Zhidong carried the lantern in front to lead the way. The little servant held back for a long time but couldn’t help turning his head to flatter, praising Meng Jun to the skies.

“Alright, Zhidong.” The young man himself couldn’t bear to listen anymore. He waved his hand and stood under the covered walkway, but his eyes involuntarily looked towards the top of the wall.

He wondered what Li Ruan was doing at this moment.

The lifted bead curtain clinked and clanged, making a clear and crisp low sound.

On the rosewood-carved beauty couch.

The young man, who had just finished bathing, his black hair loose, was currently lowering his eyes in concentration. His slender fingers were half-curled, holding a storybook that he had barely flipped a few pages before losing interest. He simply threw it aside and took out that small red flower from under the pillow.

Today, her expression wasn’t very good. He didn’t know if it was because they hadn’t cuddled.

Meng Jun sighed dejectedly, hugging the soft pillow and lying down. He brought the small red flower to the tip of his nose and sniffed it. The faint sweetness was similar to her, but not as good as her.

The young man missed her so much that his brows and eyes drooped. Imitating those young men in the storybooks, he gently tapped his finger on the petals of the small red flower. “She loves me, she loves me not, she loves me, she loves me not, she loves me!”

A flower had five petals. Knowing it was a self-deceiving trick, he suddenly became delighted. He knelt upright, his extremely beautiful phoenix eyes turning dynamically, and whispered again, “See her, not see her, see her, not see her, see—”

“Huh?!”

Before Meng Jun could count to the expected “see her”, the small red flower, which had been withered for a long time, couldn’t bear the weight and tremblingly dropped a petal.

“It doesn’t count, it doesn’t count.” The young man was anxious. He glanced at the four petals left in his hand and spoke very cautiously, “Not see her, see her, not see—”

Whoosh—, a breeze blew by.

It rippled the gauze bed curtains and also blew off another red petal.

“…”

Meng Jun looked at the half-open green gauze window bleakly and secretly nodded. Mm, this was an accident and didn’t count.

He had to find a place without wind.

The young man’s brows and eyes wrinkled slightly. He turned his back and carefully lifted the small red flower that only had three petals left. He waited for a long time until there was no wind, then prudently and cautiously said softly, “See her, not see—”

There were faint footsteps stepping under the covered walkway.

It was unknown whether it was because Zhiqiu came in at the wrong time. He had just stealthily trimmed the lamp wick. As soon as he turned around, he saw his young master’s resentful eyes and the small red flower in his hand that was almost falling apart, with only two petals left.

“Young Master?”

Zhiqiu spoke tentatively. Before Meng Jun could respond, the small red flower, which was still symmetrical on the left and right, trembled and flutteringly dropped another petal.

Meng Jun was silent.

Those beautiful phoenix eyes stared at the bare single petal in his hand. He was stunned for a moment, then suddenly straightened up and walked towards the clothes rack, wearing his shoes.

“Zhiqiu, prepare a bit.”

In a flash, the young man, who had just been dejected and resentful, was now all smiles. He called the little servant to find a sturdy rope.

Under the courtyard wall that was as tall as a person, Meng Jun, who had stepped on the ladder, turned his head and held up the small red flower that only had one petal left, struggling tenaciously. He explained to the two bewildered little servants, “In any case, she was injured for my sake. Now I’m just going to take a look at her.”

His front lapel was stuffed full, containing the specially obtained good medicine for wounds, as well as an oiled paper package wrapped with his favorite pastries.

The young man’s brows and eyes were curved, and he solemnly handed this single petal to Zhidong. “Don’t worry, this is the will of heaven.”

“Otherwise, the small red flower wouldn’t have fallen bare. It means I have no choice, right?”

Zhidong’s thoughts were shallow. Being led by his train of thought, he also felt it made a lot of sense. He immediately guaranteed to guard the courtyard well for him.

It wasn’t until the young man, dressed in a snow-cyan outer garment, jumped into the Su Qing Palace while trembling and pulling the rope that Zhidong, who had a delayed realization, came back to his senses. He looked at the worried Zhiqiu and scratched his head, asking, “Hey, how do you determine if this single petal means go or not go?”

Zhiqiu didn’t know either, but he felt that even if the petals fell off completely tonight, his young master would still climb over the wall.

After all, for a young man who had fallen in love, the person he wanted to see was like the moon in his heart. Even if they were separated by thousands of mountains and rivers, as long as he saw that gentle glow, he would inevitably be drawn closer.

A wall couldn’t block the yearning.

He was stunned for a moment and softly replied, “Perhaps it’s because the moonlight shines on the Su Qing Palace.”

*

The moon in the sky, the shadow on the ground.

When there was shuffling movement on the top of the wall, the hidden guard was already standing at the door of Li Ruantang’s study.

At this moment, the window of the study was open. Looking out at an angle, one could still see the figure of the person riding on the top of the wall.

Climbing over the wall at night was not something a young master from a prestigious family should do.

Moreover, that young master’s legs were shaking like a sieve, and his two arms were desperately grasping the rope, slowly sliding down bit by bit, looking disheveled and struggling.

Wei Dan quietly glanced outside. “Lady, do you want this subordinate to persuade Young Master Meng to return?”

After all, they had been neighbors for many years. Moreover, in Hu Village, the lady’s gentleness towards the young master didn’t seem fake. It appeared that she had been moved.

Although the lady became colder after returning to the capital, Wei Dan speculated that they probably had a dispute, so she deliberately remained silent.

But if Young Master Meng accidentally fell and something went wrong, it would be her fault as a servant for not being perceptive.

Watching the figure hanging on the rope without a foothold, Wei Dan was completely startled, but Li Ruantang, who was carefully examining the account book with a vermilion brush, had no reaction.

If it weren’t for Wei Dan occasionally gasping exaggeratedly, she wouldn’t even be distracted to raise her eyes.

After all, he was just a young man, and he probably dropped something inside.

Li Ruantang watched for a while, guessing that he would leave after picking it up, and calmly said, “No need.”

The hidden guard outside the door hadn’t turned around after receiving the order.

However, the figure who had landed with great difficulty sneakily walked towards the courtyard, causing Li Ruantang to frown deeply.

The world was already harsh on the reputation of young men, let alone they had just returned to the capital together today. Even if there was an imperial decree to seal their mouths, it couldn’t withstand his tossing and turning like this.

Moreover, at this hour, he should have been asleep long ago.

She was stunned for a moment, somewhat surprised at how she knew when he went to sleep. However, this wasn’t a big deal.

Li Ruantang lowered her eyes and added faintly, “Persuade him to return.”

In terms of both feelings and reason, he shouldn’t have appeared here. However, snow-cyan indeed suited him well. Looking at him under the moonlight, he appeared even more elegant, just a bit disheveled from climbing down the wall.

Silly.

Wei Dan responded and gave orders. As soon as she entered the room, she saw Li Ruantang’s slightly raised lips. Her heart also felt delighted and quickly spoke up to start a conversation.

“Lady, you’re smiling. Did you find a clue?”

Smiling?

Li Ruantang was stunned. She reached out and touched the corner of her lips, her fingertips gently sweeping over, inexplicably reminding her of the softness and warmth of his lips on her palm in the carriage.

Although at that time, Meng Jun leaned down and shouted that he wanted to detoxify her. But based on his dazed appearance, he had probably only learned it in a slapdash manner, just imitating without understanding.

Moreover, with the two of them being so close, how could he detoxify anything?

Thinking back to the silly appearance of the young man eavesdropping with a lotus leaf during the day, Li Ruantang’s heart tightened. She became more and more convinced that he had been deceived, just not knowing what the person behind the scenes wanted to do.

Could it be related to Wei Yunruo again?

As she pondered, the account book in front of her became impossible to read. Li Ruantang rubbed her sore brows, got up, and handed the account book to Wei Dan to put away. She took a few sips of tea to relieve her fatigue, then slowly walked towards the bedroom.

The maidservants guarding the outer room had long retreated, only lighting up the gauze lanterns inside one by one.

The warm color penetrated through the window lattice, lightly spreading on the stone steps under the covered walkway. The lifted bamboo curtain gently fell again, leaving only a breeze following behind Li Ruantang, merrily rushing into the inner room.

She had just turned around the screen when her footsteps paused, slowing down by three points.

Behind the wardrobe beside the bed, a person was hiding. Although the gap was hidden in the shadows, it was a pity that the thief was stupid and didn’t even know how to conceal his breath.

Li Ruantang slightly raised her eyebrows, the short sword in her sleeve barely exposed. A light breeze came, blowing up a snow-cyan-colored garment.

It was glaring and eye-catching.

The young man pressed himself tightly against the wall, straining his ears to listen to the movement in the room. He didn’t know what Li Ruantang was doing, walking so lightly and slowly. His legs were almost numb from standing.

However, he had sneaked in for so long without being discovered.

Perhaps this was his talent!

The young man secretly laughed, very pleased with himself as he pursed his lips.

Under the covered walkway, Li Ruantang, who had quietly exited the room, stared deeply at Wei Dan who had followed her. “What’s going on?”

Her voice was extremely low.

The latter was stunned, obviously not fully understanding her meaning, and only said innocently, “Lady, didn’t you say there was no need to persuade him to return?”