The peaks were like painted eyebrows, the landscape exquisite. Clouds and mist wrapped like clothing around the man and woman standing at the hilltop shooting arrows, with the warm sunlight shining in all directions, making the onlookers below squint against its glare. They saw the lady turn back excitedly, and the nobleman behind her lowered his head. From their angle below, the two appeared to be kissing…

Everyone’s mood instantly became peculiar.

Not to mention Second Young Master Lu Xian staring blankly as if his soul had left his body, the young ladies’ eyes had turned red with jealousy. Even the Prince of Hengyang was momentarily stunned – indescribably, very briefly, his heart seemed to pause for a moment, as if something was flowing away from within him, slowly leaving him. The only one who was surprised without negative emotions was probably Princess Pingning Liu Tang.

The customs of this era were liberal, not only regarding interactions between men and women but also regarding matters of intimacy.

Therefore, when people suspected they had witnessed a certain scene, they were only shocked in their hearts. Immediately afterward, Second Young Master Lu and the young ladies all denied their bold speculation: It must have just been turning back to talk, they were standing so far away, their shadows overlapping, with the light obscuring the view. They hadn’t seen anything… mustn’t let imagination run wild!

The poor wild geese that had fallen from mid-air cried mournfully as they dropped into the vast forest. As they fell, their wings brushed against branches with continuous rustling sounds, yet none of the noblemen and women sightseeing paid any attention to the superb display of archery.

On the mountaintop, everyone was equally shocked, including Luo Lingyu herself. She turned back numbly, and upon realizing what she had touched, reflexively stumbled backward, tumbling out of the nobleman’s embrace. After retreating three to five steps, she finally clearly saw Lu Yun’s jade crown ornament, his long lashes like moth wings, and beneath them eyes like deep seas.

Luo Lingyu stood dazed, her cheeks gradually reddening: “…”

Third Young Master Lu gazed at her deeply for a moment, then said: “You touched my chin.”

Luo Lingyu was stunned and then breathed a sigh of relief. Unable to tell if she felt disappointed or happy: “…Oh.”

Such a careless misunderstanding in her close encounter with the Plum-Seeking Recluse left her feeling melancholic, yet she should feel relieved that it was just a misunderstanding with the man she had once heartlessly forced to jump ship.

Luo Lingyu turned sideways and saw the crowd below staring up at them in a daze. As she hesitated, the gentle Princess Pingning smiled first, waving to her from afar: “Sister Luo, we’re here—”

Luo Lingyu clutched her bow, feeling extremely guilty as she made her way down the mountain path to join them. From the corner of her eye, she saw Lu Third Young’s Master’s robes flutter once before he followed behind her. Looking down at the Prince of Hengyang with his obscure expression, Luo Lingyu privately wondered whether their performance had convinced this young nobleman.

Luo Lingyu turned away, and the two headed down one after another to rejoin the group. Luo Lingyu walked in front, her skirts swaying like a fishtail, faintly revealing her inner turmoil. Third Young Master Lu followed unhurriedly behind her, and in a place where she couldn’t see, when the sunlight prevented others from seeing clearly, he raised his hand and lightly brushed his finger across his lips.

Soft and cool.

Still carrying the lady’s fragrant aroma.

The fragrance lingered, the sensation refusing to fade, spreading from his lips throughout his body with a tingling sensation, his heart pounding as if about to burst in his chest… Lu Yun glanced at Luo Lingyu several times, his expression somewhat absent-minded.

This distraction only slightly diminished when he met the Prince of Hengyang. As the group gathered, Luo Lingyu returned to the crowd under the ladies’ burning gazes, while Lu Yun stood with the other noblemen, nodding to the Prince of Hengyang: “It’s been long since I practiced riding and archery, my skills have grown rusty.”

Liu Mu raised his eyes, his gaze carrying some mockery: “Third Young Master Lu shouldn’t be so modest. Among Jianye’s young nobles, few have your level of skill in riding and archery.”

After all, with Jianye’s noble circles busy comparing status, enjoying themselves, and competing in luxury, who had time to practice the demanding skills of riding and archery?

The Prince of Hengyang had complex feelings toward Third Young Master Lu. When he was around ten years old, Lu Yun’s reputation had already spread throughout Jianye. Famous in his youth, but by the time the Prince of Hengyang was a few years older, he discovered Lu Yun had gradually withdrawn from noble circles, rarely participating anymore.

Liu Mu had always been wary of Third Young Master Lu, and even now that Lu Yun had proven he could draw a bow, the prince’s gaze still lingered on the nobleman’s arm for half a moment. The Prince of Hengyang was unconvinced and frustrated at his inability to catch the assassin. As he harbored suspicions and was about to speak again, thundering hoofbeats echoed through the forest behind them: “My Lord, My Lord—”

Everyone followed the Prince of Hengyang’s gaze toward the path they had come up, seeing several mounted guards emerge from the lush green forest. These men rode up close, leaped from their horses, and before catching their breath, hurriedly reported to the Prince of Hengyang: “My Lord, the Taichu Palace summons you for an audience!”

Prince Liu Mu of Hengyang’s brow twitched: “What does His Majesty want with me?”

The messenger: “It’s said that Prince Chen has captured the assassin who tried to kill you, and reported directly to His Majesty. His Majesty wants to question you.”

Liu Mu: “…”

A thousand curses flashed through his mind as his dark eyes fixed on Third Young Master Lu: Don’t I know who tried to assassinate me on the way from Hengyang to Jianye? All the other assassins died, but I caught one alive, just waiting to find out who was behind it! If it weren’t for last night’s assassin, how could the one I caught have escaped, how could it be said that Prince Chen captured them?

Where he had only been somewhat suspicious of Third Young Master Lu before, now Prince Liu Mu of Hengyang was almost certain that last night’s assassin was connected to Lu Yun. Everyone in Jianye knew that Third Young Master Lu and Prince Chen were inseparable, as close as glue. Today it was said Prince Chen had caught the assassin, and considering Master Kong’s analysis of that person’s identity from last night… who else could it be but Lu Yun?

The Prince of Hengyang gave a cold laugh.

Liu Mu’s brows lowered darkly as he glared at the radiant Lu Yun across from him, speaking word by word: “Very well, excellent! Third Young Master Lu is both brave and clever, I admit defeat in this move. We shall meet again!”

With these words, he whirled around with a sweep of his robes, immediately mounting a horse, with his riders following. Seeing that the Prince of Hengyang was leaving to return to Jianye and enter the palace to see His Majesty, among the group of men and women watching him leave, one attendant who resented the prince’s earlier forced archery competition called out: “Young Master is leaving now, but who won the archery contest?”

The young prince on horseback paused, looking back with a sardonic smile: “Naturally Third Young Master Lu. One arrow taking two geese, none of us can match him.”

Before leaving, not only did the young Prince of Hengyang stare at Third Young Master Lu for a long while, but he finally let his gaze linger on the beautiful Miss Luo for quite some time. The lady was as beautiful as a painting, dazzling to behold. The Prince of Hengyang concealed his complex emotions and lowered his head to tell the attendant beside him: “Who is she? Why is she by Third Young Master Lu’s side? Find out for me… Hyah—”

Under the crack of the whip, dust flew up as ten-some riders departed in haste. The Prince of Hengyang’s figure disappeared around a bend, and the attendants who had come up the mountain with him earlier to catch someone hurried after. The remaining ladies looked at each other, then secretly glanced at Third Young Master Lu several times. Meanwhile, Second Young Master Lu stood dazed in place: “…”

Prince Chen?

What did the Prince of Hengyang mean by those parting words?

Lu Xian turned back, his eyes severe, warning Lu Yun in a low voice: “How many times have I told you to stop associating with Prince Chen!”

The future was already uncertain, and now Lu Xian had placed his bet on the Prince of Hengyang. Second Young Master Lu still wanted to ponder his dream for a few days, and after finding some clues, planned to discuss it with his father, the current Left Minister Lu Mao. With Third Young Master Lu still being close to Prince Chen at this time, no wonder Second Young Master Lu had a headache.

Lu Yun lowered his eyes, smiling: “I’ve also said before, that my friendship with Prince Chen will never end.”

Raising an eyebrow teasingly: “Unless Second Brother kills me?”

“You—” Lu Xian was exasperated, unable to reason with this third brother.

As the two noblemen argued behind the ladies’ backs, the more perceptive ladies pondered thoughtfully, sensing that the Prince of Hengyang’s arrival had brought something to Jianye; those ladies with less political intuition surrounded Luo Lingyu, asking what else she and Third Young Master Lu had done besides archery up on the mountain, then enviously saying in sour tones—

“Did Third Cousin teach you archery? If I had known, I would have said my riding and archery skills were poor too.”

“So knowing nothing is what gets Third Young Master Lu’s attention? How nice.”

Luo Lingyu mentally rolled her eyes at their naivety: Knowing nothing wouldn’t get Third Young Master Lu’s attention at all. If you want his attention, you need to be two-faced, let him catch you at your worst moment, and be threatened into taking poison by him… Could any of you manage that?!

The brief episode of the Prince of Hengyang’s hasty visit didn’t much affect these noble ladies out sightseeing. After he left, they still enthusiastically stayed at Mount Zhong for two more days. On the final day, the ladies dragged the two Lu noblemen to pray repeatedly at several temples on the mountain. Moving between mountain temples, Luo Lingyu held the silver ingot that Lu Yun had given her, but beyond burning incense, she couldn’t even afford to make modest donations. Coming out of one Buddhist hall, Luo Lingyu encountered Miss Han outside discussing with the abbot about gilding a Buddha statue.

Luo Lingyu admiringly tried to hide the acid pain in her stomach as she asked: “How much would that cost…”

Miss Han replied, also without much confidence: “Talking about money is so vulgar… I’m mainly worried about what my parents will say.”

The ladies all nodded, speaking of their troubles: “Yes, it’s all about worship. Isn’t gilding a Buddha statue more devout? But my father won’t let me be so extravagant either.”

“My brother hosted a poor scholar for over a month for no reason, that was much more wasteful than what I do!”

“Hosting scholars is fine… My sister was worse, she went to the mountains to learn wall painting from a nun, only to find out she’d been deceived, and was so angry she wouldn’t leave her room for a month…”

“I heard about that, hehe. How is your sister now?”

Luo Lingyu maintained a perfect smile as she listened to them gossip about various happenings among the noble families, occasionally joining in at appropriate moments to share interesting stories about the nobility she had seen in Ruyang and Nanyang. The young ladies were very surprised and quite interested in the nobility outside Jianye, asking Luo Lingyu how different the customs and people of the northern countries were from those of Jianye in the south.

In truth, while talking with them about their curiosity regarding the outside world, Luo Lingyu was incredibly jealous of them. They casually mentioned bold deeds that were all backed by confidence, with noble families protecting them. While she… These great noble houses with their deep heritage were so enviable. Now that she had glimpsed just a corner of this world, Luo Lingyu couldn’t pull herself away.

As the ladies walked out of the temple chatting, Luo Lingyu noticed from the corner of her eye that the two Lu young masters following them at some distance were about to disappear from view. Second Young Master Lu encountered a master, and after some hesitation, followed the monk inside to have his dream interpreted. Luo Lingyu knew that Second Young Master Lu seemed to have had some kind of dream, but since he wouldn’t tell anyone about it, she didn’t know what kind of dream could make him so concerned.

After the Second Young Master Lu left, the Third Young Master Lu was alone. Without his second brother’s supervision, Third Young Master Lu’s interest in sightseeing became extremely relaxed – he walked slower and slower until finally even his shadow couldn’t be seen. Luo Lingyu’s feet were also tired, and she was amazed at how much these ladies could walk. She made an excuse to turn back and went to find Third Young Master Lu—

The antidote! The antidote!

She had helped him fool Prince Liu Mu of Hengyang, but how could Lu Yun have so little awareness? Two days had passed, and he hadn’t actively sought her out to give her the antidote.

Though somewhat doubtful, Luo Lingyu still decided to find Lu Yun herself to confirm her suspicions.

Third Young Master Lu Yun was in front of the bamboo grove behind the temple, admiring the Buddha paintings on the wall. Devout worshippers knelt on prayer mats, while in the murals, smoke curled upward as mortals ascended celestial platforms to personally witness the presence of multiple Buddhas. Lu Yun stood with his hands behind his back beneath the wall, his expression cold and distant, making anyone who saw him think this person was noble and unapproachable. Lu Yun suddenly turned his head to look to the right. Along the small path through the grove came a lady.

Her features and figure were both first-rate, but her walk wasn’t graceful at all – rather, she was limping…

Lu Yun thought to himself: Hadn’t she been walking normally when I saw her from behind earlier? That slim waist, those beautiful skirts… how did she become like this in the blink of an eye? Could it be that she feels she’s already exposed her true self to me, and since I’m already thoroughly disgusted with her, she can’t even be bothered to maintain the pretense?

Lu Yun’s lips twitched as he said lazily: “Limping?”

Luo Lingyu: “…You’re the one who’s limping!”

It was just that these ladies had such incredible stamina, making someone like her who disliked movement follow them around Mount Zhong for three or four days – it was truly miserable. She also genuinely felt that after this matter was over, it would be best not to have any further dealings with Third Young Master Lu, and felt vaguely relieved at the thought. As she approached and saw Lu Yun’s sleeve move slightly, she didn’t think he was going to help support her. Luo Lingyu leaned against a bamboo stalk, lifted her chin at him, and said concisely: “Where’s the antidote?”

Lu Yun’s pupils contracted slightly.

After a moment, the coldness in his expression dissipated, replaced by a casual, languid charm that touched his brows. The bamboo grove was deep and quiet, its green freshness cool, with occasional sounds of springs burbling and people laughing in the distance. Nearby, the young nobleman looked down at the lady, his lifted lips seeming to carry traces of teasing: “The antidote… has Sister Luo felt any discomfort these past two days?”

Luo Lingyu thought for a moment: “No discomfort.”

Lu Yun sighed, his eyelashes trembling.

Luo Lingyu immediately became nervous: “Is there a problem?”

Lu Yun took out a small bottle from his robes, removed the wooden stopper, and poured out a brown pill. Luo Lingyu examined the pill held between his jade-like elegant fingers, vaguely feeling it looked exactly like the poison Lu Yun had fed her that day… Her thoughts turned several times as she watched Lu Yun hand her the pill, speaking languidly: “For this poison, the antidote is to fight poison with poison. Take another pill, and you’ll be cured.”

Luo Lingyu: “…”

She felt he was just being lazy, not even willing to find a different-looking pill to serve as the antidote.

Her suspicions gradually took shape, feeling that Lu Yun was truly deceiving her! There was no poison at all, and no antidote… He had just seen that she might let someone die without helping, and tricked her into helping him, tricked her into helping him fool the Prince of Hengyang… Hateful Third Young Master Lu!

Yet though she suspected she had been deceived, she didn’t dare be completely certain. What if there was poison, and this was the antidote, fighting poison with poison? She stared at Lu Yun’s hand extended before her eyes, then raised her gaze to meet his teasing look. Luo Lingyu made up her mind and solemnly accepted the pill. As she was about to swallow it in one gulp, Lu Yun grabbed her wrist.

Luo Lingyu looked at him warily, and he said: “Wait a moment, cousin. Fighting poison with poison might be very uncomfortable. You’ll feel cold all over, at best it will feel like hundreds of ants gnawing at your bones, at worst your body will convulse and you might fall unconscious and die. It won’t feel very good, you must be careful… don’t rush to take the medicine.”

Luo Lingyu’s face went white: What? Hundreds of ants gnawing at bones? Body convulsions? And possible death?

She met Lu Yun’s serious expression and again couldn’t be sure if the poison was real or not. Holding the pill for a long time, Luo Lingyu’s expression kept changing. At close range, Lu Yun watched the emotions in her eyes waver between hesitation, fear, confusion, determination, and resignation to death. His lips curled up. Third Young Master Lu wanted to enjoy her fascinating changes of expression a bit longer, but saw Luo Lingyu suddenly grit her teeth, and without asking for his advice or crying and begging him, directly opened her mouth and swallowed the brown pill.

Lu Yun froze: “…”

His interest in appreciating the beauty interrupted, he asked listlessly: “How does cousin feel?”

Luo Lingyu closed her eyes to assess the sensation.

Sunlight floated across her face, the alternating bright and dim light washing over her like water waves. The lady leaned against the bamboo, so close to him. As Lu Yun stared at her somewhat entranced, he saw her face suddenly begin to pale, her expression suddenly stiffening. Third Young Master Lu was extremely perceptive: “What’s wrong…”

Before he could finish speaking, he saw Luo Lingyu clutch her stomach and double over, crying pitifully: “Cousin…”

Lu Yun immediately held her shoulders, supporting her as they both sank to the ground. He saw her face was pale, sweat beading on her forehead, her breathing gradually becoming rapid. Lu Yun grabbed her wrist to check her pulse, but whether due to panic or not, he could only tell that her pulse was racing violently. As he was about to examine more carefully, Luo Lingyu’s sweat-covered hand turned to grip his, her voice trembling: “Third Cousin, I- I’m in so much pain…”

Lu Yun held her close, watching the beauty in his arms grow faint, tears appearing in her eyes in an instant as she curled up weakly and pitifully in his embrace. She bit her lip hard, her eyes shining with tears, hands clutching her stomach as she gazed at him miserably… Lu Yun said in a deep voice: “Don’t be afraid… it’ll be alright!”

He held her, full of shock and doubt: “There wasn’t any poison at all, why are you like this… that pill, that pill… was just cane sugar. Could it be, could it be…”

Could it be that someone had switched his personal belongings, replacing the items he carried?

Lu Yun felt a chill in his heart – someone who could so easily swap his items must be one of his maids or servants. But his clothing was always looked after by Jin Yue herself, ordinary maids and servants couldn’t touch them… Had Jin Yue betrayed him? With their relationship of over ten years, how could she…

The beauty in his arms sobbed and moaned, repeatedly calling “Cousin”, seeming about to faint from pain as if truly experiencing the effects of the “antidote” he had fabricated. Lu Yun stopped his wild thoughts and wiped the cold sweat from the lady’s face.

Luo Lingyu trembled fearfully in his arms: “Cousin, am I going to die…”

Lu Yun forced his voice to remain steady as he held her wrist to comfort her: “Don’t be afraid, Lingyu, I won’t let you die…”

Perhaps because his mind was in such chaos, he truly couldn’t see what was wrong. Lu Yun simply slipped his arm under her knees, about to lift the lady to seek medical help. But just as he bent down to carry her, her bent leg suddenly lifted and kicked toward his knee that was kneeling on the damp moss. Third Young Master Lu instinctively hunched to protect his knee, letting out a grunt of pain as he was forcefully pushed backward.

Falling back into a sitting position, Lu Yun rubbed his knee. The lady who had been at death’s door in his arms just moments ago sprang up with complete agility, no longer showing any sign of cold sweats or fearful tears.

Luo Lingyu stood on the ground, looking down at the nobleman kneeling and hunched at her feet, and snorted coldly: “Third Young Master Lu, how does it feel to be deceived?”

Lu Yun raised his eyes, light flickering in them: “…You tricked me?”

Luo Lingyu felt her pulse, thinking that holding her breath had truly fooled Lu Yun. How could she be content after he had teased her so many times? Luo Lingyu smiled prettily, noticing that she seemed to have kicked him hard, as his hand rested on his knee and he couldn’t stand up for a long time. The feeling of having the jade-faced nobleman kneeling at her feet was quite satisfying… Luo Lingyu smiled brightly: “This will be the last time anyway.”

Her long sleeve lifted as she performed a formal curtsy to bid him farewell: “Lu Xuecheng, now that the matter with the Prince of Hengyang is over, let us part here. You’ve seen my true face and know I’m not a good person. Similarly, I know you’re not as noble and pure as you appear on the surface… We’ve seen enough of each other to be thoroughly disgusted, I hope we won’t have to deal with each other again in the future.”

“This humble lady will take her leave first.”

Seeing Lu Yun about to stand up supporting himself on the bamboo, Luo Lingyu felt somewhat panicked. His cool gaze swept over to her, and before he could stand up, Luo Lingyu turned and left, hurrying to catch up with the young ladies who had walked far ahead of them. Luo Lingyu, who had been limping when she came earlier, suddenly walked gracefully and elegantly again when it came time to catch up with the young ladies, each step like a lotus blooming.

Enduring her foot pain, Luo Lingyu finally caught up with the young ladies waiting for her under a pavilion outside the temple. She exchanged a few laughing words with the ladies who had grown impatient waiting, and as she walked together with them, she looked back. She saw Third Young Master Lu’s figure emerge from behind the bamboo grove, as refined as jade.

Luo Lingyu urged the young ladies: “Quick, let’s go!”

But from not far away beneath the temple, Lu Yun gazed coolly in Luo Lingyu’s direction for a long while, then unhurriedly called out loudly, as if mocking and ridiculing her: “Cousins, wait for me—”

Third Young Master Lu!

When the young ladies heard Lu Yun’s voice, they all turned their heads, and no matter how Luo Lingyu urged them, they wouldn’t leave. Luo Lingyu met Lu Yun’s eyes full of malicious smiles: “…”

This brings disaster.

Just as Luo Lingyu was wracking her brain thinking about how to prevent Lu Yun from coming to make trouble for her, she suddenly heard the sound of hoofbeats. The ladies turned back in surprise to see two riders galloping up, passing directly by them toward Third Young Master Lu, who seemed to be walking with difficulty. Reaching Lu Yun’s side, the two riders dismounted and anxiously told him something.

From far away, Luo Lingyu saw Lu Yun’s expression change.

In the end, he had no time to come settle accounts with her, but instead mounted a horse and left with the riders, without even informing Second Young Master Lu who was still in the temple. Riding away from Mount Zhong, and entering Jianye, he galloped to Prince Chen’s residence. When dismounting, he stumbled due to his knee pain, but Third Young Master Lu paid no attention to it, tossing aside the reins and striding quickly into Prince Chen’s residence with his head down.

Pushing open the study door forcefully, Prince Chen Liu Shu, who had been writing memorials with his head down, looked up to meet Third Young Master Lu’s troubled expression.

Lu Yun’s voice was tense: “I gave you the assassin because I trusted you could uncover the truth about who wanted to assassinate the Prince of Hengyang. Liu Shu, you directly killed him?”

Liu Shu spoke very slowly: “No, it’s, I wanted, to kill, him. I had, no choice.”

Lu Yun: “Tell me the reason!”

Liu Shu’s quiet eyes calmly met his friend of many years. His hand resting on the desk contracted slightly, his speech becoming even slower: “Be-because. The one who wanted to kill, him, was, was my Imperial Father.”

The one who wanted to kill the Prince of Hengyang was the current Emperor, Prince Chen Liu Shu’s father, Prince of Hengyang Liu Mu’s brother. To prevent the truth from being exposed, the moment they approached the truth, Liu Shu received the Emperor’s order to directly execute the assassin.

In the study, the two noblemen stared at each other.

Suddenly a clap of thunder rolled across the sky, and heavy rain poured down.