After returning to Woyun Hall, Ji Cheng’s heart was in turmoil. Sleep was out of the question; every time she closed her eyes, Shen Che’s face would appear, his handsome features infuriatingly beautiful.
As the saying goes, “Holidays make one miss family,” but on the Qixi Festival, it’s love that one misses most. Ji Cheng tossed and turned, unable to sleep. She got up and went to the outer room, where she saw the five-colored threads she had pulled out earlier, carelessly placed on the small table, reflecting a silvery gleam in the faint starlight.
Before her mind could process it, Ji Cheng was already sitting at the table, threading the needle again.
The completed five-colored threads were like the jumbled thoughts in Ji Cheng’s mind. Looking at the threads, her mind suddenly heated up for some inexplicable reason. She woke up Liu Ye’er and Yu Qian’er, and led the two maids along with two sturdy older women out through the garden’s side gate, venturing to the banks of the Ying River in the thick of night.
The year Ji Cheng arrived in the capital, she released river lanterns in the Ying River. She still remembered her wish from that time, and thinking about it now, it seemed to have come true, perhaps proving somewhat efficacious.
Ji Cheng bent down to place her lantern in the river. By now, only a few scattered people remained by the water, with just a handful of lanterns left floating. The river breeze lifted Ji Cheng’s clothes, the layered gauze billowing ethereally, making her appear like a celestial being gliding over waves as if about to enter the Dragon King’s crystal palace.
“Miss, let’s go back. It’s too late,” Liu Ye’er urged Ji Cheng, who stood by the river with no intention of returning to the manor.
Qing Garden had long since been locked up. If Ji Cheng hadn’t been in charge of household affairs, trying to leave the manor so late would have likely required climbing over walls. But since Ji Cheng had set the rules herself, she couldn’t recklessly violate them. So, after standing by the water for just a moment, she turned to leave.
In the dead of night, when one should be cuddling with their wife in a warm bed, Chu De was drinking alone in Jingxiang Courtyard. He had just returned to the capital from the south a few days ago, and Little Ten was certainly out of the picture. He hadn’t even held Little Nine for two days before Shen Che had dug him out of his bed.
This would have been fine, as Chu De understood the pain in his brother’s heart and had the loyalty to stand by him through thick and thin. But what angered Chu De was that Shen Che had dragged him out on the Qixi Festival only to leave him alone in Jingxiang Courtyard while he went off on his own.
The more Chu De drank, the angrier he became. Even the head courtesan of Jingxiang Courtyard couldn’t soothe his irritation and desire to poison Shen Che with a cup of wine.
To be honest, Chu De felt that Shen Che had transformed from a normal person who “couldn’t perform his marital duties” to a eunuch who “couldn’t perform his marital duties.” In any case, he couldn’t stand to see others happy, especially Chu De’s ability to hold his first, second… and ninth child in turn, doing the work of producing sons. Shen Che always ruined his good times.
Just as Chu De was pondering which poison would best suit Shen Che the eunuch, he saw Shen Che enter, holding a lotus lantern that was still dripping water, clearly fished out of the river.
“Don’t tell me you left me here drinking alone just to go fishing for river lanterns,” Chu De said coldly, looking at Shen Che.
Shen Che calmly asked, “Didn’t Hua Gu serve you well?”
Chu De thought to himself: What I want is Little Nine, not Hua Gu. However, with Hua Gu sitting right beside him and his usual chivalrous nature, he couldn’t bring himself to say it out loud. He could only swallow his anger.
Just as Chu De decided to take the high road and forgive Shen Che, he heard Shen Che say, “I’m not in the mood for drinking anymore. Let’s call it a night.”
This time, Chu De couldn’t hold back. He exploded, “Shen Che, do you take me for a dog? Summoning me when you please and dismissing me at will?”
Shen Che said nothing, only leisurely looking Chu De up and down. Where in the world was there such a fat dog?
Chu De and Shen Che had been thick as thieves for years, and he could easily read Shen Che’s meaning. He immediately flew into another rage, “Fine, fine! Consider me a mouse-catching dog, taking kindness for granted. Shen Che, if you dare to drag me out of bed in the middle of the night again, we’re through.”
Shen Che’s lips curled into a smirk as he said, “I just love seeing you like this, wanting to get angry but unable to do anything about it.”
Chu De let out a wild cry and stormed off. His heart was extremely hurt, but he couldn’t deny the truth in Shen Che’s words. He wanted to bite him to death. He didn’t used to be like this, but lately, he had become increasingly strange.
After getting into his carriage and calming down a bit, Chu De thought that heaven truly had eyes. It was fitting that Ji Cheng had appeared to deal with this scoundrel. He regretted having hated Ji Cheng so much before. Now he thought that a scoundrel needed a villain to grind him down. Not only should he not hate Ji Cheng, but he should also send her a plaque that read “Eradicate Evil Thoroughly,” and another one that said “Punish Evil and Promote Good.”
After Chu De left, Hua Gu was left standing there, unsure whether to stay or go. She didn’t dare offend the Second Young Master before her. The Loyal and Righteous Marquis had just been enfeoffed, and the Shen family was now a rising star. Second Young Master Shen could walk sideways through the capital without any problem.
It wasn’t that Hua Gu didn’t want to get close to Shen Che. Such a handsome man with strong arms and a slender waist was the type to please women just by looking at him. But his temperament was too peculiar. He came to this place of pleasure but never reached out, and if you tried to throw yourself at him, he would mock you instead.
“You may go,” Shen Che’s words undoubtedly relieved Hua Gu.
But she couldn’t just leave like that. After all, he was an esteemed guest. Hua Gu carefully asked, “Young Master, shall I have the kitchen send up some snacks?”
Hua Gu was quite nervous when she said this. She couldn’t gauge Shen Che’s moods and feared that she might be overstepping and angering him.
Unexpectedly, this time Shen Che not only didn’t find her annoying but turned back with a faint smile and said, “Sure, thank you, Miss Hua.”
That smile made Hua Gu’s heart flutter. It took her a moment to come back to her senses before she quickly agreed and left. Hua Gu touched her burning face with her hand. What was this all about? She had encountered at least fifty men if not a hundred, yet here she was, losing her composure over a man’s smile like a young girl.
After Hua Gu left, Shen Che gently parted the petals of the lotus lantern with his hand. The paper petals had already been moistened by the water and had stuck together.
There was no wishing paper inside the lantern wick, as was common for young ladies. Ji Cheng had nothing to express, unable to even sort out her thoughts, so there was only a bundle of five-colored threads dampened by water in the wick.
Ji Cheng had already removed the needle. She had threaded ninety-nine strands, then unthreaded ninety-nine strands, and finally decided to use the lantern to send away all these troublesome threads.
Shen Che carefully untangled the bundle of five-colored threads under the lantern light. There were ninety-nine strands in total, which he laid out side by side on the table. After looking at them for a long time, Shen Che grabbed the five-colored threads and left.
Hua Gu hadn’t slept all night, lying fully clothed on the couch in the outer room. When she saw Shen Che leaving, she quickly and respectfully saw him off at the main gate before returning to catch up on sleep.
The little maid serving Hua Gu entered the room with a beaming smile and said to Hua Gu, “Sister, the Second Young Master is truly generous. He rewarded us with two silver ingots. We won’t have to worry about expenses this month.”
Hua Gu yawned and smiled as well. How could she have been so cautious in serving the Second Young Master just for his face? Of course, it was for the money.
Half-asleep, Hua Gu suddenly thought that among the courtesans in the capital, she was far from outstanding. Although Jingxiang Courtyard had indeed flourished for a period in the past, with her aging and fading beauty, business had greatly declined. She didn’t know why this Second Young Master had suddenly taken a liking to their small courtyard recently.
Hua Gu didn’t dare to flatter herself; she was just a bit puzzled.
Meanwhile, after releasing the lantern by the river and returning to the manor, Ji Cheng still couldn’t sleep. Although the five-colored threads had floated away with the water, her troubles remained undiminished. She thought about when she and Shen Che had faced each other that night, and he hadn’t avoided her. Was there a possibility that he was waiting for her to speak?
Otherwise, given Shen Che’s usual disregard for her, he should have turned and left immediately.
The more Ji Cheng thought about it, the more she felt she had lost her mind at that moment, missing such a good opportunity. In fact, since returning from the frontier, Ji Cheng had rarely found a suitable opportunity to talk with Shen Che. That moment had truly been an excellent chance.
Thinking of this, Ji Cheng looked at the Qingxue sword on the table and made up her mind. She picked up the sword and went out again, heading towards the mountain.
However, what Ji Cheng never expected was that the wooden gate leading to the top courtyard was already locked. The small copper lock could be cut with the sharp Qingxue sword.
Ji Cheng stared blankly at the copper lock, unable to help but smile, though it looked worse than crying. She had been so naive to think that there could still be a turning point between her and Shen Che.
After the Qixi Festival came the Mid-Autumn Festival. The autumn imperial examinations were also in the eighth month, and Shen Qian’s wedding was approaching. Ji Cheng was so busy that she had less time to worry about matters of the heart. Even her sleep improved, and she could at least get a full two hours of sleep at night.
This was indeed a gratifying improvement, but what was even more gratifying was that Shen Che, for some unknown reason, had stopped coming and going at all hours. He would invariably return to the manor no later than the first watch of the night.
Ji Cheng knew every time Shen Che returned at night. Because Nishang’s room was right next to the small path, she would wait for Shen Che to return and attend to him as he changed clothes and washed up before retiring for the night.
Although Nishang’s voice was very low and Shen Che’s movements were very light, Ji Cheng could still detect the activity. Sometimes she almost thought Shen Che would come to Woyun Hall, but soon she would hear his footsteps heading towards the top courtyard.
For Ji Cheng, nothing had changed.
But life wasn’t as stagnant for others. Little Jade was a month old now, and her full moon celebration was quite lively. Everyone envied Li Rui for having given birth to a daughter who was so favored by her husband’s family, especially by the Old Madam.
Ji Cheng sent an eight-liang heavy gold longevity lock as a gift for Little Jade. Of course, such a heavy item wasn’t meant for the child to wear; it was just for show. There were so many people sending longevity locks that a small child couldn’t possibly wear them all.
Li Rui accepted it with a smile and said, “I know Sister-in-law’s family has mountains of gold and silver, but there’s no need to spend so much on Little Jade. She’s so small, won’t such heavy gold weigh her down?”
Ji Cheng didn’t stoop to Li Rui’s level. As she walked out of Li Rui’s room, she saw Shen Jing hurriedly chasing after her.
“Sister Cheng, please don’t take it to heart. Ah Rui is just like that, a bit ungrateful,” Shen Jing said, his face red. It wasn’t blushing because of Ji Cheng, but rather embarrassment at Li Rui’s lack of propriety.
Ji Cheng shook her head and smiled, “I won’t take it to heart.”
Shen Jing continued, “About the matter you asked Father to inquire about last time, we have news. The Emperor seems to intend to appoint Scholar Zhang from Wenhua Hall as the chief examiner for this year’s provincial examination in the capital.”
Just as Ji Cheng was about to thank Shen Jing, she saw Li Rui’s maid, Cai Xia, come out and call, “Young Master, the Young Mistress says her chest feels a bit tight.”
Shen Jing’s brow furrowed slightly, his face already showing signs of impatience. Ji Cheng, fearing that idle gossip might arise, quickly said, “Third Brother, thank you so much for this. I’ll have Big Brother properly thank you another day. Your wife is calling for you, you should go quickly.”
Seeing Ji Cheng walk away so quickly, Shen Jing understood that she was avoiding suspicion. This made him even more disgusted with Li Rui, who always threw tantrums regardless of the occasion or the people present.