Chapter 53: On Romance

The two of them had a fierce argument over this matter and parted on bad terms.

As if sensing the discordant atmosphere, the dark clouds hid away in some distant corner.

Jiang Hexuan sat alone in the courtyard, watching the pot of hot tea he had thoughtfully prepared earlier grow completely cold.

He could not understand why someone could be so fickle. Only yesterday, they had been smiling brightly and chatting gaily about everything under the sun.

Uncontrollably, his mind drifted back to those past few days.

Su Qishan came from a distinguished family, after all, and had received an elite upbringing; her refined and elegant demeanor was vividly reflected in everything she did. Well-read and immensely knowledgeable, the occasional insights she casually dropped into conversation were things Jiang Hexuan would ponder over for a long time, benefiting immensely from them.

This was the first time he truly understood the vast gulf that existed between the aristocratic gentry and ordinary commoners, extending far beyond mere wealth.

Putting aside his pride, he had sought her out for guidance. Although her expression clearly showed disdain for his ignorance on such basic matters, she was never stingy with her answers. Her explanations were exceptionally detailed, bringing Jiang Hexuan profound enlightenment.

He had unconsciously grown to admire her, and her prior actions had fostered in him an unspoken, extravagant fantasy. He convinced himself that perhaps she harbored a sliver of affection for him.

Yet, everything that happened today shattered those illusions completely.

The zither lying on the ground with several snapped strings seemed to mock his unrequited self-delusion.

A dense, creeping agony surged from the depths of his heart, leaving him clutching his chest and struggling to breathe.

How could anyone be so ruthless, trampling upon his heart without a single shred of hesitation?

"Young Master Xuan is so pitiful, given hope only for it to be dashed away in the very next moment." Wu Xun let out a long sigh, her heart aching and softening for this hapless man suffering from unrequited love.

Pity the affectionate souls of this world, who invariably lost their hearts to those they ought not to love.

She was deeply immersed in the narrative, feeling Jiang Hexuan's pain as if it were her own.

Why must Lady Su utter such cruel words? Clearly, she had cared so much before; how could she now trample someone's sincere heart into the dirt?

Wu Xun felt a deep sense of indignation on his behalf.

——Su Qishan's anger had been a subconscious reaction; she felt as though the pure sanctuary within her heart had been violated, while at the same time, her rational mind recognized that this was precisely what she desired.

Yet, an ineffable wave of irritation rose from the depths of her soul, originating from nowhere, yet stubbornly refusing to dissipate.

"What on earth was that pure sanctuary?" Wu Xun wondered aloud, her curiosity piqued.

Judging by this section of the description, it felt as though there was some hidden past behind it all. Surely these two wouldn't make a complete break over this, would they?

Subsequent developments did not unfold as she feared. Instead, following this quarrel, the relationship between the two progressed by leaps and bounds, drawing them even closer than before.

——Following their argument, the two had initially maintained a state of mutual avoidance.

However, owing to a certain incident, their relationship mended and they reconciled.

One day, while Jiang Hexuan was traveling by carriage, he was taunted by an arrogant aristocrat who lashed his whip across the horses pulling the carriage. Startled, the beasts bolted wildly, injuring several pedestrians and nearly overturning the carriage.

Upon learning of this, Su Qishan flew into a rage. She rallied her people, tracked the offender down, and taught him a harsh lesson to avenge Jiang Hexuan.

"Ah, since she went out of her way to teach that scoundrel a lesson for him, she must care at least a little bit about Young Master Jiang, right? Otherwise, why would she be so furious upon learning he was in danger?" Wu Xun tasted a hint of sweetness between the lines, thinking happily to herself.

——Ever since then, their relationship mellowed, reverting to the state it was in before the quarrel, though both tacitly avoided ever bringing up the argument itself.

***

After the emotional turmoil subsided, Jiang Hexuan concluded that Su Qishan must have simply suffered another one of her unpredictable episodes, and generously chose not to hold it against her.

As for Su Qishan, she dared not dwell on it too deeply and simply glossed over the matter to avoid her own thoughts.

Su Qishan even went so far as to teach Jiang Hexuan how to ride a horse. Naturally, horseback riding involved unavoidable physical contact due to his lack of experience. Amidst laughter and playful banter, many delightful moments ensued, drawing their relationship a step closer.

The two tacitly understood each other's feelings without needing to voice them.

Later on, Su Qishan retained a renowned scholar to tutor Jiang Hexuan in classical texts and the Six Arts of a Gentleman, investing far more care into his affairs than ever before.

And Jiang Hexuan? Being a pure and utterly sincere soul, he never hesitated to express his concern. He constantly checked in on Su Qishan and even crafted a pair of custom wrist-guards for her martial arts practice.

With constant give-and-take between them, their subtle romance needed no words.

Reading this left Wu Xun feeling a mixture of sourness and sweetness, and she burst into a silly giggle, "Hehehe, this is simply wonderful. If they get married, Young Master Jiang will surely make a wonderful husband, being so thoughtful and attentive to his wife."

At the same time, she sighed inwardly: Why had she never encountered such a fine gentleman? The men she met were invariably flawed specimens, much like that wretched Hu Erlang from before.

Even after being driven out of the Wu estate, he seemed unwilling to give up, frequently lingering around the places she frequented and even attempting to accost her on several occasions.

And to think she had previously mistaken him for an upright and honest man, just like Young Master Jiang!

When flirting failed, he actually had the audacity to demand compensation from her. Shameless to the core, and he couldn't even put on a convincing facade.

Wu Xun held him in utter contempt.

When would she ever meet someone like Young Master Jiang who understood the warmth of human affection and knew how to care for and pamper someone? She too longed to experience the feeling of being cherished and protected.

She rolled back and forth on her bed, pondering whether she should visit the Temple of the Matchmaker one of these days to pray for a good marriage.

As she thought this, she voiced it aloud as well. She had always been frank and open, hiding nothing from others, let alone her loyal personal maid.

"Hongtang, tell me—while I may not be exceptionally outstanding, I'm certainly not terrible either, am I? Why is there never a decent gentleman coming to court me?" Wu Xun caressed her cheek, striking a melancholy pose.

Hongtang's mouth twitched. It wasn't that there were none; it was simply that her young mistress was completely blind to them.

She uttered a blasphemous internal complaint, though she dared not voice it aloud.

Instead, she offered a tactful reminder: "My lady, the last time Young Master Tian picked up the jade pendant you accidentally dropped and invited you on a spring excursion to return it, you accused him of deliberately stealing it and plotting to keep it."

That scene had been utterly disastrous, and she had nearly gotten into a public shouting match with Young Master Tian.

Young Master Tian was himself a man of exceptional talent and gentle, scholarly grace, admired by numerous young ladies who held secret torches for him. Yet, he had crashed and burned entirely against her tactless mistress.

"Wasn't that the case? He could easily have just handed it back to me directly, but instead, he deliberately dragged it out. He clearly wanted to keep it and pocket it for himself! That pendant was custom-made for me by Father at a massive expense; the pearls and rubies on it are of the absolute highest grade. Even among the aristocracy, many couldn't afford to wear such a piece." Wu Xun argued plausibly.

She genuinely believed this, never once suspecting romantic intentions.

Hongtang couldn't help pressing a hand to her forehead in despair. "What about Young Master Wei? He invited you to visit his estate as a guest, and you rejected him yet again. Why?"

Wu Xun tilted her head in puzzlement and shot her a sidelong glance. "He claimed his sister had few friends and invited me over to keep her company. I might have believed him if I didn't already know his sister; that little chatterbox talks even more than I do, and there isn't a single noble young lady in Luoyang she isn't on good terms with. Besides, who am I, Wu Xun, to lower myself to play companion to someone else?"

Speechless, Hongtang could only think one thing: *My lady, when someone fails to find a husband, they really ought to look for the reason in themselves.*

Every single gentleman who had made an advance had been beaten back by your brilliant methods.

When a suitor quoted poetry: *The ospreys cry, on the islet in the stream.*
You replied: *Why on earth are you reciting poetry out of nowhere? Are you having a seizure?*

When a suitor praised: *Lady Wu possesses the beauty of jade and the splendor of national color, radiant as a magnificent peony.*
You replied: *I am well aware of that, no need to remind me. Those clichés are completely worn out; can't you come up with a compliment with a bit of originality?*

Did they seriously have to spell it out by explicitly declaring "I am fond of you" before you could finally understand?

Seeing that Wu Xun was still muttering discontentedly about how all those men must have been struck blind,

Hongtang had no choice but to lay out the underlying truth piece by piece.

Wu Xun's expression underwent a magnificent transformation: first her lips parted slightly, then her eyes widened in shock, her innocent gaze laced with utter bewilderment as she sat frozen like a lost lamb.

"Is that really how it was? You aren't just making things up to fool me, are you?" Wu Xun asked suspiciously.

Hongtang's explanation shattered her entire worldview.

She had never imagined there could be hidden romantic intentions behind those actions; with all those convoluted twists and turns, how on earth was anyone supposed to guess?

Hongtang nodded with a look of profound heartbreak, "This servant originally wanted to remind you, but I figured perhaps my lady simply looked down on those men and used those words to deliberately drive them away, which is why I kept my mouth shut."

She was always accustomed to covering for her mistress, interpreting her every move as something deeply profound.

She had genuinely believed that her actions must have had a method behind them.

Who could have guessed, upon hearing her reaction today, that she genuinely hadn't realized a thing.

"I actually missed out on so much without even knowing it?" Wu Xun muttered in a daze.

*Abominable!* Why couldn't people just speak plainly? Someone as pure and straightforward as her simply didn't possess that many hidden machinations; why couldn't they just be direct?

Besides, those suitors clearly didn't understand her at all upon closer inspection, so missing out on them was no great loss.

Wu Xun scrambled together numerous justifications in her mind before firmly concluding, "It was entirely their fault, it had nothing to do with me!"

Hongtang's loyalties always lay unconditionally with her young mistress. She bobbed her head in unprincipled agreement, "Right, it was entirely their fault!"

Smacking her lips, Wu Xun privately felt a twinge of lingering regret.

That Young Master Tian truly wasn't bad; he was well-proportioned and undeniably one of the most handsome gentlemen in all of Chang'an.

She hadn't been entirely devoid of romantic thoughts toward him initially, but she had been scared off by that whole episode, concluding his character was flawed.

Perhaps... if the opportunity arose later, she could still pursue it a bit further?

The topic had strayed far off course. Once her reflections concluded, Wu Xun dragged her attention back to the book.

The plot had progressed to the point where both protagonists had confessed their feelings to one another and frequently used poetry to express their affection.

The sweet everyday interactions made Wu Xun squeal in delight, the smile never leaving her face.

Yet beneath that sweetness, there seemed to be other undercurrents surging in the dark, leaving Wu Xun's heart filled with a vague, lingering unease.