Chapter 74: Chapter 74: Returning to the Rightful Owner

Zhou Yun shook his head. "I don’t really know the details. If he truly doesn’t want to talk about what’s on his mind, there’s no way to get it out of him!"

"One day, I happened to see him painting. I crept closer for a look and, to my surprise, he was painting a young woman. That was a rare sight! After I kept pestering him, he finally caved and said an elder had recently told him a marriage had been arranged. Since it was the Shangsi Festival, he even went to the Caiqing Banquet specifically to see her."

Liang Wan clicked her tongue in amazement. She simply couldn’t reconcile the man Zhou Yun was describing with the stoic Lu Xiu she knew.

Zhou Yun added, "The Shangsi Festival is my eldest sister’s birthday, so I didn’t go to the Caiqing Banquet. It was only after he told me all this that I realized what I’d missed that morning!"

"What happened then?"

Zhou Yun looked a bit regretful. "One day, a few years ago, he was sitting in his room in a daze, just staring at that painting. When he saw me coming, he moved to put it away. I mean, I can’t tell you how many times I’d already seen that painting, so what was there to hide?"

"Who would have thought that he wasn’t putting it back in the painting box, but was about to burn it! If I hadn’t snatched it away in time, it would’ve been nothing but ashes by now!"

Liang Wan asked, astonished, "Why would he want to burn it?"

"I don’t like it. I don’t want it anymore."

A cold voice suddenly cut in, startling the two in the room, who whipped their heads around in unison. Lu Xiu stood at the door, his gaze heavy and his entire being exuding a bone-chilling aura.

’Speak of the devil.’

Liang Wan sheepishly placed the scroll back down and subtly shifted a little farther from the table. At a time like this, anything she might say would only make her look more guilty.

Anyway, Zhou Yun was here. She decided to remain silent.

Just as she’d expected, Zhou Yun’s surprise was fleeting. A smile quickly returned to his face, as if he were completely oblivious to the displeasure on the face of the man in the doorway.

"I was just looking for that painting of yours for her, and you show up right on cue," Zhou Yun said, pointing to the painting box with theatrical regret. "But it’s strange. It’s gone."

Lu Xiu’s expression was listless, his gaze sweeping past the painting box without lingering. "Good that it’s gone. All of this stuff should have been burned long ago."

After speaking, he summoned a maidservant, only then slowly stepping into the room. He drew a few steps nearer but still kept his distance.

A maidservant came forward with her head lowered and, without needing to be told, began to tidy the messy table.

Lu Xiu kept his eyes averted from the painting box, fixing his gaze on Zhou Yun. "Didn’t you come for medicine? Now that you have it, why are you still here?"

Seeing that he was actually serious about burning the scrolls, Zhou Yun asked in surprise, "Why burn all this for no reason?"

Lu Xiu lowered his gaze and smiled faintly. "They’re just relics of a foolish youth. Keeping them around is just asking to be laughed at."

"Laughed at? By who?" Zhou Yun said dismissively, jerking his chin toward Liang Wan and winking. "She’s hardly a stranger. Besides, do you think I let her see them for no reason?"

Lu Xiu’s smile vanished. His brow furrowed, and the gaze he fixed on Zhou Yun grew darker.

Liang Wan surreptitiously watched Lu Xiu. He clearly wanted to drop the subject, but this Young Master Zhou simply wouldn’t let it go.

Liang Wan discreetly tried to signal him with her eyes. "Doesn’t Young Master Zhou have to go to the Eastern Palace? At this rate, you’re going to be late."

Zhou Yun nodded, his smile turning mischievous. "You’re right about that. I was planning to leave as soon as I got the medicine, but then I saw this painting box and it reminded me of something important!"

Liang Wan was puzzled. ’Finding that painting counts as something important?’

Ignoring Lu Xiu’s expression, Zhou Yun winked at Liang Wan and said in a mock-reproachful tone, "And aren’t I doing all this for you? I have no idea where you heard such rumors, but our Grand Commandant has been interested in ladies since he was a boy. What you see day-to-day is called self-respect. Who would be so vulgar as to maliciously slander him behind his back!"

"The reason I went to all this trouble to find the painting was to prove his preferences to you, but I also have a few words of advice! You don’t understand. That young woman broke his heart, and ever since, he’s kept all women at arm’s length. It got so bad I was worried he’d die alone. But then he met you. Since you’ve captured his interest, you can’t just—"

He rattled on like he was spilling beans from a bag, so caught up in his speech that he was completely oblivious to the atmosphere growing stranger by the second.

"Zhou Yun."

Lu Xiu turned his head slightly, cutting him off. His tone was mild, yet that quiet voice was enough to silence even Zhou Yun.

Liang Wan kept her head down, her palms slick with sweat.

THUD. A scroll tumbled from the maidservant’s arms. It landed partially unrolled, revealing the painting: *Willow Lane and Peach Blossom Path*.

The maidservant’s face paled. Ignoring the other scrolls still in her arms, she hastily dropped to her knees. "Please punish me, My Lord."

The maidservant’s plea for punishment shattered the dead silence in the room.

Zhou Yun let out a dry laugh and seized the opportunity. "Well, you all take your time cleaning up. I have to get to the palace and deliver this medicine."

Without waiting for Lu Xiu to speak, he snatched the white porcelain bottle from a nearby long table, shot Liang Wan a look, and beat a hasty retreat.

Liang Wan lowered her eyes and sighed to herself.

As Lu Xiu said nothing, the maidservant remained kneeling on the floor, not daring to rise.

Liang Wan chanced a sideways glance at him. He was staring, unblinking, out the window, as if captivated by some beautiful scenery. After a long moment, she heard him say, "Take them to the courtyard and burn them."

"Yes, My Lord." The maidservant audibly breathed a sigh of relief and reached for the fallen scroll.

Liang Wan’s gaze followed the maidservant’s outstretched hand to the beige hemp paper. The sight of one corner was enough to bring the entire image to mind; she could once again see its complete, pink-hued charm.

Suddenly, another hand landed on the other end of the scroll. The startled maidservant looked up to see Liang Wan gazing at her, and had no choice but to let go.

Liang Wan took the scroll and looked toward Lu Xiu. "My Lord, are you really going to burn all of these?"

Lu Xiu turned his head to look at her but said nothing.

The maidservant stood in the middle of the room, at a loss for what to do.

Liang Wan glanced at the scroll in her arms. "It would be a real shame to burn them all."

Lu Xiu scoffed. "If they serve no purpose, it’s better to be rid of them."

’That did sound like him.’

Hearing this, the maidservant no longer hesitated. She gathered the remaining scrolls and carried them out the door.

’Whether he burned them or not had nothing to do with her. Yet, for some reason, she felt these paintings were to Lu Xiu what Taohua blossoms had once been to her. Everyone has a secret dream in their youth. The lucky ones see it blossom and bear fruit. The unlucky ones watch it wither and die.’

’It seemed they were both among the unlucky.’

When the maidservant returned, the only painting left was *Willow Lane and Peach Blossom Path*, which was still in Liang Wan’s hands. She had no choice but to pass it over.

Lu Xiu glanced at her. "Let’s go."

Her heart pounding like a drum, Liang Wan followed him out of the room, her mind filled with questions.

「In her room, several large wooden boxes now sat on the desk.」

Liang Wan stroked the lid of one box but didn’t open it. Even so, she knew it was filled with the pearls she had left behind in the alley that day.

"Since you prayed for them, you should have taken them with you when you left."

Lu Xiu was a head taller than her. If she stood too close, she had to tilt her head back to look at him.

"Thank you, My Lord."

’He picked them up for me,’ she realized.

Lu Xiu looked down at her. "You’re not one for pleasantries, are you?"

A startled smile touched Liang Wan’s lips. "They were simply being returned to their rightful owner. To be overly courteous would seem insincere."

Suddenly remembering something, she turned, went to the daybed, and retrieved a cloak she had prepared. A Pouch sat on top of it.

"This cloak is yours, after all, My Lord. I have washed and mended it. I return it to you to do with as you please. As for this Pouch, I promised I would make you a new one. I was going to have a maidservant deliver it, but it’s fortunate you came."

Lu Xiu’s expression was blank. He gave the items a cursory glance. "Just leave them."

Liang Wan handed the items to a nearby maidservant. ’He’ll probably have these burned in a little while, too,’ she thought.

’Whether he burns them is his business. I still have to return what I owe.’

Liang Wan glanced at the wooden boxes. ’Does this mean we’re even now?’

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