Heart's Devotion

Finally, I broke and asked, "Why did you come here?"

He shook the folding fan in his hand and sighed, "How can I bear to make a beauty sad?"

I had no choice but to let it go. However, thanks to him, I could often eat the chestnut cakes from the shop in the east of the city that always had a long queue. Life was quite comfortable.

Just from this perspective, Qi Zhan was barely a qualified childhood sweetheart, but definitely not a good candidate for marriage.

However, the ignorant me didn't realize that this man would become my other half. In fact, if I had had the slightest suspicion about this, I would never have brought Qi Zhan to the Spring Breeze Pavilion.

Yes, I personally paved the way for my future husband and his little lover to meet. In the days that followed, I never mentioned this incident to anyone. Otherwise, it would be a joke that would make people laugh out loud.

That afternoon, the weather was fine, just right for skipping class.

I made up an excuse and slipped out, disguised myself, and wandered around the street. Unexpectedly, I saw Qi Zhan.

Yo, what a coincidence. This guy is also skipping class?

I was about to go up and greet him when I saw him walking hurriedly and turning into an alley.

I subconsciously followed him, turned a few corners with him, and finally stopped in front of a uniquely styled building. There were three large characters on the plaque upstairs - "Spring Breeze Pavilion."

He stood in front of the door, hesitated for a while, and then a girl came up to greet him, "Young master, would you like to come in and have some fun?"

He sidestepped the girl who was leaning towards him and said calmly, "I'm here to find someone."

The girl's expression changed, and she said coldly, "This is not a place to find people, young master. You'd better go back and play with your nanny."

At that time, although Qi Zhan was very popular among the girls, in the eyes of those courtesans, he was just a good-looking young boy, not the dashing young master he is today. If it were today, the girls in the Spring Breeze Pavilion would probably be willing to throw themselves at him even if they had to pay for it. Unfortunately, at that time, he could only stand at the door and be ridiculed for being a child.

I heard it clearly from behind. Thinking that Qi Zhan had always been nice to me, how could I let him be made fun of by a courtesan like this. Coincidentally, I was also dressed as a boy, which made it convenient for me to act. So I stepped forward and said, "Why, can't I even come in to find someone?"

When the girl saw me, her face immediately lit up with a smile, and she said in a sweet voice, "Young master Chu, what brings you here? Please come in!"

I pulled Qi Zhan and said, "He's my friend. Can't he come in?"

"Of course." The girl quickly invited the two of us in. Qi Zhan lagged behind me by one step, and I could even feel his inquiring gaze on me.

Until we entered the private room, he didn't say a word, as if it was me who wanted to come instead of him. When the madam of the Spring Breeze Pavilion, Aunt Hong, heard that I had come, she came to entertain me in person and asked me what I wanted.

I looked at Qi Zhan and gave him a look, "Didn't you want to find someone?"

He was silent for a while and finally said awkwardly, "I want to... see your newest girl here."

He looked a bit unnatural when he spoke. Later, when I recalled it, I realized that this was probably one of the few times Qi Zhan felt embarrassed. After all, most of the time, he had the ability to make others more embarrassed than him.

Aunt Hong didn't think much of it and smiled as she went to call for someone, leaving me and him staring at each other.

He was just about to pick up the cup to drink tea when he suddenly choked on a series of coughs. It took him a long time to recover, and his peach blossom eyes were glistening.

I thought he looked a bit funny, but I still kindly said, "Why are you so excited? I won't tell on you."

Qi Zhan pursed his lips and didn't answer my question. Instead, he said, "You often come here."

I didn't have anything to hide, so I explained, "My second brother brought me here."

My second brother, Yun Xi, is a famous playboy in the city. Although he has gone to the capital to become an official, his deeds are still talked about in the North City. It's no exaggeration to say that if it weren't for his departure, the title of the First Young Master in the North City wouldn't have fallen on Qi Zhan's head so soon.

As Yun Xi's younger sister, I have been taken by him to see many things since I was a child. He said it was to broaden my horizons, but in fact, it was just so that he would have someone to persuade my father when he scolded him.

I have been to the Spring Breeze Pavilion many times. My second brother is always very generous, so we are treated as VIPs here. However, we usually just ask a few girls to play the zither or dance. There aren't many such effortless and profitable things, so the girls in the pavilion all like us very much.

Qi Zhan looked at me with an indescribable expression and said, "Even if you're not a proper lady, you should still come to this kind of place less often."

"Qi Zhan, can you talk properly? Didn't you want to come in? I helped you!" I pressed my throbbing temples and endured it again and again.

I realized that his so-called gentle and gentlemanly demeanor was all just to deceive those girls. In front of me, he couldn't say anything nice.

So he shut his mouth and didn't say anything more.

After a while, Aunt Hong brought a group of girls. They were all new faces, with different figures and looks, and the room became very lively all of a sudden.

Qi Zhan glanced at them and randomly picked out a few, asking the others to leave.

I didn't know who he was looking for, but the girls he picked were all very beautiful. I had reason to suspect that he was just making an excuse before and that he actually just wanted to come in and have some fun.

But for one of the girls, he specifically asked her name, and she replied softly, "Xuanxuan."

Although these girls were new, they all knew their place and accompanied us for a while.

Finally, Qi Zhan suddenly pointed at Xuanxuan and said astonishingly, "Can I keep her?"

I was full of question marks. Seriously? This is his first time here, and he's already planning to keep someone? Also, this girl looks younger than me. How can he do this?

I looked at him painfully, preparing to have a good talk with him about how such beastly behavior was unacceptable, but he directly interrupted me, "Yun Chu, do me this favor, and I will definitely repay you in the future. If you don't want to, then I have no choice but to tell your father that you brought me to the Spring Breeze Pavilion."