Chapter 4
Chapter 4
“One hundred and fifty tags!”
Exclamations of awe rippled through the crowd below the stage.
I took the exquisite fish lantern and turned around, only to lock eyes with Yun Jian up in the pavilion.
He was leaning lazily against the side of his chair. Today, he wore a snake-shaped ear cuff; as his ink-black hair cascaded down, the silver glinted brighter than the moon.
Yun Jian looked over, a shallow layer of boredom and knowing cynicism floating in his eyes.
The butler was also looking at the fish lantern in my hand with great eagerness.
Everyone assumed I had solved the riddles for Yun Jian’s sake.
“Miss, there is also the fifty taels of silver prize money. Should we deliver it to your manor or…?”
Upon hearing this, I immediately propped the fish lantern against a nearby pillar, pulled open the oversized, custom-sewn pocket at my waist, and beamed.
“Right here!”
The shopkeeper froze.
Did she sew this pocket specifically for the prize money?
I walked a long way in high spirits before someone reminded me that I’d forgotten the fish lantern, so I hurried back to retrieve it.
On the way back, I followed the carriage, grinning happily the entire time.
The butler pulled me to his side. “I couldn’t tell, Xiao Jiang, you’ve got quite a bit of learning in you. The Young Master will surely be very happy to receive this fish lantern.”
I blinked, scratching my head. “Does the Young Master want this lantern?”
“What? Don’t tell me you didn’t participate in the riddle contest for the Young Master?”
I shook my head honestly, but then added generously, “Since the Young Master likes it, I’ll just deliver it to his courtyard in a bit.”
“Anyway, this lantern is all show and no substance.”
A soft thud suddenly came from the carriage beside me.
It sounded like a teacup being slammed heavily onto a table.
That night, I carried the radiant, shimmering fish lantern through the garden to Yun Jian’s courtyard.
He was sitting at a stone table, writing something by himself.
The wind ruffled the papers, so I couldn’t see clearly.
“Young Master, I happened to win this fish lantern today. I heard you liked it, so I’ve come to present it to you.”
Yun Jian stopped writing and tilted his head to look at me. A flash of mean-spiritedness and malice crossed his eyes.
Like a faint, microscopic crack on fine porcelain.
“This Young Master does not accept things given ‘in passing.'”
I gave a dejected “oh” and turned to leave, lantern in hand.
However, a faint, incredulous sneer seemed to drift from behind me.
He didn’t ask me to stay.
***
*She’s stupid enough to be sold at a butcher shop.*
Yun Jian laughed out of sheer irritation, feeling as though his temper had never been this frayed.
When they first met, this woman seemed so calculating, so eager to please, yet he hadn’t expected her to be a total airhead who only occasionally showed a spark of intelligence.
He didn’t actually care about her that much, nor did he like the fish lantern all that much.
But tonight, for some inexplicable reason, it felt as though he had been lured into a trap, his heart stoked with a frustrating fire.
Yun Jian attributed it to the fact that he hadn’t seen anyone this stupid in many years.
He was just about to vent his anger by drawing heavy horizontal and vertical lines over the large pig’s head on the paper.
But then, a gust of wind rushed toward him.
Looking up, he saw the woman had returned.
She was carrying the fish lantern that spilled colorful light like a waterfall, jogging back with a smile.
“Young Master, you actually really like it, don’t you? Here!”
She thrust the fish lantern forward into his hands, smiling and blinking those large eyes-the only feature on her otherwise plain face that could be called clear and beautiful.
“I said it wrong just now, I said it wrong.”
She scratched her head, looking a bit embarrassed and far too obviously fawning.
“Young Master, as soon as I saw this fish lantern, I thought it suited you perfectly, so I worked really hard to solve those riddles.”
*Idiot.*
*A mere flatterer.*
Yun Jian felt disdainful and wanted to deliver his usual biting, sarcastic remarks.
But the shimmering light from the fish lantern suddenly danced across the eyes of the person before him-brilliant, radiant, and exceptionally vivid.
He suddenly remembered that she had the same expression when she was weaving through the crowd, answering the riddles with effortless flow.
While he was dazed, the wind blew the rice paper off the table and slapped it onto her face.
Pig head to pig head.
Yun Jian felt a sudden urge to laugh. The woman peeled off the paper and stared at it for a long while.
Her eyes were bright and wide, filled with confusion.
“Young Master, who did you draw?”
Yun Jian casually stuffed the paper into his sleeve.
“None of your business.”
With that, Yun Jian turned and headed back to his room.
The silver ornaments and jade pendants on his person jingled and chimed as he walked.
*The fish and dragon lanterns danced all night.*
*A thousand trees of flowers bloomed in the dark.*
I stepped over the scattered papers and returned to my own room.
Wrapping myself in a thin quilt for warmth, I flipped open the *New Selections of Ancient Prose* I had bought from the bookstore owner today.
I had been eyeing it for a long time, and now that I had the prize money, I’d wasted no time in buying it.
I spent the night in quiet reading.