ATLAS TRANSLATES

Luo Lingyu was cunning.

After finding out Lu Xian’s usual whereabouts at Kaishan Temple, she found a monk to help her through the back door to ensure she could eavesdrop when Lu Xian spoke with Buddha.

When she overheard Lu Xian’s secrets that shouldn’t be heard by others, she could simply pretend she didn’t know and leave. However, Luo Lingyu noticed that her second cousin had been sighing every day lately. That day when he mentioned dreaming of Lu Yun’s death, his expression was strange and peculiar. This information alone made Luo Lingyu suspect that her second cousin’s worries might be related to Lu Yun.

Lu Yun had already left, yet he still caused his family such anxiety. He truly was trouble.

Going to Kaishan Temple with her sister, they saw Zhou Young Master and other noble ladies helping out.

Luo Lingyu and her sister naturally went over to greet them and introduced her sister to them.

Upon seeing Zhou Young Master, Luo Lingyu wasn’t surprised to see Prince Chen Liu Shu there as well. Luo Lingyu just gave that young noble a meaningful look — Lu Yun’s friend was truly strange, always making time to follow Zhou Young Master wherever he went. He wasn’t even that close with Lu Yun, was he?

When Lady Luo arrived, the busy Lady Chen Xiu snorted and turned away.

Seeing Luo Lingyu approach, Zhou Yangling was particularly delighted.

Due to poor health, after standing in the scorching sun for a while, Zhou Yangling rested in the shade while softly explaining the current situation to Luo Lingyu. It turned out that through Zhou Yangling’s connections, Kaishan Temple was willing to hire some refugees to help with temple work, giving them a place to stay. In this era, large temples held great power and had many enterprises.

Being able to connect with a famous temple like Kaishan in Jianye meant that refugees who fled to Jianye wouldn’t have to worry about starving on the streets. Zhou Yangling and others like Chen Xiu were here today to help Kaishan Temple settle these refugees.

These were all results from Zhou Yangling’s month of hard work. While Zhou Yangling was busy with these matters, Luo Lingyu had merely sat at home managing accounts, running her cosmetics shop, managing finances for Lu Yun, and occasionally giving charity to refugees when she was in a good mood.

Facing Zhou Yangling’s gentle countenance, Luo Lingyu felt ashamed and a sense of being outdone. This feeling was only momentary before Luo Lingyu dismissed it. After all, Zhou Young Master was a man, and their areas of focus were different. She could accept that a man was more capable than her.

With bright eyes, Luo Lingyu was never stingy with praise: “Zhou Young Master’s talents and compassion for others are beyond my reach.”

Though Lady Luo only offered one compliment, Liu Shu felt a surge of pride. Before Zhou Yangling could be modest, the usually quiet Prince Chen softly said: “Zhou Young Master is wonderful.”

Luo Lingyu: “We only know how to distribute porridge, but Zhou Young Master can think of solving the root problem. Zhou Young Master, how are you so impressive?”

Prince Chen became even happier: “…Sister Luo speaks truly.”

Luo Lingyu’s name was truly difficult to pronounce, he had to rehearse it many times in his heart before speaking.

Previously he followed Lu Yun in calling her “Cousin Luo,” now he followed Zhou Yangling in calling her “Sister Luo.”

Meanwhile, Liu Shu thought to himself that Zhou Zibo was better — Zhou Zibo’s name rolled off the tongue, much better than Luo Lingyu. The self-satisfied Liu Shu was truly fickle.

Here we go again.

Zhou Yangling helplessly looked back at Prince Chen: “Your Highness, please stop praising me without reason. I haven’t done much, yet you praise me as if I’m extraordinary.”

Luo Lingyu’s eyelid twitched: these two men, exchanging glances, were strange.

“Zhou Young Master, Sister Luo, Sister Chen… why are you all here?” As they were talking and recording information from the queuing refugees, a joyful female voice called out from afar.

Everyone looked up to see Princess Ningping’s group arriving leisurely behind the crowd of refugees. The young princess Liu Tang, seeing so many people here and hearing their reasons, realized it was such a noble cause. The contrast between noble causes and small personal matters was stark, and Liu Tang’s face slowly turned red as she softly asked: “…Lady Lu invited me to worship Buddha. Why hasn’t she arrived yet?”

This was a naive princess. Lady Lu hadn’t invited her to worship Buddha at all — Lady Lu knew her son would be coming and had tricked Princess Ningping into coming to Kaishan Temple. To create opportunities for the children, Lady Lu had no intention of coming at all.

Luo Lingyu guessed Lady Lu’s thoughts and looked at Liu Tang sympathetically. Such a pure princess would surely be manipulated heavily by her mother-in-law in the future. Meanwhile, little sister Luo Yunhuan, who couldn’t get a word in earlier when the adults were talking, finally jumped in, feeling she had found a kindred spirit — “Princess Sister, I’m Huan’er, we’ve met before!”

That was at the Lu residence.

Liu Tang lowered her head and quickly greeted the beautiful young lady.

However, with Liu Tang here and Lady Lu not showing up, Liu Tang seemed quite lost. Luo Lingyu knew Lady Lu’s purpose was to have Liu Tang meet Lu Xian, but she didn’t reveal this. She just smiled and invited Liu Tang to join them in helping settle the refugees. Lady Luo said leisurely: “Since you have nothing else to do anyway.”

So their group grew by one more person.

Today was truly very lively.

Zhou Yangling and Prince Chen were there, Chen Xiu and several other ladies who had been helping with disaster relief for many days were there, Luo Lingyu brought her sister to help, and the princess was bustling about…

After a while, someone joyfully called out “Sister Luo.”

Luo Lingyu turned her head to see Qi third young master Qi An, whom she hadn’t seen in a long time. Qi An was free today and came to Mount Zhong to play with companions. Unable to find his promised companions halfway, Qi An could only come to Kaishan Temple to wait. To his great surprise, Luo Lingyu, whom Qi An had been yearning for, was also here.

Luo Lingyu gave him a polite smile, and Qi An was immediately entranced, beginning to stutter: “Sister, I- I want to invite you…”

Not good!

Luo Lingyu’s heart skipped a beat, seeing Qi An’s manner suggesting he was about to express his feelings to her. In the past she would have been carried away with delight, but now she had Lu Yun, and Lu Yun was so petty and still misunderstood that she was pregnant. At such a time, there definitely couldn’t be any accidents. So, before the infatuated Qi An could finish speaking, Luo Lingyu gently interrupted him: “How does Third Young Master know your friend will come to Kaishan Temple to find you? Mount Zhong is so big, why not ask the abbot to help find them?”

Luo Lingyu enthusiastically helped Qi An look for his friends, and every time Qi An tried to speak, Luo Lingyu subtly redirected the conversation. Qi An was somewhat slow to react, and it took him a long while to realize this lady didn’t want to hear what he had to say.

Qi An’s eyes dimmed, and as he left with the monk, he looked back at Lady Luo several times — originally he wanted to ask her if she would be willing to be with him if he convinced his family not to take concubines but to marry her instead.

After pacifying Qi An and encouraging the young man to bravely go search for his friends in the mountains, Luo Lingyu returned to the temporary pavilion to continue distributing items to the refugees. Zhou Yangling was feeling unwell again and went to rest, with Prince Chen accompanying him. Luo Lingyu looked on somewhat enviously, feeling a bit jealous. Zhou Young Master had someone to accompany him, while she had to put on airs under the hot sun. She didn’t even know what her Snow Chen brother was doing.

Her Xue Chen brother had never taken care of her like this. In earlier times when he saw her, he usually disapproved of her; later when he saw her, he mostly teased her… In short, he had never stayed by her side to take care of her when she was doing something, like how Prince Chen did with Zhou Young Master. Zhou Young Master was even a man, while she was a lady!

The lady calculated in her heart how she should guide Lu Yun to cherish and love her when she saw him in Nanyang. To change his arrogant, aloof temperament and make him bow his head before her. Making Lu Yun bow his head… Imagining Lu Yun praising her and helping her with tasks, thinking about it delightfully, Luo Lingyu laughed out loud with joy. She loved Lu Yun, loved him so much that thinking of him made her happy and impatient. This was what moved her heart most in the world, besides gold, silver, and power.

However, when she turned around, Luo Lingyu met Lady Chen Xiu’s disgusted gaze.

Luo Lingyu: “…?”

Lady Chen spat quietly and spoke to her with disdain: “Flirting with everyone, fickle as water. How did Lu Xuechen take a liking to you?”

Luo Lingyu: “…What nonsense are you talking about?! Who told you anything about me and Third Cousin?”

She was particularly sensitive to words like “fickle” these days, because Lu Yun had reminded her before leaving “don’t marry other men.” At the same time, she was alert because although outsiders had some suspicions, they shouldn’t be able to confirm her relationship with Lu Yun.

But Chen Xiu was the person who had witnessed their kiss. Even now, thinking of what she saw that night, Chen Xiu felt uncomfortable. Luo Lingyu’s glory made Chen Xiu feel strange to this day. She now thought she should give up on Lu Yun, but seeing Luo Lingyu like this, she couldn’t help but feel indignant on Lu Yun’s behalf — “Zhou Young Master on the left, Qi An on the right. Every young man who has spoken three sentences with you falls head over heels. Hmph, it’s a pity Lu Yun doesn’t know your true nature. If he were here and saw you flirting with Zhou Young Master and Qi An like this, how could he possibly be with you?”

Luo Lingyu found this very interesting: …she was jealous, wasn’t she?

No matter, she could make Chen Xiu even more jealous.

She couldn’t say much about Qi An, but Luo Lingyu was almost certain Zhou Young Master had no feelings for her.

However, Luo Lingyu maintained her composure and just lowered her head. Seeing her not make a sound, Chen Xiu felt emboldened and said several more things to Luo Lingyu. When she saw Zhou Yangling and Prince Chen coming over, Chen Xiu’s anger had mostly dissipated, so she stopped speaking. However, when Zhou Yangling looked towards the two of them, Luo Lingyu raised her head and quickly glanced at her.

The lady’s beautiful eyes were filled with tears. Teary-eyed and looking pitiful.

Zhou Yangling’s heart tightened, and he immediately came to comfort Luo Lingyu: “Sister, why are you crying? Who upset you?”

Crying?!

Chen Xiu beside them suddenly felt her head grow large, and nightmare-like fragments of past experiences dealing with Luo Lingyu made her sense something was wrong… Sure enough, the next moment, Luo Lingyu who had been composed just now raised her tear-filled eyes, biting her lip with wet eyes, only sobbing without speaking. Even a beauty crying was a visual pleasure.

And from afar, little lady Luo Yunhuan, who was happily playing with Liu Tang, saw the situation with her sister and sighed: …sister was at it again.

Though Luo Lingyu was being so affected, she managed to make Zhou Yangling care for her deeply, coming over with concern to comfort her. And the lady was so delicate that she simply leaned on Zhou Young Master’s shoulder, biting her lip and whimpering.

Prince Chen Liu Shu’s face turned slightly pale, darkness deepening in his eyes. He tried hard to suppress his dislike of the lady being close to Zhou Young Master, repeating in his heart “this is Lu Yun’s woman,” “I can’t be unhappy.” Zhou Young Master was a man, after all, he would have to take a wife and have children… he couldn’t say anything.

Luo Lingyu leaned on Zhou Young Master’s shoulder crying for a long while, vaguely feeling that Zhou Young Master’s shoulder seemed to have something padded… As she was about to look closer, Zhou Yangling casually changed positions, pulling the grieving lady away from his shoulder. Encouraged by Zhou Yangling’s gentle gaze, Luo Lingyu sobbed and asked: “Zhou Young Master, you are good to me, is it because you have romantic feelings for me and want to marry me? You can’t simply like me and treat me as a sister?”

Zhou Yangling said gently: “Of course I treat you as a sister.”

While lowering her head and sobbing, Luo Lingyu secretly glanced at Chen Xiu when Zhou Yangling wasn’t paying attention: See, he’s good to me without reason. Are you jealous? How dare you say I’m fickle!

Chen Xiu: “…”

But this wasn’t enough.

Luo Lingyu turned to look at Prince Chen: “Young Master also cares for me and cherishes me without any romantic feelings, right?”

Zhou Yangling also looked at Prince Chen.

For a moment, Liu Shu felt dazed, as if being stared at by both Zhou Zibo and Lu Yun at the same time, the pressure was immense. Prince Chen, like his friend Lu Yun, saw through Luo Lingyu’s act at a glance. He couldn’t understand what Lu Yun loved about such an affected cousin, what Zhou Young Master loved about her? But Zhou Zibo’s gaze at him held many threats, so after a moment of silence, Liu Shu had no choice but to respond: “Yes.”

Luo Lingyu finally broke into a smile through her tears.

Just then, though her eyes were filled with tears, she was still sharp-eyed enough to spot Lu Xian walking from the temple gate direction — this was her real purpose. Luo Lingyu quickly called out to him. When Lu Xian heard Luo Lingyu’s voice, his scalp tingled, wanting to avoid this cousin who had been pestering him the past two days. But when Lu Xian casually glanced over and saw two clear tears on Luo Lingyu’s rosy cheeks, he was stunned.

Then Lu Xian forgot his original intention to avoid Luo Lingyu and came over furiously: “Cousin, who bullied you? Why are you crying like this?”

Luo Lingyu: “No one bullied me…”

Lu Xian: “You’re a guest cousin at the Lu family, don’t worry, even though Third Brother isn’t here, no one in Jianye can bully you…”

His eyes fell on Chen Xiu, the only one among them with an unpleasant expression.

Lu Xian said: “Lady Chen, I know you have some conflict with my cousin. But my cousin is delicate, unlike you, please don’t make my cousin cry.”

Chen Xiu’s face turned ugly: “I made her cry?!”

Chen Xiu was the one who wanted to cry! She looked at Luo Lingyu in panic — how could someone be like this?! She had only said a few words to her, and she brought all these people to pressure her. Now she was even sobbing behind Zhou Young Master, what was she crying about?!

Chen Xiu couldn’t explain her grievances, and now this group of people clearly believed Luo Lingyu and thought she had been wronged. Luo Lingyu didn’t even look at her once, yet she had become the villain. Chen Xiu was so angry she didn’t even want to argue for herself anymore. With reddened eyes, she threw down what she was working on and turned to leave.

Under the scorching sun, the lady walked away rubbing her eyes. Behind her, Zhou Yangling sighed and gently poked Luo Lingyu’s forehead: “You…”

He clearly knew what was going on.

This time Luo Lingyu truly blushed.

Zhou Yangling turned back to chase after Chen Xiu who was truly crying from anger, but due to his poor health and Chen Xiu’s swift steps, he lost sight of her after turning a corner and had to reluctantly return. When he came back, Luo Lingyu had run off somewhere out of shame, and Lu Xian was also gone. Only the composed Prince Chen Liu Shu remained, along with the uneasy Princess Liu Tang and the unperturbed young lady Luo Yunhuan.

Chen Xiu ran all the way out of Kaishan Temple with reddened eyes, encountering several refugees outside. These refugees were ones she had helped before, and seeing the lady, they wanted to come over to talk. But Chen Xiu was in no mood to deal with anyone. When she reached her carriage, she ordered her servants to drive down the mountain. She couldn’t stay a moment longer in a place where Luo Lingyu was!

The refugees wondered: “What happened to Lady Chen?”

A middle-aged man’s sleazy voice came from behind: “She was bullied by a Lu family cousin. Heh, I saw the whole thing.”

Among the refugees stood a quiet young man. Hearing the middle-aged man start to sow discord again, stirring up conflicts between noble families, the young man turned his face away. After a while, when the refugees were discussing heatedly, the middle-aged man crept over and put his hand on his shoulder: “Hey kid, you finished your punishment so quickly? You must be tough as nails to climb the mountain already.”

The bamboo grove rustled in the wind, leaves scattered everywhere, and the young man leaning against the wall, keeping his distance from other refugees, maintained his cold expression.

The middle-aged man saw this young man ignoring him and grew frustrated, but could do nothing about this closed-off fellow. He looked around to make sure no one was paying attention and whispered urgently to the young man: “Lady Chen lost a battle of wits to Lady Luo. But it’s fine, Lady Chen’s family has power while Lady Luo is just living off others. This is a perfect opportunity to stir up conflict between the Chen and Lu families, we must seize it.”

The young man still said nothing.

But the middle-aged man knew he was listening: “Look, we’re receiving Lady Chen’s aid, right? You and I should influence those refugees, spread some propaganda among them, stir up their anger, make them demand justice for Lady Chen. Pick a time, get these refugees to surround Lady Luo… heh, who wouldn’t want to get close to such a beauty?”

His eyes flashed with lust, as if already imagining the weak and pitiful lady surrounded by refugees who desired her. If she had no one to protect her and fell into their hands. That lady with her slender waist and full breasts, her smooth skin, surely the taste would be…

The young man turned his head away in disgust but agreed.

This person was their superior for their mission in the South, and before the mission was complete, he truly couldn’t kill this man. But in his heart, the young man had already killed him many times, just waiting until after the mission to kill these people who had humiliated him. Once things were done, what did it matter if he returned alone or with a group?

…

After toying with Chen Xiu, Luo Lingyu knew when to stop and didn’t dare truly drive Chen Xiu mad. When Lu Xian went to discuss with the temple master, the monk Luo Lingyu had found earlier came to inform her. After a while, the monk said Lu Xian had gone to a small Buddha hall in the back courtyard to speak with the Buddha alone, so Luo Lingyu quietly snuck over.

Previously arranged, outside the small Buddha hall where Lu Xian was, it was quiet and serene. The bamboo grove was green, the Buddhist statues solemn. The lady lifted her skirts and tiptoed past the grove and trellises to the outside of the hall. She stood by the window, getting close enough that in this particularly quiet place, she could clearly hear Lu Xian speaking inside.

Lu Xian’s voice was extremely low: “Buddha, Third Brother is about to die, in no more than half a year’s time, how can I save him? I want to go directly to Nanyang, but cousin Luo also wants to go, isn’t that just like my dream again? Wasn’t it just like this in the previous life? Moreover, my parents won’t agree to me going to Nanyang. In the dream it was only after the war ended that they agreed… now… must Third Brother die?”

“First I dreamed of him pierced by countless arrows, then I dreamed of him dying in the snow. All around the same time. Cousin Luo first married the Prince of Hengyang, then lived a lonely life. Just how many past lives are there? Buddha, perhaps in previous lives, I had begged you like this before, and that’s why you gave me a chance to change fate? Those past lives, does it mean… deep love leads to a short life? What exactly should I do, Buddha, please give me a sign.”

…

Outside, Luo Lingyu listened with her scalp tingling, her mind exploding into blankness.

She thought in horror, what exactly was Second Cousin saying? What past lives, what about Third Brother having to die? Would Lu Yun die? Had Lu Xian gone mad?

If others heard such words from Lu Xian, they would surely think he was insane. One shouldn’t speak of supernatural forces, and Lu Xian’s madness would surely get him locked up. People rarely believe in things they haven’t experienced.

But why did Luo Lingyu, clutching her rapidly beating chest, feel somewhat inclined to believe?

She heard “Lu Yun,” she couldn’t pretend she hadn’t heard.

The lady pressed her face against the window, body lowered, trying to hear more clearly. In her urgency, she easily revealed her presence. Leaning too low, her face accidentally knocked against the wooden edge of the window. In the silent surroundings, even this extremely faint sound drew attention.

The young man’s mumbling inside suddenly stopped.

Luo Lingyu’s palms were sweaty, her mind blank. Her skirts spread out like lotus petals as she looked up to see the young man walking out of the Buddha hall. She saw this young man look at her with a complex expression: “Cousin Luo… what did you hear?”

…

What was she willing to hear?

This was an opportunity to move forward or backward. There seemed to be a great door ahead, and pushing it open would reveal a different world.

Sweat beaded on Luo Lingyu’s nose tip.

…

After a long while, Lu Xian heard his cousin give a slight smile. She lowered her long neck and said in a slightly hoarse voice: “Second Cousin, there are no past lives. Have you never considered that your dreams might be… predictions of the future?”

There were never any past lives, but rather possible future trajectories that were constantly changing. And all this had been encountered by Lu Xian… Lu Xian’s eye twitched.

After the lady calmed down, her clear eyes shimmered with light. She said softly: “If you can predict everything that will happen in the future… if these things are related to Third Cousin, will you tell me?”

Lu Xian: “…Heaven’s secrets cannot be revealed.”

Luo Lingyu laughed lightly: “Second Cousin, Heaven’s secrets have already been revealed. Perhaps Heaven’s intention was for you to reveal them.”

Lu Xian: “You don’t think I’m crazy?”

She looked at him: “Actually, I don’t really believe in these things… but Second Cousin, when it comes to Lu Yun’s matters, even if I don’t believe, I must listen. Second Cousin, are you willing to tell me?”