This young man had found a good match

Su Yuhe ate quickly, clearing her bowl before wiping the corners of her mouth with a handkerchief and waiting for him to finish.

Lu Mingxi usually ate quite quickly, but now he absentmindedly put wontons into his mouth, as though he were eating something foul.

Suddenly, two women in fitted black outfits stood before their table. Pale fingers tapped against the wooden tabletop. "Young gentleman, our young master finds you friendly-looking and would like to invite you to listen to storytelling with him."

The woman spoke to Lu Mingxi, but her eyes were fixed squarely on Su Yuhe, her stern face utterly expressionless.

Her heart gave a jolt, and she had a premonition.

Lu Mingxi looked at the two women in confusion. "I don't know your young master."

"Yes, our young master finds you friendly-looking and would like to make friends with you."

"I'd rather not. I have to go home."

The woman stiffly forced a smile. "Our young master only wants to make friends with you. If you can make him happy, he can pay you some wages."

At the mention of wages, Lu Mingxi's eyes lit up at once.

Su Yuhe interrupted the woman and cut off the questions he was about to ask. "Enough. It's time to go home."

The other woman stepped forward, curling her lips into a smile. "There's no hurry. How much can you earn going home to work in the fields? You could get quite a bit for making our young master happy."

Lu Mingxi tugged at the hem of her clothes. "Wife, I want to give it a try."

She looked at the two women before her. Both looked as though they would not stop until they got what they wanted. She slapped Lu Mingxi's hand away. "Try what? Hurry up and come home."

"But..." Lu Mingxi rubbed the back of his hand, which had been slapped red. He was not angry; his face held only a yearning for money.

"No buts."

Su Yuhe picked up the things beside her and urged him to leave. Lu Mingxi reluctantly followed her away.

The youth sitting by the window watched the man and woman leaving below and gave a mocking smile.

Yongqin suppressed the smile at the corners of her mouth. Her two guards returned to report, but she already knew the answer. Now she feigned ignorance. "This young man has certainly found a good match. Even with a hefty sum tempting her, she wouldn't let her husband entertain someone else."

Xubai turned to glance at her and murmured, "Has he?"

Yongqin said with certainty, "Of course. If she didn't truly like him, she wouldn't leave money sitting there unearned. Ten taels of silver for an afternoon-very few people here would turn that down."

"I'm tired. Sister, go back and rest."

She smoothed the creases in her clothes, stood up, and stroked his hair. "All right, get some rest. Once I've finished handling things, I'll go with you to meet that country... Su Yuhe you mentioned."

He tugged at the corners of his lips. "All right."

Yongqin looked toward the long street below, in the direction the couple had just left. "Had I known, I would have stayed in Luoshui City a few more days. I heard a brothel opened in the city, with quite a few women in it, too. If any catch your fancy, you could even take them back to the residence and keep them."

"Sister!"

"What is it?"

Xubai stroked the wooden hairpin in his hand. "Please don't say things like that anymore."

She understood exactly what he meant. She had not expected that he still had not given up.

Smiling, she rubbed the top of his head with an air of complete innocence. "What's wrong with that? You used to say it all the time. Women could have three husbands and four consorts, so you wanted three wives and four concubines. Have you forgotten all that?"

She raised a hand and pushed the window partly shut. "Mother has already given you permission. Why shouldn't I talk about it?"

Xubai finally remembered his former self. But back then, he had not yet met Su Yuhe. Those former ideas his sister spoke of had all lost their worth. He only wanted to have her, whole and complete, to himself.

When he said nothing, Yongqin picked up the cloak beside her and put it on.

"All right, I'm leaving. I'll come again in a couple of days."

"I want to go back to stay at the estate. Come find me there then, sister."

She wanted to refuse, but then reconsidered. Better to channel the flow than dam it; perhaps letting go for a while would produce unexpected results.

Two noble young masters from great aristocratic clans, both gifted and handsome-she refused to believe that a mere country orphan girl could resist them.

Noble young masters who had fallen on hard times had seen the dark dealings of the inner household. She believed they could surely capture the heart of a woman who had never seen the world.

That country orphan girl probably thought pies had fallen from the sky, giving her three beautiful husbands, little knowing that she had lost the chance to soar straight into the clouds and stand above others.

At that thought, Yongqin's mood improved, and she hurried downstairs. By the time she finished the official business at hand, she would presumably hear good news.

That night.

Meng Zhixian knocked on the bathroom door and asked impatiently, "How much longer are you going to take?"

"Almost done, almost done."

Hearing splashing water and a slightly flustered male voice through the door, Meng Zhixian called inside again, "Hurry up!"

"All right, I'm almost done."

"Dawdling over a bath. You're the first to bathe, and you're taking this long. Any slower and the water will be cold. You really don't earn any money, so you have no idea how expensive firewood, rice, oil, and salt are."

Lu Mingyi gave him a cool glance, a faint smile on his face. "There's no need for you to trouble yourself worrying about the household's finances, second husband. If the water gets cold, we can heat it again. It's only a matter of a couple of sticks of firewood. Why lose your temper?"

Meng Zhixian snorted. "How would someone who doesn't earn money know how hard it is to earn? If you're so capable, contribute the money you earn to the household."