This was not a metaphor.

Ling Jingshu had genuinely vomited.

It felt as though something was churning relentlessly inside her stomach. Her whole body went rigid and numb and lost all sensation. Yet the fingers Lu Hong had touched throbbed with a burning heat, as though they were being scorched by fire.

Lu Hong was also thoroughly alarmed by Ling Jingshu’s violent reaction, and stood frozen in place, watching helplessly as Ling Jingshu retched with a pained expression on her face.

The body’s reactions are the most direct and honest of all. He had only touched her fingers — and her response had been this extreme… So she had not been speaking without meaning it. She truly, genuinely despised him.

The sound of Ling Jingshu retching startled Bai Yu, who had been standing guard outside the courtyard gate.

Bai Yu hurriedly pushed the gate open. When she saw Ling Jingshu in such a wretched state, retching miserably, she was both stunned and heartbroken. She rushed over and took hold of Ling Jingshu to support her, gently patting her on the back. “Miss, what’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell somewhere?”

When Ling Jingshu finally had nothing left to bring up, the spasms in her stomach at last subsided.

She felt utterly drained, her arms and legs gone weak and soft. She leaned against Bai Yu’s shoulder, her face pale and drawn.

Bai Yu’s voice was already choked with tears. “You were perfectly fine just a moment ago — how did it suddenly come to this? I’ll send someone to inform the Master and Mistress right away, and call for a physician immediately…”

“Do not alarm anyone.” Ling Jingshu’s voice was faint and without energy, yet her insistence was unwavering. “Help me inside. I will be fine after I rest for a little while.”

Bai Yu could not sway Ling Jingshu’s resolve, and had no choice but to comply with a reluctant sound of agreement. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of Lu Hong’s rigid, stricken, pained face, and felt an even greater sense of bewilderment in her heart.

What on earth had just happened? Why had the Young Miss suddenly vomited like that?

“The Young Miss is feeling unwell — I will help her inside to rest first. I’m afraid I cannot see the young cousin-master out.” Bai Yu’s wording was extremely tactful, but the implication was unmistakably clear.

Yes — it was time for him to leave.

Lu Hong wanted to open his mouth and say farewell to Ling Jingshu, but the moment he looked up and saw how disheveled and weakened she appeared, every word he had intended to say dissolved and he swallowed them back down.

Then he turned and walked away.

He had arrived with a heart full of eager anticipation, his steps light. He departed with a bitterness weighing down his chest, his feet as heavy as if laden with a thousand pounds.

Lu Hong staggered out of Qiushui Pavilion, his spirit utterly lost.

He had barely taken a few steps when he ran into Ling Xiao.

“Cousin Hong,” Ling Xiao said, his ears perked and attentive to the sound of the approaching footsteps, the corners of his lips curving into a clean, relaxed line. “I have been waiting here for you all along. Did you see A’Shu?”

Lu Hong’s expression was stiff and hollow, and he could not manage even a shadow of a smile. He responded only with a low murmur of assent.

Ling Xiao asked with curious urgency: “Did you declare your feelings to her? What was her reaction?”

Lu Hong’s expression darkened, his voice dropping to a low, slightly hoarse pitch. “I was too rash. She has not the slightest regard for me whatsoever…” He could no longer deceive himself into believing that she secretly harbored feelings for him, held back only by the modesty proper to a young lady.

She despised him! Despised him to the point of not wanting to lay eyes on him! Despised him so utterly that when he had only touched her fingers, she had been seized with nausea and vomited.

Thinking of all this, Lu Hong felt as though his heart had been hollowed out — there was nothing left but an empty, aching void.

Ling Xiao could not see Lu Hong, and so did not know that Lu Hong’s eyes were brimming with heartache and desolation, the faintest sheen of moisture beginning to gather in them. Nevertheless, he could hear the trembling and despair in Lu Hong’s voice.

Ling Xiao quietly sighed, and reached out to give Lu Hong a comforting pat on the shoulder. “Cousin Hong, don’t be too downhearted. Perhaps you and A’Shu simply have no fate between you. With your family standing, character, looks, and talent, you will surely find a good match in the future.”

“A good match…” Lu Hong murmured under his breath, letting out a bleak and hollow laugh.

No matter how many lovely and wonderful young women there were in the world, none of them could take the place of Ling Jingshu.

Without her — what good match could there possibly be for him?

Lu Hong’s spirits were so low that he truly had no heart for further conversation. Ling Xiao, equally at a loss for what more to say in comfort, thought for a moment before adding: “Cousin Hong, you are not in a state for company. You had best not go to watch the opera — we don’t want anyone noticing that something is wrong with you. Why not go back to your room for now and sit quietly by yourself for a while.”

Lu Hong gave a murmur of agreement and turned to leave, his steps heavy and labored.

Ling Xiao stood in place for a moment, then walked toward Qiushui Pavilion.

Ling Xiao had been blind for many years, but the pathways of the Ling residence were as familiar to him as the back of his hand — especially the road to Qiushui Pavilion, which he had walked countless times. Every turn was burned into his memory. He had no need of a maid to guide him.

The moment he stepped into the courtyard, Ling Xiao caught a strange smell, along with the soft sounds of rustling and tidying.

Ling Xiao furrowed his brow, just about to call out in inquiry, when Bai Yu’s voice reached him first. “Sixth Young Master, why have you come?”

“Bai Yu, what are you doing?” Ling Xiao answered her question with one of his own. “Where is A’Shu?”

Bai Yu hesitated briefly, then told him the truth. “Just now, the young cousin-master from the Lu family was alone here with the Young Miss talking, and somehow the Young Miss was seized with nausea and vomited. She is resting inside the room now. I am out here cleaning up…”

Before she even finished speaking, Ling Xiao’s expression had already changed. He immediately lifted his foot and made for Ling Jingshu’s bedchamber.

In his agitation and alarm, he had lost his usual composed steadiness, and very nearly missed a step and stumbled.

Jingyu let out a startled cry and rushed forward to take hold of him. “Young Master, be careful!”

Ling Xiao’s slight chest rose and fell in rapid, shallow breaths. He drew in several deep lungfuls of air, steadying himself. “Don’t worry, I’m fine. I need to go in and see A’Shu.”

Jingyu, unwilling to leave his side, followed him step for step. When Ling Xiao pushed open the door and went inside, she stopped at last, and gently pulled the door shut, standing guard outside.

“A’Shu,” Ling Xiao said, feeling his way to the bedside, his face full of anxious urgency. “How are you feeling now?”

The moment Ling Xiao pushed the door open and stepped in, Ling Jingshu had opened her eyes.

Her complexion was still a little wan, drained of color, and her voice carried a faint weakness. “I’m fine. You don’t need to worry.”

“You vomited, and you say you’re fine.” Ling Xiao settled onto the edge of the bed, his face full of remorse and self-reproach. “It is all my fault. I should not have acted so presumptuously and arranged for Cousin Hong to meet with you in private.”

Even as he said this, a sense of puzzlement stirred in him. What exactly had Lu Hong done that had provoked such an extreme reaction in Ling Jingshu?

Ling Jingshu could see the confusion in Ling Xiao’s expression, but she had no desire to elaborate. She skimmed over the substance of it. “I truly am all right. I suddenly felt nauseated just now, so I was sick. I will be better after resting a short while. There’s no need to worry — and please don’t tell anyone what happened today.”

Ling Xiao gave his solemn assurance, then hesitated a moment before asking softly: “A’Shu, do you truly feel nothing at all for Cousin Hong?”

Ling Jingshu answered without a moment’s pause, her tone firm and absolute. “Of course not. If I had any choice in the matter, I would rather never set eyes on him again.”

All she felt for him was a bone-deep hatred and revulsion. In this life, she would never again allow herself any further entanglement with him.

Ling Xiao did not press any further. A’Shu despised Lu Hong and did not wish to see him — then from now on, he would simply do his best to keep Lu Hong from appearing in A’Shu’s presence.

The two of them fell silent, and quiet settled over the room.

Ling Jingshu lowered her head and looked at her fingers. Where Lu Hong had touched them, a strange burning sensation still lingered, making her feel faintly ill and deeply uncomfortable.

Something about that sensation was not quite right…

Ling Jingshu tentatively reached out her hand and clasped Ling Xiao’s hand. His hand was soft and warm — a familiar touch that brought a sense of ease and reassurance. The nausea that had been stirring within her subsided like a tide receding.

Only then did Ling Jingshu quietly let out a breath of relief.

She did not dare to rest for too long. After roughly a quarter of an hour, she and Ling Xiao went together to the area beside the opera stage. The troupe was performing a piece about five daughters paying tribute to a parent’s birthday — lively and skillfully done — and all the guests were watching with great enjoyment. No one had noticed that Ling Jingshu had slipped away and returned.

Only Ling Jingyan smiled and asked: “Where did you go for so long?”

Ling Jingshu answered with an easy air. “I don’t enjoy opera very much. I slipped back to Qiushui Pavilion just now and sneaked in a nap.”

Ling Jingyan had no reason to doubt this and asked nothing further. She took Ling Jingshu’s hand and whispered to her: “Grandmother’s birthday celebration is being held for three full days, and this opera troupe will be performing for three days straight — there will be plenty to enjoy during these days…”

Ling Jingshu listened with only half her attention. The hand that Ling Jingyan was holding felt completely normal — not the slightest strange sensation.

So it seemed that earlier it had simply been because she loathed Lu Hong so deeply that his touch had provoked such an especially intense reaction of revulsion.

At the hour of Shen, the opera troupe finally wrapped up their performance.

The guests who had come to offer birthday congratulations took their leave one by one. The Ling household was once again bustling with the business of seeing everyone off. By the time the last guest had departed, the evening family banquet was just about ready to begin.

The Ling family had been established in Dingzhou for a hundred years, and the clan was vast. The branch residing in this residence was the legitimate main line. The Old Madam of the Ling family held an exceptionally high seniority in the clan, and today was her seventieth birthday — the number of clan members who had come to offer their congratulations was beyond counting.

Though it was called a family banquet, there were still more than a dozen tables’ worth of guests. The men and the female relatives were naturally seated at separate tables.

Lu An swept his gaze around the room but saw no sign of Lu Qian. He knit his brows and called Lu Qian over to ask: “A’Qian, where is A’Hong?”

Lu Qian answered with his head bowed. “I haven’t seen Elder Brother either.”

He did not know what had gotten into Lu Qian these past few days — the boy had been avoiding him entirely. When they did cross paths, Lu Qian never spoke first. He would answer when spoken to, but would not volunteer a single word more. That constant manner of keeping his distance was genuinely irritating.

Lu An’s expression grew displeased. “Go and quietly find him — he must be back before the evening banquet begins.”

Lu Qian assented and promptly went to look.

Watching Lu Qian’s departing figure, Lu An’s mood did not improve much.

Several days had passed since their arrival in Dingzhou. Each day had been spent socializing with a number of brothers-in-law, and no small number of Dingzhou’s officials, large and small, had come to curry favor and seek closer acquaintance. Still, this was the Ling family’s ancestral home, and there were many things one had to hold back on… At banquets, one might at most call in some singing girls to pour wine. As for having a woman to keep him company at night — that was entirely out of the question.

For Lu An, a man who could not go a single day without the company of women, such an existence was no different from austere monastic deprivation. Spending every day looking at the plain and faded face of the Ling woman held not the slightest interest for him.

His mind wandered for a moment — and suddenly the face of an extraordinarily beautiful young woman surfaced unbidden in his thoughts.

Lu An had always had a taste for beautiful, alluring, mature women, and most of the concubines in his household were of that type. He had never imagined that he would find himself drawn to a girl who had not yet come of age…