As its name suggests, Songyuan (Pine Garden) has a row of pine trees planted behind the main hall. Passing by a pair of main seats above and a light brown, openwork carved niche, there is a window on one side. When opened, the fragrance of the pine forest enters the room with the breeze.

Xu Yunci's study was on the right, divided into two rooms, an inner and an outer one. The inner room was where he rested, and it was simply furnished with a pear wood bed. The inner and outer rooms were separated by a screen.

A rosewood desk and chair were placed by the window in the corridor, and behind them hung famous works of art, as well as rows of rare books neatly arranged.

Xu Yunci leaned back in his chair, the papers in front of him were blown up by a breeze, and the sheets below them floated out the window.

However, he remained unmoved, while Chang Shun stood aside, secretly observing Xu Yunci's expression. For some reason, even though the young master's expression was normal when he entered, he felt that the atmosphere in the study was very strange.

He was certain that he was innocent, so the problem must lie with the Crown Prince.

Chang Shun was about to look up and examine Xu Yunci's expression again when he couldn't help but wonder: The young master has never been so silent when he goes to Shousong Hall to pay his respects. Could it be that something is wrong with Shousong Hall?

But as soon as he looked up, he met Xu Yunci's gaze, and his heart skipped a beat. In the blink of an eye, he recalled all the days that had passed and wondered if he had done anything wrong.

But she felt uneasy and hesitated whether to say something. Xu Yunci lowered her head again and continued to stare blankly at the white paper in front of her.

After a long silence, Chang Shun felt a sense of oppression. Just as he was wondering whether to do something, Xu Yunci suddenly spoke up: "The tea is cold."

Chang Shun snapped out of his daze, picked up the teapot, and walked out of the study. He had only reached the corridor when he saw Li Shiyue walking in with Chunling. Seeing Taoyue coming over, Chang Shun immediately shoved the teapot into her hands: "The tea is cold, go and boil another pot."

His eyes lit up, and he hurried to greet her: "Miss Cousin is here."

Before Li Shiyue could speak, he immediately noticed the profile of the person sitting by the study window, staring intently into his eyes.

A gentle breeze swept by, carrying willow catkins that drifted by. The tiny, white catkins were inconspicuous against the azure sky. Li Shiyue could see them clearly; the direction in which the tiny catkins flew met Xu Yunci's profile. His prominent eyebrows gave his profile a gentler look.

"My cousin is here. I wonder if he has time. My grandmother asked me to come and convey some things to her."

Chang Shun had no intention of going in to announce their arrival. He simply raised his hand and gestured, "If the young master is alright, Miss, please come with me."

Li Shiyue, unsuspecting, walked to the corridor and led Chunling inside. Her figure immediately came into Xu Yunci's view. She looked up, just as Xu Yunci was looking over, his gaze quite direct. She quickly looked away.

"Cousin."

Chunling, who was behind her, was holding a food box. When she saw Li Shiyue looking over, Chunling took the food box and opened it. Inside was milk cake, which Xu Yunci always loved to eat.

He has never liked sweets since childhood, except for the milk cake from Shou Song Tang, which he can eat a little of. He won't touch any other sweet cakes.

Xu Yunci's gaze remained calm, but he had already recognized it as milk cake made by Shousongtang. His expression softened slightly as he picked up a piece and put it in his mouth. In the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, the milk cake was gone.

He didn't intend to continue using it, and slowly and deliberately wiped his fingers and the corners of his lips with the handkerchief, his movements unhurried.

Tao Yue brought in freshly brewed tea, the light tea that Li Shiyue always loved to drink. Lifting the lid, the steam, seven-tenths hot, carried the aroma of tea and wafted into her nose.

Li Shiyue took a sip; it wasn't scalding hot. In this season, it wasn't too hot or too cold—it was just the right temperature.

Perhaps we could find some time later to let Chunling learn the art of tea brewing from Taoyue, as she quite likes Taoyue's tea-brewing skills.

Xu Yunci noticed the joy in her eyes. A cup of tea was enough to win her heart. Was it because the people of Songyuan had superb skills or because his little cousin was so naive?

Unconsciously, a tenderness appeared in Xu Yunci's eyes, but then he suddenly heard his little cousin say, "Then let's go with the fifth cousin." The tenderness in his eyes turned complicated, and his heart gradually became very agitated.

He looked away: "Is something the matter?"

Li Shiyue didn't notice Xu Yunci's change in mood; she was sitting some distance from Xu Yunci's desk. Upon hearing this, she put down her teacup, only then remembering that she had something important to attend to.

“My grandmother asked me to come here to ask about Guo Xun, the current Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review.”

Xu Yunci's expression froze for a moment. He could clearly feel his breathing become heavier, as if something in his heart could no longer be contained in an instant.

Why ask him? Does he think that Fifth Brother and Seventh Brother aren't enough, and he's eyeing other people too? Grandmother really dotes on her. There are plenty of good young men in the capital; does she expect her to be introduced to them all?

Thinking to himself, he unconsciously adopted a more serious tone when he spoke: "Why are you asking him? Are you that close to him?"

Li Shiyue was taken aback, her expression suddenly halted by Xu Yunci's stern tone. She forgot to refute, and she also forgot to ask Guo Xun about his original intentions.

Caught off guard by the reprimand, Li Shiyue felt wronged and lowered her eyes, timidly saying, "My grandmother asked me to come and ask her something."

I originally intended to say it was for Xu Lingzi's sake, but things are still far from settled. If I were to speak out, where would that leave Madam Yang and Old Madam Xu?

To his surprise, Xu Yunci's expression became even more unpleasant, as if Li Shiyue owed him money, his face as sour as a salted fish hanging up by the kitchen woman.

Xu Yunci had always treated her warmly, and this was the first time he had been so cold and distant. Li Shiyue lowered her eyes, her eyelashes fluttering in front of her eyes; she could sense that Xu Yunci seemed to be in a bad mood.

Xu Yunci could see that his little cousin was feeling down, but his mind was in turmoil. As soon as he heard her voice, he could hear the words "Then let's go with Fifth Cousin." His heart felt like it was being pulled together, a jumbled mess of threads.

"I haven't had much contact with them, and I don't know much about them."

Xu Yunci felt a pang of regret after speaking, wondering if her tone had been too distant and cold. She subconsciously glanced at Li Shiyue, but her eyes were lowered, making it impossible to discern her emotions. Xu Yunci felt even more agitated.

"Since my cousin doesn't know, I'll go back to my grandmother's house and won't bother him any longer."

As soon as she finished speaking, Li Shiyue got up and walked out with Chunling, not even turning her head back the moment she stepped out of the garden gate.

Chang Shun was almost dumbfounded. He had always served the young master and knew what kind of person the young master was. But he had always been very accommodating to the young lady, never like this before.

He could clearly see that when the young lady left, her eyes were downcast, and she hurried out of the pine garden as if something was chasing her. Looking at Xu Yunci, his expression was complicated, his gaze following the young lady's figure intently for a long time.