Though the eldest daughter of the Luo family had left Jianye, the plan for refugees to surround her carriage hadn’t changed. While Luo Lingyu went to Nanyang to seek her lover, after young lady Luo Yunhua’s birthday, she was no longer confined to the residence; after her sister left, she who already enjoyed going out became even more unrestrained in playing with the young ladies of Jianye.

The young lady was beautiful and lively, kind and pure, with an inherent streak of unspoken boldness, and had made several close female friends.

But Luo Yunhua wasn’t just playing around; she would also do charitable work with young master Zhou Zibo, helping the poor and assisting at schools for commoner families. This time, when Luo Yunhua went out again, she was followed by a little shadow—the Lu family’s fourth young master Lu Chang, who was a year younger than her.

Ever since his little cousin refused to stay obediently at the Lu residence, young master Lu Chang had been particularly lonely. He very much enjoyed playing with his little cousin, and she was the only person close to his age in the family. He had no other choice. When Luo Yunhua wanted to go out, Lu Chang both pleaded and made promises before he was allowed to join Luo Yunhua’s carriage.

The ox cart was blocked halfway up the mountain.

What appeared to be several dozen refugees surrounded their carriage, and the guards immediately became extremely nervous trying to disperse the crowd. The young lady and young master in the carriage slightly opened the curtain, their small faces flashing briefly before the refugees. The refugees were stunned, not expecting the carriage’s occupants to be children. While they were stunned, Luo Yunhua had already seriously instructed the guards in her crisp voice to take out the grain they had brought, which was originally intended to be donated to the temple and distributed.

The carriage door opened wide, and Luo Yunhua stood gracefully with her hands on her hips. The beautiful young lady wore silver boots with a small golden crossbow at her waist, and she waved her hand with great presence: “Don’t fight, don’t fight, there’s enough for everyone!”

Young master Lu Chang also climbed up to help, but when he poked his head out, he was frightened by the surge of people crowding below: “…There are so many people…”

White grains of rice scattered from their fingers, each grain distinct, all high-quality rice. Though the Jiangnan region was known for its fish and rice, the noble families divided up the land, and ordinary people had only seen such rice but rarely eaten it. Moreover, although these refugees had been incited with impure motives and there were several spies mixed among them, their refugee status was generally genuine. When the two children merely showed such rice, the refugees rushed forward to grab it.

Luo Yunhua’s eyes curved in a smile as she distributed grain with her cousin who was putting on the airs of a young gentleman.

In the chaos, they didn’t know that on the mountain wall rising diagonally to the left of the mountain path, six or seven zhang up, there was a protruding rock. A youth in dark clothes sat cross-legged on the rock; no longer dressed like a beggar, with his face cleaned, he was fair and handsome with eyes like midnight. Only his expressionless demeanor and the inherent coldness in his bearing could connect him to that little beggar from before.

The youth watched the chaotic scene below expressionlessly, seeing the little beauty’s bright smile and the young master beside her carrying himself like a gentleman. The two children were unhurried and coordinated well. What was supposed to be an attack on the carriage had somehow turned into a genuine scene of people scrambling for food.

The youth readied his crossbow, which though simple in design could fire three arrows at once. His strong fingers rested on the trigger mechanism, aiming at the gaps between the refugees below. He didn’t intend to kill anyone, only to intimidate. The youth stared fixedly downward, increasing the pressure on his finger, the bowstring about to release…

Below in the ox cart stopped on the mountain path, while the refugees and guards were busy with the grain, the previously smiling Luo Yunhua suddenly retreated and quickly closed the carriage door. She moved so fast, and the refugees were so focused on the grain, that they didn’t notice the situation in the carriage at all. As soon as the door closed, Luo Yunhua dropped her smile and grabbed the bewildered-looking fourth young master, anxiously saying: “What should we do, what should we do, we’ve encountered bad people!”

Lu Chang: “Ah?!”

Though Luo Yunhua was kind, perhaps because she had long observed her sister’s actions, she wasn’t foolish. When bad people appeared, she could easily identify them. Ignoring her dumbfounded cousin, her black grape-like eyes darted around the carriage walls, and she dragged Lu Chang to help her push open the window at the back of the carriage. The rear window was only for ventilation and extremely small, but fortunately, they were both children with small frames and short statures, and by helping each other and making the window slightly larger, they could stealthily escape.

Luo Yunhua pulled Lu Chang as they jumped down from the carriage and ran desperately up the mountain path behind them.

Above, the youth with the crossbow who had been intently aiming at the refugees raised his eyebrows in a beautiful arc that seemed to take wing, gleaming with golden sunlight. After a brief pause, he quickly withdrew his bow and jumped up. As the two children ran along the mountain path below, the youth’s black figure appeared and disappeared among the forest on the cliff several zhang above them.

The spies among the refugees noticed something was wrong, and turning around, immediately shouted: “They’ve run away! The exploiters have run away, everyone chases them!”

There wasn’t much grain to begin with, and now there was barely any left. The refugees remembered how the Lu family’s young lady had bullied Chen Xiu, their savior Chen lady, and suddenly became enraged. After securing their rice in their trouser ties and sleeves, they chased after the two children, shouting: “Don’t run! You’re just guilty! We demand an explanation—”

The fourth young master, panting as he raced with his little cousin, gasped: “Why are they chasing us anyway? Did you cause trouble outside? I told you not to go out so much, see, we met bad people.”

Luo Yunhua turned to look at the army pursuing them, her small face pale, but she stubbornly retorted: “Hmph, you’re the one who caused trouble. I didn’t!”

In the refugees’ view, two children around ten years old with short legs should have been caught by adults in just a few steps. But surprisingly, although these two children had short legs, they could run. Though the pursuers were panting heavily, the two children’s speed didn’t decrease at all. Especially that bouncing little lady.

Luo Yunhua had always been quite active. While her sister was lively in temperament, she was lively in physical energy. Although her sister often kept her from going out to play, young lady Luo Yunhua had spent plenty of time climbing trees and catching fish behind her sister’s back. While the people behind were chasing with sweat pouring down their faces, the young lady ran effortlessly, still having enough energy to look back.

Lu Chang could keep up with his cousin at first, but later as his cousin strode ahead, his strength gradually gave out and he began to pant heavily.

Lu Chang’s small chest heaved, his hand held by his cousin was full of sweat, his footsteps heavy as he slowly fell behind. Lu Chang cried miserably: “Cousin Hua, I can’t run anymore…”

As he spoke, in his panic, he tripped on a stone. The young master fell to the ground, got a mouthful of dirt, and his forehead was even cut by the stone, immediately drawing blood. Luo Yunhua looked back, startled, and quickly ran back to pull him up. Luo Yunhua: “Oh no, get up quickly, they’re catching up…”

Lu Chang was extremely panicked. The Lu family protected their young masters extremely well, and the fourth young master had never seen such frightening things since childhood. If nothing unexpected happened, when he grew up, he would probably have the same pure and calm temperament as his second brother. Now as young master Lu Chang was helped up by his cousin, his legs trembling, he turned to see the pursuing army already before his eyes.

He was so frightened that tears immediately filled his eyes, and he pushed Luo Yunhua: “Go, quickly go! They won’t dare hurt me.”

Luo Yunhua was naturally loyal and refused to abandon him.

But in that brief moment of struggle, the refugees had caught up. The group of adults surrounded the two terrified children, panting heavily while snickering: “Running away? Weren’t you two little brats good at running? Why didn’t you run to the mountaintop?”

Luo Yunhua raised her small face, showing a placating smile: “Brother…”

“Slap!”

A hand was about to come down, the refugee cursing: “Who’s your brother… Ah!”

He let out a scream because the hand he was about to strike with was pierced by an arrow that seemed to appear from nowhere. The arrow went straight through his palm, and this refugee’s hand immediately began bleeding, as he screamed and fell to the ground clutching his hand, crying and rolling around. His voice was shrill: “My hand! My hand… Help, help!”

“Who? Who was it?!” The refugees became panicked when they saw their companion injured, and the crowd was suddenly in chaos as they looked around. Following the startled young lady Luo Yunhua’s upward gaze, they saw the black-clothed youth sitting cross-legged above.

Luo Yunhua’s beautiful eyes lit up as she recognized the youth: “Big brother, it’s you!”

The youth’s crossbow was still aimed at them, not yet withdrawn. Who had shot that arrow was obvious. And this youth was their companion, a refugee like them, but now he had his crossbow pointed at them. The refugees exploded: “Have you gone mad?!”

The youth said: “How curious. The grievance between Lady Chen and Lady Luo, Lady Chen herself hasn’t done anything, yet you use her name to bully uninvolved people. Lady Luo left Jianye several days ago! You didn’t block carriages when she was here, but you come after she’s gone.”

The youth sitting above glanced down haughtily: “Bullying children, huh.”

The refugees’ faces reddened: “This was everyone’s idea! Your elder brother agreed too, aren’t you afraid of being held accountable when you return?”

Their “elder brother” referred to the middle-aged man who was with the youth.

Luo Yunhua’s bright eyes flickered as she caught the key information in their conversation: How was this related to her sister and Sister Chen? Wasn’t this just refugees surrounding a carriage?

Above them, the youth stood up, extending his arm to point at the two children. With his youthful stature, slim and straight, when he stood up no longer pretending to be a beggar, how magnificent and fierce he was. The youth’s expression was calm: “These two, I’m protecting them, you can’t touch them. Even if my elder brother is unhappy, he’ll only scold me when we return, it has nothing to do with you.”

It would just be some beating and scolding at most, anyway, the conflict between the Chen and Lu families had already been stirred up, that damned man wouldn’t be too angry.

The refugees hesitated at his words.

The youth beckoned lazily to Lu Chang and Luo Yunhua who were surrounded below: “You two, why aren’t you following?”

He jumped down from above, leaping several zhang like a black hawk, fierce and imposing. Such skill showed his high level of martial arts, inspiring fear and awe. The youth merely glanced at the crowd before turning to leave. The two children surrounded below were startled, and seeing that the refugees weren’t stopping them, Luo Yunhua took Lu Chang’s hand and hurried after the departing youth.

Behind them, the crowd of refugees stared woodenly, none daring to chase. Their companion’s screams still echoed, and they dared not provoke this youth.

The youth walked ahead, with Luo Yunhua and Lu Chang following. Luo Yunhua stared at his back, hesitating for a moment, her heart full of doubts, not daring to speak. After walking for a while, the Lu family guards found them, and Lu Chang let out a sigh of relief, his tense spine finally daring to relax.

Young master Lu Chang shyly put on adult airs, cupping his hands and smiling at their lifesaver: “Many thanks for saving our lives, hero. Would you please come back to the Lu residence with me? The Lu family will surely reward you.”

The youth ignored him, only lowering his gaze to stare at Luo Yunhua: “Are you alright?”

Luo Yunhua was stunned, then dazedly shook her head.

After hesitating, Luo Yunhua said softly: “Refugees are so frightening… I should have listened to my sister, I’m afraid to help people randomly now.”

The youth said coolly: “With me protecting you, no refugees in Jianye will dare bother you anymore. Do whatever you like.”

Luo Yunhua was surprised, then looking at the youth’s handsome, deep features, she smiled, showing her teeth: “So big brother is so powerful! Thank you, big brother!”

Besides Luo Yunhua, there was also the puzzled Lu Chang and all the Lu family guards were watching him with vigilant eyes. The youth didn’t want to say anything else; after all, everyone would know about the conflict between the Chen and Lu families after today, and he didn’t need to belabor the point. The youth made no response as the two children returned to their guards, then with a leap, he crossed nearly ten zhang and jumped to higher ground.

Standing among the trees, he was about to disappear in an instant.

Luo Yunhua suddenly released Lu Chang’s small hand, running forward two steps and shouting: “Big brother, big brother, what’s your name? How can I see you again?”

After a long moment, the youth’s voice drifted through the air, already distant: “Just call me ‘Zihan’.”

But as for how to see him, he didn’t say. He was now with Chen Xiu; if he wanted to be seen, it would be easy; if he didn’t, that would be easy too.

The forest wind whistled, and autumn maple leaves spiraled down like rain. Luo Yunhua stood amid heaven and earth, standing still for a long while, making sure he had truly gone far. Disappointment showed in her eyes as she sighed, but she rolled the big brother’s name around in her mouth. Luo Yunhua smiled to herself again: “Then I’ll call you ‘Brother Zihan’.”

The young lady, who had always been well-protected by her sister, felt drawn to such a tall and mighty male whose strength far exceeded her own. She admired such great power, wanting to possess such strength herself. Luo Yunhua’s initial attraction to the strange big brother wasn’t from the copper coins he had thrown before but from this moment.

The changes of fate were also quietly occurring here.

If Luo Lingyu were in Jianye, she wouldn’t have allowed Luo Yunhua and Lu Chang to go out like this to help refugees. With Luo Lingyu watching, the young lady Luo would never have encountered today’s events and would never have become entangled with this youth again. But Luo Lingyu was not in Jianye at this time.

When Lu Xian, the second young master, first woke up from falling into the water, when Lu Xian and Luo Lingyu discussed his dream, the trajectories of the dream and reality merged and separated, and specific details had already begun to change subtly. These changes were extremely small, and no one could recognize them now. Only by observing the entire situation could one glimpse the tip of the iceberg.

Luo Lingyu was now in Yingchuan.

Traveling with the army, though the marching speed wasn’t fast, for a lady like Luo Lingyu who rarely traveled far and spent all day confined in a carriage, the journey from Jianye to Yingchuan was much more arduous than her previous journey from Nanyang to Jianye. She wasn’t very familiar with the Prince of Hengyang, Liu Mu, and as he was in a hurry to travel, the two remained strangers.

The lady hid in her carriage, full of worries, while the young lord rode his horse, looking straight ahead. One was too preoccupied with concerns about her lover’s life and death to try to please another young lord, while the other remembered Lu Xian’s warnings not to make himself unwelcome to Luo Lingyu. Thus, by the time they reached Yingchuan Commandery, Luo Lingyu, and Liu Mu had barely exchanged a few words.

Upon reaching Yingchuan, the new general Liu Mu went to report to the military camp, finally relaxing the nerves he had kept taut throughout the journey. The young prince rubbed his sore neck, emerged from the camp’s fence, and saw the delicate lady descending from the ox cart. With only the maid Lingyu attending her, weary from days of travel, melancholy undiminished in her features, Lady Luo stepped down from the carriage, her slender figure as enchanting as a celestial maiden, her beauty striking the heart like a passing swan.

Liu Mu’s heart suddenly jumped, an indescribable strange feeling leaping into his heart.

Just like the floating, uncertain feeling he had many times when looking at Luo Lingyu.

Luo Lingyu turned her face to look at him questioningly.

The lady’s water-like eyes were clear and rippling, the light in them pure and straightforward, obviously her feelings were different from his.

After a pause, Liu Mu walked over: “Does Lady Luo want to settle in Yingchuan for a few days, or…”

Luo Lingyu replied politely: “I dare not trouble you, Prince. My home is in Nanyang, and my Third Cousin is also in Nanyang. We’re already very close to home, with such a short distance and time, my heart yearns to return, I don’t wish to delay.”

Liu Mu was silent for a moment before saying: “Hmm… then I’ll escort you to Nanyang.”

Luo Lingyu was delighted inwardly; she had feared that after reaching Yingchuan, Liu Mu would just hand her over to his attendants to escort her to Nanyang. For such a beautiful lady, being escorted by attendants wasn’t as safe as being personally escorted by Liu Mu. However, when Liu Mu said this, Luo Lingyu still put on a modest act: “Prince is busy with countless matters, is this appropriate?”

Liu Mu didn’t appreciate the lady’s affected, coy mood at all. The young prince had always been decisive and autonomous; once he made a decision, he gave her no chance to act further: “It’s decided then.”

Luo Lingyu held her breath, unable to go up or down: …this person, how dull.

He wouldn’t let her fully display her talents.

Liu Mu brought several dozen attendants to escort Luo Lingyu to Nanyang. Yingchuan wasn’t far from Nanyang, and they weren’t in a hurry. When night fell, as Liu Mu sat on his horse lost in thought gazing at the green stream among the flat hills, Luo Lingyu happened to see him when she lifted her curtain, and smiled, asking them to stop: “Prince, shall we have grilled fish tonight?”

Liu Mu hesitated for a moment.

He asked his attendants, then shook his head: “If we stop, we’ll be delayed getting to the post station, and there won’t be any lodging for the night.”

Luo Lingyu still smiled warmly: “That’s alright. Does the Prince mind staying in the wilderness? Though I’ve never experienced it, I’ve always yearned for it.”

Liu Mu looked at her: “…Do you want to?”

Luo Lingyu nodded.

This prince, who usually had gloomy features and rarely smiled, now showed a hint of warmth in his eyes. He jumped down from his horse, voluntarily walking toward Luo Lingyu’s liking: “If you like it, then it’s good.”

Luo Lingyu’s eyes flickered, internally letting out a light laugh: Hmph, what do you mean if I like it, clearly he’s the one who likes it. She was just good at reading people’s expressions and going along with them.

Among all the young lords in the world, except for someone as difficult to talk to as Lu Yun, Luo Lingyu could handle the rest easily. With Liu Mu, Luo Lingyu found her confidence and immediately smiled even more sincerely and sweetly.

The lady was so charming and alluring.

Her eyes sparkled, radiant and rippling, making people mesmerized.

Secretly averting their gaze in defeat.

In the dark hills and forests, trees above, clear stream below. At night, the attendants set up tents by the stream, and from the flat hill above came the melancholy sound of a xun. Luo Lingyu stood behind the young prince, originally just planning to chat with Liu Mu. When she heard the xun’s sound, she looked over in surprise, her eyes flashing with traces of confusion and bewilderment.

Liu Mu sat on the ground, eyes lowered as he played the Xun. The youth’s fingers were long and slender, his silhouette as cold as ice and snow.

The ancient sound of the xun lingered between heaven and earth, carrying an indescribable sadness and resentment. Heavy thoughts that couldn’t be resolved, his royal brother’s killing intent in the capital, his mother’s indifference… In the quiet of the night, Liu Mu’s heart was full of melancholy and desolation, with no way to release it.

When the melody ended, the youth turned his face and saw the gentleness in Luo Lingyu’s eyes.

His heart moved violently.

But then he heard Luo Lingyu say: “My Third Cousin… is also skilled at playing the xun.”

Liu Mu pressed his lips together.

Luo Lingyu embarrassedly withdrew her expression: “I almost thought he was the only one in the world who could… I’ve made Your Highness laugh at me.”

Liu Mu remained silent. He had always heard about the Luo lady’s love from Lu Xian. Lu Xian had spoken of it so much that although Liu Mu and Luo Lingyu weren’t close, Liu Mu was extremely familiar with Luo Lingyu’s feelings. He knew who she liked, knew who she had difficulty with, and knew that her journey to Nanyang was to seek Third Young Master Lu.

Seeking her love across a thousand li, how touching.

Liu Mu had nothing to say, so he simply picked up the xun and played another melody. Luo Lingyu let out a soft sigh, sat down beside him, and quietly listened with her chin in her hand. As the xun’s sound lingered between heaven and earth this time, they vaguely heard the sound of horses. When the horses stopped, Luo Lingyu seemed to see flickering firelight below in her daze.

Perhaps her mind was confused, in her hazy state, with the xun’s sound floating between heaven and earth, she saw a young lord slowly walking up from below.

Different from his usual elegant and fashionable silk clothes.

He wore a warrior’s robe that emphasized his tall, slim figure, and his graceful manner as he walked was like flowing water, truly the bearing of a noble family’s son in black robes, the same as in her memory. He was truly beautiful and passionate, yet with a touch of cold refinement… Liu Mu stopped playing the xun and called out in surprise: “Third Young Master Lu.”

Luo Lingyu stared wide-eyed.

Watching as his features became increasingly clear.

Until he stood three steps before her.

Lu Yun’s peach blossom eyes curved slightly as he said languidly: “Little Sister Lingyu, it’s been a long time.”