The Pei Family had a seven-storey tower, perfectly suited for leaning on the railing and gazing out at the dazzling nightscape of the grand city.

Yet Pei Ruheng stood at its top with a heart full of melancholy, gathering his sleeves and reciting softly: “Drifting petals float as lightly as a dream—”

Behind him, Chen Baoxiang let out a sound of amazement. “The wind up here is really something fierce.”

He paused slightly and glanced back at her. “Here and there, a solitary figure passes by—”

“Why is there a wooden placard hanging here?”

“In my robe’s fold, the tears of yesterdays remain—”

“My master doesn’t seem to have gone to bed yet.” Chen Baoxiang stood on her tiptoes and craned toward the guest room where Sun Sihuai was staying. “His health really is remarkable for a man his age!”

The high tower fell quiet. Only the wind remained.

Chen Baoxiang was still smiling when she noticed something off. Wait — Great Immortal, why has Young Master Pei’s expression gone dark? He looks like he wants to say something but can’t quite bring himself to.

That’s called hesitation.

Zhang Zhixu wiped a hand over his face, deeply exasperated. He wants to trade verses with you — responding to his lines with your own. And what have you been saying in return?

Responding with verses?

Chen Baoxiang threw up her hands. I can barely read — and you want me to compose poetry? Isn’t that asking the impossible? Great Immortal, you do it — you could certainly match him.

I could, yes.

Zhang Zhixu said without warmth. But if he develops feelings because of it, does that count as your achievement or mine?

Ah, that’s a point.

Chen Baoxiang bowed her head and thought hard, face scrunching up. I’ll do it myself then.

Poetry was a luxury for those with the leisure to cultivate it — something a girl like Chen Baoxiang had never had access to. She racked her brain and came up with nothing to follow his lines. Facing Pei Ruheng’s expectant gaze and running out of options, she gave up entirely and flung herself dramatically against the railing in a sulk.

Pei Ruheng stared at her. Then, after a moment, he actually laughed. “You — I had just started to see you differently, and here you are, back to your true self.”

“I’ve always been like this,” she grumbled. “If you don’t like it, next time bring a girl who knows her poetry up here instead.”

Pei Ruheng raised an eyebrow. He turned away to look at the lights stretching into the distance. A long pause later, he said, vaguely: “In the past, I didn’t like it.”

He left the rest unsaid, but Zhang Zhixu caught it and looked up.

The Pei Ruheng before him looked far more approachable than before. The coldness had left his brow, and the corners of his eyes held just the faintest trace of a smile. He stood in the moonlight and the evening wind — unhurried, graceful — like a length of fresh green jade bamboo.

Zhang Zhixu felt an unusual tremor pass through Chen Baoxiang.

Something seemed to swell in her chest. The blood through her body ran warm. Her head grew light and giddy, as though she had drunk a cup of strong wine.

“You look so lovely,” she murmured to him. “Honestly — not lesser than anyone.”

The second half came out soft and indistinct. Pei Ruheng didn’t catch it clearly, but Zhang Zhixu understood it immediately.

She was comparing Pei Ruheng in this lantern-lit scene to the Zhang Zhixu lying sick in bed?

Chen Baoxiang really was something — greedy for money, and now apparently greedy for beauty too, and illiterate on top of it all, so that every time she tried to pay a compliment she only ever managed to call someone “lovely.”

Her vocabulary was impoverished. Her taste went up and down like a tide.

But wait — she could say whatever she liked, but why was she leaning toward him?

Zhang Zhixu watched as Pei Ruheng’s face filled his entire field of vision. His pupils contracted.

What are you doing?

Great Immortal — a golden opportunity like this, shouldn’t I move quickly to foster the connection between us?

Chen Baoxiang was vibrating with excitement. Look — he didn’t even step back! Can you believe it?!

Is this how you foster a connection?

Zhang Zhixu was utterly taken aback. Registering what Chen Baoxiang was boldly up to, he tried to reason with himself that it didn’t matter — what he wanted was the result. As for the process — it was her body, and naturally hers to do with as she pleased.

The moonlight was soft and full. The lanterns glimmered in the distance. Chen Baoxiang rose on her toes and leaned toward Pei Ruheng’s face, lips pursed toward his cheek.

Pei Ruheng looked somewhat at a loss, his hands gripping the railing tightly — but as Chen Baoxiang had observed, he truly did not move away.

At this rate, Chen Baoxiang would kiss Pei Ruheng within moments. Then the two of them would establish their feelings. Pei Ruheng would promptly go to propose. This was precisely the outcome Zhang Zhixu wanted.

Yet for reasons he could not explain, his hand moved faster than his thoughts — and with a sudden motion, he pushed the other person five feet away.

Pei Ruheng stumbled back several steps and looked at her in bewilderment.

Chen Baoxiang stood frozen in place, arm still outstretched, eyes wide.

Great Immortal?

I didn’t do it on purpose.

Zhang Zhixu was somewhat agitated and tried to reason it through.

It wasn’t that Chen Baoxiang was doing anything wrong — but he was a man. Asking him to kiss another man, regardless of the circumstances — wouldn’t any person instinctively recoil from that?

That was it. Her approach had been too reckless. The problem was hers, not his.

Having settled the matter in his own mind, he spoke again: Don’t lead with your mouth. Do you know nothing about taking things step by step?

Chen Baoxiang blinked in sudden understanding. She went over immediately and caught Pei Ruheng by the sleeve, not saying anything at all — just blushing and swaying gently back and forth.

Pei Ruheng had been somewhat baffled and a little irritated — but one look at that expression, and he found the tips of his own ears going warm: “You really have no decorum to speak of.”

“You knew that from the very first moment you saw me — and you were so harsh about it too.” She tilted her eyes up at him, wide and glistening. “I wanted to stay a little longer in your arms, but I was afraid you’d actually take a swing at me. Look at your hands — so large and alarming.”

And with that, she smoothly took hold of his wrist.

She had no great talents — but when it came to the art of getting close to someone, she had an endless supply of tricks.

Zhang Zhixu observed this with calm detachment. This was Chen Baoxiang’s body; he was merely a lodger within it. As long as he kept the terms of their arrangement clearly in mind, closed his eyes, and made an effort not to be aware of —

Chen Baoxiang ran her hand along the back of Pei Ruheng’s hand, the pads of her fingers tracing carefully over his long knuckles. The fine, subtle warmth of another person’s skin met hers, slightly damp, carrying the faint heat of a living body.

“…”

Zhang Zhixu, expression entirely blank, pulled their hands apart.

“It’s getting late.” He said aloud, with finality. “The wind is strong up here. Let’s head back.”

What?

Chen Baoxiang had no wish to leave — but her own body refused to obey her. Pei Ruheng behind her looked startled. Before either of them had managed to say anything, the distance between them had already widened.

“Great Immortal!” She could neither laugh nor cry. “That one was deliberate — don’t tell me it wasn’t.”

Zhang Zhixu pressed his lips together and said nothing.

He didn’t know what was happening to him. He couldn’t even manage to endure it — the moment the situation moved toward intimacy with Pei Ruheng, every part of him protested without exception.

“Don’t use methods like that to build the connection. Try something more proper.”

Chen Baoxiang was genuinely puzzled. “Does it matter whether a method is proper or not, so long as it works?”

“At least not while things are as they are.”

Right now he was inside her body, and there was clearly no way for this sort of thing to proceed. Once his master found the right medicine and he recovered, she could do whatever she liked — he wouldn’t interfere again.

Yes. That was it. Once he left her, it would all be fine.

Having finally found an explanation that satisfied him, Zhang Zhixu relaxed his brow and let out a breath.

“Once your shoulder heals, I’ll teach you some other approaches — ones far more effective than trying to seduce your way into someone’s heart.”

Any other person, hearing him offer to teach them something, would have been overjoyed. But Chen Baoxiang, strangely, didn’t seem particularly enthusiastic.

“Starting to learn now is far too slow,” she said. “It’s not nearly as simple and direct as the approach I was using. And if I actually succeeded, the Pei Family would have to let me through their doors for the sake of their reputation.”