Dong Shi thought of her son’s words: “…I must first have scholarly achievement before discussing this matter with the Old Mistress of the Fourth Branch. At the Second Branch Old Ancestor’s birthday banquet, there will be a gathering of the wealthy and noble—who knows if someone might take a fancy to Shaojin. We must find a way to let Shaojin know our family’s intentions.”

Though this was somewhat improper, if Zhou Shaojin became her daughter-in-law, it would give her leverage over her.

That was why Dong Shi had said all that to Zhou Shaojin.

She never expected Zhou Shaojin wouldn’t take the bait.

Sitting on the toilet, she was so angry her chest ached. It took a while for her mood to calm down. Then, thinking that Zhou Shaojin was still waiting outside, she deliberately took her time counting bath beans.

Zhou Shaojin waited and waited until her legs grew sore, but Dong Shi still hadn’t emerged.

She thought for a moment, then beckoned to a little maid on duty outside the open hall: “Bring me a stool.”

The little girl ran off and brought her a small carved red lacquer stool.

She couldn’t just stand here blocking others’ way!

Zhou Shaojin looked around and noticed that where she stood happened to face a cluster of banana trees. The broad leaves hung down like an umbrella over a bluestone. If one wasn’t careful, one wouldn’t notice someone sitting beneath the banana trees at all.

She couldn’t help but smile.

She’d sit there—when Dong Shi came out and didn’t see her, she’d certainly be displeased. Then Zhou Shaojin could step forward, having both logic on her side and grounds to complain about why Dong Shi had stayed in the privy so long.

Zhou Shaojin picked up the small stool and headed toward the banana trees. Out of the corner of her eye, she suddenly glimpsed a vermilion skirt hem with embroidered linked pearl pattern trim beneath the banana tree cluster.

Like a startled bird, she stumbled back several steps, crying out sharply: “Who’s hiding there?”

The banana tree branches and leaves rustled. A young lady with an elegant slanting coiffure, wearing red gold peony butterfly hairpins and kingfisher-feather large flowers, walked out.

“Pan Qing…” Zhou Shaojin was dumbfounded. “Why are you hiding here?”

Didn’t that mean Pan Qing had heard everything between her and Dong Shi?

Pan Qing’s face was completely flushed. She explained urgently: “I didn’t mean to! I came here earlier… wanted to get some fresh air… didn’t expect you and Uncle Bai’s wife to suddenly stop… I’m not that kind of person, I won’t say anything. Really!”

She spoke incoherently, so anxious that sweat broke out across her forehead.

Zhou Shaojin believed her.

Pan Qing had no reason to spy on her like this—once discovered by others, her good reputation would be completely ruined.

Zhou Shaojin carefully thought through what she’d just said to Dong Shi. There didn’t seem to be anything improper. Even if someone lost face, it would be Dong Shi…

She therefore nodded and asked: “Are you returning to the open hall now or standing here for a while?”

Zhou Shaojin’s calm acceptance of Pan Qing’s explanation left Pan Qing speechless. After a long while she said: “I’ll return to the open hall… if I don’t go back soon, Mother will send someone to find me…”

Zhou Shaojin nodded politely.

Pan Qing’s face grew even redder. She lowered her head and brushed past Zhou Shaojin, ascending to the corridor.

Zhou Shaojin opened the small stool beneath the banana tree.

Pan Qing, walking along the corridor, moved slower and slower until she finally stopped and turned back.

Zhou Shaojin sat properly on the small stool, her expression peaceful and at ease.

Pan Qing thought of her calm composure earlier when she asked no questions about reasons or causes, thought of how she had advised Cheng Jia without batting an eye… possessing a magnanimity and composure rare among girls… then thought of how her brother had been stunned by his first sight of her… She thought for a moment, turned around, and walked quickly to Zhou Shaojin’s side.

“You trust me just like that?” She gazed intently at Zhou Shaojin. “What if I tell my mother?”

Zhou Shaojin had been lost in thought and only noticed when Pan Qing stood before her, which surprised her somewhat. But hearing Pan Qing’s words, she couldn’t help but smile and ask in return: “Would you?”

In her previous life, even when Cheng Jia played such tricks on her, she never complained to the elders, having a kind of pride in resolving her own matters. How much less would she involve herself in something completely unrelated to her?

The Pan family was also a prestigious clan with many members. Pan Qing must have witnessed plenty of sordid affairs!

Pan Qing choked on her words for quite a while before saying: “Of course I wouldn’t tell the elders, but you didn’t ask anything… aren’t you afraid of misjudging someone?”

Zhou Shaojin suddenly found Pan Qing rather interesting. She smiled: “Did I misjudge you then?”

“You…” Pan Qing again felt at a loss for words.

“Alright, alright.” Zhou Shaojin smiled. “You don’t need to be so nervous. This isn’t some major matter. Even if you spread it around, what then? Others would only think Dong Shi harbored ill intentions and lacked character. What does it have to do with me?”

So she had calculated everything from the start.

Pan Qing’s expression changed slightly.

Zhou Shaojin was naturally observant and sensitive—how could she not know what Pan Qing was thinking?

She felt somewhat wistful and sighed: “You people—when others trust you, you think they have ulterior motives. When others don’t trust you, you think they look down on you… You’re truly difficult to deal with!”

Pan Qing’s face instantly turned so red it could drip blood. She was too ashamed to speak.

Zhou Shaojin had a gentle nature and had lived two lives. Though still young in this life, psychologically she felt older than Cheng Jia and Pan Qing. How could she make things difficult for these young girls?

She quickly changed the subject: “How did you come out alone? Where are the maids and servants attending you?”

Zhou Shaojin’s voice was warm and sounded very sincere.

Pan Qing exhaled deeply, feeling her face cool down. She said softly: “Everything was fine originally, but that retired Madam Sun brought up a nephew from her natal family…” As she spoke, her face flushed again. “She held my hand and kept asking this and that. Mother tried several times to change the subject but couldn’t. I couldn’t stand her shameless behavior, so I made an excuse about going to the privy and ran out, even forgetting to call my maids and servants.”

So it was because Madam Sun wanted to arrange a match for Pan Qing, and Pan Qing didn’t agree!

Zhou Shaojin hadn’t expected Pan Qing to tell her these things. After her surprise, she felt some understanding.

It was just like her situation with Cheng Lu—although everyone knew what Dong Shi meant, as long as it wasn’t spelled out explicitly, there was still some uncertainty. Such open publicity wasn’t appropriate.

She felt a sense of shared misfortune with Pan Qing and said: “If Grand Aunt doesn’t agree, this matter surely won’t come to pass.”

If she remembered correctly, Pan Qing eventually married into a family surnamed Yu.

Zhou Shaojin comforted Pan Qing: “Don’t worry. Grand Aunt certainly has her own plans for your marriage.”

Pan Qing actually blushed shyly and lowered her head.

Could there be… some inside story about Pan Qing and the Yu family’s marriage arrangement?

How had she not heard about this in her previous life?

Zhou Shaojin’s eyes widened. She felt that in her previous life she had been blind with open eyes, and in this life she’d better speak less!

She said awkwardly: “You should go back quickly! Didn’t you say if you’re out too long, Grand Aunt will send someone to find you?”

Just then, Dong Shi emerged from the privy. Looking up, she saw Zhou Shaojin standing calmly with Pan Qing, talking rather intimately. Her expression darkened.

Had Pan Qing come right after she left, and the two had been chatting this whole time, meaning Zhou Shaojin hadn’t been waiting for her at all?

“Miss Pan!” Dong Shi pushed Zhou Shaojin aside and greeted Pan Qing with a smile.

Pan Qing was quite cold toward her. She simply called out “Uncle Bai’s wife” as greeting, then smiled warmly at Zhou Shaojin: “I’ll head back first then! After the birthday banquet ends, I’ll visit you and Sister Chujin at Wanxiang Residence.”

Pan Qing had heard every word of Dong Shi and Zhou Shaojin’s conversation. Several times she’d nearly rushed out to pull Zhou Shaojin away from Dong Shi’s nonsense. Fortunately Zhou Shaojin had seen through Dong Shi’s schemes… People as despicable and shameless as Dong Shi weren’t worth associating with at all.

Zhou Shaojin smiled as she saw her off.

But Dong Shi was full of suspicion: “Why was she here?”

Zhou Shaojin had no intention of saying more and replied indifferently: “We happened to meet.”

The two returned to the side room one after the other.

All the dishes had been served. Yu Grand Madam Yang Shi said: “Why are you only just returning? The food has all gone cold.” As she spoke, she pointed to a bowl of crucian carp soup on the table. “Fresh crucian carp, just in season—very delicious. Have some quickly!”

Dong Shi responded carelessly, but Zhou Shaojin sat down calmly, ate quietly, and didn’t interact with Dong Shi at all throughout.

Yu Grand Madam’s eyes darted back and forth, glancing at Dong Shi one moment, Zhou Shaojin the next.

Soon, a managing matron came in to invite everyone to move to Peony Platform for tea, saying: “The opera will begin in half an hour.”

Everyone rose cheerfully and headed to Peony Platform.

Peony Platform was a two-story pavilion with a small stream winding past the front. The stream contained koi, and the water’s surface was scattered with duckweed. Opposite was an open terrace paved with bluestone.

The opera stage was set up on the terrace.

They would watch the opera from the second floor.

Guests from the open hall had already arrived and sat in the second-floor corridor hung with pearl curtains. Guests from the side rooms either sat in the first-floor corridor or crowded into second-floor side rooms.

In her previous life, Dong Shi had asked Zhou Shaojin to accompany her, so Zhou Shaojin sat with Dong Shi beneath the first-floor corridor. Someone at the opera house had thrown a packet of melon seeds at her, causing everyone to turn and stare, which greatly displeased Dong Shi.

In this life, she didn’t want to do something so embarrassing again.

Zhou Shaojin went to the second floor.

As soon as her sister saw her, she beckoned, signaling her to come over.

Several old madams smiled and turned their heads to look at her kindly.

Zhou Shaojin’s mood lifted. She smiled and quickly walked over to take her sister’s arm. But before the sisters could speak, they heard “thump thump thump” sounds from the staircase.

Cheng Xu ran up.

“Grandmother, Grandmother,” he called out loudly and urgently, looking straight at Old Madam Guo as if he had no eyes for anyone else. “Have you seen Second Cousin Zhou? I need to find her urgently!”

Everyone in the room turned their eyes toward Zhou Shaojin with a “whoosh.”

Zhou Shaojin wished there were a crack in the ground she could crawl into at that moment.

Why did Cheng Xu always do things that made her lose face?

She hid behind Zhou Chujin.

Old Madam Guo’s face also darkened. She rebuked Cheng Xu displeasedly: “How old are you? Why are you still so reckless? How can your teachers feel assured with you acting like this? Get down there right now! Is this a place where you can shout and yell?”