Flower Stealing Master

Noticing that Cheng Ying looked like a frightened rabbit, Song Qingshu found the situation both amusing and exasperating. He had been guessing at various reasons, only to discover that Cheng Ying simply had no idea what she had been doing.

“Popularizing physiological knowledge for young ladies…truly a long and arduous road,” Song Qingshu couldn’t help but sigh. The young ladies of this world were indeed innocently adorable.

“Um… I…” Cheng Ying opened her mouth to explain something, but found herself unable to speak. Especially when she thought about what she had just done with her mouth… she wished the ground would open up and swallow her whole. Where was her usual elegance and composure now?

“Miss Cheng, please rest assured. I won’t hold your earlier indecent assault against you,” Song Qingshu said with complete seriousness.

Cheng Ying: “…”

Her heart was churning like the sea outside Peach Blossom Island. *You* were the one being improper and rude…*I’m* the victim here! She wanted to rebuke him, but she wasn’t like Guo Fu, who was unreasonable. Then she reconsidered: from beginning to end, it really seemed like *she* had been the one “indecently assaulting” him…

Realizing this, Cheng Ying felt even more miserable.

Song Qingshu glanced at Lu Wushuang, who was unconscious beside her, and a faint smile tugged at his lips. “I won’t mention what happened earlier to anyone else either. Miss Cheng, shouldn’t you be thanking me?”

“Th-thank you…” Cheng Ying’s teeth chattered. She nearly spat out a mouthful of blood from sheer frustration.

Just then, Lu You’s voice came from outside the door: “So here you are, young master. I’ve been looking everywhere for you.” His father had signaled him to invite Song Qingshu to tour Shanyin City and build a closer relationship. But when he reached the Shuangqing Hall, Song Qingshu wasn’t there. He searched for quite a while before a servant finally told him Song Qingshu had come this way.

Hearing Lu You’s voice, Cheng Ying’s heart skipped a beat. Flustered, she turned away, pretending to wipe her cousin’s forehead, but in truth, she was afraid someone might notice something amiss.

“So it’s Brother Lu. No need for such formality…’young master’ this and that. Just call me Qingshu from now on,” Song Qingshu said, treating Lu You with great courtesy and respect. In his later life, Lu You had been his idol. In this life, Lu You had saved him once. By any measure, the man deserved his deference.

However, in this world, Song Qingshu’s reputation and status far exceeded Lu You’s. At this moment, Lu You felt almost flattered: “If you don’t mind, young master, I’ll presume to call you Brother Song.” Having grown up in a scholarly family, he knew his place. Though Song Qingshu sincerely invited him to drop formalities, he was careful not to be rude.

“Not at all.” Song Qingshu understood his predicament and didn’t press the issue.

“Brother Song, what are you doing here…” Noticing the situation in the room and the faint medicinal smell in the air, Lu You asked curiously.

“I noticed Miss Lu’s leg was injured earlier, and since we have some connection, I came to treat her,” Song Qingshu replied.

Lu You had always been intelligent. Observing Lu Wushuang’s condition, he was pleasantly surprised: “Wushuang’s leg is healed?”

Cheng Ying had studied medicine under Huang Yaoshi, so she naturally understood the healing arts. To cover her earlier panic, she had turned to examine Lu Wushuang’s injury and found that the meridians in her legs were now completely unobstructed. Just in time to hear Lu You’s question, she answered smoothly, “Young Master Song’s skill is miraculous. Once my cousin’s bones grow back properly, she should be as good as anyone else.”

The resentment she had felt toward Song Qingshu over that little incident was mostly swept away by Lu Wushuang’s improvement. Besides, she was a woman of integrity and would not speak against the truth.

Having his suspicion confirmed, Lu You let out a long sigh, then solemnly bowed deeply to Song Qingshu.

“Brother Lu, there’s no need for such formality.” Song Qingshu quickly helped him up. Unlike when he had used his internal energy to lift Lu Wushuang from afar, this time he carefully used his hands to raise him personally.

“Brother Song, you don’t understand,” Lu You said with a heavy sigh. “Our family has invited countless famous doctors to treat Wushuang’s injury…even imperial physicians from the palace…and all of them said nothing could be done. Wushuang has had a rough life. We already feel terribly guilty for failing to protect her parents. If she had remained crippled for life, I wouldn’t have the face to see her parents in the afterlife. Brother Song, you have done the entire Lu family an enormous favor.”

Song Qingshu smiled wryly. “Brother Lu, you’re being too serious. I’m practically Wushuang’s senior in the martial arts world, so saving her is my duty. Besides, Miss Cheng and Miss Lu have already given me my compensation for the treatment.”

“Compensation?” Lu You looked suspiciously toward Cheng Ying.

Cheng Ying, already feeling guilty, hurriedly turned away when she saw him looking. This only made her more suspicious in Lu You’s eyes. But soon, Lu You smiled reassuringly to himself. *Given Song Qingshu’s reputation and standing, he would never do anything sordid. I’m worrying too much.*

“Brother Song, Shanyin City has many famous sights. Why don’t I take you around for a while?” Lu You remembered why he had come and extended the invitation.

“Sounds good.” Song Qingshu turned to Cheng Ying. “Miss Cheng, would you like to join us?”

“No!” Cheng Ying reacted as if shocked by an electric current. Quickly realizing her response was too intense, she covered up: “No need. I have to stay and look after my cousin.”

“Very well, then.” Song Qingshu gave her a knowing smile, then said to Lu You, “Brother Lu, let’s go.”

“Brother Song, please!” Lu You laughed heartily.

After the two left, Cheng Ying unconsciously touched her cheek. It was burning hot. Recalling the look in Song Qingshu’s eyes as he left…as if he could see right through everything…her heart began to race wildly. She slumped down beside Lu Wushuang and murmured, “Cousin, you’ve really done me in this time.”

Now, Lu You led Song Qingshu on a tour of Shanyin City. Along the way, Lu You consulted Song Qingshu on martial arts and military strategy, while Song Qingshu sought Lu You’s guidance on scholarship and poetry. The two grew increasingly congenial. Before they knew it, the day had grown late. Lu You smiled and said, “Brother Song, why don’t we head back to the residence first and continue our tour tomorrow?”

“Sounds good.” Song Qingshu smiled back, then realized they had unknowingly arrived at the gate of a certain estate.

“Shen Garden?” Reading the characters on the plaque, Song Qingshu’s expression changed. He stopped in his tracks. (G: Shen Garden is the famous garden in Shanyin where Lu You and his ex-wife Tang Wan had their fateful reunion)

“What’s wrong, Brother Song?” Lu You asked curiously.

“Nothing.” Song Qingshu smiled wryly. He couldn’t very well say, *This is where you and your ex-wife Tang Wan left behind a love tragedy that has moved countless people for a thousand years, right?*

Song Qingshu’s mind stirred. Seeing nothing unusual in Lu You’s expression, he wondered…had the plot of *”Phoenix Hairpin”* not yet happened in this world? (G: Phoenix Hairpin is the famous poem Lu You wrote about Tang Wan; a title of a classical ci poem)

Suddenly, he felt Lu You’s body tremble. Curious, he looked over. Lu You, normally so courteous, didn’t even glance at him. Instead, he seemed transfixed, staring intensely in another direction.

Song Qingshu followed his gaze. Not far away stood two women: a maidservant supporting a woman dressed as a lady. The maidservant was easily ignored. The lady appeared to be in her early thirties. To Song Qingshu, who had seen countless beauties, her features were at most comely, but her brows carried a distinctive quality.

*”Refined learning manifests as natural elegance…”* A phrase flashed through Song Qingshu’s mind.

The lady had clearly noticed the two of them as well. When she saw Lu You, her face turned deathly pale. Suddenly clutching her chest, she swayed as if about to fall.

Seeing this, Lu You instinctively moved his foot as if to go help her, but then seemed to think better of it. He forcibly stopped himself, his face contorted in pain.

By then, the lady had caught her breath. She cast a deep glance in their direction, then gradually departed with her maidservant’s support. Lu You stretched out his hand, but the words that reached his lips never came out.

“It can’t be this melodramatic, can it?” Song Qingshu smiled wryly. Didn’t this scene resemble the opening of *”Phoenix Hairpin”* as he remembered it?

“Brother Lu, who is that lady?” Song Qingshu asked tentatively.

Lu You shook his head absently. Instead of answering, he turned and walked away in the opposite direction from the woman.

Noticing his desolate expression, Song Qingshu felt sorrow for him. Here were a loving husband and wife, perfectly matched, yet forced apart by parental command…one to remarry, the other to marry anew.

Song Qingshu would not judge Lu You from a god’s-eye perspective, criticizing him for not fighting for his wife. To judge a person outside the concrete social circumstances of their era is nothing but hooliganism.

In the later age of openness, defying one’s parents for love was no great matter. But in this era of rigid moral codes, a parent’s command was as sacred as an imperial edict. Children who dared disobey would be ostracized by society at large.

One lost in despair, the other sighing with emotion, the two walked in silence. Unexpectedly, before they had gone far, a maidservant came running up breathlessly: “Sir Lu, please wait!”

They turned to see the same maidservant who had been with the lady. Lu You’s eyes lit up, a glimmer of hope kindling in them.

“My master says that meeting is fated. He invites Sir Lu to come share a cup of wine,” the maidservant said. Unlike what Lu You had hoped, she did not deliver a message from her mistress. Instead, she brought news from another man.

“Well…” Lu You hesitated. On one hand, he longed to see his former wife again; on the other, he was reluctant to meet her new husband.

Song Qingshu asked, “May I ask, miss, who is your master?” Seeing Lu You’s inner conflict, he inquired himself, giving the other man time to think.

The maidservant was unused to being addressed so politely. For a moment, she was flattered. When she saw that the speaker was a handsome, elegant young master, her fondness for him grew: “To answer you, young master, my master’s surname is Zhao. He is currently in charge of the Imperial Clan Court.”

“So that lady was indeed Lu You’s ex-wife, Tang Wan.” Song Qingshu sighed inwardly. In his previous life, he had been deeply moved by this tragic love story, so he naturally remembered the identities of the key figures. After Lu You’s mother forced him to divorce Tang Wan, she had remarried a member of the imperial clan named Zhao Shicheng.

“In charge of the Imperial Clan Court? It seems Lu You’s romantic rival has quite the background,” Song Qingshu murmured, his brow slightly furrowed.

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