After saying this, Yao Shi took her hand and examined each tray one by one, having the maids and women unfold each garment for her detailed inspection. After viewing them, she urged her to try on each one. When she came out after trying them on, Yao Shi gazed at her with delighted eyes, continuously praising her beauty. The maids also joined in the excitement, causing her little face to remain flushed throughout.

The whole room bustled with activity for an entire day. They shared both lunch and dinner together, and under Yao Shi’s urging, Shen Xiling was compelled to eat much more food than usual – even more than when Qi Ying was present – delighting Shuipei and the other maids immensely.

By the time Yao Shi was ready to leave in the evening, Shen Xiling’s mood had clearly improved considerably.

She somewhat reluctantly escorted Yao Shi down the mountain, still reluctant to see her go even as she boarded her carriage. Yao Shi noticed this and smiled at her through the carriage window, saying, “What’s there to be reluctant about? Your coming-of-age ceremony will be soon enough, and won’t we see each other then? You must eat well and stop getting thinner, otherwise the clothes won’t fit properly when the time comes, and I won’t have time to have them altered again.”

Shen Xiling smiled with pursed lips and replied, “I understand, Madam.”

Yao Shi smiled, bid her farewell, and the driver cracked his whip. The carriage slowly departed.

After Yao Shi left, Shen Xiling’s mood improved considerably. Though the maids could still see she remained melancholy about the young master, at least she could eat again, which was a great blessing.

After some more time passed, Shopkeeper Feng, whose fabric shop had been vandalized earlier, somehow suddenly appeared at Fenghe Garden’s gates, saying he wished to see Shen Xiling, but was stopped by Shuipei.

It wasn’t for any other reason – he had arrived in quite an agitated state, looking as if he was about to break down and cry. Shuipei felt that her young miss’s emotions had only just improved slightly during this period, and what if this shopkeeper ruined it again? His small fabric shop had the same old troubles when all was said and done, and bringing his problems before the young miss would mostly just be seeking more pity and assistance. What was so urgent about that?

After thinking it over, Shuipei decided not to let him through Fenghe Garden’s gates, only saying that if he had matters to resolve, he should go find Mr. Song Haotang instead.

This shopkeeper was quite stubborn, however, and came back several more times over the following days. Now it wasn’t just Shuipei – even Liuzi, Fengshang, and Zijun all felt it was inappropriate for him to see the young miss. They all thought he was acting crazy, crying and laughing erratically, and refused to let him enter. The last time he came, he was truly obstinate and seemed ready to force his way in, which angered even Liuzi. They finally called several guards from Fenghe Garden, saying that if he continued such transgression, they would drive him away, which finally got rid of him.

Days passed peacefully like this until finally the time arrived for Shen Xiling’s coming-of-age ceremony.

This year’s February twentieth was bright and beautiful, with Jiankang City blooming like brocade. The pink cherry blossoms on the back mountain of Qingji Mountain were nearing their peak, blooming extraordinarily magnificently.

It was truly a perfect spring day.

Yao Shi had already arranged everything for Shen Xiling’s coming-of-age ceremony, from the decoration of the hall to all the items needed for the celebration – everything was properly prepared. She had also invited a small number of guests to observe the ceremony: both young masters of the Qi family came, the Song Haotang and Meng Yingying couple were there, along with two or three business friends who were close to Shen Xiling. No one else was present.

Today being the coming-of-age ceremony, the young lady naturally needed to be properly groomed and dressed. Shuipei and Zijun were respectively serving as the ceremony’s praiser and officiant today, and were currently busy with preparations alongside Yao Shi in the main hall, not attending to Shen Xiling. Therefore, only Fengshang remained in Woyu Courtyard to do her makeup.

Fengshang had the best makeup skills among the several maids. Today, with the important ceremony taking place, she was especially determined to show her abilities, carefully changing Shen Xiling into her ceremonial robes and shoes before grooming and dressing her with meticulous attention to detail.

Shen Xiling, however, paid no attention to these preparations, constantly asking whether Qi Ying had returned.

Liuzi stood at her door, and each time she asked, he would run to the main hall to check, making over a dozen trips back and forth. His last trip took especially long, and Shen Xiling sat inside feeling restless. Finally, she heard Liuzi running back to report, his joyful voice coming through the door as he panted and said, “Young Miss, the young master has returned! He’s already in the main hall!”

Hearing this, Shen Xiling let out a long breath of relief and finally showed her first genuine smile in three months.

He had returned.

He had finally returned.

Watching from behind, Fengshang saw in the bronze mirror her young miss’s radiant, incomparably beautiful smile, like all the flowers in Jiankang suddenly blooming at once – breathtakingly gorgeous. Her heart also settled like a stone falling to ground, thinking that the young master had finally returned, otherwise how could their young miss have gotten through this ceremony?

She too became joyful and worked even harder on the grooming, hoping to make her young miss beautiful as a heavenly fairy so that one look would make the young master reluctant to leave again. But her young miss wasn’t very cooperative – upon hearing the young master had returned, she became restless, constantly craning her neck to look outside and repeatedly asking when the preparations would be finished. This made Fengshang laugh and cry helplessly, so she could only soothe her while speeding up her work to quickly finish everything.

At this time, the main hall was also bustling with activity.

Servants came and went arranging things everywhere, and Yao Shi carefully inspected the surroundings for any improprieties. Fourth Young Master Qi, who had come to observe the ceremony, was bored and sat in his seat looking around randomly.

This casual observation revealed something unusual about his third brother Qi Ning today.

His third brother seemed particularly agitated today, sitting for a while then standing, never able to stay still. Not long after entering, he had already changed his tea several times, and sweat kept beading on his forehead, making Qi Le quite puzzled.

After observing for a long time and feeling genuinely worried, he moved closer and asked, “Third Brother, what’s wrong with you? You’re sweating so much – are you ill?”

Hearing this, Qi Ning glanced sideways at his younger brother, thinking to himself: you fool, what would you understand? He wasn’t ill, just nervous.

Today was Sister Wenwen’s coming-of-age ceremony, and he planned to confess his feelings to her and then ask for her hand in marriage. Though his second brother had already half-agreed beforehand, making this marriage half-settled, he still worried about complications. What if Sister Wenwen herself didn’t agree? Naturally his heart was anxious, feeling no less nervous than when taking the imperial examinations.

Qi Ning was mentally planning how to speak with his Sister Wenwen later and had no energy to deal with his fourth brother. He waved him away dismissively, saying with some impatience, “Go, go, go find somewhere else to stay. Don’t bother me.”

Seeing his third brother’s irritated tone, Qi Le had no desire to court more annoyance. He pursed his lips and turned his head to the other side, no longer speaking to his third brother.

After a while, Qi Le heard the servants at the entrance paying respects. Turning around, he saw his second brother walking past the screen into the door, still wearing court robes as if he had rushed back. Their mother also saw him and quickly went to greet him, saying with slight complaint, “You’re finally back. Wenwen’s side has sent people to ask several times. If you hadn’t returned, I would have had no way to keep making excuses for you.”

His second brother’s expression seemed to freeze momentarily upon hearing this, then returned to normal as he said, “Just left court and came back late.”

Their mother sighed and said nothing more. She asked a servant about the time, then turned to instruct a maid, “Quickly go to Miss Fang’s courtyard and ask if she’s ready. The auspicious time is almost here.”

The maid went to carry out the order, and his second brother also came over to sit with them. Qi Le then saw his third brother move close to his second brother and whisper a few words. After listening, his second brother’s expression looked somewhat… strange. He glanced at his third brother, and only after a long while did he nod.

His third brother seemed overjoyed and whispered a few more words to his second brother before returning to his seat, looking quite pleased with himself.

Qi Le felt puzzled, not knowing what his third brother was so happy about. From his perspective, the look his second brother had given his third brother clearly hadn’t been particularly friendly.

Qi Le was still wondering about this but had no time to ask Qi Ning further, as the auspicious time had arrived and the coming-of-age ceremony was about to begin.

When Shen Xiling entered the main hall, the first person she saw was Qi Ying.

Though there were many people in the hall and he wasn’t sitting in a prominent position, she spotted him immediately upon turning in from behind the screen.

Everyone was looking at her, praising her beauty, but she only had eyes for him alone.

The moment she saw him, her heart settled, though another emotion she couldn’t fathom arose – somewhere between sorrow and joy. Perhaps because she hadn’t seen him for so long, she almost burst into tears in front of everyone. Feeling this was absurd, she thought that if she truly cried now, today’s ceremony would be half-ruined, and she couldn’t so disappoint Yao Shi’s thoughtful preparations. She quickly looked away, not daring to look at him again, and turned her gaze to the hall instead.

The place of honor should have been occupied by her parents, but with her parents deceased, it was empty, displaying only the memorial tablets of Mr. Fang Yukai and his wife. Yao Shi personally served as the honored guest to preside over her coming-of-age ceremony and would comb her hair and place the hairpin later. Sister Zijun was serving as officiant, holding the tray for Yao Shi. Sister Shuipei was the praiser, looking at her with a face full of smiles. Though the observers today could be counted on one hand, it was already livelier than she had imagined.

Everyone who came today was someone who cared for her.

Three years ago, she had arrived here alone, with nothing but her wounded body. Now she seemed to have much more and was no longer so utterly solitary.

She felt moved and deeply grateful.

In the hall, drums and reed pipes played as Shen Xiling entered and faced south to bow to all the guests, then sat facing west on the ceremony participant’s mat. Sister Shuipei, as the praiser, gently combed her hair before placing the comb on the south side of the mat.

Yao Shi performed the guest’s ritual washing, washing her hands at the foot of the eastern steps. After exchanging courtesies with the memorial tablets in the hall, she performed the first pinning for Shen Xiling.

The coming-of-age ceremony had three pinnings and three bows. The honored guest needed to place the first hairpin, insert hair ornaments, and add the ceremonial crown for the participant, while the participant needed to change clothes three times, performing the first bow in jacket and skirt, the second bow in deep robes, and the third bow in wide-sleeved formal dress. Then came the wine ceremony, final wine offering, listening to instruction, and formal thanks before the ceremony was complete.

“In this favorable month and auspicious day, we first add the cap of adulthood. Cast away your childish aspirations, follow your mature virtue. Long life and good fortune, may you receive great blessings.”

“In this auspicious month and favorable time, we now bestow your robes. Respect your dignified bearing, be virtuous and prudent. Live ten thousand years with raised eyebrows, forever receive such blessings.”

“In the proper year and favorable month, all add to your robes. With brothers all present, your virtue is complete. May you have boundless longevity, receiving Heaven’s celebrations.”

Under the gaze of all the guests and Yao Shi’s gentle blessing words, Shen Xiling performed the rituals in order. With each bow, her feelings deepened, her past life passing before her eyes, giving her a sense of past and present lives.

She remembered the small courtyard where she was born, with a few bamboo stalks her father had planted by hand that never quite flourished, the sickbed where her mother was bedridden for years, and the stove that had accompanied her for several years.

She remembered that cold winter when she parted from them, her father saying “Wenwen, I’m sorry,” her mother saying “Wenwen, sleep a little longer,” and the thanks and farewells she never had time to say to them.

She remembered that snowy night when she first met Qi Ying, the deep forest outside Jiankang City and the deep wheel ruts in the forest, the strength with which he carried her crosswise to the carriage shaft, the sweet pine fragrance and warmth on his cloak.

She remembered the cold so-called relatives in Langya, the shock and pain in her heart upon first hearing news of her parents’ deaths, the weight of her mother’s coffin, the cold stares and scrutiny from people in the pawn shop, Bai Song’s back as he sat in the carriage.

She remembered the bright lamps burning all night in Wangshi, the fragrance of the sea bass sashimi Sister Zijun made, the concerned look Yao Shi had given her in Rongrui Hall, Mr. Wang’s earnest teachings.

She remembered the different flowers and trees in Fenghe Garden through the four seasons, the pond full of pure lotus flowers in the quiet Wangyuan Garden, Xue Tuan’er’s soft little belly when sleeping, the grape vines in Woyu Courtyard that grew lush and beautiful each season.

Later these memories all faded somewhat, and she ultimately thought only of him.

Only him.

She remembered the dampness on his outer clothes the night he returned from Nanling three years ago, the grass grasshopper and grass rabbit he made for her with his own hands, the coolness of his fingertips when he applied medicine for her, his severely furrowed brows when teaching her to ride horses and urging her to eat, the sounds he made when peeling crabs for her in Wangyuan Garden.

She remembered everything about him, every detail.

…So much time had already passed, so much had been experienced.

And at this moment, she had finally come of age.

The three bows were complete, and now came the time to listen to instruction.

This should properly be done by her parents – she should kneel before them to respectfully listen to their guidance, but her parents were long gone, and the honored guest couldn’t substitute for this role.

Yao Shi looked at her, then at Qi Ying, pushing this responsibility onto him.

This move was somewhat sudden, but upon careful consideration, it was reasonable: Shen Xiling had, after all, been personally raised by Qi Ying, and among everyone present, no one was closer to her than he was.

Everyone was looking at Qi Ying, and Shen Xiling was looking at him too. She had been kneeling, but then she saw him beckon to her and say, “Come.”

Though they hadn’t seen each other for a long time, Shen Xiling still understood him completely. She knew that his asking her to come over was actually because he wanted her to stand up – he didn’t like her kneeling.

Feeling peaceful and secure in her heart, she obediently stood up and walked to his side. He remained seated, and when she approached, he glanced at her lightly, his eyes also containing some complex emotions at that moment.

What was he thinking? Perhaps, like her, he was remembering all the details of the past three years?

She heard him say, “Life is long, circumstances become complicated, eight or nine out of ten things go against one’s wishes. I only hope that from now on everything goes smoothly according to your desires, and should you encounter worries or fears, you need not look back.”

This ritual should properly instruct the ceremony participant, but what he said was not instruction at all – it was more like a blessing. He spoke briefly and plainly, but his gaze was profound, containing gentleness and sincerity that only Shen Xiling could understand.

And some deep meaning that she didn’t understand at the time.

For some reason, she felt tears welling up again.

Author’s Note: Note: Those three blessing verses for the coming-of-age ceremony were found through research, not original writing. I originally didn’t want to include them, but after removing them felt it lacked flavor, so I added them back… This counts as a climax in various senses.