He took it, but didn’t eat it.

She knew he rarely ate loquats. During all her time beside him as a child, she had seen him eat them only a few times, and consequently she seldom ate them either. Compared to loquats, they both preferred grapes more, probably because at that time her Woyu Courtyard had grape vines planted. Every season when they ripened, she would personally pick the round grapes from the vines and take them to Wangshi to eat with him. When she went to find him, he was usually reviewing those endless official documents, so busy he couldn’t even lift his head. Yet every time she sought him out, he would make time to eat grapes with her, always being quite appreciative – whether because the grapes were truly sweet or because she had picked them herself, she didn’t know.

Shen Xiling truly had no mind to peel and eat loquats then, but she knew if she didn’t eat, she would have no excuse to stay here a while longer. So she still pretended to very much want to eat the loquat, pinching the fruit and beginning to peel it, deliberately making her movements very, very slow.

He should have seen through her long ago, but he didn’t hurry her either – perhaps this was his final indulgence toward her.

That loquat wasn’t actually fully ripe yet. After peeling the skin, she took a small bite – the sourness lingered for a long time, mixed with some bitterness, yet faintly had a touch of sweetness.

Just like everything between them.

Shen Xiling suddenly shed tears, which surprised even herself. She hurriedly raised her sleeve to wipe them, then looked at Qi Ying with some embarrassment, explaining incongruously: “This… this loquat is too sour…”

What causal relationship could there be between sourness and tears? This was naturally quite absurd, yet Qi Ying responded with a sound, as if he believed her.

He seemed to sense her awkwardness, so he finally kindly helped her out of the situation once, asking: “I heard you were ill some time ago. Are you completely recovered now?”

Shen Xiling hadn’t expected he would know about her illness, and for a moment felt somewhat flattered, hurriedly saying: “I recovered long ago. It wasn’t anything serious anyway.”

What she said was naturally false.

The serious illness after the tea gathering had come fiercely, nearly claiming her life. After recovering, she had suffered another fire on Buddha Bathing Festival and inhaled smoke – her body could hardly be considered very healthy now.

But knowing she would see him today, she had deliberately applied makeup before leaving, using very bright rouge. Before departing, she had gazed at herself in the mirror for quite a while, not daring to leave until she confirmed she showed not a trace of dishevelment or sickly appearance.

She didn’t want him to worry about her.

Hearing this, Qi Ying nodded, though one couldn’t tell if he believed it or not. He only said in a very light tone: “Take good care of your health.”

After a pause, he glanced at her quickly and added: “Eat well.”

This phrase was somewhat familiar.

As a child, she hadn’t much liked eating and had a small appetite, often putting down her chopsticks after just a few bites. But she was very delicate then, and he always worried that continuing like this would harm her health, so he would often instruct Shuipei and the others to watch her eat.

Shuipei and the others were all on her side. Though they appeared to obey his every command, in reality once he left and she said a few nice words to Shuipei and the others, she needn’t eat more. He discovered this later and scolded her quite sternly. After that, he tried as much as possible to eat with her – really just to watch her.

Though she didn’t much like eating many things then, she extremely enjoyed staying with him. So later she actually employed quite a few little schemes, such as pretending she couldn’t eat much, forcing him to constantly stay by her side urging her to eat, rarely even going to social engagements.

Those truly were wonderful days.

Shen Xiling distantly recalled these trivial past events, increasingly feeling they were just like the loquat in her hand – sour with sweetness. She smiled and nodded in agreement, then said: “Young Master too – eat well and take good care of yourself.”

Sitting closer to him, she felt his changes even more – not only had he grown thin, but he was also more cold and desolate, and seemed to bear traces of illness. She didn’t know if this was because he had experienced many upheavals after Buddha Bathing Festival, or if he had already fallen ill before.

He wasn’t as radiant as five years ago, but like colorful clouds obscuring the moon, appeared somewhat dimmed. She knew that after the tea gathering, many Great Wei people had praised how the young master of Jiangzuo’s foremost family was so brilliant as if divine. But actually only she knew he had originally been even more outstanding than what the world acclaimed.

She was truly afraid something had happened to him.

Hearing this, Qi Ying also nodded in agreement like her, natural as old friends. At this time the mountain wind rose again, blowing down a leaf from the loquat tree that happened to land on his lapel. While gently raising his hand to brush it away, he asked as if casually: “General Gu is someone who knows propriety. Why would he bring you here today?”

He finally asked about this matter, but for a moment Shen Xiling didn’t know how to answer him.

What should she say?

Should she say that in these five years she had never forgotten him for a moment, even obsessing to the point of doing all those corrupt things for his sake? Should she say she had threatened Gu Juhan, even gone to extremes that endangered his family? Should she say that to exchange for his safety and the opportunity to see him once, she had given up most of her years of business operations?

What would he think…

He might be annoyed by her obsession, might think her foolish, and besides that, might think her clingy.

She truly felt she no longer understood him as well as five years ago. Now they seemed both like acquaintances and complete strangers – she could no longer read him.

If that was the case, then she’d better not tell him everything. She hoped she would always remain clean and pure in his heart, always be that little girl who had never done bad things.

Even if there was no outcome between them, she hoped all his memories of her would be beautiful.

Therefore, Shen Xiling lied then, saying: “I begged him. He’s someone with a soft heart – perhaps he took pity on me.”

Soft-hearted?

Gu Juhan?

He was a military officer who went into battle to kill enemies, having killed countless people in his lifetime. Such a person wouldn’t be soft-hearted, unless… he considered her a special case.

At that time Qi Ying frowned slightly, remembering that time before the tea gathering when he had silently watched her from behind the screen at Yilou. Even then, she and Gu Juhan had gotten along quite harmoniously. On Buddha Bathing Festival too – he had seen from afar in the carriage that Gu Juhan was embracing her, appearing very protective of her.

He should be devoted to her… If so, it indeed seemed possible he would make an exception for her.

Just like himself – whether in the past or present, hadn’t he repeatedly made exceptions for her?

Qi Ying smiled faintly, his gaze somewhat dark, saying nothing more, only nodding.

Shen Xiling didn’t know if he believed this or simply didn’t want to talk with her anymore, and felt somewhat at a loss for a moment.

Just then she saw Qing Zhu poke his head out from the back courtyard, and their eyes happened to meet.

Both were startled. Shen Xiling recovered first and beckoned to him.

He had no choice but to come around from the back courtyard to the front, his expression somewhat awkward as he greeted Shen Xiling: “…Greetings to Madam.”

This greeting was very proper, yet inevitably stirred emotions in all three people present, especially Shen Xiling, whose face suddenly paled, even her bright rouge unable to fully conceal it.

She responded very flustered.

Qing Zhu himself also seemed to feel very sad. He didn’t even dare look at Shen Xiling anymore, only turned to bow to Qi Ying.

“Young Master…”

He started to speak but stopped, as if uncertain whether some words should be said in front of Shen Xiling.

But just as he began speaking, Qi Ying frowned, his expression quite stern as he interrupted: “Leave.”

Qi Ying rarely showed such stern expressions to people, so even Qing Zhu, who had followed him for over ten years, couldn’t help but shrink back, bowing in panic before retreating.

Seeing this scene, Shen Xiling felt even more desolate.

He really did consider her an outsider now, didn’t he? So… he wouldn’t even let her hear the slightest bit more about his affairs.

Was he afraid she would cause him trouble? Or did he think she would harm him?

She clearly… could do anything for his sake.

Shen Xiling lowered her head partway, no longer knowing what else she could say or do. She suddenly felt that coming to find him today was a mistake. Though she felt comforted by it, for him, it was probably a very heavy burden.

She truly shouldn’t disturb him anymore.

Shen Xiling’s hands unconsciously clenched tight, the loquat fruit crushed in her grip, juice running all over her hand, yet she didn’t notice at all. She only struggled to hide her emotions on the verge of collapse, raising her head to smile at him: “I’ve eaten the loquat too. Young Master seems to have business to attend to. I’ll leave now.”

After saying this, she stood up somewhat disheveled.

Qi Ying seemed not to have expected her to suddenly rise and leave, showing some surprise as he also stood up.

He looked at her intently, his hands hanging at his sides moving slightly, but ultimately made no other movement.

He was silent for a while, his complexion seeming to grow even paler, a vague emotion like reluctance floating in his eyes. Shen Xiling couldn’t be certain, thinking it was her imagination.

She heard him say: “Alright… go then.”

This was another parting, wasn’t it?

Frankly speaking, this separation didn’t pain Shen Xiling as heart-wrenchingly as the last time in Langya, perhaps because this time she didn’t have as many hopes as before, and he didn’t love her as much either.

He had grown indifferent, so she too had to try hard to become indifferent.

Encouraging herself this way, she was able to bid him farewell with a steady nod, proper in etiquette and dignified in manner, just as he had taught her in the past.

She turned and left, her sleeve still concealing that loquat fruit she had crushed, step by step growing farther and farther from him.

She didn’t know if he was watching her as she left. She didn’t dare look back at all, afraid she would shamefully run back to find him again, more afraid she would greedily demand an embrace from him – that would be very unseemly.

So she walked faster and faster, until she was almost running, the mountain wind cutting her face painfully.

But later she stopped, remembering she still had words she hadn’t told him.

She wanted to tell him that she would never cause him any trouble, but if he needed anything, he could always send someone to find her for help… After all, he had no foundation in Shangjing. Here he was like a dragon in shallow waters – if he needed to borrow strength, she would naturally help him without reservation, even if only to repay his life-saving grace and nurturing kindness.

She had even brought him a token today. If the people around him found it inconvenient to go directly to the Duke’s mansion to find her, they could take the token to her business establishment in Shangjing to find the manager there. This way she would quickly receive word and be able to help him.

Shen Xiling truly regretted this, feeling she had been too absurd just now, forgetting even such an important matter in her hurt feelings. She had no choice but to go back once more to tell him about this – but if he saw her return after leaving, would he think her clingy again?

Shen Xiling closed her eyes, struggling to steady her mind, then turned back toward the mountain.

Let him think her clingy… Compared to that, his safety was most important.

When Shen Xiling returned to that courtyard again, she saw a scene she could never have imagined even in dreams.

That person had collapsed under the loquat tree, seemingly unconscious, while Qing Zhu knelt beside him in panic. On the ground was a broken porcelain bowl.

Shen Xiling didn’t know what had been in that bowl, only that even from far away, she could smell an unusual fragrance.

That fragrance felt very strange to her, yet also somehow vaguely familiar.

As if she had smelled it somewhere before.

She desperately tried to remember, repeatedly tried to recall.

…Finally remembered.

She had indeed smelled that scent before.

Many years ago, in the Southeast Villa, from a person named Yang Dong.

That was…

…Five Stone Powder.

Author’s Note: First, highlighted: HE. They won’t be separated again. No matter how stubborn he is, Wenwen won’t listen to him anymore. Locked until the grand finale – even after the story ends, they’ll continue living happily together in the story’s world.

Second, explanation: Five Stone Powder is a long-term setup. In Volume 1, when Young Master Qi didn’t go to the polo match, the Great Wei noblewomen discussed related topics – they actually weren’t wrong in their speculation. As for why Young Master Qi became involved with this substance, it will be explained clearly in the next chapter.

Third, prize guessing game: Besides Five Stone Powder, there’s another long-term setup (mentioned very early, cued several times in between) that will be used later for a reversal. Welcome to guess, there are red envelopes for correct guesses! Valid until we write to that part!

Finally, bold declaration: Second brother is the best! Wenwen is the greatest! Quietly accomplishing great things is the way! Getting back together after some awkwardness is the sweetest! The CP I ship cannot have a BE! (Confident look)