He secretly observed his second son, seeing him calmly have a maid add a stool beside the daybed. He had now seated himself quite peacefully, his gaze steady and revealing nothing, showing no signs of anything amiss.

Qi Zhang looked at Shen Xiling again and asked: “This must be Miss Fang?”

Having been an official for many years, even though Qi Zhang now appeared gentle in his everyday clothes sitting on the daybed, he still gave off an intimidating presence. Shen Xiling felt her scalp tingle as she bowed and said: “Greetings to Your Lordship, that is correct.”

Qi Zhang scrutinized her, remained silent for a moment, then said: “Your esteemed father rendered great service to the Qi family. I should have shown gratitude long ago. Only bringing Miss into the Qi mansion today is truly remiss – please do not take offense.”

Though these words were polite, they carried such weight that one couldn’t help but feel alarmed. Such burden placed on a junior made Shen Xiling deeply feel she was unworthy, and she quickly said respectfully: “Your Lordship honors this humble girl too greatly.”

Qi Zhang watched Shen Xiling bow before him, seeing that her words and conduct were all very proper – the bearing of a noble family’s daughter. However, he remembered that Fang Yukai was an official from humble origins whose family was quite impoverished. How could such a household raise a daughter with such proper conduct? This inevitably aroused suspicion.

Qi Zhang grew suspicious, but then noticed that the hands revealed by Shen Xiling’s sleeves were not as delicate and pale as those of noble ladies, showing many traces of years of labor, with faint chilblains still visible on the backs of her hands. This indeed resembled someone from humble origins, so his doubts lessened slightly.

However, those like Qi Zhang who had long held high positions were mostly suspicious by nature. Even after seeing Shen Xiling’s hands, he wasn’t reassured. He picked up a teacup from the small table on the daybed, took a sip, then as if making casual conversation said: “Bashu is a land of abundance, a place where dragons rise. After the southern migration, I once accompanied His Majesty there. The people were diligent in their work and charitable, which greatly comforted His Majesty.”

He set down the teacup and smiled at Shen Xiling: “I haven’t been to Ba Prefecture in many years now. Can Miss Fang speak the southwestern dialect? Shu language differs from Wu language and has its own unique charm.”

Qi Ying, sitting to the side, heard this and his eyes flashed, knowing his father was probing Shen Xiling’s background.

How could a young girl who had grown up in Jiankang know any southwestern dialect? Qi Ying frowned, about to help her out, when he heard Shen Xiling smoothly answer: “Crude rustic speech truly dare not pollute Your Lordship’s distinguished ears, but if Your Lordship wishes to hear sounds that evoke memories, this humble girl dares to make a fool of herself and recite a local children’s rhyme from Ba Prefecture for Your Lordship.”

Hearing this, Qi Ying felt secretly moved. He saw Qi Zhang nod, then heard Shen Xiling prettily recite: “Chubby baby, chubby and plump, riding horses to Chengdu, Chengdu is so fun to play, chubby baby rides a white horse, the white horse rides so high, chubby baby plays with a halberd, the halberd spins so round, chubby baby eats sweet dumplings, eating so many dumplings, chubby baby gets the runs.”

Whether this children’s rhyme was truly from Bashu, Qi Zhang didn’t know, but this girl’s Shu dialect was quite authentic, flowing out smoothly and appearing very familiar.

Qi Zhang’s confidence in her identity increased somewhat, and he finally set aside his suspicions for the moment, smiling: “The local accent is quite wonderful – please sit, Miss Fang.”

A maid in the hall then added a seat for Shen Xiling as well, on the other side of Qi Ying, the two sitting quite far apart. When Shen Xiling sat down, she secretly glanced at him and saw he also gave her a look – one that seemed neither quite smiling nor not smiling.

It seemed… as if he was praising her.

Shen Xiling felt inexplicably warm in the face and a bit happy.

Their brief exchange of glances ended in an instant. Qi Zhang didn’t notice, but it fell under Yao Shi’s eyes. She wasn’t suspicious of Shen Xiling’s identity like Qi Zhang, but turned to other thoughts: looking at this situation, could Jingchen and this Miss Fang perhaps…

Since Qi Ying had undergone his capping ceremony last year, Yao Shi had been quite concerned about his marriage prospects. Though she had always been too lazy to concern herself with men’s court affairs, she was still clear about the current entanglements between Jingchen and the Sixth Princess, knowing that Jingchen was now bound by the imperial family, so his marriage would have to be delayed indefinitely.

She had always felt wronged on behalf of her child, thinking how could such delays not ruin his proper good marriage prospects? Only Jingchen had always been cold-natured, and she hadn’t seen him pay special attention to any young lady, which inevitably made Yao Shi worry that he was troubled by these messy affairs and had developed an aversion to marriage matters.

Now seeing him care so much for Miss Fang, Yao Shi’s heart was somewhat settled, but then she developed another worry: how old was this Wenwen this year? Wasn’t she too young?

Yao Shi fretted in her heart, thought for a moment, then asked Shen Xiling: “May I ask Miss Fang’s age this year?”

Shen Xiling answered that she was eleven. Yao Shi acknowledged this, thinking indeed she was young. After thinking again, she asked: “When is your birthday?”

Shen Xiling pressed her lips together and glanced at Qi Ying. He had never told her when Fang Jun was born – how should she answer now?

Before Qi Ying could give her a hint, Yao Shi laughed first: “Why are you looking at Jingchen? No matter how capable he is, he can’t control when people are born! Just tell the truth.”

The maids in the hall all covered their mouths and laughed at this, making Shen Xiling’s face burn even more. After a moment of silence, she answered: “…February twenty-fourth.”

Upon hearing this, Yao Shi counted on her fingers, seeing there were less than two months left, thinking this way she would be twelve, thirteen in nominal age – just the budding age. Some girls who married early wed at thirteen, so Jingchen wouldn’t be too unreasonable…

Yao Shi schemed in her heart for her second son. Though Shen Xiling didn’t notice, both Qi Ying and Qi Zhang understood Yao Shi’s thoughts and showed helpless expressions. Qi Ying coughed, interrupting his mother’s musings: “Today I brought Wenwen back. If Father and Mother have no objections, she will temporarily reside in the mansion from now on. Master Wang will come to the mansion to lecture in a few days, so the school will be restored. At that time she can attend classes with Yao’er, and I won’t have failed her father’s entrustment.”

Qi Ying’s words had double meaning. The father he referred to was naturally Shen Qian, but to Qi Zhang and Yao Shi’s ears, they assumed he meant Fang Yukai.

Qi Zhang nodded in agreement upon hearing this, while Yao Shi sat up straight on the daybed with kind eyes, taking hold of Shen Xiling’s hand as she sat on the round stool beside her: “Good child, from now on consider this your home and live here peacefully.”

Coming out of Jiaxi Hall, Shen Xiling felt as if granted amnesty, feeling much lighter at heart.

Qi Ying came out with her, instructing servants to move her trunk into the courtyard where she would live, and walked with her through the spacious rear garden of the Qi mansion.

The rear garden of the Qi mansion was like Fenghe Courtyard, also having many precious flowers and trees, many artificial hills and small ponds, only everything was several times more and larger than Fenghe Courtyard, making it even easier to get lost walking through it.

Shen Xiling followed behind Qi Ying as they walked, thinking this would be where she would live from now on, feeling a sense of novelty. As she looked around, she suddenly heard Qi Ying ask: “You can speak the dialect of Bashu?”

Qi Ying’s voice carried some amusement, seeming quite pleased. Shen Xiling looked up at him and indeed saw warmth in his phoenix eyes. She tried hard to control her mouth corners from turning up, maintaining composure as she answered: “Mm, I was afraid of being exposed, so I did some homework beforehand.”

Seeing the young lady clearly proud inside but trying hard to appear calm on the surface, Qi Ying couldn’t help but shake his head and laugh.

Seeing him laugh, Shen Xiling felt even more delighted inside, her mouth corners still couldn’t help secretly turning up. Looking at Qi Ying with bright, shining eyes, though she said nothing, she clearly had the appearance of waiting for praise.

How could Qi Ying not see this? Following the young lady’s wishes, he praised her: “Mm, truly clever.”

His voice praising her was very gentle, like when she had written calligraphy well as a child and her father praised her, yet vaguely different from her father. Getting his praise made her happy inside, also like when she received her parents’ praise as a child, yet vaguely, there was some difference.

She hadn’t had time to figure out what was different when she heard Qi Ying ask: “Who did you learn it from?”

Shen Xiling came back to her senses and honestly answered: “There’s a sister in Fenghe Courtyard’s kitchen called Zijun who is from Ba Prefecture – I learned from her.”

Qi Ying smiled and asked back: “Oh, the one who helped you deliver egg custard that time?”

Shen Xiling was stunned, choked up, not expecting Qi Ying already knew about this matter. She now lowered her head, mumbling: “Young Master already knew…”

Qi Ying said nothing. Shen Xiling pressed her lips together again, looked up secretly at him, seeing his expression was gentle with nothing unusual, thinking he probably didn’t intend to blame her, so she asked again: “Did that egg custard suit Young Master’s taste?”

Qi Ying didn’t answer, but asked: “Did you often cook as a child?”

Shen Xiling hadn’t expected him to ask this, and nodded. Qi Ying asked again: “Who did you learn from?”

This question suddenly reminded Shen Xiling of her past life at home with her parents. Though her father was a man, he was extremely skilled at cooking, making dishes that were very sweet and delicious.

Shen Xiling forcibly pulled herself out of increasingly deep and detailed memories, lowering her eyes as she answered: “I learned from Father.”

Her voice was slightly hoarse.

Qi Ying actually regretted the question as soon as he asked it. Later seeing the sudden desolation in the young lady’s eyes, he knew his unintentional question had touched on her sad memories. He felt very sorry, and beyond guilt, also felt vague tenderness.

Qi Ying was silent for a moment, then changed the subject: “Earlier when you said your birthday was February twenty-fourth, was that true or false?”

He always changed topics quickly, making it hard for Shen Xiling to keep up. She could only answer confusedly: “It’s true…”

After speaking, she felt somewhat alarmed, her brow slightly furrowed as she asked: “Is there something wrong? I don’t know about Miss Fang…”

“It’s fine,” Qi Ying comforted her, his expression gentle. “I just wanted to know your birthday.”

Qi Ying’s gaze was so gentle that in that moment Shen Xiling felt as if falling into clouds and mist. She was silent for a while, pressed her lips together, and asked: “What does Young Master want to know this for?”

This was said coquettishly, with a hint of acting spoiled – like a child, yet also like a young girl.

Her figure in Qi Ying’s eyes made his whole person gentle too, as he answered: “To give you a return gift for the egg custard when the time comes.”

Upon hearing this, Shen Xiling’s mouth corners couldn’t help turning up again, though she said contrary to her heart: “That’s not necessary. I already have the fox lanterns Young Master gave me, I don’t want anything else.”

Qi Ying smiled without committing either way, and after a moment of silence said: “Let’s go, let’s look at the courtyard where you’ll live. If anything is missing, or if there’s anything you want, just come tell me.”

Shen Xiling looked at his relaxed brow and eyes as he lowered his head to instruct her, and gentle happiness arose in her heart. She obediently nodded and followed behind him as they walked forward.

Author’s Note: What she said: I already have the fox lanterns so I don’t need anything else~ What she thought: Hurry up, don’t wait for the 24th, how about giving it tomorrow!

Thanks to the angels who nourished with nutrient solutions, cast domineering votes, and left comments to chat – you all are definitely the motivation for Hutao’s updates!