Morning settled over the Yuan residence with a pale, cool quietness. Servants moved quickly through the corridors, clearing dishes, sweeping pathways, and carrying bundles of freshly folded linens.
But to Wan Li, the world felt different.
Brighter.
Warmer.
Almost frighteningly so.
Wan Li was a fluttering mess.
She dropped a towel twice.
She tripped once.
She lost her hairpin and spent fifteen minutes panicking before finding it under a cushion.
Su Yan sighed at every mistake.
"Miss… calm yourself…"
"I—I can't…" Wan Li whispered, cheeks burning hot. "He… he answered me…"
"That was barely a sound."
"But it still counts…"
Su Yan covered her mouth before her unwanted smile escaped.
Wan Li pressed a hand over her heart.
She had thanked him.
She still couldn't believe she had done it.
Her hands trembled all through breakfast.
Her heartbeat fluttered when she remembered how he paused—how he actually turned toward her. How he listened. How he acknowledged her.
She replayed the moment over and over again—
his pause,
his gaze,
his quiet nod.
She imagined his voice a thousand times deeper, a thousand times gentler than it truly was.
She filled every silence with kindness, every blink with romantic meaning.
For her, it was monumental.
For him…
she didn't know.
But she hoped.
Desperately.
--
SERVANTS GOSSIP
"Third Young Master spoke to her this morning."
"I saw them from afar."
"Only a word, but still—he noticed her."
"Isn't she pretty now? Much more than before."
"Well, if she draws his eye, the sisters will go mad…"
Wan Li didn't hear all of it — but she caught fragments.
And every fragment made her ears burn.
Su Yan tugged her hand gently. "Miss, don't mind their chatter."
Wan Li ducked her head, voice no louder than a breath.
"I… wasn't… trying to cause talk…"
"I know."
She wasn't used to attention.
She wasn't used to being seen.
It made her heart tremble with fear and something almost like joy.
--
MADAM LI, INFORMED
By midmorning, a maid softly reported the rumors to Madam Li.
"Third Young Master… spoke to the princess…"
Madam Li did not even look up from arranging fresh plum blossoms.
"Mn."
That was all.
She understood servants too well; they spun mountains out of pebbles.
Still—
she noted the information silently.
A brief encounter.
Nothing more.
But in politics, even a brief encounter could make ripples.
She neither encouraged nor dismissed the possibility.
Simply allowed the day to continue.
--
KEZHEN — A VERY SMALL NOTE
At noon, Kezhen passed by the east veranda on the way to his study.
He wasn't searching for her.
He simply walked.
He reviewed his upcoming appointment for Shanghai University in his mind—entrance requirements, academic schedules, which officials he needed to greet politely, which professors he must impress.
All important.
All demanding focus.
But as he turned a corner, he noticed something:
A girl kneeling by the corridor, carefully cleaning a cracked porcelain pot.
Her head lowered.
Her movements quiet.
The faintest trace of pink on her ears.
Wan Li.
Just a glance.
A brief point of recognition.
Nothing more.
He didn't stop.
He didn't linger.
He simply registered:
She seems calmer.
That was all.
A stable presence was easier to manage than a disruptive one.
His gaze moved on.
So did his thoughts.
--
WAN LI'S HEART
Wan Li did not know he had looked at her.
She only sensed footsteps, heavy and sure, passing behind her.
Her breath caught.
It felt like her heart leaped toward the sound—hoping, aching, blindly wanting.
She dared not look up.
But her hands shook.
Su Yan later said softly, "Miss… you must breathe."
Wan Li pressed her hands to her cheeks, whispering,
"I can't… I can't stop thinking about him…"
Her voice came out fragile and embarrassed.
"Is… is this what it feels like?"
Su Yan, who had seen maidservants fall in love dozens of times before, understood well enough.
"Yes," she whispered. "This is what it feels like."
Wan Li covered her face with both hands.
Her shoulders shook—not with tears, but with shy, overwhelming joy.
She had never had anything like this.
Never looked forward to anything.
Never wanted anything.
She felt guilty for wanting someone so far above her.
But she wanted him anyway.
--
KEZHEN'S EVENING
He worked until the lanterns were lit.
Only once, faintly, did an image drift through his mind—the tearful girl from yesterday, her head bowed.
Not deeply.
Not enough to distract him.
Just a light impression.
She's manageable, he thought briefly.
Then he returned to his writing.
No repetition.
No reconsideration.
The decision from the night prior remained untouched—quiet, settled, unspoken.
His life continued its forward march toward Shanghai.
--
NIGHT IN THE SIDE COURTYARD
Wan Li lay awake beneath her quilt, fingers tracing invisible patterns over her chest where her heart wouldn't stop pounding.
Tomorrow was another day.
Another chance.
Maybe she would see him again.
Maybe he would see her.
Maybe…
Just maybe…
he would speak again.
Just one more word.
One was enough to keep her breathless.
Two might kill her.
Wan Li pressed her pillow over her face and giggled silently, terrified and delighted all at once.
For the first time in years—
she felt alive.
--
TBC