"Da-da... Da-da-da-da-di~di-da--dong..."

The night wind whispered, warm and gentle. A peach tree in the corner of the courtyard blazed with crimson blossoms, surrounded by scattered flowers and plants. A lantern under the eaves cast a soft, rosy glow. From nearby courtyards came the faint sounds of string and bamboo instruments, softly chanted melodies, and laughter accompanying conversations. In this courtyard, a woman kept time for herself, dancing with a light, spirited grace, like a spark or an elf.

She wore a special dancing dress, a vibrant blend of crimson and warm apricot yellow. The long skirt flowed from her waist, accentuating her slender, tall figure. The hem was edged with fluff, and beneath it, her nimble feet flickered in and out of sight as she leapt. Her dance was primarily a lively and joyous style, but it was sometimes fast, sometimes slow, occasionally even bearing a hint of martial spirit. At times, her movements were as rapid as blossoming flowers, then she would suddenly pause, creating a feeling of unspoken emotions. This dance was unrehearsed, never seen before, danced purely on a whim, yet anyone who witnessed it would surely recognize the dancer's extraordinary skill.

This was a small courtyard located in a corner of Qingyuan. The fortunate audience currently watching Yuan Jin'er dance consisted of five or six girls, aged eleven or twelve. They sat on the railing of the veranda, mouths slightly agape, completely mesmerized. This was the effect after Yuan Jin'er had completed several extremely difficult moves. Her body had moved so lightly, it seemed she would fly across the grass, but then the gentle and soothing movements created a different ambiance altogether. Before long, Yuan Jin'er raised her hands above her head, completed a move, took a step, and then, perhaps feeling a lack of inspiration, paused slightly before relaxing and coming to a complete stop.

"Did you understand it? How much did you remember? Can you dance it?"

She held a ruler, asking the little girls with an air of authority.

They all hesitantly shook their heads.

"Uh... You must have remembered something!"

Some nodded, some shook their heads, then quickly reacted and nodded again. Yuan Jin'er put her hands on her hips, thinking like a mother hen, probably worrying about what to say. In the end, she resolved the situation with brute force.

"Hands out, three strikes each. Go back and practice what you've memorized. I'll come and check later."

After the "pa-pa-pa" of the strikes, the little lolis rubbed their palms, looked up at Yuan Jin'er for a moment, and after an awkward silence, Yuan Jin'er said, "Go on." The several little girls who had been bought obediently ran away.

In all honesty, Yuan Jin'er, despite her superb dancing skills, was hardly a good teacher, full of wisdom and patience. After driving away the bunch of silly girls who she thought lacked comprehension, she thought for a moment, then dragged her skirt toward a room nearby. The long dress worn during the dance now seemed a little cumbersome, but she was already used to it. As she trotted, the skirt billowed behind her like waves, the tassels bouncing lightly.

In the room, Yunzhu, dressed in men's clothing, was sitting at a table, organizing some accounts. One hand held a writing brush, the other manipulated an abacus. At first glance, the candlelight created a picture of a handsome young gentleman frowning in thought. But she had no real talent in this area. Although the amount of accounts she needed to organize each month wasn't much, it still took her a long time. All she possessed was patience and tranquility. Occasionally, lost in thought, she would slightly furrow her brow and gently bite the end of the brush with her pearly teeth. Yuan Jin'er peeked her head in at the door, watching her sister's appearance, genuinely thinking she was beautiful.

Yunzhu took the brush from her mouth, turning her head. "Finished teaching?"

"Mm." Jin'er skipped in from the door. "They're all too stupid."

Amusement flickered in Yunzhu's eyes. "Aren't you just too impatient?"

"Uh, I might be... but they're really too stupid..."

"Then sell them all back to the human trafficker." Yunzhu looked at the accounts, frowning slightly. "Actually... we've been spending too much money on this lately. Aunt Gui and the others have been saying..."

Yunzhu trailed off, but Jin'er's expression changed slightly. "Really? D-don't do that... they're all so pitiful..." When she saw the smile on Yunzhu's face, she finally realized, "Yunzhu-jie, you tricked me again." Yunzhu smiled and concentrated on the accounts.

The room fell silent. Jin'er came over and leaned on the table, watching. Actually, she felt quite guilty. When it came to numbers, she had just as little talent as Yunzhu, but Yunzhu could remain calm, while she couldn't. At first, she always wanted to share Yunzhu's burden, but after a few times, she always found excuses to do other things whenever this happened. She felt that Yunzhu-jie must know that she was being lazy, but Yunzhu-jie never said anything, and she felt even more guilty. Thinking of this, she remembered that these things were all caused by that Ning Liheng, so she hated him a little.

Her eyes were wandering, and Yunzhu glanced at her, smiling softly, "Go change clothes." Jin'er stood up, looked at the dress she was wearing, and pulled at it a few times. "I haven't worn it in ages... Yunzhu-jie, do you think it's pretty?"

"Pretty." Yunzhu rolled her eyes at her. "Aren't you going to change clothes? I'm almost done with the accounts."

"Oh." Jin'er ambled toward the back, "Yunzhu-jie says Jin'er is pretty..." The seemingly contented voice rang out in the room, word by word, causing Yunzhu to purse her lips involuntarily.

Behind the room was a corner screen. Jin'er hummed an almost inaudible, gentle melody, untied her belt, and took off her top. There were only two women in the room, and she wasn't particularly guarded. Before long, looking from this side, one could occasionally see parts of Jin'er's body appear in the melody behind the screen: slender and fair, with no excess fat, her delicate bare feet, twisting and turning with a bit of swagger and playfulness. After a moment, she seemed to think of something, and the soft melody stopped, and Jin'er also stopped there.

A leg stepped out from behind the screen. Jin'er peeked her head out from the side of the screen, then she bit her lip and carefully moved out from there, holding the unfastened *dudou*. The weather was still a bit cold, and her body trembled slightly, but finally, after hesitating for a while, she let go of the *dudou*: "Yunzhu-jie?"

"Mm?" Yunzhu turned her head...

"Am I pretty..."

The air fell silent for several breaths. Yunzhu's shoulders slumped, and then she crumpled a piece of paper and threw it over. "Hurry up and put on your clothes, what if you catch a cold..."

"Oh... but..."

"No buts. Hurry up." Yunzhu, dressed in men's clothing, felt quite helpless, but her assertiveness finally had an effect. Jin'er retreated somewhat sullenly, revealing half a small butt behind the screen. She rustled around for a while, occasionally poking her head out, seeing only Yunzhu biting the end of the brush at the table. This scene made Jin'er hesitate to speak several times. Finally, when she was almost finished dressing in men's clothing, she came out from behind the screen and said softly, "Yunzhu-jie..."

At the desk, Yunzhu suddenly turned around, slamming the brush on the table behind her: "Jin'er, I'm doing the accounts, can you... can you..." After all, her nature didn't have much anger and talent for scolding people, especially when it came to her closest people, she couldn't get angry, and after saying the beginning, her eyes became complex and self-reproachful, frowning and pursing her lips. Jin'er hadn't buttoned up her clothes, and she wasn't wearing shoes, her slender feet were bare, and the menswear that hadn't been completely tidied up made her feel particularly petite and slender. She knew that she was indeed too annoying, and lowered her head quietly for a while before looking up at Yunzhu's situation: "But you... you weren't doing the accounts..."

"Uh, I... I where..." Yunzhu didn't know why she said that.

"You're biting the brush, your eyes aren't even on the accounts, always like this. You're not doing the accounts at all, you're thinking about him again..."

"..." Yunzhu wanted to say something, but in the end she couldn't say it.

"...I know."

"I... I was just thinking, what would he do if he were here, Jin'er, you know... we're both a little stupid when it comes to these things..."

Yunzhu defended a few words, then turned around. She looked at the accounts for a while, raised her head, and said softly, "Actually... I've also been thinking about when he'll come back, whether he's okay, according to Prince Consort, there should be results, I want to visit Prince Consort's mansion tomorrow, Jin'er... I'm sorry..."

For a long time after the incident in Hangzhou, although Yunzhu and Jin'er had been going to Prince Consort's mansion to inquire about news, that was, after all, Prince Consort's mansion. Yunzhu and Jin'er were well aware of how far ordinary people were from the royal family. Although the number of visits seemed quite frequent, this frequency was at most once every ten days or half a month. The last time they went to Prince Consort's mansion was right after the Qingming Festival. At that time, Ning Yi had just finished dealing with the Badao Camp, but the news naturally couldn't be sent back, and Kang Xian naturally comforted them that there would be news after a while. But for Yunzhu, who was constantly thinking about Ning Yi, even getting news once a day probably wouldn't be enough. At this time, the matter in Hangzhou should be settled, and she suppressed her feelings, telling herself that she shouldn't keep bothering people, but in the end, she was always thinking about it.

"No, but I just don't want you to keep thinking about him, I just don't." After apologizing, Jin'er quietly walked over, hugged Yunzhu from behind, and rested her face on Yunzhu's back, "I feel sorry for you like this."

Yunzhu didn't struggle away from her, after all, Jin'er had said that she liked her and was jealous many times. She naturally knew Jin'er's true feelings when she said this, in the end it was because of admiration for herself only, "But I like him, Jin'er."

"It won't end well." Jin'er shook her head and muttered, "Why can't you like me?"

"If I were a man, I would definitely like Jin'er."

"It doesn't matter if you're not, I don't mind... but it's a pity I'm not a boy, so there's nothing I can do."

Yunzhu turned around, smiling and stroking her hair, "I really don't understand why you dislike Liheng so much..."

"He wants to steal you away, why should I like him! I didn't like him before, and now that we've been together for so long, I like him even less! Hate! I hate him! Yunzhu-jie... he's not a good person at all, we stayed in Jinfeng Tower for so long, you can tell what kind of men they are at a glance, he's too powerful, can't understand him, even if you just want to be a concubine, you'll always be manipulated by him, you can't manipulate him at all. Mama used to say that if you can charm him, you can have a good life whether you marry into a rich family or a poor family, but if he charms you, those who admire him for being a talented person and desperately want to marry him will not have a good ending! I don't want to say this..."

Yuan Jin'er waved her hands and shouted, circling around Yunzhu like a little hen, "Anyway... anyway, Yunzhu-jie, you know, you've heard that it's okay for women to like women, why does it have to be men? Yunzhu-jie, it's good for us to be together, you can like me too, I'm so pretty. We're not short of money, don't worry so much, sell these few buildings, what Mingyue Tower, Qingyuan, Yilan Residence, it's so awful, it's annoying to hear..."

Yunzhu smiled and said, "But Jin'er, the person you like isn't actually a woman, you're just saying that for me..."

"No, I just like women, I just like Yunzhu-jie, I don't like other women. Yunzhu-jie, why don't you kiss me, kiss on the lips... they say you'll know if you kiss, kiss me... kiss me..."

She jumped up and down beside Yunzhu, looking up and pouting. As she was shouting, a soft and gentle feeling suddenly pressed against her lips, Yunzhu's lips pressed against her lips, she was frozen there, blinking a few times, blinking a few times again, after a while, Yunzhu separated from her and smiled, "How is it?"

"Uh... tingling, numb, I... my face is red..."

"Nonsense." Yunzhu reached out and poked her forehead with a smile.

"Really! Really really really really really, or should we do it again, Yunzhu-jie, really..." She kept emphasizing, but Yunzhu just treated her as nonsense. After a while, she couldn't help but mutter, "Yunzhu-jie, you're always thinking about getting married, what will I do after you get married..." Then she continued to make trouble.

Just as the two were talking, there was actually a noise coming from the front, and at this time, a woman rushed over to knock on the door, saying that two groups of talents were arguing upstairs, and it was irreconcilable. Jin'er wrapped her clothes around herself, hiding behind Yunzhu, at this time saying, "Isn't that something that happens often, it's useless for us to go."

Yunzhu said, "Let's go take a look." She first dismissed the woman, then had Jin'er put on her clothes so they could go out. Jin'er had just buttoned up her clothes when she suddenly heard a loud bang, coming from the front courtyard far away. This time, it sounded like it really caused a commotion...

**********

I am currently participating in a Qidian author salon, and I will probably be home on the 26th. I will try to write as much as possible, but I cannot predict the update. (To be continued.) Vote for recommendation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)

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