Melancholy was a new emotion for Second Young Master Qi. Not knowing how to handle it, he naturally couldn’t escape the notice of his perceptive elder brother.
Qi Yun had noticed early on that his second brother seemed quite out of sorts recently. He had assumed it would improve on its own after a few days, but after more than a month, not only had it not gotten better, it seemed to be getting worse. As the elder brother, he naturally needed to show more concern for his younger brother. After court was dismissed this day, he pulled Qi Ying onto his carriage, claiming he would escort him to his government office, and began probing into the source of this matter along the way.
This matter was truly difficult to discuss, and Qi Ying didn’t know what to say for a moment. He wasn’t naturally inclined to discuss matters with others, but after consideration, he felt that currently he could only consult with his elder brother. After all, his elder brother had a daughter. Though Hui’er was still young and far from being as rebellious as Shen Xiling, he still had experience raising a girl and might be able to help.
With this thought, Qi Ying selected a few instances of Shen Xiling’s recent abnormal behavior to tell Qi Yun about.
Qi Yun had originally thought there was some trouble at the Privy Council and had been quite alarmed for a while. After listening for some time, he finally understood that the Privy Council was perfectly fine with clear skies and no problems whatsoever—his second brother’s distress was entirely due to that Miss Fang.
Qi Yun was speechless, increasingly admiring his wife as a sharp-eyed female Zhuge Liang who had immediately spotted something amiss between his second brother and Miss Fang. How laughable that he had defended his second brother at the time—thinking back now, he felt truly ashamed.
Qi Yun coughed, suppressing his internal complaints, carefully reviewing what his second brother had just said, and tentatively asked: “So what you’re saying is, you’re currently troubled that she’s not as close to you as before?”
Hearing this, Qi Ying felt something was off about these words and immediately denied it: “Certainly not.”
Qi Yun nodded and humbly asked: “Oh, then what is it?”
Qi Ying was stumped by his brother’s question and couldn’t respond for a moment. Seeing his second brother had been silenced, Qi Yun found it somewhat amusing but had no intention of mocking him. He only guided him with the bearing of a proper elder brother: “Well, about this matter, Jingchen—let’s not worry about the details, just talk about the result. Miss Fang suddenly became distant with you, is that right or not?”
Qi Ying was silent for a while, then nodded.
Qi Yun acknowledged this and asked again: “You’re currently troubled because you don’t understand the reason—is that right or not?”
Qi Ying was silent for another while, then nodded again.
Qi Yun pursed his lips and continued guiding: “This matter isn’t hard to resolve. You’re busy with government affairs after all, and Miss Fang recently took over that cloth shop, so she’s probably not very idle either. With you two not talking for so long, naturally you’d become somewhat distant. Why not sit down and talk more, frankly ask her why she’s suddenly like this, and wouldn’t the problem be solved?”
Qi Ying felt his elder brother’s words were like saying nothing at all, and couldn’t help but sigh: “Elder brother doesn’t know—I already called her before me to ask once, but she was evasive and seemed unwilling to say much to me. What more can I do?”
As the elder brother, Qi Yun had always felt responsible for supporting his younger brothers. He usually managed Qi Ning and Qi Le quite a bit, while his second brother had been worry-free since childhood, and he’d never been able to help him. Now that he finally encountered his second brother in difficulty, Qi Yun felt he must seize this opportunity, or he didn’t know when he’d next be able to display his dignity as the elder brother.
He pondered for a moment, then drew upon the golden rules he’d summarized from years of marriage, speaking earnestly to his second brother: “Jingchen, women are always different from us men. Their thoughts are much more delicate, and most of the time they don’t like to voice what’s in their hearts—they always want you to spend effort figuring it out before they’re satisfied. Miss Fang currently has something on her mind, so naturally asking her directly won’t yield results. You need to be more indirect to see results.”
Qi Ying frowned and asked: “…How does one be more indirect?”
Qi Yun assumed an air of great experience, speaking with complete certainty: “Give gifts.”
Qi Ying: “…?”
Seeing his second brother’s skeptical expression, Qi Yun felt displeased and quickly put on a serious expression to prove the brilliance of this theory, declaring emphatically: “Don’t disbelieve me! Most women are soft-hearted. As long as you give the right gift, they’ll be willing to listen to you say a few more words. Then if you speak gently and sincerely acknowledge some of your own faults, they’ll magnanimously understand your difficulties and be willing to speak their hearts to you.”
Seeing his elder brother speak with such conviction and complete certainty, Qi Ying began to believe him somewhat. He also recalled that when he gave Shen Xiling a birthday gift last time, the young girl had indeed seemed very cherishing and moved. If he gave her another gift, perhaps she would be willing to open her heart to him and tell him the reason for her recent strangeness.
At this moment, Qi Ying was completely unaware that he had asked his elder brother for methods to coax a daughter, but his elder brother had given him remedies for coaxing a wife. The two brothers sat in the carriage seemingly discussing the same matter, but the essence was vastly different.
The next day, a cat appeared in Shen Xiling’s courtyard.
That day she went out with Shuipei, Fengshang, and Liuzi to handle business, leaving Zijun at Woyu Courtyard to watch the house. When they returned, before even entering the gate, they heard Zijun calling out excitedly from within the courtyard walls.
When Shen Xiling and the others entered the courtyard, they immediately saw Zijun standing under the grape vine in the yard, hands on her hips, looking up.
It was already early summer, and the grape vine’s branches were increasingly green, with small pale yellow flowers blooming faintly. Following Zijun’s gaze up to the grape arbor, Shen Xiling and the others saw nothing. Shuipei was about to scold Zijun for being noisy, but before she could speak, she faintly heard a weak cat’s meow.
Shen Xiling heard it too and was startled. Looking up at the grape arbor again, she actually saw among the concealing grape vine branches a palm-sized cat, pure white all over, with a pair of gem-like sapphire blue eyes—extremely adorable. It was now lying on the high grape arbor—no one knew how it had gotten up there—and now it probably couldn’t get down. It kept lying there making soft meowing sounds, looking pitiful.
Seeing the cat, Shuipei was very surprised and asked Zijun: “Where did this kitten come from?”
Fenghe Garden had never kept such small animals, and this cat was so beautiful it was obviously an extremely precious breed they had never seen before—it certainly wasn’t an ownerless stray cat.
While worriedly watching the cat on the grape arbor, Zijun answered: “Young attendant Qing Zhu brought it over personally today, saying it was something newly tribute from the Western Regions this year. The young master specifically requested one from His Majesty to give to our miss to keep and play with.”
Upon hearing this, the maids were both surprised and delighted, and Shen Xiling was naturally startled as well.
She hadn’t seen Qi Ying for quite some time recently, and the two hadn’t really talked since the flower gathering. His suddenly sending her a cat—she didn’t know what it meant.
Not understanding, Shen Xiling naturally didn’t want to accept this gift. She was about to tell Shuipei to send the cat back, when the little cat suddenly jumped down from the grape arbor. The maids all cried out in alarm, and by the time Shen Xiling came to her senses, this little snowball had leaped into her arms.
The maids gathered around, each curiously looking at this beautiful little cat, all finding it extremely adorable.
Shuipei even laughed, saying: “This little fellow truly lives up to being a tribute item—not only beautiful in appearance but also has good judgment, knowing whose arms are best to leap into.”
Hearing this, the maids all burst into laughter. Fengshang also joined in the excitement, saying: “This little fellow is so beautiful—Miss, quickly give it a name!”
Shen Xiling also found the cat beautiful, but didn’t want to keep it. She pursed her lips and said: “I won’t name it. This cat is precious, and I can’t raise it well. I should return it to the young master.”
The several maids were all startled to hear this. Zijun and Fengshang looked bewildered, but Shuipei knew this was because their miss was still having a disagreement with the young master. She didn’t know what the two were disagreeing about, but in her view, the young master had probably noticed something was wrong. This cat being sent at this moment likely carried the intention of coaxing. If their miss really returned this cat, the situation would truly become deadlocked.
That absolutely wouldn’t do.
Shuipei was a clever maid who understood situations clearly. She saw that their miss had been very busy this past month—though living fulfilledly, she didn’t seem particularly happy, not like when she was close with the young master, when her eyes were full of joy. She couldn’t let their miss get stuck in a dead end and foolishly make things difficult for herself.
Shuipei’s eyes darted around, and she smiled, saying to Shen Xiling: “That would work too. If Miss doesn’t like cats, returning it wouldn’t matter…”
Before she finished speaking, she saw Zijun and Fengshang change expressions, looking unwilling. Shuipei glanced at them both, then continued: “It’s just that I heard the young master has been busy these past few days and hasn’t returned to the villa for several days. If the young master isn’t there and we rashly return the cat like this, it would also be inappropriate. In my opinion, we should raise it for a few days first, and when the young master returns in a few days, then discuss whether to keep it or not.”
After speaking, Shuipei saw her miss’s expression was hesitant, seeming somewhat persuaded, so she added: “Besides, this cat is young. If we just throw it out like this and it dies, what would we do? It’s still a life, after all. If it died by the roadside, this…”
After Shuipei finished speaking, she saw her miss’s expression soften further. The cat also seemed to have intelligence, choosing exactly this moment to meow once, its gem-like sapphire blue eyes looking straight at Shen Xiling while nuzzling the hand that held it. Not to mention the person being nuzzled—even those watching from the side felt their hearts soften.
Looking at the little cat in her arms, Shen Xiling also found it hard to resist its gaze, and feelings of affection began to emerge in her heart.
She was silent for quite a while, but finally compromised: “…Alright then, I’ll keep it until the young master returns, but after that I won’t keep it anymore.”
Hearing this, Zijun and Fengshang both pouted, but Shuipei smiled broadly, repeatedly agreeing. Watching her miss’s expression, she asked: “Though it’s only for a few days, it still needs a name. Miss, why don’t you give it a temporary name?”
Shen Xiling looked up to meet the expectant gazes of several maids, then looked down at the cat’s pitiful appearance, feeling quite helpless.
She looked at the cat’s pure white fur, round like a little ball, bit her lip, and relented: “Then… let’s call it Xue Tuan’er for now.”
Author’s Note: Elder brother and sister-in-law are both truly perceptive people, especially elder brother’s analysis—even a gold medal marriage counselor would have to exclaim “expert” after seeing it.
PS: Shen Wenwen isn’t someone who can be appeased with just a little cat. I suggest Second Young Master Qi properly prepare his persuasion tactics.