Unlike her sister’s bright and clear beauty, Luo Yunzhi was just a nine-year-old young lady with a round face, double buns, and delicate features like snow and jade. Early in the morning, the little lady ran to the “Clear Courtyard” to stand up for her sister. Though her stature was so small she didn’t even reach adults’ waists, she dared to put her hands on her hips and shout: “I want to see Third Cousin! Sister Lingxi said he pushed my sister into the water, and now my sister is sick. Third Cousin must make amends!”
The maids surrounded this little adult, trying to persuade her with mixed feelings: “Our young master hasn’t risen yet. He doesn’t know about last night’s incident, there must be some other reason…”
Running down the steps, Jin Yue, Third Young Master Lu’s maid wearing a cyan dress, hurriedly tied her sash as she came over. Jin Yue focused her gaze and spotted a maid hiding under the courtyard’s vine trellis behind Luo Yunzhi. That maid looked terrified, staring at Luo Yunzhi with fear and distress. Upon meeting Jin Yue’s gaze, the maid retreated more than three steps.
Jin Yue thought this maid must be Lingxi, the one who came with the young miss. After arriving at the Lu family, the old madam saw that the Luo ladies were poor and sent them a personal maid, along with several second-tier maids and servants. To please the old madam, Luo Lingyu directly renamed the maid sent by the old madam and kept her close. Her previous personal maid Lingxi was given to her little sister to use.
This Lingxi had an extremely low presence… Now being dragged to the “Clear Courtyard” by Luo Yunzhi to cause trouble, she was probably scared to death.
Jin Yue smiled at her: “You must be Lingxi? I think I saw you once when I went to ‘Snow Tracing Courtyard’ to deliver paintings.”
Lingxi felt uncomfortable under Jin Yue’s stare. She stood frozen for a while before realizing what Jin Yue’s stare meant. Lingxi jolted and quickly ran to bow before Luo Yunzhi: “Young Miss, let’s go back. Your sister will surely scold you if she knows you’re making trouble.”
She added in a lower voice: “We’re staying at the Lu family’s residence, how can we offend them…”
Luo Yunzhi snorted with her nose in the air: “It was Third Cousin who pushed my sister, I want an explanation! Don’t interfere, I’ll talk to Third Cousin myself!”
Luo Yunzhi: “What does it matter if I’m ill-mannered, pushing someone and not taking responsibility is what’s truly ill-mannered.”
Luo Yunzhi: “Third Cousin, Third Cousin!”
Lingxi was at a loss, completely unable to handle this young mistress. The maids of the “Clear Courtyard” turned pale at Luo Yunzhi’s shouting, both coaxing and pleading with her not to disturb Third Young Master Lu. Jin Yue was also stunned, not expecting the Luo family’s young lady to be so different in style from Miss Luo. If Luo Lingyu were here, she certainly wouldn’t be so straightforward…
With such commotion in their courtyard, it couldn’t be hidden from anyone. Hearing the sound of curtains being drawn from behind, Luo Yunzhi’s eyes, like large black grapes, suddenly widened with a somewhat dazed look. Jin Yue and the other maids turned their heads to see Lu Yun standing with a stern face beneath the curtains. The bamboo curtain cast dappled shadows, his shoes neatly placed at the doorway. Lu Yun’s hair was loose, his feet bare, wearing only a loose single garment as he came out.
Lu Yun spoke in a hoarse voice, somewhat weak: “What’s all this noise about?”
Not yet properly dressed, his handsome features, as elegant as mountains and clear as water, came unexpectedly, creating a strong impact. Even though the maids of the “Clear Courtyard” were used to seeing Third Young Master Lu, their hearts began to race at this moment, and they couldn’t help but blush, lowering their heads uncomfortably.
Luo Yunzhi stared with wide eyes.
Jin Yue sighed: …another young lady instantly captivated by Third Young Master Lu’s charm.
Even though this young lady was still so small.
Just as she was about to lead Luo Yunzhi to meet Lu Yun, the agile little lady suddenly jumped from beside her and darted toward Third Young Master Lu. Jin Yue and the others were greatly alarmed, crying out in unison: “Young Miss!”
Their Third Young Master hated people getting so close! In their memory, the last young lady who rushed at him like that had her arm broken when he pushed her away… Luo Yunzhi was only nine years old, and as they watched the little lady flutter like a butterfly toward the handsome young master under the curtain, they all showed looks of distress, not daring to watch…
However, when Luo Yunzhi rushed over and grabbed Lu Yun’s sleeve, Lu Yun looked down once, and surprisingly didn’t throw her away, but instead crouched down, the icy expression on his face melting away.
Jin Yue and the others were dumbfounded.
Luo Yunzhi raised her hand and touched this brother’s face, examining him from left to right. Yes, even though he had been in tattered clothes and pale-faced then, the face was the same. She said with great joy: “Brother, it’s you! My sister and I saved you before, do you remember?”
Lu Yun’s inner self pulled at the corner of his mouth: it was you who saved me, that sister of yours didn’t want to save me at all.
The little lady was kind-hearted, and although Lu Yun had been in a daze at the time, he had barely heard the argument between Luo Yunzhi and Luo Lingyu. That materialistic woman would have preferred to throw him to the fish, if not for Luo Yunzhi’s insistence on saving him, Lu Yun would have already… After all, he had been seriously wounded by a knife stab in his waist and abdomen at the time, and if he had stayed in the water any longer, his life would have been over.
Lu Yun looked at Luo Yunzhi with gentle eyes: the little sister had saved his life.
But he had no desire to mention Luo Lingyu.
Lu Yun changed the subject: “About pushing your sister into the water last night, there was another reason, I didn’t do it intentionally.”
Luo Yunzhi made an “mm” sound, nodding, and easily accepted this explanation. Lu Yun raised his eyebrows in surprise, watching her smile brightly: “I believe you! Since you’re that big brother, and my sister saved you, you wouldn’t repay kindness with enmity.”
Lu Yun: “…”
Luo Yunzhi asked curiously: “But why didn’t you say goodbye to us then, and suddenly leave? If you were the Third Cousin, we could have come to the Lu family together, we were all going the same way. Brother, your wounds weren’t even healed when you secretly left the boat. My sister was so worried about you, she even cried!”
Lu Yun: “…”
He wanted to roll his eyes at Luo Lingyu!
His guilt about pushing her last night completely vanished after learning about her pretentious performance in front of her little sister. She was worried about him? Wasn’t she the one who forced him to jump off the boat? She even cried for him in front of Luo Yunzhi. Probably afraid that the little miss would despise her character.
Meanwhile, Luo Yunzhi blinked her eyes at Lu Yun, completely unaware of what Luo Lingyu had done behind her back. Having such a sister… Lu Yun felt full of sympathy for the little miss.
Lu Yun didn’t want to speak ill of the sister in front of the little sister, so he said casually: “There were some things, so I left first. Didn’t have time to say goodbye to you.”
“That’s okay!” Luo Yunzhi waved her small hand very assertively, then puffed up her cheeks, “Eh, but why didn’t my sister tell me that Third Cousin was the brother we saved?”
“Third Cousin, could it be that my sister doesn’t know?!”
Lu Yun looked at the little lady’s shocked expression, his lips curling slightly upward with three parts mockery. How could Luo Lingyu recognize him? She had kept her sleeve raised the whole time, wishing she could stay ten miles away from him. The Luo lady who showed such disdain for him, whose heart was set on marrying well, was afraid to look even once at that mysterious man who appeared poor and was being pursued, fearing he might cling to her.
Lu Yun recognized her for a reason he had to acknowledge even though he disliked her: Luo Lingyu was excessively beautiful.
She couldn’t recognize him simply because she didn’t remember this person at all.
Lu Yun said with a half-smile: “Your sister doesn’t recognize me… Perhaps she’s seen too many handsome gentlemen and doesn’t think much of me.”
When he said this, all the maids in the courtyard stared in disbelief: if someone with Third Young Master’s looks wasn’t good enough for Miss Luo, how high must her standards be?
Lu Yun coaxed the confused little lady: “Don’t tell your sister yet that I’m the person she saved.”
Luo Yunzhi: “Why?”
Then she explained to herself: “Could it be that you want to surprise my sister? You’re waiting for a good day to repay her for saving your life?”
Lu Yun drew out his voice, his smile deepening: “Yes… indeed.”
But whether it would be a pleasant surprise or a shock, wasn’t guaranteed.
However, Luo Yunzhi frowned, still somewhat hesitant. She had barely been old enough to understand when her parents passed away, and since she became aware, it was her sister who raised her. Her feelings for her sister were much deeper than for her parents. Although she often found her sister cold-blooded and vulgar, she had never lied to her sister before…
Lu Yun raised an eyebrow, his gaze sweeping across the courtyard, his sleeve lifting slightly.
He crouched in front of the conflicted little lady, his sleeve falling as his hand rose, clean and slender with well-proportioned bones and flesh, waving once before Luo Yunzhi’s face. The next moment, as he snapped his thumb and forefinger, with a “pop,” a snow-white magnolia flower appeared between his fingers.
The magnolia trembled at his fingertips, dewdrops falling like jade, appearing ready to fall at any moment.
Luo Yunzhi was amazed, her eyes brightening: “Wow! How did you do that? Can you do magic?”
She immediately reached to examine Third Young Master Lu’s sleeves, wanting to know where the flower was hidden. Lu Yun didn’t resist, instead lowering his eyes with a smile: “Let’s make a trade. Brother will teach you this trick if you don’t tell your sister who I am, okay?”
He lowered his eyes, the breathtaking charm in his features dazzling Luo Yunzhi into a slight daze. Luo Yunzhi stared steadily at this flower, then looked up at him. After wrinkling her little face for a long while, she determinedly nodded: “Okay! I won’t tell my sister.”
Lu Yun laughed softly.
The early morning breeze and dawn light sprinkled down with a slight coolness. He was truly eager to see Luo Lingyu’s reaction when she learned of their entanglement.
…
Although Luo Lingyu had fallen into the water, her constitution was good and there were no major consequences. When she woke up and learned that her sister had gone to confront Third Young Master Lu, Luo Lingyu became very anxious, worried that Luo Yunzhi would offend that unpredictable person. She anxiously climbed out of bed, and just as she was about to change clothes and go out to look for her, she saw the little lady running back to the courtyard contentedly.
Seeing her through the window, Luo Yunzhi smiled brightly: “I’m going to study now!”
With Luo Yunzhi’s instructions, Lingxi also stammered and wouldn’t answer, and since nothing else happened in the following days after getting no information from these two, Luo Lingyu had to put her heart at ease, though still half in doubt. After Miss Han bid farewell, Miss Wang and other young ladies came to the “Snow Tracing Courtyard” and talked with Luo Lingyu for half a day.
“If Madam Lu doesn’t like it, why provoke people’s dislike?”
“Madam Lu spoke it out loud, but how many others who haven’t spoken feel the same?”
“If I could leave, I would leave now.”
In the following days, the young ladies staying at the Lu family seemed to have agreed, successively bidding farewell to return home.
For a time, all the courtyards that the Lu family had provided for the young ladies became empty, leaving only Luo Lingyu. Luo Lingyu seized this excuse to push back, hiding in the courtyard claiming she was sick and needed rest.
She was truly sick, but others would think it was just an excuse.
Luo Lingyu strained her ears to listen for the Lu family’s reaction—all the beautiful young ladies in the house had left, leaving only the one who was recuperating. Even if the old Madam Lu was confused, she sensitively detected something was wrong and called over the Lu family’s first madam to ask what was happening.
Madam Lu was now extremely regretful and couldn’t speak clearly.
Luo Lingyu’s lips curled up: excluding her little sister who was just a child, of all the Lu family’s young ladies, now only she remained.