Chang Yuncheng strode through the gate, flicking the riding crop in his hand, which his attendant deftly caught. "My Lord, shall I send these clothes to the study?" the attendant asked.

Chang Yuncheng’s clothes were sodden and speckled with dust. Lately, he had been confined to the study—a place entirely foreign to one who had been wielding blades and spears since childhood.

Though he, like his younger brothers, possessed a study for reading and calligraphy, in twenty-four years, he had entered it so few times that the cumulative moments barely amounted to this recent stretch. Whispers had begun to circulate faintly within the manor: The Heir Apparent is deliberately avoiding the Eldest Madam.

The Eldest Madam has become quite formidable; didn't she dismiss that Dong woman just by saying so, and the woman didn't dare protest at all... Is the Heir Apparent perhaps afraid of the Eldest Madam...

What a joke. Why would I avoid her?

If anyone should be avoiding anyone, it should be her! Hearing the attendant, Chang Yuncheng inexplicably turned on his heel and headed toward his own residential courtyard.

The attendant, accustomed to his routine, trotted ahead toward the study to lead the way. Seeing his master walking off in the other direction, he paused, then hurried to catch up.

Chang Yuncheng advanced into the courtyard and froze. For a moment, he suspected he had entered the wrong door.

The once clean and orderly paved path was now lined with various flower pots, and the air was instantly saturated with floral fragrance. Chang Yuncheng couldn't help but sneeze, then he heard a familiar voice, confirming he hadn't gone astray.

"Qiuxiang, you don't understand. Placing these flowers and grasses inside isn't just for looks or scent; it’s good for the body too," Qi Yue said with a laugh, carefully positioning a pot of Cuiyun Grass on the large table by the window, admiring it left and right with satisfaction.

"But the Heir Apparent dislikes them," Qiuxiang stated, her tone laced with strong discontent. Qi Yue smiled.

"If medicine tastes bad, no one likes it, but must you still take it? It's all just a matter of habit," she replied, not looking at Qiuxiang, her gaze fixed solely on the potted plant settled on the table.

"Madam, please don't overstep," Qiuxiang’s lips were nearly drawn until they bled. "You're doing this on purpose.

I specifically told you, and yet you..." Qi Yue, who had been picking up a paperweight from the desk, slapped it back down upon hearing the words. The paperweight made a crisp sound, startling Qiuxiang into silence.

Qi Yue slowly raised her eyes to meet the maid’s, saying nothing, merely staring. The face that had held a faint smile was now heavy.

Under this silent scrutiny, Qiuxiang felt a strange tightness in her chest. When did this little beggar girl acquire such an oppressive aura?

Qiuxiang finally lowered her head. "You are now a second-rank maid, not a newly promoted servant who needs basic etiquette drilled into you, do I need to teach you that?

If you persist in this manner..." Qi Yue finally withdrew her gaze, pushed the paperweight back into place, and spoke slowly, "then perhaps you should go back and study some proper conduct." Qiuxiang gasped. "Madam, I was assigned to the Heir Apparent by the Madam..." she hastily interjected.

Was she actually going to be dismissed? "I am the Madam's person," Qiuxiang felt her resentment boil over, and she could not suppress another word.

Qi Yue laughed. "Look at how you put that, 'the Madam's person'?

Is someone belonging to the Madam not also a member of the Dingxi Marquisate?" She picked up a fan from the table and fanned herself lightly, smiling as she regarded the maid. Qiuxiang was momentarily stunned by the question.

This, this... "As long as you are within the Dingxi Marquisate, I have jurisdiction.

Never mind replacing you; what of selling you off?" Qi Yue said cheerfully. Qiuxiang looked at the beauty’s smile and felt a chill deep in her bones.

Selling her off... She desperately wanted to shout, How dare you!

But the words caught in her throat and refused to surface. Deep down, she was already certain the Eldest Madam dared and could do it.

The Heir Apparent hadn't driven her out; the Marquis held her in high regard too. Even if the Madam spoke up for her, if both the Marquis and the Heir Apparent sided with Qi Yue...

Qiuxiang’s expression finally shifted to one of fearful collapse. "Madam, this servant was wrong," she knelt, bowing her head, and confessed.

"Knowing one's mistake is the greatest virtue, good girl," Qi Yue said with a smile, shaking her fan as she walked past. "Rise." Stepping over the threshold, Qi Yue saw Chang Yuncheng standing in the courtyard, watching her with cold eyes.

"The Heir Apparent has returned," Qi Yue greeted him with a smile, walking down the steps with deliberate nonchalance. Chang Yuncheng merely stared at her coldly.

"You truly do take yourself seriously," he finally said, turning his head slightly as Qi Yue swayed past him. Qi Yue stopped and turned her head to face him.

"If others don't take themselves seriously, and one doesn't take oneself seriously, then there is truly no way to live. People must find a way to survive, mustn't they?" she laughed.

"You, who lead troops into battle, surely understand this principle better than I?" With that, she paid no mind to the Lord's expression and entered her own rooms. After all, he never wore a pleasant face when he saw her anyway.

Inside the room, three new potted plants sat, their vibrant green a pleasing sight. A Ru was gently wiping a leaf with a damp cloth, her face etched with worry.

"Madam, please don't always clash with the Heir Apparent. He is actually a very good person.

Talk to him nicely," she couldn't help but say in a low voice. Qi Yue flopped onto the kang, reaching out to touch one of the newly placed flowers.

"A Ru," she interrupted. "Your Heir Apparent has said that he detests people associated with me, so everything I do or say appears disgusting in his eyes.

Since that is the case, I might as well make myself comfortable. Since he is disgusted anyway, a little more or a little less makes no difference.

I will not press a warm face against a cold rear end..." A Ru’s face flushed red, caught between amusement and exasperation. "Madam, you, you should perhaps be a little more tactful in your speech," she managed.

"That depends on whom I'm speaking to. With you, I am not tactful," Qi Yue smiled at her.

A Ru looked at her and finally managed a helpless smile. "Actually, the Heir Apparent truly is a very good person.

You, you..." She walked over, looked at Qi Yue's expression, and immediately understood what she meant. "If you are worried about this servant," A Ru knelt beside the kang, looking at her, "if I were to die..." Qi Yue flipped over, sat up, and slapped the tabletop, shaking the potted plants resting there.

A Ru was startled, the rest of her words catching in her throat. "I detest hearing talk of death and life at every turn.

You young people have everything and yet cherish nothing. Do you know how many people would give everything just to keep breathing, even if they are crippled and paralyzed, as long as there is still a breath left?

They would endure agonizing treatments and bitter medicines without hesitation. You are young, strong, have employment, and family, yet you speak of death so lightly?

It is a profound waste of the life you earned over lifetimes," Qi Yue scolded her, her face stern. A Ru was momentarily stunned by the sudden onslaught of words.

"What is my life worth?" she finally recovered, feeling a strange mixture of amusement and heartache. This Eldest Madam always treated servants like them as treasures, wasting precious, unique medicines on mere maids like them...

"Enough. Don't speak such things to me again.

I dislike hearing it. I know your rules here, but that doesn't mean I must follow them," Qi Yue said impatiently, extending her hand toward A Ru.

"You have no idea how hard it is to save a life. I simply dislike hearing you toss life around so carelessly..." A Ru looked at her, smiled, hesitated slightly, then gently placed her hand on Qi Yue's extended hand and stood up.

After that day, Qi Yue and Chang Yuncheng began to encounter each other more frequently. They met during breakfast and dinner, and sometimes even after Qi Yue’s meetings with the managing mistresses, Chang Yuncheng could be seen polishing his swords and blades in the courtyard, which led the managing mistresses to treat Qi Yue with ever-increasing deference.

The Heir’s quarters were still without concubines, so the morning meal was served by the respective head maids, while the rest waited outside the dining hall—silence reigned both inside and out. Although they spent more time in the same compound, face-to-face encounters remained rare, and conversation even rarer.

The silence during meals persisted from beginning to end. Qi Yue, however, was the first to find this difficult to adapt to, and she was puzzled by Chang Yuncheng's sudden shift in behavior.

"Do you like the flowers and grasses arranged in the room?" Qi Yue asked, putting down her chopsticks and smilingly addressing Chang Yuncheng, who was sipping soup across the table. The scene looked strikingly like a harmonious moment between a typical married couple.

"I dislike them," Chang Yuncheng replied curtly and decisively. Qi Yue smiled sweetly at him.

"Then what does the Heir Apparent prefer? I shall have them changed." "Mmm, change them.

I'll see them when you bring them in," Chang Yuncheng finished his soup and chopsticks, looking at her as he spoke calmly. This response surprised Qi Yue.

She paused, about to ask more, but Chang Yuncheng had already risen and walked out. Very well.

If the enemy advances, I retreat; if the enemy retreats, I advance. When occupying someone else's courtyard, one cannot always clash head-on.

After finishing her meal, Qi Yue genuinely took the maids to exchange a few potted plants. "How about this one?

It's blooming perfectly," Qi Yue pointed to a flower held by the maids. Chang Yuncheng was seated cross-legged on the Luohan bed in the west room, a Guqin set before him.

He looked at the instrument with the imposing posture of someone deeply concentrated in meditation. Hearing Qi Yue's question, he didn't look up at all.

"Fine," he replied with a simple, firm wave of his hand. He was so agreeable that Qi Yue glanced at him strangely and waved the maids onward.

Jiu Zhi carefully, yet unable to conceal her joy, carried a pot of orchid toward the small table beside Chang Yuncheng. "Madam, is this spot suitable?" she asked Qi Yue, though she looked toward Chang Yuncheng.

This girl, Qi Yue couldn't help but laugh. Chang Yuncheng, however, didn't spare a glance for the person speaking right beside him, his gaze still fixed on his instrument.

"Set it down," Since the Lord did not give face to his subordinate, the direct superior couldn't afford to withhold it either. Qi Yue smiled.

Jiu Zhi carefully placed it down, tidied a slightly trembling leaf, and quietly glanced at the Heir one last time before retreating with an expression of regret. Qi Yue did not leave, instead turning with curiosity toward Chang Yuncheng's front.

"You can play this?" she asked, identifying it as a Guqin. "Play one for me to hear." Chang Yuncheng answered her with three very concise words.

"Get out." He didn't even lift an eyelid. "Your sister!" Qi Yue retorted two words just as briskly.

Chang Yuncheng sat firm as a mountain. Only when the sound of the door closing signaled the woman's departure did he raise his head.

"My sister?" He frowned slightly, tinged with confusion and a hint of disdain. "Does my sister play for you?

Really taking yourself seriously!"