The Poet and the Prowler
“Absolutely not!”
The First Wife immediately intervened before Lanyi could even open her mouth to answer.
“You know perfectly well that the Cursed Lands are not somewhere one may wander about as one pleases. Lanyi still needs to concentrate on learning to suppress her Qi. Going outside unnecessarily will only place her in danger.”
Wei Balong immediately nodded along when he heard his wife’s tone become serious.
“Mm… your mother has a point, Bajie. Given her present condition, it would be better for Lanyi to remain somewhere peaceful.”
But someone like Bajie would never retreat so easily.
She straightened her back and folded her arms, her entire posture overflowing with confidence.
“Of course we would need to be cautious if we ventured deep into the dangerous regions. But Mother, have you forgotten that I am the most talented and strongest Zhenyuan?”
She cast a charming smile around the table.
“Father knows it. My brothers know it. And Mother knows it better than anyone. I could care for an infant with my eyes closed. Surely protecting a single young lady would be nothing in comparison?”
“There is only a very thin line between confidence and conceit, Bajie,” the First Wife interrupted, shaking her head.
“As the proverb says, those who play with fire will eventually burn themselves. You must not become overly proud of your abilities.”
“Thank you for your guidance, Great Mother!”
Bajie immediately accepted the warning with a brilliant smile, showing not the slightest sign of genuine reflection.
“I have now learned that if I am careless, Lady Lanyi may be placed in danger. Therefore, I promise that I shall be twice as cautious as before!”
The First Wife released a long, exhausted sigh.
Her troublesome daughter had somehow taken her warning and twisted it into yet another argument in her own favor. Yet the First Wife’s expression still made her disagreement perfectly clear.
Bajie therefore turned toward her final source of support and gave her father an imploring look.
“Father… what do you think?”
Balong, who was in the middle of lifting a piece of fish toward his mouth, froze.
On one side, he faced the First Wife’s murderous glare. On the other, he faced the pleading eyes of his beloved daughter.
The moment those two gazes collided, a fishbone became lodged in his throat.
“Cough! Cough, cough!”
He hurriedly seized his cup and drank, waving his free hand frantically as though to declare:
'I cannot answer! I am far too occupied with surviving this fishbone!'
It was a desperate attempt to avoid making a decision that might place him at odds with either his beloved wife or his daughter.
Lanyi seized the moment of confusion and spoke in a calm but resolute voice.
“I am deeply grateful for the Fourth Young Miss’s invitation and kind intentions. I shall accept the sincerity behind them. However, for everyone’s safety, as well as my own, I believe it would be better for me to continue my training within the guest residence.”
Deep inside, Lanyi felt a small surge of relief and triumph.
The First Wife had become a shield protecting her from Bajie’s scheme, while Lanyi herself had managed to preserve the image of a courteous guest without being forced to venture outside with this troublesome Zhenyuan.
Bajie pursed her lips and twisted her face to one side, visibly displeased that her plan to invite Lanyi out had collapsed so completely.
A quiet click of her tongue escaped her throat.
But someone like Bajie would never surrender so easily.
If she could not lure Lanyi outside, then she would simply have to find another way to approach her.
“My, training inside the guest residence all day must be terribly dull,” Bajie said, moving a little closer to Lanyi as the cunning light returned to her eyes.
“And how is your pipa practice progressing? Would you like me to teach you? I know several special techniques that would make the music far more interesting than it is now!”
Lanyi glanced sideways at the red-haired Zhenyuan who was attempting to force her way into Lanyi’s affairs.
She answered with a smooth and courteous smile.
“Thank you for your kindness, Fourth Young Miss. However, Second Lady Yufan has already been teaching me with great care. Her knowledge is profound, and I have yet to learn even a fraction of it.”
She paused briefly before striking back in a voice that was sweet yet razor-sharp.
“Or is the Fourth Young Miss suggesting that the teachings of Second Lady Yufan, your own mother, are somehow… not good enough?”
Bajie immediately froze.
Her lips twisted from side to side as she thought:
'This Rouling woman… her tongue is far sharper than she looks.'
Seeing Bajie beginning to run out of arguments, yet still refusing to abandon her attempts to approach Lanyi, the Third Wife recognized an opportunity.
She could help their guest while also teaching the troublesome girl a lesson she would not soon forget.
“Bajie, dear… rather than troubling yourself with music, you should know that Lanyi is exceptionally talented in calligraphy and poetry. Her verses are remarkably elegant.”
The Third Wife spoke with a soft laugh and exchanged a meaningful glance with the First Wife.
“Since you are so interested in our guest, why not ask Lanyi to teach you some etiquette, calligraphy, or poetry for a few evenings?”
The First Wife immediately nodded in agreement.
'Excellent, Third Sister. Bajie despises sitting still and copying characters more than anything else.'
Bajie’s face immediately took on a sickly expression.
Her mind filled with memories of the poetry lessons she so deeply detested.
'Poetry!? All that confusing arrangement of words… upper lines, lower lines, linked verses, matching rhymes—how is anyone supposed to understand any of it? And she actually enjoys such things!?'
She glanced toward Lanyi, hoping desperately that it was not true.
“Hmm? Lady Lanyi… do you truly enjoy those dull books?” Bajie asked, looking the woman beside her up and down.
“No wonder you appear so proper, as though you had stepped directly out of a painting. So you enjoy all those written words and painted characters that send people to sleep…”
She grimaced.
“But those things are so terribly boring.”
Lanyi immediately noticed the word boring and Bajie’s expression of utter disgust toward books.
'Could it be… that she hates poetry?'
Lanyi glanced toward the Third Wife.
The older woman smiled sweetly at her and gave the faintest, slow nod, as though sending Lanyi a silent message.
'The Third Wife deliberately revealed this to me… Could it be that… '
Lanyi turned her gaze back toward the red-haired woman, deciding to test her suspicion.
“That is correct, Fourth Young Miss. I adore poetry above all else.”
Her smile grew even sweeter.
“If you are interested, once the banquet ends tonight, I could prepare thirty lengthy poems of moral instruction and recite them for you. I would be pleased to help refine both your manners and your scholarly knowledge.”
At the words thirty lengthy poems of moral instruction, every hair on Bajie’s body seemed to stand on end.
The image of herself sitting rigidly for hours, her back aching while Lanyi’s voice droned through endless sleep-inducing verses, appeared vividly in her mind.
She immediately retreated an entire step.
“Ah… I think… perhaps we should eat!”
Bajie hurriedly began picking up food with her chopsticks.
“Look! This roasted quail appears delicious. Lady Lanyi, you should eat plenty. You must be terribly hungry…”
She placed more food onto the plate with frantic enthusiasm.
“As for all that poetry… let us discuss it in our next life—no! I mean, another day!”
Seeing Bajie shudder with such obvious dread, Lanyi secretly smiled with satisfaction.
'So books are your weakness.'
Throughout the rest of the banquet, no matter what subject Bajie attempted to discuss or what topic she used to lure Lanyi into conversation, Lanyi would respond with a sweet smile before smoothly turning the exchange into an elaborate eight-syllable verse or a profound piece of ancient poetry.
She would then pause expectantly, forcing Bajie to invent a matching line with the proper rhyme.
Bajie was utterly helpless.
She sat with her mouth slightly open, unable to utter a single word.
Her mind was filled entirely with martial techniques and combat forms. There was not even half a line of poetry anywhere within it.
Whenever Lanyi gazed at her with wide, innocent eyes while waiting patiently for an answer, Bajie became even more flustered.
She could not counter with so much as a single phrase.
Pabao, Puzhen, and Beyuan, who were seated nearby watching the exchange, had to lift their wine cups to conceal their laughter.
“Second Brother, look at that,” Beyuan whispered. “I believe I can see smoke rising from Fourth Sister’s head.”
“Hahaha! I see it. I see it,” Puzhen whispered back. “Lady Lanyi is truly remarkable. She has Fourth Sister completely under control.”
“Are the two of you no longer afraid of her?” Pabao quietly asked.
“Afraid? What is there to be afraid of, Big Brother? She is merely… s-she…”
As Puzhen tried to defend himself, he suddenly remembered that Bajie knew nothing about how frightening Lanyi’s power truly was.
'Ah! That is right! Fourth Sister still does not know about her power.'
'But Mother has already made her wear the Dark Jade Bracelet. If Mother says it can keep her power under control, then surely everything will be fine…'
The three brothers turned toward their youngest sister with a trace of concern.
“Why must you stand beside a tree stump waiting for a rabbit, Fourth Young Miss?” Lanyi asked.
“A tree stump? Why would I stand beside it? What rabbit am I waiting for?”
Bajie raked both hands through her hair in bewilderment.
“Oh, enough! I merely asked whether you wanted some fried chicken! Why are you suddenly talking about rabbits? Do you want rabbit meat instead? I can have someone bring you some!”
The sight of their youngest sister growing increasingly irritated as she struggled through Lanyi’s lessons immediately eased the brothers’ concern.
'It will be fine.'
'Fourth Sister will never be able to endure staying near her for long.'
When the banquet came to an end, Lanyi excused herself and returned to the guest residence, accompanied by A-Ling and A-Lan.
The two maids followed her into the bedchamber, where they helped her change out of her formal robes and prepare the bed.
All the while, they could not stop giggling.
“My Lady, I could barely keep myself from laughing when you began reciting those poems of moral instruction,” A-Ling said as she folded the garments and arranged them neatly.
“When I saw the Fourth Young Miss struggling to force out an answer and failing completely, I almost felt sorry for her! Her face lost so much color that she looked ready to swallow the roasted quail whole just to avoid speaking.”
“That is true, A-Ling!” A-Lan added as she arranged the pillows.
“I thought she must be talented at everything. Yet the moment she was faced with a little scholarly knowledge, she became as stiff and speechless as a stone statue.”
She smiled proudly at her mistress.
“Our Young Lady is truly the most remarkable. You should be able to sleep peacefully tonight.”
Lanyi did not answer either of her maids.
She merely allowed a faint and knowing smile to appear upon her lips, while her heart swelled with pride.
' Hmph… a barbaric woman who relies only upon brute strength.
The moment she encountered the ways of a scholar, she became as helpless as any other uncultured brute.
By now, her head must be spinning so badly that she can neither eat nor sleep.
I shall enjoy pleasant dreams tonight, while the person who tried to provoke me will be the one lying awake in frustration.
It serves her right for looking down upon me first.'
After the two maids had excused themselves and left the room, Lanyi gently removed the Dark Jade Bracelet and placed it upon the bedside table.
The heaviness and tension that had burdened her throughout the entire day finally dissolved.
She moved toward the head of the bed and reached out to extinguish the lamp, ready to enter the realm of dreams and bring her day of victory to a satisfying end.
But just as the flame began to fade—
Creak…
A faint movement from the window immediately drew her attention.
Lanyi startled and rose, quickly seizing a silk shawl and wrapping it around her shoulders.
She stared toward the source of the noise with wary eyes.
'What was that sound? Did someone open the window?'
There, shamelessly perched upon the windowsill, was a slender figure.
The intruder’s flame-red hair reflected the pale moonlight, glowing like fire in the darkness.
“My, my… will you not give me a chance to redeem myself after my miserable performance with those poems, Lady Lin Lanyi?”
Bajie spoke with a teasing smile curling at the corner of her lips.
There was no trace of sleepiness in her eyes.
Instead, the mischief within them seemed to have doubled since the banquet.
Lanyi’s eyes widened.
She took a startled step backward as shock and anger erupted within her.
'Has this woman completely lost her mind!?'