If someone had told Qi Jingchen three months ago that he would pick up a complete stranger of a little girl to keep by his side, that he would plan and arrange things for her, that he would search everywhere for her when she disappeared, and that someday he would even conceive the idea of personally raising her, he would have surely considered it absurd nonsense.

Yet now such a ridiculous thing had actually happened: he had even developed the thought of taking care of her for life.

This thought had initially been faint, quietly sprouting when he left Jiankang that day and Shen Xiling had run to the West Corner Gate to find him—light as the misty rain of Jiangzuo in March, so much so that when he later busied himself with other matters, this thought grew even fainter and was once forgotten. But last night when she suddenly threw herself into his arms in the night rain, she inadvertently drew this thought up from the depths of his heart again, and he began to seriously consider this matter. He had originally been somewhat wavering, but when he saw the little girl curled up like a cat sleeping in the chair behind his desk last night, this thought suddenly took root.

In that moment he even thought that only he could take good care of her—entrusting her to anyone else would be bad, or at least not good enough.

He needed to personally watch over her by her side until the day she no longer needed any of this.

Upon hearing these words, Qi Zhang was stunned, not expecting his second son to say such a thing.

He knew this son of his had always been calm and self-controlled, rarely making promises lightly, but once he made a decision it was almost unchangeable. Since he had spoken thus now, he must have already thought it through and made up his mind.

Qi Zhang felt somewhat surprised but wasn’t very opposed. He didn’t believe that Jingchen currently had any other feelings for that Fang family girl, so naturally he wasn’t as wary as Old Madam Qi. Moreover, Qi Zhang felt that even if Jingchen had such thoughts, it wouldn’t matter. His marriage had already been used by the imperial family as a bargaining chip in their game with the aristocratic families, and that Sixth Princess was obsessively pursuing him—surely his son Qi Zhang couldn’t be expected to waste several years on such matters?

That Fang family girl was still somewhat young now, but when she grew up, if Jingchen liked her, taking her as a concubine would be fine—it wasn’t a big deal.

Qi Zhang didn’t consider this matter significant, so he nodded lightly and said, “Do as you wish—just remember not to be too conspicuous.”

Qi Ying looked at his father and lowered his head, saying, “Yes.”

Lunch was taken together by everyone in the flower hall.

Qi Zhang, Yao Shi, Qi Yun, Han Ruohui, Qi San, and Qi Si—the family hadn’t gathered so completely since New Year’s Eve. Today, with Qi Ying’s return, it was a rare occasion for them all to be together.

Qi Ying looked around and asked, “Why don’t I see grandmother?”

Qi Le had originally been quietly eating his rice, but upon hearing this, he rushed to answer, “How does second brother not know yet? Grandmother… grandmother was angered into illness by Teacher Wang.”

Naturally surprised to hear this, Qi Ying looked up at his father and elder brother. Qi Zhang said nothing, while Qi Yun sighed and nodded at Qi Ying, saying, “…This indeed happened—Jingkang, you tell your second brother.”

Qi Le was already talkative, and hearing his elder brother say this, he immediately put down his chopsticks and began explaining this matter to his second brother.

That day when Old Madam Qi had taken both Zhao Yao and Shen Xiling away for punishment, Wang Qing hadn’t stopped her, thinking the Qi family elder was going to scold them both for cheating. But later he saw it wasn’t that kind of matter at all—unexpectedly, the Qi family’s old madam handled things so unreasonably, keeping Zhao Yao, a cheating student, but driving the Fang family girl out of the mansion.

Wang Qing was a principled person who had always dared to speak and act. Years ago, because he disagreed with Emperor Liang only awarding Qi Ying the position of second place, he had dared to submit a ten-thousand-word memorial to argue with His Majesty. A mere Old Madam Qi was naturally even less of a concern to him.

He was deeply dissatisfied with this matter and ran to Rongrui Hall to have a big argument with Old Madam Qi, saying that Miss Fang was excellent in both character and learning, good material for studying. Although she had indeed done wrong in the cheating matter, she had already received his punishment, so receiving additional blame was unreasonable. He also issued an ultimatum to the old lady: if she didn’t call Miss Fang back, he wouldn’t teach Zhao Yao either!

After delivering his ultimatum, Wang Qing huffily walked out of Rongrui Hall. Halfway out, he came to his senses, realizing that Old Madam Qi probably didn’t care about Zhao Yao either—she only cared about that great-niece from her natal family. So he specially ran back to add another sentence: he wouldn’t teach Fu Rong either! Qi San and Qi Si might as well stop studying altogether!

This truly angered Old Madam Qi.

But though the old lady was angry, she had no way to deal with Wang Qing, so naturally she could only take it out on her son, making Qi Zhang personally go find Wang Qing and bring him back—they couldn’t delay the other children’s education. Qi Zhang was also helpless; Wang Qing had an upright temperament and could do anything when he had grievances in his heart. If his heart was unbalanced, even Qi Zhang’s authority as Left Prime Minister wouldn’t be effective in pressuring him.

The old lady became even angrier, feeling that Qi Zhang was making excuses. In her fury, she began pretending to be ill, saying she was so angry that her head hurt and her chest felt tight—in short, she was uncomfortable all over.

Everyone in the family was familiar with the old lady’s temperament and knew she was feigning illness. But although Qi Zhang saw through it clearly, he couldn’t violate filial piety by ignoring his mother, so he readily agreed, saying that in a few days when Teacher Wang’s anger had subsided, he would go discuss it with him.

But Qi Zhang was only paying lip service, knowing that Wang Qing probably wouldn’t give him face either. Truthfully speaking, his going would probably be less effective than Jingchen going, so he had shelved this matter earlier, planning to bring it up with his second son after he returned to Jiankang. Just now when speaking with his second son in Jiaxitang, he had forgotten about this matter. Now that it came up, he remembered. Qi Zhang coughed and said to Qi Ying, “When you have time in a few days, go talk to Teacher Wang. He’s always admired you—he might listen to your opinion.”

Qi Ying hadn’t expected Teacher Wang to also get involved in this matter. He was quite surprised, especially surprised that he would stand up for Shen Xiling. He had originally thought Wang Qing didn’t like her, and seeing him hit Shen Xiling so severely last night had made him somewhat displeased. He hadn’t expected that he would actually argue with grandmother over Shen Xiling.

Qi Ying was silent for a moment, then nodded and said, “Alright.”

Qi Ning had been sitting to the side listening the whole time. Now she secretly looked at her second brother, hesitated for a while, then asked, “Then second brother… will sister Wenwen come back in the future?”

With this question, many people at the table became interested. Besides Qi Ning, Yao Shi and the Qi Yun couple also all looked toward Qi Ying.

Qi Ying glanced at Qi Ning lightly, his face expressionless, then said calmly, “She won’t return. From now on she’ll stay at Fenghe Courtyard—I’ll take care of her.”

As soon as these words landed, Han Ruohui smiled and glanced at Qi Yun with an “I told you so” expression; Yao Shi was startled, showing both joy and worry; Qi Ning was stunned for a moment, then silently lowered her head.

After lunch, the palace sent word that His Majesty summoned Young Master Qi to the palace. Qi Ying prepared to leave, but while walking in the corridor, he was called aside by Yao Shi for a few more words.

Yao Shi looked around, and seeing no one nearby, she pulled Qi Ying close and asked quietly, “You’ve seen Wenwen?”

Qi Ying acknowledged with a sound, helped his mother sit down in the corridor, and specially added a sentence: “This time I have mother to thank.”

Seeing Qi Ying’s expression was quite solemn, and such a grateful expression had been rare since he grew up, for a moment Yao Shi’s heart felt infinitely tender.

She smiled and said, “It was just a small effort—is Wenwen well? I noticed that child has a quiet temperament. After being tormented like that by your grandmother, she didn’t even cry. You can tell she’s a child who keeps everything bottled up inside—that’s not good, it will make her ill.”

Hearing this, Qi Ying silently thought of her crying incessantly in his arms last night, couldn’t help but smile, and said, “Mm, I’ll counsel her more.”

Though his smile flashed and disappeared, it was still seen by Yao Shi. Combined with what he said during lunch about personally taking care of Wenwen in the future, she became even more certain there was something between the two of them. So she was both happy and worried, saying, “Ah, as for Wenwen, I do like her very much, but I think she’s still a bit too young—and besides, if you and she… what if the princess makes trouble again, then…”

Qi Ying didn’t think much of the first part, but the more he listened, the more wrong it sounded. When he understood what his mother was implying, he couldn’t help but sigh and say, “Mother, how old is Wenwen? How could I have such thoughts about her? Such words cannot be said in the future, lest they damage her reputation.”

At that time, Yao Shi thought: you’ve already taken the little girl to live at your private residence, and now you’re talking about reputation?

But Yao Shi’s temper had always only flared up at the Left Prime Minister—she was always very gentle with the children. So she didn’t argue with Qi Ying, repeatedly saying “good, good, good” and “yes, yes, yes,” then said instead, “You taking care of her is naturally very secure, but you’ve never raised a child—how could you know the hardships involved? For instance, Wenwen—has her illness from a few days ago completely recovered?”

Qi Ying only knew that Shen Xiling was injured but didn’t know she had also been ill. Hearing this, he couldn’t help but be stunned.

Seeing his expression, Yao Shi immediately understood he didn’t know yet, so she sighed again and said, “You see, this is the difficulty of raising children. Wenwen speaks little, and you’re busy—how can you take good care of her?”

Qi Ying listened to his mother’s nagging for a while, then asked, “When did she fall ill? What illness?”

Yao Shi answered, “It wasn’t anything serious. It was probably because Teacher Wang’s beating that day was too severe, and the wound wasn’t treated properly, so she developed some fever. When I had someone take her to Fenghe Courtyard, I had already given her medicine. She should be mostly recovered by now.”

Hearing this, Qi Ying was silent for a while, then nodded.

Yao Shi looked at him and said, “And what do you plan to do about your grandmother? I can see she’s determined to have Rong’er marry you. If she hears about you keeping Wenwen, she definitely won’t agree.”

Qi Ying thought for a moment and didn’t answer immediately, but something different flickered in his eyes. Yao Shi saw it and knew he already had a plan in mind.

She was about to ask a couple more questions when she heard Qi Ying say, “Mother, once March begins, the flower festival at Qingji Mountain will need to be organized. Can mother help me this year as in previous years?”

Hearing this, Yao Shi remembered about the flower festival.

Before Qingji Mountain became Qi Ying’s private residence, it had been a sacred place for literati and scholars to appreciate flowers in spring, famous for its elegant gatherings with wine cups floating on winding streams. Every March when falling petals filled the air, Qingji Mountain would host magnificent banquets. Not only would aristocratic family children gather there, but also accomplished scholars from humble backgrounds would attend, drinking and composing poetry with the renowned literary figures. Sometimes even imperial princes and princesses would attend—it was a famous grand event of Jiangzuo.

Yao Shi understood and nodded repeatedly, saying, “Of course I’ll go. You’re so busy—how could you manage it alone?”

Qi Ying nodded, thanked Yao Shi, then said, “Then I’ll trouble mother with this matter—His Majesty has summoned me, so I’ll go first.”

Yao Shi acknowledged with a sound. After Qi Ying had walked two steps, she called him back and asked, “After leaving the palace, will you return home for dinner?”

Qi Ying turned back, but his heart thought of Shen Xiling. Although he had told her to eat by herself and not wait for him when he left Fenghe Courtyard this morning, he still wasn’t entirely sure about that little girl’s temperament—she might well curl up again and wait for him at the entrance to Wangshi.

He still needed to go back and check to feel at ease.

So he answered his mother, “No, I’ll go back to the other residence to check on Wenwen.”

After speaking, he bid farewell to Yao Shi and turned to leave the mansion.

Yao Shi watched her son’s departing figure and slowly sighed, thinking to herself: Still saying he wouldn’t have such thoughts about her—keeping her so close to his heart at such a young age, how can he remain innocent when she grows up?

That would be truly strange.

Author’s Note: Later he really did take care of her for life (and was also taken care of by her for life)