Xu Ziling let out a wry smile and said, "Looks like Miss Song cannot extricate yourself from us, two brothers!”
A faint smile, brimming with confidence, appeared on Song Yuzhi's face as she said calmly, "Wrong! It's not that I cannot extricate myself from you guys; rather, I choose to meet this challenge face-to-face. This is my, Song Yuzhi's, character: I will never cower. This time I came with you, I want to see how many tricks and tools Kou Zhong, that repulsive guy, has.”
Xu Ziling was at a loss, "Since Miss Song already had that thought, plus you are also aware of Kou Zhong's intention, why did you come to me and ask all these questions?”
A helpless smile appeared on the corners of Song Yuzhi's lips as she spoke wryly but tenderly, "Because I am afraid that for the sake of ‘Duke Yang Treasure', Er Shu will persuade Die to sacrifice his own daughter's happiness.”
Xu Ziling mused inwardly that that possibility seemed to be great. Song Zhi was an old fox; Kou Zhong schemed against him, he also schemed against Kou Zhong, Song Yuzhi has become their chess piece. He said in heavy voice, "Do you really dislike Kou Zhong?”
Song Yuzhi heaved a deep sigh; she spoke calmly, "If I do not have any good impression toward him, I won't have to be this distressed. If I do not have any feeling toward him, for the benefit of my Clan, I won't refuse him, because I know that under any circumstances, I will not be sad for him. But now I am very scared. Do you understand my feeling?”
Xu Ziling did have deep understanding of her conflicting emotions: it was a hard-to-accept fact on top of a case of love and hate. To a certain degree, Kou Zhong has hurt her.
Song Yuzhi suddenly stretched lazily and smiled, "We are done talking; I feel much better! Xu Ziling, indeed you don't disappoint me. You are not willing to help tyrant Zhou in his oppression [idiom, meaning taking the side of the evildoer], but perhaps you can become my savior. You'll never know.”
Giving him a sweet smile, she walked away gracefully.
Xu Ziling was left alone on the stern, lost in thought, pondering upon the deep meaning behind her last sentence.
Xu Ziling tapped Kou Zhong's door lightly. "Xiao Ling?” Kou Zhong responded from the inside, "Come in!”
Knowing Yun Yuzhen was no longer inside, Xu Ziling was relieved. He pushed the door and walked in. Beside himself with joy, Kou Zhong instantly rushed over to wrap his arms around Xu Ziling's shoulders. He laughed and said, "You have no idea how hard it was to wait for you. I wanted to ask, but am afraid your look will give it away. Hee …! Did she have ‘change of affection, shift of love', and now she fancies you? Ha! One lifetime two brothers. If I really cannot gain her affection, I, Zhong Shao, would yield to you, albeit reluctantly. Afterwards I will find a way to mend this scar in my heart!”
With a wry smile Xu Ziling replied, "Song Yuzhi's insight is really not bad, she already knew long ago that you, this kid, are just exploiting her, not really in love with her.”
Kou Zhong was stunned. "She is more formidable than what I imagined,” he said, "Looks like in this task my chance of losing is greater than my chance of winning. If I had known this, I might as well ask Beautiful Shifu to stay, then tonight I won't have to worry about being lonely. Ay! Don't be so serious, I was just joking to ease the pain in my heart.”
Xu Ziling was displeased, "Basically you don't have any feeling at all. I am the one who suffers the most here, on one side is my good brother, on the other side is a good girl, and my good brother is going the cheat the good girl's feeling, and all I could do is to implicitly encourage her so that she would not be cheated.”
Pulling his arms from Xu Ziling's shoulders, Kou Zhong blurted, "What? Won't that mean I will lose the love of my life? Wine! Where's the wine?”
Xu Ziling dejectedly sat down. Shaking his head, he sighed and said, "Stop playacting! If vying for the world means you have to use methods that are hurtful to other people, I am going to leave you!”
Kou Zhong sat down on the other chair; smiling apologetically, he said, "Affection can be fostered, I guarantee that I will not hurt her. But speaking is useless; I hereby proclaim that this matter is finished. Are you satisfied now?”
Xu Ziling was deep in thought for half a day. Finally he slowly said, "The matter between a man and a woman, once started, no one knows for sure how it will end. As your friend and more so, your brother, I can only give you a word of advice: feeling is sharper than the sword, plus it is a two-edged weapon; you have to take care of yourself.”
Kou Zhong solemnly said, "I will take your advice to heart, I will never take a wrong step in this aspect. Right now I am going to declare to Song Yuzhi that the engagement is cancelled, so she no longer has to worry.”
Finished speaking, he pushed the door and left, leaving Xu Ziling alone in the room, smiling wryly.