When Luo Ling Yu looked more carefully, she saw bamboo shadows by the window, rustling in the wind, which blew the curtains about, letting in a chill. Behind the blue-green window drapes, not a trace of anyone could be seen. Those peach blossom eyes she thought she’d seen seemed like a dream.

Luo Ling Yu was momentarily confused.

Outside the curtained area, Madam Lu called: “Miss Luo?”

Luo Ling Yu responded and quickly followed her out.

In the main hall, many young masters and ladies surrounded Fourth Young Master Lu Chang, treating him like a pitiful child. Among the adults, Luo Ling Yu vaguely saw her sister jumping up and down, her small face like gleaming jade. But Young Lady Luo Yun Wan was too small, and Luo Ling Yu couldn’t see her clearly, so her gaze fell on Lu Ying, who was smiling at her and Madam Lu.

Lu Ying wore a blue-gray riding robe with high boots and styled her hair with two broad sideburns. Her attire was the fashionable Jianye women’s travel wear, but her makeup featured a red dot between her brows and hair past her ears at the temples. As the younger generation paid their respects to Lu Ying, when she turned back to look at Madam Lu and Luo Ling Yu, the gold and emerald leaf ornaments in her black hair added a mature woman’s charm to her heroic bearing.

Lu Ying’s entire appearance looked… like someone who knew how to enjoy life.

Luo Ling Yu bowed, greeting with genuine feeling: “Eldest Aunt, how are you!”

Widowed early, with a son traveling everywhere to study, Lu Ying had returned alone to her maiden home in Jianye’s Lu family, rarely staying at home, always out having fun. Even when her niece Luo Ling Yu came to stay as a guest, Lu Ying hadn’t shown much care. Lu Ying’s way of life was disliked by the rule-abiding Madam Lu; while Madam Lu sat at home all day never going out, Lu Ying also showed disdain. The sister-in-law and sister-in-law were incompatible in temperament and rarely came together. If not for Young Lady Luo Yun Wan happening to call Lu Ying for help tonight, Lu Ying wouldn’t have bothered talking with her sister-in-law.

Lu Ying smiled: “What were you and Sister-in-law discussing inside?”

Madam Lu suppressed her anger: “Just some idle chat.”

Seeing the tension between them, Luo Ling Yu quickly smiled and changed the subject: “Aunt, did you just return from outside? Were you riding?”

Lu Ying: “Playing polo. Had a few extra cups of wine in the evening, that’s why I came back late and missed your little banquet. Otherwise I would have come to join the fun. Another day I’ll take you to play polo.”

Luo Ling Yu’s smile stiffened slightly: Polo? Better not… This was probably one of the few things she wasn’t good at.

Madam Lu sneered: “How nice that you still remember you have such a niece.” Her gaze swept across Luo Ling Yu’s incomparably beautiful face. Having just been angered and already disliking these two, her tone was particularly unpleasant, “Making herself at home, truly not considering herself an outsider.”

Lu Ying was unfazed: “This is my home after all. If you’re unhappy, go tell my mother.”

Madam Lu was rendered speechless, her lips trembling.

Due to Madam Lu’s interference and Lu Ying’s arrival, this small banquet ended too hastily, starting strong but ending weakly. The attendees were all in poor spirits; after the young masters bid farewell, the young ladies were silently planning to return home tomorrow, not wanting to face Madam Lu’s displeasure at the Lu residence for now. Seeing the expressions of the young ladies, Madam Lu felt some regret, feeling she might have offended some noble families. Because of this regret, when Luo Ling Yu offered to personally escort Madam Lu and Lu Ying back, Madam Lu didn’t object.

Escorting the two ladies back was a thankless task for Luo Ling Yu.

Besides not getting along, Madam Lu and Lu Ying liked to use Luo Ling Yu as a topic of conversation. On the way back, when walking together, Madam Lu, trying to suppress her sister-in-law, criticized at length how Lu Ying neglected her refugee niece, saying how the North and South were different, how Ruyang and Jianye weren’t the same. She added that today’s misunderstandings were all due to Lu Ying’s indulgence.

Lu Ying’s expression became slightly awkward, as her feelings for Luo Ling Yu truly weren’t deep. She had allowed the Luo sisters to seek refuge at the Lu family for her late husband’s sake. Madam Lu wasn’t wrong about her neglecting Luo Ling Yu. Lu Ying actually didn’t know what had happened tonight or what Luo Ling Yu had done, so when Madam Lu led the conversation, her momentum weakened.

Luo Ling Yu followed the two with her head lowered, saying nothing.

The serving girls including Ling Yu following behind watched as their young lady became a outlet for the Lu family sisters-in-law, and observed Luo Ling Yu’s slender, straight back. They sighed, thinking that in tonight’s affair, though their young lady was innocent, she was caught in the crossfire. Tomorrow the other young ladies would surely leave, leaving this Miss Luo alone in their house… such torment, Miss Luo was truly pitiful.

Finally done escorting the two, walking along the small path back to her courtyard, Luo Ling Yu remained silent. Ling Yu, who carried the lantern, secretly glanced over and saw starlike brilliance in the young lady’s eyes, seemingly about to fall. Those tears contained in her eyes rippled like lake water, weak and beautiful…

Walking onto the stone corridor, with a row of pine and cypress trees on the left, the lake water clear beyond the trees, light floating on the young lady’s porcelain-like cheeks. The young lady raised her eyes, seeing dots of lamplight in the near and far courtyards. Luo Ling Yu suddenly asked: “Is this path the necessary route from ‘Snow Tracing Court’ back to everyone’s courtyards?”

Though Ling Yu didn’t understand why she asked this, she respectfully answered: “Yes… but it’s somewhat far. Why have we taken this detour, Miss?”

Luo Ling Yu then said: “I’m a bit tired, let’s sit and rest a while.”

The young lady had endured much all evening, and the serving girls felt full of sympathy for her. When Luo Ling Yu spoke, they didn’t suspect anything and stopped with their lanterns. They stood neither too far nor too close, about ten paces away, watching as Luo Ling Yu sat down holding the railing. Leaning on the railing looking at the misty waters beyond the corridor, the tears in Luo Ling Yu’s eyes fell.

She couldn’t hold back her sobs.

Ling Yu and the other girls immediately lowered their heads, not daring to look more.

While letting tears roll down her cheeks, Luo Ling Yu calculated the time. She wondered if those young masters who lived far away had passed by here yet, after she had escorted Madam Lu back. If they hadn’t come yet, that would be good… her appearance of gazing at the water with tears, full of grievance, was moving and delicate, and should be seen.

Already aggrieved, silently swallowing tears unknown to others, wouldn’t that make her even more pitiful?

Luo Ling Yu leaned on the railing, tears flowing continuously. She cried until her shoulders shook, her throat making weak “wu wu wu” sounds.

Yet her profile remained incomparably beautiful and alluring.

…

The banquet at “Snow Tracing Court” hadn’t dispersed when Lu Ying arrived, but Third Young Master Lu and Liu Shu had left that area, forbidding the servants from telling others. Third Young Master Lu led Liu Shu to dig up a jar of wine he had buried several years ago, finding that spot where the family’s lake connected to the Qinhuai River. After tying the boat’s rope to a wooden stake on shore, Third Young Master Lu carried the wine jar onto the boat and sat, with Liu Shu following closely.

The two young masters sat in the boat, pine and cypress shadows above blocking them, with clear wind and bright moon, floating in white moonlight, life’s pleasures complete to this point.

Lu Yun glanced at Liu Shu sitting opposite, poured him wine, Liu Shu’s face hidden in the tree shadows, his expression somewhat distracted. Lu Yun snorted, bent his knee, elbow propped on it as he leaned back. The wine’s fragrance spread, and Third Young Master Lu observed the Prince of Chen for a long while before suddenly saying in a strange tone: “Don’t tell me you’ve also taken a fancy to my cousin Luo?”

“Since leaving ‘Snow Tracing Court,’ you’ve been absent-minded.”

Yet Liu Shu had only stood with him at the window, merely glimpsing Luo Ling Yu.

Liu Shu came to his senses: “No, haven’t… just… looks familiar.”

Lu Yun smiled ambiguously: “All beautiful women look familiar.”

Others were one thing, but for Liu Shu to also be so concerned… Lu Yun took a drink of wine, his heart growing troubled, his eyes showing a slight coldness. At this moment, he truly appeared somewhat proud and cold, pure as mountain peak ice and snow.

Lu Yun spoke carelessly: “What kind of beauty is Luo Ling Yu… You had me go to Yicheng to interact with the lesser nobility, and I truly did see a beauty there. The scholar Zhou Tan, whose learning is known throughout the world, is of lesser nobility and has always been looked down upon by the aristocracy. When I met him, I saw his daughter Zhou Yang Ling. If you want to cooperate with the lesser nobility, you can’t bypass the scholar Zhou Tan, and his daughter Zhou Yang Ling is also not a bad choice.”

Liu Shu suddenly made an “ah” sound, remembering something. He stood up at once, making the small boat they shared rock, but Liu Shu couldn’t care about that, speaking excitedly: “I-I-I remember now… you-you-you…”

Lu Yun’s dark brows pressed down over his eyes: Liu Shu, due to his speech impediment, rarely spoke, and would never let himself get excited.

Liu Shu calmed down before speaking coherently: “I’ve seen Cousin Luo before. She, just arrived in Jianye, I passed by on horseback.”

That day the spring light was brilliant as clouds at sunrise, the young Fifth Young Master, Prince Liu Shu of Chen and more than ten noble young masters of Jianye rode past the dock on horseback. The beautifully painted young lady had just disembarked, her clothes floating in the wind as she looked up. Who could forget such a beauty like jade, graceful as a startled swan?

Sitting in the rocking boat, Lu Yun’s dark eyes contracted slightly. His tone was calm: “She is my cousin.”

Lu Yun opened his mouth to speak again when his ears suddenly twitched, hearing a young lady’s sobbing from above. He looked up, seeing dense tree shadows, cool moonlight, and the young lady’s figure indistinct beyond the trees.

Lu Yun and Liu Shu exchanged a glance, growing suspicious, wondering if their conversation had been overheard. It shouldn’t have been possible, as they had spoken very quietly, barely said anything, and the wind was blowing downward… but to be safe, the two young masters fell silent and pulled the rope tied to the shore to dock the boat.

…

A moment later, Luo Ling Yu heard an extremely subtle male voice behind her, half-sighing: “Cousin…”

Luo Ling Yu, crying like a rain-beaten pear blossom, was just feeling pleased that she had finally been seen by young masters passing by after the banquet, but that floating “ah” made her feel this jade-like voice seemed somewhat familiar. Before she could think more, she hurriedly wiped her tears and stood up, turning with her best appearance to look back softly and timidly. Luo Ling Yu’s misty eyes blinked—

Third Young Master Lu.

He truly had a jade-like fine appearance and bearing… but after that incident between them… and he had just been spying on her. Hadn’t he just criticized her? Why did he keep appearing before her?

Luo Ling Yu carefully asked: “Cousin… do you… admire me this much?”

She completely failed to see Liu Shu tying up the boat rope behind Lu Yun.

Lu Yun raised an eyebrow: Who admired her?!