Villainess Wants To Turn Over A New Leaf

Lin Feilu took two deep breaths to stabilize her mind before she ran toward him while clutching onto the hem of her skirt.

Song Jinglan felt a presence and turned his head to look at her. She couldn’t see his expression as he had the mask on, but Lin Feilu guessed he should be smiling.

He held an identical mask in his hand, and when she got close to him, he raised his hand to put the mask on her. Lin Feilu had to raise her head to look at him when standing in front of him. The mask was already a little big for her petite face, but with the elevation change, it slipped down slightly.

Song Jinglan then bent down and put his fingers behind her head, helping her adjust the mask.

Lin Feilu asked excitedly, “Where shall we go first?”

He smiled softly, “Where does Little Lu want to go?”

This was the first time he didn’t address her by her title as a Princess. The new term overjoyed lin Feilu as she scampered around, “Let’s just walk around first, then.”

The long street was bright, and many people indulged in the lively night; it was probably more crowded than during the day. In addition to snack vendors and game stores that trailed along the road, more stalls offered quiz games, lantern-painting, and a variety of masks to choose from.

Many people carried a lantern in their hands. Lin Feilu also approached the vendor and chose a lantern depicting the ancient legend ‘Chang Er Flying Towards The Moon’. The peddler smiled and said, “If you can guess the riddle on the lamp, this lamp will be given to you, Young Lady. If you can’t guess it, you will have to pay if you want it.”

She looked at the lampshade that said, ‘Look to the south of the lonely star as the crescent moon rises’.

Although Lin Feilu was a brilliant child, she had never played this kind of word game before, so she couldn’t figure it out. When the peddler saw that she couldn’t answer, he said, “If you can’t figure it out, you’ll just have to pay for it.”

Lin Feilu exclaimed, “Who said I couldn’t guess it?!”

She turned to Song Jinglan, who was next to her, for help.

Song Jinglan was looking around as if nothing had happened, but when he received her signal that pleaded for assistance, he turned his head and answered with a smile, “Zhuang (庄).”

(T/N: I want to translate this but it would have been very lengthy since it depicts the wordplay of the Chinese characters itself and it’s poetic. Let me know if I should though)

The peddler exclaimed happily, “Young Master is really amazing! This lantern has stumped many tonight! Since you guessed it right, I will give it to you!”

Lin Feilu happily took the lantern. Suddenly, she thought of something, pointed to another lantern with a butterfly picture, and said, “I want this too.”

Song Jinglan glanced at it and answered, “Night.”

Peddler, “Wow! This Young Master is outstanding! He guessed another word!”

Lin Feilu fell in love with this game immediately as she pointed at all the lanterns hanging by the street vendor, “I still want this, this, this, and this!”

Song Jinglan answered with the correct words with just one glance every single time.

The peddler complimented him at first, however, slowly but surely, he burst into tears, “Please be merciful, Young Master and Young Lady! This humble seller still has elders to care for and young ones to feed; I still need to make a living!”