Madam Miao said earnestly, "When it comes to your looks, they could certainly be called devastatingly beautiful; I believe even if every unparalleled beauty from ancient times until now stood together, my daughter would absolutely rank in the top ten! Then there’s the family background, renowned throughout the world, few can match it! Even a royal princess in the mundane, secular world pales in value compared to you! Your temperament is gentle and refined, and in arts and martial prowess, you are a rare prodigy seldom seen in a millennium... Yet this man not only failed to feel flattered, but actually chose to refuse! What could be the reason for this..."

Hearing these words, Miao Xiaomiao couldn't help but fall into deep thought. Her mother’s description might be slightly exaggerated, but it was fundamentally true. Since she possessed so many advantages, why did Mo Junye still refuse? This was precisely what baffled her endlessly.

“Mother… what exactly is the reason?” Miao Xiaomiao pondered for a long time but still couldn't fathom it, asking with evident distress.

“Alas… one is always blinded by being too close to the issue. The reason is perhaps the simplest—it’s directly linked to the coldness in his attitude immediately following that joke you mentioned today…” Madam Miao sighed deeply…

“This… what is happening? How can it be the same reason?” Miao Xiaomiao exclaimed in shock.

“The possessor of this Ethereal Physique… already harbors someone else in his heart…” Madam Miao sighed, “From your account, this Mo Junye, whenever he speaks, produces verses that are instantly profound and timelessly beautiful, all while revealing deep, sincere affection… Yet… within every line of poetry, there is a distinct flavor of ‘the past is too painful to revisit’… If these verses were all composed by him, then… also considering that piece you obtained today, the Lament for the Dying Flower…”

Madam Miao pointed to the musical score in Miao Xiaomiao’s hand: “This piece… I suspect it may not have been composed by a woman hundreds of years ago… If it were, why haven't we heard it? You must know, in the Dao of music, your mother has been immersed for many years, confident that in this field, I am second to none in this generation, yet I have genuinely never encountered such a lingering, heart-wrenching, exquisite melody… And your father, just for this little hobby of mine, has sent out countless people? Not long ago, when the melody Smiling Proud Wanderer appeared in ** City, within three days, your mother already possessed the complete musical score right here.” If it were truly an ancient score, there is no reason for me not to know it…”

“Furthermore, although this piece is superb, the artistic conception it conveys is even higher. Beyond self-pity, it is saturated with the sorrow of separation unto death…” Madam Miao sighed: “I can even assert with certainty! This piece was likely written and composed by Mo Gongzi, Mo Junye himself, as a form of remembrance, which is why it has never circulated…”

“You must understand, if a woman truly reached such a state of impending death, she would absolutely not compose such a piece… While this piece does not mention a single word of romantic love, every word and every line is steeped in the melancholy of romance, and the despair of parting in death… If a woman has her beloved by her side, even in death, she finds happiness. How could she leave behind such a tune to make her beloved grieve day and night? We are both women; surely, we can understand the heart of a young woman?”

Miao Xiaomiao seemed to grasp something, saying, “What Mother says is indeed reasonable. Could it be… that this is entirely his own lament after… leaving her?”

“That point should be beyond doubt,” Madam Miao nodded: “In fact, he already hinted at it to you. Remember you mentioned this morning that he said one line to that musical genius yesterday: ‘Having seen the vast ocean, water from other streams is not worth noting; having seen the clouds of Mount Wu, other clouds are not worth seeing!’ It’s a pity you are too close to the situation to awaken…”

Madam Miao let out a drawn-out sigh: “Daughter, it’s the same as I said before: let go… If the man were alive, with my daughter, you would absolutely possess all the conditions to win! But, facing someone who is dead, even if you were a Celestial Maiden from the Ninth Heaven, you could not replace him! Even if you managed a forced substitution, you would only be a stand-in, a replacement. If it truly came to that, would you be content?”

“So he… experienced such pain. He truly possesses deep emotion. If such a good man is missed, how could I ever find another celestial being…” Miao Xiaomiao’s eyes were exceptionally hazy, her voice filled with heartache: “I never imagined my… Jun, was so… deeply afflicted inside…”

Madam Miao sighed weakly at once: “Daughter, it’s not that your mother deliberately speaks discouraging words… You must know, whether man or woman, everyone harbors a dream in their heart! Even a woman with no life experience has a dream, a shadow, an image that is never entirely clear…”

“No matter how sinister and vicious that man might become in the future, even utterly depraved, or perhaps… dissolute… the very first woman to enter that man’s heart will forever remain the goddess in his soul…”

Madam Miao stated deliberately: “Subsequent women, absolutely no one can truly replace the first! Even if later women are ten thousand times more beautiful… or even more so, in that man’s heart, the most precious one will always be the first! The woman he first loved when he was young and innocent, not the first woman he ever possessed!”

“It’s the same for women! No matter how that woman might change later… become licentious, become known to all men, or even resort to residing in a pleasure house, ‘a pair of jade arms embraced by a thousand pillows, a vermilion lip tasted by ten thousand mouths’… her heart will always, until death, cling to the man she first loved! In front of that man, no matter how dissolute she has been over the years, she will always remain that shy and pure girl from back then…”

Madam Miao’s voice grew heavy: “Xiaomiao… do you understand what I’m saying? Men and women are essentially the same… The initial purity and true feelings, they carry until death and never forget. Your current situation is exactly this…”

“And that Mo Junye is clearly the type of person whose heart is already pre-occupied by someone else…” Madam Miao sighed: “Do you know why he hesitated and still refused your advances today? Because he is afraid! He fears that you might affect the status of that person in his heart! He dares not try, dares not gamble…”

Miao Xiaomiao cupped her fragrant cheeks in her hands and murmured, “But… Mother, if he carries such a memory, constantly missing her day and night, isn’t his heart in constant pain? If no one ever alleviates it for him… then what should he do? He is the possessor of the Ethereal Physique, destined for a long life; must he suffer forever? Oh… that is heartbreaking… I must save him, I absolutely must…”

Madam Miao was utterly dumbfounded, choked with anger!

She had poured out so much painstaking effort precisely to make her daughter give up. But who would have thought that these words would have the opposite effect? This was truly unexpected… Miao Xiaomiao’s fixation was indeed…

It seemed this girl was truly beyond saving. She might understand the logic, but having fallen head over heels in love, she was thoroughly lost…

“But do you know why he suddenly became cold today? It’s not for any other reason, but because the sisterly bond between you and Little Bean Sprout is too deep, too easily intertwined, perhaps you two are intrinsically one, inseparable. Once you enter his life, Little Bean Sprout will follow! This, to the status of the person in his heart, will be a massive threat, even a challenge! Do you understand? Do you comprehend?”

Madam Miao made one last effort: “Moreover, since he has a pre-existing attachment, if you two were ever to be together later, whenever you and Little Bean Sprout are together, suspicion will arise in him! As soon as you and Little Bean Sprout agree on something, he will be repulsed! Can there be any happiness living with such a person? Daughter, let go, before something irreversible happens that you will regret!”

“Could it be,” Madam Miao asked weakly, “among the eight super families and hundreds of minor families in the Misty Illusory Manor, among all these young talents, is there truly no one comparable to Mo Junye?”

“Setting aside whether anyone can compare to… Junye, he is simply too pitiful…” Miao Xiaomiao had already constructed a perfect tragedy for Jun Mo Xie in her mind. With melancholic eyes, she continued: “Such a man, who can calmly face my beauty and talent, completely disregard the power of our Miao family, and yet still choose to refuse… Mother, such a person clearly views wealth as passing clouds and reputation as dirt! Such a person is the one who truly values emotion; he is a true marvel among men! Didn’t you always teach me this? Has your fundamental principle changed now that the moment has arrived?”

“Must you have me abandon such a miraculous man of this world, only to marry some obscure, philandering, utterly shallow, and meaningless scion of a powerful family? Merely for the dazzling halo atop their heads and the immense assistance they could provide the clan?”

“In my eyes, all those family scions are nothing more than useless people scrambling for fame and profit! You just asked if there is truly no one comparable to Mo Junye? I tell you solemnly, there is truly no one who can compare to him. Those family scions, set against Junye, aren’t even equal to one of his toes…”

Miao Xiaomiao smiled proudly, as if proclaiming to heaven and earth, spreading her arms wide. She declared loudly: “Because in this world, only he is called Mo Junye! Everyone else is not! I only want him…”

“Mother, don’t you think this name is incredibly handsome? Mo Junye! Like the ink-black night, yet possessing the elegance of a true gentleman… Just like last night’s Gā…” Miao Xiaomiao giggled dreamily…

Madam Miao sighed mournfully, truly speechless. She really could not comprehend how her own gentle and compliant nature could have produced such a stubborn daughter?

One who insists on stubbornly fixing on a single point…

Perhaps Madam Miao was also too close to the situation; she overlooked one crucial fact. In her description, Mo Junye was a tragic figure, but she failed to realize that Miao Xiaomiao, at this moment, was equally so. She had fallen in love with the very first man she ever loved: Mo Junye! (To be continued, for more chapters, please support the author and legitimate reading!)