The twins ran too quickly, with Jin Yue and the other maids hurriedly chasing after them, arriving at the courtyard gate just as the siblings crashed into the four adults. Jin Yue glanced at her master, and Third Young Master Lu’s face was so cold it made her heart tremble. Following Jin Yue’s silent signal, the maids quietly withdrew, not daring to provoke the Third Young Master’s ill mood.

Liu Shu noticed Lu Yun’s unusual mood and looked at him, questioning: “Third Brother?”

Luo Lingyu tugged at Lu Yun’s sleeve, reminding him: “Brother Xuecen, Brother Xuecen…”

Leave some room for forgiveness, he shouldn’t get angry at this moment.

Only after the lady tugged at his sleeve and called him several times did Lu Yun barely suppress the fire in his heart. The twins finally belatedly realized their father’s mood was off—Sitao secretly raised his eyes to look at his mother, full of questions; Siyong carefully released her small hands from her father’s leg and stepped back.

Siyong asked uncertainly: “Father?”

Lu Yun took a deep breath. He closed his eyes. He could pretend nothing had happened and continue chatting pleasantly with Liu Shu and his wife; however, however…

He looked down at Sitao and asked in a calm voice, his emotions hard to discern: “Who taught you to dress like this?”

Sitao responded bewilderedly: “Sister taught me… is something wrong?”

Lu Yun turned to Siyong. He had always been gentle with his daughter; this was probably the first time he was angry with her: “Lu Siyong, go copy the family rules one hundred times! You can’t leave until you finish!”

Siyong: “…!”

She shouted: “Why!”

Lu Yun said coolly: “If I’m punishing you, naturally you did something wrong—you led your brother astray. My friends are all present, do you want me to scold you in public?”

Siyong: “…”

She was too incredulous, unable to understand why her father was so angry when she had only helped her brother. Growing up being cherished by everyone, even when she fought with her brother before, her father never scolded her, so why was he blaming her now when she had helped her brother? The little girl who had never suffered the slightest grievance immediately reddened her eyes, tears welling up, instantly filling them with clear water. When she blinked, teardrops fell dramatically.

She glared at her father but didn’t dare defy him, so she let out a sob, and while wiping her tears with her hands, Siyong turned and ran away.

Sitao standing there, was shocked: “…”

Clearly, like his sister, he didn’t understand why things had turned out this way.

In the stiff atmosphere, it was the beautiful Lady Luo who gave a light laugh and smiled while instructing Jin Yue and the other maids who were peeping from the corridor but didn’t dare come forward: “Quick, come here and take Sitao to change his clothes. How can such a young gentleman like Sitao imitate others and lose himself?”

Luo Lingyu winked at her young son.

Sitao vaguely caught on to what had triggered his father’s anger.

Having invited the Emperor and Empress to visit their home, but with Siyong crying and writing her punishment, Sitao didn’t know what to do either. Zhou Yangling pretended not to notice, gave gifts to both twins and comforted them a little. But neither child was very happy.

Siyong: “I was helping someone, why am I being punished?”

Sitao: “What I like is my business, why punish sister?”

Zhou Yangling sighed, thinking that Sister Luo’s two children both had stubborn temperaments and stubborn tongues.

Fortunately, Luo Lingyu was skilled in social graces and properly entertained the couple. After Liu Shu and his wife left, Luo Lingyu had maids carry lanterns to visit both children in their rooms. Returning to her chambers, Luo Lingyu removed her outer robe and gracefully walked around the screen into the inner chamber.

The room was dark, without any lights. She lit the lamps, and turning around, saw that Lu Yun had silently settled himself on the couch, one leg bent, his hand resting on his knee. He had been lost in thought for so long, not making a sound. Luo Lingyu patted her chest twice, complaining: “Why didn’t you light the lamps? You scared me!”

Lu Yun asked: “Are they both alright?”

Luo Lingyu sat down smiling on the edge of the couch, her back leaning against Lu Yun’s bent leg. She teased: “Can’t you go see for yourself? I’m not your messenger.”

Lu Yun: “…”

Even with his heart full of melancholy, her autumn-water bright eyes still provoked a smile from him. Lu Yun sighed, and reached out to poke her forehead gently: “You!”

Luo Lingyu smiled, seeing him smile made her feel more at ease. So the lady wrapped her arms around his bent leg and turned her shoulder to look down at his snow-jade-like face. Luo Lingyu asked in confusion: “It’s just two children being naughty, with Sitao dressing as a girl. Even you… alright, alright, don’t glare at me, I won’t say it. I just don’t understand why brother was so unhappy?”

Lu Yun remained silent for a long while.

He organized his slightly chaotic emotions and slowly said: “I’ve always loved daughters in my heart, trying hard to appear impartial, feeling it was already quite difficult. Our family has always been this way with girls, all my brothers and I grew up like this. So when the family favors Siyong, I didn’t mind much. But tonight… I suddenly realized that Siyong and Sitao are different from how we were then—Siyong and Sitao are twins, and their bond is much deeper than ours was back then.”

“When I was young, our family also loved my eldest sister the most. My second brother and other brothers were also required to give way to my eldest sister… felt somewhat unhappy, but never felt it was too inappropriate. Because it had always been that way. But my relationship with my eldest sister wasn’t very good, and after she married, we even felt slightly relieved. Thinking about it now, there was resentment in our hearts. With Siyong and Sitao, these problems have become worse. The siblings eat and live together daily, seeing everything… The adults’ excessive favoritism toward Siyong, in Sitao’s eyes, is undoubtedly a kind of hurt. They’re twins, their relationship is much closer than ordinary siblings, and their feelings are much more sensitive. That’s why Sitao listened to Siyong and dressed as a girl to please the adults… He also knows that the family elders all like Siyong best and ignore him.”

Lu Yun laughed self-mockingly: “I’ve always been proud, yet overlooked this matter until now. Only tonight did I discover the hidden danger.”

Luo Lingyu was slightly stunned, and thoughtful. She hadn’t thought deeply about it, perhaps because she too had her favorite.

She then smiled and shook his leg, trying to please him: “Why should brother blame himself so? It’s very good that you’ve noticed the problem. I believe my husband can handle these things well.”

Lu Yun sighed: “How could it be easy? You and I can barely restrain ourselves in our courtyard, but outside, in the entire Lu family, how would the elders change their minds just because of my few words? Even I, though bullied by my sister when young, still prefer girls more after growing up. In our family, girls are just too rare, too precious.”

Luo Lingyu continued: “I believe in brother. Brother is a first-time father, how could anyone be born a father or know how to be one?”

Lu Yun’s eyes filled with a smile, and he reached out to pinch her nose, gently wiggling it. The young master smiled: “Why has little Lingyu become so sweet-talking? Praising me every day?”

Luo Lingyu’s eyes were full of spring and flowing ripples: “Naturally because brother taught me well.”

With her being so sweet, Lu Yun’s heart bloomed with joy, and without thinking, he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her into his embrace. He lowered his head to intertwine their breaths, tenderly turning his head to kiss her. His breath alternated between hot and gentle, with dense, intimate touches. Their faces pressed together, deep with emotion. His hand rested loosely on her lower back, gently massaging, and her waist melted into his embrace.

The lady gasped against his shoulder: Lu Yun’s techniques!

Lu Yun’s voice was hoarse as he praised her with a smile: “Little sister has become increasingly remarkable. When we first married, you were still so particular about everything. Now no matter how I look at it, I feel you’ve become much more generous. The Third Young Mistress is indeed different after marriage, even your temperament has changed. Now you don’t even mention my past anymore. Remarkable, truly remarkable!”

Luo Lingyu burst out laughing, pressing her lips together in amusement. Lu Yun’s half-serious, half-teasing praise delighted her immensely.

Life has a profound influence on people. She had been petty in her youth because she had to be; now she was generous because life was comfortable and free of worries. She had married the man she liked, and he never gave her trouble. He was so understanding and could give her the life she wanted. Being with Lu Yun daily, influenced by him, and gradually absorbing his ways, she could slowly become the person she had wanted to be in her youth.

So Luo Lingyu praised him further: “I also think I’m remarkable. But I feel my most remarkable achievement was back then, holding onto that determination and waiting until Brother Xuecen married me. That’s what I’m most proud of.”

This made Lu Yun love her even more.

Between husband and wife, mutual appreciation and frequent praise were truly beneficial to their relationship. Especially with these two—Lu Yun was privately playful, able to say any sweet words to Luo Lingyu with an unchanging expression; Luo Lingyu originally liked to praise others, and facing Lu Yun daily, she couldn’t help but tell him how wonderful he was.

That night, Lu Yun’s melancholy was completely soothed by Luo Lingyu’s praise. He smiled while embracing his wife, rolling with her on the couch, sharing a moment of intimacy. The lady’s cheeks were crimson, like March peach blossoms in bloom. Her breathing had already become uneven when Lu Yun suddenly raised his head from her chest, smiling as he mentioned something: “We should go see how the two children are doing.”

Luo Lingyu: “…”

She angrily punched his shoulder.

Lu Yun laughed quietly: “Why hit me, could it be my dear wife is unsatisfied?”

Luo Lingyu: “…You’re so bad! Who knows who’s feeling uncomfortable.”

The couple bantered for a while but didn’t dawdle long. After changing their clothes, without disturbing the maids, they went together carrying a lantern to check on their children. Because Lu Yun was most worried about Sitao, they first went to their young son’s room, but though Lu Yun hadn’t confined him, the boy wasn’t in his room.

Lu Yun raised an eyebrow.

Lu Yun and Luo Lingyu then went together to see how Siyong was doing with her punishment writing. This time, separated by a bamboo grove with the window open, the couple stood in the small bamboo forest and saw Sitao, who shouldn’t have been there, stealthily climbing through his sister’s window.

Luo Lingyu was surprised at how agile her young son was.

Siyong was bent over her desk writing, feeling more and more wronged. Her tears were falling in big drops when suddenly she heard someone tap on the window, and a mocking voice came from above: “You’re crying again! There’s no one here, who are you putting on an act for?”

Siyong looked up to see her brother jumping through the window. She stared at him in astonishment, tears still in her eyes, dripping steadily. A little beauty indeed, her eyes wet and glistening, her lips red as flower petals. Though young, she was already very endearing. The adults favored her more seeing her as such beauty. However, unfortunately, her brother Sitao never fell for her charms.

Sitao thoroughly criticized his sister with the utmost contempt, and when his sister jumped up angrily to hit him, he leaned in to look at her writing, his tone even more mocking: “Lu Siyong, so this is the result of your handwriting practice? Still so ugly.”

Siyong’s eyes reddened with anger: “You, you, you!”

Her sore spot had been struck—because without Sitao, her writing progress would have been considered excellent. But her brother was like some kind of monster, reading and writing faster than her, more easily than her, and better than her.

Siyong’s eyes grew redder.

She had helped him tonight and got punished by father; instead of comforting her, he came specifically to mock her writing.

This life… was unbearable!

Siyong let out a sob, abandoned her writing, threw down her brush, and began crying heavily on the desk. She cried until she hiccupped, gasping for breath, speaking unclearly: “Fine, I’m just not as good as you! You’re the best at everything! Everyone says you’re exactly like your father when he was young, you’re so proud of that, aren’t you? I tried to help you, and Father still blamed me… Sitao, I hate you! Stay away from me, wuwuwu! I never want to see you again!”

But Sitao just smiled.

Not only was he not driven away by his sister’s scolding, but his eyes still held mockery as he deliberately said: “You’re crying and wailing again, the more you cry the uglier you get!”

Calling her ugly was like killing her closest relative. Her brother knew how to bully her. Siyong wailed loudly: “Hateful! Go away!”

She jumped up and pushed at him, trying to force her brother out the door. But Sitao refused to budge, instead flopping onto her small desk, saying: “Why should I leave? I’m here to help you write, okay? Father said you can’t go out until you finish writing, you’re so delicate, how could you possibly finish?”

“I heard you promised to go out playing with your little friends tomorrow, if you don’t finish tonight, how will you get out tomorrow? Don’t think that because your father dotes on you, you can do whatever you want. When you anger him, he’ll still punish you without fail.”

Siyong continued crying and hiccupping but stopped pushing him. She watched as her brother sat in her place like a little adult, picking up the brush to write. She questioned doubtfully, heartbroken: “But your handwriting is so different from mine, yours is so good… if you help me write, what if Father notices?”

Sitao: “I’ll try to write worse! Isn’t your writing just crooked and messy, like it’s been chewed by a dog?”

Nonsense! Even if her writing wasn’t strikingly beautiful, it was at least as refined as a little beauty. Siyong was furious: “Your writing is the one that’s crooked and messy like a dog chewed it! Your mouth is so hateful!”

She sat down angrily, glaring at him: “Always saying I bully you, how come no one sees how you talk to me? Sitao, you’re so bad, you’re secretly mean.”

Sitao pursed his lips: “You’re the unreasonable one. I’m helping you now!”

They bickered again, but perhaps because Siyong had cried too heartbrokenly and had no energy to fight; and Sitao, for some unknown reason, found his sister particularly pleasing to look at tonight and didn’t say too many provocative things. They just quarreled for a while, and Siyong at least stopped crying. She dawdled over to her brother’s side, staring wide-eyed at his writing for a long time, anxiously praying that Father wouldn’t discover it tomorrow.

Then looking sideways at her brother, his features proper, lips red and teeth white, looking so much like her.

Siyong gradually grew sleepy, but Sitao was still energetic. Slowly, the sister leaned against her brother’s arm, nodding off repeatedly. She mumbled: “Sitao, you’re so good.”

Sitao: “I’ve always been good, do I need you to say it?”

Siyong: “Sister won’t bully you anymore, from now on sister will protect you!”

Sitao snorted: “No need! You’re annoying, just don’t bother me in the future.”

Being twins wasn’t good—wherever they went, their fates were intertwined, constantly being asked where the other one was.

Lu Yun and Luo Lingyu watched from outside for a while, then looked at each other, smiled, and left without going in to see the children.

From then on, Lu Yun once again reflected on himself, and once again tried to adjust himself, striving to be fairer to both children. Though he couldn’t control the entire Lu family’s favoritism outside the “Clear Courtyard,” at least within his courtyard, he ensured Sitao wouldn’t be affected.

Lu Yun’s son was just as proud as him. From a young age, Sitao saw how adults favored his sister, but instead of reflecting on what might be wrong with him, he thought they were all blind. After his father talked with him, Sitao became even more convinced that all the adults had poor eyesight and couldn’t see who was more outstanding.

A year later, Lu Yun and Luo Lingyu had another child, a boy. After that, intermittently, bearing fruit, the Lu family gentlemen of Lu Yun’s generation all had children. The Lu family mansion became increasingly lively, with more and more little ones popping up.

But Siyong was truly the only girl of their generation.

Gradually, Sitao also came to feel his sister was precious, that only his sister was different from them. He would even unconsciously be nicer to his sister… being unique, many times the victory lay in that uniqueness.

The twins fought less and less, though they still often quarreled.

When they grew older, at twelve years old, Sitao bid farewell to his family to travel the world to study.

Siyong only learned from others that her brother was leaving, and she was extremely upset, quarreling with her brother. Though she was sulking, when Sitao left the capital, Siyong and their female cousins still accompanied him for ten li. The city’s beauty was becoming increasingly delicate and moving, her eyes red as she held her brother’s hand, reproaching him: “You’re so young to leave home, why did father agree? Sitao, if anyone bullies you, come back home.”

“Sitao, Sitao! When will you come back? You must return before my coming-of-age ceremony, Sitao.”

The bond between twins was determined from their mother’s womb. An invisible long thread tied them together—across high mountains and vast waters, the young gentleman walked toward a broader world. A good man’s ambitions lay in all directions, yet the thread connecting him to his twin sister remained unbroken.

Mountains long, waters far.

Oar sounds gently calling.

Sitao stood at the bow, his clothes flowing like an immortal’s. Though young in years, his features were refined, his bearing like jade. In the still waters and clear ripples, the essence of mountains and waters was contained within his features. Day and night he listened to the water sounds moving beneath the boat, as if hearing across thousands of mountains and waters, Siyong’s tearful calls—

“Sitao, Sitao!”

“You must come back before my coming-of-age ceremony—”

Author’s Note:

Alright, the story of the twins Siyong and Sitao ends here! Sitao is also the kind of youth I like~~

After thinking about it, I’ll mark it as complete here.