Who’s Slandering This Master?

Since losing her parents at a young age, Lu Shujin was raised in her aunt’s home. By the time she turned sixteen, her aunt had arranged a marriage for her—one that came with a lucrative dowry.

The night before the wedding, Lu Shujin packed up and ran away.

After arriving in the bustling city of Yuncheng, she heard that the prestigious Haizhou Academy was offering free enrollment, with food and lodging included. To escape her aunt’s pursuit, Lu Shujin disguised herself as a boy and took the entrance exam. She passed and was accepted into the academy.

On her first day of school, while buying steamed buns by the roadside, she overheard several Haizhou Academy students gossiping about the young master of the Xiao family. Every word was unpleasant. Not wanting trouble, Lu Shujin was about to leave when a bun hit the back of her head.

She turned around and saw, ten steps away, a richly dressed young man standing in the morning sunlight. His handsome face was filled with arrogance:

“Who’s badmouthing this young master?”

Lu Shujin touched the back of her head, her heart skipping a beat.

⸻

Xiao Jin, the young master of the Xiao family, was a legendary figure in Yuncheng—of noble birth but rebellious in nature.

The first time he saw Lu Shujin, he thought:

“This weak little guy… one punch and he’d cry for three days.”

Seeing that Lu Shujin was timid and easy to bully, Xiao Jin took her under his wing as a lackey. He gave her small errands to run, and she obediently did them. Even the homework assigned by the teacher was thrown to her without her daring to protest.

Until one day, Xiao Jin personally saw her soaking two sheets of paper by the pond. When they arrived at school, she handed him the smeared, blurry homework and said,

“It rained. It got wet.”

Xiao Jin laughed:

“Are you asking for a beating?”

Later, when Lu Shujin actually cried in front of him, Xiao Jin—his eyes full of repressed emotions—gently wiped her tears and murmured helplessly:

“Lu Shujin, if only you were a girl.”

Author

风歌且行

Translator: nnm88
Image: AI
Status: ongoing

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