Heaven knows how much courage it took for Ming Shu to ask this question. After four days of internal struggle, constantly planning and carefully weighing her words, she knew that once she asked this question, she and Lu Chang could never return to their simple sibling relationship.
Yet at this moment, when she finally spoke, all her concerns, fears, and complex emotions vanished.
The evening sun’s power still lingered, with Lu Chang half hidden in shadow, half standing in sunlight, frozen as he gazed at Ming Shu.
“I’m sorry, that night, I eavesdropped on your conversation with Song Qingzhao,” Ming Shu apologized first, seeing his silence.
Lu Chang withdrew his hand. From her expression, he deduced she hadn’t heard their entire conversation. If she had heard about the Jian family matter, she wouldn’t be so calm, merely concerned about their sibling relationship.
“Yes, we are not blood siblings,” Lu Chang admitted frankly. Compared to revealing the secret of her family’s destruction, their relationship and his feelings were insignificant matters.
Ming Shu took a long breath, slowly exhaled, and asked: “So was I adopted by you all? Or was there another reason I became your sister? What’s my background? When I was seriously injured and being pursued, I asked you what had happened. You told me then that things weren’t simple and you’d tell me when the time was right. Is the time right now?”
She had many questions, all long harbored in her heart—once she started asking, she couldn’t stop.
“You’re a native of Jiangning, and we’ve known each other for over ten years. You weren’t adopted by Mother; bringing you to the capital under the guise of mother, daughter, and siblings had other reasons. These reasons are connected to your background and why you were pursued, but Ming Shu… I can’t tell you yet. If you’re still willing to trust me, still willing to consider our year and a half of sibling relationship, can you give me a little more time? This matter is too significant—I’m investigating, and it will soon come to light. Then I’ll explain everything to you, alright?” Just as he hadn’t wanted to fabricate lies to deceive her then, he still didn’t want to now, but he also couldn’t tell her the truth at this crucial moment.
Ming Shu didn’t answer, just stared at him while unconsciously running her hand over the bracelet on her wrist.
Their year and a half together had touched her heart deeply, every moment still vivid in her mind. Facing bandits together in life and death situations, his self-sacrificing protection when danger struck, his wholehearted support during difficult times, and his gentle care in ordinary days… They had shared both dramatic moments of life and death and the gentle flow of daily affection.
Now he asked if she trusted him.
Even without explanation, she was willing to trust him.
From the day he climbed up that cliff and stood alive before her, she had dropped all defenses, and even amid heavy doubts, she still firmly believed in him.
“Ming Shu, I swear… except for our sibling relationship, I’ve never lied to you. Will you give me a little more time?” Lu Chang spoke again when she remained silent.
“How long?” Ming Shu asked.
Lu Chang’s taut nerves relaxed slightly as he said, “Three months.”
“That’s too long. One month—I’ll wait at most one month,” Ming Shu gripped her bracelet tightly and declared firmly.
“Alright, one month then,” Lu Chang agreed immediately.
His quick agreement seemed as if he had been waiting for her to negotiate. Ming Shu felt manipulated again and was about to react as she used to when she suddenly remembered she wasn’t his sister anymore. Acting coquettish wasn’t appropriate now, so she stiffly turned her head away. Then another thought struck her, and she turned back to Lu Chang.
“Besides our sibling relationship and my background, is there anything else you’re hiding from me?”
“No,” Lu Chang didn’t immediately grasp her meaning.
“I remember on the day the examination results were posted, you publicly declared you were betrothed to a young lady from Jiangning. You told us you would marry no one but her. Was this story made up, or does she exist?”
Ming Shu stared intently at Lu Chang, her eyes clearly saying, “Don’t try to trick me. I may have amnesia, but I’ve only forgotten the past—my current memory works just fine.”
Lu Chang suddenly felt as if he couldn’t breathe.
Back then, why did he say those things just to avoid trouble?
This was… like lifting a rock only to drop it on his foot.
“But that day, you told Song Qingzhao… about one life, one world, two people…” Mentioning these words, Ming Shu turned her face toward the end of the road, “Were you lying again? Or are you just fickle-hearted!”
She felt she should hope his words were just casual remarks, that he was just trying to intimidate someone, so they could maintain their sibling friendship. Yet somehow, a very tiny voice in her heart was screaming that if he dared say he was lying, she would never acknowledge Lu Chang again!
“Ming Shu, do you want what I said to be true or false?” Lu Chang asked in return.
So she had heard those final words.
He had originally planned to consider their relationship after everything was settled, but she had heard and now asked about it.
“Don’t throw the question back at me! You’re not my real brother—you can’t just say things outside that chase away my suitors. The Duke’s household is so good… Song Qingzhao is so good… Don’t come any closer…”
As Ming Shu spoke, with each sentence, Lu Chang took one step closer. Before she finished speaking, he had already reached her.
“The young lady from Jiangning does exist,” he sighed softly. “What I told Song Qingzhao wasn’t a lie. Also, I’m not fickle-hearted.”
“Then you’re not fickle… hearted…” Ming Shu’s words suddenly stuck as a thought flashed through her mind like lightning. She stood dazed, unconsciously letting him trap her against the wall, murmuring, “Am I… the young lady from the Jian family you mentioned?”
No wonder he was so certain the young lady from Jiangning hadn’t married.
“Clever.” Lu Chang smiled slightly—there was no point in hiding anymore when things had come this far. “You are my young lady from the Jian family.”
“…” Ming Shu’s mind went blank with a “boom.”
Lu Chang gazed at her steadily, without further words.
It was good to tear away the facade of siblings, though he felt somewhat guilty toward Song Qingzhao.
Their gentlemen’s agreement was destined to give him the advantage.
Ming Shu practically fled back home.
She found it increasingly difficult to face Lu Chang directly, almost wishing she could move to Man Tang Hui to live.
That night, the old dream returned.
Still the same brilliant lights, stars filling the sky, a young man in blue robes standing in the flowing crowd, turning to reach out his hand to her. The people around became flowing light, only his figure remained clearest.
As always, she used all her strength to push through the ethereal crowd, desperately trying to reach him, stretching out to grasp his extended hand. The surrounding crowd’s pressure pushed against her, and as in every previous dream, just as their fingertips were about to touch, she would be pushed away, separated from him… However, today, this expected ending changed.
Suddenly leaning forward, his outstretched hand quickly grasped hers tightly.
She felt her body lighten as he pulled her from the crowd into his embrace.
Under the brilliant starlight, Lu Chang’s smiling face couldn’t have been clearer.
This time, she saw clearly.
Her young scholar in blue robes was Lu Chang.
The dream ended abruptly, and she still woke with a start.
Her brother’s tender love lingered, its influence undiminished. She… couldn’t imagine her brother becoming… her husband.
Too frightening.
Their conversation hadn’t returned things to how they were before. On the contrary, Ming Shu found it even harder to face Lu Chang and could only continue avoiding him.
Fortunately, this time Lu Chang didn’t pressure her, seemingly understanding that her avoidance was just her effort to adjust to their new relationship and adapt her mindset. He gave her plenty of space, which made Ming Shu feel much more at ease.
“You have someone right there to ask, yet you come all this way to ask me instead?” Ying Xun stood at the government office entrance, watching Ming Shu suspiciously, and asked, “Also, why does a young lady like you always meddle in others’ affairs?”
He meant Lu Chang, of course. Ming Shu had come to inquire about a kidnapping case from seventeen years ago, but he hadn’t even known where he was back then—how could he know the specific details of that case? Although the Kaifeng Prefecture kept records of all cases, this was from seventeen years ago. Just going to the archives would mean getting covered in dust, let alone the fact that he was just a minor constable. Even if he had access rights, he would need to apply through multiple levels of superiors for approval—how could that compare to her brother?
The Young Magistrate Lu could directly access all the prefecture’s case files—one word from him, and the files would be immediately presented.
“Constable Ying, my brother is too busy with official duties to attend to me, so I can only trouble you again. A poor lonely young woman just wants to know who her birth parents are,” Ming Shu said, then flattered him, “A righteous constable like yourself surely wouldn’t bear to see her drifting through life like a rootless duckweed. Besides, looking into a seventeen-year-old closed case doesn’t violate your principles. Please be accommodating and help me with this favor?”
Ying Xun gripped the sword at his waist and coldly eyed her: “Stop flattering me, you…”
Before he could finish, Ming Shu suddenly ducked behind him. Looking up, they saw Lu Chang emerge from the office with a grave expression, mount the horse brought by his attendant, and hurriedly depart, clearly dealing with some urgent matter.
After Lu Chang’s figure disappeared, Ming Shu emerged again. Ying Xun smirked: “So that’s why you came to me—did you fight with your brother? Why are you hiding from him?”
Ming Shu looked pitiful—it was worse than a fight.
So much worse that she couldn’t face Lu Chang.
“Just tell me if you’ll help or not!” Ming Shu demanded.
“I need to request permission from my superiors to access old cases. The approval process takes time, about three to five days—wait if you can wait.”
“I can wait.” Ming Shu nodded. This wasn’t an urgent matter anyway, so taking longer wasn’t a problem.
“Then just wait.” Ying Xun turned and entered the Kaifeng Prefecture office.
Superiors? Wasn’t her brother Lu Chang his superior? She couldn’t avoid him after all.
Ming Shu didn’t know about their superior-subordinate relationship. Having settled one matter, her mood improved slightly, but she couldn’t help thinking about Lu Chang’s grave expression earlier.
That expression… he must have encountered some thorny issue, though she didn’t know what.
Ming Shu felt worried.
Lu Chang was rushing to meet the Third Prince.
Indeed, he had encountered a thorny issue.
The men sent to Jiangning had secretly arrested Madam Zhou, the Jian family’s concubine, and were escorting her to Bianjing, but they were ambushed on the way, and Zhou was taken.
Worse still, the identity of those who had taken Zhou was unknown.