Chapter 8. Lotus seeds and silver hooks, baited with enticements. She is now the fish waiting to be caught…

Broad banana leaves drooped horizontally, like dark green fans, sheltering the person lying quietly on the white stone couch.

Meng Shutai was dressed in a lilac-purple robe with a wide belt, tassels hanging from her waist, and a jade hairpin half-tied her long hair, which flowed down to her shoulders, exuding elegance and charm.

Beside him was a small bamboo basket filled with freshly picked lotus pods, and on his lap was a celadon plate with rolled rims, from which he peeled out round, white lotus seeds and piled them up.

When Le Jin saw her from afar, she almost mistook her for a virtuous fairy from a myth.

This time, Meng Shutai didn't let her stand aside. As soon as he heard footsteps, he looked at her with delight, his tone light and cheerful.

"You've arrived. How is Jingming?"

"I was beaten by the prince and lay in bed for seven days. They also planted a spy on me, and I lost my freedom. It was quite miserable."

Le Jin's physical reaction was stronger than her psychological one. Although she was recounting Yuan Jingming's tragic situation, the corners of her mouth kept turning up when she faced Meng Shutai.

Is it because it's his birthday today? He looks even more radiant than before.

Le Jin felt that her initial attraction to a beautiful woman was quickly turning into lust.

Meng Shutai slowed down his movements as he peeled the lotus seeds. He held the emerald green lotus pod in his hand, his fingertips resting on the crisp, resilient green skin of the lotus seeds before stopping.

His tone faltered, and he forced a smile as he said, "Jingming is the only son of the Prince of Pingning, and the Prince naturally has high hopes for him. Conflicts between father and son are actually quite common, so you should try to comfort him more often."

At this point, Meng Shutai suddenly smiled.

“When he was little, I often kept Jingming company. He loved to talk and would often talk for an entire afternoon. By the time he finished talking, I had already finished a painting.”

“But now that I’m older, there are many responsibilities at the Meng family, and I’m overwhelmed with tasks. Sometimes I feel like I’ve neglected Jingming and let him down…”

Le Jin was so shocked that her eyebrows silently rose.

Even if you grow up and are no longer inseparable from your best friend like you were when you were a child, do you still have to apologize?

A kind-hearted bodhisattva, almost foolishly so...

She glanced at Meng Shutai and felt that he was silently radiating auspicious light that could save all living beings.

Le Jin's heart pounded with guilt as she repeatedly took advantage of his kindness.

"Our young master doesn't care!"

"Yesterday I was saying I always ask Meng Langjun for help, what if one day you find him shameless? Hahaha..."

Meng Shutai understood instantly.

"You need something from me again?"

His tone was ambiguous and smiling as he tilted his head to look at Le Jin, waiting for her answer. He was clearly pretending not to understand and teasing a child.

Le Jin hadn't been looked at like this in many years. Her heart skipped a beat, her cheeks flushed, and she secretly pinched her wrist to try to calm herself down.

She always turned to him when she encountered difficulties, and Le Jin knew that it was actually she who was shameless. But there was no other way; Yuan Jingming was now in dire straits, and her status was too lowly and powerless, so she had no choice but to beg for help.

Unfortunately, Meng Shutai was the most soft-hearted person.

She laid out her plan in detail, explaining, "Madam Jiang is pitiful; she really has nowhere to go. It's a good deed for Young Master Meng to bring her into the Meng residence."

"It's just that a good name is hard to find. Madam Jiang is a respectable woman from a well-known family. There's no reason for her to have followed the Meng family for no reason..."

Before Le Jin could ramble on, Meng Shutai asked, "Whose idea was this?"

Yuan Jingming knew his character and how he would handle things; he would never think of such a method.

Le Jin was startled and thought to herself: You two really are childhood friends!

This idea wasn't good for Jiang Yingyun and Meng Shutai's reputations, and Yuan Jingming initially disagreed, but it was the safest and most reliable method that Le Jin could think of.

After several days of persuasion, Yuan Jingming finally relented: "Then give it a try. But if Shutai refuses, you can't force him."

Le Jin dared not look at Meng Shutai's face, lowering her head further and further, "It's me."

Her voice, barely audible and distorted, made her realize that making this request to Meng Shutai had a hint of moral blackmail.

Suddenly, the image of the dazzling jade lanterns filling the corridor appeared in her mind, as numerous as stars, yet one by one they fell and crashed towards Le Jin, causing panic and coldness.

"Recently, Luoyang has been seeking female tutors; why not invite one for Cizhang as well?"

"ah?"

Meng Shutai pinched a shallow line vertically on the lotus seed coat, and with a few quick movements, she extracted a snow-white lotus seed, her voice gentle and light: "How about inviting a female disciple from Yuyang Nunnery to preach the Dharma to Cizhang?"

Le Jin blinked, then nodded vigorously after realizing what she meant.

He agreed! Even after finding out it was her idea, he still agreed!

Le Jin quickly bowed and said excitedly, "Thank you so much, Young Master Meng! You've truly saved me from my suffering..."

The heroine's first ordeal was resolved just like that. It was as if Le Jin had stepped from the dead of winter into the height of summer. Time and temperature seemed to float away, making her feel unreal.

She kept laughing and bowing for a long time, but even though her waist was stiff, she didn't hear Meng Shutai make any sound.

Le Jin felt a slight unease and quietly raised her eyes, only to meet his gaze directly.

Yet, with just that one glance, she felt a chill run through her body, almost staggering in fright—the gaze held a faint hint of amusement, but was utterly cold, like a few drops of water splashed onto her face from an ancient well in the wilderness. Brushing away that chilling smile, all that remained was scrutiny. A water-drawer craning their neck into the well could see the kind of scrutiny that a disheveled ghost would show towards the human world.

"Meng...Young Master Meng?"

Meng Shutai snapped back to reality in an instant; the strange phenomenon from before vanished as quickly as a fish entering water.

He laughed, "Look at me, I was so busy thinking about how to arrange things for Cizhang that I forgot about you."

On the celadon plate, Meng Shutai picked up a small handful of lotus seeds and handed them to Le Jin, saying, "Eat."

Le Jin's heart pounded. She was absolutely certain that she hadn't seen wrong; Meng Shutai was clearly looking at her, but why was his gaze so strangely cold?

She panicked and dared not answer, biting her tongue to clear her mind, and shook her head at Meng Shutai with her eyes down.

Meng Shutai reached out her jade-like hand even closer, her voice carrying a sweet, hooking tone, "Cizhang loves lotus seeds the most, so I peeled them especially for him. But these few are different."

As Yue Jin's vision slowly came into view, the lotus seed and Meng Shutai's jade-like hand slowly appeared.

The silver hook is adorned with bait.

She is a fish waiting to be caught.

Le Jin noticed a hint of playfulness in Meng Shutai's laughter. He pointed to the remaining lotus seeds on the plate, "Those all have lotus hearts."

He opened his palm again, and the lotus seeds, half separated, lay silently in his hand.

"I don't have these. You can have them all."

Le Jin couldn't believe it, and asked in her soft voice, "Why?"

Why treat her better than her brother?

Meng Shutai smiled and said, "Cizhang loves to order me around. Yesterday he wanted dough figurines, today he wants lotus seeds. As his older brother, I can't let him bully me for nothing."

He paused, then his smile deepened. "Let him suffer a bit, so he'll know that there's no such thing as a brother who's been used for nothing."

Meng Shutai was radiant at that moment, clearly a cunning seventeen-year-old boy.

The milky white lotus seeds lay quietly, and Meng Shutai had a persistent feeling of reaching out to her even when she refused.

Le Jin thought to herself that no matter what had just happened, Meng Shutai was still a good person, and she didn't need to be so afraid.

With her hands clasped together, Yue Jin smiled and said, "Thank you, my lord."

The lotus seeds had already absorbed the warmth of his palms. They were slightly warm and sweet upon first bite, and the lotus seed juice released a cool, fragrant aroma.

...She looks like Meng Shutai.

As Le Jin was thinking this, she suddenly remembered something.

She tucked the uneaten lotus seeds into her bosom, then pulled out the object that had been pressing against her ribs and offered it to her with both hands:

"It is your birthday today, my lord. This is a gift that I requested from the young master."

A note from the author:

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Poor Ah Jin, she's been fished around by someone~ [evil grin]