32 Stab Wounds

Cui Jingyu reacted quickly; rather than letting her collide with him, he intercepted her. As it turned out, it was Yanyan. She had been busy throwing snowballs with Tao Li'er, and when caught by Cui Jingyu, she showed no sign of panic, instead grinning and making a face at him.

"Watch this!" Tao Li'er tossed another snowball at her, which Cui Jingyu caught mid-air.

"Stop playing, they're performing a grand opera over there," Yanyan said to Tao Li'er with a look of disdain.

"What opera?" Tao Li'er, completely unfazed, leaned in to look.

"The Selection at the Bird Screen, and The Meeting at the Tower!" No sooner had Yanyan shouted this than she turned to bolt.

Both plays were classic tales of romantic engagement, the very ones the ladies had just used to tease Wei Yushan. Yanyan had learned them quickly, but her movements were not as swift. Cui Jingyu caught her by the collar and hauled her back.

Marquis Cui’s face darkened, looking quite intimidating. Even Tao Li'er stopped her antics. Cui Jingyu glared at Yanyan and scolded, "Are you not learning anything good?"

"I'm only speaking the truth!" Yanyan, thick-skinned as ever, saw his eyes narrow and, sensing he was truly angry, clutched her head and cried, "Sister, save me!"

Ye Qinglan had been standing under the veranda the entire time, but since the matter did not concern her sister, why would she emerge?

Cui Jingyu stood in the snow, watching as Ye Qinglan walked down the steps, summoned like a general by Yanyan’s plea, to act as the rescuer.

Cui Jingyu felt a surge of irritation. Furthermore, the Lu sisters lacked the tact to leave. He hauled Yanyan along and began walking away. Now anxious, Ye Qinglan followed, lifting her skirts and abandoning all ladylike poise, trailing him past the moon gate and into the outer corridor.

Even with Yanyan in tow, Cui Jingyu moved faster than anyone. She hurried behind him, nearly breaking into a run to keep pace. Just as they reached the deserted, quiet corridor, he stopped abruptly. Unable to brake in time, Ye Qinglan collided with his back.

Cui Jingyu caught her; her waist was as slender as ever, even thinner than it had been four years ago. She did not wait to find her footing before backing away, preferring to steady herself awkwardly against a pillar rather than maintain any contact with him.

"Forgive my discourtesy." Qinglan was, as always, perfectly composed. "Please release my sister, Marquis. She is but a mischievous child and spoke out of turn. I ask for your indulgence."

Cui Jingyu’s expression turned icy.

Before he could respond, Yanyan shouted, "I didn't say anything wrong! Sister, I saw him talking to Lu Wanyang." Yanyan was indignant. "The Lu sisters are bad people; they bully you every day, and yet you still talk to them. I won't call you brother-in-law anymore!"

Qinglan’s face flushed instantly. She rarely lost her composure, and when she did, it was more striking than anything else; her complexion glowed like a sunset, a color no rouge could replicate. She pressed her lips together and scolded, "Yanyan, enough of this nonsense!"

For her, this was the sternest of reprimands. Her two sisters were the apples of her eye, and everything else had to give way for them. Otherwise, she would not have pulled her behind her immediately after the scolding and apologized to Cui Jingyu, "The child is foolish and speaks without thought. I pray the Marquis will not take it to heart; I hold no such intentions."

"Is that so?" Cui Jingyu heard his own voice ask coldly.

He had earned his title through many battles, and he had suffered many wounds, but none had pierced him as deeply as her words.

She also pressed her lips together. She always wore this expression; though she was the one holding the blade, it was as if she were the one being wounded.

"The Marquis is currently without a betrothal and is a free man. Which lady you speak to or choose to pledge yourself to is entirely your own affair," Qinglan heard her own voice, steady and slow. "It has nothing to do with me."

Yanyan was a child, which was why she liked playing in the snow. In truth, playing too long made one's hands ache. Only those who had suffered frostbite knew that numbness and pain could coexist. It felt like one's soul was floating above, looking down at everything—feeling the pain while calmly observing, like watching someone else's story, where love and hate were things of the past.

She was not deaf; she had heard everything she was meant to hear while standing under the veranda. Had Lu Wanyang read the *Record of Northern Frontier Customs* for his sake? It must have been a pretext to strike up a conversation. She, too, had once read every book on the Northern Frontier, so she knew without asking that the snow sealing the mountain passes was a terrifying thing. It was like the great famines of myth, where all people became so small, struggling to survive in shelters against the cold.

This heavy snow would never end.

But that was fine. She was Ye Qinglan, the most decorous of the thirty-nine noble ladies in the capital capable of hosting a Flower-Letter Banquet. She had rehearsed every scenario and mastered every response; nothing could make her lose her poise.

Except for his refusal to let go.

Just like now, he ignored her talk of clearing the slate and said coldly, "Is that so? That is not what Yanyan said just now."

"Yanyan is a child and knows nothing. She does not know that things in this world are not immutable," she said calmly. "But it does not matter; I will teach her in time. Children must be taught to grow up. The Marquis will also teach Yushan well, will he not?"

She was the most versed in the rules of the capital, and naturally, she knew how to hide meaning within meaning. Cui Jingyu knew what she meant: *Wei Yushan once clung to the past and offended me, yet I did not hold it against him. Should you not show the same grace toward Yanyan?*

"Miss Ye naturally perceives this as an offense," Cui Jingyu said with a sneer. "After all, Miss Ye knows best how fickle the human heart can be. Yanyan has no need to look elsewhere to learn that."

The moment she was wounded, she still wore that downcast expression, but her eyelashes trembled, and her lips tightened. In the Northern Frontier, he had dreamed of this scene countless times. Perhaps, as General Wei said, war truly erodes one's spirit. He had once wanted to give her everything good in the world, but now, he only thought of which words would hurt her the most.

Han Yueqi, the Paulownia flowers, the moon over the mountains, the white fox he had hunted to make her a cloak—he had forgotten it all. Like that betrothal, it was an ancient city buried in the desert. That day, when he crossed the icy river at the foot of the Heavenly Mountains, the spring flood had washed away the tombs of ancient princes, scattering their burial jewels and bones across the riverbed. The Marquis of the Lingyan Pavilion was nothing more than that.

What in this world could withstand the passage of time?

The future they had promised was long gone. The Paulownia flowers and the mountain moon no longer belonged to them. All they possessed was this tenuous, gossamer past, like sand that could not be grasped.

So he wanted to wound her, to mock her, to see that pained look break through her calm facade, to see her still capable of emotional fluctuations because of him—as if she were still his Ye Qinglan, and he were still her Cui Jingyu, two ignorant young people who had sworn oaths amidst the blooming flowers, unaware of the cruel intentions of fate.

But she was, after all, Ye Qinglan.

After a brief loss of composure, she returned to being that impeccable, dignified noblewoman.

"Times have changed, and it is clear the Marquis has moved on as well, ready to settle his marriage at the Flower-Letter Banquet. If we were to continue this entanglement, it would naturally be an offense." She held her head high, her fingers, still clutching Yanyan’s hand, not trembling in the slightest. "Fortunately, I have forgotten the affairs of those years; I ask that the Marquis do the same. Let us simply attend to our own people."

Cui Jingyu’s gaze was beyond cold; for a moment, it darkened like the sky under the pressure of an approaching storm.

"Very well." He gritted his teeth. "Very well indeed."

He said nothing more, perhaps because he had no chance to, as Lu Wenyin hurried over, likely looking for a pretext, accompanied by several ladies. Although she did not know the history between Ye Qinglan and Cui Jingyu, she believed that minimizing Cui Jingyu's contact with other ladies was always for the best. Seeing them confronting each other in the corridor with Yanyan between them, she assumed Ye Qinglan was simply being protective. She smiled and began, "Marquis..."

Cui Jingyu did not give Lu Wenyin the chance to exercise her social graces.

"I will be hosting a 'Marquis Banquet' at my residence and would like to claim a spot in the Flower-Letter Banquet series. I ask for the ladies' accommodation," he said coldly, standing half in the shadows, still as handsome as a god.

The ladies were overjoyed. They had only dared to focus their efforts on Wei Yushan, fearing Cui Jingyu—who was older, harder to manage, and cold-hearted—would have no interest in the capital's grand events. Since the first Plum Blossom Banquet, Cui Jingyu had never attended one, while Wei Yushan had come several times, signaling the Wei family's intent to marry. While Cui Jingyu’s title was higher and his future brighter, noble families were protective of their standing; they feared reaching for a match only to lose face or be rejected, and they also feared the Emperor might have other plans. Now that he had entered the fray himself, how could they not be ecstatic?

Compared to the unreachable Duke of England, who wouldn't even commit to attending, Cui Jingyu was the top candidate everyone hoped for.

"Such wonderful news! We must go tell Her Highness the Princess at once. She will be even happier to hear this," a clever lady remarked immediately.

Lu Wenyin was, naturally, overjoyed, glancing involuntarily at Lu Wanyang behind her. Some ladies rushed off to report the news to the Princess, some calculated the timing of the next banquet, and others stepped forward to confirm details with Cui Jingyu. Lu Wenyin was the most enthusiastic, stepping up with a smile: "Three days from now is the Orchid Banquet, a truly elegant affair. It would be perfect for the Marquis's feast..."

As the ladies swarmed him, Cui Jingyu glanced, as if inadvertently, toward the corridor.

She had long since left with Yanyan.

Fleeing without a fight—it was indeed her style.

Cui Jingyu felt a sense of listlessness. The ladies were still pestering him for a date, saying, "We must arrange the viewings before the New Year, or the Lantern Festival customs will be delayed, don't you agree, Marquis?" He merely replied, lacking interest, "I have my own plans."