Before she had a chance to turn around, a gust of wind carrying a faint cold fragrance brushed past her nose. Shang Ruyi turned her head and saw a graceful figure approaching leisurely, the distant firelight faintly illuminating a slightly familiar and elegant smile on the face.
"What is the Young Madam singing?"
Shang Ruyi’s eyes widened at once: "Young Master Yang?"
Standing before her was none other than the handsome and elusive Young Master Yang Suyi.
Shang Ruyi asked in surprise, "How come you’re here too?"
"You also accompanied the imperial entourage? But why haven’t I seen you along the way?"
Yang Suyi’s eyes flickered as he smiled and said, "This time, there are tens of thousands accompanying the imperial entourage. The Young Madam hasn’t seen everyone, right?"
Although she had met some noble ladies and young nobles along the way, Shang Ruyi inherently didn’t like the noise. Moreover, given the complicated relationships of the Yuwen Family in court, she didn’t want to cause any trouble due to her presence, so she mostly stayed in the company of Lei Yu and others.
It’s normal not to have seen some.
But Shang Ruyi still cautiously watched the person in front of her. After all, it wasn’t appropriate for a man and woman to be alone together this late at night.
So she stood up straight, planning to exchange a few perfunctory words and then leave.
But before she could speak, she saw Yang Suyi walk over to another flagpole, lean against it, and smile at her: "I just heard the Young Madam seemed to be singing?"
Shang Ruyi said, "You heard wrong."
Yang Suyi smiled faintly: "What was that song about?"
Shang Ruyi did not answer him and was ready to take her leave.
However, Yang Suyi, leaning against the flagpole, looked up at the dazzling Milky Way overhead and slowly said, "If I didn’t hear wrong, the song the Young Madam just sang seems to be about a young girl yearning for her lover who left home, hoping he would return to her soon."
Shang Ruyi halted her steps and looked at him in surprise: "You, you understand Turkic?"
The song she had just been singing unconsciously from memory was a love ballad from the Turkic Tribe, of a young girl missing her lover who had left her. She gazes at the stars, hoping they will illuminate his way home, leading him back to her side soon.
She had been humming it absent-mindedly and did not expect anyone to hear it, let alone that Yang Suyi would understand Turkic.
Yang Suyi smiled and said, "I went to Turkic ten years ago, so naturally, I understand."
Shang Ruyi looked at him in surprise: "Ten years ago? Was it during His Majesty the Emperor’s previous tour of Shuo Bei?"
"Although I wasn’t there, that significant event is known to almost everyone in the Da Ye Dynasty."
"Indeed, I was there, and I had dealings with several ministers of Turkic."
Looking at him, Shang Ruyi’s gaze suddenly became serious.
She realized she might have misjudged Yang Suyi’s age.
Previously, she thought he looked to be in his early twenties, but listening to him now, ten years ago, he had accompanied the imperial entourage to the Northern Border and interacted with Turkic ministers, implying he wasn’t just a child then; he must have been an official, at least in his twenties.
Could the person before her be over thirty years old?
But when she looked again at his gorgeous, still youthful face in the flickering light, it was impossible to guess he could be that age.
Seemingly sensing her gaze, Yang Suyi raised his eyes: "What’s the matter?"
Shang Ruyi immediately averted her gaze: "Nothing."
Yang Suyi watched her for a moment, seeming to understand something, smiled faintly.
He didn’t ask further but continued the previous topic, asking, "It seems the Young Madam understands Turkic too. Do you know what you were singing?"
Shang Ruyi lowered her head and said faintly, "I was just singing something random, it didn’t have any particular significance."
Yang Suyi smiled and said, "But, even if I didn’t understand Turkic, I could hear some sadness in the Young Madam’s singing."
Yang Suyi watched her with a smile and said, "Perhaps, the incident on Mid-Autumn night that saddened the Young Madam, has it still not been resolved?"
"What is it that causes your brows to furrow in worry?"
"Who is it that makes you stand alone beneath the night dew to wait?"
These questions were a bit too intimate. Shang Ruyi wasn’t used to someone being so close or so easily delving into her emotions. Yet, Yang Suyi had a knack for casually exploring and even stirring up others’ feelings wherever he went.
She said faintly, "Didn’t Young Master Yang say before that you don’t like listening to others’ troubles?"
Yang Suyi looked at her for a moment, then suddenly smiled and said, "But the Young Madam’s troubles sound, quite pleasant to hear."
This comment was undeniably frivolous!
Shang Ruyi immediately stood up straight, saying coldly, "I respect you, Young Master, as an acquaintance of my husband, thus treating you with courtesy. However, that remark is too disrespectful!"
With that, she turned and walked away.
But just as she took a few steps, a figure flashed in front of her. Yang Suyi, spreading his arms, blocked her path directly. Shang Ruyi almost bumped into him, quickly stepping back two steps, her voice icy: "Move aside!"
Yang Suyi, being yelled at, a sudden flash of anger appeared on his face.
Yet, seeing the restrained anger on Shang Ruyi’s face from being offended, he seemed conflicted. After contemplating for a moment, he finally softened and said, "Please calm down, Young Madam. I misspoke just now, and I... I apologize to the Young Madam."
Saying this, he bowed slightly to Shang Ruyi.
Though he apologized, clearly he wasn’t accustomed to such gestures. His posture was slightly awkward, and when he bowed, his hand barely dipped. Yet, as he clasped his hands together, a jade ring dangling from his wrist emerged from his sleeve, dangling gently.
Standing before him, Shang Ruyi glared at him, her residual anger unabated.
After a long pause, she finally said, "I don’t know what intentions Young Master Yang had in saying those words, but I hope not to hear such words from you again."
"Though you may be named Suyi, but I, Shang Ruyi, am not a frivolous person."
Yang Suyi was perhaps being reproached for the first time, hesitated for a moment, then said, "Alright, I promise not to disrespect the Young Madam again, and I won’t speak those words again."
Only then did Shang Ruyi finally exhale a breath.
But even so, she didn’t intend to converse with him any further.
Thus, the two of them fell into a shared silence.
However, Yang Suyi stood to the side, seemingly lost in the shock of being reprimanded and apologizing. After a long silence, he looked at Shang Ruyi with a complex expression, murmuring in disbelief, "I actually apologized to someone...?!"