer than the accidental contact when the carriage had swayed last time. Where his cold clothes met her, his embrace seemed to carry warmth, and the faint orchid and musk fragrance came intermittently, like a tempting forbidden fruit, unconsciously giving rise to some improper thoughts.

Lu Tong was dazed for a moment.

His gaze lightly swept past somewhere behind her, then he helped her stand steady, smiled, and asked: “What happened?”

Lu Tong turned back and saw Dong Lin’s hastily fleeing figure disappearing beyond the courtyard gate.

She breathed a sigh of relief and turned back to look at the person before her.

Pei Yunying stood in front of her with a very innocent expression, neither surprised by her sudden return nor asking anything else.

Plain and calm, quite different from the reaction she had anticipated.

Lu Tong couldn’t quite determine whether he had actually seen Dong Lin or not.

If he had seen him, he already knew of her deliberate action – why was he so calm? But if he hadn’t seen him, given Pei Yunying’s nature, he would have already made some teasing remarks about her “fiancé.”

After all, even she felt that her actions just now were rather contrived.

Moreover, this person was quite clever.

But since her purpose had been achieved and Pei Yunying didn’t speak, Lu Tong certainly had no reason to embarrass herself. Anyway, that young master from the Dong family seemed to have a crying disposition. Since Madam Dong already believed she had something going on with Pei Yunying, deepening this misunderstanding would at least put an end to Young Master Dong’s obsession in the future.

Lu Tong stepped back, readjusted the medical box strap on her shoulder, and said: “Nothing.”

After thinking, she looked up and added: “No need for golden butterflies – this is the thank-you gift.”

Pei Yunying looked at her as if he wanted to say something, but in the end said nothing. He just nodded and smiled: “Good.”

Lu Tong felt somewhat relieved and said: “I’ll go first.”

“I’ll see you off,” he interrupted.

This time Lu Tong didn’t refuse again.

If Dong Lin saw Pei Yunying being intimate with her, it would only make him give up his thoughts more clearly. Pei Yunying’s action was exactly what she wanted. Fortunately, this time when going out, perhaps Young Master Dong had already left too heartbroken, because even until Lu Tong got into the carriage, she didn’t see Young Master Dong’s figure.

Pei Yunying stood at the alley entrance, waiting until Lu Tong’s carriage drove away before the smile on his lips gradually faded. He stood at the alley entrance for a while longer before turning to walk back toward the Marshal’s Office.

He walked very slowly with a quiet expression, as if contemplating something. The last trace of sunset in the distance had sunk below, and without the warm light from before, the courtyard suddenly became cold and desolate.

When he entered the camp office’s small courtyard, he saw someone leaning against the plane tree in the distance. Pei Yunying paused.

Xiao Zhufeng stood under the tree with a cold expression, unknown when he had arrived or how much of the earlier events he had witnessed.

“When did you get back?” He smiled as he approached.

Xiao Zhufeng said nothing, waiting until the other person came near, almost brushing past him, before speaking meaningfully: “I want to retrieve something and need someone to remove the obstacles in my path.”

Pei Yunying: “…”

These were words he had said not long ago, when Xiao Zhufeng had asked why he showed favoritism and protection toward Lu Tong everywhere, and he had answered this way.

“How nice,” Xiao Zhufeng glanced at him with an indescribable tone, “you’ve removed another ‘obstacle’ from her path.”

“…”

“Incomprehensible,” Pei Yunying scoffed, then lazily waved his hand. “If you want to moon-gaze, do it yourself. I’m going in.” He walked into the camp office.

Xiao Zhufeng stood without moving.

The sky had completely darkened, but there was no moon tonight. Wind blew through the courtyard, and from the plane tree above, a leaf fluttered down and landed in his palm.

The leaf was half green and half yellow, with the middle section’s color indistinct – murky and unclear. He looked down at it for a moment, then loosened his hand. The leaf slowly drifted down like a withered butterfly sinking into the earth.

The man straightened and also left.