“Oh?” Glancing at Feng Yue’s back, Xu Huaizu also grew serious, his starry eyes fixed intently on Song Ruoci: “Did such things happen?”

“Last time it caused quite a stir in the General’s mansion, with several young ladies present. If you don’t believe me, you can ask any of them,” seeing that he was willing to listen, Song Ruoci became more animated, leaning closer to him and saying with a strange look, “Moreover, I heard she was actually a courtesan, speaking in the most vulgar manner. When you sent her to Prince Yin, did you not check her background at all?”

Xu Huaizu held his forehead: “Ah, I didn’t check.”

“It’s not too late to send her away now.” Song Ruoci shook her head, advising with seeming sincerity: “Though men are fond of beautiful women, some people’s beauty is useless—like an embroidered pillow stuffed with hay. It’s not just women; there are men too who look dignified but lack cultivation. Young masters like you who excel in both appearance and ability, in both civil and martial arts, are quite rare.”

Well, now she’s even praising him? Xu Huaizu smiled and said: “You’re too kind. Miss Song seems to have quite high standards.”

Blushing, Song Ruoci lowered her head: “Young Master jests.”

“Coming from a noble family, it’s natural to have high standards,” he grinned, his smile bright and open: “My standards aren’t low either.”

Song Ruoci paused slightly, looked up at him, and boldly teased: “Then for this humble girl to catch Young Master’s eye, I must have some merit.”

“Mm.” Xu Huaizu nodded: “I’ve always preferred people who speak little but are clever and wise, who don’t gossip behind others’ backs. Those who avoid vulgar affairs and entanglements are much less trouble. Miss Song happens to be exactly the type of person I like, so I believe our marriage will surely be a good match.”

Feng Yue heard this and spat out her melon seeds, coughing a few times.

Song Ruoci was stunned, taking a moment to grasp his meaning. When she finally understood, her entire face flushed red with embarrassment. Unable to remain seated as tears welled up, she rose to leave.

“What’s wrong, Miss Song?” Xu Huaizu asked innocently: “Did I say something wrong?”

Song Ruoci stopped, turned back both angry and confused to ask: “Were Young Master’s words just now sincere?”

“Why wouldn’t they be sincere?” Xu Huaizu smiled genuinely: “Young ladies like you with such refined qualities, kind and gentle, are also rare.”

Though his smile was genuine, his words carried about eighty percent sarcasm. Even Feng Yue standing far away could hear it, let alone Song Ruoci who faced him directly.

Stamping her foot in anger, Song Ruoci felt both wronged and humiliated, turning to run away in tears.

Feng Yue turned back, asking in astonishment: “Young Master Xu, from whom did you learn this skill of cruelly crushing flowers?”

Xu Huaizu smirked, clasping his hands toward the sky: “Thanks to Master’s teachings.”

Feng Yue: “…”

Remembering someone else’s skill at crushing flowers, she shuddered and shook her head: “Miss Song is your betrothed. Aren’t you afraid of being scolded when you return home?”

Growing serious, Xu Huaizu said: “Originally, I wasn’t in a hurry to marry, and even if I were to marry, I couldn’t marry someone like her—too troublesome and talkative. Fortunately, with you here, I could test her character. If we had blindly entered into marriage, it would likely have led to misfortune for both of us.”

Feng Yue suddenly understood: “So you’re saying I’ve made quite a contribution?”

“Yes, let’s go claim credit from Master!” Grinning, Xu Huaizu pulled her toward the main courtyard.

Yin Gezhi was listening to Yi Zhangzhu speak. Yi Zhangzhu had been happily praising Song Ruoci at length, just reaching the part about her being “steady and generous” when they heard a string of sobs approaching from outside.

Looking up in surprise, they saw the supposedly steady Miss Song running in with a tear-stained face, sitting beside Yi Zhangzhu and crying inconsolably.

“What happened?” Yi Zhangzhu was startled: “Who bullied you?”

“Feng… Feng Yue,” her face streaked with tears, Song Ruoci sobbed: “They’re bullying me too much!”

Feng Yue? Yi Zhangzhu’s expression darkened slightly as she turned to look at Yin Gezhi.

Yin Gezhi immediately grew serious, turning to ask Guanzhi: “Where is Feng Yue?”

Guanzhi nodded, about to go look, when Xu Huaizu entered with Feng Yue.

“What did you do?” Yin Gezhi asked displeasedly: “Why is Miss Song crying?”

Feng Yue knelt innocently: “This servant did nothing! Miss Song asked me to step aside, so I stood in the courtyard the whole time without saying a word!”

Xu Huaizu nodded: “This disciple can testify. She truly didn’t say anything.”

Seeing this, Song Ruoci tried to leave again, but Yi Zhangzhu pressed her back down with one hand, frowning at Xu Huaizu: “If not a single word was said, how did she end up crying?”

“I don’t understand why Miss Song is crying,” Xu Huaizu frowned: “I was praising Miss Song for being wise and speaking little, saying she’s a good lady who doesn’t gossip behind others’ backs. I hadn’t even finished my praise when she ran away crying. Miss Song, do you dislike me so much that you deliberately want to embarrass me?”

Who’s embarrassing whom?! Song Ruoci was furious and burst out: “You were mocking me as a gossip who spreads rumors about others, yet you call it praise?!”

“How can Miss Song say such things about herself?” Xu Huaizu frowned: “Even if you did gossip about others, I didn’t mean to look down on you. I sincerely want to get along with you, so I was just trying to say something to make you happy.”

Hearing this, Yi Zhangzhu immediately turned to advise: “Why are you being so sensitive? You’ll soon be family—can’t you even take a joke?”

“How was that a joke?” Song Ruoci was extremely upset, tears streaming down. No one had ever treated her like this before, yet it came from her future husband—she felt terrible just thinking about it.

“That’s enough,” Yi Zhangzhu frowned, lowering her voice: “Didn’t you say earlier that this marriage was precious? Now what, you want to ruin it yourself?”

“But…” Song Ruoci pouted: “He doesn’t like me at all, he seems to despise me…”

“That’s nothing, there’s plenty of time ahead,” Yi Zhangzhu shook her head: “A woman should be gentle and considerate. Whatever a man wants to say, just let him say it. With time, you’re the one who’ll be by his side, and he’ll naturally learn to cherish you.”

The crying subsided, and Song Ruoci looked at Yi Zhangzhu puzzled: “Is that so?”

“Yes,” Yi Zhangzhu said: “Better to destroy a temple than break up a marriage. Since the marriage is set, you should be more accommodating.”

That makes sense, Song Ruoci pressed her lips together, quickly wiping away her tears. Looking up at Xu Huaizu, she said: “Since it was this girl who misunderstood, I apologize to Young Master here.”

Xu Huaizu narrowed his eyes, glanced at Yi Zhangzhu, and smiled: “Miss Yi is truly kind and considerate.”

“Young Master Xu is too kind,” Yi Zhangzhu said with gentle eyes: “You two are destined for each other, so you should get along well.”

“However, Miss Song’s crying earlier has frightened me,” Xu Huaizu sighed: “I feel I’m not worthy of a lady like Miss Song.”

Panicking inside, Song Ruoci quickly said: “I was wrong earlier. Please don’t take it to heart…”

“It’s already in my heart,” patting his chest, Xu Huaizu said painfully: “Even if you marry me in the future, I’m afraid I won’t be able to give you my true heart, and life might not be very pleasant.”

Song Ruoci grew anxious, tugging at Yi Zhangzhu’s sleeve, whispering: “I don’t want to marry someone who’ll neglect me.”

“You brought this on yourself, who else can you blame?” Brushing off her hand, Yi Zhangzhu said quietly: “If you want to marry, be more submissive. If you don’t want to marry, I can’t do anything about it.”

Does getting married require enduring so much? Song Ruoci felt stifled, started wiping tears with her handkerchief again, and fell silent with her head lowered.

Feng Yue quietly moved to Yin Gezhi’s side, sighing: “A great master produces excellent disciples.”

“You’re too kind,” Yin Gezhi said without moving his lips, his voice muffled: “It’s all thanks to the master’s proper guidance.”

Is he even proud of it? Feng Yue clicked her tongue, thinking that this man’s thick skin seemed to grow thicker by the day.

However, Yin Gezhi had encountered similar situations and handled them even more brutally than Xu Huaizu.

Back then, countless women wanted to enter Crown Prince Yin’s Eastern Palace as consorts. The Emperor selected carefully, narrowing down the choices again and again, and finally assigned eight secondary consorts to Yin Gezhi. According to palace insider gossip, the Crown Prince stood before the Emperor with a cold smile for a long time, finally accepting the eight secondary consorts on the condition that he could choose his primary consort. Just as the Emperor was about to sigh in relief, planning to praise his son for becoming sensible and understanding his father’s difficulties, Yin Gezhi received battle reports as soon as the eight consorts entered the Eastern Palace. He left for the battlefield without looking back, leaving the eight women who had schemed so hard to reach his side to live as grass widows in the palace.

That was even worse than those sent to the Crown Prince’s bed at night—at least they got one night of spring passion.

After this reflection, Feng Yue continued to look up at Xu Huaizu ahead.

The young master of the Xu family had quite a temper; even seeing someone cry so miserably, he had no intention of saying anything comforting. He simply clasped his hands to Yin Gezhi and said: “Master, didn’t you say you’d show me the highest level of lightness skills at the General’s mansion today?”

Yi Zhangzhu was startled and looked at Yin Gezhi: “What lightness skills?”

Yin Gezhi nodded: “I forgot to tell you. I’m teaching them lightness skills, and there’s no better place for training. Since the General’s mansion is well-guarded, I thought to borrow it for use.”

Yi Zhangzhu’s eyes lit up: “Is it the same skill that allows Brother Yin to come and go without a trace? Zhu’er wants to see too.”

“Very well,” Yin Gezhi said: “We’ll use those books still piled in the courtyard. Please inform your guards to watch the surroundings carefully. Later, I will return these books to their original places alone. If I disturb any guard, then my skills are not yet refined enough.”

Feng Yue looked helplessly at the sky—to think of such a method to return books. It was only possible because General Yi wasn’t in the mansion.

Yi Zhangzhu happily agreed: “Then Zhu’er will wander around the mansion to see if I can catch Brother Yin once or twice.”

Xu Huaizu also nodded, clasping his hands: “This disciple will try to keep up with Master.”

“Only if you can keep up,” Yin Gezhi patted the armrest and stood up, his figure like mist, quickly dispersing toward the outside.