Whether she could take it in or not, once Xiao Jinghong returned to the estate, she was bound to have some contact with Chen Yi.
There was no avoiding it.
Nor did she want to avoid it.
Early in the morning, after Xiao Jinghong washed up and changed into everyday clothes, she stepped outside.
In the courtyard, Xiao Die was sweeping up fallen leaves with a broom. She had even set up a ladder to climb onto the pavilion roof and sweep it clean.
Perhaps because the courtyard was too secluded,
Xiao Die's humming drifted over on the slightly cool, damp breeze.
The tune was cheerful.
Yet the lyrics were unlike the style of the Great Wei Dynasty.
"Cool winds bring tidings, autumn moon knows no bounds. Yet my longing for my darling makes each day feel like a year. Though I am not a jade tree standing in the wind..."
Straightforward and novel.
Xiao Jinghong subconsciously looked toward the Wooden Tower on the other side, inexplicably feeling that this was her husband's handiwork.
Recalling those lines, the corners of her lips could not help but lift. "He is rather like a jade tree standing in the wind."
In Xiao Jinghong's eyes, Chen Yi was gentle and composed in bearing. Superficial words like "a jade tree standing in the wind" could not possibly describe him.
What was more, he was a scholar highly likely to break through the Way of Calligraphy to the Saint Realm before the age of thirty, enough to stand at the pinnacle of the Great Wei Dynasty's younger generation.
What did his looks matter, then?
"Ah!"
As Xiao Jinghong stood lost in thought while looking at the Wooden Tower where Chen Yi was, Xiao Die happened to spot her as she descended the ladder. She immediately