(Wan Li's POV)
Wan Li could barely remember how she managed to stand.
One moment she was kneeling in dirty water, her hair heavy and cold on her back—
and the next, her heart was beating so hard she felt faint.
Her ears were ringing.
Her cheeks felt hot.
Her breath came unsteadily.
Everything had blurred except him.
--
THE MEMORY OF HIS FACE
It replayed in her mind, over and over, with startling clarity—
the sight of the young man standing beneath the spring sun.
She had heard the whispers for years:
handsome,
brilliant,
talented,
the most promising son,
destined for something great.
But nothing prepared her for reality.
Yuan Kezhen—
the Third Young Master—
the boy she had built her fragile hopes around—
was breathtaking.
Not pretty.
Not gentle-faced like a scholar from her childhood books.
But striking.
His features were sharp yet refined—
eyes dark and intelligent beneath straight brows,
a clean jawline,
a slight lift at the corners of his mouth as though he was born with confidence,
and posture so poised it made the world around him shrink.
He looked exactly like someone who belonged to a larger world—
to Shanghai,
to universities,
to the future—
not to this courtyard stained with dirty water.
Even his silence felt dignified.
Even his smallest expression shift—
that faint furrow of brows—
had carried more weight than any scolding.
Wan Li felt her heart twist.
This is the man I am promised to…?
This…?
It almost frightened her.
Because he looked nothing like the soft, gentle boy she had imagined.
He looked like a young general walking out of a painting—
right into her ruined moment.
--
SU YAN'S PANIC
"Miss—Miss! Come inside quickly before you catch cold!"
Su Yan tugged her urgently toward the corridor.
Wan Li stumbled after her, dazed.
They reached the laundry room, and Su Yan immediately shut the door behind them, curling into frantic motions—pulling off Wan Li's wet outer layer, fetching cloth towels, boiling water, shaking her head violently.
"I can't believe— I can't believe the Third Young Master saw that—!"
Wan Li blinked.
"Su Yan…"
"We must dry your hair—quickly! And your sleeves—Miss, hold still!"
"Su Yan…"
Su Yan stopped only when she saw Wan Li's expression.
Soft.
Faraway.
Bathing in light that wasn't sunlight at all.
"Miss… what is it?"
Wan Li's voice trembled like a thread in a storm.
"…He punished them."
Su Yan blinked. "Yes, of course—he did. Young Master Kezhen is a fair man. But—"
"He punished them… for me."
A faint blush spread across Wan Li's cheeks, delicate as watercolor.
Su Yan exhaled slowly.
"Oh no," she whispered under her breath.
But Wan Li didn't hear.
Her mind was full—brimming—overflowing.
--
HER FIRST, TENTATIVE DELUSION
Wan Li pressed a trembling hand to her chest.
"He saw me," she whispered, voice fragile. "He saw me… and protected me."
Her mother's voice echoed softly in her memory:
Trust him, Wan Li.
He will become your safe place.
Wan Li had clung to those words for years.
Now—
now that she had seen him—
that he had defended her—
She felt something blooming inside her chest.
A soft, aching warmth.
A flutter she couldn't calm.
A spark of hope that felt both terrifying and wonderful.
Perhaps… perhaps he is as kind as Mother said…
Perhaps he will treat me gently…
Perhaps… he could care for me someday…
Su Yan sighed as she wrung out a towel.
"Miss… please don't think too much of what happened."
Wan Li blinked. "Why not?"
"Because…" Su Yan hesitated, choosing her words carefully. She was not sure about the third son's attitude or personality, but what she was sure of was that what she witnessed earlier was not how the princess saw it. "Perhaps, Young Master Kezhen is just… fair. He might have intervened for anyone."
Wan Li swallowed.
A tiny sting touched her heart.
"…For anyone?"
Su Yan softened her tone. "Yes, Miss. He seems like a good man. But it might be that he didn't act because it was you. He acted because the situation was wrong."
Wan Li lowered her gaze.
The warmth in her chest trembled—
but it did not disappear.
Because even if Su Yan was right,
even if he would have intervened for anyone—
He still intervened.
He still looked at her.
He still told her to stand.
And the way he spoke—
calm, assured, unwavering—
made her feel something she had never felt before.
Safe.
Safe with someone who didn't even know her.
--
THE HOUSEHOLD BUZZ
By evening, the entire estate was humming.
"What happened in the courtyard?"
"Did the Third Young Master really witness—?"
"Miss Qingling cried after she returned to her room!"
"Miss Qiuhe fainted from fright—!"
"And the princess—did you see her face? She looked so—"
Servants whispered behind screens.
Maids tiptoed around the corridors.
The concubine sisters' rooms stayed shut tight.
But no one dared approach Wan Li directly.
Not after seeing the Third Young Master.
Not after watching his silent disapproval.
But Wan Li didn't hear any of them.
She was sitting by candlelight, clutching her towel, cheeks glowing softly.
Thinking only of him.
--
HER FINAL THOUGHTS BEFORE SLEEP
That night, lying on her thin mattress, Wan Li stared at the ceiling.
Her heart felt different.
Fuller.
Heavier.
Softer.
She whispered his name shakily:
"Yuan… Kezhen."
It felt beautiful.
It felt dangerous.
It felt like the beginning of something she wasn't ready for—
but couldn't stop.
Her lashes fluttered closed.
And with a timid, trembling smile she didn't realize she wore—
Wan Li fell asleep with the image of a tall young man under sunlight.
Her heart blooming
for the first time
in her life.
--
TBC