Lin Yi’an was startled by his own thoughts. By the time he came back to his senses, he had already reached the entrance of the second courtyard.
The Su family guard at the gate was still polite when he saw him. He clasped his hands and said, “Third Master, are you here to see our young lady? Please wait a moment while I go report it.”
Lin Yi’an pulled the corner of his mouth into a faint smile. “No need. There is also no need to tell your young lady that I was here.” He immediately prepared to instruct the men carrying the sedan to turn back.
He should not have come on this trip. His worry earlier had been far too intense. Thinking back on it now, it was truly inappropriate.
The guard was stunned for a moment. The men carrying the sedan had just crouched down when Su Mei’s sweet voice already came drifting across the central courtyard.
“Fujun, you are awake!”
She did not know when she had come out of the room. As she spoke, she lifted her skirt and trotted over. “I was just thinking about when fujun would wake up. What a coincidence. I came out and saw you right away. We really are of one heart and one mind.”
She ran up to him, leaning forward as she spoke. Her fair face was tinged with a rosy flush, showing no sign at all of the condition Lin Yi’an had worried might worsen.
Only then did Lin Yi’an understand that he had been overly anxious and had worried for nothing.
Su Mei blinked at him, her eyes sparkling as she asked, “Did fujun see those flowers? They are pretty, right? Very pretty, right? Do fujun like them?”
She asked several questions in a row, clearly waiting for his praise. She was lively and clever, irresistibly adorable.
“They are pretty. Very pretty,” Lin Yi’an said with a laugh, answering with two affirmations in a row.
Satisfied, she suddenly threw herself into his arms without warning, lifted her face, and asked again, “Are they prettier than me?”
The ribbon in her hair brushed lightly across his neck, bringing with it a tingling sensation that made his heart flutter.
Lin Yi’an’s heart gave a heavy thump. From his angle, he could see a small patch of fair skin exposed at her neck.
That hint of white startled him so much that he quickly turned his head away. Flustered, he hurriedly lifted her out of his arms and helped her stand upright. He clenched his fist and coughed lightly. “Meimei, do not fool around.”
His gaze was slightly lowered, his jaw taut. The clean, sharp line made his features appear even more striking, concealing his current awkwardness beneath an alluring appearance.
Su Mei praised him without restraint. “Fujun is really handsome. If other young ladies saw you, they would surely fall into love sickness.” She then snorted softly. “But they are too late.”
She raised the corner of her eyes, looking proud and spirited.
Lin Yi’an did not know whether to laugh or cry at her antics. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of Wu Zisen standing under the corridor with a sword in his arms. He coughed again. “I should go back and change my medicine. I will talk to you later…”
“Are you going to say that I am pretty?” the little girl pressed on.
Lin Yi’an truly had no experience dealing with young women. Even with juniors, he had none. Pressed by her questions, he looked quite helpless and finally nodded.
“Pretty. Meimei is the prettiest little girl.”
His voice was gentle, the praise sincere. Su Mei immediately covered her mouth and giggled. Then she suddenly turned her head and shouted at Wu Zisen, “Fujun says I am pretty!”
Lin Yi’an’s ears inexplicably burned. A sense of embarrassment he could not describe rose in his heart. He did not dare linger any longer and ordered the sedan to move.
However, he still did not manage to return to his room. Nanny Hui came to invite him, saying that Princess Jiaxi had an important matter to discuss with him.
Lin Yi’an gathered his emotions and disappeared beyond the courtyard gate together with Nanny Hui. Su Mei stood beneath the moon gate for a long time, her face serious, as if deep in thought.
Princess Jiaxi did not meet him in the main hall. Instead, she summoned him to an octagonal pavilion not far from the guest courtyard.
Bamboo curtains hung around the pavilion, blocking most of the outside view. Princess Jiaxi’s face was expressionless, making it impossible to discern her mood.
Lin Yi’an was carried into the pavilion and greeted her calmly, neither servile nor overbearing.
“There is no need for empty courtesies,” Princess Jiaxi said slowly as she turned her face toward him, her tone cold. “I summoned you to tell you this. Do not harbor any thoughts toward Su Mei. Even if your father wants you to replace Henglǐ, she is not someone of your birth who can match her. The Zhongyi Marquisate would be the first to oppose it.”
Her words were blunt and unrestrained. Only then did Lin Yi’an learn that his father actually had such plans.
The corner of his mouth lifted slightly as he revealed a self mocking smile. “Princess, rest assured.”
He agreed readily, yet for some reason Princess Jiaxi still felt deeply displeased. Her sharp eyes fixed on him. “You do not need to feel resentful either. Although your leg is injured now, with the Duke’s household and my standing, we can still help you find a good marriage. You will come of age in August, correct? Set it before then.”
Lin Yi’an’s mood had not fluctuated much at first. Hearing her patronizing tone and recalling Liu Si’s words that the Crown Prince was growing increasingly dissatisfied with the Lin family, his thoughts turned cold. If not for his legitimate mother’s fondness for schemes and her repeated closeness with Prince Yu, how could the Duke’s household have made the Crown Prince feel threatened?
If this continued, the glory and wealth earned by the Lin ancestors would all be ruined in this woman’s hands.
Thinking of this, even someone as accustomed to endurance as he was could not help revealing a sharp edge.
He lifted his chin slightly and met her unfriendly gaze directly. “Is the princess trying to buy my silence, to seal my mouth, or does the princess think I am pitiful? There is no need for the former, even less for the latter. I am merely a concubine born son and have no value for a marriage alliance.”
“You… How dare you!” Princess Jiaxi had not expected her so-called goodwill to be rejected outright. Worse still, he even mocked her for scheming over the marriage of a concubine born son.
“In the princess’s eyes, I have been audacious for a long time now,” Lin Yi’an said slowly amid her sharp rebuke.
There was no longer the pointed confrontation from before. His tone was calm, as if he were narrating something unrelated to himself.
Princess Jiaxi’s expression changed once more. For a moment, she did not know how to refute him.
Lin Yi’an had already lost interest in further entanglement. When words did not align, there was no need to say more. No matter what he did, he would still be a thorn in his legitimate mother’s eye.
So he would never demean himself completely. Once the Lin family affairs were settled, he would find an opportunity to leave for good. The identity of Lin Third Master was nothing but a burden to him.
“If the princess has no further instructions, I will take my leave.”
“Stop right there!”
After speaking so insolently, he thought he could just leave? Did he truly believe his legitimate mother had no way to deal with him?
“Third Miss, Third Miss, you cannot go in…”
Princess Jiaxi was just about to erupt when the guards’ troubled voices came from outside.
Lin Yi’an quickly looked out.
Through the bamboo curtain, Su Mei’s slender figure appeared hazy and indistinct.
Why was she here?
The thought had barely formed when a scream sounded outside, followed by Su Mei’s crying voice. “Wuwuwu… cousin, he pushed me, he wants to hit me. The princess’s guard wants to hit me!”
The guard, whose hands had been hanging at his sides the entire time, stared wide eyed at the little girl clinging to his feet.
Su Mei only cried louder. “Fujun, fujun… Meimei cannot hold on anymore. My head hurts, my whole body hurts. Am I about to die?”
Wu Zisen, crouching beside her, twitched at the corner of his eye and lowered his voice. “Cousin, that is too exaggerated.”
Su Mei reached out and pinched him, then continued crying in a delicate, pitiful tone.
Exaggerated my foot. She had not even shouted about dying with the child yet.