Song Hui had been standing behind him this entire time and looking at Wei Luo, who was next to Zhao Liuli. His expression held a profound sadness. He had lost a lot of weight and he look somewhat haggard. Seeing that Wei Luo was about to leave, he finally couldn't stop himself from walking forward and hoarsely asking her, "Younger sister Ah Luo, can we go somewhere else to talk?"

Wei Luo paused. She had known that she couldn't avoid this scene. She looked at Song Hui and forced herself to smile as she asked, "Older brother Song Hui, is there something that can't be said here?"

Song Hui's tone was gloomy as he said, "I want to privately speak with you."

Fortunately, at this time, everyone else had already left Chun Yin. Gao Cong Xun was the only person left. Seeing that the scene in front of him wasn't good, he cupped one fist in his other hand and discreetly left.

Seeing Gong Cong Xun leaving and thinking that the two of them would be married soon, Liang Yu Rong thought it would be fine for them to speak privately, so she led Zhao Liuli away from the couple so they could have a vacated area. However, Zhao Liuli knew about Wei Luo and Zhao Jie's relationship and was worried. As they walked, she turned her head, "Ah Luo... "

Wei Luo’s head was lowered and she was looking at her shoes.

Song Hui could only see the black hair on the top of her head. There were black circles underneath his sorrowful eyes. He had lost a lot of weight in a short period of time. It was if this was his last look before he fell into an abyss. Along with the hopelessness, there was also unwillingness and desire to struggle. He opened and closed his mouth. It took him a long time until he was able to say a single word, "Ah Luo... My father has already brought up rescinding the engagement with Duke Ying."

Before he had left his home today, his father was already preparing to go to Duke Ying's residence to rescind the engagement and apologize.

He didn't go with his father. He was probably scared of confronting this reality.

Song Hui felt as if there was a dagger in his heart. He wasn't willing to let her go. On the evening that Song Bai Ye said he couldn't marry Wei Luo, he had kneeled outside for an entire night to beg his father to take back his decision. But, his action was useless. No matter what, Song Bai Ye couldn't agree and had said this marriage definitely had to be ended. Song Hui felt as if someone had scooped out his heart. There didn't seem to be a reason for why this misfortune had happened.

He wanted to see Wei Luo, but he was also scared to see her. He was worried that she would say more cruel words to him. That feeling was worse than having his heart gouged out by a knife. He wouldn't be able to endure it, so he wanted to avoid her. But even hiding from her was useless, all of his emotions surged up violently as soon as he saw her today. He really wanted to hug her. He wanted to have her, marry her, and bring her home to love dearly.

Wei Luo had already heard about this from Zhao Jie, so she wasn't too surprised, but she hadn't expected it would be so quick.

Her sound of acknowledgement was almost inaudible.

Song Hui clenched his fist. The previously gentle and elegant young man had become dispirited and depressed. His voice held a plea that he wasn't aware of as he said, "Ah Luo, why don't you want to marry me? I'll treat you very well."

Wei Luo didn't look at him. After a long, she slowly said, "I only think of you as an older brother... I... I don't have romantic feelings towards you."

Song Hui's body trembled and he seemed about to fall over.

Wei Luo instinctively wanted to support him. Her hands had already reached out halfway before she slowly drew them back. "The reason I want to end our engagement isn't because of older brother Song Hui... Older brother Song Hui is really good. I'm sorry. I should have said this earlier." Looking at his current state, she felt somewhat guilty. She wanted to comfort him, but she didn't know where to start. If she said too much, she would be giving him hope. It would be better if she didn't say anything.

Song Hui supported himself with a nearby stone table. He was holding onto the table so hard that his fingers turned white.

His face was pale and he didn't recover for a long time. Eventually, he turned around and walked away without saying anything.

His back figure blended into the mountain's green cedar trees. Each of his steps were exceedingly slow. In the end, he disappeared from Wei Luo's line of sight.

-------

After the sun set and the moon and scattered stars appeared, there was a banquet at the lake pavilion at the back of Zi Yu Villa.

Most of the people attending the banquet were the young men who had attended the poetry gathering during the day. They were all in high spirits and happily playing drinking word games. Song Hui didn't have a high tolerance for alcohol. Until today, he would usually stop after drinking a few cups during these type of events. But today, for some unknown reason, he would drink the wine in the cup in one gulp whenever someone proposed a toast. It was very different from his usual restraint. Although the people near him were puzzled, they didn't think too much of it. They all thought he was merely in a good mood as he drank more and more. They didn't know that it was because he was feeling depressed.

Not much later, Song Hui felt somewhat dizzy and delirious.

In the end, he still had some sense left and knew that he would make fool of himself if he kept drinking, so he stood up and bid everyone farewell. He was planning on going back to his room so he could rest. Just after he passed through a jiu qu qiao, a servant girl that had been underneath a willow tree came rushing over to him. It seemed as if she had been waiting for him for a long time. "Heir Song."

(T/N: Below is picture of jiu qu qiao. It's a zigzagging bridge/walkway that connects the lake pavilion to land.)

He stopped. Through the light from the moon, he was barely able to see the appearance of the servant girl. She looked like Wei Zheng's personal servant girl.

The servant girl continued, "Fifth Miss wanted me to pass on a message. Could you please come to Jin Tai Courtyard? Fifth Miss has something she wants to tell you."