Yu Jingxiu: “Tell me, why would a man be drawn to a woman?”

: “Perhaps, because she is beautiful?”

Yu Jingxiu: “Are there not plenty of beautiful women in this world?”

: “Then, is it her gentle nature?”

Yu Jingxiu: “Which maid in the household isn’t gentle?”

: “Because she is well–read?”

Yu Jingxiu: “All the noble ladies I have known have been well–versed in the classics. but none of these can truly be called love.”

: “Could it be that she once saved you?”

Yu Jingxiu: “If it were only to show gratitude, a thousand pieces of gold would suffice. It is because she is one of a kind. When calamity struck Huaying, she should have withered. once, I loved the narcissus (Fan Yake), not the magnolia (Fu Tingyun). But now, the magnolia (Fu Tingyun) has wandered to the Gobi, and grows more like a poplar. The fiercer the wind, the stronger it stands. and the narcissus (Fan Yake)? It got its wish and entered the greenhouse, yet grows more like a reed, lost among the masses. Tell me, did I choose wrong?”