The reins tightened in his hand.
Sitting unevenly on horseback, his mind spun.
“She likes me?”
“Although she didn’t say it outright, it’s obvious,” Qingluo smiled brightly.
“Her feelings are very clear.”
“This…”
Liang Xu’s breathing grew hot.
His usually dark eyes flickered, showing some embarrassment.
“This isn’t good…”
“Why isn’t it good?”
Though Qingluo wouldn’t come of age for another six months, she understood these matters well.
She noticed his awkward expression and said, “Sixth Brother, could it be you like her too?”
He didn’t answer directly but said, “Mother won’t agree.”
“Mother is particular, but…”
Qingluo listed Yu Fifth Lady’s virtues, “She’s pretty, has a good temperament, and her father is the Vice Minister of Honglu Temple, holding a sixth-rank official post…”
“Wait,” Liang Xu’s expression changed sharply, interrupting her, “Yu Fifth Lady? The one you said likes me is her?”
“Yes.”
Qingluo noticed his change and realized they weren’t talking about the same person.
“Who did you think it was?”
“No one,” he withdrew his gaze disappointedly.
“I have no interest in Yu Fifth Lady. Don’t mention this again.”
“Then who do you like?”
Qingluo could clearly see he was infatuated with someone.
“Is it Second Lady of the Feng Family? Fourth Lady of the Wei Family? Or someone from the Liu Family…”
She listed the noble ladies besides Shen Youran one by one, but his eyes showed no reaction.
“Sixth Brother, who do you like? Why is it so hard to guess? Or, what kind of girl do you like?”
“You’re too young to worry about this.”
He spurred his horse and sped up as they reached a less crowded place.
Qingluo followed sulkily.
The next day, Yu Fifth Lady came to talk with her.
Qingluo regretfully told her, “Sixth Brother said I should focus on learning with Xiao Gugu and not worry about his affairs…”
That was a polite refusal.
Yu Fifth Lady’s face paled and she fell silent.
After that, she rarely approached Shen Youran and Qingluo again.
When the first snow of winter fell, an urgent visitor arrived at Lu Manor asking to see Shen Yunshu, bearing bad news: her mother had accidentally fallen in the courtyard that morning, injuring her lower back and was now bedridden.
The doctor said there was a possibility of paralysis…
The injury was severe.
As her daughter, Shen Yunshu naturally had to return home to visit.
But thinking of Lu Yi, she suppressed her anxiety and asked the visitor to relay that she would settle matters in the morning and visit her mother in the afternoon.
After the Lu Manor visitor left, Shen Yunshu immediately had Tinglan fetch her cloak.
She was going out.
Snow mixed with light rain still drizzled, the air biting cold.
Tinglan brought out the Hechang robe from the wardrobe.
It had been sent from Quanzhou by the Third Master, two pieces—one given by Seventh Young Master to the Eldest Young Madam, the other kept folded in the cabinet.
Shen Yunshu rarely went out and hadn’t worn it yet.
With the snow and rain today, the water-resistant Hechang was perfect.
Tinglan draped the Hechang over her mistress.
“Young Madam, should I go to Yunzhi Courtyard to inform the Eldest Young Madam?”
At this hour, Shen Youran hadn’t yet left for Wūyī Lane.
“Don’t tell Youran about this yet.”
Last time the two sisters returned home, Lu Yi had played a despicable trick that almost compromised Third Miss and Pei Huaian’s reputations.
If their mother’s injury was also Lu Yi’s doing, she didn’t want Third Miss to get involved again.
Pei Huaian was still in the study reading.
Shen Yunshu told Tinglan to watch over him in the courtyard, not to let him go out.
Then she had a horse carriage prepared and left with Qiongzhi.
She didn’t go directly to Lu Manor but headed first to the Dali Si.
At noon, Shen Yunshu’s carriage arrived at Dali Si.
Using Pei Huaijin’s name, she sent someone inside to pass a message.
Not long after, she was invited in and met Xiao Ci as she had hoped.
Now uncertain if Lu Yi would stir trouble, she didn’t dare ask for too many men, only two.
Xiao Ci pondered, “I’ll bring six men and follow behind your carriage…”
He was going too?
Shen Yunshu grew more uneasy.
“Lord Xiao, if I’m overthinking and you come up empty-handed, won’t it waste your time?”
“No matter. This matter is important. We can’t miss even the slightest clue. Even if it’s a false alarm, you shouldn’t blame yourself. It’s common for investigations to come up empty.”
“Thank you, Lord Xiao.”
Xiao Ci checked the Shi Lou clock.
“I’ll arrange the men now. It will take some time. Please wait here; I’ll have someone bring you lunch…”
At this hour, Shen Yunshu wasn’t hungry.
“I’m not hungry, Lord Xiao,” she said formally.
“I’ve already troubled you by coming here…”
“No need for formality. It’s simple fare, but please don’t mind, Madam Shen.”
“…”
At noon, when Pei Huaian went to eat, Shen Yunshu was absent.
Only one place was set at the table.
Tinglan told him the situation.
Hearing about his mother-in-law’s injury, Pei Huaian thought it was proper for a son-in-law to visit, but why hadn’t Sister Yunshu told him?
He planned to ask his master for leave, pick out some gifts, and visit Lu Manor that afternoon.
Tinglan noticed his thoughts and reminded him, “Young Master, Young Madam wants you to focus on your studies and not go out.”
He would go.
Pei Huaian always obeyed Shen Yunshu.
Since she wanted him to concentrate on studying, he would wait until after class in the afternoon to go visit Lu Manor.
Shen Youran finished her midday rest.
The snow had just stopped, but the sky remained grey, hinting at more snow.
It wasn’t yet the coldest period, so the snow melted on contact, dampening the ground lightly but not impeding travel.
Shen Youran had Danruo pack her things and Qinghe brought the Hechang to wrap her up snugly, handing her a Tangpozi soup cake before seeing her off.
When she went to Wūyī Lane, she did not bring two maidservants with her.
Pei Huaijin had Qingjian stay by her side.
These days, Qingjian drove her carriage back and forth.
Qingjian didn’t like Liang Xu.
Whenever he saw Shen Youran talking with Liang Xu, his face darkened and he glared coldly.
But Liang Qingluo was very interested in Qingjian and often chatted with her in secret, asking why the steward was always so stern.
Did he have great martial skills?
Shen Youran didn’t know if Qingjian was skilled in martial arts. She had only seen him practice forms, never fight.
As for his serious demeanor, it was probably because of the master he served…
Halfway through the carriage ride today, delicate snowflakes began to fall again.
Inside the carriage, Shen Youran was unaware until they arrived at Wūyī Lane.
As she stepped out, she saw Qingjian’s hair and eyebrows had turned white.
The snow had thickened since they left.
Shen Youran handed him her Tangpozi and told him to warm up inside the carriage.
At that moment, Liang Qingluo arrived, riding her horse late, her cloak fluttering noisily.
Liang Xu wasn’t with her today.
After tying her horse, she shivered and quickly slipped into the warmth of Shen Youran’s Hechang.
“Sister Youran, I’m freezing…”
“Why are you riding in such cold weather?”
“My family’s carriage was taken by Father and Sixth Brother today. I left late at noon and didn’t have time to hire a carriage, so I rode over.”
Shen Youran smoothed her wind-tousled hair, wiped the melted snow from her eyebrows and eyelashes, then led her inside.
The afternoon grew colder, a thin chill seeping through the window cracks into the side room.
Though the fire burned bright, Xiao Gugu dismissed class twenty minutes early, sensing the bad weather.
Fine snowflakes blew in gusts, covering the ground with a layer of white.
Riding was out of the question in such weather, so Shen Youran helped Liang Qingluo into her carriage and had Qingjian send her back to the General Zhenhu’s Manor.
The Liang Family’s General Manor was located in Yongan Ward.
Shen Youran thought of her mother, who also lived there.
Since returning to her marital home, she hadn’t seen her mother again, and she missed her.
After seeing Liang Qingluo off, Shen Youran asked Qingjian to take a detour.
As the carriage passed Lu Manor’s gate, it left two ruts in the snow.
She lifted the curtain and glanced at the manor’s large doors, sighing silently: if it weren’t for that scoundrel Lu Yi, she could visit her mother there often…
The narrow, long lane was nearly deserted because of the snow.
The sound of carriage wheels rolling over cobblestones mixed with horse hooves, while the carriage’s bumps made Shen Youran drowsy.
Suddenly Qingjian shouted sharply.
The horses neighed, and the carriage’s wheels screeched to a halt.
The carriage jolted violently, a bronze lantern swinging against the side wall.
Shen Youran’s body jerked forward.
As the carriage curtain fluttered from the wind, she saw Qingjian stand up, exchanging his whip for a soft sword drawn from his waist…
Below the carriage stood a group of men with their faces covered by scarves.
Their eyes were fierce and their intent hostile.
Shen Youran’s heart jumped.
She gripped her skirt tightly, panic rising in her voice.
“Qingjian…”
“Young Madam, do not get out of the carriage.”
With a light step, Qingjian leapt down wielding his sword.
Immediately, the sound of blades slicing the wind, the hum of clashing swords, and the biting cold mingled with bloodlust and swirling snow filled the carriage…