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Chapter 25 — Night Meeting
It’s in chaos, my heart is truly in chaos.

As soon as those words were spoken, Yu Mingyao’s gaze started to dart around, and her ears felt as though they’d been plunged into boiling water, burning uncomfortably.

But she couldn’t let it show.

She absolutely couldn’t say to Yanyue:
“Yes, I know, that guy is planning to come sneak into my boudoir tonight. You all, hurry up and play deaf and dumb, pretend you didn’t hear or see anything. Best if you even leave the door unlocked for him tonight.”

If she actually said that out loud, how could she possibly keep her dignity?

Although Yu Mingyao considered herself someone who had lived two lifetimes and seen a fair bit of the world, words so shameful they could make her burrow into the ground were still beyond her ability to say.

“Oh——”

Her eyes fell on some vague empty space, deliberately avoiding Yanyue’s gaze.

“If he cares about you, then just get some good sleep! Take care of your health properly; don’t let down Cheng Qing who saved you.”

As soon as the words left her mouth, Yu Mingyao immediately began to berate herself inwardly.

She truly didn’t use to be like this. She always used to be forthright and direct. Now, perhaps from spending too much time with Pei Shang, not only had she learned his sharp tongue, she had even picked up his petty stubbornness.

It’s really true—bad habits are easy to pick up, but good ones are hard to learn.

While she was reflecting on this, Yanyue, beside her, angrily glared at her.
“Miss, you’ve really turned bad! Brother Cheng is upright and honorable, he doesn’t have those kinds of thoughts. Same with Li Qing!”

“You’re embarrassed yourself, so you’re taking it out on me. I don’t want to bother with you anymore, hmph!”

Yanyue turned and left. No wonder she was upset.

That day, she was just lucky—on a sudden impulse, she smeared some other person’s blood on her face. In a critical moment, Cheng Qing had arrived just in time and blocked a blade for her.

Yanyue considered herself someone who repays kindness, so on the way back, she’d simply paid more attention to Cheng Qing—not at all what Yu Mingyao was imagining!

“Hmph, just because her own heart is a mess, she thinks everyone else is the same.”

Inwardly scoffing, Yanyue tightly shut the doors and windows of her room, ensuring not even a hint of noise could get through.

Outside the window, apricot blossoms drifted down, and all around was utter silence.

Yu Mingyao gazed at the exquisitely crafted small wooden box on the rosewood table, and the corners of her lips couldn’t help but lift again.

How does that man’s mind work? How does he come up with such clever ideas?

Her heart was in turmoil, truly in turmoil. Even her face and ears were burning uncomfortably.

After a long time, she bit her lower lip, forcefully ignoring the heart that felt like it would leap out of her chest, and slowly opened the small wooden box.

Inside lay the dark blue silk handkerchief Pei Shang had tucked into his chest that day, resting quietly at the bottom.

Pei Shang had even thoughtfully padded the bottom with a layer of white paper.

On the paper, besides the silk handkerchief, were two red beans.

“Red beans grow in the southern land,
When spring arrives they sprout a few branches.
May you gather many of them,
For these things are the truest symbols of longing.”

Yu Mingyao picked up the red beans and unconsciously recited the verse aloud.

The red beans in her palm were hard and tiny, yet it felt as if the skin touching them was burning hot.

Ahhhhhhhhhh!

How can Pei Shang be like this!

She flopped onto her couch, burying herself into the brocade quilt. The fine embroidery of orchid patterns on the quilt felt almost coarse and prickly against her face.

But no matter how sharp her usual senses were, right now everything had to give way to her wildly thudding heart.

Her heart was in chaos, truly in chaos.

Yu Mingyao couldn’t stop herself from screaming inwardly. All sorts of tangled emotions were piling up like mountains.

She resented him, was angry at him, but also felt a tiny, tiny bit of fondness and anticipation. In short, her feelings were surging chaotically, all jumbled together.

Exhausted, she gave up resisting, sprawling out in a big star shape, her hand absentmindedly stroking the embroidered pattern.

Suddenly, her fingers brushed against something cool.

Yu Mingyao’s face showed a trace of confusion, and when she looked down—

It was that very same dark blue silk handkerchief Pei Shang had returned to her intact.

“……”

She didn’t dare imagine what this handkerchief had gone through while it was with Pei Shang over these past few days.

Her heart was a mess, truly a mess.

As she tormented herself, night quietly fell.

For the first time, Yu Mingyao felt so anxious. She was still wearing the clothes from the day and hadn’t changed into her sleepwear. But if she kept wearing this, would it make her seem too eager?

But not wearing it—how could that be possible?

No matter how bold she was, she couldn’t bring herself to let an unmarried man see her pre-bedtime appearance.

Besides, although it wasn’t as thin as summer wear, her spring clothes were still only a layer or two of thin fabric, hugging her figure closely.

Even newlywed couples would feel shy in such attire, let alone—

Pei Shang isn’t even my anything!

Yu Mingyao propped a hand on her temple, feeling like she was completely at the mercy of an inexperienced fool.

The lamp was lit, extinguished, then lit again. She paced from the inner room to the outer, and back again.

She didn’t know how long had passed when the surroundings fell utterly silent, so quiet it felt as though she was the only one left in the world. At that moment, faint footsteps slowly approached from afar.

Clearly, the person making the steps was also nervous. Besides being light, the footsteps carried an obvious sneakiness.

Yu Mingyao had been paying attention to outside movements all along and naturally didn’t miss it.

Pressing her lips together, she relaxed her own steps and, like the person outside, tiptoed back into the inner room.

In the stillness, there came two or three soft taps on the window.

Truthfully, it was Pei Shang’s first time doing something like this. He figured he might be the only one among his peers sneaking around like a thief in his own home.

After knocking nervously, he pricked up his ears. For a long time, he heard nothing from inside the room.

“That damned Li Qing, could he have messed up my message? If he did and Yaomei has already gone to bed, what am I going to do?”

Pei Shang grew frustrated. But on second thought—maybe that was fine. At least if she was asleep, she wouldn’t be scared by the shadow of someone lurking outside her window.

Coming here in vain was still better than frightening her and making her ill.

Pei Shang sighed deeply. Even the blades of grass stuck in his hair didn’t bother him anymore as he prepared to head back, disappointed.

Just then, from just beyond the window, a woman’s soft footsteps approached him.

Yes! Yaomei really was waiting for me!

Pei Shang clenched his fists. Bubbles of joy rose from the depths of his heart.

He held his breath, his palms faintly sweaty in the late-night air.

“Why don’t you say something?”

From behind the window came a gentle, drowningly soft female voice.

The heart he’d been holding up all evening, all his earlier frustration and self-loathing, dissipated with that one sentence.

Pei Shang’s tense body relaxed all at once. Leaning lazily on one leg against the window frame, he regained his usual laid-back demeanor.

“Who told Yaomei to get mad at me and not coax me? How come in this world I can coax you, but you can’t coax me?”

His cheek pressed against the window, body tilted lazily. His voice was soft and casual, a faint crease forming at the corner of his lips.

“Being unreasonable again! I wasn’t even mad at you.”

Inside the room, Yu Mingyao sat sideways on the couch, her face less than an inch from the window. Through the narrow gap in the shutters, when neither spoke, they could clearly hear each other’s breaths.

Pei Shang took in a light breath through his nose in the quiet.

“So fragrant,” he lowered his gaze, then asked without waiting for her reply,
“These past two weeks we haven’t seen each other. Did you miss me, Yaomei?”

“I don’t know if you missed me, but I missed you so much…”

Drawing out his words, he covered his chest as his voice thickened with emotion.

“That day my chest inexplicably hurt, and I didn’t know why I was so anxious. I kept wondering what was wrong. I still hoped—surely nothing bad happened to you? But then, a few days later, the letter arrived. And it was you.”

He sighed.
“Yaomei… when you left, you took my soul with you too.”

After the young man earnestly confessed his feelings, Yu Mingyao, as the object of his affections, found herself at a rare loss for words.

Ever since she’d seen those two red beans today, she knew he hadn’t planned to hide it anymore. He had always been straightforward and sincere, his heart plainly on display.

He admired her and wanted to marry her.

It was that simple.

But… inappropriately, an image of those dark blue boots surfaced in her mind.

If she just accepted Pei Shang like this—what about that person?

She frowned in confusion, unsure of what to do, when suddenly the window—cracked slightly open earlier—creaked as Pei Shang pushed it open from the outside.

In the dim moonlight, his face, features indistinguishable, appeared before her.

“Shh,” he gestured when he saw her about to move.
“Don’t close the window. Let me look at you.”

His tone carried a hint of self-mockery:
“During the day, I was too busy sulking to even look at you properly. Now it’s pitch black, just a tiny bit of light. I can’t even clearly see your expression.”

“Then look in the daytime.”

“Daytime?”

Pei Shang gave Yu Mingyao a sidelong glance.
“No way. I’m going back to cry in my room. Who told Yaomei not to pity me, not to comfort me, not even give me a sliver of happiness.”

As soon as he finished, Yu Mingyao wasn’t sure what she felt inside. She didn’t respond right away, and the atmosphere instantly froze.

Previously, Pei Shang hadn’t minded much—even if his bold confession didn’t get a reply, at least she knew his feelings now.

But when she truly stayed utterly unmoved, not even offering a perfunctory response, he genuinely felt a little hurt.

Their shadows, one long and one short, lay side by side on the ground. But though they stood a foot apart, their hearts were worlds away.

“Why are you making yourself sound so pitiful?”

A faint bitter smile crossed Yu Mingyao’s eyes. She reached out, intending to pat his shoulder and comfort him.

But just as her hand extended and hovered in midair, it was firmly grasped by a large hand.

He brought her hand to his cheek, cool from the night breeze.

The man, usually sharp and confrontational, now resembled a gentle kitten, nuzzling her palm again and again, murmuring plaintively:

“Care for me more… look at me more… don’t…”

At that moment, a flicker of something dark flashed in Pei Shang’s eyes. It vanished in an instant, replaced by his previous harmless demeanor.

The hand in his grip was slender and soft, like cotton. Pei Shang nuzzled it until it gradually stiffened—only then did he leisurely let it go.

“The one who saved you… was it a man or a woman? Do I know them?”

In the darkness, Pei Shang asked this question with extreme gentleness, carrying a trace of subtle coaxing. In some ways, he too was an exceptionally gifted student.

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