How could such a person exist in this world?

Playing and enjoying himself along the way, leaving others to burn with anxiety over his life and death.

Thinking of how her mother hadn’t eaten or slept well for those two months, Zhu Weixi thought to herself: How annoying this person is!

Geng Songsheng made his entrance into the capital in this earth-shattering manner and entered the Imperial Academy.

The Imperial Academy had one rest day every ten days. On this day, Geng Songsheng would come to the Zhu household, staying until after dinner before leaving.

Zhu Weixi gradually grew familiar with him this way.

Besides the three monthly rest days, the Imperial Academy also had two long holidays each year—one was the “Field Holiday” in May, the other the “Clothing Holiday” in September.

Both holidays lasted a month.

Logically, this month should have allowed Geng Songsheng to return to Luoyang to visit his parents and elders.

But he didn’t go back. Instead, carrying his travel pack with his personal servant, he would go sightseeing.

Each time, a fair-skinned scholar would set out, and a sun-darkened fellow would return, looking like a wild man.

Then he would boast to the Zhu family about where he’d been, what scenery he’d seen, what interesting people he’d met on the road, what strange and unusual things he’d encountered.

Zhu Weixi not only found him annoying but also too talkative and full of himself.

What was so wonderful about those outdoor scenes? Besides wind and sun exposure, the food and sleep were poor. A proper gentleman of a great family should stay home and study—that was the right thing to do.

But gradually, Zhu Weixi’s heart began to feel unsettled.

She was a young lady of a great family. Apart from viewing lanterns on the fifteenth of the first month, tomb-sweeping at Qingming, and climbing heights on the ninth of September, she had to stay obediently at home all other days.

No matter how much Father doted on her, at most he would bring her some novel trinkets from outside to play with.

Did that mean she would never see the sunrise over Mount Hua in her lifetime? The magnificence of Hukou Waterfall? The Bodhisattva of Mount Wutai and the majesty of the Great Wall?

Did that mean her entire life would consist only of finding a suitable man to marry, bearing and raising children after marriage, serving her in-laws, and managing the household?

The only advantage of youth is audacity.

That winter, after the winter solstice, the Zhu family went to stay at their hot spring villa in the northern suburbs for a few days. Geng Songsheng came along too.

After the family finished their hot pot meal, everyone returned to their rooms.

Taking advantage of the darkness, she deliberately edged up to Geng Songsheng. “Cousin, next time take me along to see the world outside.”

Geng Songsheng gave her a mischievous smile and said if she really wanted to see it, he would take her to see something wonderful at the hour of zi tonight—it just depended on whether she dared.

For a proper young lady, not only was going out at night forbidden, even having such a thought was sinful.

But possessed by some strange impulse, Zhu Weixi bit her teeth and said, “I dare!”

At the hour of zi, after Chuntao fell asleep, she secretly slipped to the villa entrance.

In the darkness, Geng Songsheng crooked his finger at her and smiled wickedly. “Little cousin, keep up.”

On the day of the winter solstice, the capital had received a heavy snowfall. Her sheepskin boots sank deep with each step, and before long they were soaked through.

After finishing the small path, they began climbing a mountain trail.

This young lady who never went anywhere except by sedan chair or carriage couldn’t climb more than a few steps before she felt like she was dying of exhaustion.

He paid no attention to her at all, just kept climbing upward rapidly on his own, occasionally turning back to mock her.

“With your stamina, you want to see the world outside?”

“Didn’t you eat dinner?”

“You girls are so much trouble!”

“Don’t expect me to help you. Hurry up!”

By this point, Zhu Weixi regretted it to her core, thinking: What possessed me to do this?

A young girl’s pride couldn’t bear being looked down upon.

Even though her legs felt like they were filled with lead, even though she was gasping so hard her lungs felt like they would burst out, even though she was so exhausted she felt like dying, Zhu Weixi still climbed to the mountaintop while crying.

At the summit, they still had to descend.

The descent was even more slippery and difficult. Zhu Weixi fell hard twice, covering herself in mud, and he didn’t even come to help her up once.

At this point, she couldn’t take it anymore and was about to burst into loud wails.

Suddenly, the clouds parted and fog cleared, and a bright moon rose into the sky.

Under the silvery moonlight, a clear pool appeared before her eyes. The moon reflected in the pool, with snowy mountains behind it, stretching hazily into the distance.

Around the clear pool, various strange rocks jutted out, still bearing unmelted white snow…

Zhu Weixi was stunned.

What heavenly place was this?

So beautiful.

So beautiful that…

She burst into loud sobs.

He was startled, flustered for a moment, then somehow produced two roasted sweet potatoes from somewhere and shoved one into her hands.

“Try it, it’s really fragrant.”

Zhu Weixi really wanted to smash the sweet potato in his face, thinking: I’m crying like this and you still have the mind to eat?

But she couldn’t bear to waste it—she really was hungry.

He had hidden this sweet potato in his clothing, and it was still warm. One bite revealed it was fragrant and sweet.

“I discovered this place last year. Of all four seasons, winter is the most beautiful. If you could come during the day, you’d cry even more—in sunlight it’s just like a fairyland.”

“It’s beautiful, but it’s too far and requires mountain climbing.”

“Zhu Weixi, the more beautiful the scenery, the more you have to trek through mountains and wade through water. You…”

He shook his head. “From now on, just stay home obediently. Don’t make yourself miserable.”

What “from now on”?

Once back at the Zhu residence, it would be four walls again. She could only be unrestrained this once.

Thinking of this, her tears flowed again.

“Why are you crying again? I didn’t provoke you!”

“If only I’d been born a man.”

“What’s so good about being a man? Reading and studying would exhaust you to death.”

“You’re blessed but don’t know it.”

Zhu Weixi wiped her tears. “Forget it, there’s no talking sense with you. You don’t understand.”

He looked at her, silent for a long moment. “Fine, from now on wherever I go, I’ll bring you back something good from that place. It’ll be like you went too.”

“Really?”

“Would I lie!”

He grinned broadly. “On the condition that you get your mother to stop managing me so much.”

Because of those three months, Mother had been thoroughly frightened and managed him strictly. If he didn’t come to the Zhu household on rest days, Mother would personally go to the Imperial Academy to fetch him.

She looked at his handsome profile, and her heart skipped a beat. “Who wants to manage you!”

…

Back in the capital, life went on as usual. She continued being the eldest daughter of the Zhu family, and he continued running off whenever he could.

The only difference was that he kept his promise—wherever he went, he would bring something back for her.

At first, it was very perfunctory.

A pebble from a lake, a withered yellow leaf, a handful of red earth…

But later it changed.

A bracelet made by mountain people, shells salvaged from a lake, a captured wild rabbit, an injured bird found by the roadside…

He never said anything;

She never said anything either.

But when their eyes met, he would smile, she would smile too—a tacit understanding hidden in each other’s hearts.

Until one Mid-Autumn Festival, when he took advantage of the darkness to secretly slip her a wooden hairpin, subtly making everything clear.

“That year, I was fourteen, just coming of age.”

Young Master Pei thought to himself: I surrender. If I secretly tell Elder Brother Xie about this, it would probably kill him with anger.

“What happened after that?”

Yan Sanhe asked, “What else happened?”

If a woman had a beloved and that beloved also loved her, then the expression in her eyes and brows would be different from before.

“Later, my second sister discovered our relationship and secretly told Mother. Mother was furious and wanted to beat me, but Father stopped her.”

Yan Sanhe frowned. “What’s your second sister’s name?”

Zhu Weixi lifted her chin and coldly uttered three words.

“Zhu Weijin.”