Among the young ladies visiting the Lu family, Luo Lingyu, who came from the poorest background, was still a daughter of a fallen noble family. The other visiting ladies came from families with stronger influence.
There was a natural barrier between the nobility and the commoners, and maintaining long-term relationships among the nobility required constant effort.
The most common way to maintain these relationships was through arranged marriages within the same social class. Nobles did not marry commoners, and they did not marry outside their class.
Now that the young men of the Lu family were of marriageable age, the visiting ladies were brought to the Lu family with marriage in mind…
Unexpectedly, Madam Lu, who was used to being proud and aloof, accidentally offended many while trying to discipline Luo Lingyu.
Madam Lu deeply regretted her actions.
Since things had come to this, she could only try her best to make amends. The elderly Madam Lu sighed, “It’s all because our family only has sons and no daughters…”
Madam Lu’s slip of the tongue was not serious enough to warrant sending gifts or making a formal apology, but it was also not so minor that it could be ignored.
In such a situation, all that was needed was for the family’s daughters to go out more and socialize. During casual gatherings, the misunderstanding could be cleared up naturally.
However, the Lu family had an abundance of men and a lack of women… It was not appropriate for the young men to go into the women’s circles to explain such a trivial matter, was it?
Madam Lu lamented, “If only my daughter Qingyi were still at home.”
Lu Qingyi was the eldest daughter of the Lu family, but she had already married and moved to Hanzhong. Distant water could not quench a nearby thirst.
The elderly Madam Lu thought of her granddaughter, whom she had not seen for years, and her expression darkened. Since she had only called for Madam Lu, the other sisters-in-law had not come. The only people in the room besides the elderly Madam Lu and Madam Lu were Lu Ying, the elderly Madam Lu’s beloved daughter, who had returned to her mother’s home with her son after her husband’s death.
Seeing the two of them sighing, Lu Ying coughed and said, “Lingyu is still here.”
The elderly Madam Lu’s eyes lit up, and she smiled, “That’s right, I almost forgot about Miss Luo.”
Luo Lingyu paid her respects every morning and evening, and she was remembered as a beautiful young lady. However, after that night, she had stopped going out, using her illness as an excuse. She was probably also hurt by Madam Lu’s actions… Thinking of this, the elderly Madam Lu glared at her daughter-in-law, who had caused the trouble.
Madam Lu Zhang Minglan felt embarrassed and was annoyed at Lu Ying for speaking out of turn and deliberately making her look bad. Even if Lu Ying hadn’t mentioned it, would she have forgotten about Luo Lingyu? Madam Lu glanced at Lu Ying and said in a gentle tone, but with a hint of disdain, “Since Miss Luo came to our family, I have never seen you, her aunt, show any concern for her.”
“You go out every day to enjoy the scenery, why don’t you remember to take your niece out to meet people?”
“Unless something unexpected happens, your niece will be staying with us for a long time. The social circle is small, and it won’t do if she doesn’t know anyone in Jianye.”
Lu Ying: “…”
Once again, Madam Lu mocked her for being neglectful, and Lu Ying’s face turned red with embarrassment. But she immediately defended herself, “How can I, a woman like me, hang out with a young lady? The people I meet daily are not suitable for her to meet. She needs to play with girls her own age… But where are the girls her age in our family? The beautiful flowers have all been driven away by you, and you’re not happy with the young men either…”
The conversation circled back to the beginning, and Madam Lu’s face turned ashen.
The elderly Madam Lu watched the two of them bickering and felt a headache coming on. She banged her cane three times, silencing them, and angrily said, “Stop arguing! Can’t you come up with a solution? What should we do? You two discuss it.”
After a long while, Lu Ying casually said, “What’s the big deal? I have a polo match in a couple of days. I promised to take Lingyu before. I’ll just shamelessly take her and have my friends bring their daughters to meet her. With Lingyu’s talents, at the very least, she won’t offend everyone like someone did.”
Madam Lu was once again indirectly mocked, and her already stern expression became even more rigid.
Having found a solution, Lu Ying immediately played the role of the caring aunt.
After leaving the elderly Madam Lu’s courtyard, she went to the “Snow Trace Courtyard” to visit Luo Lingyu, who was recuperating from her illness.
When her aunt arrived, Luo Lingyu was both flustered and respectful, preparing to welcome her. Lu Ying’s sudden enthusiasm was both surprising and not surprising to Luo Lingyu—surprising because her aunt had never cared for her before, and not surprising because she was the only visiting lady left in the family, and the Lu family had no choice but to pay attention to her.
However, when Lu Ying enthusiastically invited her to play polo, Luo Lingyu’s polite smile froze: Polo? She, she, she couldn’t do it. Not only polo, but any social activity that required physical exertion was beyond Luo Lingyu’s capabilities.
When an elder spoke, a junior had no right to object.
Lu Ying directly made the decision: “I’ll have someone prepare a set of riding clothes for you. Rest for two days, and then come out with me the day after tomorrow. You’ve been in Jianye for half a month now, it’s time to go out and meet the young ladies from other families.”
It was the same old aunt.
The same old tone.
For a moment, Luo Lingyu was almost in a daze… Back when her parents were alive, and her uncle was still living, and the main branch of the Luo family was still in Ruyang, her aunt had always been this way—ignoring others and only caring about her own comfort.
Many years had passed, and her aunt still didn’t remember that she wasn’t good at sports.
After Lu Ying finished speaking, she glanced at her niece and saw Luo Lingyu smiling slightly. Thinking that her niece was pleased, she happily said, “Then it’s settled.”
Luo Lingyu was stunned: “…Huh?”
How was it settled?!
But Lu Ying had already completely ignored her and called for the maid Lingyu to come in and have someone take measurements for the riding clothes. Lu Ying had already started making arrangements for the so-called polo match. In the face of her domineering aunt, Luo Lingyu felt depressed and tried several times to find an opportunity to refuse, but she couldn’t.
The polo match was thus abruptly decided.
As soon as Lu Ying left, Luo Lingyu began to panic. She had been lying in bed due to her fall into the water, and now she was completely unsettled, pacing back and forth by the window. Luo Lingyu turned her head and saw her younger sister Luo Yunhuan squatting by the flower bed in the courtyard, her hands opening and closing, making flowers bloom and disappear in her palms.
Luo Lingyu leaned out of the window and knocked on the wooden railing: “What are you playing with again? It’s time to practice the zither!”
Luo Yunhuan, who had finally seized the opportunity to play while her sister was busy, was caught by her sister. She shivered and stood up with a dejected face. Unexpectedly, Luo Lingyu looked at her hands curiously: “Are you doing magic? How are you doing it?”
The young Luo lady didn’t care for the zither, chess, calligraphy, or painting—she only loved to play. When her sister asked, seeing an opportunity to avoid practicing the zither, the young lady immediately jumped up, her eyes sparkling, and ran over: “It’s a new magic trick I learned! I’ll teach you!”
…
The next day, while Luo Lingyu was still worrying about how to find an excuse to refuse Lu Ying’s polo invitation, the maid Lingyu came in to announce: “Miss, the second and third young masters heard that you were sick and have come together to visit you.”
Lingyu was surprised: “Why did the second and third young masters come together?”
Luo Lingyu was also surprised.
The second young master, Lu Xian, was probably here both on behalf of the other young masters to inquire about her health and on behalf of his mother, Madam Lu, to visit her.
As for the third young master, Lu Yun, his reason for coming was much simpler… He was the one who pushed her into the water.
He hadn’t come to visit her before, and Luo Lingyu had already prepared herself for his indifference. But now Lu Yun had come… This cousin of hers was indeed unpredictable.
Sure enough, after the two young masters took off their shoes outside, they gracefully entered and sat on the couch. Luo Lingyu sat in the host’s seat to welcome them, her gaze subtly drifting over Lu Xian’s face and then glancing at the noble and aloof Lu Yun behind him.
Lu Yun raised an eyebrow and briefly met Luo Lingyu’s gaze when Lu Xian wasn’t looking. His eyes were cold, and his robes fluttered like clouds as he said, “Cousin Luo…”
Luo Lingyu’s face turned red: Ugh… What was he calling her?!
Lu Yun: “Is she not here?”
Luo Lingyu: “Huh?”
After staring at Lu Yun for a while, Luo Lingyu’s face turned red as she realized that Lu Yun was probably not referring to her, but to her younger sister Luo Yunhuan.
She found it strange that her sister was so familiar with her third cousin that he called her “sister.” She and Lu Yun had known each other for half a month, and he still called her “cousin,” just like he called the other visiting ladies… Luo Lingyu hid her envy and deflected, “Yunhua is practicing calligraphy.”
Lu Yun said slowly, “My calligraphy is quite good, I can teach her. Where is she?”
Luo Lingyu: “…”
She was already very jealous.
She pretended not to care and pointed in the direction, watching as Lu Yun actually got up and left.
She snorted inwardly and turned her attention to Lu Xian, who had been holding a teacup and watching the two of them.
The second young master, Lu Xian, was as clear and bright as the moon, and he said, “It seems that my third brother and our cousin have a good relationship.”
Luo Lingyu asked with difficulty: “…Second cousin, where did you get the idea that I have a good relationship with third cousin? Third cousin clearly dislikes me.”
Lu Xian was extremely surprised: “Dislikes you? He likes you.”
Luo Lingyu: “…”
Is second cousin blind?
Lu Xian said gently, “Third brother has never been close to his female cousins. The fact that he talks to you a bit more is already surprising to me.”
His eyes flickered, “Before, when I saw how he acted… I thought he was teasing you, but now it seems that his attitude is different, which says a lot.”
Luo Lingyu leaned forward, wanting to hear more from Lu Xian, but Lu Xian seemed lost in thought and didn’t say anything more. Lu Xian lowered his eyes, and his gaze flickered over his cousin’s beautiful face, feeling a pang of sadness.
Such a beautiful cousin probably had feelings for his third brother, like the other young ladies, right? Otherwise, why would she lean forward like that?
Luo Lingyu noticed the fleeting expression on his face. After a moment of surprise, she asked, “Cousin, why do you keep mentioning third cousin? What about yourself? After that small banquet, your mother hasn’t let you go out… Did you get scolded too? I’m sorry, cousin.”
Lu Xian quickly said, “It’s not like that…”
Luo Lingyu raised her hand and smiled, “Let me show you a magic trick.”
Her clear, lake-like eyes focused on the young man in front of her as her hand emerged from her sleeve, nimbly twisting and turning…
When Lu Yun opened the door and came in, he happened to see Luo Lingyu suddenly produce a magnolia flower in her hand, and she said sincerely to Lu Xian, “Cousin, are you feeling better now?”
The third young master, Lu Yun, felt a wave of suffocation: “…”
Wasn’t that his magic trick?! She was using his magic trick to amuse Lu Xian?!
Leave a Reply