“Second Brother, your book bag.”
Lin Wanqing hurried over and thrust the book bag into Lin Zhilin’s arms.
She moved so quickly that it was almost as if she were trying to escape from something, yet she still couldn’t help sneaking glances toward Shi Huai from the corner of her eye.
Lin Zhilin took the book bag and looked back and forth between his sister and Shi Huai.
His expression was unpleasant, his lips pressed into a thin line.
“Why did you bring it yourself? You could’ve just had one of the servants deliver it.”
“What if the servants couldn’t find you? You never said where you were.”
Lin Wanqing’s voice had returned to normal, carrying the distinctive impatience a younger sister showed toward her elder brother.
Lin Zhilin’s expression darkened further after being snapped at by his sister.
He glanced at Shi Huai and said, his voice slightly taut, “I need to speak with her.”
Shi Huai nodded and turned away.
His moon-white robe flashed through the bamboo grove before quickly disappearing into its depths.
Lin Wanqing stood where she was, watching his back vanish among the bamboo. Her heart felt as though someone had carved out a piece of it, leaving behind a hollow emptiness.
“What are you looking at? He’s already gone.”
Lin Zhilin’s voice came from beside her, carrying a faint, indescribable bitterness.
He brushed the dust from the book bag and tucked it under his arm. “Do you know how embarrassing you looked just now?”
Lin Wanqing withdrew her gaze and lowered her head, staring at the tips of her shoes.
A grass seed had stuck to the orchid embroidered on her shoe. She bent down and flicked it away.
“I wasn’t looking at anything.”
“Wasn’t looking at anything? Your eyes were practically glued to him, and you still call that nothing?”
Lin Zhilin lowered his voice.
“You’re the legitimate daughter of the Lin family, not some naive girl who’s never seen the world.”
His words brought a sting to Lin Wanqing’s nose, and her eyes reddened slightly.
She drew a deep breath, holding it in her chest for a long while before finally letting it out. Her voice was a little hoarse.
“I was just bringing you your book bag and happened to look at him. So what? Is that against the law?”
Lin Zhilin was momentarily silenced by her retort. He opened his mouth as if to say something, then found himself unable to figure out where to begin.
He sighed and patted her on the head, his gesture full of helplessness.
“All right, all right. Let’s go back. Don’t just stand around here. What would it look like if someone saw you?”
Lin Wanqing lifted her head and glanced at him. Her eyes were still red, her lips pressed into a slight pout.
“Second Brother, do you also think I’m not good enough for him?”
The question stunned Lin Zhilin, and he nearly dropped the book bag in his hand.
Because his first instinct had been to nod.
But he quickly caught himself.
Seeing the warning in his sister’s eyes, he “scolded” her, “What nonsense are you talking about? You’re the legitimate daughter of the Lin family. He’s merely the son of a fallen marquis family… How could he not be good enough for you?”
He had only gotten halfway through the sentence when even he began to feel guilty, and his voice unconsciously lowered.
He thought of Shi Huai’s performance at the Imperial College, and of the unreserved praise the teachers always gave whenever they mentioned him…
Lin Wanqing did not respond. She lowered her head and stared at the tips of her shoes.
The wind in the bamboo grove blew from deep within, carrying the distinctive bitter, clean scent of bamboo leaves.
“Second Brother, do you think Mother’s visit to the Marquis Residence today will succeed?”
Lin Zhilin’s heart tightened at the question. He did not know how to answer.
He knew why their mother had gone to the Yongning Marquis Residence, and he knew why his sister had been tossing and turning, unable to sleep these past few days.
But there was nothing he could do to help.
“I don’t know. We’ll find out when Mother comes back.”
“I’m leaving. Study hard, and stop making Mother worry about you all day.”
Lin Wanqing turned and walked toward the edge of the bamboo grove.
Lin Zhilin stood where he was, watching the direction in which his sister had disappeared, his fingers gripping the strap of the book bag tightly.
For a moment, he didn’t know what he was thinking.
He wanted his sister to get what she wished for, but at the same time, he didn’t want…
Who wouldn’t want to take the bright moon into their arms?
But not everyone was worthy of it.
Meanwhile, the Yongning Marquis Residence was caught in a tense three-against-one situation.
Madam Liu felt that she must not have gotten enough sleep the night before.
Otherwise, how could her mind be such an impenetrable muddle? No matter how she tried to sort things out, she couldn’t make sense of anything.
“Madam Fang, your Ruoyun… she’s thirteen this year, isn’t she?”
Madam Fang smiled with impeccable composure. The gold hairpin in her hair swayed gently with her movements.
“Indeed. She’s thirteen. Her father and I discussed it for several months and decided that we should start looking into marriage prospects early.”
Madam Lin sat to one side, holding her teacup perfectly steadily, though most of the smile at the corners of her lips had already disappeared.
She turned her head to glance at Madam Fang and said in a voice neither loud nor soft, “Madam Fang, you’re certainly in a hurry. Ruoyun is only thirteen, and you’re already so eager to marry her off?”
Madam Fang took a sip of tea and leisurely set down her cup. The golden peonies embroidered along her sleeve gleamed brilliantly in the light.
“What’s wrong with being thirteen? We can find a suitable match first and hold the wedding in a couple of years. That would be just right.”
Madam Shen sat between them, with Madam Lin on her left and Madam Fang on her right, caught between their gazes. Yet the smile on her face remained perfectly unmoved.
She lifted her teacup and said unhurriedly, “My Yuetang is also thirteen this year.”
All three women turned their eyes toward Madam Liu.
Madam Liu felt a chill creep down her back beneath those three gazes.
She twisted the handkerchief in her hands again and again. At last, that muddle in her head finally opened a crack.
Madam Liu’s expression changed.
“You… You all came here to…”
She broke off halfway through, because she realized that her voice was trembling. Her fingers were trembling too, and in fact, her entire body was shaking.
Seeing her like this, Madam Lin’s heart gave a jolt. The first crack finally appeared in the smile on her face.
She set down her teacup, leaned forward slightly, and lowered her voice to a near whisper. “Madam Liu, you didn’t really think I came here to propose marriage on behalf of my second son, did you?”
The color drained completely from Madam Liu’s face.
She opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but it felt as though a wad of cotton had lodged in her throat. She couldn’t force out a single word.
Madam Shen and Madam Fang simultaneously turned to look at Madam Lin. Their eyes held the exact same gleam.
The gleam of people enjoying a good show.
Madam Lin felt stifled by those two gazes, but she did not retreat. Instead, she sat even straighter, her voice steady once more.
“Madam Liu, I’ll be frank with you. I came today on behalf of my Wanqing.”
“Wanqing is fifteen this year, three years older than the Young Marquis. A woman three years older brings a golden brick—that makes them a fine match.”
Madam Shen’s lips twitched slightly when she heard the words “a woman three years older brings a golden brick.”
She lifted her teacup and took a sip. When she set it down, she deliberately let out a light laugh.
“Madam Lin certainly makes it sound nice. If being three years older means bringing a golden brick, then what do you call being two years older? Bringing a silver brick?”
Madam Lin turned to look at Madam Shen, the smile at the corners of her lips utterly unshaken.
“If Madam Shen thinks ‘bringing a silver brick’ sounds better, then by all means, say so. In any case, my Wanqing is a golden brick.”
Madam Fang listened to the two women trading barbs, and the smile on her lips deepened.
She lightly dabbed at the corner of her mouth with her handkerchief and spoke in a voice just loud enough for all three women to hear.
“Golden brick or silver brick, either will do. My Ruoyun is only one year older than the Young Marquis—not gold, not silver. Just right.”
