Chapter 35 – Hunting (1)

Hearing Ye Zhen’s answer, Mister Shan looked at her in fascination, as if to find out if she meant what she said. Ye Zhen looked back at him with clear and calm eyes, then she trained her gaze over the beautiful flowers.

“You are special.” Mister Shan mumbled to himself as he came to realize that among the Lu Family, Lu Yaoyao is indeed special, different in many ways.

“Sir, why don’t we go somewhere else?” Not long from now, Mo Rongzhan would certainly come back here with Lu Wushuang and Ye Zhen wanted to steer clear from fostering any interaction with them.

At first, she thought that she would be very excited to see Mo Rongzhan again, but at this time, she was rather withdrawn, and her heart’s excitement had ceased to exist.

Mister Shan also seemed unwilling to divulge himself more in the company of the ladies and agreed to Ye Zhen’s proposal. They excused themselves and walked in the opposite direction the couple went off to avoid undesired meetings.

However, the odds wasn’t in her favor and she found Lu Lingzhi on the other side! The thought of enjoying flowers in peace by avoiding Mo Rongzhan and Lu Wushuang turned out to be a useless attempt!

Nonetheless, Ye Zhen carried on with her stroll in the garden as if his presence didn’t bother her. If she left, she would be definitely giving room for suspicion in Mister Shan’s mind.

Lu Lingzhi knew that the Wang Fei Lu Wushuang, his dear sister, was enjoying the flowers in the forest. He thought that Yao Yao must be with the her at this time and probably, with the company of the emperor too!

With her sister and the emperor not in plain sight, he just wished silently that Lu Yaoyao wasn’t with them. He was still worried that the emperor would be reminded of Ye Zhen the moment he lays his eyes on Ye Zhen.

By the time he’d seen Ye Zhen not far away, talking with Mister Shan, the famous academe teacher in Jin country, Lu Lingzhi felt like a burden was just lifted off his chest. He wondered what they were talking about, specially when Ye Zhen’s face slowly brightened up, followed by her sweet laughter.

The laugh was sweet and charming. Suddenly, his nostrils were filled with the fragrance coming out of the earth. Autumn, Ye Zhen’s favorite time of the year.

Funny, she also used to laugh like that. But it was a long time ago, he shook of the memory.

“What are you looking at?” Some of Lu Lingzhi’s companion noticed his indifference to their conversation and quickly snatched his attention back.

A total of five or six people on his side were young men who had followed Mo Rongzhan to conquer the world. When they saw Lu Lingzhi’s eyes directed behind them, they also looked behind and see what’s getting him captivated.

Doing so, they happen to see Ye Zhen picking up a pink crab apple flower* from a tree and pinned it to her temples with a smile on her face.

*T/N : Crab Apple flower

“Ah! I’d never thought I’d see the day where our dear Lu Lingzhi, a man of iron heart, will stare like a besotted fool on a little girl!” A handsome man beside him named Tang Zhen burst out laughing.

Lu Lingzhi glanced back at him annoyingly and said, “Don’t talk nonsense!”

“Don’t wait until we ask which family the girl is from, and then the brothers will propose for you!”

The laughter was too loud, it was impossible for Ye Zhen to act deaf of it, but she must remain detached from the commotion for she knew Lu Lingzhi was a part of it.

“Sir, let’s go somewhere else.” Ye Zhen asked Mister Shan as she really had no intention of paying greetings to Lu Lingzhi.

Mister Shan gave a confused look at Ye Zhen.

What’s the matter with this little girl? Lu Lingzhi is her eldest brother. In the future, she may have to rely on him to have a better future. Why doesn’t she seem to like him and avoids him like plague?

“Yao Yao!” Lu Lingzhi had already stopped Ye Zhen from her tracks. Her shoulder stiffened as she held her breath.

Alas! It was too late to leave!