Zheng Huantang had been taken to Jiangnan by his eldest brother.

Before leaving, he came to bid farewell to Liang Pangde.

Liang Pangde had joked, “Huantang, with your looks, once you get to Jiangnan, how many young ladies and young wives will fall lovesick!”

He’d had it backwards.

He never dreamed that it was Zheng Huantang who fell lovesick. After returning to the capital, he couldn’t think about tea or food, his entire person like someone who’d lost their soul.

Liang Pangde thought to himself, which high-ranking family’s young lady had bewitched him so?

Upon asking, he learned it was a girl from a small, insignificant household who had already caused the death of two fiancés.

A small household was fine—but bringing misfortune to husbands absolutely wouldn’t do.

Liang Pangde tried earnestly to persuade him, not knowing how much spittle he wasted, but that kid just let it all go in one ear and out the other.

After too much nagging, he even got angry, pointing at Liang Pangde’s nose and cursing: “Mind your own business.”

Seeing his flushed, agitated face, Liang Pangde’s heart grew cold.

They’d shared a room at the Imperial Academy for so many years—when had Huantang ever lost his temper with him? This meant he’d truly lost his heart to that girl.

Liang Pangde stopped trying to persuade him. From what he knew, the Zheng family would never agree.

Sure enough, when the general learned of it, he flew into a thunderous rage, confining his son at home and restricting all his movements.

“At that time, there were still eight months until the spring examinations—the most critical period. Who knows what enchantment that girl poured into Huantang’s ears, but he remained in a stalemate with the general for a full six months.”

Even now when he thought of it, Liang Pangde felt anguished. “Six months! His entire future prospects were wasted just like that.”

Yan Sanhe frowned. “He didn’t take the spring examinations?”

Liang Pangde gave a cold laugh. “Someone entangled by the word ‘love’—even if he took them, there’d be no good outcome. He failed.”

When others failed the examinations, they were so devastated they wanted to die.

But this kid was actually cheerful. Upon asking, Liang Pangde learned that the general, unable to overcome his youngest son’s stubbornness, had finally relented.

That year Liang Pangde ranked second in the palace examinations. Ten years of cold study had paid off—he returned home in glory.

When he came back to the capital, Zheng Huantang had already married that girl into the family.

“If not for this matter, with Huantang’s grades, he definitely would have passed the imperial examinations.”

Liang Pangde: “Once when we were drinking, I deliberately prodded his sore spot: ‘Huantang, what happened to all those lofty ambitions of yours?'”

Yan Sanhe felt a bitter taste fill her mouth. “He… how did he answer?”

“He’d just gotten married then, getting along with that woman sweet as honey. Without a trace of shame, he told me: ‘Since ancient times, even heroes struggle to pass the beauty’s test. I accept it.'”

Even now, Liang Pangde still remembered how Zheng Huantang looked saying those words.

He sat under the lamplight, his expression calm and detached. His former ambitious spirit had faded like smoke, but the happiness and contentment between his brows was so full it seemed to overflow from his face.

“A romantic fool, a romantic fool!”

He thumped his leg in lamentation. “Was it worth it? Abandoning his future for a woman—was it worth it?”

Whether it was worth it or not, everyone had their own measure in their hearts.

Yan Sanhe answered on Zheng Huantang’s behalf in her heart.

“We already know about what happened after—Lady Zhao giving birth to demon fetuses. We want to hear about Lady Zhao and the twins being confined in Haitang Courtyard.”

Liang Pangde thought for a moment. “I only learned about this much later.”

After returning to the capital, he entered the Hanlin Academy.

After Huantang’s wedding, he followed the general serving in the military.

Both were newcomers who had to start from the bottom, each busy with their own affairs. They didn’t have much time to meet. He vaguely heard that Huantang had fathered a pair of twins.

He found it strange—such a joyous occasion, yet the kid hadn’t invited anyone to a full-month celebration. Had he forgotten him?

One evening, leaving the yamen, he passed a small tavern and saw a familiar figure. Walking closer, it was indeed Huantang.

Meeting again after a long separation, naturally they had to drink together.

Upon asking, Liang Pangde learned that Zheng Huantang was no longer serving in the military but was idle at home caring for his wife and children.

That’s when he learned about the demon fetuses.

Liang Pangde’s hatred for Lady Zhao in his heart—he truly hated her to death!

The general had five sons under his knee, and this youngest was his favorite.

Huantang himself was also capable—not only skilled in martial arts but also exceptionally intelligent in his studies. So the general had placed high hopes on him.

If only he’d married any other woman, he wouldn’t have come to this point where even his own father had given up on him.

Liang Pangde ground his teeth. “Women—they’re nothing but calamities!”

Yan Sanhe: “What happened after?”

“After that, we often met at the small tavern to drink. Actually, not that often—once a month.”

“What did you talk about?”

“We didn’t talk about anything—just drank.”

Yan Sanhe was skeptical. “Why?”

“Because whatever I asked him, he wouldn’t say. He was like a completely different person from before, becoming increasingly silent.”

Liang Pangde sighed. “I could no longer see in him that spirited vigor from the past. All I could see was a belly full of worries.”

A belly full of worries—because of her.

It was her who transformed Zheng Huantang from a young man full of ambition into a man weighed down by gloom.

Yan Sanhe felt a moment of disorientation.

This moment of disorientation made her understand that Zheng Huantang hadn’t actually been willing to raise someone who had no relation to him.

He was simply forced to do so by the old general’s pressure, with no other choice. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have drunk alone in small taverns.

So then, why had the old general been willing to keep her in the household?

That he survived the witchcraft case proved he wasn’t part of the crown prince’s faction.

Then what kind of debt did he owe the former crown prince that made him willing to sacrifice a son’s future to hide her?

“Yan Sanhe, Yan Sanhe.”

“Huh?”

Yan Sanhe suddenly snapped back to attention to find Xie Zhifei standing at her side at some unknown point, his long arm resting on the back of her chair.

Xie Zhifei looked down at her. “Keep asking.”

There was a rippling quality in his eyes. Yan Sanhe’s ashamed and flustered heart suddenly steadied.

She took a deep breath and focused her attention on Liang Pangde.

“They say wine loosens the tongue. Zheng Huantang drank with you so many times—did he truly never speak a word of truth?”

Liang Pangde shook his head.

He didn’t speak of the children, didn’t speak of Lady Zhao, didn’t speak of the Zheng family, didn’t even speak of himself.

When asked why he didn’t speak?

He said there was nothing to say—everything he wanted to say was in the wine.

What was in the wine?

There was bitterness, there was sorrow, there was pain, there was torment, and perhaps also regret.

Liang Pangde’s heart softened. He stopped asking questions and just accompanied him drinking cup after cup. After drinking, he’d accompany him walking a stretch in silence through the night.

Huantang rarely got drunk. With ten parts capacity for wine, he only drank five parts. Once he reached five parts, he’d slam the cup down on the table and wouldn’t drink another drop.

Not even daring to get drunk—every time Liang Pangde watched his departing, dejected back, he felt an indescribable bitterness and sorrow, and an indescribable hatred for Lady Zhao!

That’s how things in this world were—one wrong step, and every step thereafter was wrong.