"Originally, this was my plan: during the Lantern Festival, Lin Yu Yan falls into the lake, he rescues her, and the two of them make a perfect match. I would graciously step aside and not take what someone else loves," Fengyu mused. "So I intended to find a newly appointed scholar, see if anyone was willing to get engaged to me, and after a year or two, break off the engagement. I can give him plenty of money."
Even if Fengyu were slow-witted, she could feel Xie Xun’s anger, let alone the fact that she was always astute. "Jiang Yang is a two-faced person with no integrity. To be honest, I’ve always been baffled as to why he broke off the engagement. The top scorer in the imperial examination has studied the classics for more than a decade; he ought to know that marrying me would pave a smooth green cloud road for him. Why would he willingly cut off his own future? His low character aside, if he feared your influence, he should have honestly explained to my family before calling off the engagement, played the victim, and sought help. It wasn’t until the Lantern Festival, when he quarreled with Lin Yu Yan by the lake, that I understood the reason—he indeed climbed up the social ladder. It wasn’t my imagination. And then he still had the audacity to come asking for reconciliation; what a shameless person."
"He sought reconciliation?" Xie Xun fixated on that point, narrowing his eyes. "When did this happen?"
"The end of last year!" Fengyu replied. "But this isn’t the main issue. The Second Prince and my elder sister have some murky unresolved matters, and we still don’t know how it will end. If the Second Prince wants to take my elder sister as a consort, then the Marchioness is bound to intervene. As for the Third Prince and me, if your family intervenes, it would indeed be improper. If I get engaged, it will quell his thoughts; that would be the best course."
Fengyu thought over her plan again and felt that getting engaged to a scholar was perfect. She wanted to seek Xie Xun’s approval for it.
Xie Xun walked over to her side and looked down at Fengyu from above. His tall and upright stature practically blocked out the sunlight. Fengyu tilted her head up to look at him, nervously biting her lip, a habitual gesture when anxious. Fengyu’s beauty was stunning—her eyes captivating like a delicate painting, her nose prominent and elegant, her upper lip with a distinct Cupid’s bow, her lower lip plump and luscious, its color like blooming plum blossoms. When she bit her lip and looked at him, she resembled a startled little animal staring at a hunter poised to shoot his bow.
It felt as though he had been stung by a bee—a slight pain mixed with an itch. Deep down, that uncontrollable flame burned ever stronger. "I’ll handle this matter. Why don’t you trust me? Why must you get engaged?"
Fengyu couldn’t quite gauge Xie Xun’s temper or understand why he was suddenly angry. After all, it was just an engagement, not a marriage. "Are you... very angry?"
"In the end, it’s because you don’t trust anyone." Xie Xun sneered faintly, yet found his own anger utterly ridiculous. What had he ever done for the Third Miss?
Had he risked his life for her?
Had he climbed mountains of swords or crossed seas of fire for her?
He had done nothing. So how could he demand her trust?
Reason is reason, but emotions are emotions. While reason discerns right from wrong, emotions drown it entirely.
Outside the pavilion, Qiuxiang and Chunlu were already waiting with tea and snacks. Chunlu, adept at reading people, noticed the tense atmosphere and brought Qiuxiang inside. "Miss, Young Marquis, have some tea to warm yourselves."
Xie Xun flung his sleeve and left. Qiuxiang quickly stepped aside, and once Xie Xun’s figure disappeared into the plum grove, she patted her chest and said, "Young Marquis Xie’s anger is truly frightening!"
Fengyu curved her lips into a smug smile. "No matter how angry he gets, he wouldn’t dare do anything to me."
After all, she was his creditor.
In high spirits, she lowered her head and continued painting.
A quarter of an hour later.
Feng Shu hurried through the plum grove, her brows marked with fury. Upon seeing her, Fengyu immediately stood up, intending to flee. Feng Shu barked harshly, "Fengyu, stay where you are! Move another step, and I’ll break your leg! Qiuxiang, Chunlu, get out!"
Qiuxiang and Chunlu exchanged helpless glances with Fengyu before running outside to ask Xia Zhu, "What’s wrong with the Second Miss?"
"I’m not sure, but the Young Marquis must have said something to her, and now she’s storming over to find the Third Miss."
Qiuxiang cursed angrily, "Young Marquis Xie is too much!"
Fengyu braced herself and turned around, her smile obedient and sweet, as pitiful as could be. But in her heart, she cursed Young Marquis Xie’s ancestors all the way back eighteen generations. How dare he tattle!
Feng Shu suppressed her anger. "While I was out of the capital, aside from what you mentioned in your letters, what else happened? Tell me everything, and don’t hide anything."
From the corner of her eye, Fengyu spotted Young Marquis Xie standing at the edge of the plum grove, watching with a smirk and an air of detachment, clearly taking pleasure in her misfortune. Fengyu gritted her teeth. Pay back the money! He must pay it all! This grudge was set in stone.
Fengyu said, "At the palace banquet at the end of last year, the Crown Princess Consort summoned me to the palace. Someone schemed to ruin my reputation by setting me up to lose my innocence to the Third Prince. Xie Xun and the Noble Consort saved me and helped cover up the matter. The palace still doesn’t know, but the Third Prince remembers that night. When we met at the Lantern Festival, he said he wanted to take me as a consort. I just discussed getting engaged with Xie Xun to extinguish the Third Prince’s hopes."
"Did he harm you?" Feng Shu’s fury softened, replaced by concern.
Fengyu shook her head. "Young Marquis Xie arrived in time."
"Why didn’t you say anything last night?" Feng Shu hadn’t expected to hear of her sister being subjected to such humiliation from third parties. She had thought the scandal of the coming-of-age ceremony and Lin Yu Yan’s scheming was distressing enough; she didn’t imagine there was also a palace banquet debacle.
"You had only just returned, and on top of that, our eldest sister has her own troubles. I was afraid you’d be overwhelmed with worry, so I planned to wait a bit before telling you."
"You didn’t say anything to me, but you speak openly to Young Marquis Xie about everything, even about wanting to get engaged. What were you thinking?" Feng Shu, frustrated, wished she had a cane but refrained since they were in the Marquis Mansion, making it inconvenient to discipline her.
"All of these matters were related to him, so I mentioned them casually," Fengyu defended herself. "It wasn’t deliberate. How could he be ? Going so far as to tattle."
Fengyu, fuming, made a small "villain" gesture in the direction of Xie Xun. Xie Xun chuckled, thinking, "Finally, someone who can keep her in check."
"The Yuwen family, those scoundrels, are fixated on targeting our family’s girls," Feng Shu said, her expression darkening with disdain. "Don’t be afraid. This matter hasn’t reached a dead end yet. As for getting engaged, don’t even think about it."
"Understood!" Fengyu still felt that an engagement was the best solution, but Feng Shu was adamant about not letting Fengyu get involved with someone as foul as Jiang Yang, even nominally, which disgusted her.
"Sister, I just don’t want to burden you, and I don’t want you to have to plead with the Marquis Mansion over my affairs before even marrying in," Fengyu said with reddened eyes. "It’s all Ayu’s fault for being schemed against and causing you so much worry. Sister, you can punish me."
"..." Feng Shu’s anger extinguished by her sister’s tears. Fengyu always knew exactly how to deal with her—crying was always effective. "In the future, let me know immediately about things ."
"I will!" Fengyu wiped her tears with a pitiful expression but cast a resentful glance in Xie Xun’s direction, only to see his figure disappearing into the peach blossom grove.
In the year Emperor Jianming ascended the throne, Fengyu had been abducted, leaving a lasting scar on her sister’s heart. If she hid things from her sister when she got into trouble, it would undoubtedly hurt her deeply. Fengyu had intended to tell Feng Shu in a few days, but she hadn’t expected Young Marquis Xie to go tattling. Putting herself in her sister’s shoes, if she were Feng Shu, she too would be furious and heartbroken.
"This matter won’t require the Marquis Mansion’s involvement. In a few days, I will speak directly to the Third Prince and make everything clear," Feng Shu said softly. "He still owes me a favor."
"What kind of favor?" Fengyu was curious. Ever since Emperor Jianming ascended to the throne, the disparity between the two families had grown like mud and clouds, leaving no further contact. She hadn’t expected her sister to still have ties with the Third Prince.
"It’s a long story." Feng Shu’s eyes drifted to Fengyu’s painting. Unable to hold back, she rubbed her temples, thinking, "Truly no improvement at all." She just couldn’t understand where Fengyu’s blind confidence in her own painting skills came from.