ATLAS TRANSLATES

Unlike her sister’s bright and clear beauty, Luo Yunhuan is just a nine-year-old girl with a round face, double buns, and a delicate, snow-like appearance.

Early in the morning, the little girl ran to Qing Yuan to stand up for her sister.

Despite being small and not even reaching an adult’s waist, she dared to put her hands on her hips and shout, “I want to see Third Cousin! Sister Lingxi said he pushed my sister into the water, and now she’s sick. Third Cousin has to make up for it!”

The maids surrounded this little “adult,” both amused and helpless as they tried to persuade her, “Our young master hasn’t gotten up yet. He doesn’t know what happened last night. There must be another reason…”

Rushing down the steps, Jin Yue, the personal maid of Third Young Master Lu, hurriedly tied her belt and ran over.

Jin Yue’s eyes fell on a maid hiding behind Luo Yunhuan under the vine-covered trellis in the courtyard.

The maid looked terrified and conflicted, her eyes meeting Jin Yue’s before she took three steps back.

Jin Yue thought to herself, this maid must be Lingxi, the one brought by the young miss.

After arriving at the Lu family, the old madam, seeing the Luo sisters’ poverty, had sent over a personal maid along with a few second-class maids and servants. To please the old madam, Luo Lingyu had directly renamed the maid sent by the old madam and kept her by her side. Her previous personal maid, Lingxi, was then given to her younger sister.

This Lingxi had always been low-profile… Now, being dragged by Luo Yunhuan to Qing Yuan to cause trouble, she was probably scared out of her wits.

Jin Yue smiled at her, “You must be Lingxi, right? I think I saw you once when I went to ‘Xue Su Yuan’ to deliver a painting.”

Lingxi felt uneasy under Jin Yue’s gaze. She stood frozen for a moment before realizing what Jin Yue was implying. With a start, she quickly ran over to Luo Yunhuan and bent down, “Little miss, let’s go back. Your sister will surely scold you if she finds out you’re causing trouble here.”

She whispered, “We’re guests here at the Lu family. How can we afford to offend them…”

Luo Yunhuan snorted, her face turned upward, “Third Cousin pushed my sister, and I want an explanation! Don’t stop me, I’ll talk to Third Cousin myself!”

Luo Yunhuan, “What if I have no manners? Pushing someone and not admitting it. Who’s the one with no manners here?”

Luo Yunhuan, “Third Cousin, Third Cousin!”

Lingxi was at a loss, completely unable to handle her young mistress. The maids in Qing Yuan turned pale at Luo Yunhuan’s shouting, coaxing and begging her not to disturb Third Young Master Lu. Jin Yue was also stunned, not expecting the Luo young miss to be so different from her sister. If Luo Lingyu were here, she would never be so direct…

The commotion in the courtyard couldn’t be hidden. Hearing the sound of the curtain being lifted, Luo Yunhuan’s big, grape-like eyes widened in shock. Jin Yue and the other maids turned to see Lu Yun standing under the curtain, his face stern. The bamboo curtain cast dappled shadows, and his shoes were neatly placed at the entrance. Lu Yun, with his hair loose and barefoot, wore only a loose robe as he stepped out.

Lu Yun’s voice was low and hoarse, slightly weak, “What’s all this noise?”

Without any adornments, his handsome and clear features struck everyone like a sudden impact. Even the maids who were used to seeing Third Young Master Lu, couldn’t help but blush and lower their heads, their hearts pounding.

Luo Yunhuan’s eyes widened.

Jin Yue sighed: …Another girl who had just met him and was instantly captivated by Third Young Master Lu’s charm.

Even though this little girl was so young.

She was about to lead Luo Yunhuan to see Lu Yun when the agile little girl suddenly jumped up from her side and darted toward Third Young Master Lu. Jin Yue and the other maids were shocked, exclaiming, “Little miss!”

Their young master hated people getting too close!

In their memory, the last girl who had rushed at him like this had her arm broken when he pushed her away… Luo Yunhuan was only nine years old.

Watching the little girl flutter like a butterfly toward the handsome young man under the curtain, they couldn’t bear to watch, turning their eyes away…

However, Luo Yunhuan rushed over and grabbed Lu Yun’s sleeve. Lu Yun looked down and, surprisingly, didn’t push her away. Instead, he crouched down, the icy coldness on his face melting away.

Jin Yue and the other maids were dumbfounded.

Luo Yunhuan reached up and touched the young man’s face, examining him from left to right. Y

es, even though he had been disheveled and pale at the time, his face was the same.

She exclaimed joyfully, “Brother, it’s you! My sister and I saved you. Do you remember?”

In Lu Yun’s mind, a little voice sneered: It was you who saved me. Your sister didn’t want to save me at all.

The little girl was kind-hearted. Although Lu Yun had been barely conscious at the time, he had faintly heard the argument between Luo Yunhuan and Luo Lingyu. That woman, who despised the poor and adored the rich, had wanted to throw him into the river to feed the fish. If it hadn’t been for Luo Yunhuan’s insistence on saving him, Lu Yun would have been long gone… After all, he had been stabbed in the abdomen and was seriously injured. If he had stayed in the water any longer, he would have died.

Lu Yun looked at Luo Yunhuan with gentle eyes: This little girl had saved his life.

But he had no desire to mention Luo Lingyu.

Lu Yun changed the subject, “Last night, when I pushed your sister into the water, there was a reason. It wasn’t intentional.”

Luo Yunhuan nodded easily, accepting his explanation. Lu Yun raised an eyebrow in surprise as she smiled, “I believe you! So you’re the big brother. My sister saved you, so you wouldn’t repay her kindness with ingratitude.”

Lu Yun, “…”

Luo Yunhuan asked curiously, “But why didn’t you say hello to us back then and just left suddenly? If you’re Third Cousin, you could have come to the Lu family with me and my sister. We were all going the same way. Your wounds weren’t even healed, yet you sneaked off the boat. My sister was so worried about you that she even cried.”

Lu Yun, “…”

He almost rolled his eyes at Luo Lingyu!

The guilt he had felt last night for pushing her vanished completely upon hearing about her hypocritical performance in front of her little sister. She was worried about him?

Wasn’t it her who forced him to jump off the boat? And she even cried for him in front of Luo Yunhuan?

She was probably afraid that Luo Yunhuan would despise her for her character.

Luo Yunhuan blinked at Lu Yun, completely unaware of what Luo Lingyu had done behind the scenes. With a sister like that… Lu Yun felt nothing but sympathy for the little girl.

Not wanting to badmouth her sister in front of her, Lu Yun casually said, “There were some things I had to take care of, so I left in a hurry. I didn’t have time to say goodbye.”

“It’s okay!” Luo Yunhuan waved her hand with great authority, then puffed out her cheeks, “But why didn’t my sister tell me that Third Cousin is the brother we saved?”

“Third Cousin, doesn’t my sister know?”

Lu Yun looked at the little girl’s shocked expression, a faint smirk tugging at his lips. How could Luo Lingyu recognize him?

She had kept her sleeves raised the entire time, wishing to stay miles away from him. That woman, who despised the poor and adored the rich, was solely focused on marrying well. To her, a man who seemed poor and was being chased was someone she wouldn’t even glance at, afraid he might cling to her.

Lu Yun recognized her because, despite his dislike, he had to admit: Luo Lingyu was excessively beautiful.

As for her not recognizing him, it was simply because she didn’t remember him at all.

Lu Yun said with a half-smile, “Your sister doesn’t recognize me… Perhaps she’s seen too many handsome young men and doesn’t think much of me.”

At his words, the maids in the courtyard were stunned: If even a young master as handsome as Third Young Master Lu wasn’t good enough for the young miss, how high must her standards be?

Lu Yun coaxed the little girl, who only half-understood, “Don’t tell your sister that I’m the one she saved.”

Luo Yunhuan, “Why?”

Then she explained it to herself, “Do you want to surprise her? Are you waiting for the right day to repay her for saving your life?”

Lu Yun’s voice drew out, his smile deepening, “Yes… that’s right.”

But whether it would be a surprise or a shock, he couldn’t guarantee.

Luo Yunhuan frowned, still a bit hesitant. Her parents had passed away when she was just beginning to understand things. Since then, her sister had raised her. Her feelings for her sister ran deeper than those for her parents.

Although she often thought her sister was cold and materialistic, she had never lied to her before…

Lu Yun raised an eyebrow, his gaze sweeping across the courtyard as his sleeve flicked.

He crouched in front of the conflicted little girl, his sleeve falling as he raised his hand. His clean, slender fingers, perfectly proportioned, waved in front of Luo Yunhuan. Then, with a snap of his fingers, a white magnolia flower appeared between his thumb and forefinger.

The magnolia trembled on his fingertip, a dewdrop falling like jade, delicate and on the verge of dropping.

Luo Yunhuan was stunned, her eyes shining, “Wow! How did you do that? Can you do magic?”

She reached out to examine Lu Yun’s sleeve, trying to find where the flower had been hidden. Lu Yun didn’t resist, instead looking down with a smile, “Let’s make a deal. I’ll teach you this trick, and you don’t tell your sister who I am, okay?”

His lowered eyes and captivating expression made Luo Yunhuan pause. She stared at the flower, then looked up at him. After a long moment of frowning, she nodded decisively, “Okay! I won’t tell my sister.”

Lu Yun chuckled softly.

The morning breeze and sunlight gently poured down. He couldn’t wait to see Luo Lingyu’s reaction when she found out about their connection.

—

Although Luo Lingyu had fallen into the water, her strong constitution meant she wasn’t seriously harmed.

When she woke up and learned that her sister had gone to confront Third Young Master Lu, she panicked, afraid that Luo Yunhuan would provoke that unpredictable man.

Anxiously, she climbed out of bed and was about to change clothes to go find her when she saw the little girl running back into the courtyard, looking satisfied.

Through the window, Luo Yunhuan saw her and smiled, “I’m going to study now!”

With Luo Yunhuan’s instructions and Lingxi’s evasive answers, Luo Lingyu couldn’t get any information from them. Since nothing else happened in the following days, she reluctantly put her worries aside. After the Han family’s daughter left, the Wang family’s daughter and other young ladies came to “Xue Su Yuan” and talked with Luo Lingyu for half a day.

“If Madam Lu doesn’t like you, why bother annoying her?”

“Madam Lu has made it clear, but how many others haven’t said anything?”

“If I could leave, I would.”

In the following days, the young ladies staying at the Lu family seemed to have reached an agreement and began to leave one after another.

In no time, the courtyards reserved for the young ladies were all empty, leaving only Luo Lingyu. Luo Lingyu seized this excuse to retreat, staying in her courtyard and claiming she was sick and needed to rest.

She was genuinely recovering, but others would think it was just an excuse.

Luo Lingyu pricked up her ears to listen for the Lu family’s reaction—all the beautiful young ladies had left, and the only one remaining was “recovering from illness.” Even the somewhat muddle-headed old madam sensed something was wrong and called the Lu family’s madam over to ask what was going on.

By now, Madam Lu was filled with regret and could only stammer in response.

Luo Lingyu’s lips curled up: With her little sister being just a child and not counting, she was now the only young lady left in the Lu family.