Chapter Twelve: It's Over, The Sky Is Falling

Soon, she could no longer smile.

"Little Sister truly has grown up; she actually understands the joys found within books. She even knows that when I read Master Kong’s works, it is like having a conversation with him. If only she knew she was coming to the Imperial Academy to study, I wonder how happy she would be," Chu Hengyang thought with a hopeful smile.

Chu Ying: This is it—the sky is falling!

What? What?

Her diligent, earnest efforts to help her elder brother and sister-in-law grow closer—seemingly... apparently... perhaps... had been mistakenly interpreted by her brother as a fondness for reading and studying?!

No, please!

Her pure and untainted mind, untouched by the slightest stain of books and learning, absolutely cannot be sullied by even the faintest speck of knowledge’s impurity!

“I wonder if this time I can entice Hengyang to like me…” Beneath Xiao Yixi’s cold, expressionless face lay a profound unease toward the one she cherished. “If I cannot… then I will no longer have any chance to interact with Hengyang. Little Sister Yingying is not a student of the Imperial Academy, so even if I come here in the future, I will no longer share any connection with Hengyang. I can only remain a mere acquaintance, as before.”

“I—I am going to the Imperial Academy!” Chu Ying clenched her fist and declared loudly with her pure heart and mind.

Her expression was resolute, her clenched fist radiating determination, yet beneath it all lay endless pain and reluctance.

Forgive me, my perfectly pure and spotless mind—the best in the world. For the happiness of my elder brother and sister-in-law, and to prevent my stunningly beautiful and captivating sister-in-law from sorrow, I must betray you.

I can only let you be immersed day after day in this atmosphere filled with scholars and learning—

Chu Ying wiped away the tears from the corner of her eyes and made a reluctant proclamation: “Today, after visiting the Imperial Academy, I finally realized how much joy poetry and study can bring.”

She mourned for her brain with two trailing tears.

Her heart ached numbingly as she spoke lovingly of learning: “I want to come to the Imperial Academy, to read alongside the students every day, to learn the vast knowledge from the masters.”

Chu Ying shut her eyes tightly and silently whispered “sorry” to her mind.

Chu Hengyang was moved.

“I never expected Little Sister to have such deep feelings for learning. I had simply failed to notice before,” he thought.

“Little Sister, don’t worry.” Chu Hengyang gently wiped the tears from Chu Ying’s eyes. “Big Brother had already intended to discuss with our parents about sending you to the Imperial Academy to study. I didn’t expect that this surprise would come to you even before we began making plans.”

Chu Hengyang’s smile was helpless, his gentle face like a spring breeze, his gaze toward Chu Ying filled only with affection.

Chu Ying grasped Chu Hengyang’s wrist, tears in her eyes full of sincerity: “Big Brother, thank you.”

No one could have guessed that the genuine tears on her face were for the loss of her once pure mind.

Xiao Yixi looked into Chu Ying’s eyes, filled only with gratitude.

“Little Sister Yingying, thank you so much. You truly are the most adorable, kind-hearted, wonderful girl in the world—someone who understands me the best. Without you, I fear I would have lost any chance of getting closer to Hengyang.”

She carefully maintained her calm, afraid that anyone would see the unrest within her heart.

Chu Ying’s eyes suddenly brightened, radiant with pink bubbles of joy, her pain and sorrow completely vanished.

Heh heh heh.

Sister-in-law says she is the most adorable, kind, and wonderful girl in the world!

Ha—

What is mere knowledge compared to that?

No one—will ever stand in the way of her helping her elder brother and sister-in-law be together!