“Your Highness… you didn’t leave?” Su Yaoyao was slightly surprised.
“This is a place for listening to sutras,” Xiao Chenyan said lightly. “Why would I leave?”
He stepped closer and stopped in front of her.
The distance was so near that Su Yaoyao could smell the faint sandalwood scent on him and see the reflection of her slightly reddened eyes in his gaze.
“Crying?” he asked.
“No,” Su Yaoyao turned her face away.
Xiao Chenyan was silent for a moment, then suddenly reached out.
His fingertips brushed lightly against the corner of her eye.
Warm, rough with thin calluses.
“It’s wet here,” he said, retracting his hand, voice calm.
Su Yaoyao bit her lip, saying nothing.
“If you were upset, why didn’t you scold him back?” Xiao Chenyan asked. “With your eloquence, it wouldn’t have been difficult to make him feel even more embarrassed.”
“What good would scolding him do?” Su Yaoyao raised her eyes, still glimmering with unshed tears, though her mind had regained clarity. “A dog bites me, do I bite back?”
A faint smile flickered across Xiao Chenyan’s eyes.
“You are clear-headed,” he remarked.
He turned, took a sutra from the shelf, and handed it to her:
“Diamond Sutra. If your heart is uneasy, try copying it.”
Su Yaoyao took the heavy book, its thick pages cool under her fingers.
“Your Highness, are you comforting me?” she tilted her head, curious.
“In a way,” Xiao Chenyan paused, “and perhaps making amends.”
“Making amends?”
“I shouldn’t have eavesdropped just now,” he admitted. “Though the Sutra Pavilion is my place, it was still disrespectful.”
Su Yaoyao smiled.
This man… was quite interesting.
“Then I accept,” she said, holding the sutra close. The prayer beads on her wrist swung slightly. “But Your Highness… as you heard earlier, the Second Prince said… you would never be moved by a woman in this life.”
She lifted her eyes, looking directly at him:
“Is that true?”
Xiao Chenyan’s fingers twitched—empty now, as the beads had already been given away.
“The Buddha says, it must not be spoken,” he evaded.
Su Yaoyao was persistent. “Then I’ll ask another question.”
She stepped closer, lowering her voice:
“Your Highness, the prayer beads you gave me… was it really just to… make amends?”
Xiao Chenyan lowered his gaze, watching her.
The morning light slanted through the window, casting delicate patterns across her face. Her eyes were bright, probing, mischievous, with a subtle… hint of expectation.
“Su Yaoyao,” he said slowly.
“Hm?”
“You ask too many questions.”
With that, he turned and walked away.
Su Yaoyao froze for a moment, then hurried to follow: “Your Highness hasn’t answered me!”
Xiao Chenyan’s steps did not falter; his voice drifted back with the wind:
“The answer… think for yourself.”
Su Yaoyao stood still, watching his lean back disappear deeper into the pavilion. She smiled softly.
Think for myself, huh.
She looked down at the beads on her wrist, then at the Diamond Sutra in her arms.
“Think for myself…” she whispered, fingertips brushing the beads.
“After all…”
“There is a long time ahead.”
On the way back to the manor from Xiangguo Temple, Su Yaoyao closed her eyes to rest.
The beads on her wrist swayed gently with the motion of the carriage, the rosewood clicking faintly.
Her fingers unconsciously stroked the smooth beads as her mind replayed the day’s events.
Xiao Chenyan was unlike any man she had ever met—transparent, strong, and… remarkably handsome.
This kind of person… she wondered what he would be like in more private, intimate moments…
Lost in thought, the carriage suddenly jolted.
“Miss, there seems to be a blockage ahead,” the driver’s voice called.
Su Yaoyao lifted a corner of the curtain to see.
Outside the Yongning Marquis’ mansion, a crowd had gathered. Faint cries of women and shouts of men could be heard.
Several servants struggled to hold someone back—the scene chaotic.
“Go around the back,” Su Yaoyao said, lowering the curtain.
As the carriage turned, a familiar voice pierced the noise:
“Liu Xinghua! Come out! Your brother is about to get beaten, are you just going to watch?”
It was Lady Liu’s brother, Liu Dafu.
Su Yaoyao frowned slightly and gave Jingzhe a subtle signal.
Jingzhe understood, silently jumping from the carriage to blend into the crowd and investigate.
Soon, he returned.
“Miss, it’s Lady Liu’s brother causing trouble at the front gate. He says… the Yongning Marquis’ manor cheated him out of his silver, and he wants justice.”
“Cheated him out of silver?” Su Yaoyao sneered. “Did Granny Lin get involved?”
“Yes,” Jingzhe said softly. “Today the original owner of the ‘Ancient Jade from the Previous Dynasty’ came to redeem it. Liu Dafu brought fake silver. According to the pawnshop rules, he owes three times the amount. Since he can’t pay, he caused a scene at the manor.”
Su Yaoyao’s lips curved. “Were the people reliable?”
“Don’t worry, Miss. They can’t trace it back to us. Fifteen thousand taels—enough to teach him a lesson.”
“Heh, serves him right for taking it.” Su Yaoyao paused. “And Lady Liu?”
“She’s inside and hasn’t come out. The old steward is dealing with it. But it looks like Liu Dafu won’t leave without the money.”
Su Yaoyao pondered briefly. “Go to the back. Ignore him.”
“But Miss, if this escalates, the manor’s reputation…”
“Reputation?” Su Yaoyao laughed. “A concubine’s family member gambling and incurring debts—what does it have to do with the Marquis’ legitimate daughter? If anyone should be embarrassed, it’s Lady Liu and her father.”
She leaned against the carriage wall, lightly tapping the Diamond Sutra:
“The bigger the scene, the better. Once Father can’t handle it, he’ll remember… who really can solve his problems.”
Sure enough, that night the Yongning Marquis summoned Su Yaoyao to the study.
The atmosphere inside was tense.
Marquis Su Cheng’an sat in the Grand Tutor chair, face dark as iron.
Lady Liu knelt at his feet, crying inconsolably.
“Marquis, I really didn’t expect my brother to do such a thing… The pawnshop was my family’s only asset. If he can’t repay, he’ll face the law!” she sobbed, clutching Su Cheng’an’s robe.
Su Cheng’an waved her off irritably: “Facing the law is his own fault! Gambling, taking stolen goods—every one of these violates the law! Now he made a scene at the front gate; all of Beijing knows the Yongning Marquis has such relatives!”
“Marquis…” Lady Liu tried to plead, but Su Cheng’an cut her off.
“Enough!” he said, turning to Su Yaoyao, who had just entered. His brows furrowed further.
“Yaoyao, you saw what happened today. The Liu family…”
“Father, what are you trying to say?” Su Yaoyao asked calmly. “The debts owed by my aunt’s brother—does the manor need to pay them?”
“Of course not!” Su Cheng’an denied immediately, then softened. “It’s just… since it’s your aunt’s family, if it really comes to court, the manor would look bad.”
Su Yaoyao inwardly smirked.
Now he cares about appearances? When he indulged Lady Liu in misappropriating her mother’s dowry, he never thought about appearances.
“So Father means… he wants me to pay this sum?” she asked bluntly.