Cai Ping walked behind them with her mouth hanging open wide enough to swallow a block of sweet pastry. This young man was being so forward — why was the young miss not giving him a piece of her mind?

She suspected that Qin Yao had been subjected to some underhanded trick by Lin Xiao, and stared hard at the two of them for quite some time, looking back and forth with deep skepticism. But no matter how she looked, there was plainly no sign of anger on the young miss’s face — only shyness, a flush of rose spreading from her cheeks all the way to her neck. It was evident she was half-willing.

Qin Yao was deeply uncomfortable, her face burning hot, and a good half of the strength in her body had mysteriously deserted her — even breathing had become somewhat difficult. After walking a couple of steps, she suddenly remembered that the two of them were still in the midst of a bustling crowd and feared how it might look to others, so she quietly exerted pressure, trying to free her hand. But Lin Xiao held on firmly — the harder she pulled, the closer the distance between them shrank, until finally, with a silent, reproachful glance at Lin Xiao, she gave up resisting in defeat, from time to time guiltily darting her eyes around like a thief, terrified of running into someone she knew.

In truth, Qin Yao’s worry was entirely unnecessary. This era had always been open in its customs, and the Flower Festival was famously known as a holiday for the exchange of heartfelt sentiments. Already around the South Marsh Garden, quite a few young men and women were walking hand in hand; the air was saturated with the warmth of spring blossoms. Who had any leisure to pay attention to anyone else?

Although Lin Xiao’s face worked hard to maintain an air of composure, he had been uncertain how Qin Yao would react and was not without anxiety. After walking hand in hand with her for a while without receiving the anticipated reproach or cold reception, his anxiety dissolved instantly into exhilaration. His chest could barely contain the torrent of happiness that surged toward him like a tide, and the smile moved from deep within his heart all the way up onto his face.

They walked on a little further, when suddenly a group of children came running toward them from ahead — every one of them wearing a mask, laughing and shouting, full of joy.

The leading children ran extremely fast, sweeping past Qin Yao like a gust of wind.

Qin Yao noticed that the masks on their faces were fashioned with remarkable liveliness and could not resist turning her head to follow them with her eyes.

She had just turned back when a chubby little boy came waddling toward them from up ahead. The child was roughly three or four years old, round-faced and bright-eyed, and thoroughly adorable — but his legs seemed somewhat unsteady, lacking the agility of the other children.

“Big brother, wait for me!” he called out, puffing and panting as he chased after the group of children that had just run past. Unable to catch up no matter how hard he tried, he swung his pudgy arms and legs with all his might and ran all the harder. As he reached Qin Yao, he tripped on a small stone on the ground, let out a cry, and was very nearly about to crash right into her.

Lin Xiao, afraid Qin Yao would be hurt, quickly reached out from the side, swiftly caught the child by the back of his collar, and set him back steadily on the ground.

“Oh my goodness, thank you so much, young master.” A pretty young woman came hurrying up from behind, took the little boy from Lin Xiao’s hands in a flurry, and thanked him repeatedly.

Lin Xiao smiled and said nothing.

The woman thanked him a few more times, then turned and walked away with the child in her arms, murmuring softly, “Your mother told you — we’re here today to find your father, and you are not to go running off with anyone. What would your mother do if she couldn’t find you?”

The child was quite docile now, and allowed his mother to hold him, his pudgy little finger stuck in his mouth and sucking away. He mumbled, “Mother, why is Father never at home? Is it because there’s something tastier to eat outside?”

The woman’s expression instantly turned very unpleasant, and she said with a note of resentment, “Your father has taken leave of his senses. Right now the only thing in his heart is the food outside — how could he possibly remember what’s at home?”

The little boy was so surprised he even forgot to suck his finger, his eyes opened perfectly round. “Has he even forgotten little Afu?”

Before they could hear the woman’s answer, Qin Yao and Lin Xiao had already arrived at the Crystal Pavilion. Just as they were about to enter, they faintly heard someone call out in the distance, “Ah-Yao, Ah-Yao!” The voice, though not very far away, was swallowed by the surrounding noise of the crowd and became indistinct and drifting, too unclear to make out properly.

Qin Yao was quite startled, and immediately tugged her hand free of Lin Xiao’s, stood on tiptoe, and looked toward the direction of the voice. But all she could see in every direction was a jostling sea of people — not a familiar face anywhere.

Lin Xiao also heard the voice, and his expression darkened somewhat. Just as he had finally made arrangements to bring Qin Yao out, a certain someone or other had better not appear now to cause trouble.

Fortunately, Qin Yao searched with her eyes for quite a while without seeing anyone she recognized. She concluded she must have either misheard or that the person had called out to someone else. Lin Xiao did not give her time to dwell on it, and stepped in front of her line of sight. “We are already at the Crystal Pavilion — let us go in. We can listen to one transformation text performance first, then continue on.”

Feng Chuyue continued craning her neck to peer back toward where she had spotted Qin Yao, and said in puzzlement, “That was definitely Ah-Yao just now.”

She then turned and tugged at Feng Boyu’s arm, saying with certainty, “Brother, I could see clearly — it was unmistakably Ah-Yao. The person beside her — I’ve seen him before as well. He looks like the Young Heir of Prince Lan’s estate.”

Feng Boyu’s expression became complicated as he watched the figure that had already been swallowed up by the crowd, and offered no reply to his sister’s words.

Feng Chuyue, unaware of her brother’s unsettled state, mused aloud, “But why were there no other people with them? Not even Elder Brother Qu — could it be that Ah-Yao and the Young Heir of Prince Lan arranged to come out alone together for the Flower Festival?”

She paused for a moment, then her eyes lit up. “Oh! Brother, I just remembered — on the night I was taken away by that creature, Ah-Yao was also together with this Young Heir of Prince Lan the whole time!”

Feng Boyu’s expression grew even more pained upon hearing this. He was silent for quite a long while before he managed to say with great difficulty, “Do not talk nonsense — do not go damaging Miss Qu’s reputation.”

“I am not talking nonsense at all.” Feng Chuyue continued on, absorbed in her own thoughts. “I’ve been wondering about it for a while now — why is it that the Young Heir of Prince Lan always seems to appear wherever Ah-Yao is? And while he generally comes across as cold and aloof, he is apparently willing to talk and laugh freely with Ah-Yao. If anyone were to tell me he had no feelings for her, I would not believe it.”

Feng Boyu listened, feeling as though his insides were on fire. He quietly clenched his fist, turned, and walked away.

“Brother! Why are you leaving?” Feng Chuyue was startled and hurried after him. “We specifically came all the way from the Qu residence to the South Marsh Garden — was it not because Madam Qu said that Qin Yao would be here, and we wanted to come find her and enjoy the festival together? And now we’re leaving without having exchanged even one word with her — how anticlimactic.”

Anticlimactic? A cold laugh formed inwardly in Feng Boyu’s heart. Just now, though he had been some distance away from Qin Yao, when he had called out to her, she had clearly heard the sound and immediately turned to search in all directions for where it was coming from. If they had walked just a little further forward, they would surely have fallen within her line of sight, and a meeting would have followed naturally.

But in the very next moment, it was as though an invisible force had materialized in front of them — wordless and soundless, yet utterly deliberate — blocking their way and preventing them from going any further toward Qin Yao. The force had no discernible shape, but it was entirely methodical. He could neither identify anyone in the crowd who was hindering them, nor manage to advance even one more step in that direction. And the reason behind it all required no deep contemplation to understand.

He was furious to the extreme. Though he did not know when exactly the Young Heir of Prince Lan had come to be acquainted with Qin Yao, nor at what point feelings had developed, he understood well enough that the world had never operated according to what was fair. The other party had power and status, and had been laying quiet, patient groundwork all along. On what grounds could he compete with that?

He was unwilling to simply abandon what was in his heart, yet the more he thought about it, the more he felt it was a matter without resolution. In his desolation, he no longer wished to hear his sister’s chatter, and walked out of the South Marsh Garden in a dejected and brooding silence.