The cicada calls of early summer struck the carved window lattices of Jufang Pavilion like jade beads scattered against a porcelain vessel. A breeze swept through the hall, setting the copper bells at the eaves to swaying and weaving a delicate, rhythmic chiming outside the second-floor private room. As Jiang Wan ascended the stairs, her moon-white skirt hem brushed against the vermilion railings. Through the Xiangfei bamboo curtains, she caught glimpses of crimson silk and willow-green shawls—Chen Yutong and Wang Ruoxue were sitting three feet further apart than usual; Renyao’s indigo skirts were rubbing irritably against the edge of the table, while Lin Miaoyin’s round fan shielded her face like a barrier, revealing only the faintest trace of suspicion at the edge of her brows.
"Sister Jiang has arrived."
Jiang Rou’s voice drifted from behind the gold-traced screen, laced with a deliberate, saccharine lightness. She stepped out, clad in a crimson cloud-brocade dress. Her red coral bracelet rattled with every movement, the beads flashing an eye-searing red in the early summer sun—much like the dark fire hidden deep within her gaze. Biyue stood behind her with her head bowed, revealing ink-stained fingertips at her cuffs—the incriminating evidence of having copied anonymous letters by candlelight the night before.
Chapter 54