On the festival terrace, dragon boats leaped across the river, and wine cups floated along winding streams. Silk ribbons tightened around waists as thousands of riders competed in races. Though the Dragon Boat Festival had just passed, the festive joy lingered. The streets and markets still displayed peach branches, willow twigs, and cattail leaves, while young lords and ladies showed off their five-colored longevity threads tied around their sleeves and wrists. The scholars and their children continued using the festival as an excuse for endless drinking games and banquets.

Though mentally prepared, when Luo Lingyu stepped down from her carriage outside the Zhou residence and heard the music of pipes and strings from deep within the alley, she was still surprised. At the same time, she felt happy for Zhou Lang – as a commoner scholar, had he finally been accepted by the upper-class gentry?

After all, who wouldn’t like a talented and romantic scholar?

Before entering the residence, Luo Lingyu adjusted her appearance, as she always made sure to look impeccable before meeting anyone. Her gray-toned dress swirled like smoke as she gracefully took a step forward, when suddenly a male voice coughed from slightly behind her left. Luo Lingyu turned to see Prince Chen Liu Shu who had just descended from his carriage. Her eyes flickered with confusion – the probability of meeting Prince Chen at Zhou Lang’s seemed even higher than meeting him at Lu Sanglang’s place.

But didn’t everyone in Jianye say that her cousin Lu Sanglang was Prince Chen’s best friend?

That was in the past.

After Zhou Yangling arrived in Jianye, Prince Chen transferred his affections and abandoned his old friend. While Lu Sanglang was at home recovering from his eye injury, Liu Shu only visited once. But when Zhou Yangling was perfectly healthy, the Prince wandered this alley as if it were his back garden.

Luo Lingyu lowered her eyes and greeted this young lord cordially.

Prince Chen Liu Shu wore a gold-threaded robe with a nine-ringed golden belt, exuding nobility. Upon seeing Luo Lingyu, he also frowned, feeling that the frequency of encountering Lu Yun’s cousin at Zhou Zibo’s place was too high. Displeased with how often Luo Lingyu sought out Zhou Zibo, Liu Shu’s tone turned cold: “You… why are you here?”

Luo Lingyu smiled brightly as she took out an invitation card and handed it to Prince Chen: “…Though June has no special festivals, I’m still inviting everyone to gather at the Lu residence for some casual drinking and flower viewing. I wrote invitation cards for everyone and came to deliver Zhou Lang’s first.”

The Prince lowered his head to look at the invitation card Luo Lingyu presented. She always made her invitation cards very exquisitely, with beautiful handwriting that was elegant and refined, truly presentable. Observing this young lady’s clever and skillful side through the invitation card, the Prince suspected Zhou Lang must surely fancy such an intelligent lady, making him even more uncomfortable. After examining the card for a long while, Liu Shu pondered: “…June 19th?”

Luo Lingyu: “Yes.”

Choosing June 19th held a small personal joy for her. However, Luo Lingyu had no intention of sharing this little happiness with others.

Unexpectedly, the Prince immediately rejected her chosen date: “That day won’t work.”

Luo Lingyu: “…?”

Liu Shu returned the card to her, saying coldly: “That day, he has an appointment with me. I invited him. You and Xuezhen can come too. That day won’t work… choose another day.”

Luo Lingyu’s heart froze, and her hand holding her invitation card felt half cold. Being caught off guard by Liu Shu’s move left her at a loss, naturally unwilling. If the Prince was holding a banquet, how could she compete on the same day? Luo Lingyu bit her lip, letting out a light mental huff, but smiled silently as she took back her invitation card. Luo Lingyu was very accommodating: “…Alright then, Your Highness, please give me your invitation card and I’ll take it back for Third Cousin to see. I’ll reschedule the Lu family’s banquet.”

Her beautiful eyes sparkled with a hint of craftiness as she thought to herself: Fortunately, I now have Lu Xuezhen as my “servant under the skirt.” When I go back to beg Lu Yun, at most he’ll mock me for being willful and scold me for being vain, but outsiders won’t know how I lose face before him. I must make him convince you to change the date. June 19th, I am determined to have it.

Prince Chen Liu Shu didn’t understand Luo Lingyu. Though he vaguely knew she had some small schemes, seeing her so agreeable made him dismiss it. The man and woman were extremely polite to each other as Luo Lingyu accepted several invitation cards from the Prince’s servant. After checking the time, she followed Liu Shu’s footsteps into the Zhou residence.

However, when an old servant led them to the courtyard, both Liu Shu and Luo Lingyu were stunned. They saw that the small courtyard of the Zhou residence was filled with quite a few people. Most were noblemen and women, but Liu Shu, who had recently been introduced by the famous scholar Zhou Tan to many commoner scholars entering the capital, also recognized several commoner scholars among the crowd. They saw Zhou Yangling had brought out her chimes for these people to study. The music they had heard from outside the courtyard was the sound of these men and women playing instruments themselves.

Some played flutes, some played pipes…

Zhou Yangling was surrounded by people, speaking softly as she looked through ancient texts with them, checking records of palace music from previous dynasties. It turned out Zhou Yangling had a whole room full of books here – in ancient times there was the saying of a “golden book chamber,” and any scholar who could become famous had collected countless books and classics. That Zhou Yangling could casually produce such a room full of books was truly remarkable.

Her hidden talents emerged one after another. In the short months since arriving in Jianye, riding the east wind of Prince Chen’s favor, she was quickly conquering these noble men and women of Jianye.

By now, a lady in the courtyard sat down to strike the chimes, and surrounded by onlookers, she would turn back coquettishly asking for help: “Zhou Lang, why can’t I get this musical note to sound right?”

Zhou Yangling would then sit down and patiently tune it for her. She tilted her ear, using the small hammer in her hand to strike the bronze bells. The young lords beside her nodded, while the ladies watched her with sparkling eyes, secretly pondering the possibility of having Zhou Lang as a son-in-law who would marry into their family. After all, even noble ladies didn’t necessarily refuse to marry down.

Standing at the courtyard entrance, seeing them all gathered around Zhou Yangling, Luo Lingyu’s heart felt slightly uncomfortable, a bit unhappy.

Prince Chen Liu Shu’s heart also felt uncomfortable, he was unhappy too.

Luo Lingyu pressed her lips together: “How can Zhou Lang be like this, agreeing to everyone who seeks him…” She wasn’t special at all.

Liu Shu rarely agreed with Lu Yun’s cousin, but his tone was slightly harsh: “…Right!”

The two complained at the entrance, and Luo Lingyu’s desire to seek out Zhou Yangling for companionship had already greatly weakened. Zhou Yangling casually looked up from among the crowd and saw the two at the door. After giving some instructions, letting the lords and ladies play on their own, she came over to find the two. Zhou Yangling smiled: “How did Miss Luo happen to come with the Prince?”

Luo Lingyu handed Zhou Yangling the invitation cards that Prince Chen had just shown her, her mood low: “The Prince wants to hold a banquet to invite you, we met on the way, so we came to deliver the invitation cards.”

Zhou Yangling nodded: “Thank you.”

Luo Lingyu glanced at her, saying gloomily: “Now that the cards have been delivered, I shall take my leave.”

Zhou Yangling: “…”

Her eyelids quickly lifted once, still lowered to look at the cards, yet immediately noticed Luo Lingyu’s low spirits. Not only was Luo Lingyu unhappy, but the Prince beside her also seemed to be in low spirits. This slightly puzzled Zhou Yangling. Luo Lingyu hadn’t even taken a few steps into the courtyard before turning to leave. Zhou Yangling caught up, lifting her robe to bow.

Luo Lingyu dodged: “What are you doing!”

Zhou Yangling appeared as a handsome and graceful young lord, and when focusing intently on someone, her eyes were clear and pure, as beautiful as jade stones immersed in water. Matching her gentle speaking voice, few could resist listening: “I don’t know how I’ve offended Miss Luo to make you unhappy?”

Luo Lingyu’s cheeks flushed red: “I’m not unhappy at all!”

Zhou Yangling: “Sister hasn’t even entered the courtyard before wanting to leave, surely I must have done something wrong. Please tell me directly, don’t wrongly accuse me.”

Luo Lingyu hesitated – she never spoke unnecessarily in front of others. Even her coquettish behavior was only used when it served a purpose. Until now, only Lu Yun could make her suddenly angry, and then suddenly sad. She absolutely would not expose herself again in front of anyone but Lu Yun, letting people know she was different on the inside than the outside. But Zhou Yangling’s gentle eyes stared at her, staring until her heart wavered, feeling that this wasn’t anything serious.

Zhou Yangling urged again softly and sighed: “Sister was the first lady I met after arriving in Jianye, and we even opened a shop together. The cosmetics shop is running well, why has sister become distant from me?”

Luo Lingyu paused, then couldn’t help saying: “Though I was the first lady you met, you don’t take me seriously in your heart.”

Zhou Yangling was stunned: “…Where did this come from?”

Luo Lingyu’s lips pursed to the side, gesturing for Zhou Lang to look at the courtyard full of lords and ladies. She revealed a hint of displeasure, and Zhou Yangling immediately understood the meaning, of course apologizing right away and reassuring Luo Lingyu that she cherished the most in her heart. But Luo Lingyu didn’t believe it, saying Zhou Lang didn’t have her in his heart. The two ladies went back and forth, while the Prince beside them listened anxiously.

Liu Shu wanted to say something to assert his presence. But though Luo Lingyu looked delicate and sweet, her small mouth kept chattering non-stop without a moment’s pause. Zhou Yangling was so anxious, spending the whole time reassuring Luo Lingyu, making that little lady’s mouth curl up in a smile, becoming happy again.

Liu Shu was extremely anxious and couldn’t hold back anymore, forcing out: “Y-y-y-you met m-m-me first!”

Luo Lingyu, who was acting coquettish with Zhou Yangling: “…”

Zhou Yangling, who was working hard to comfort Luo Lingyu: “…”

Both women turned to look at him in surprise, and Liu Shu’s face instantly turned red.

Zhou Yangling couldn’t help but smile: “Why is Your Highness stuttering again?”

Liu Shu’s face got even redder. He already had delicate features, and now suddenly looked just like a shy maiden: “…”

Luo Lingyu suppressed her doubts about Liu Shu – she had already been mostly comforted by Zhou Yangling. When she turned back to face Zhou Yangling, Luo Lingyu’s lips had regained their smile. She was extremely playful, half-serious, and half-joking: “Then am I your most beloved lady?”

Zhou Yangling smiled and said: “Yes, of course, it’s you.”

The Prince once again couldn’t help competing: “Th-th-then am I-I-I your m-m-most beloved l-l-lord?”

Luo Lingyu: “…”

Why does this Prince Chen always compete with her for Zhou Lang? And why does he keep stuttering?

Seeing the Prince’s face had turned red from holding it in, Zhou Yangling looked at him very surprised, then very awkwardly: “…No.” Being a woman herself, how could she publicly say she loved a lord most?

Liu Shu instantly lost his spirit, his face pale, immediately drained of blood.

Prince Chen’s emotions changed so quickly that Zhou Yangling was frightened into a daze, just hesitating whether to comfort this prince or not, when a panting maid came running to the courtyard entrance where they stood. This maid was Lingyu, who had come to the Zhou residence with Luo Lingyu.

Lingyu asked Luo Lingyu anxiously and uncertainly: “Young Miss, as you said, this servant was guarding the carriage outside the alley. Suddenly a carriage arrived with a richly dressed lord inside. After asking me a few questions, that lord said he was your betrothed. Young Miss, where did you get a betrothed from? That supposed betrothed wants you to go out to meet him, saying if you don’t listen, don’t blame him for doing things you can’t accept.”

“Young Miss, who is this person? Could he be mad?”

Following the pale-faced Prince Chen, Luo Lingyu’s face also turned white. She stood stiffly in the bright sun, her whole body covered in cold sweat, completely unable to hear Zhou Yangling’s worried words of comfort beside her. Her mind was filled with thoughts of “he’s here” and “this madman came to find me”… Why couldn’t he just stay properly in Nanyang?

And he claimed to be her “betrothed”!

Luo Lingyu swayed as if about to fall, supported by Lingyu. The young lady covered her face with her sleeve, her shoulders trembling in fear. In her helplessness, the first person she thought of was the only lord who might save her: Brother Xuezhen… the madman is here, where are you? Save me!