What is your take on this, my lord?

A man in green stood outside the door. After casting a glance at Shang Ti and Xiao Yan, he turned to Lu Ying and said, “My lord wishes to see you. Come.”

Lu Ying nodded. “Wait a moment. Let me change.”

With that, she turned and went back into the room.

When they saw her approaching, Shang Ti and Xiao Yan rose at the same time. They stared at Lu Ying with widened eyes, momentarily at a loss for words.

They had already sensed that there was something strange about the relationship between Lu Ying and that man when she had bowed to him and declared her allegiance on the road. The two young women did not want their friend’s life to be affected by that inexplicable connection, so they had both chosen silence. In any case, if Lu Ying truly had a relationship with that nobleman, it would come to light sooner or later. And if she did not, then as long as no rumors spread, she could still find herself a suitable husband in Chengdu.

Looking at the two women, Lu Ying smiled. “Ti, Yan, I’m leaving first.”

The two finally came to themselves.

“All right. Go on.”

“We should leave too.”

After changing into the silver-white robe of a man, Lu Ying climbed into the carriage. By then, Ti and Xiao Yan had already departed.

The man in green rode beside the carriage and suddenly asked, “My lord prefers Aying in red robes. Why are you wearing silver today?”

The robe was fine, but it made Lu Ying look far too cold and detached.

Lu Ying lowered her eyes and replied calmly, “I thought I should tell my lord that I am a cold-hearted and serious person.”

The corner of the man’s mouth twitched.

After traveling for a while, Lu Ying asked in surprise, “Are we not returning to that residence?”

“My lord is not there.”

After thinking for a moment, Lu Ying asked, “Do you know why my lord summoned me?”

The man in green answered, “What my lord thinks and intends is not something men like us can presume to guess.”

After a while, the carriage arrived outside a delicate little estate. The grounds covered no more than fifty acres, and from a distance Lu Ying could already see the nobleman standing beside the lake, fishing in a languid, half-hearted fashion.

After stepping down from the carriage, Lu Ying did not wait for the man in green to show her the way. She simply walked over at an unhurried pace.

When she reached the nobleman’s back, he was still enjoying himself. Lu Ying glanced to one side. Seeing no container for fish, she said to one of the guards, “Bring me a bucket.”

“Yes.”

Before long, a bucket was placed behind Lu Ying. Just then, the nobleman hooked a fish. He was about to toss it back into the lake when a small hand caught hold of its tail.

It was Lu Ying.

She naturally took the fish from his hand and threw it into the bucket. When she turned back and saw him lazily watching her, she curled her lips and said, “Meat may be vulgar, but it is expensive. Since my lord does not want this fish, I may as well take it home and use it to supplement my meal.”

As soon as she finished speaking, the nobleman let out a long sigh.

“Aying, how can you not fear me?”

It seemed this question had troubled him for a very long time.

Indeed, it had troubled him for far too long. It was precisely because of this girl’s fearless, composed nature that, whenever he had wanted to seize her and keep her at his side, he had feared losing that wildness of hers. Thus, he had released her again and again.

Lu Ying looked up at him. Beneath the sunlight, his slightly amber eyes gleamed. Combined with their narrow, elegant shape, they possessed a beauty capable of ensnaring the soul.

For a man to be so handsome was almost excessive.

Meeting his gaze, Lu Ying suddenly said, “My lord, I encountered danger yesterday.”

She thought he would want her to complain of her own accord.

Sure enough, his brows drew together slightly. He looked at her helplessly and said in an unhurried voice, “It would have comforted Aying more if I had asked you about it myself.”

So that was what he meant.

Lu Ying could not help rolling her eyes.

The nobleman sighed again and continued lazily, “Even that gesture should have been performed by me.”

His tone was filled with disappointment, helplessness, and a profound sigh.

Lu Ying, Lu Ying—how could you seize the initiative every single time and steal even his gestures from him?

Her dark eyes met his. After his voice fell silent, she said coldly, “My lord, if Aying becomes a married woman, will I no longer have to serve you?”

The nobleman wanted to sigh again. Instead, he asked gently, “So Aying has served me before? When did that happen? Why do I not remember it?”

Expressionless, Lu Ying replied in a cool voice, “My lord is old now. Poor memory is perfectly normal.”

“…”

Two coughs came from the guards stationed nearby.

Facing the nobleman, Lu Ying continued, “My lord, I have thought it over carefully. Chengdu is truly a den of dragons and tigers. How long had I even been here before some lecher set his sights on me and carried me away? Such a thing absolutely cannot happen a second time. Therefore, beginning today, I intend to go about openly as Lu Wen of the Lu family.”

She looked at him and asked quietly, “My lord, do you think this plan is clever? Am I not intelligent?”

The nobleman merely stared at her.

It was as though Lu Ying had only been informing him of the matter. She turned her head, raised her voice slightly, and instructed the guards in a calm tone, “From now on, whenever you see me, please address me as ‘sir’ and call me Lu Wen.”

Once again, she had turned the tables and made her announcement. Then Lu Ying leisurely turned back to the nobleman, tugged at the corner of her mouth, and asked with great courtesy, “My lord, what do you think?”

“…”

After a long while, the nobleman slowly lowered his fishing rod. He crooked a finger at Lu Ying.

“Come here.”

Lu Ying obediently walked over.

“A little closer.”

Lu Ying moved nearer.

“Hm?”

Meeting the nobleman’s slightly narrowed phoenix eyes, Lu Ying explained coldly, “There is only one foot of open ground in front of Lu Wen. If I come any closer, I am afraid I will kick you. Lu Wen has yet to master the art of walking through walls, and my lord has such delicate and precious flesh that you could easily be injured.”

To refuse someone while sounding so righteous and proper was a rare talent indeed.

The nobleman felt a little like laughing. He stared at Lu Ying, then suddenly leaned forward, letting his breath brush across her face.

How long had it been? This girl had already forgotten how to blush. She had not been like this the last time.

With a secret sigh, he reached out with his right hand and, with no regard for decorum, forcibly pulled her into his arms.

Holding Lu Ying’s head against his chest, the nobleman asked with a smile, “May I ask what our relationship is now?”

Lu Ying’s face was buried in his embrace, but her voice remained cold and indifferent.

“A coercive relationship.”

“…”

That was rather too blunt, was it not?

The nobleman lowered his head. His right hand gently rubbed Lu Ying’s cheek. Seeing her remain calm and unafraid in his arms, unchanged even beneath his touch, he could not help sighing.

“Aying’s skin has grown thicker. Not even a trace of shyness can get through anymore.”

Lu Ying replied lightly, “A clever person does not make the same mistake twice.”

Was it truly a mistake for a woman to show shyness before her own man?

The nobleman lowered his head and looked at her helplessly.

After a while, he suddenly laughed. Still holding Lu Ying, he chuckled under his breath for some time before lowering his head and resting his face against her hair.

In a deep, resonant voice, he said, “Whenever Aying is in front of me, you always try to provoke me with reverse psychology. Aying, are you truly so eager for me to promise that I will never touch you and will never abandon you?”

Lu Ying’s thoughts had been exposed, yet she did not grow angry or embarrassed. She merely looked at him with cool indifference.

It was always like this. This girl had seen through his reluctance to force her and racked her brains to escape. Yet each time, instead of provoking him, she somehow left him in an excellent mood.

The nobleman narrowed his eyes. Then he slowly loosened his arms and released her.

He casually pulled off a jade pendant and handed it to Lu Ying with a smile.

“Here. Take this. In the future, if you encounter someone who does not know his place, just hold it up and let him see it.”

Lu Ying lifted the pendant toward the sunlight and examined it carefully.

Seeing how closely she studied it, the nobleman suddenly asked, “Did you bring that broken jade pendant with you to Chengdu?”

He had to admit that if he had not mentioned it, Lu Ying would have forgotten it entirely. She had always feared that the pendant might truly shatter into pieces too small to put back together. Almost as soon as she arrived in Chengdu, she had buried it, together with its wooden box, in a safe corner.

While Lu Ying was thinking about it, the nobleman glanced at her and decided not to press the matter.

He put away his fishing rod and began walking along the lakeside.

…

This time, Lu Ying stayed for an entire hour before taking her leave with the wooden bucket. Watching her retreating figure, the nobleman sighed.

“I am truly growing old and useless…”

Seeing him like this, one of the men in green stepped forward and bowed.

“This Lu woman’s thoughts are rather unusual. My lord need not take them to heart.”

“I am not taking them to heart.” The nobleman lowered his eyes and smiled faintly. “I merely find her quite interesting.”

As he said this, a tender, affectionate gleam flashed briefly through his eyes.

In perfect unison, all the guards shuddered and lowered their heads, not daring to utter another word.

After leaving the estate, Lu Ying walked very quickly.

For some reason, she felt that this visit had been different from the others. After leaving, she had not felt relieved, nor did she feel that she had once again passed through a trial.

Instead, her heart had tightened.

Something seemed to have changed.

And it was definitely not something she had been hoping for.

Frowning, Lu Ying quickened her pace more and more.

She had just reached an alley when a sudden groan came from behind her. Along with it came the pained plea of a man.

“Please… please save me…”

Lu Ying stopped.

Through the light entering from either end of the alley, she could see a blood-soaked figure curled up in the darkness by the wall. He was a boy in his teens, with a tender, fair face that easily inspired sympathy.

But his body was covered in blood, and unmistakable knife wounds could be seen across him.

The boy must have provoked an enemy far beyond his ability to offend.

Sensing someone pass by, he raised his head. His eyes were red and round like a frightened rabbit’s, filled with tears.

“Please… save me…”

He stretched out a hand toward Lu Ying.

Lu Ying did not approach.

She pressed her lips together and stared at the boy for a moment. Then, instead of stopping, she quickened her pace. As she moved faster and faster, the boy’s cries for help gradually turned into despairing sobs.

Before long, Lu Ying reached the main street. She walked straight toward several strong, sturdy porters. Taking twenty iron coins from her robes, she pointed toward the alley.

“There is an injured person inside. Carry him out. This is half your payment. I will give you the other half once we reach the physician’s shop.”

She tossed them the money and walked toward the medical hall nearby.

Behind her, the porters hurried into the alley.

A short while later, they emerged carrying the blood-soaked boy. Lu Ying was waiting outside the medical hall. When she saw them approach, she said, “I have already paid the physician. These twenty iron coins are yours.”

Without another word, she turned and walked away.

Watching her retreating figure, the boy gathered what breath he had left and murmured, “Thank you… thank you…”

Lu Ying did not respond. She only walked faster and faster.

She did, however, forget the wooden bucket at the medical hall.

A new month has begun. Please give me your guaranteed votes and pink tickets, everyone! My book still has not reached the top fifteen of the pink-ticket rankings. Sob. Being on that list is practically the same as receiving a valuable recommendation, and it would help more readers notice that I have started another book.

Also, I owed five bonus chapters last month. This is the first one repaid.

To be continued.