Beneath the silk gauze window, banana leaves and emerald bamboo cast shadows on the screen. Lu Xiao Silang trudged along the corridor, stopping at the window, his head hanging low. His studies weren’t going well, and he hesitated to face Madam Lu. Young Master Lu Chang stood on tiptoes, peering through the window to see Madam Lu sitting behind the brocade curtains with silver hooks, sighing deeply.
The maid: “Ah…”
Madam Lu: “Such worry…”
A cousin was causing the Lu family matriarch great distress. Madam Lu neither wanted her son to become too close to Miss Luo nor did she want him to suffer heartbreak. She couldn’t send the cousin away either – partly because it would damage the Lu family’s reputation, and partly because she couldn’t explain it to her sister-in-law Lu Ying. Caught in this difficult situation, Madam Lu could only ask her maid Lüyao: “Have the people we sent to Nanyang to investigate Miss Luo’s character not returned yet?”
Lüyao replied uncertainly: “Perhaps they fell ill on the road, or were delayed by something.”
Furrowing her brow, Madam Lu nodded slowly: “Then… keep a close eye on Third Young Master and Miss Luo daily. Miss Luo enjoys outings, and she’s a guest from afar. Let Third Young Master accompany her more often.”
As Madam Lu’s maid, Lüyao looked up in surprise at her mistress’s serious expression. Understanding dawned immediately upon hearing these words. Madam Lu wanted to match the Third Young Master with the cousin, preventing the Second Young Master from causing trouble.
The maid withdrew obediently. Outside, Fourth Young Master Lu Chang pondered for a moment, worried that Madam Lu would trouble Sister Luo again. His eyes darted about as he snuck away quietly to find Luo Yunshi at “Snow Tracing Courtyard,” warning the Luo sisters to be careful. However, the younger Luo sister merely snorted, rolled her eyes, and drew the curtains closed, ignoring the pitiful young master Lu Chang outside. Having been shut out, young Lu Chang was at a loss: Wasn’t it just about fighting with a little cousin last time? Didn’t they already apologize to each other? Why was little cousin still holding a grudge?
Meanwhile, Madam Lu remained downcast, turning to look at the garden’s lush greenery outside the window. As bamboo leaves rustled, she paced behind the pearl curtains, murmuring melancholically: “Third Young Master is even younger than my son, yet his marriage prospects are approaching. I wonder where my son’s good match might be…”
Madam Lu worried needlessly.
In Second Young Master Lu Xian’s dreams, many events revolved around the Third Young Master, Luo Lingyu, and the Prince of Hengyang, none concerning the Second Young Master’s marriage. Madam Lu worried in vain – her son wouldn’t marry until at least next year.
Lu Xian’s dreams always centered on the Third Young Master and Luo Lingyu. Though he cared deeply for his brother, Lu Xian sometimes wondered – why his dreams contained so little about himself, focusing instead on others’ affairs.
Could it be that in this brief year, his life was so uneventful that nothing noteworthy happened to him?
Unable to understand, Lu Xian could only first seek out the famous physician he’d previously invited to treat Old Madam Lu’s headache, taking a carriage to Taichu Palace to help stabilize the old emperor’s condition. In reality, the Second Young Master hoped the old emperor would live a while longer and avoid death by poison from consuming more elixirs.
The subjects of Madam Lu and her son’s thoughts, Third Young Master Lu Yun and cousin Miss Luo Lingyu, were sitting together in a carriage heading to Mount Xiaowei outside the city. The ox cart swayed gently, its spacious interior allowing Lu Yun and Luo Lingyu to kneel on opposite sides. A quarter-hour passed in silence.
As the cart swayed, Lu Yun lowered his gaze, fixating on the jade-white earrings by Luo Lingyu’s ears. The earrings swayed against her cheeks, casting rippling light upon her translucent, jade-like skin. Lu Yun stared at her earrings for a long while, his gaze gradually drifting to other parts of her.
She kept her head down, concealing her expression. Seeing her demurely lowered gaze and seemingly docile appearance, Lu Yun recalled her dancing spirit from that day. Though her dance technique had been wooden and unrefined – something he wouldn’t normally spare a glance at – her vibrant spirit and alluring form had provoked his imagination…
Lu Yun interrupted his uncontrolled, unsavory thoughts, suddenly speaking: “Is cousin thinking about how to please Master Wang later?”
Master Wang was the renowned scholar they were going to visit.
Luo Lingyu started, looking up at him in surprise: “…No.”
Lu Yun’s eyes met hers.
His expression remained cold and aloof, celestially distant as always in public. Yet even as his expression stayed cool, he lowered his lashes to glance at her. As their eyes met, his phoenix eyes held a teasing glint that melted their frost. Lu Yun spoke meaningfully: “Oh, so cousin feels shy being alone with me.”
Luo Lingyu: “…”
She drew a breath, looking up with a smile: “Snow Chastity brother jests. We’re merely discussing terms – how could I be shy? I’ve already agreed to your second condition, but what’s the third?”
Lu Yun was truly strange.
As soon as she finished speaking, his face grew cold again. Lu Yun drawled: “I haven’t thought of the third condition yet. What you have now is enough to handle the ‘Flower God’ selection. I’ll take my time thinking about the third condition.”
Luo Lingyu’s heart skipped, her brows furrowing with some anxiety. She blamed Lu Yun for giving her too little time to consider earlier – she disliked having the third condition so far removed from the present. How she wished to complete Lu Yun’s three conditions quickly. But then Luo Lingyu reconsidered: Besides him having no immediate desires, perhaps keeping the third condition pending meant he didn’t want to settle accounts with her completely.
Surely Third Young Master held some regard for her position in his heart?
Thinking this, Luo Lingyu’s loving gaze fluttered toward Lu Yun.
Third Young Master: “…”
Her gaze made his heart flutter uncomfortably, unconsciously drawing his thoughts to her lips. Lu Yun turned away, pulling back the curtain to look outside. But as soon as he opened the window, his handsome face met the street view, where a young lady happened to look up, gasping as she watched the handsome young master pass by in his carriage.
The lady blurted out: “What a handsome young master!”
The moment she spoke, more women looked over, seeing the young master’s profile in the carriage. The ladies’ eyes all brightened at once.
Lu Yun slammed the window shut with a “bang.”
Lu Yun: “…”
“Pff,” he heard a woman’s laugh. His eyes turned to her with hidden anger – Luo Lingyu covered her mouth. The lady covered her smile, the mischievous teasing in her eyes twinkling like starlight: “The world has many fierce women, I understand now – Snow Chastity’s brother fears women.”
Luo Lingyu was very interested: “Has Snow Chastity’s brother been frightened by women pursuing him? Have you suffered much at women’s hands? Snow Chastity brother… which lady were you closest with?”
She tried to investigate Third Young Master’s romantic history. If she were to marry Lu Yun, she needed to know if he had previously been with any ladies…
Lu Yun smiled at her: “Has little sister Yu never been pursued and cornered by young masters? Never suffered at young masters’ hands? Little sister Yu… which young master were you closest with?”
He mimicked her way of speaking, making Luo Lingyu nervous and breathless as she could only stare at him. Lu Yun was too perceptive – he pressed his brows together, understanding in an instant: “Luo Lingyu, you do have a romantic history?”
Luo Lingyu quickly replied: “No!”
Lu Yun watched her: “Such a quick denial clearly shows guilt.”
Luo Lingyu: “…”
Her lips moved twice, her gaze flickering as she seemed about to speak but held back. Seeing this, Lu Yun’s expression grew even cooler.
…
Thus, both lost in their thoughts, they stopped the cart and alighted together. Standing with Lu Yun at the mountain’s base, they looked up at peaks soaring into clouds, majestic mountains shrouded in dense greenery. Luo Lingyu turned to look behind her, seeing Lu Yun take a water pouch and instruct the cart driver and servants to leave first, arranging a time for them to return. Luo Lingyu stared as Lu Yun walked to her side, saying lazily: “Why are you standing there? Hurry and follow me up the mountain?”
Luo Lingyu studied him – the young master’s form was as elegant as orchids and jade, drawing attention wherever he went. He walked past her, securing the water pouch at his waist, then proceeded unencumbered toward the mountain path. Luo Lingyu: “Ah… our servants…”
She looked back to see that after Third Young Master’s instructions, the cart driver and others had mounted the cart, preparing to return. The maid Lingyu and other serving women sitting in the cart gazed sympathetically at their young lady, waving goodbye. Luo Lingyu was dumbfounded, never imagining that when Lu Yun said “climbing the mountain to visit a scholar,” he truly meant “climbing” – on foot, without luggage, without attendants, without carriages.
Though from a declining scholarly family, Luo Lingyu was still a lady accustomed to being served. For the first time without even a maid by her side, she looked at the young man entering the woods to her left, then at the departing carriages to her right. She bit her lip, hesitating for a long while before running to catch up with Lu Yun: “Snow Chastity brother, Snow Chastity brother wait for me…”
Lu Yun wasn’t walking very fast.
This mountain path was steeper than ordinary mountains, with eighteen switchbacks, and in many places, there was no path at all – they could only climb by holding onto rocks. Even Lu Yun, trained in martial arts, found it somewhat difficult, let alone Luo Lingyu. Luo Lingyu caught up to Lu Yun panting heavily, seeing him walking with hands behind his back, face pale, and she felt quite unhappy. Lifting her skirts, following behind the young master, Luo Lingyu suspected: “Lu Xuechen, are you playing tricks on me?”
Lu Yun: “When asking favors it’s ‘Snow Chastity brother,’ when blaming me it’s ‘Lu Xuechen.’ Sister’s two-faced nature truly leaves me in awe.”
Luo Lingyu’s heart twinged with annoyance, but she stubbornly pretended not to hear. She continued eyeing his back suspiciously: “You said you’d take me to visit a scholar, but this mountain path is so difficult – I’ve never walked such a difficult path before. We haven’t seen even half a person all the way here. How could any scholar live here? I don’t believe it. Is it because I offended you before, so you’re deliberately teasing me?”
Lu Yun spoke flatly: “No.”
Luo Lingyu grabbed his sleeve from behind: “Then tell me.”
She spoke coquettishly, her chest brushing against his elbow as she tugged his arm. Lu Yun’s elbow touched the lady’s full bosom, instantly making his back tingle, his entire arm going numb. Mountain streams murmured at their feet, and Lu Yun, distracted, lost his footing and nearly fell into the water. Luo Lingyu quickly grabbed his arm tighter, crying out: “Lu Yun!”
This pressed her chest even more firmly against his arm.
Lu Yun awkwardly waded through the water back to shore, still having the presence of mind to think: Oh, so when neither warm nor cold, she calls him “Lu Yun.”
He smiled: Luo Lingyu’s face, tsk tsk.
The lady didn’t know what his complex expression meant, only seeing him look down, glancing at where his arm pressed against her. Just as Luo Lingyu was about to look down to see what he was looking at, his other arm came around to rest on her shoulder, lifting and turning her around. Half-embracing, half-carrying, Lu Yun lifted Luo Lingyu from the slippery stones in the stream onto level ground.
Lu Yun smiled: “I give up. Fine, I’ll tell you.”
“For this ‘Flower God’ of yours, all the ladies of Jianye are visiting several scholars. The scholars have all gone into hiding, but for the other scholars, the ladies have their connections to find them. But our Master Wang is different. Master Wang comes from a humble background and has no connections in Jianye. When he goes into hiding, he’s not easily found. Moreover, this Master Wang is extreme – he hid himself in mountains so difficult to climb that no one has ever lived there. Many ladies take one look at this mountain path and don’t want to continue. Thus, very few people come to visit Master Wang, allowing you to get ahead.”
Luo Lingyu looked up at him from his embrace, deeply troubled: “They all find the mountain path too difficult to walk?”
Lu Yun paused, curled his lips, and said slowly: “Yes. Many walked halfway up the mountain path, then turned back.”
Luo Lingyu: So this mountain path is that difficult to walk…
She grew timid, remembering the journey to Mount Zhong. The ladies of Jianye were already extremely skilled at mountain excursions in their daily entertainment. Though they were such good walkers, she had lagged behind them, panting heavily – if not for saving face, she would have fled halfway. Now Lu Yun said this mountain path was much more difficult than before…
Luo Lingyu lowered her head, pushing away Lu Yun’s embracing arm, furrowing her brows in thought.
Lu Yun waited for her, hiding laughter in his eyes. He knew Luo Lingyu couldn’t make it – before on Mount Zhong with such a short distance, she had already limped along. Now this mountain path was much more difficult than Mount Zhong. Luo Lingyu definitely couldn’t overcome it. Someone like her who would rather sit than stand, rather stand than walk – making her climb a mountain was worse than killing her… Third Young Master waited proudly, waiting for her to beg him, then he would carry her, and so on…
But in the brief moment of this thought, he saw Luo Lingyu roll up her sleeves, squat down, tear off a large piece of her skirt hem, and tie her skirts and legs together with cloth strips. She quickly arranged her clothing, folding her complex, beautiful garments efficiently before Lu Yun. The beautiful lady transformed into a neatly dressed one.
Luo Lingyu looked up at the high mountain with full motivation: “So Master Wang lives in the mountains? Cousin, let’s hurry! No matter how difficult the mountain path, we must continue – Master Wang is waiting for us! Master Wang is a scholar, we absolutely cannot keep him waiting long and give him a bad impression of me.”
“What does it matter if he’s from a humble background? I don’t mind, and you shouldn’t either, cousin. A scholar with talent deserves respect.”
Luo Lingyu took the lead, turning back to wave at Lu Yun: “Cousin, hurry up!”
Lu Yun stared, then smiled gently: “…”
He had thought too much, wrongly assuming Luo Lingyu was delicate and would refuse difficult paths. His cousin, at the mere mention of reputation and power, became full of energy, needing no encouragement from him. Such intense focus on personal gain, wholeheartedly pursuing advantage… Luo Lingyu was indeed quite a devoted beauty.