"Alas, I still have to find a way to pull Chu Wuhui down."
It was late at night, and candlelight spilled through the window onto the water.
Mottled reflections swayed with the water, while the moonlight revealed half of Liao Qian's deathly pale face. Anyone would be shaken after suddenly overhearing such an explosive "secret." He stopped in his tracks, cold sweat pouring down his back as he considered leaving before Liao Jia noticed him.
Before he could act, his eyes met another pair. Liao Jia looked as composed as ever and beckoned him over. "What are you standing out there for? Come in. It's chilly outside. Don't let my flowers freeze."
Liao Qian: "..."
He looked down at the fresh peonies in his arms, their petals so vivid they seemed ready to drip, and twitched his lips. He began to wonder if he'd imagined what he'd just heard.
Liao Qian steeled himself and carried everything inside.
Liao Jia: "The servants can take care of this sort of small thing."
"Isn't Uncle's birthday coming up?"
Liao Jia set down the book of chess records and laughed, teasing him. "Since you know it's my birthday, are you planning to fob me off with these?"
Liao Qian looked away as soon as he saw him smile.
It wasn't that his reaction was unreasonable; he simply still hadn't gotten used to it after all these years. Whenever his good-for-nothing uncle smiled, his first instinct was to worry about whom the man was planning to scheme to death. That aura of a treacherous, corrupt official hit him head-on. And after what he'd just overheard, his heart was trembling.
"Of course, there's more. But if I reveal the surprise now, there'll be no surprise left on your birthday." Liao Qian placed the peonies in a