"Clang, clang~~"
"The moon crossed the courtyard, flower shadows deep~ the water clock's last notes~ alone, I played my flute-"
By Lakeside, the sheng sounded in the breeze, and Duoduo's lilting song drifted to the window on the spring wind.
Ye Yunchi had changed into a wide-sleeved ruqun, her hair arranged in a dignified, graceful style, with a floral hairpin tucked at an angle into her bun. Standing alone by the window, she resembled a finely dressed lady from a scholarly household, but her eyes held a hint of conflict as she thought:
This looks like a family banquet. Everyone there is either one of Xie Jinhuan's rumored lovers, a mother-in-law, or a bedchamber maid-
If I attend too, won't that make me his officially acknowledged mistress-
But they've already arranged for me to stay here. Surely I can't skip it-
Ye Yunchi was no little girl. In truth, she understood her own heart very well. Liking him meant liking him; there was no point deceiving herself or others. But how could a dignified woman of Confucian learning go off and become a young hero's concubine-
She had taught plenty of students, and she had Madam Han, an unofficial senior sister, keeping an eye on her. If she really did such a thing, she could forget showing her face in public again.
Yet becoming the principal wife was almost impossible. All the girls in this residence were either peerless beauties with extraordinary backgrounds, or had legitimate claims and were close to his age. No matter how she reckoned it, she could never take the top position-
Were we truly fated to meet, but not to be together-
Ye Yunchi weighed it over in silence, genuinely at a loss as to how to break this impasse. After some thought, she took