Madam Fu looked at the long narrow box in her daughter's hand, and her eyes warmed with a smile.
"San-niang, you're not so young anymore. You must understand what this meeting with the Song Family represents. What do you think of that third young master of the Song Family? Does he meet your eye?"
Fu Yunjin's face flushed slightly. She said, half in jest, "Mother, whatever are you saying? Third Young Master Song is a phoenix among men. So many Noble Ladies in the capital regard him as their ideal match. Is your daughter's standards really higher than all of theirs?"
"Oh? So you do fancy him?" Madam Fu smiled and tapped the box in her hand. "You'd better think it through. How other Noble Ladies judge this third young master, I don't concern myself with; I care only about what you think. If you're unwilling, then we'll have this flute accounted for and taken back from the Song Family."
Fu Yunjin held the box in silence.
