Chapter 28 Ripples (Part 6) She only needed Wei Yuanzhan. ...
The connections between people can sometimes be truly wondrous.
Zhi Rou had never imagined that a stranger she had just met a few days ago would remember her again in the same place.
Perhaps it was because he was truly handsome, with dark eyebrows, black eyes, and a face like fine jade. When he saw her, he smiled dashingly and came over to greet her, "Miss Song."
Zhi Rou was quite surprised. She vaguely remembered that she hadn't introduced herself to him by name that day in front of the Broken Cloud Pavilion. Wasn't it rather abrupt for him to greet her so presumptuously?
But upon closer inspection, she realized there was a considerable distance between them. He stood there refined, tall and slender, with an air of scholarly elegance, and a familiar expression emanated from the corner of his eye, inexplicably reminding her of Wei Yuanzhan.
Zhi Rou looked away, appearing unwilling to respond.
Song Hanjin spoke up beside her: "Who are you?"
Ling Ziheng turned his gaze and slightly raised his lips: "Ling Ziheng of the Ling family of Qinyang."
Upon hearing this, Zhi Rou was somewhat surprised. Was the Ling family of Qinyang that Luo Luo mentioned the same person she had unintentionally bumped into on the street not long ago?
She only needs one friend like Wei Yuanzhan.
Zhi Rou quickly came to her senses and asked him, "Is there something you need, Young Master Ling?"
“My younger sister has only been in the capital for a short time. She heard that Miss Song is a disciple of Mr. Xue Nan and has long wanted to pay her a visit. Unfortunately, she was feeling unwell and was unable to attend the banquet today, so she asked me to deliver an invitation to Miss Song on her behalf.”
After he finished speaking, he took out an invitation wrapped in jacquard silk from his pocket and handed it to Zhi Rou.
Song Hanjin sensed that this person still had something to say, and after learning his identity, she became much more polite. She said to Zhirou, "Then you two chat, I'll come over in a bit."
Zhi Rou accepted the invitation and stood under the apricot tree. The bright sunlight filtered through the gaps in the trees, shining on her face and shoulders. She looked at Ling Ziheng without any attempt to hide her gaze.
She couldn't quite put her finger on what was strange, but the way he looked at her was always self-disciplined, yet when their eyes met, she felt that everything he did was too offensive.
Ling Ziheng was indeed sizing her up.
After their chance encounter that day, his entourage still disobeyed orders and secretly discovered her background. She had returned to the Song family in the sixteenth year of the Shuo De era, at the age of nine. Her birth mother's surname was Lin, and she had lived in Luozhou since childhood. That year was her first time going to the capital.
Many details match up.
He hadn't intended to get entangled in this, but if his aunt and cousin were truly alive, he couldn't remain indifferent. Perhaps he was just curious now and hadn't made any further plans.
"Where are you from, young lady?" Ling Ziheng suddenly asked.
That's a very poor question. If he knows her surname is Song, doesn't he know where she's from?
Zhi Rou frowned. "Wherever I am, I belong there. What do you mean by that, Young Master Ling?"
Perhaps it was due to her youth, or something else, but upon closer inspection, she didn't actually resemble her aunt's portrait entirely. Her eyes and brows held a touch of heroic spirit, and a hint of exotic charm that seemed to be fading away.
It is well known among the old clans of the North that General Chang's ancestors had some non-Han ancestry.
“I meant no harm, it’s just that the young lady looks quite like an old friend of mine.” Ling Ziheng smiled slightly and lowered his eyelashes.
Zhi Rou remained calm: "The world is vast and full of wonders. We just happen to look alike; it's not worth Young Master Ling remembering."
That's enough for now; to say anything more would be unbecoming of my position.
Ling Ziheng wasn't in a hurry. She was right; there were indeed people who looked alike. How could she be so sure that she was the one her grandfather was thinking about? Even if she was, would her grandfather do something different for her than he had back then?
Many questions remained, but the answers required careful examination. He shifted his gaze and said frankly, "If you have the time, young lady, you might as well visit the Ling residence. My younger sister is the same age as you and is also a martial arts enthusiast."
"Okay, I've got it." Zhi Rou nodded. "If there's nothing else, I'm going to find my sister. Goodbye."
After watching her retreating figure, Ling Ziheng turned around and met a gaze from not far away.
They gazed at each other from afar, and after a short while, he recognized him.
That day, a rude and disrespectful young man suddenly appeared.
Ling Ziheng's expression turned indifferent. Not wanting to waste any more words, he glanced at him casually and then withdrew, heading towards the curtains to the south.
This made Wei Yuanzhan feel slightly displeased. He followed the crowd for a while and then saw a group of people rushing up to him in an almost fawning manner, addressing him as Young Master Ling from a distance.
Wei Yuanzhan slowly raised his eyebrows and repeated, "Ling..." before uttering the word, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes.
Among the noble scions, only the Qinyang family bears the surname Ling, and it's said they ceased their presence in the capital over a decade ago. Is this Young Master Ling... a coincidence?
After a moment, Wei Yuanzhan pursed his lips. He didn't care about the Ling family of Qinyang or anything else, as long as he didn't provoke Song Zhirou, everything was fine.
"Where is the interesting thing that Second Brother mentioned?"
Just as Zhi Rou and Song Hanjin met up, Song Qizhang strode over from the other side.
Hearing her question, he furrowed his brows, somewhat restrained, and said, "Fourth sister, have you forgotten? Just pretend I never said that."
Zhi Rou felt deceived, and her face showed some displeasure. She took Song Han Jin's hand and said, "Third sister, let's go over there."
She turned to leave, but Song Qizhang quickly stopped her, also trying to coax Song Hanjin: "Sisters, my dear sisters, don't be like this, I still have a lot to say to Zhirou."
Zhi Rou turned to look at him: "What did you say?"
He couldn't say anything, not to fool Zhirou, but because the matter was of great importance and he hadn't yet figured out how to start.
Zhi Rou wasn't really angry; scaring him a little had sorted out her anger. Seeing his dejected look, she laughed, even tilting her head playfully and looking up into his eyes: "Scared, Second Brother?"
Caught between a rock and a hard place, Song Qizhang suddenly saw several members of the He family and the Lan family walking towards them. He grabbed Zhi Rou's arm, straightened her up, and whispered, "Someone's coming."
Zhi Rou straightened her back and turned slightly to the side.
Five or six纨绔子弟 (sons of wealthy and powerful families) were gathered together. The one in the lead, surnamed Lan, was the second son of the Duke of Wei and the one who was engaged to Song Hanyin.
"Aren't these the Song brothers?" Lan Wen raised his hand and bowed to Song Qizhang, but his eyes lingered on Zhi Rou and Song Hanjin with lust. "Greetings, my two sisters."
Zhi Rou remembered Song Hanjin's words and dared not be disrespectful and cause trouble for her second sister's marriage. When facing Lan Wen, she was a completely different person, with the same proper and gentle smile as a young lady from a noble family, her eyes deep and her radiance restrained.
Seeing this, Lan Wen felt very pleased with himself. If his future sister-in-law was so beautiful, his fiancée must be quite good as well.
Some were delighted, while others were provocative.
The eldest son of the He family took two steps forward and looked at Zhi Rou with a half-smile: "My sister said that Miss Song is an excellent archer. Today we have a target and the wind is calm. I wonder if Miss Song would do us the honor of having a match with us?"
Zhi Rou's feud with that Miss He began two years ago, on the day of the Spring Banquet. The fact that the young master of the He family specifically chose today to spar with her was obviously suspicious.
Song Qizhang spoke first, then chuckled, "You perfectly fine young men can compare yourselves, but why make things difficult for my sister? Isn't that a bit much?"
He spoke gently, but his demeanor revealed a cold and hard attitude.
Song Hanjin agreed, saying, "Fourth Sister has never drawn a bow at home, so I suppose what Miss He said was just a joke."
"Whether it's true or false, we'll find out soon enough by trying. Is Miss Song's courage smaller than a fingernail?"
Because Lan Wen was there, Zhi Rou was afraid of making a mistake, so she suppressed her competitive nature and said insincerely, "I am not good at this, so there is nothing to discuss."
Young Master He persisted, a forced smile on his lips, and patted Lan Wen on the shoulder: "Wen Chu, you should try to persuade him. After all, you are his future brother-in-law. Even if you don't want to give me any face, you can at least give me some, right?"
"Fourth sister, look..." A faint blush appeared on Lan Wen's face.
After much deliberation, Zhi Rou thought to herself, "How long will this tug-of-war continue? If the matter was caused by Lan Wen, even if the man surnamed He wanted to do something, the harm could be minimized."
He then raised an eyebrow and asked, "Will Young Master Lan participate? If Young Master Lan invites me, I will accept."
Lan Wen was flattered and couldn't help but smile, maintaining a warm and composed demeanor: "Alright, I'll enjoy myself with you all." He then informed the He family members in advance, "I'm a little rusty, please forgive me."
Those people were clearly taken aback by this turn of events and were stunned for a moment.
Since things had come to this, he had no choice but to improvise and find another way to trip her up. In any case, he had promised his younger sister that he would teach Song Zhirou a lesson.
"Fourth sister, have you thought this through?" Song Qizhang grabbed Zhirou, his eyes filled with reproach and worry.
Zhi Rou didn't avoid his gaze. Instead, she looked back at him firmly and glanced at Song Hanjin as well, then said clearly, "I'm not afraid."
Afterwards, he and Lan Wen and his group went to the small training ground specially set up in the garden.
The next time Wei Yuanzhan saw Zhirou was here.
The stadium was surrounded by stands on all three sides, teeming with people. In the center stood several familiar figures, the most striking of whom was Song Zhirou.
In every respect, she is the most watched one.
Wei Yuanzhan frowned slightly, but still went inside and chose a spot closest to her.
Zhi Rou took the bow from the servant, with a quiver of arrows at her feet.
She held the bow and arrow without fear, her appearance was heroic, and with her neat, narrow-sleeved clothes, her aura alone was already three levels ahead.
The eldest son of the He family was a skilled archer. After nocking an arrow and drawing the bowstring, the arrow flew swiftly and hit the bullseye.
He fired a few arrows with practiced ease, noticing that Song Zhirou was equally skilled and on par. Taking in her carefree and elegant demeanor, he narrowed his eyes, lost in thought.
He walked over step by step: "Shooting like this is utterly boring. Why don't we blindfold ourselves and have the servants throw objects at the 'alive' ones?"
There were many onlookers, all of whom were prominent officials and their sons. She couldn't afford to be hurt if anyone was injured.
Zhi Rou immediately declined: "Young Master He is unpredictable, but I never said I would accompany you to two events, did I?"
She tossed the bow back to the person standing nearby, turned and left, but unexpectedly saw Wei Yuanzhan in the crowd. She paused slightly, a hint of embarrassment in her eyes.
Among her peers, there were two people she feared most being reprimanded for her recklessness: her older brother and Wei Yuanzhan.
Before the feeling of embarrassment could even spread, Young Master He grabbed her wrist and said with a smile, "What if I don't let you go?"
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