At the main hall’s entrance, as soon as Wei Luo saw Liang Yu Rong pushing Wei Chang Yin over here, she felt discouraged from the turn of events.

  She strived to stop this for so long, but what was meant to be, will always happen in the end.

  Liang Yu Rong and Wei Chang Yin were approaching closer to her.

  Liang Yu Rong properly called him, “Older brother.” Wei Chang Yin nodded, said a few words with her, and instead of lingering here, he called a servant to bring back to his room.

  Liang Yu Rong watched Wei Chang Yin leave, then she walked to Wei Luo’s side, and doubtfully said, “Ah Luo, I though you were feeling unwell. Why did you still come here?”


  Wei Luo’s expression was solemn. She answered her question with another question, “Where did you go with my eldest cousin?”


  Liang Yu Rong pointed at the small hall. Seeing that Wei Luo was deadly earnest, she though that something serious had happened, so she frankly said, “We went there to listen to a monk speak about scriptures.” She pulled Wei Luo towards the direction of their rooms and jabbered her complaints, “Those scriptures were really hard to comprehend. I almost fell asleep while listening.”


  They slowly walked on the limestone-paved path. The guest rooms at the back of the temple were far away from the front courtyard. On the way back, they saw monks wearing simple robes with yellow silk waistbands. The monks would put their palms together in greeting when they saw them. They also properly returned the monks’ greetings.

  They arrived at the guest rooms. Wei Luo stopped at her room’s door, then she turned her head and asked, “Eldest cousin Chang Yin also gave you candy?”


  Liang Yu Rong smiled and nodded. She thought that Wei Luo didn’t believe her, so she took out the oil paper that she had neatly folded to show that she hadn’t lied, “I decided to give older brother Chang Yin a bag of candy in return. Ah Luo, after I buy it, help me by delivering it to him, okay?”


  Without even thinking about it, Wei Luo blurted out, “No.”


  Liang Yu Rong was stunned. She thought that Wei Luo would definitely agree, but Wei Luo had refused without hesitation. At a complete loss, she asked, “Why?”


  Why? Of course, it was because it would better if those two had less contact. Since they didn’t have many feelings for each other yet, this was time to resolutely make a decision in order to avoid sorrow in the future. Wei Luo pushed open her door, walked inside, “Eldest cousin Chang Yin lives in Banyan Courtyard and rarely comes out. I also rarely see him. It won’t be easy to deliver the candy to him.”


  This reason was really too half-hearted. Who would believe it? They live in the same residence. How could it be difficult for them to see each other? In the end, Wei Luo just didn’t want to help her! Liang Yu Rong puffed out her cheeks and stared at the back of Wei Luo’s head. Slightly angry, she said, “If you don’t help me, then I’ll deliver it to him myself!”


  Wei Luo stamped her feet, then she carefully thought about the words she would say. If she helped Liang Yu Rong deliver the candy, the two of them wouldn’t meet at least. If Liang Yu Rong delivered the candy herself, it was more likely than not that something would happen between them. If she looked at it that way, it would be safer if she helped her.

  Wei Luo turned back midway and conceded, “Okay, I’ll help you deliver it.”


  Liang Yu Rong immediately smiled and happily thanked her.

  ——–


  There was a peach tree grove behind Qian Temple that occupied more than half of the mountainside. Wei Luo had seen it on the way here in the carriage. The blossoming peach flowers were beautiful and would charm people into confusion.

  She had already discussed with Liang Yu Rong in advance. After they eaten the food with the monks at noon, when everyone was resting in the temple, they would stroll around in the peach tree grove. After lunch was over, Wei Luo arranged everything properly. Just as they was preparing to leave, when she pushed open her door to go outside, she saw that Liang Yu Rong had also invited Wei Chang Yin!

  Wei Chang Yin and Wei Chang Hong were together underneath a nearby banyan tree. One was gentle and refined. The other was tall and handsome.

  Liang Yu Rong led Wei Luo forward. In her heart, Wei Luo wasn’t willing, but this feeling wasn’t shown on her face. She forced herself to smile as she asked, “Why did eldest cousin Chang Yin also come?”


  Liang Yu Rong’s hands were behind her back. She explained with a smile, “I was the one that invited older brother Chang Yin. I heard that older brother Chang Yin usually stays at home and rarely goes out, so I wanted to bring him with us to look at the peach blossoms.

  At noon, on the path from leaving the main hall, Liang Yu Rong had invited Wei Chang Yin to go to the rear mountain with them. At that time, Wei Chang Yin had declined. He didn’t want to bother them while they were having fun. But, Liang Yu Rong wasn’t discouraged. What did she say to get him to come?

  Oh, she said, “How do you know that you’ll bother us? Does older brother Chang Yin not want to come because he dislikes us and think we’ll bother him? I heard that you like peacefulness. Actually, we’re not noisy either. You’ll know if you come with us this one time. The peach flowers only blossom once a year. By lucky coincidence, we were able to get here in time. It would be a pity to not look at them.”


  Like Wei Luo, she had been clever and eloquent since she was a child and could change someone’s mind in a few sentences.

  Hearing her words, Wei Chang Yin could only laugh. The sound of his laughter made a person feel at ease. In the end, he agreed.

  Now, he was sitting in his wheelchair with a calm face. There was a smile on his handsome face, “Yu Rong said that peach flowers on the mountain were blossoming well, so I came here without an invitation. Does Ah Luo not welcome me?”


  Liang Yu Rong was standing at the side. Her bright smiling expression showed that she was clearly in a very good mood.

  In this type of situation, could Wei Luo say the words “not welcome”? She nodded and against her own feelings, she said, “How could that be possible? Of course, I welcome eldest cousin to come with us.”


  After pondering for a moment, he smiled and said, “It’s not early anymore. Let’s just go.”


  The group of people walked towards the back of the temple. The peach tree grove wasn’t far from Qian Temple. They each only took a servant girl or boy.

  Wei Luo was walking at the back of the group. She looked at the people in front of her and was lost in her thoughts.

  Liang Yu Rong had a glib tongue and an easy-going temperament. A person wouldn’t feel bored or depressed in her company. Her personality was very complementary with Wei Chang Yin’s. One was witty and lively. The other was gentle and calm. As she was speaking, Wei Chang Yin peacefully listened to her on the side. The picture from behind was also very beautiful. If they weren’t destined to an unhappy ending, they would be really a good pair.

  Wei Luo recalled the memories from her previous life.

  She had just returned to Duke Ying’s residence to find her relatives and had been driven away by Du-shi and Wei Zheng before entering the residence. She could only hide near the corner gate and wait for Wei Kun to return home. Later, she wasn’t able to meet Wei Kun. Instead, she met Liang Yu Rong.

  At that time, the marquis and his wife had already arranged a marriage for Liang Yu Rong with another person. But Liang Yu Rong’s heart couldn’t give up on Wei Chang Yin, so she came to Duke Ying’s residence to see him. Wei Chang Yin never appeared. She stubbornly and persistently stood at the corner gate while silently crying. She kept crying and crying. It was probably because she felt too hopeless, so in the end, she crouched down and curled up into a ball. Her body kept twitching. She had normally been a carefree person, but now she didn’t have any smiles left. She was only left with numbness and empty of all hope.

  In the end, she wasn’t able to keep waiting until she saw Wei Chang Yin. At dusk, people from Marquis Ping Yuan’s residence took her back.

  If they were doomed to an unhappy ending, then no matter what, Wei Luo couldn’t let her fall in love with Wei Chang Yin.

  After they walked through Qian Temple’s back gate, there was a small descending path. There were brambles on both sides of the path and only the center of the path was safe for walking. Fortunately, this path was rather flat and wasn’t too narrow. The path would be able to accommodate two people if they were walking shoulder to shoulder.

  Wei Luo walked closed to Liang Yu Rong the entire way and wouldn’t let her come in contact with Wei Chang Yin. Fortunately, Liang Yu Rong didn’t have the slightest suspicion and their stroll could be counted as smooth.

  About an hour later, their horizon widened. Not far away, there was a grove of trees with blossoming peach flowers. The light pink petals were gorgeous. At first glance, the scene resembled a painted scroll that was painted in thick ink and bright colors. As they approached and entered the peach tree grove, flower petals continuously fluttered down. Blown by the wind, the flower petals spiraled in front of them and they were hit by the fragrance of the flowers.

  A flower petal fell onto Wei Luo’s head. Chang Hong lifted his hand to pick it off. As he looked at her, he asked, “Ah Luo, are you not feeling well?”


  Her face didn’t look good. Her lips were pale and it seemed as if she was enduring an enormous pain.

  Indeed, Wei Luo really wasn’t feeling well. She had overestimated herself. Today was the first day of her period and her body was very weak. She had already climbed such a long mountain path this morning, then she used up a lot of energy to walk down to here. She was exhausted and her stomach hurt dreadfully. She whimpered and had Jin Lu support her with walking to the small pavilion in front of them. “I’m slightly tired… I’m going to sit here to rest for a bit.”


  But she didn’t look like she was only “slightly tired”. She sat down on the stone bench inside the pavilion. Her head was drooping and she looked unhappy.

  Wei Chang Hong nervously followed her here and asked, “Are you really only slightly tired? You’re not feeling uncomfortable anywhere?”


  She nodded, closed her eyes, and muttered, “Really… Go look for eldest cousin to play with. I’ll be fine after resting here for a bit.”


  Wei Chang Hong frowned. He wasn’t willing to leave. “You’re not feeling well. I’ll stay here to keep you company.”


  It would be too shameful to tell him about such a private thing. Wei Luo firmly pushed him out. Wei Chang Hong didn’t have any other options. He could only shake his head to show that he didn’t like this idea before leaving.

  After she was the only left in the pavilion, Jin Lu attentively asked, “Miss, this servant has brought ginger tea. Do you want to drink a cup of tea to feel warmer? It’s chillier on mountains. Or is it hurting because of the cold air?”


  Seeing that she didn’t object, Jin Lu carried over a food box decorated with red, autumn plum flowers, opened the box, took out the warm tea from inside, poured it into a rose patterned tea cup, and brought it over to her. “It’s still warm. Miss, drink it while it’s still warm.”


  At this time, Wei Luo couldn’t think of any reasons for her to leave when they had just recently arrived here. As soon as she thought about how she would have to walk uphill if she wanted to go back, she felt that life was meaningless. She took the teacup and slowly sipped the tea until it was finished. In the end, she leaned over the table. One hand covered her stomach and the other hand cushioned her head. She closed her eyes to recuperate until she regained her composure.

  During this period, Liang Yu Rong had also come here twice to look at her. Seeing that she was in a poor condition, Liang Yu Rong didn’t bother her. No one could help with this type of thing. Early this year, Liang Yu Rong also had her first period. One time, she didn’t pay attention to the cold weather and also felt this painful. She really empathized with Wei Luo’s pain.

  Wei Luo’s body gradually became warmer from drinking the ginger tea. Her pain was somewhat alleviated and it didn’t hurt as much as when it first started. With her eyes closed, she thought about resting here for a while before leaving. Suddenly, there was a warm hand on her forehead checking her temperature.

  That slender hand was strong and healthy. She immediately knew it was a man’s hand. She thought it was Chang Hong’s hand, so she quietly whimpered and buried her head in the crook of the man’s arm. She softly and weakly said, “Chang Hong, don’t move… I don’t feel well.”


  The hand paused in mid-air. Shortly after, instead of taking back his hand, he touched and rubbed her ear and said in soothing and sweet tone, “What’s wrong? Little one, is your body feeling uncomfortable?”


  This voice…


  She looked up and saw a pair of eyes that seemed to be smiling. It was really Zhao Jie! She asked in surprise, “Big brother, why did you come here too? When did you get here?”


  Zhao Jie very naturally sat down next to her, rested his chin on his hand, and said, “Didn’t you say there was a peach tree grove behind the temple and the blossoming peach flowers were beautiful? By chance, this prince wasn’t busy and came here to see them.”


  She honestly blurted out, “Oh, I forgot.”


  Her condition wasn’t good today and her mind wasn’t thinking fast. It was normal that she didn’t immediately remember her previous words.

  Zhao Jie raised his eyebrows, thought of Wei Luo’s wilted and drowsy appearance when he first came here, thoughtfully looked at her, and asked again, “Are you not feeling well?”


  Wei Luo pursed her lips. Her tender cheeks became slightly red. She didn’t want to tell him. After all, it wasn’t easy to speak about this type of truth, so she quickly thought of an excuse, “I was too tired from walking down, so I came here to rest for a while.”


  Zhao Jie’s dark eyes captured the shyness that flashed over her face and thought of the red smear he had seen on her skirt this morning. He could guess what was wrong and only calmly curved his lips. There were many things that women found embarrassing to mention. He wouldn’t force her to talk about this issue.

  No far away, Liang Yu Rong was pushing Wei Chang Yin’s wheelchair and walking underneath the peach trees. The wheelchair rolled over the ground that was sprinkled with flower petals and embedded the flowers into the soil so that even the soil became fragrant. Wei Chang Hong was walking behind them. He wasn’t good at conversations, so he didn’t say much and only quietly followed them.

  Wei Luo looked at them. Just as she was about to say good-bye to Zhao Jie, she heard him say, “Ah Luo, if you’re not feeling well, I’ll bring you back to Qian Temple.”


  Wei Luo subconsciously wanted to refuse. How could she leave behind Chang Hong and Liang Yu Rong? They said they would look at the peach blossoms together. How could she go back by herself?

  But, in the next moment, Zhu Geng appeared out of nowhere with a jujube red horse. Zhao Jie took the reins from him, then he turned his head towards her and said, “This is the prince’s personal horse. You can use him to go up the mountain.”


  “…”


  To be honest, Wei Luo really wanted to accept.

  If she weren’t riding a horse, then she would have to walk back up to Qian Temple. It was such a long mountain path. With her current strength, she definitely wouldn’t be able to walk back.

  While she was sitting there and struggling with this dilemma, before she had time to decide, Zhao Jie came forward and lifted her up onto the horse by holding her by her waist. He held back his smile and said, “This prince will have Zhu Geng tell them. They’ll understand.”


  Wei Luo grabbed the horse’s mane, held herself up, pursed her lips, and finally nodded.

  Zhao Jie didn’t let Jin Lu follow them. He walked in front of the horse and personally held the reins and left the pavilion area with her.

  Sitting on this horse, she was able to see the peach tree grove’s entire scenery at this height. The fluttering peach flower petals fell on Wei Luo’s body. She looked forward to watch Zhao Jie’s back. She tilted her head and unwittingly sunk into soul-searching thoughts. His shoulders were broad and his back was straight. He clearly had a noble status and a highborn temperament, but against expectations, he was willing to lead a horse for her.

  They walked deeper and deeper. She already couldn’t see the pavilion behind them. The peach flowers above her were in full bloom. The fragrance of the flowers assailed her nose with each breath.

  She felt that something seemed off and she called out, “Big brother.”


  Zhao Jie turned around. His voice was magnetically attractive as he said, “Hmm?”


  She asked, “Aren’t we going back? This path doesn’t seem right?”


  Zhao Jie smiled and explained, “This is a shortcut. After we leave the peach tree grove, we’ll see a hot spring. That’s where we’ll start walking up the mountain.

  She made a noise of comprehension. She was pleasantly surprised from hearing the two words “hot spring”. She had soaked in hot baths before, but she had never seen a natural hot spring. She didn’t know what it would look like and was immediately full of curiosity.

  They soon left the peach tree grove and saw a naturally formed hot spring. Steep and rugged sides of the mountain surrounded the hot spring on all but one side. There was only one way to enter and exit. There were many stones piled together at the side of the pocket-sized hot spring. The warm steam that rose from the surface of the water directly hit their faces and was very tempting.

  Wei Luo came down from the horse, walked to the hot spring, and enviously looked at it. If Zhao Jie wasn’t here, she would want to take a soak in the hot spring. But, then she remembered that her situation was special today. Even if Zhao Jie wasn’t here, she still couldn’t go into the hot spring. As a result, her thoughts about it ended and she felt better. Seeing the smooth and beautiful stones near the hot spring, she couldn’t resist picking up one of the stones. When she held the stone in the palm of her hand, the warmth that came from the surface of the stone pleasantly surprised her. “It’s actually warm.”


  At her side, Zhao Jie smiled when he saw her pleasantly surprised expression, “Are you still in a hurry to go back?”


  She shook her head honestly. This hot spring was more attractive than she had thought. She wanted to stay here longer. Her eyes turned and she quickly thought of a method. Her pink lips smiled as she earnestly asked him, “Big brother, I want to soak my feet. You can’t look. Could you wait over there?” As she said this, she pointed at a nearby thicket.

  The warm water would drive away the soreness in her legs and feet. In addition, a natural hot spring would be able to treat slight ailments. If she could soak her feet in this water, it would be really good.

  Zhao Jie looked at her for a moment, then he nodded and said, “Okay.”


  She didn’t feel assured, so she warned again, “If anyone comes, you have to stop him first, then tell me.”


  She looked very commanding when she was issuing her orders. He laughed and took her at her words, “Got it!”


  He walked to the place that she had pointed, stood underneath the trees, calmly leaned against a tree, and smiled as he looked at the nearby girl. Wei Luo’s back was facing him. A pair of pink shoes embroidered with a peony pattern was left on the shore after she took off her shoes and socks. Her feet were soaking in the hot spring and her small body was curled up. There was definitely a satisfied look on her face at the moment.

  Wei Luo picked up the warm stone, wrapped it up in cloth, placed it on her stomach, and immediately felt the warmth spreading throughout her body. Her fatigue and pain were greatly alleviated.

  She sighed in contentment and suddenly felt somewhat unwilling to leave here.

  Zhao Jie waited underneath the tree for 15 minutes. The girl in the hot spring hadn’t moved. At first, he thought she had forgotten about the time, so he waited another 15 minutes. However, she still didn’t move away from the hot spring. Zhao Jie didn’t notice there was something wrong until her little head drooped and her body senselessly tilted to the side.

  He reached her in a few steps and stopped her petite shoulders from falling down. The girl’s eyes were closed and her cherry lips were slightly open. She had actually fallen asleep!

  He laughed involuntarily and helplessly scratched his nose. She could even fall asleep here. She really was too careless!

  It wouldn’t be okay for her to continue soaking here. He carried her out of the hot spring and placed her on a nearby flat stone. When her white jade feet were pulled out of the water, the water droplets slid down from her feet and dripped down into the grass. Instead of placing her feet on the ground, he placed them on his legs. He took out his handkerchief and carefully wiped away the water on her feet. Everything about her was lovable. Even her feet were better looking than other people’s. Her feet were tender and pale. Her ten toes were cute and as smooth as crystals. Her toenails were slightly pink and tempted a person to linger and fondle admiringly.

  Zhao Jie’s eyes darkened. His thumb stopped on her toes and gently hovered there. A long time later, he let go of her feet and put on her socks and shoes.

  She must have been really tired. She didn’t even wake up from these actions. He placed her on the horse, then mounted the horse and sat behind her. His long arms stretched out and took her into his arms. They rode the horse up the mountain. Who knew what Wei Luo was dreaming as she fidgeted in his embrace with her cheeks close to his chest. She finally found a comfortable spot as she wrapped her arms around his thin and strong waist and continued to sleep.

  Zhao Jie’s dark eyes deepened. One hand was around her waist. The other hand was tightly holding the reins. His palms felt hot and emitted a burning heat.

  As they approached closer to Qian Temple, the speed of the horse became slower and slower.

  When there was still a distance from the back gate, Zhao Jie tightened the reins to stop the horse. He hugged the girl in his arms closer, leaned over, carefully looked at her for a moment, and whispered into her ear, “Ah Luo?”


  Wei Luo didn’t respond. Her little face was peaceful. She was still serenely sleeping.

  Zhao Jie gazed at her pure white face. She was in his arms and heart. This small girl occupied his entire heart. From the time that he knew she had her first period, the feelings that he had been oppressing for a long time started to bubble up and it was almost at the point that he couldn’t control them.

  She finally grew up. He impatiently thought about turning her into his.

  After looking at her for a long time, he finally lowered his head and gently dropped a kiss on her forehead.

  The girl was still sleeping without showing any reaction.

  He straightened his body up and felt that this was kiss wasn’t close to being sufficient. He wanted her too much and had endured for too long. He already reached his limits. He looked at her tender, pink lips and moved closer and closer. The tip of his nose was touching the tip of her nose. Slowly, with restraint, he kissed her lips.

  His dark eyes looked at her. It was unfortunate that her eyes were closed and she couldn’t see the emotions in his eyes, much less his hidden tempestuous emotions.

  He extended his tongue to lick her lips. Not only was her body soft, she was also unbelievably soft here. He didn’t stay for long. He was worried that if he stayed longer he wouldn’t be able to control himself. He straightened up, tightly held her waist, and deeply breathed into her neck.

  After he finally calmed down the desire in his heart, he jumped down from the horse, and carried her back to her room.

  At this time, Wei Chang Hong and the others hadn’t returned yet. Zhao Jie arrived at the courtyard for female guests, asked which room Wei Luo was staying, and walked to her room. He pushed open the door, walked into her inner room, gently put her down on the bed, and covered her with a blanket. He stood near her bed for a while. He rubbed the red birthmark between her eyebrows before turning around and leaving.

  Shortly after Zhao Jie left, there was movement in the bed.

  Wei Luo’s thick and long eyelashes fluttered and she slowly opened her eyes.

  (Note: I haven’t read a novel that focuses so much about the attractiveness of feet until this one.