Chapter 27: The Lake Over There

  Behind the white silk curtain, there was a pavilion where five or six young ladies sat inside. Some were eating fruit and covering their mouths to laugh at something on the other side of the lake. Others furrowed their brows and held pens, thinking about something. Judging from their clothes, they were either rich or noble, probably all daughters of high-ranking officials in Kyoto. Among them was a girl wearing a light yellow tight-fitting jacket, with eyes exceptionally bright, like half-transparent Western Ocean jade. She was Ye Ling'er, the only daughter of the Kyoto Guardian, whom Fan Xian had caught a glimpse of from afar outside Kyoto.

  Ye Ling'er's gaze swept towards the lake and then turned back to ask Fan Ruo: "Ruo, did that unsightly thing from your family come today too?"

  Fan Ruo listened to this and a fire ignited in her heart, she heavily slammed the brush on the desk and calmly said: "Ye Ling'er, usually your mouth is like those knives and guns at your house... having some edges is fine, but today you've come back from which sauce workshop again, smelling of so many flavors?"

  The girls in the pavilion heard this voice, and suddenly they all quieted down. No one expected that Miss Fan, who was known for her gentle words and warm heart, would also have a moment like this.

  Ye Ling'er had a certain reason to be extremely disgusted with the illegitimate son of the Fan family, so she was very rude when speaking earlier. Now seeing the gentle and soft-spoken Miss Fan speak to her in such a harsh tone, she snorted twice, anger rising to her head, but for a moment couldn't find words to counterattack.

  Rou Jia County Master was grinding ink beside Fan Ruo, listening to the conversation between the two girls, and smiled: "You two are usually very good, why today you seem to have eaten sulfur." Rou Jia County Master was the youngest among these girls, with the most noble status, but she was born with a gentle temperament, so when she spoke, it made the two in the "atmosphere" unable to continue for a while.

  Ye Ling'er coldly snorted and said: "Who knows what happened to Miss Fan today."

  Fan Ruo Ruo smiled slightly, suppressing her anger, her long eyelashes twitching. Although she was a noblewoman and known as a talented lady, at the end of the day, she was just a young woman in her early twenties. Who could bear how much in their heart? She replied gently: "Brother Yu Sheng, I wouldn't dare be rude."

  Ye Ling'er coldly smiled and said: "Where am I being impolite? Is it that the one who came with you today has already acknowledged their ancestors and been added to the Fan family tree?"

  Fan Ruo's eyes sparkled with intelligence, and she naturally knew that Ye Ling'er was venting her anger at her brother. She smiled coldly and didn't respond, walking out of the pavilion instead. For some reason, Ye Ling'er followed her. Roujia County's mistress let out a soft "ah" but didn't know what to do. The other girls in the pavilion also didn't know who Ye Ling'er was talking about, nor did they understand why the two had suddenly become angry, and they were all confused.

  Outside the pavilion, the maids did not follow up. Fan Ruo's words were more direct, and her face sank as she said: "You being close to Miss Lin is your business, her not wanting to marry my brother is her business. But if you speak disrespectfully to my brother again, don't blame me for no longer considering our past relationship."

  Ye Ling'er scrunched up her nose in a very pretty way and complained, "Yesterday when you came to my house, I told you that Chen'er absolutely didn't want to marry your brother. I asked you to go back and talk to him about it, but instead you brought him to the Duke's residence today. Don't think I don't know what kind of ideas your family has, probably just wanting to take advantage of this poetry gathering to steal some fame, in order to..." She stopped talking, extremely angry, and flung her sleeve.

  Fan Ruo saw her expression, sighed in her heart, and found that these young ladies indeed looked at things as her brother said, extremely simple. She said: "Who do you want me to tell? Father or brother? You also know that for people like us, marriage is even more impossible for us to decide ourselves."

  Ye Ling'er bit her lower lip and said with a hint of expectation: "...Or else, let your brother leave Kyoto."

  Fan Rou furrowed her brow and looked at her, finding the other's words to be somewhat absurd and laughable. She didn't realize that she might have been influenced by Fan Xian, so she seemed much more mature, but the other was still that naive aristocratic girl: "Stop spouting such nonsense."

  Ye Ling'er gazed at her and coldly said: "What identity does your brother have? What identity does my sister Lin have?"

  Fan Ruo smiled and said: "My brother has a father but no mother, your sister Lin has neither father nor mother, what identity? Still this kind of identity."

  Although Miss Na Lin is the illegitimate daughter of the prime minister, the prime minister does not dare to acknowledge her and cannot acknowledge her. As for her mother, it is a secret that Qing Guo dares not speak of - so it's not wrong to say that she has no father or mother.

  Ye Ling'er seemed to have not expected that under Fan Ruo's smiling face, the words he spoke were so sharp and piercing. She was furious, her lips trembling slightly as she suppressed her voice and said viciously: "Do you think this marriage is already settled? Who knows what unexpected events will occur in the future."

  Fan Ruo's heart was slightly chilled, but her face still wore a warm and gentle smile. She took a step forward, closing the distance between herself and Ye Ling'er, and replied with an air of suppressed warning: "You may not be very clear about my brother, but I advise you not to do anything improper. As for this marriage...I don't think it's settled either. Perhaps after Brother sees that Lin family miss whom he has a soft spot for, who knows, he might just flee the capital immediately."

  Ye Ling'er, despite having a family-transmitted martial arts cultivation, was gradually losing momentum in front of this weak and delicate woman: "Just because of your brother, you dare to pick on Chen Er?"

  Fan Ru sighed and said with an expression similar to Fan Xian's occasional demeanor: "I just don't understand, this is a matter between the Fan family and her family, why are you in such a hurry?"

  Ye Ling'er thought for a moment, lowered her posture and said softly: "You also know that Lin's sister is not in good health. Since so, why must you go against her wishes and let her marry someone she doesn't want to?"

  This remark hit Fan Ruo's heart, which girl is not good at spring? Which girl doesn't want to marry the person she wants to marry? Empathizing with her, Fan Ruo also knew that Lin's miss who couldn't grasp her own love was indeed a bit pitiful, but... "This matter is decided by adults first, and then by brother's opinion. I don't have any say in it, Miss Ye."

  She smiled and responded with the last sentence.

  At this time, Rong Jiajun finally worried about the conflict between them, walked out of the pavilion to find them, saw that they seemed to be fine, and couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief, sweetly saying: "Let's go back."

  Fan Ruo suddenly calmed down and said softly, "Miss Ye, I heard that your friend is not feeling well. Coincidentally, my father knows a famous doctor. Would it be convenient for him to visit your friend's residence?"

  (This chapter must exist, to explain some things. About poetry, it's actually like this, many poems can't be copied, such as "West Lake is better than West Zither", and so on. Recently the weather has been hot and humid, my mood has been inexplicably gloomy, so I've been responding less in the book review section, please bear with me, there's another chapter coming soon, tomorrow there will only be two chapters left, thank you for your understanding.)