Jintai Prefecture, the Lin Family.
In an elegant courtyard in the rear grounds.
Lin Shuhua sat by the window, her delicate hand resting lightly on its frame. Her gaze settled on the artfully arranged flowers and trees in the courtyard, but her thoughts had long since drifted away.
One thought kept circling through her mind: Now that Yang Jing hasn't been chosen as the Profound Truth Sect's Top Potential Seed, how will Father and the elders regard him? Will Father still pursue the marriage alliance he mentioned to me in private?
By rights, if the marriage alliance fell through, it should have been exactly what she wanted.
After all, the alliance served the family's interests rather than her own wishes.
Yet, for some reason, as her thoughts wandered, the image of Yang Jing at the banquet in the Lin Residence that day surfaced unbidden.
He had worn practical training clothes, yet stood tall and straight. Under the scrutiny of the Lin Family's senior members, he had been neither servile nor overbearing, displaying a quiet composure and a strength of character in his words.
At the memory, a faint sense of disappointment welled up without warning. Lin Shuhua gave a sudden start and instinctively clenched the hem of her clothes.
Why would I feel disappointed?
Could I actually have begun to look forward to marrying Yang Jing?
The moment that thought arose, a blush crept across Lin Shuhua's face, even tinting the tips of her ears with a thin rosy glow. An inexplicable shyness stirred within her, and she hurriedly looked away, not daring to dwell on it.
But on second thought, she could not help feeling sorry for Yang Jing.
If he had secured the position of Top Potential Seed and received the Profound Truth Sect's full support, his future