Shen Ruoyu lifted the curtain and stepped down, her limbs aching as if she'd undergone strenuous exercise, though she hadn't. Raising her hand, she noticed a scattering of red marks on her fair forearm. "Xiao Chun, look, why do I have all these red marks on me?" She'd noticed them upon leaving Fufeng Residence. The marks didn't look like bruises.

Xiao Chun draped a thick cloak around Shen Ruoyu, leaning in for a closer look. "Miss, I don't know. Perhaps you were bitten by something. I'll find some ointment for you when we return to the manor."

"Really? I don't think so…" Shen Ruoyu was suspicious of the marks' origin. Before she could voice her doubts, a commotion in the distance interrupted her.

Jiang Peizhi, who usually spent his days idly wandering the capital and squandering money, was unexpectedly standing before the academy gates. Even from afar, Shen Ruoyu could hear him berating his servant, "You deaf dog! Didn't you hear me tell you to throw these books away?!"

Jiang Peizhi gritted his teeth, baffled by his grandfather's decision to send him to such a place to study. In the young man's eyes, the academy was no different from a prison, and studying was torture. He'd been restless since his first day. Barely literate, he couldn't understand the Confucian classics the teacher droned on about. Half a day of lessons had already driven him to the brink.

"Jiang Peizhi, what are you doing here?" Shen Ruoyu could hardly believe her eyes. Why would Jiang Peizhi be at the academy? Had he grown tired of his comfortable life and sought out suffering?

"Who's that? Yuyu?" Jiang Peizhi followed the voice and spotted Shen Ruoyu by the carriage. He dashed from the academy gates, the anger on his face replaced by a pitiful expression. He threw his arms around Shen Ruoyu. 

"Yuyu, you're finally here! Did you know I was suffering in this hellhole and come to rescue me? You're so good to me! Did you bring any of those plum blossom cakes from East Street? I'm starving…"

Shen Ruoyu could barely breathe in his embrace. Pushing him away, she said, "Sorry, Young Master, I didn't bring anything. And I'm not here for you. I'm looking for Qi Ziyi."

Jiang Peizhi's face fell. He rolled his eyes dramatically. "Oh, I thought you came looking for me out of the kindness of your heart, remembering our years of friendship. But you're actually here for that Marquis Qi's son? So, it's true, you and he are a match made in heaven." His tone was laced with a touch of bitterness, and he deliberately showed off a new phrase he'd learned that day.

"Jiang Peizhi, I now understand why Uncle Jiang sent you here to study. I told you not to use idioms if you don't know how." The more one lacked something, the more one liked to flaunt it. Jiang Peizhi's favorite pastime was showing off his meager literary knowledge.

Unwilling to argue with him about his literary skills, Shen Ruoyu changed the subject. "Jiang Peizhi, do you know what happened between my brother and Qi Ziyi at the academy?"

"Yes," Jiang Peizhi nodded, then recounted everything he knew. "Today, during archery class, Qi Ziyi claimed his jade pendant was missing and insisted your brother stole it. Since your brother is the unfavored little jinx of your family, no one cared and let Qi Ziyi handle it. He made your brother kneel and apologize in front of everyone. In this freezing weather, he even splashed your brother with cold water and said some truly awful things. Shen Xinghuai looked quite pathetic…" 

Jiang Peizhi glanced at Shen Ruoyu and, noticing her displeasure, quickly added, "But don't worry, Yuyu! Whoever you hate, I hate. You don't like your brother, so I don't like him either. Rest assured, I didn't say a word in his defense!" He patted his chest reassuringly.

"That Qi Ziyi! Who gave him the audacity to act so arrogantly?" The Shen family was also influential, the object of much flattery. How dare the heir of a declining marquisate bully her brother?

The bell signaling the end of class rang, and students began to stream out of the academy. Soon, Qi Ziyi spotted Shen Ruoyu waiting at the gate.

"Miss Shen? To what do I owe the pleasure?" Qi Ziyi smirked, fully aware of her reason for being there, yet confident she couldn't touch him.