Chapter 76: Seventy-Eight: Talented Scholar and Beautiful Lady Must Be Melodramatic!

Seventy-Eight: Talented Scholar and Beautiful Lady Must Be Melodramatic!

A path through the plum grove.

Someone who never takes the usual route spotted the architecture of the Su Fu.

From afar, the eaves and painted rafters of the buildings matched exactly those of the young mistress’s private courtyard he had seen before.

Ouyang Rong walked toward this direction.

Notably, in the center of the plum grove lay a small open space, with a pavilion standing there, long abandoned and rarely visited.

Ouyang Rong did not linger, passing straight through.

The saying goes, “A winding path leads to a secluded spot”—but was this path even a back gate?

Anyway, the young mistress had tried it before; it must be passable…

Thump-thump-thump~

A series of dull wooden fish beats reached his ears—seven in a row—Ouyang Rong halted, softly murmuring in surprise.

Strange, these days he’s respected the elderly, cared for the young, crushed the strong to aid the weak, upheld justice—except for the Liu family, who in the county didn’t raise a thumb for him?

Ouyang Rong hadn’t heard the wooden fish add to his merit in a long time.

Why now, just delivering a meal, does this happen?

Could this path be forbidden?

But before the young county magistrate could reflect further, the wooden fish beats came again.

Thump… thump… thump…

This time, the beats were crisp, rapid, seven in succession, then followed by a few intermittent ones.

The merit previously deducted had returned—and even slightly exceeded its original amount.

“...” Ouyang Rong.

Fake-out, right?

The man was both speechless and curious.

Based on his experience, wooden fish beats this close together and continuous likely came from the same source.

But this pattern—deducting merit, then immediately restoring it—he’d never encountered before.

Could it be some action that harmed someone, then warmed them?

Definitely a scumbag.

Shaking his head, still confused, Ouyang Rong pressed forward.

Soon, he finally reached the end of this secluded path.

He gave it no further thought, stepped out of the plum grove, and brushed fallen petals from his robes.

When he raised his head and took a few steps forward, he froze.

This was a deep inner chamber of plum blossoms.

Besides a vermilion-lacquered lady’s pavilion.

Inside the courtyard stood a swing, a zither platform, a lotus pond.

And a sandalwood table holding incense burners, rare books, and round fans.

The layout and architecture of the buildings resembled the young mistress’s courtyard—but upon closer inspection, they were not the same.

The young mistress followed the refined scholar-lady style; he remembered an arrow target in her courtyard, and just yesterday she’d said she’d teach him the gentleman’s long-range archery… How could a swing and zither platform suddenly appear overnight?

Something’s wrong.

This was definitely a stranger’s private chamber.

Ouyang Rong’s face hardened.

He grew solemn.

Fortunately, the courtyard’s layout was similar to the young mistress’s—he guessed he could find the gate.

Seeing no one around, and it being mealtime, he spotted a small gate on the western side, and immediately strode toward it.

But Ouyang Rong, now slightly uneasy, did not notice that on the third floor of the vermilion pavilion beside him, two slender figures leaned against the railing—one peach, one green.

One was a stunningly beautiful girl, still disheveled from her nap, cradling a snow-white lynx cat.

The other was a round-faced maid, holding a stack of scrolls.

The mistress and maid had been napping on a small raised platform, one petting the cat, the other sunning the books.

But sudden noises from the plum grove drew their attention.

Then they saw a tall, slender figure emerge from the plum grove—the young county magistrate.

Su Guoer and Cai Shou exchanged glances, both filled with shock.

Especially the former—even with her aloof and proud nature—a faint blush slowly rose on her pale face.

This was her private chamber.

Even her father and elder brother rarely entered, let alone an outsider.

Though inwardly annoyed, Su Guoer glanced at the food box in the man’s hand, then looked toward Xie Ling’s courtyard next door, and pressed her lips together.

Under the afternoon sun, the courtyard was utterly silent.

As if nothing had happened—or as if everything had.

Below, the food-delivering man, caught in melodrama, pretended to be passing by, eyes straight ahead, tiptoeing toward the courtyard gate.

Above, the stunning girl cradling the cat watched it all, holding her breath.

Her slender hand, stroking the cat’s head, revealed faint veins as she pressed the fluffy head down, as if to silence it before it meowed and ruined the awkwardness.

But then… Su Guoer watched in disbelief as the round-faced maid puffed out her cheeks, snatched a scroll from her hands, and hurled it over the railing, then covered her mouth with both hands and turned to her with a gasp:

“Oh, Miss! Your book just fell down! So careless! Oh no, it hit someone!”

Though whispered, the voice carried clearly across the entire courtyard.

“...” Ouyang Rong.

“???” Su Guoer.

Clearly, Moqi of feigning ignorance belonged only to the clever.

This maid, long since expelled from the “clever” roster by her mistress, operated beyond the bounds of reason.

What? No melodrama?

Doesn’t matter—Cai Shou will act.

Below, the passing man felt a sudden pain on his head, looked down, and saw a poetry anthology had struck him—it landed precisely at his feet, accompanied by the maid’s voice from above.

Above, Su Guoer glared at Cai Shou, who first shrank her neck and stuck out her tongue, then winked at her triumphantly, as if to say:

Miss, Miss, wasn’t my throw perfect? Isn’t this the romantic entanglement of talented scholar and beautiful lady?

Hmm, opened with a three-pointer—how could you lose?

Su Guoer took a deep breath, shot her another furious look—but the melodrama had already occurred.

She could only reluctantly accept what came next…

Above, the stunning girl cradling the cat forced her voice to remain calm:

“You… pick it up.”

The clear female voice echoed through the courtyard—whether meant for the maid or someone else, no one could tell.

Cai Shou said nothing, suppressing her laughter, and together with her mistress, they fixed their gaze on the handsome young man below, now standing still, head bowed.

But they saw the handsome youth first glance at the book on the ground, then look up in confusion at the clear blue sky, muttering softly under his breath—fragments barely audible:

“Strange… no more pies falling, now books?… The food will get cold… I’m starving… the young mistress must be hungry too…”

The handsome youth seemed nearsighted—he never once noticed the two beauties watching him from above, and with great propriety, he stepped carefully around the poetry book, grabbed his food box, and dashed off, his figure vanishing beyond the courtyard gate.

The courtyard fell silent again, as if no one had ever come—only a spring breeze sliding down the tree branches gently turned the pages of Tao Qian’s poetry on the ground, whispering a lonely rustle.

“...” Su Guoer.

“...” Cai Shou.

The mistress and maid stared at each other, utterly dumbfounded.

Turns out, the county magistrate was the true master of feigning ignorance.

But… why run off so fast? It’s not like I’m going to eat you!

On the third floor of the vermilion pavilion, silence stretched for a long while, as if processing what had just happened.

At one moment, Su Guoer tossed the cat into Cai Shou’s arms, her face stern, and nodded:

“You like throwing things? Next time he comes, throw this.”

“...”

…

Next chapter at twelve.