Li Weiyang was very fond of Minfeng, because she saw a kind of dependence in this child’s eyes. Though the Third Madam was his adoptive mother and treated him as her own son, her personality was too cold and reserved. Most of the time, this child was quite lonely.

In the garden pavilion, Li Weiyang told him stories about her life in the countryside—how she rolled up her trouser legs and waded into the water to feel for wild duck eggs among the water plants. Then she would build a fire on the riverbank, use hot sand to cook the duck eggs, and finally eat every single one.

Li Minfeng listened with rapt attention, his beautiful eyes showing yearning.

He had never experienced such a life in the Prime Minister’s residence. Not only did it sound fresh and novel, but the description carried a taste of freedom. So he blinked and said, “Third Sister, someday I want to go see the place where you lived.”

Li Weiyang looked at his eyes woven with lively, fluttering wings and smiled. “Silly child, that’s not such a fun place.”

Li Minfeng raised his head and looked at Li Weiyang. In the sunlight, her face was youthful, carrying a clean brightness like spring radiance exposed to the light, pure and flawless without a trace of worldly weariness. Yet those deep black eyes, profound as ancient wells, shifted from light to dark, her expression impossible to distinguish between sorrow and joy, too complex to make any sense of. This Third Sister truly was different from everyone else… Li Minfeng couldn’t help but think this in his heart.

On the other side of the garden, Li Changle had just walked past the artificial mountain when she was suddenly startled by a figure.

“Cousin!” With this call, a young man wearing brocade robes jumped out from behind the rockery, blocking her path.

Li Changle recognized the person and couldn’t help but smile slightly.

Li Changle’s maternal aunt had married the Loyal and Brave General. Her uncle later inherited the title of Marquis Bochang. Their legitimate eldest son, Gao Yuan, entered the palace as a study companion to the Crown Prince, but died young when he took an arrow for the Crown Prince during an assassination attempt. The Crown Prince, moved by Gao Yuan’s sacrifice, petitioned the Emperor for a special grace decree, granting Li Changle’s aunt the honor of becoming the Lady of Wei. Having lost her eldest son who excelled in both civil and military arts, the Lady of Wei doted even more on her younger son, Gao Jin, holding him in the palm of her hand. This Gao Jin had refined features and a dignified bearing, but having grown up from childhood in the soft, rouge-scented world of powder and silk, he was fundamentally a playboy among flowers. Marquis Bochang saw him becoming increasingly outrageous and several times threatened strict discipline, but was always blocked by the protective Lady of Wei. Because Gao Yuan had been Prime Minister Li’s outstanding student, Marquis Bochang had no choice but to frequently bring Gao Jin to see Prime Minister Li—first, hoping Gao Jin would make some progress in his studies, and second, hoping to restrain him through the Prime Minister’s authority.

However, though Gao Yuan and Gao Jin were blood brothers, they truly didn’t seem to have crawled from the same mother’s womb. One was talented in both civil and military arts, a brilliant youth, while the other was a dissolute young master who spent his nights among flowers and willows. After teaching him two or three times and seeing no results, Prime Minister Li gave up. The First Madam was also very indulgent toward this nephew, simply because he was the Lady of Wei’s only remaining offspring, so he could freely come and go in the inner residence without any restrictions.

“Why did cousin think to seek me out today!” Gao Jin moved closer to Li Changle with a playful smile. “Usually it’s so difficult to see cousin even once… Sister has become even more beautiful, like a celestial immortal…”

Li Changle was usually lukewarm toward him, but today she put on a smiling face. “I asked you to come because naturally I have something good for you.”

Seeing Li Changle’s smile bloom like a flower, Gao Jin’s heart immediately pounded. “Whatever sister needs, your cousin will go through fire and water to accomplish it for you!”

Prime Minister Li always liked to lecture people with a stern face. Gao Jin originally didn’t want to come to the Li residence, but later discovered his aunt was very indulgent toward him, and his female cousins were all born beautiful as flowers, especially his eldest cousin, who was absolutely stunning. However, Li Changle had a proud temperament and was always cold toward him. Unexpectedly, today she had actually invited him herself—how could this not delight him!

Looking at the celestial beauty Li Changle, he felt all the women he’d been intimate with in the past became common rouge and powder, and he wished he could immediately grasp her little hand for some intimacy. But he was also clear that he absolutely must not be presumptuous before this cousin, because the Lady of Wei had warned him that with eldest cousin’s appearance and character, she would surely become a person of supreme nobility in the future—absolutely not someone he could trifle with. So he could only feast his eyes.

Who would have thought Li Changle would point to someone in the distant pavilion and say, “Cousin, you haven’t met my Third Sister yet, have you?”

Gao Jin followed Li Changle’s slender finger and saw a young boy standing with his back to him, while on the other side sat a young girl. They were talking about something unknown when the girl suddenly laughed. She wore a lotus-colored jacket and skirt. The elegant color reflected against her jade face, making her chin appear even more pointed, her lips red and teeth white. Those eyes beneath long lashes were like water in an ancient well, rippling with cold, clear radiance.

Gao Jin stood in place, truly dazed for quite a while.

Seeing his appearance, Li Changle waved a jade hand with pointed fingers before his face, smiling to herself. “Well?”

Gao Jin was stunned, only then awakening from his infatuation, his face full of smiles. “She’s that inauspicious concubine-born daughter? She’s quite—” uniquely flavored.

Different from Li Changle’s stunning national beauty, Li Changru’s glamorous charm, and also different from Li Changxiao and Li Changxi’s delicate appeal, Li Weiyang had eyes cold and clear as ancient well water, mysterious and deep. To Gao Jin’s eyes that had seen all the world’s beauties, she had an indescribable, unique taste.

Li Changle smiled slightly. “Cousin, isn’t Third Sister very beautiful?”

“Beautiful! Beautiful!” Gao Jin said twice in succession, then remembered something and smiled ingratiatingly. “Of course, not as beautiful as you, cousin.”

Do you even need to say that? Li Changle’s smile faded. “Would cousin like to intimately taste Third Sister’s fragrance?”

Hearing this, Gao Jin was startled. “Cousin, don’t tease me. Uncle’s beating rod is no joke!”

Li Changle looked at him with an expression somewhere between smiling and not. “If it were Second Sister and the others, naturally you couldn’t act rashly. But as for her—if cousin truly likes her, just ask for her. What could go wrong?”

From age fifteen, Gao Jin began experiencing women, but aside from courtesans, they were pretty servant girls in the residence or ordinary young ladies from common families. If he liked them, he took them, and after being scolded by his mother, she would accept them. But this Li Weiyang was, after all, Prime Minister Li’s biological daughter. If he caused any trouble, it would be difficult to answer to the Prime Minister’s residence. So he still hesitated somewhat.

Li Changle laughed coldly. “Cousin, think it through clearly. After this village, there’s no such shop! No matter what happens, Mother is your own maternal aunt!”

Hearing this, Gao Jin was stunned for a moment, then suddenly understood completely. His face turned as red as if smeared with thick rouge, flushing all over. He glanced at Li Weiyang in the distance, steeled his heart, and said, “Then I’ll follow cousin’s lead entirely!”

Li Changle’s smile slowly expanded. With Weiyang’s status, if she wanted to become the Lady of Wei’s proper daughter-in-law, her aunt would absolutely never agree. Then she could only become a concubine…

Her aunt was no soft-hearted mistress. The minor concubines in Marquis Bochang’s residence whom cousin had tired of playing with—their lives were worse than death. Hmph!