The flower gathering had been lively for an entire day, and by the time all the guests had departed, the moon was already hanging above the willow treetops. The Qi family naturally stayed until the very end. In previous years, Qi Zhang would not have remained until the flower gathering’s conclusion—he typically made an appearance at the beginning and then left, as someone of his high position staying would inevitably make the younger generation feel constrained and unable to enjoy themselves fully. But this year, because of the incident between the Sixth Princess and Fu Rong, he felt it necessary to give his second son some guidance, which was why he had no choice but to stay until the end.

He had his eldest son take the third and fourth sons down the mountain to the carriage first, while he and his wife Yao Shi lagged behind a step. When Qi Ying was seeing his parents out of Fenghe Garden, he received a lecture from his father.

Qi Zhang frowned and said, “What exactly were the Sixth Princess and the Fu family girl making a fuss about today? Do you have any idea?”

His attitude was stern, with the bearing of someone about to deliver a scolding. When Yao Shi saw the situation turning unfavorable, she couldn’t bear to see Qi Ying get berated, so she preemptively seized the conversation, taking the initiative to complain to her husband: “Why are you blaming him? Jingchen has enough troubles with this matter already. Those two girls were fighting over jealousy—how can you possibly blame him for it?”

A doting mother spoils her children!

Qi Zhang was blocked by his wife’s words, making the subsequent lecture impossible to deliver. He intended to advise his wife not to be so indulgent with their children, but his wife was beautiful and skilled at managing him, consistently leaving the minister helpless. At this moment, he could only sigh heavily and hastily say to his second son: “A dike collapses from ant holes, and air escapes through needle points. Many people think that handling major affairs properly guarantees a secure future, only to fail at the final step over minor matters. Affairs between men and women may seem insignificant, but if handled improperly, they will eventually lead to great disaster—Jingchen, you must take this to heart.”

These words were quite weighty and hit the mark precisely. Qi Ying also understood their importance and lowered his head in response: “Father speaks truly.”

When Yao Shi saw her son’s serious expression, she felt very distressed and became even more protective, saying to Qi Zhang again: “Alright, alright, he understands everything you’ve said—you go down the mountain first. I’ll give him a few more instructions.”

Qi Zhang shook his head, truly unable to do anything about his wife. After hearing her words, he instructed his second son to be sure to escort Yao Shi down the mountain properly later, then turned and left through Fenghe Garden’s gate.

Seeing her husband had left, Yao Shi pulled her son aside for intimate conversation, sighing: “Don’t blame your father for being angry. Today’s incident was truly absurd—that princess and the Fu family girl aren’t lacking in upbringing, so how could they behave in such a manner…”

After sighing for a while, Yao Shi asked Qi Ying: “Now that things have reached this point, what do you plan to do?”

Qi Ying was quite calm and answered: “I’ve already spoken with Her Highness. As for cousin Fu, this marriage was nonsensical to begin with. It’s actually good that today’s commotion happened—grandmother can finally let go of this idea.”

Yao Shi understood the latter half, but not the former, asking: “What did you say to the Sixth Princess?”

Qi Ying answered lightly: “I told her about Wenwen.”

Although Yao Shi doted on this son of hers, she really couldn’t love his habit of answering half a sentence when asked a full question. She was so anxious she wanted to pinch him, saying: “I’m asking how you spoke to her!”

That princess had such a willful temperament and wasn’t magnanimous. Today she could even do something as outrageous as publicly slapping Fu Rong—who knows what even more excessive things she might do in the future?

Qi Ying sighed and said: “The princess hoped I would send Wenwen away. I’ve already declined.”

Yao Shi was surprised and asked: “You declined, and she didn’t make more trouble?”

Qi Ying shook his head.

Yao Shi was exasperated, but knowing she couldn’t extract any useful details from Qi Ying, she simply gave up asking and only said: “I won’t say much more in terms of advice. Your father has said enough. Just be careful yourself.”

Qi Ying responded with agreement, then heard his mother ask: “I saw the princess barged into Fenghe Garden today—was she looking for Wenwen?”

Seeing her son nod, Yao Shi couldn’t help but worry, asking again: “Was Wenwen injured?”

Qi Ying thought for a moment and answered: “She wasn’t injured, but she was probably frightened.”

Yao Shi nodded and said: “She would naturally be frightened—sigh, that child is also pitiable. Remember to comfort her well.”

Qi Ying smiled and answered: “Mm, I’ll go shortly.”

Yao Shi glanced at him, thinking to herself that you do have patience when it comes to that young lady. Originally worried he might be careless and inconsiderate, she now realized her concerns were unnecessary.

Seeing that Qi Ying had everything well in hand, Yao Shi felt relieved and also departed down the mountain.

After seeing the Qi family members off, Qi Ying turned back to Fenghe Garden to visit Shen Xiling.

The young lady had suffered grievances during the day, but he had been busy and hadn’t yet had time to comfort her. Now that he finally had leisure, he thought he should go see her.

However, after entering the gate of Woyu Courtyard, Shuipei came out to report that Shen Xiling had already gone to sleep.

It wasn’t even the seventh double-hour yet, still before Shen Xiling’s usual bedtime, but Qi Ying didn’t become suspicious. He only felt that she had been frightened today and was somewhat tired, which was why she had retired early.

He glanced at her completely dark window, didn’t enter the room, and only asked Shuipei: “How was her mood today?”

Shuipei considered for a moment, then answered carefully and respectfully: “Miss was somewhat frightened, but her mood was still fairly good. She ate her three meals normally, also read books, and didn’t cry.”

Hearing that she hadn’t cried, Qi Ying felt somewhat reassured. He nodded and instructed Shuipei: “Take good care of her.”

Shuipei responded with “Yes,” and saw the young master turn and leave.

She craned her neck to see the young master walk away, then turned back into the courtyard. Walking to Shen Xiling’s door, she said softly through the door: “Miss, the young master has left.”

She heard silence from within the room for a while, then her miss’s voice came out softly, saying: “Good, thank you for your trouble, sister. Rest early.”

Although Shuipei heard nothing wrong with her voice, her behavior was certainly abnormal.

Their miss had always been willing to be close to the young master, and since the young master returned from Nanling, they had become even closer. If this had been any other day when the young master came to see her, she would definitely have happily come out to greet him. Today, not only did she not go out to meet him, she even avoided seeing him, having herself tell the young master she had already retired—this was naturally abnormal.

Actually, Shuipei had noticed something was off with her miss during the day. After the young master and Sixth Princess had successively left, the miss had also gone out alone not long after, not allowing anyone to follow. When she returned, one could vaguely see she was distraught, but when asked what was wrong, she wouldn’t say a word.

Shuipei didn’t know what she had seen or heard. At this moment, it wasn’t appropriate to offer advice, thinking to herself that her miss was young—perhaps after sleeping she would forget, and tomorrow would return to normal. For now, she responded and helplessly withdrew.

The next day, when the rest period ended, Qi Ying left Fenghe Garden.

Although he usually left quite early in the mornings, Shen Xiling would get up with him every single day without fail, and also liked to snuggle up to him to share breakfast. Today, when he was eating in the flower hall, he didn’t see her, which surprised Qi Ying somewhat.

He thought for a moment and said to Qing Zhu, who was attending at his side: “Go to Woyu Courtyard and ask what’s the matter.”

It was still the season of alternating warm and cold weather. Qi Ying worried the young lady had caught a chill and fallen ill, but with her personality, she would keep any problems to herself rather than tell others. He still needed to ask an extra question to be sure.

Qing Zhu went as instructed, but returned saying Shen Xiling was fine, just hadn’t gotten up yet.

Hearing this, Qi Ying raised his eyebrows, coughed once, nodded without saying anything more, finished breakfast alone, and went to court.

Shen Xiling waited until Qi Ying had left Fenghe Garden before getting up. After rising, her demeanor appeared normal. Zijun and Fengshang didn’t notice anything amiss, only Shuipei still felt she was behaving abnormally. But seeing the miss’s gentle, quiet, and soft appearance, which really wasn’t much different from usual, she truly couldn’t pinpoint anything specific and could only feel vaguely uncomfortable inside.

However, this discomfort didn’t last long. This day, not long after Shen Xiling had finished lunch, she heard that Manager Ding from the accounting office had returned from out of town and was waiting in the main house, saying he wanted to see her.

Shen Xiling was extremely delighted to hear this.

She had been thinking about the cloth shop matter that Qi Ying had mentioned to her before the flower gathering. Now hearing that Manager Ding had returned, she was overjoyed and immediately tidied herself up to go to the main house to meet him.

Manager Ding had a cheerful, rotund appearance that suggested a broad heart, approximately fifty years old, with two small mustaches and a constantly smiling face. Upon seeing Shen Xiling, he spoke nothing but auspicious words, appearing very kind and harmonious. He also said: “A few days ago, I received a letter from the young master saying he wanted to gift the cloth shop on Shunnan Street to Miss, but unfortunately I wasn’t in Jiankang at the time, which delayed matters for many days. I’ve kept Miss waiting too long.”

Hearing this, Shen Xiling quickly said: “Sir needn’t be so polite. I’m a novice in this field and will need to learn much from you. Waiting is only proper.”

Manager Ding stroked his small mustache and smiled amiably, saying “Of course” twice, then continued: “I’ve had people organize the account books for that shop, and they can be shown to Miss today. There are also some specific matters to transfer, which I’m afraid will require Miss to personally accompany me to take a look at the shop.”

Shen Xiling nodded gratefully and said: “That’s as it should be. Thank you for your trouble, sir—when might you be free?”

Manager Ding said today’s schedule had plenty of room. Shen Xiling thought he must be very busy, and she herself had nothing else to do, so why not choose today rather than wait—would that be acceptable to Manager Ding?

Manager Ding agreed this was good.

Shen Xiling then asked Manager Ding to rest briefly while she returned to her room to prepare before departing.

Zijun loved excitement and, hearing Shen Xiling was going out, was very happy and excited, repeatedly saying she wanted to come along. Shuipei, however, felt some worry and advised Shen Xiling: “Miss, shouldn’t we first ask the young master about this matter? If we just leave Fenghe Garden like this, I’m worried that if something should happen…”

Fengshang also loved excitement, but because she and Zijun had caused trouble at the last flower gathering, she had become much more cautious and also joined Shuipei in offering advice.

Shen Xiling was silent for a while, pursed her lips, and said: “Sisters, your considerations are all reasonable, but the young master is busy—how would he have leisure to manage such trivial matters? I can’t trouble him with everything.”

“Moreover,” Shen Xiling lowered her eyes halfway, her tone becoming even lighter, “the young master can’t look after me for my entire life. I must learn to make some decisions myself.”

Her words made Zijun and Fengshang feel nothing particular, but Shuipei’s heart skipped a beat again. Since yesterday, that strange feeling in her heart had grown stronger, and she was even more certain that her miss had some unpleasantness with the young master. The intimate feeling between them from the previous period had suddenly faded, and instead there was a sense of distance.

She didn’t know how to advise and, seeing her miss looked determined, could only silently follow along with Zijun and Fengshang to accompany the miss down the mountain.

Author’s Note: My Shen Wenwen is going to give you the cold treatment today—you figure it out (actually it can’t really be called a cold war haha, there will be developments in Wenwen’s inner world later. Their feelings are misaligned right now, which is also a process they must go through).

PS: Seeing everyone’s encouragement yesterday was extremely moving. I hope to write a story that matches everyone’s warmth and loveliness. Thank you, thank you.