Since they were young, the twins from Lu Yun’s family never got along. The daughter was named Lu Siyong, and the son was named Lu Sitao. From a young age, Lu Sitao couldn’t understand why even his name had to share the same meaning as his sister’s.
Being twins wasn’t great at all.
Especially since the children were exceptionally good-looking and in that androgynous stage of childhood, adults often mistook Lu Sitao for “Siyong,” but never called his sister “Sitao.” From a young age, Lu Sitao could sense the family’s favoritism toward his sister and their indifference toward him.
This bias made Lu Sitao feel deeply resentful—
What was so great about Lu Siyong? She was just sweet-talking, deceitful, and loved to act spoiled.
Everyone was blind, unable to see Lu Siyong’s true nature.
Although they were twins, Lu Sitao never liked being around his sister. What annoyed him even more was that when their parents decided to start their education, their father, in the name of fairness, insisted on teaching both of them at the same time. Their father, Lu Yun, was a renowned scholar of the time. While others envied the opportunity to be taught by such a distinguished scholar, Lu Sitao wasn’t impressed.
He was proud and naturally harbored a desire to surpass his sister. Lu Sitao didn’t want to always be overshadowed by her.
The twins looked exactly alike, with their clean, delicate, and lively appearances. The Lu family could only tell them apart by their clothes. On the first day of their lessons with Lu Yun, the elders of the Lu family, including Luo Lingyu, curiously peeked into the study room multiple times.
Spring blossoms filled the air, and the window was open. The two children sat obediently at their small desks, their eyes dark and bright, their skin as fair as snow, and their features delicate. Looking at the left, then the right, they were utterly adorable.
Lu Siyong, feeling proud, quickly glanced out the window while flipping through her book. Across a small stream, leaves floated on the water, and she waved to the adults on the other side. Her expression was lively and spirited. However, as she waved, her gaze inadvertently fell on her brother. Lu Sitao shot her a look of disgust. When Lu Yun glanced over, Lu Sitao quickly averted his eyes and shifted away, sitting farther from his sister.
Clearly, he didn’t want to be associated with her.
Lu Siyong: “…”
Her brother must be jealous of how everyone loved her.
Lu Siyong decided not to bother with him. While her father turned around, she quickly took out a small mirror and began preening, blinking and pursing her lips. Lu Sitao occasionally glanced at her, his expression growing more disdainful. When Lu Yun turned back, Lu Siyong hurriedly put away her mirror. However, her father’s gaze, seemingly gentle but sharp, swept over her. Startled, she dropped the mirror, which shattered with a crisp sound.
Making a mistake on the first day of lessons left Lu Siyong flustered.
Lu Yun stared at his daughter’s teary eyes for a moment before walking over. His robes brushed against the desk as he gracefully bent down to pick up the mirror and placed it on her desk. He then gently pinched her cheek and said softly, “Why have you loved beauty since you were little?”
Lu Siyong blushed. “Father…”
Lu Yun’s voice was gentle. “Don’t do this again.”
He then glanced at Lu Sitao and noticed the mocking look in his son’s eyes. Lu Yun’s tone turned slightly stern. “Who taught you to write such crooked characters? Copy them three hundred times as punishment.”
Lu Sitao, who had been diligently practicing at his desk, looked up in confusion and anger. “Father!”
The twins each had their own thoughts. That afternoon, when they returned and saw their mother, they complained about their father—
Lu Siyong: “Father isn’t strict at all. He’s very patient when teaching me. If I forget something, he corrects me. I want to keep learning from him.”
Lu Sitao: “Father isn’t forgiving at all. He’s so impatient when teaching me. If I make a mistake, he just glances at me and scolds me several times. I don’t want to learn from him anymore!”
Luo Lingyu: “…”
So… even after all these years, Xuechen still struggles with his so-called “fair treatment” in practice.
But Lu Yun was a renowned scholar, and Luo Lingyu was exceptionally eloquent. The children were only just starting their education, and their father was often busy with court affairs, so he didn’t have much time to teach them. After Luo Lingyu gently explained this, the little girl was disappointed, while the little boy was satisfied.
They usually studied on their own, with Lu Yun only checking their progress every few days.
Lu Siyong was confident that she could study well and surprise her father. She felt she was already very diligent in her studies. When she went out to play, she saw Lu Sitao playing with their cousin from their uncle’s family. Lu Siyong felt relieved, thinking that since Lu Sitao was so careless, his studies must be worse than hers. The little girl strutted off with her head held high, while Lu Sitao, who was climbing a fake mountain, was extremely sensitive. “Stop! Did you just roll your eyes at me? I’m going to tell Mother!”
Lu Siyong immediately retorted, “Tattletale, brown-noser. All you know is how to suck up to Mother.”
“Hmph, everyone likes me more. Only Mother loves you.”
Her sister’s provocation was too much to bear. Despite their cousin’s attempts to mediate, Lu Sitao jumped down from the fake mountain and lunged at his sister. The two, born only moments apart but forever siblings, began to fight.
That night, when Lu Yun returned, he found the two children bruised and battered. The younger brother stubbornly pursed his lips, while the older sister’s eyes were red and teary. Lu Siyong said in a delicate, weak voice, “Father, my brother started it…”
Lu Sitao: “You insulted me first! Father…”
Lu Yun: “Lu Sitao, how could you bully your sister like this? Copy our family rules ten times as punishment!”
Lu Siyong threw herself into her father’s arms and cried, secretly peeking at her brother through her fingers and smiling triumphantly. Lu Sitao was confused. “We have family rules?”
Lu Yun raised an eyebrow. “I’ll write them later, and then we will.”
Lu Sitao: “…”
Father’s favoritism was unbearable!
As Lu Sitao turned to leave in frustration, he heard a cough. He looked up and saw his mother standing under the lantern outside the study. She was smiling, clearly having listened for a while. When Lu Yun said he would make his son copy the family rules, Luo Lingyu coughed to signal her presence.
Lu Yun looked over.
Luo Lingyu smiled. “Who was it that said ‘fair treatment’?”
Lu Yun: “…”
He sighed inwardly, realizing he had lost control again. He looked down at his daughter, who was pretending to cry in his arms, and said, “Siyong, you’ll copy the family rules with your brother. How could you hit him?”
Then he explained to his son why he was being punished. “As a boy, you’re stronger. No matter how angry you are, you can’t hit your sister, understand?”
Lu Sitao lowered his head in shame. “I understand.”
To Lu Siyong’s surprise, her father made both of them face punishment, and the matter was resolved. Lu Siyong: “…What?!”
She opened her mouth in disbelief, while her brother Lu Sitao smiled contentedly.
When it came to studying, the siblings often clashed. Lu Siyong was shocked to discover that her brother had an almost photographic memory. Lu Sitao didn’t seem to study as hard as she did, but his homework was always better. Even though their father doted on her, he couldn’t find any faults in Lu Sitao’s work. Every time her brother looked at her with that challenging expression on his identical face, Lu Siyong couldn’t help but get angry.
So they fought again, and argued again.
The siblings were always bickering. In the “Qing Courtyard,” Lu Yun favored Lu Siyong, while Luo Lingyu favored Lu Sitao. The couple balanced things out, so the siblings were more or less even. But once they left the “Qing Courtyard,” Lu Siyong was surrounded by the Lu family, while Lu Sitao was ignored.
Lu Sitao despised the crowd and didn’t like talking to the elders who doted on his sister. He usually kept to himself, enjoying his own company, and both sides were content.
Lu Sitao was often overlooked, and while he could tolerate it most of the time, the one thing he hated the most was his birthday. Even though he and his sister shared the same birthday, the gifts she received were several times more than his. That day was the most glorious day of the year for Lu Siyong, but the most hated day for Lu Sitao. However, he pretended not to care and never admitted how much he disliked it. Lu Siyong, who understood her brother’s feelings all too well, loved to tease him about it.
It was Lu Yun who put a stop to the Lu family’s extravagant birthday celebrations for the children. While the family claimed to be celebrating both twins, they only paid attention to Lu Siyong. Lu Yun argued that such grand celebrations were too much for young children and called off the big parties.
Although Lu Yun tried to minimize the gap between the two children, even without the big celebrations, smaller gatherings continued.
Another year passed, and Lu Siyong and Lu Sitao turned six. On the morning of their birthday, Lu Siyong eagerly anticipated the gifts from the elders. As she was having her hair done by a maid, she saw her brother walking past the window. The little girl couldn’t resist taunting him. “Sitao, are you going to hide outside again today? How pitiful.”
Lu Sitao suppressed his anger.
He turned his head and saw his sister’s delicate, charming face, her eyes blinking mischievously at him. He felt he had grown up and didn’t want to argue with her like a child. So he scoffed and said, “Begging for gifts from others is not what a true man does!”
Lu Siyong giggled. “I’m not a man, I’m a little girl. And you’re not a man either, you’re a hypocrite.”
Lu Sitao: “…You!”
His face turned red with anger, but his sister leaned out the window and beckoned him mysteriously, saying sweetly, “You’re just jealous of me, jealous that everyone likes me so much. If you bark like a dog, I’ll help you come up with a plan.”
As soon as she finished speaking, Lu Sitao barked, “Woof woof woof!”
Lu Siyong: “…”
She stared at her brother’s face in shock, then sighed. “Sitao, you’re really shameless!”
Lu Sitao didn’t care, only doubting her motives. “Do you really have a plan?”
Lu Siyong teased, “Guess.”
Lu Yun was away on official business during the day. Luo Lingyu, being the social butterfly she was, went to the palace to chat with the empress. Lu Yun spent the day working with Emperor Liu Chu, while Luo Lingyu and Empress Zhou Yangling spent the day making flower honey. That evening, when the couple met at the palace, they realized the coincidence. The emperor and empress invited them to stay for dinner, and during the meal, Luo Lingyu mentioned that it was their children’s birthday. Empress Zhou Yangling became interested.
Zhou Yangling said gently, “I’ve been recovering from illness for years and haven’t left the palace much. Your Majesty, why don’t we visit the Lu family tonight and see how much the children have grown?”
The empress had fallen ill after a difficult childbirth and had been recovering for years. The emperor, who was always worried about her fragile health, agreed to anything she suggested.
The four of them went to the Lu family together, with the emperor and empress bringing gifts for Lu Yun’s children. The atmosphere was pleasant, and Luo Lingyu, arm in arm with Zhou Yangling, enthusiastically described the recent changes in the “Qing Courtyard.” However, as they entered the courtyard, two children came running out of the darkness, shouting cheerfully:
“Father, Mother, why did you take so long to come back?”
Luo Lingyu was stunned, and Lu Yun was momentarily dazed. The couple stared at the two children clinging to their legs.
After a long silence.
Liu Chu remained silent.
Zhou Yangling hesitated. “Sister Luo, I remember Siyong and Sitao are twins, right? But now… which one is the girl and which one is the boy?”
The two children who had enthusiastically welcomed their parents were both dressed in delicate, girlish outfits. With the same eyes, expressions, and faces, they looked up at the adults with eager eyes… Lu Yun and Luo Lingyu were both confused, unable to tell which one was the boy.
Lu Yun’s face darkened.
Luo Lingyu burst out laughing, her voice faint. “…This… this must be a family tradition…”
She glanced worriedly at Lu Yun: Could the habit of cross-dressing be hereditary?
Lu Yun’s face turned pale with anger, and he lost his usual composure as a refined scholar. “Nonsense!”
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