Li Chu felt his gaze settle on her, sharp and measuring. It made her cheeks burn even hotter.
She finally couldn’t take it anymore. Bracing herself, she looked up and said, “I didn’t hear clearly.”
The moment her eyes met his dark, shadowy pupils, her scalp prickled for no clear reason. It felt like staring straight into a beast’s eyes, as if she might be torn apart and swallowed the next second.
He lowered his gaze, his expression already calm again. “I’ll show you one more time.”
Then he picked up the brush and wrote it out for her again.
Li Chu snapped back to herself and hurriedly lowered her head, carefully watching how he wrote.
She stole another quiet glance at his handsome face. He still looked gentle and refined, like polished jade. What she’d felt earlier must have been her imagination.
Lu Shiji was surprisingly conscientious. He broke down the strokes for her and explained them in detail, patiently demonstrating each one. He was even more patient than the teachers she’d had before.
Li Chu felt embarrassed to treat it lightly and listened with full attention.
When Lu Shiji finished guiding her, Li Chu said very seriously, “I’ll practice my writing properly when I go back.”
Lu Shiji casually placed the wolf-hair brush back on the stand, his voice calm. “Calligraphy isn’t something you master in a day. There’s no need to rush. Take it slowly.”
Li Chu felt genuinely moved. Her cousin was busy with countless affairs every day, yet he was still willing to patiently guide a half-hearted, unrelated student like her. He truly had a kind heart.
No wonder everyone in the capital said that Prince Ning was the finest young gentleman in Yanjing.
“Thank you, Cousin!”
Li Chu happily held her draft pages. “I’ll come again tomorrow!”
With that, she left cheerfully.
As Li Chu turned to go, the loose strands of hair half-draped over her shoulder brushed lightly across his hand along with her hair ribbon.
The familiar warm fragrance suddenly disappeared, and he felt a brief, hollow emptiness in his body.
His fingers rubbed together lightly. His throat bobbed, and his eyes darkened a shade.
He sat back down in the grand chair behind the desk and lifted his gaze toward Xiping.
Xiping was desperately staring at the tips of his shoes, not daring to look up at all, afraid the young lord might notice him.
Seeing how unusually attentive the young lord had been toward the cousin lady, even a fool could guess what was going on.
Since when had the young lord ever been this patient?
“Xiping.”
“Yes,” Xiping answered at once, his voice flustered, eyes still lowered.
“In the future, when the cousin lady comes, there’s no need to announce her. Just invite her in directly.”
Xiping’s heart pounded wildly, and he didn’t dare ask anything. “Yes.”
The next day was a rest day at court. Early in the morning, Lu Shiji went to Shou’an Hall to pay his respects.
Shou’an Hall was especially lively today. The Duke was there as well, sitting with the Duchess to keep the old madam company. Several concubines were present too.
Li Chu, Song Qinghe, and a few of the Lu family’s young ladies were seated in the lower-left area.
“Greetings to Grandmother,” Lu Shiji said, cupping his hands in salute.
The old madam smiled. “Sit quickly. You rarely get a day off and should rest more. You’ve only just returned from Dingzhou, and you must be tired.”
“Thank you for your concern, Grandmother. Since I have a rare day of rest, of course I had to come pay my respects.”
Lu Shiji took the seat at the lower-right of the old madam. When he casually lifted his eyes, he saw Shen Li Chu sitting properly in a round-backed chair.
Her eyes were lowered, looking obedient as she gazed at the fingers resting on her lap. But in truth, she had probably been lost in thought for quite some time.
The old madam spoke up. “I was just about to talk to you about this. Your mother has arranged a marriage for Qinghe. I’ve looked into it, and it seems quite decent. He’s the son of the Vice Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial. The family has a clean reputation, the household is simple, and the young man himself is fairly proper.”
Song Qinghe’s expression shifted slightly, and she quickly looked toward Lu Shiji.
Lu Shiji spoke calmly. “There’s no need to rush Qinghe’s marriage.”
The Duchess’s brow twitched, but she forced a smile.
“Could it be that Jier thinks this match isn’t good enough? This was personally approved by the old madam. For Qinghe to marry into such a family is already very fortunate.”
Song Qinghe was only an adopted daughter of the Duke’s household. Being able to properly marry into an official family at all was already reaching above her station.
And she still dared to be picky?
If the Li family hadn’t known what their own son was like, they wouldn’t have lowered their standards to marry an adopted daughter of low status.
The old madam nodded as well. “Yes, I think the Li family is quite good. If Qinghe marries into that household, she won’t be wronged.”
Madam Shen smiled as she looked at Song Qinghe, her meaning unclear. “Could it be that Qinghe herself is unwilling? It seems this child has been raised beside the old madam for too long, and her expectations have grown higher as well.”
As soon as those words were spoken, the old madam frowned. Did Song Qinghe really look down on a family like this? What kind of family did she think she could marry into?
Song Qinghe hurried to explain, “No, that’s not it. I’m naturally grateful for the old madam’s kindness toward me.”
She looked to Lu Shiji for help.
Lu Shiji said lightly, “Why would the Li family lower their status to form a marriage with an adopted daughter of the Duke’s household?”
She was called an adopted daughter, but in truth, she wasn’t even listed in the family genealogy. She merely lived in the Duke’s residence. Song Qinghe still carried the surname Song, and the Song family had long since declined.
The Duchess’s expression changed slightly, but she smiled and said, “Perhaps Qinghe’s reputation for virtue has spread. And now that Jier is rising quickly at court, who wouldn’t want to take this chance to build a connection with the Duke’s household?”
“The Dingzhou rebel case hasn’t been closed yet. Any family that suddenly approaches the Duke’s household right now needs to be examined carefully.”
Lu Shiji looked at the Duke. “Let’s discuss Qinghe’s marriage at a later time.”
The Duchess quickly said, “I’m only worried that if a young lady waits too long, it’ll be harder to find a suitable match as she gets older.”
The Duke waved his hand. “Enough. Let’s slow it down. The Duke’s household is at a sensitive point right now, so caution is indeed necessary.”
As for whether Song Qinghe might become harder to marry as she got older, he couldn’t be bothered to care.
It was a small matter, nothing worth dwelling on.
The old madam nodded as well. “Then we’ll talk about it again later.”
Only then did Song Qinghe finally let out a breath of relief and look at Lu Shiji with gratitude.
After exchanging a few more polite remarks, the old madam dismissed everyone.
Li Chu slowly walked out of Shou’an Hall, her eyelids so heavy she could barely keep them open.
Today, her aunt had said there was a rest day at court, and that the heir and the Duke would both come to pay their respects to the old madam, so she had to come as well.
She had been sitting stiffly in Shou’an Hall for over half an hour, and no one had spoken to her the entire time.
Chunxing whispered in her ear, “Miss, did you hear earlier? Why did the heir ask for Miss Song’s marriage to be postponed?”
Li Chu yawned. “Obviously because Miss Song doesn’t want to marry.”
Yesterday, when she went to Wenlan Garden, she had already seen Song Qinghe with tears in her eyes. Thinking about it now, she must have gone to her cousin to ask for help because of this matter.
Chunxing widened her eyes. “For her, the Li family is already an excellent match. What could she possibly be unhappy about?”
“What else could it be? It must be because that Young Master Li is ugly!”
Li Chu said this with a perfectly serious expression. “Besides, marriage isn’t something you judge by family background alone. You also have to see whether you like the person. If you don’t like them, then no matter how good the family is, you won’t be happy after marrying in.”
At least, she knew she certainly wouldn’t be.
Chunxing frowned. “Then why would the heir help Miss Song turn down this marriage?”
Li Chu froze for a moment.
Yes… why was that?