Chapter Forty-Five: A True Gentleman Never Lets Grievances Go Unanswered

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At dawn, a warm ray of sunlight spilled over the land, like a mother’s gentle embrace, gifting the world with a blissful hug. Wisps of breeze caressed all things beneath the sky, as if a mother’s tender hand softly stroked a child’s cheek. The fresh air carried a faint floral fragrance, and a single breath of it left one feeling refreshed and clear-minded. Pure spiritual energy nourished all living things, and peace reigned throughout the world.

Birds in the forest chirped excitedly, their calls the sweetest melodies of nature. The wind rustled through the woods, its whooshing sound a harmonious accompaniment to birdsong and floral scents. Within each household, young and old alike were rising, washing their faces, and brushing their teeth. The elders began their morning exercises, maidens and ladies sat before their dressing tables to adorn themselves, while young men set about their daily tasks...

Thus, all living things began another day.

Today was the first day of the selection trials—a centennial test for the youth of the Lu Jiashan Star Domain.

“Brother Tiger, Brother Zhan, how have these past three days treated you?” Qin Zhen asked Kuihu and Li Zhan.

Kuihu put on a mysterious air, “As for our gains, you’ll see at the selection trials.”

Li Zhan nodded in agreement.

Secretly, Qin Zhen felt nothing but scorn for Kuihu and Li Zhan: “Hmph, you two enjoy basking for now. When the young master arrives, he’ll set you straight.”

Kuihu muttered to himself with some anticipation, “I wonder what results the young master has achieved in his three days’ effort.”

“We’ll see at the selection trials,” Qin Zhen echoed with a mischievous smile, his newly learned tricks employed to perfection.

Kuihu and Li Zhan shot back, “Isn’t that just stating the obvious?”

Qin Zhen retorted, “And weren’t your words just as obvious? A gentleman never leaves a grudge unavenged.”

Kuihu and Li Zhan exchanged a glance. Sensing trouble, Qin Zhen turned and bolted—if he didn’t run now, the pair would surely “teach him a lesson.” He headed straight for the inn where Lu Xuemei and Lu Yao were staying, clearly seeking a protective shield. Kuihu and Li Zhan chased after him relentlessly. When they reached the inn, Lu Xuemei and Lu Yao happened to be stepping outside.

Qin Zhen rushed over, greeting Lu Xuemei with a sweet smile, “Good morning, sister! Good morning, little princess Lu Yao!”

Kuihu and Li Zhan hurried up as well to offer their greetings.

Lu Xuemei was delighted by their arrival. “Good morning, brothers.”

Lu Yao, however, was less pleased. “What do you mean, little princess? In what way am I little? Won’t I ever grow up?”

Only she herself knew what she meant by “growing up.” As she continued, her voice grew softer and softer.

Lu Xuemei sensed a deeper meaning in her sister’s words and looked her up and down carefully, thinking to herself, “She really is still young.”

Indeed, among them, Lu Yao was the youngest both in body and in age—an undeniable fact.

Feeling her sister’s gaze, Lu Yao blushed, her delicate face suddenly awash with rosy color, making Kuihu and his companions stare in a daze.

Lu Yao quickly added, “From now on, don’t call me little princess. Call me Lu Yao, or Sister Lu Yao, but never Yao’er.”

Secretly, she thought, “Only Brother Li Hao can call me Yao’er.”

The three boys exchanged glances, nodded, and smiled knowingly, as if to say, “We understand.”

Lu Yao caught the mischievous look in their eyes, “What do you mean by that?”

Qin Zhen replied with a cheeky expression, “Exactly what you think!”

Everyone burst out laughing—they all understood Lu Yao’s subtext. Having spent this time together, they were no longer intimidated by her status, and the group broke into raucous laughter. Lu Xuemei joined in, her phoenix eyes narrowing with mirth, painting a scene of peerless beauty over Lishui City.

Only then did Lu Xuemei remember the boys’ earlier odd behavior. “What are you three rushing about for?”

Qin Zhen seized the opportunity, “Sister, you must stand up for me! Those two bullies are picking on me, the youngest!”

Lu Xuemei’s beautiful eyes fixed on Kuihu and Li Zhan, making them both shiver.

Qin Zhen shot them a triumphant look.

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Lu Xuemei asked, “Why are you two bullying Qin Zhen?”

“We…” Kuihu began, but Lu Xuemei cut him off, her eyes gleaming mischievously, lips curled into a sly smile, “You what? If you’re going to bully him, why not invite me?”

They were stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter again.

Lu Xuemei’s words sent Qin Zhen plummeting from smugness into utter dismay, his face turning from prideful to pained, “You… you all…”

Kuihu added fuel to the fire, “What about us?”

Qin Zhen, no longer dejected, now smiled knowingly, “Do you all just enjoy picking on the little one?”

Kuihu and Li Zhan nodded, “Exactly, we do enjoy it.”

Lu Xuemei and Lu Yao did not join in, simply watching the spectacle with amusement.

Once sure of their intentions, Qin Zhen pointed at Lu Yao, “She’s even younger than me.”

“Hm?”

All eyes narrowed, fixing unfriendly gazes on Qin Zhen, making his skin crawl. He quickly recovered, thinking, “I’m in trouble now.”

He hastened to add, “True, she’s younger than me, but if anyone dares bully her, I’ll fight them to the end!”

With that, he managed to turn the situation around, though his words trailed off uncertainly at the end.

Kuihu and Li Zhan rolled their eyes in unison, as if to say, “Keep bragging.”

Lu Xuemei kept her enchanting smile, Lu Yao pouted her alluring lips, and Kuihu and Li Zhan looked unimpressed. In the end, this was nothing more than a group of innocent youths enjoying a rare moment of playful happiness.

At that moment, a golden-winged roc, its body a thousand feet long, descended above their heads. As it neared the ground, it grew steadily smaller—not because it was flying higher, but because it was shrinking itself as it approached. When the roc was a few hundred meters above the ground, a tall, handsome young man in a golden robe alighted gracefully beside Lu Xuemei.

Lu Xuemei greeted him, “Brother, you’re here!”

Had she known she’d been betrothed by her brother to young Li Hao, she wasn’t sure if she would be excited, happy, or on the verge of tears.

Lu Yao called out sweetly, “Good morning, Brother Zhengtian!”

Kuihu and the others greeted him with excitement, “Good morning, Brother Zhengtian!”

This was none other than Lu Xuemei’s half-brother, the very Zhengtian for whom maidens pined in their dreams.

Next, a nine-colored vermilion bird descended, and the gentle, elegant Lin Huashu, as graceful as a jade tree in the wind, landed beside the group.

Kuihu and his friends greeted him, “Good morning, Young Master Lin!”

Lu Xuemei, Lu Zhengtian, and Lu Yao nodded in greeting.

Lin Huashu smiled and greeted everyone, “Good morning! Are you all waiting for Brother Li Hao?”

They replied in unison, “Yes!”

“In dreams, the heart aches for Zhengtian alone; in all the world, only he is yearned for.

With a smile that shames the blooming flower, in all the world, only Lu Xuemei.”

These lines, flowing so easily from the mouth, were composed by this most talented of young men.

Meanwhile, three thousand miles above, on the back of a three-legged golden crow, stood a beautiful girl in red, looking to be in her early twenties. Her face was exquisitely shaped, with willow-leaf brows and sparkling almond eyes that drew every gaze. At her waist hung a luxurious vermilion jade pendant, and her long black hair flowed in the wind, giving her a heroic air.

She pouted her rosy lips and murmured, “Huh! That feels like my brother’s nine-colored vermilion bird’s aura, descending over there. Just wait until I find you, then we’ll settle accounts.”

Within a few breaths, the golden crow brought her to hover above the group. With a thought, she summoned the golden crow into the ring on her right hand, and she herself drifted gently down. Her bearing left the surrounding crowd dazed, especially the men, who were utterly bewitched by her beauty.

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Her gaze swept the area as she called out in a clear, melodious voice that carried for dozens of miles, “Brother isn’t here? Where could he have gone? Liar! My brother’s a big liar.”

Every man who heard her felt as though he was listening to the most beautiful music in the world. Of course, she had done this deliberately, hoping her brother would hear her.

At this moment, Lin Huashu opened his folding fan to shield his face, muttering, “Can’t see, can’t see…”

Seeing this, Lu Zhengtian and the others quickly guessed the girl’s identity from her words and Lin Huashu’s odd behavior.

Indeed, she was Lin Huashu’s younger sister: Lin Xueyou.

Lu Zhengtian watched Lin Huashu’s odd actions and thought, “He must have a guilty conscience,” and immediately a mischievous idea occurred to him. He raised his voice, “What’s wrong with our young palace master’s face?”

Lin Huashu, caught off guard by his teammate’s betrayal, almost burst into tears and, like a young lady, punched Lu Zhengtian in the arm, giving him a challenging look as if to say, “Just you wait!”

He turned to Lu Xuemei, “Princess Xuemei, I’ll tell you a secret later.”

Lu Zhengtian suddenly remembered teasing Li Hao three days ago, urging him to grow up quickly and marry his sister. Now Lin Huashu had that little slip in his grasp, wielding it with ease and effectiveness.

He hurriedly tried to flatter Lin Huashu, massaging his shoulders and back, shamelessly saying, “Good brother, you must be tired. Let me loosen you up. Is that better?”

Lin Huashu was secretly delighted, though he grumbled, “No, it isn’t!”

The onlookers had no idea what was going on. At first, Lu Xuemei hadn’t cared about Lin Huashu’s secret, but now her curiosity was piqued—what could he want to say, and how was her brother involved? It didn’t seem like anything she’d be proud of.

Her enchanting eyes fixed on Lu Zhengtian, questioning, “What exactly did you do behind my back?”

Lu Zhengtian was sent into a cold sweat by her gaze.

Lin Huashu, seeing Lu Zhengtian so flustered, felt quite smug. “Hmph, trying to outmaneuver me? I’ll have you beaten at your own game.”

Now, as he looked at Lin Xueyou, Lu Zhengtian sent Lin Huashu a secret message, “If you dare rat me out, I’ll tell your sister you’ve promised her to Brother Li Hao.”

“Nonsense!” Lin Huashu, still enjoying Lu Zhengtian’s service, blurted out.

Everyone wondered what Lu Zhengtian had said to provoke such a reaction. But the answer would remain forever a mystery.

Lin Huashu had been outmaneuvered by Lu Zhengtian’s shameless ruse and had no choice but to compromise. They struck a truce.

After this, Lin Huashu began to see sense—maybe Lu Zhengtian was right, maybe he needed someone to keep his sister in check.

Now he faced two greater problems: how to cover up this lie to Lu Xuemei, and how to deal with his own sister next.

He pondered for a moment and decided on a compromise that wouldn’t leave Lu Zhengtian too aggrieved. He turned to Lu Xuemei with an awkward smile, “Princess Xuemei, honestly, your brother didn’t say much. He just said that seeing you so alone made his heart ache, and he wanted to find someone to care for you.”

Hearing this, Lu Xuemei’s mind conjured an image of a certain young man. Embarrassed, her heart pounded uncontrollably.

Lin Huashu had cleverly omitted the key name “Li Hao.” With a small adjustment, the meaning was similar, but the impression was entirely different.

Lu Xuemei’s cheeks flushed, but she didn’t quite believe it. “Is that really all?”

“Yes, yes, that’s all,” Lin Huashu replied firmly, and Lu Zhengtian nodded in agreement.

Lu Zhengtian felt this was mostly acceptable, though he still sensed he’d been sold out. All he could do was go along with the story, glaring at Lin Huashu as if to say: now you can’t make trouble about this again, or you’ll be admitting you lied to Lu Xuemei.

Lu Xuemei wisely let the matter drop. Sometimes, it’s best to accept an easy way out—pushing too hard leaves everyone with no escape, which benefits no one.

Any one of them could make the youth of Lishui City tremble just by stamping a foot, and now so many of them had gathered in one place. Layers of boys and girls formed a human wall around them—the boys drawn by Lu Xuemei and Lu Yao, the girls by Lu Zhengtian and Lin Huashu.

At that moment, Lin Xueyou pressed through the crowd and joined Lu Xuemei and the others.