Chapter 12. Clear Breeze and Bright Moon, Young Master Shen, This Is Improper!……

The two fell silent for a moment.

The pine-green color in the painting still remained. Su Jin sighed, unsure why he wanted to bring Song Zhi into the conversation.

Usually, only Shen Yuan was scolded. Except for that pair of jokers by his side, when had he ever had the chance to scold others? Now Su Jin was lowering her head, looking like she was obediently accepting the lesson.

Shen Yuan suddenly felt several surges of kindness in his heart. Since that was the case, he would reluctantly give her some advice.

To prevent her from foolishly offering her true heart.

After all, Su Jin looked like she couldn’t withstand deception, and he had heard from his mother that she hadn’t had much contact with young men in the past. If she encountered someone skilled, she would surely be dazzled and confused.

He sighed with feigned profundity, imitating the look of disappointment his mother usually gave him when she thought he wasn’t living up to expectations, and gazed at Su Jin. “His coming to your door and being so inconsiderate of propriety likely means he has some ulterior motives.”

“Since you haven’t had deep interactions with him, it’s better to hold back some of your feelings. When you pass the imperial examinations next year, there will be plenty of young men admiring you. Why fixate on just this one person before you?”

“In life, not everything you want is attainable. You must act according to your abilities.”

“Thank… you, Young Master Shen, for your advice.”

The early spring wind is always unpredictable, blowing east one moment and west the next.

The corners of Su Jin’s eyes reddened, and her fingers unconsciously tightened on the book she was holding.

She understood the implications of Shen Yuan’s words.

Her unexplained stay in the outer courtyard of the Shen residence, from Shen Yuan’s perspective, meant that her having feelings for someone else was the best way to avoid suspicion.

He said, why fixate on just this one person? He also told her to act according to her abilities.

So regardless of whether it was Young Master Song in today’s painting or any other young master, it certainly wouldn’t be him, Shen Yuan.

Her delicate eyebrows furrowed tightly. Her heart, which had just been warm and bashful, was now pressed firmly beneath layers of ice walls, frozen so stiff she couldn’t recover for a long while.

Shen Yuan had originally planned to continue telling her, from a man’s perspective, how unreliable this Young Master Song was.

After all, apart from his face, he couldn’t see any merits.

Suddenly seeing her reddened eyes, his heart softened, and he silently held back his words. In any case, with him watching from the side, that Young Master Song probably wouldn’t dare to come calling again.

However, he had only said a few words, none of them harsh. Why was she so upset?

Could it be that his mother had never scolded her before?

Come to think of it, with no elders in her family, how could she be like him, constantly being scolded and thick-skinned?

Shen Yuan felt somewhat regretful, and suddenly became irritated. They say women are resilient, but how could she take well-intentioned advice as an insult?

“Forget it, it’s your private matter after all.”

Shen Yuan felt inexplicably stifled. He couldn’t help but stand with his hands behind his back, blocking her way. A gentle breeze lifted a few strands of his hair.

On the open rice paper, pine-green ink outlined the silhouette of a young man with broad shoulders and a narrow waist, wide sleeves fluttering, standing against the wind.

Inside and outside the window, the two scenes blended together. For a moment, it was unclear whether the person in the painting had come to life or if the beauty had entered the painting.

Outside, the sun shone brightly. Su Jin remembered that Shen Yuan couldn’t withstand the sun. She gently invited him into the room. She herself remained standing outside the window, avoiding suspicion thoroughly and completely.

The spring flowers were in full bloom, but they couldn’t compare to her gentleness and care as she lowered her eyes and rolled up the painting through the window.

Shen Yuan felt angry looking at her. She had only met Song Zhi once, how could she harbor such deep feelings? It seemed his earlier heartfelt advice had gone in one ear and out the other, treated as mere smoke and clouds.

Su Jin dared not look at him, only reaching half her body in to pull out “Wen Yu Ke’s Treatise” from a stack of books on the table and push it towards Shen Yuan.

Her breath suddenly came close, and Shen Yuan’s body leaned slightly. His slender fingers touched the cover, inadvertently brushing against her palm.

Skin touched skin, if only for a brief moment.

It also caused the corners of Shen Yuan’s lips to curl up. Without thinking, Su Jin must be blushing again now, not knowing what to do.

She was indeed so easy to tease.