A scoundrel is a scoundrel wherever they go!
Leaning against the door wall, with bird and insect sounds and serving girls’ voices from outside sometimes near and sometimes far, moonlight flowed like water waves on the ground. Lu Yu’s gaze lowered, staring at her chest hidden by the large cloak. A strand of hair had fallen loose from the young lord’s silver crown, touching his brows and eyes, his lips lightly curling, his smile ambiguous. Even though he couldn’t possibly see anything, Luo Lingyu still raised her arm, wanting to slap him—
The raised hand was caught by the alert young lord, his fingernail still grazing her delicate skin.
Lu Sanlang pressed her hand, raising an eyebrow: “Want to slap me again?”
Luo Lingyu: “…You tease me like this, what’s wrong with me slapping you?”
Lu Yu responded most politely: “Then shall I shout out who the dancer just was?”
Luo Lingyu bit her lip in anger, her hand pinned against the wall by him unable to move, could only glare at him with fiery beautiful eyes, questioning him—Lu Xuezhen, reflect well on your behavior!
You’re supposed to be the Plum-Seeking Scholar, how can you be so unrestrained in private? Outside you’re noble and aloof, barely deigning to respond when ladies speak to you, who knew you liked to tease people so much in private? Even if my words and actions have some discrepancies, what business is it of yours? Even if I made you unhappy by forcing you to jump into the water that first time on the boat, I already saved you at Mount Zhong, can’t you just leave me be?
Luo Lingyu’s eyes were misty with tears, flowing like lake water, like a pool of shattered black starry river.
Lu Yu’s eyelids lowered, staring at her eyes, seriously examining whether her tears were real or fake. He paused for a moment, his grip on her hand loosening slightly. Lu Yu’s breath hovered at her nose tip, his eyes lowered with thick eyelashes: “Switching to tears attack now? This trick won’t work on me either.”
Luo Lingyu hastily withdrew her nearly falling tears—she had almost forgotten this person was cold-blooded and heartless, unmoved even seeing a beauty cry.
Luo Lingyu raised her head high, spitting at him. Lu Yu frowned and turned away, hearing the lady say coquettishly: “Anyway my business has nothing to do with you, even if you spread it around… but you’re not the type to spread rumors, are you? Let me go, or I’ll call you a ‘lecher’ and let everyone see Lu Sanlang’s true face. If I can’t have peace, neither will you.”
Luo Lingyu’s lips curved upward in a provocative, confident sneer. She knew Lu Yu wouldn’t go around telling people how his cousin wasn’t a good person—if Lu Yu were that type of person who liked to talk, how would her true nature still be known only to him until now? Others might just think she wasn’t that kind, but Lu Yu knew she might not even meet the moral standards of ordinary people.
She didn’t do evil, but she admitted her moral standards were extremely low.
Lu Yu murmured: “Looks like Little Sister Yu’er is determined to go all the way… Are you planning to disguise yourself for life, as long as you marry a suitable young lord?”
Luo Lingyu: “As long as I can marry a suitable young lord, don’t worry about me, I can maintain the disguise for life…” Seeing Lu Yu lower his eyes with an unpredictable expression, he remained silent for a long while, the hand pressing her arm loosening again. Not knowing what he was thinking, Luo Lingyu was anxious to change clothes and go out to meet guests, seeing him still pressing against her without moving or saying what he wanted to do, she kicked him lightly with her toe.
Lu Yu’s eyelashes trembled once, coming back to his senses.
Luo Lingyu lowered her voice: “Let me go, don’t mind me… Lu Sanlang is so busy with affairs, isn’t it inappropriate to suddenly come talk to me about this?”
Lu Yu started: “You still don’t know?”
Earlier when he and several famous scholars passed by her screen, would ordinary people so easily get up and walk past? Only the five famous scholars who needed to watch every competition would possibly pass by right after she finished… Lu Yu had thought she must have guessed, but unexpectedly she hadn’t suspected at all.
Luo Lingyu: “Know what?”
Lu Yu smiled, his breath brushing her nose tip, his smile gentle and lingering: “Actually, there’s one thing I think you need to know, otherwise you’ll regret it, just if you beg me…”
“I don’t want to know! I won’t regret it! And I definitely won’t beg you!” Luo Lingyu cut him off decisively, such a quick reaction that even Lu Yu was stunned for a moment. Of Lu Yu’s several moments of being stunned, this time, Luo Lingyu’s hand struggled slightly and broke free from his grip on her wrist. Luo Lingyu fled from in front of him, and while fleeing unhappily, seeing Lu Yu’s handsome and refined face made her angry—
Luo Lingyu raised her knee, and while Lu Sanlang was dazed by her actions, her knee thrust heavily upward. For a beauty like her, ordinary families couldn’t protect her, so when she came to Jianye from Nanyang, the Luo family elders found a female teacher to teach her some self-defense moves. She knew that kneeing upward at a man was a very fatal strike for men…
The female teacher had taught vaguely, not explaining to the principal why, and Lu Sanlang was truly fortunate to become the first young lord the Luo lady treated this way.
Lu Sanlang’s body reacted quickly; when she kicked upward, he instinctively shifted his body sideways, avoiding the most fatal impact. But from the angle, he was still grazed by Luo Lingyu who didn’t know her strength. Lu Sanlang gave a muffled groan, bending down to kneel, hand supporting the ground, sweat beading on his forehead.
He said hoarsely: “Luo Lingyu! Come here…”
His face was unprecedentedly ashen: Lu Sanlang had never been treated this way by a lady before in his life. This little girl, did she know or not…
Luo Lingyu had run three zhang away, looking back uncertainly, seeing he had fallen. Luo Lingyu was startled, seeing sweat suddenly appear on Lu Sanlang’s forehead. He was hunched over, still unable to stand up, just like when she had kicked his knee before. But even then he hadn’t been this… Lu Sanlang hoarsely called her to come over, but Luo Lingyu naturally refused. This panic made Luo Lingyu not even have time to change clothes, she leaned against the door: “You, you, you don’t call me, you bullied me first… I’ll go find a doctor for you right away!”
“You, you, you don’t die!”
Hearing she was going to find someone, Lu Yu’s voice became urgent, struggling to stand up: “Don’t—”
“Bang—”
The door had already opened, and the lady rushed out in panic.
Leaving Lu Yu alone collapsed miserably on the ground, enduring the intense pain in a certain place. At one point, he felt deep hatred for Luo Lingyu—if she had kicked him badly, she would never be able to marry any suitable young lord in her life. He would bind her tightly, she would never escape… The door pushed open, and several young lords came first to help him up, asking puzzled: “Sanlang, what’s wrong with you? Lady Luo said you were sick, she was so anxious she was about to cry.”
Lu Yu: “…”
His face was calm, he stood up composedly. Brushing off the dust from his clothes, Lu Sanlang said lightly: “Nothing, I was just joking with her.”
Several young lords looked at him suspiciously, unable to see anything from his face, they could only nod, changing the topic: “Lady Luo is Sanlang’s cousin, right? She’s truly a beauty, that dance just now was stunning, probably Seven’s price at Chengyu House will rise directly from now on; and she’s so kind, seeing you unwell, she panicked to find people when we met her, Lady Luo was crying so hard she could barely breathe.”
Lu Yu endured the pain of pulling at his lips, inwardly sarcastic: Crying so hard she could barely breathe? He thought she was so scared she could barely breathe.
Luo Lingyu returned to the group of ladies with a heavy heart, hearing praise everywhere for the “Racing to the Moon” dance. The young lords were all inquiring about who this dancing Seven was, Seven received countless flowers, making her anxious and uneasy, not daring to accept; on Luo Lingyu’s side, young lords and ladies also came to talk to her, wanting to know who this lady was. Everyone surrounded Seven and Luo Lingyu, instinctively feeling that Lady Luo was so talented, the dance was choreographed by her, the music was written by her, and the magnificent and grand chime bells must naturally have been arranged by her too.
Zhou Yangling tiredly withdrew from the scene—the recreated ancient-style chime bells were precious, and not trusting others with such physical labor of striking the bells, she had done it all herself. After leaving the stage, Zhou Yangling endured her discomfort, barely having servants leave a message for Luo Lingyu saying the chime bells would be kept at her place first, then walking out supporting herself with unsteady steps. Just then Prince Chen and others came over, wanting to see these chime bells. The crowd was mixed, everyone gathering toward the center, Zhou Yangling keeping her head down, once again bumped into someone.
Stumbling backward, only vaguely seeing a figure swaying before her eyes, she murmured: “You again…”
The servants supporting her exclaimed: “Young lord!”
Seeing the young lord being knocked down, falling to the ground, passing out.
The servants were frightened: “…” Was this young lord made of ice, shattering at a touch?
Prince Chen fell silent, also not expecting this. He crouched down, saying softly: “Where does he live? I’ll take him back.”
Zhou Yangling had come to Jianye with great momentum. But after arriving in Jianye, she had let the servants follow several poor scholars sent by her father to seek patronage from Prince Chen, while she went off alone. The current servants were not Zhou Yangling’s original servants, having no particular loyalty, and with a noble person offering to take the young lord back, the servants quickly gave the address. Seeing that noble young lord pick up the young lord in one motion, seeming to find the body weight too light when lifting, Prince Chen lowered his head in surprise, looking at the pale-faced, eyes-closed beautiful young lord in his arms.
Liu Chu didn’t say much more, letting the servants lead the way, turning to stride out through the crowd.
Meanwhile, Luo Lingyu was still afraid afterward. What should have been an extremely happy occasion, now firstly she hadn’t changed the clothes under her cloak—afraid observant people would notice something amiss; secondly, she was worried about how Lu Yu was.
Luo Lingyu ordered servants to inquire about Lu Sanlang, just as Lady Chen, Chen Xiu passed by her with utmost dignity. Hearing these words, Chen Xiu, knowing this woman’s hypocrisy, said coldly: “You’re even putting on an act for this small matter? If you want to know how Lu Sanlang is, why don’t you just go see it for yourself? However, he still has to judge the next competition, even if you’re his cousin wanting him to go easy on you, you shouldn’t bother him at this time, right?”
Luo Lingyu: “…”
She had caught the key point.
A wave of dizziness hit her face, crashing into her leaving her spirits scattered and vision darkened, the terrible guess in her heart wanting to burst out. Lu Yu teased her, several times saying “I have something to tell you,” but she hadn’t listened once… Now, now! Luo Lingyu was almost suffocating: “Wh-wh-why does he need to judge the next competition?”
Chen Xiu glanced at her, could she not know?
Looks like the relationship between these cousins… was nothing special after all.
The displeasure in her heart retreating somewhat, Chen Xiu stared at Luo Lingyu: “Naturally because Lu Sanlang is one of the five famous scholars judging this year’s ‘Flower God Selection.’ These past days how many people have worn down the doorstep of the Lu residence wanting to speak to Lu Sanlang; how many ladies have gathered around Lu Sanlang… You surely don’t think it’s just because of his charm?”
Luo Lingyu collapsed sitting down, her face deathly pale. Too shocked, her palms tingling, she was extremely weak, extremely aggrieved—was it wrong of her to simply think someone was charming? How could someone like Chen Xiu who didn’t value beauty understand beauty’s attraction to the opposite sex? Luo Lingyu herself was very charming, young lords surrounded her wherever she went. Of course, she thought Lu Yu was the same.
Heavens, when other ladies were busy currying favor with Lu Yu, Lu Yu had taken the initiative to find her, but she had been busy pushing Lu Yu away. She hadn’t just pushed Lu Yu away, she had kicked him. He seemed unable to stand up at that time… She had been so principled saying she didn’t want him to mind her, no, that wasn’t her true feeling, she wanted him to mind her. If he didn’t mind her, what about her “Flower God” position?
Lu Sanlang, Lu Sanlang… Third Cousin… her Plum-Seeking Scholar, Brother Xuezhen… all seemed to have flown away like clouds in the sky… And even if she begged him now, he would surely despise her character…
Chen Xiu observed the brilliant changes in Luo Lingyu’s facial expressions, seeing this lady suddenly stand up, walking quickly outward, catching people to ask where the next competition was, where Lu Sanlang was. While Chen Xiu was looking down on her, Luo Lingyu searched the whole venue, sweating profusely wanting to salvage her mistake. As she walked hurriedly, she bumped into Lu Erlang who was coming over.
Lu Erlang restrained yet happily bowed to introduce Prince Hengyang behind him to Luo Lingyu: “Cousin, Prince Heng…”
Luo Lingyu said urgently: “Second Cousin, I have something to find Third Cousin about, I’m leaving first!”
She had the bearing of a noble lady, yet her steps were hurried. The lady came running lightly and left just as lightly. Brushing past them, Lu Erlang turned around, not even touching a sleeve, his Cousin Luo had already disappeared into the crowd. Lanterns were bright and dim, heads crowded together, and no one could see clearly where the path ahead lay.
Prince Hengyang Liu Mu at the side kept his face dark, after enduring his anger for a while, he exploded: “…This is what you meant by saying your cousin admired me?!”
Lu Erlang laughed dryly: “There must be… some misunderstanding…”
Lu Erlang wailed inwardly: Cousin, Cousin Luo, what are you doing? That rascal Third Brother, why look for him at this time of all times! Your elder brother finally got Prince Hengyang to come talk to you, and you left without even looking at him. You, you, you… As the future empress, shouldn’t building a relationship with your future husband be something you do naturally?
And Third Brother too, causing trouble everywhere! And that Prince Chen… how many times have I told Third Brother to cut ties with Prince Chen? Even without knowing their future path, Prince Hengyang is His Majesty’s most beloved royal brother, and with the imperial edict about to be proclaimed, how is that not more reliable than Prince Chen’s prospects?
…
The remaining two days of the “Flower God Selection” passed peacefully. Luo Lingyu watched every competition carefully, aiming to get close to Lu Yu and apologize to him. But in the next two days, Lu Yu completely avoided her. Sometimes when their gazes met, just as Luo Lingyu would show an ingratiating smile, his face would darken and he would turn away. When she pushed through the crowd to chase after him, Lu Sanlang would stride away like flying, disappearing without a trace.
The only good news was that she probably hadn’t kicked him too hard, as he walked normally.
Luo Lingyu was utterly dejected, her mood extremely anxious, and could only return to the residence dejectedly with Lu Erlang after the Flower God Selection ended.
In the following days, young lords and ladies rushed to select their top three choices and went everywhere looking for connections to visit the five famous scholars. Even if they couldn’t get “Flower God,” having refined conversations with the scholars was still an elegant affair. The other famous scholars were all old men, so Lu Sanlang’s popularity was naturally the highest. But unfortunately, Lu Sanlang had just received an official position, attending court daily for work, and never staying at the Lu residence.
The newly arrived ladies could no longer try every means to accidentally encounter Lu Sanlang like the young ladies who had previously stayed at the Lu residence.
As the Lu family host, Luo Lingyu entertained the ladies while inquiring about the current standings in the Flower God Selection. Opinions varied—
“Lady Chen and Princess Pingning are fighting fiercely. But you’re not bad either, Lady Luo. Your dance was composed so interestingly, these days Chengyu House is full of people wanting to request Seven to dance, Seven’s appointment cards can’t even be obtained anymore.”
“Lady Luo needn’t worry. We can’t see Lu Sanlang, but don’t you live in the Lu residence? Lu Sanlang works during the day, but he has to return to sleep at night, right? His news must be more reliable than ours. Lady Luo, help us inquire too?”
“Don’t worry. After all, he’s your cousin, he should give you very high scores, right?”
But one lady hesitated: “I-I heard my elder brother say when he was talking with Lu Sanlang, he accidentally saw his scores. He seems to have only given Lady Luo a ‘C’?”
Luo Lingyu’s whole body shook, her face turning white as snow: What? A C?!
The ladies looked at each other: …How could Lu Sanlang be so heartless to his cousin? If he gave his cousin such a low score, wouldn’t his scores for them be even lower…
Luo Lingyu collapsed onto the table, her heart full of sorrow. The ladies felt extremely sympathetic towards her, not knowing how to comfort her, and could only say a few random words, all basically suggesting she used her close relationship to try to persuade Lu Sanlang to change his evaluation. After consoling Luo Lingyu, seeing Lu Sanlang’s extremely low-scoring pattern, the ladies felt waiting at the Lu residence wouldn’t yield anything… they each found excuses to leave the Lu residence, going to inquire with other scholars.
After a very long time, having been devastated for two days, Luo Lingyu finally covered her heart and bravely got up, turning her attention to “Clear Courtyard”—no, she couldn’t give up! The results weren’t out yet, Lu Sanlang still had a chance to change his scores…
Just as the other ladies said, she and Lu Yu lived in the same Lu residence, roughly estimating, they could be said to be living in the same room… With such an intimate relationship, if she couldn’t move Lu Sanlang, she wouldn’t accept it. Even if he despised her, she would endure!
Forcefully suppressing the embarrassment and awkwardness of facing Lu Yu, Luo Lingyu’s thoughts began moving again, and after a while, she called for serving girls: “Let’s go to the kitchen, make some good food, and send several portions to ‘Clear Courtyard’…”
…
While Luo Lingyu felt her prospects were dim, on the young lords’ side, their evaluation of her was quite good. After the five days of “Flower God Selection” ended, almost all the young lords in Jianye remembered this beautiful Lu family cousin, inquiring everywhere about this cousin. In court matters, Lu Sanlang was targeted by Prince Hengyang Liu Mu along with Prince Chen, busy to distraction daily, having no time at all to worry about his cousin; but Lu Erlang only held a sinecure, though recently looking to his father for a substantive position, he was still quite free for now. Young lords surrounding Lu Erlang to inquire about his cousin were much more numerous.
Lu Erlang was somewhat dazed by all the inquiries.
After finishing court, Lu Sanlang saw his second brother once again surrounded by people. The weak scholar Lu Erlang Lu Xian couldn’t push away the crowd, Lu Sanlang glanced over, seeing his second brother’s pleading eyes in the crowd, arms striving to push through the crowd to leave, Lu Sanlang’s lips twitched, dutifully going over to rescue Lu Erlang. As Lu Yu went over, Lu Xian was being questioned by Qi Sanlang: “Regarding your cousin’s marriage, who in your family can make the decision? Someone must be able to decide, right?”
Lu Yu’s steps halted: Marriage?
Already discussing marriage?
Lu Xian thought the same. Lu Xian’s face was bitter, he only wanted to match Cousin Luo with Prince Hengyang, but Qi An Qi Sanlang who appeared halfway seemed even more persistent than Prince Hengyang. Lu Xian forced himself to say: “Cousin Luo coming to our home naturally means she wants the Lu family to help look after her marriage matters. In our family, the one who can decide for Cousin Luo would be my aunt, right? Cousin Luo came looking for her in the first place. What, does Qi Sanlang want to marry my cousin?”
Lu Yu stared at Qi Sanlang.
His gaze was cold, yet his eyes burned, though seemingly very calm and quiet, his stare made Qi Sanlang feel like sitting on pins and needles, uncomfortably shifting closer to Lu Erlang.
Qi Sanlang embarrassedly whispered to Lu Erlang: “I do like her, but my family probably won’t agree. Our kind of noble family, when taking a wife, we have to consider various things…”
Lu Erlang’s gaze turned cold.
Qi Sanlang hesitated: “If I persuade my elders, and you talk to your aunt, how about letting Sister Luo be a concubine? The Qi family is also a wealthy noble family in Jianye, I don’t have that much say either. But I truly love Sister Luo, even as a concubine, I would cherish and love her…”
Lu Erlang Lu Xian was stunned, thoughtful: Right, he had somewhat forgotten, Cousin Luo’s background… in Jianye’s environment full of top noble families, it wasn’t enough. The Luo family now only had the declining Nanyang Luo clan left, an ordinary scholarly family, how could they discuss marriage with Jianye’s wealthy noble families? Being a concubine, it seemed Cousin Luo would already be marrying above her station.
Then, the story in his dream… Lu Erlang was shocked and doubtful: Was it that Prince Hengyang loved his cousin to the extreme, or did Prince Hengyang have other motives? What kind of role did his cousin play in his dream? Was what he saw the truth? Was his Cousin Luo truly happy in the dream?
Which was more important – benefits, the mysterious future, or Cousin Luo’s happiness?
What did he know?!
Lu Erlang’s peripheral vision caught Lu Sanlang’s indifferent expression, the latter looking away carelessly. Lu Erlang’s heart ached, thinking of Third Brother’s outcome—how should he act to change it? Third Brother died at the border… would Third Brother be forever safe if he never went there?
Then how to make Third Brother never go there…
Lu Erlang stared intently at Lu Sanlang.
Lu Sanlang raised an eyebrow.
Lu Xian: “Third Brother, what do you think about being a civil official?”
Lu Yu: “…”
His face expressionless: “Second Brother, I am already a civil official.”
Lu Xian: “…”
His meaning was naturally to be a civil official forever… The third Brother didn’t understand his good intentions… Lu Erlang sighed, covering his sleeve as he left. The path back to the residence was the same, Lu Sanlang following Lu Erlang’s footsteps.
Qi Sanlang Qi An left behind was confused: Wait, does anyone still remember him? Didn’t he just ask about marrying Sister Luo? What was this attitude from the two Lu young lords, had they forgotten about him?
…
It was impossible to forget.
For the rest of the day, while working, Lu Yu’s mind kept going over Qi Sanlang’s words about wanting to marry Luo Lingyu as a concubine. Each time he thought of it, the irritation in his heart deepened. Towards the end, he couldn’t concentrate on work at all and had to take leave to return to the residence early. Returning to “Clear Courtyard,” the main chamber was brightly lit, yet Jingyue surprisingly didn’t send serving girls to wait for Lu Yu’s return in the courtyard.
Lu Sanlang walked in his courtyard, smelling waves of food fragrance, and hearing endless laughter.
He suddenly pushed aside the curtain, standing in the doorway, seeing two women sitting by the dining table talking in the chamber. Luo Lingyu was speaking and laughing cheerfully, her words light and lively, making Jingyue laugh continuously, her body leaning forward, eyes affectionately gazing at Luo Lingyu. While behind Jingyue, Zhiyue was serving them dishes, her lips pouting enough to hold soy sauce. Zhiyue unhappily secretly glared several times at the cousin opposite, suddenly seeing the young lord standing silently in the doorway, frightened into dropping her chopsticks: “Young-young-young-young lord—!”
How did he suddenly come back?!
Compared to the serving girl’s panic, Luo Lingyu remained graceful and elegant throughout. Putting down her chopsticks and turning around, the lady’s smile was like flowers, her gaze looking at him was intimate and respectful, sweetly saying: “Brother Xuezhen, you’re back?”
Brother Xuezhen?!
Lu Yu looked at the doorway, a sense of absurd déjà vu flashing in his heart: Rather than feeling they were mistress and servant with deep affection, the lady of the house amusing herself with her serving girl.
He was the pitiful master who couldn’t get a hot meal because his wife was too popular with the serving girls.