“I haven’t been sleeping well these past few days, so I won’t go,” said Wei Linxia. She wasn’t particularly unwilling, but although some scenes were familiar, she didn’t want to make herself uncomfortable today.
Xi Linxuan would naturally not go either. Their absence wouldn’t affect anything. Among the four, three went happily, while only Wei Fengzhi looked bitter, afraid of the heat and dreading the city outing in such weather.
Wei Linxia suddenly thought, what’s good about accompanying the prince? Days aren’t one’s own. She shook her head and helped her father tidy up the small desks. When she reached Xi Linxuan’s desk, she discovered a line of text on the white paper: “A woman has thoughts, seeking but not obtaining, thinking day and night.” Wei Linxia frowned. If it was “you” with thoughts, was it written for her? If it was “woman,” who was it about? The phrase “seeking but not obtaining, thinking day and night,” had a sarcastic tone when reordered. Wei Linxia held the paper. Xi Linxuan’s desk was usually clean, and he would typically remove what he wrote. Did he leave this deliberately for her to find?
Her frown deepened.
Wei Linxia felt a hint of anger at Xi Linxuan’s satire. What was this thirteenth prince talking about? She crumpled the paper and tossed it into the wastebasket, only to retrieve it and soak it in the now-blackened ink wash.
Discovering a young girl’s thoughts, especially by an unpredictable man, irritated the usually composed Wei Linxia.
“What nonsense, hmph! Bad guy. If I had known you were so bad, I wouldn’t have sewn you a sachet,” she said to the ink wash, poking the paper ball with a brush as if it were Xi Linxuan himself.
Outside the study door, the young man in the wheelchair smiled slightly, feeling pleased. So, the steady Miss Wei could also get angry. He recalled the sachet she made for him. There were no sewing baskets in Madam Wei’s room, reflecting her limited needlework skills. Who else but the considerate Miss Wei would think to embroider a pine in the snow for him?
It seemed that when angry, the mature Miss Wei became lively.
Bad-hearted fellow, was he? Spot on.
