In July, when cicadas chirp and birds sing and flowers bloom, the sun shines brightly overhead. A gentle breeze carries the summer heat across the lake, creating ripples.

Today, Li Shiyue wore a light red silk robe with a subtle pattern on it, worn over an ivory-white high-waisted skirt, revealing her delicate collarbone and fair, slender neck.

She held a round fan with an orchid design in her hand, resting one hand under her chin, and looked somewhat drowsy.

"Why did my cousin go and slack off?"

Xu Lingqing brought over a cup of freshly brewed tea and placed it on the small square table between the two of them: "My cousin has never liked strong tea. Try it and see if there's anything different about today's."

Li Shiyue sat up straight, picked up the teacup beside her, and instead of tasting it, she gently swirled it at the tip of her nose. The fragrance inside the teacup instantly spread out, rushing into her nasal cavity.

She took a sip and smiled, "This tea is a bit weak today."

She couldn't help but look past Xu Lingqing towards Xu Lingzi, who was playing chess with Xu Yunci, while Xu Yunyao and Xu Yunxu stood by, not daring to make a sound.

"My cousin and my older cousin can handle it, but my older cousin always prefers a stronger flavor."

Xu Lingqing glanced at it and looked away, chuckled but quickly suppressed it, though she couldn't help the smile that spilled from the corner of her eye. She lowered her voice and said, "Don't even mention Sixth Sister, all she can think about now is how to beat Second Brother."

The weather was fine today, and since Xu Yun had just taken a day off, he decided to take a boat trip on the lake with several of his siblings. Everyone except the brother and sister from the west courtyard who declined was here.

Xu Yunci's chartered boat was quite large, just the right size for the group to play chess and enjoy tea inside.

The weather has been strange lately, like a giant oven, with the sun so intense that people are increasingly reluctant to move. Even the planned trip to Zhaode Temple to pray for blessings has to be postponed, since Madam Xu's health is already poor in this weather, and there's no need to take the risk.

Li Shiyue put down her teacup and got up with Xu Lingqing to walk over. The chessboard had broken the deadlock with Xu Yunci taking the lead. Xu Lingzi looked at the chess pieces, her face full of distress, her brows furrowed, clearly indicating that she was also struggling with the same dilemma.

Li Shiyue looked at the chessboard. Xu Yunci was holding onto the black pieces. He had taken the lead from the beginning, but he didn't seem to be in a hurry to block Xu Lingzi's white pieces.

Blocking one path creates another, though it's not obvious. If you're not careful, that path might even give the authorities an advantage over Xu Lingzi's white pieces.

There were clearly several paths, and the black piece could have captured all the white pieces directly, but Xu Yunci picked up the black piece and placed it on the other side.

He seemed to be in complete control. After making his move, he looked at Xu Lingzi, who looked troubled, and let her ponder deeply without urging her.

Xu Yunxu, who was watching the game from the side, was so anxious that he scratched his head and cheeks. As the saying goes, an outsider has a clearer view, and he could see it clearly. A true gentleman does not speak while watching a game, so he could only keep quiet.

Xu Lingzi looked at her white pieces, holding them tightly in her palm. She looked at them again and again, still unable to decide where to place them.

Suddenly, a cup of tea appeared in front of her. Li Shiyue smiled and handed it to her, saying, "It's very hot today. Cousin, have some tea to calm your mind. This was just brewed by Aqing."

"Ah, a true gentleman observes chess in silence." Xu Yunyao, seeing the sudden interruption, naturally refused to listen, being Xu Yunci's number one fan.

Li Shiyue smiled and said, "I didn't mention chess pieces. It's just too hot. You need to drink some water and rest while playing chess."

Seeing Xu Yunci looking over, she quickly picked up the teacup beside him and handed it to him, saying, "Cousin, please have some too."

Xu Yunci took it, took a sip, and said, "Hmm, it really calms the mind."

In the end, Xu Yunci won by capturing all the white pieces. Xu Lingzi was not surprised by this result, and even regretted agreeing to play chess with Xu Yunci. She should not have agreed.

“Yes, Jingxin, who doesn’t know that the young master of the Guangping Marquis’s mansion is staying at the Grand Secretary’s mansion? He’s been the most diligent man in the Duke’s mansion these days.” Xu Yunxu said with a smile in his eyes, and naturally, he got a kick from his good sister.

Xu Yunxu clutched his aching calf, about to groan, but when he saw Xu Lingzi twisting her wrist, he quickly shut his mouth and swallowed it back.

Xu Lingzi was touched on something that made her angry: "I don't know who it was, but they even wrote a story saying that Fu Chen and I were childhood sweethearts and loved each other. It's just that I look down on the Guangping Marquis's Mansion and think it's not as good as the Duke's Mansion. I'm vain and materialistic, so I refuse to agree."

"Pah! Who on earth spread these rumors and ruined my reputation for no reason?"

She genuinely disliked Fu Chen; to be precise, she had absolutely no romantic feelings for him. Yet, people said she was of questionable character and unrepentant, and that Fu Chen's affections had been misplaced. Anyone would be furious in that situation.

Xu Yunci remained the most composed: "What are you afraid of? With me here, I will naturally stand up for you."

All eyes were on Xu Yunci, but as he sipped his tea, he seemed to have run out and looked directly at Li Shiyue.

Li Shiyue blinked, took the teacup, poured herself another cup of tea, and placed it back in Xu Yunci's hand, but she didn't see the smile in Xu Yunci's eyes.

Just as they were straining to hear what Xu Yunci would say next, a commotion suddenly erupted from the ships outside.

The boats moved forward in twos and threes, and when they stopped in the middle of the lake, the boatmen found a place to rest at the front. Their skill was enough to keep the boats from rocking too much in the lake.

Through the boat's window, the group sat together, faintly hearing the noise from the other boats outside, including the young man's scolding and the young woman's weeping and cursing.

Upon closer inspection, they saw that it was the second daughter of Vice Minister Fan's household, who was rescuing a woman from a boat. Upon closer inspection, they could see that the woman had a protruding belly, and it turned out to be the third daughter of Vice Minister Fan's household, who was born out of wedlock.

I have never heard of the Fan family's daughter being married. It seems that this third Miss Fan was unmarried and had an affair with her husband, which led to her getting pregnant. Her elder sister caught them, and now it's all public knowledge.

Xu Lingqing leaned closer to the window and, with her sharp eyes, spotted the young man's appearance. She covered her mouth in surprise: "That young man, that young man is Fu Chen, the heir of the Marquis of Guangping!"

Not to mention her surprise, even Li Shiyue was shocked. She thought that Xu Yunci had been ignoring Fu Chen's visit all this time and had long forgotten about it. She never expected that Fu Chen and Miss Fan's affair would be exposed by such a coincidence today.

The Second Miss Fan disliked her half-sister to begin with, and she especially disliked the Third Miss Fan's pretentious and pitiful appearance. Now that she had the opportunity, she humiliated her severely in front of others.

"You dare to dream of becoming the wife of the Marquis's heir? Don't you even know your own worth? The person they're eyeing is the Crown Princess's sister. How dare you strip naked and fawn over her?"

Unexpectedly, Miss Fan, an unmarried woman, could utter such vile and offensive insults. She seemed utterly unashamed, growing more and more animated as she spoke.