44 Resolution

No one noticed the atmosphere shift from that exact moment. To all the ladies and misses, it seemed merely that the down-and-out, unmarried twenty-four-year-old eldest Miss Ye of the Ye family—who had been too embarrassed to even attend the Cui family's noble title banquet—had belatedly realized her younger sister was being bullied and had come to take her home.

Young girls possess a kind of innocent cruelty. Because they cannot believe they might ever fall into such a tragic plight, yet vaguely harbor a sense of dread, they feel all the more compelled to draw a clear line between themselves and her. The matrons were somewhat better; after all, they were benevolent ladies who chanted Buddhist scriptures. Even if they gossiped, they did so behind closed doors with their most trusted confidantes, while to her face they would always lament what a pity it was for someone with such looks and talent. Some of the kinder ones would even shed genuine tears.

Yet this did not prevent them from still viewing her as an anomaly. Even though she remained the same Ye Qinglan of four years ago, and for all her haste still embodied the very model of a noble-household young lady, her rapid strides caused only the faintest rustle of hair ornaments.

Having come in a rush, she wore only an everyday apricot-colored overcoat with wide sleeves, draped in a silver-fox cloak that made her appear all the more slender and frail. Her head was bare of formal ornaments, presumably because she had hurried over in haste, wearing only a Zhaojun cap of fur. The silver-white tips of the fur framed her face, which was as fair as jade. Without a speck of powder, even her lips retaining only their natural rosy tint, she was still so breathtakingly beautiful that all worldly desires instantly melted from men's hearts.

Cui Jingyu stood quietly in the night, watching her walk toward him.

Of course, she had never intended to attend this title-conferring banquet; otherwise, she would not have worn her hair in such a casual, domestic knot. How had they put it back then? He would attain titles and high office, and make her his officially recognized noble wife. Back then, she too had blushed and scolded him for being a rogue.

Yet in the blink of an eye, the present day had arrived.

The adult world is always like this: devoid of pure black and white, consisting only of a boundless expanse of gray. His attainment of titles and power was far from triumphant; it was fraught with endless scheming and conspiracy, and in the end, even her younger sister had become a pawn in it. Could the twenty-year-old Cui Jingyu and the nineteen-year-old Ye Qinglan have foreseen this scene? Or were they merely indulging in the wishful thinking of admiring paulownia flowers in the mountains, believing there truly existed a love that could last forever in this world?

Ye Qinglan walked up to him and bowed gracefully.

As the host—personally enfeoffed by the Emperor as the Marquis of Dingyuan—even if he were to pay respects to the Princess Consort of Ping and Lady Su, who represented the Grand Princess, their bows should come after his.

"I heard that my younger sister met with trouble at the Marquis's estate, so I have come to take her home," she said calmly, lowering her eyes.

He simply stood and watched her in silence, his gaze weighing a thousand pounds, because she steadfastly refused to lift her eyes to look at him even once.

"The youths of Wuling east of the golden market, with silver saddles and white horses, pass through the spring breeze. Where do they roam when the fallen petals are trampled? Laughing, they enter the tavern of the Hu woman." The days when she used to recite this verse to him just to be vexed with him had gone, never to return. He was now the most sought-after Marquis Cui, pursued by all the matrons and misses in the capital who wished to secure such a noble match. Naturally, she no longer possessed the qualification to act petulantly toward him.

And so, she did not spare him a single glance.

"Very well," Qinglan heard him say.

"My Lord," deep as Lu Wanyang's scheming nature was, she grew somewhat anxious at this moment. If the matter were to end just like this, wouldn't it confirm that Lu Wenyin had instigated Chen Mengliu and Yang Qiaozhen to bully Ye Lingbo? Therefore, she could not help but speak up: "This matter concerns my sister's pristine reputation. I implore the Marquis to investigate it thoroughly..."

Lu Wanyang was young after all. She had read widely in poetry and books and understood all things in the world, save for one she had never experienced.

How could she possibly understand the word "love"?

"Although the Flower-Announcement Banquet is a grand affair, the military takes orders only from the Emperor; there is no precedent for Miss Lu to issue commands," He Qingyi said coldly.

The Lu sisters had always acted tyrannically, and the debts they had accumulated were now all coming due at once. The matrons listening showed no inclination to speak up on their behalf.

Yet to Qinglan's ears, it carried an entirely different meaning.

True to being Lord Marquis, the banquet had barely progressed from the Orchid Banquet to the Flower-Announcement Banquet before both Lu Wanyang and He Qingyi had stepped into the fray.

Qinglan said little. She merely beckoned for Lingbo to come over. Seeing that her sister was uninjured, she lowered her voice to ask a couple of questions. Lingbo only lowered her eyes and said, "Sister, let's go back. I want to go home."

She too understood human nature well. In front of outsiders, she was as sharp as a blade, but upon seeing her own sister, she softened like a rabbit. Hearing this, Qinglan instantly assumed she had suffered a grave grievance. A pang of sorrow pierced her heart, and her expression froze over as she cast an icy glare at Cui Jingyu.

Cui Jingyu was utterly helpless against this habit of hers, where she protected her younger sister like a mother beast shielding her young at any given moment. He was just about to speak when Qinglan had already turned her face away.

"Miss Ye..." Unable to speak plainly in front of a crowd, Cui Jingyu had no choice but to step forward, wishing to speak with her.

What was he to say? He had hosted this extravagant title-conferring banquet, drawing the capital's matrons and misses like beasts vying for deer. She had kept her distance, yet when her younger sister came to his banquet, not only did he fail to protect her, but she had even been bullied by others. How utterly ridiculous.

What old ties? What remaining friends? It was nothing more than her own wishful thinking; long ago, they had become far worse than strangers.

As he stepped forward, Qinglan immediately stepped back. Fortunately, Lingbo stepped in promptly, bringing little Liuzi to separate the two. In the gathering dusk, this confrontation went completely unseen by the others. Otherwise, Lu Wanyang would not have belatedly stepped up to say, "My Lord, regarding today's events, I beg you to render a judgment..."

Intent solely on salvaging her image before Cui Jingyu, she little knew she was walking right into Lingbo's trap.

"Indeed," Qinglan stopped in her tracks and sneered coldly at Cui Jingyu. "I heard that my younger sister was locked up within the Marquis's estate and even beaten. Then I must ask Lord Marquis to render a judgment."

"Sister," Ye Lingbo chose this exact moment to feign vulnerability. "Let it go. Today is Lord Marquis's title-conferring banquet, and with so many matrons and misses present, it's only natural that amidst the bustle, oversights happen and I was overlooked. Sister, do not blame the Marquis."

Cui Jingyu was so enraged by her words that he felt ready to spit blood.

Yet what truly made him want to spew blood was Ye Qinglan. Ordinarily a clever woman, the moment it concerned her younger sister, she turned into a tigress protecting her cubs. Sure enough, upon hearing these words, those beautiful apricot eyes of hers immediately turned frosty, her lips pressed tight, and the look she cast his way was as cold as ice and snow.

"That's right, I also forgot to congratulate Lord Marquis." She bowed to him in a formal parting salute. "Today Lord Marquis has attained titles and high office with a boundless future. It is my younger sister who has caused trouble for the Marquis."

Cui Jingyu's gaze instantly darkened.

He knew she still remembered.

"Ye Qinglan!"

He ground out her name in a low whisper. Lu Wanyang started in shock, her heart freezing as she finally saw Ye Lingbo leaning lazily against Ye Qinglan's shoulder, flashing a bright, brilliant smile right at her.

*You've fallen right into the trap, Sister Lu.* Lu Wanyang could almost hear those words echoing with laughter.

For in the very next instant, Ye Lingbo looked at Ye Qinglan with a pitiful expression and urged, "Sister, let's drop it. Miss Lu and Lord Marquis have always been on good terms, and their two families enjoy a close friendship; it's not worth making things difficult for the Marquis on my account. Let's just go home."

Even if all the ice and snow in the capital were to be poured down, it could not match the chill in Ye Qinglan's eyes at that very moment.

The next second, she turned to Cui Jingyu and said, "Since the Marquis finds it difficult, there is no need for a judgment. I shall render it myself. From this day forward, the members of the Ye family will no longer attend banquets at the Marquis's estate, and I ask the Marquis to cease all further association with our household."

It was always thus. No sword in this world was as sharp as her heart; whenever she pleased, she could slice ties completely with a single stroke.

Cui Jingyu stood there as though standing in that heavy snowfall from four years ago.

"Good, very good." He said nothing else, merely repeating the word twice.

Lu Wanyang still could not fathom the nature of their relationship—there was old affection between them, yet it seemed as resolute and absolute as that between sworn enemies.

Fortunately, she no longer needed to guess.

For Cui Jingyu announced his judgment for the evening.

"Since Miss Ye has already rendered her judgment, there is no need for further investigation. I share no particular affection with Miss Lu. Since the Ye family and the Marquis's estate are breaking off relations, the Lu family shall likewise break off relations with the Marquis's estate. There is no need to investigate further—that is only fair. I must trouble Miss Lu to inform Palace Lady Su that this is my final decision."