Chapter 13: The One in Her Heart

Chapter 13: The One She Loves

Wherever Liu Yun went to a banquet, she disliked being in the first batch or the last batch—she preferred the middle of the crowd.

Arriving too early or too late would make her conspicuous, which was exactly what she wanted to avoid.

Dutifully being an inconspicuous one in the crowd—this state of affairs suited Liu Yun perfectly.

As she arrived at Princess Changyang's estate, maybe it was just her imagination, but she could almost smell the garden's floral fragrance before even stepping inside.

She secretly took a few deep sniffs, then approached the entrance and had Jin He take out the invitation for the gatekeeper of Princess Changyang's estate to check.

The mistress and her maid entered the princess's estate without a hitch. Seeing the young ladies already in twos and threes, Liu Yun smiled sweetly and joined the one group she was most familiar with.

She called out cheerfully to the sisters, all smiles.

"Yunniang!" "Yunniang." "Yunniang~"

When they saw familiar ladies, everyone greeted each other warmly and kindly, occasionally speaking softly and laughing lightly, adding a touch of fresh beauty to an already vibrant spring season.

The moment she stepped into the princess's estate, peonies in endless profusion came into view.

They covered every color in the world—single-petaled and double-petaled ones, ones you could name and ones you couldn't.

Pot after pot, bunch after bunch, they were dazzling to the eyes.

Before Liu Yun had time to touch them, she was called away by the ladies she knew.

Looking up, the young ladies were in groups of threes and fives, chatting and smiling charmingly, looking for all the world like clusters of gorgeous flowers.

Zhen Zhen had been held up by something and still hadn't arrived, so Liu Yun made small talk with the other ladies.

For instance, her birthday banquet had just taken place, and many ladies had really enjoyed the lip balm she'd given out. Besides praising it, they pressed Liu Yun on how she'd made it, saying they'd try making it at home too.

Liu Yun wasn't a merchant who sold lip balm for a living, so she wasn't about to hoard her secrets or anything. So she patiently explained to them one by one.

Before she knew it, time had passed. The ladies coming to the banquet grew more and more numerous, and the young men had all arrived—all of them in the bloom of youth, spirited and full of ambition.

Undoubtedly, all the men and women here today knew the intent of this peony banquet. They looked at each other in pairs, all with expectant looks.

From afar, Liu Yun heard phrases like "Princess Changyang" and "Your Highness."

Following the direction of everyone's gaze, she saw it was precisely this pair of royal siblings coming over.

Princess Changyang was dressed in elegant, noble attire, her face glowing with radiance. She came over with a smile on her face, and that unique royal aura suppressed the splendor of all the other ladies.

Yet she still couldn't conceal the radiance of the young Crown Prince beside her.

He wore a purple-gold brocade robe with wide sleeves, a glittering golden crown, and a jade belt outlining his narrow, slim waist beneath the robes. His phoenix eyes were bright and spirited, with a sharp edge suddenly showing.

As siblings born from the same mother, both had a pair of noble, sharp phoenix eyes—the only difference being that Princess Changyang was always smiling, while the Crown Prince didn't like to smile.

Liu Yun's heart gave a thump.

Although the Crown Prince had shown her family a kindness last time, her intuition told her that running into the Crown Prince was sure to bring no good.

It looked like she'd need to be on her guard today.

For instance, she couldn't be alone.

Because it seemed like every time she'd run into that ominous deity, the Crown Prince, she'd been alone—and then suffered torment of the mind or body.

Having made up her mind, Liu Yun felt much calmer inside.

Seeing the hosts had arrived, and with such noble status, the ladies all gathered around to pay their respects.

"Your servant pays her respects to His Highness and Princess Changyang."

The many ladies' soft voices piled on top of each other, making it feel soft and melodious, like the singing of orioles and chattering of swallows.

"No need for such courtesy, no need—there aren't so many rules today. All you ladies and gentlemen, just enjoy the flowers at your ease!"

There was still a bit of time before the noon meal, making it the most suitable time to admire the flowers.

It was then that Liu Yun finally caught up with the late-arriving Zhen Zhen.

"Zhen Zhen, Zhen Zhen, you're finally here!"

The two young ladies walked arm in arm, found a quiet tree with few people around and stayed there, and started talking about their private matters.

"How are things going with Second Young Master Ling?"

The newest topic between them was the man Zhen Zhen had recently been introduced to, Second Young Master Ling, and Liu Yun couldn't help but gossip and ask a few questions.

As her words fell, she saw the other girl let out a sigh and give a small eye roll.

"It's not happening."

Liu Yun asked in surprise, "Why not? What happened?"

She observed that Second Young Master Ling seemed like a decent person, barely worthy of Zhen Zhen, thinking that if it worked out, that wouldn't be bad either.

When it came to such private matters, Chen Wei leaned in even closer and whispered, "Shanshan, you remember how I said earlier that Second Young Master Ling talked in a weird way, right?"

"Yes, yes—and then?"

"When I went back and asked my mother, I found out that Second Young Master Ling looks down on our family in his heart!"

"No wonder he kept saying my dad is a sixth-rank official, not as good as his family's fifth-rank Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review. He even kept saying my parents should hire an etiquette tutor for me, saying that although I'm plain in looks and talent, I still need to learn proper etiquette well..."

The reason the two had been friends for many years was that their personalities were similar—though strictly speaking, Chen Wei's mind was coarser and more careless, slower to react to others' malice.

This also led to Chen Wei not seeing Second Young Master Ling's bad points at first, and she had cheerfully gone along with the matchmaking meeting.

Now that she knew, Chen Wei didn't want to deal with him anymore.

Her family might only be a sixth-rank official family, but they weren't willing to offer themselves up to be looked down on. Why did she have to stick to the Ling family's second son?

Liu Yun heard this and felt it wasn't worth it for her friend either. With her brows furrowed, she said angrily, "How can he be like this? Zhen Zhen, we don't want him!"

"Yeah, yeah!"

Chen Wei nodded with a serious face, and the two chattered on about other fun things.

On the arhat couch, the siblings sat on each side, chatting leisurely.

"Look, little brother, aren't this year's peonies especially delightful to the eyes?"

Pretending not to notice her brother's occasional subtle glances drifting over, Princess Changyang curled her lips and smiled lightly.

Xiao Hang's thoughts were disturbed, and he felt somewhat displeased, but since the person before him was his own elder sister, he managed to muster a bit of patience. He hummed in response, a muffled nasal sound, and said dismissively, "It was alright, I guess."

Clearly lacking any sincerity, which made Princess Changyang a bit unhappy.

But recalling what she was about to do next, she brightened up and cheerfully launched her plan.

"Is that so? But this year, I specially cultivated a new peony. Look, here..."

She raised her hand, and a maid presented a pot of blooming peonies before the Crown Prince, head bowed, eyes lowered.

The heart of the flower was a tender pink, gradually fading to snow-white toward the edges, with layers upon layers of petals making the bloom full and round—a one-of-a-kind variety exclusive to her estate.

Xiao Hang glanced at it briefly and then paid it no further mind, only saying, "Mm, indeed beautiful."

He wasn't really into flowers and plants, even the peony, known as the king of flowers.

He lazily looked away from the peony, and Xiao Hang returned to his earlier wandering state, casually taking in the scenery around him.

Princess Changyang watched her brother's put-on act and gave a light scoff and a smile.

As siblings who grew up together, she knew her brother inside out.

It had been this way since childhood—whatever he liked or wanted, his eyes would practically glue themselves to it, and he would stop at nothing to obtain it.

But now that he was grown, he'd learned to restrain himself and even mastered hiding it.

But how could he fool her sharp eyes?

It was painfully obvious.

Tsk, tsk...

She had no plans to let her brother off the hook today. Princess Changyang stroked the peony's soft pink-and-white petals, as if talking to herself, or maybe asking a question: "This flower hasn't been named yet. How about calling it Yunyun, little brother?"

As if some switch had been flipped, Xiao Hang whipped his head around, pupils shaking.

As if worried he hadn't heard her clearly, Princess Changyang smiled and drawled out the words again.

"Yun~yun~"

Every sound around him seemed muffled by an invisible force, leaving only his sister's words ringing in his ears.

His back went rigid, and he didn't know how to sit in front of her.

He tried hard to keep a calm face, but his lips felt numb and stiff, barely able to move.

"Wh-what?"

Having expected her brother's odd reaction, Princess Changyang wasn't done yet. Her red lips curling, she pressed on: "The Yun from Liu Jiayunniang—surely you're quite familiar with that, little brother?"

Every muscle in Xiao Hang's body tensed, his face going hard as stone, but his jaw trembled, making him lose control of his expression.

"What do you mean by that, sister?"

Xiao Hang thought he still looked calm, but to Princess Changyang, who knew him so well, he couldn't hide a thing.

Having seen enough, she stopped toying with him. She took a sip of iced wine and spoke plainly.

"Pfft~"

"Stop pretending. I've already seen right through you."

Xiao Hang tried one last time to resist, saying coldly, "Seen through what?"

Princess Changyang watched her brother's stubborn, won't-admit-defeat attitude, waved her emerald fan, and dropped a bombshell: "Seen that you like her~"

Like an arrow that pierces clouds and moon, plunging into deep water to strike the tender sprout swaying beneath the surface.

Xiao Hang gripped the couch tightly, his ears turning so red they seemed ready to bleed.

Author's note:

Update.

Another update tomorrow.