He coughed once, attempting to shake off that feeling of being at a loss and the slight discomfort it brought, then answered his grandmother: “Wenwen is still young and cannot yet clarify her own thoughts and feelings. Occasional impropriety in words and actions is understandable. I hope grandmother will also show her mercy and not mention this matter again, lest it damage her reputation.”
Seeing her second grandson remain stubbornly unrepentant—even with the facts so clear, still speaking up for that orphaned girl—Old Madam Qi naturally felt he had been bewitched by that little vixen from the Fang family. She became even angrier and said furiously: “Jingchen! Are you completely confused? She did such shameless and ill-bred things, and you still talk about preserving her reputation?”
His grandmother’s words were harsh, and Qi Ying knew he could no longer reason with her, so he ceased speaking. Old Madam Qi continued her tirade for quite some time, but after a long while, seeing her second grandson remain silent, she looked carefully and saw that although he said nothing, his eyes had already taken on a cold and distant color.
This second grandson had been taciturn and cold since childhood, making it difficult to fathom his thoughts. Now, due to his high position and great power, he had developed an even sharper and more profound aura. Although Old Madam Qi was his elder, seeing him like this made her heart skip a beat, and she unconsciously tempered her anger somewhat. After thinking it over, she softened her tone and took a step back: “If you truly fancy that Fang family girl, keeping her by your side isn’t impossible. As long as she doesn’t enter the Qi family’s door, you can do whatever you want, and neither your grandmother nor your parents will say anything. But marriage is a major matter. That Sixth Princess isn’t one who can maintain household peace—she’s not like Rong’er, who is gentle and dignified. Jingchen, when choosing a wife, choose virtue. You must think carefully.”
Hearing this, Qi Ying was silent for a moment.
His grandmother had been favoring her natal family for decades—this had always been the case. Mutual support among aristocratic families wasn’t inherently wrong, but when excessive, it inevitably led to trouble. He had long felt his grandmother showed too much favoritism toward the Fu family, but as a junior, he couldn’t comment on such matters and couldn’t point this out now. He could only address the matter at hand.
After pondering briefly, he said: “Your grandson naturally understands grandmother’s good intentions, but this matter involves the Sixth Princess and would likely require His Majesty’s approval. Your grandson is powerless in this regard. If grandmother has other ideas, she might discuss them with father. Your grandson will comply entirely with the elders’ arrangements.”
Old Madam Qi, having lived many years, naturally heard that her grandson was employing the same bureaucratic deflection tactics he used in court on her. After these circuitous words that seemed obedient and respectful on the surface, not one was actually useful, yet he maintained an air of complete compliance that left one unable to find fault with him.
As a result, after summoning her second grandson for nothing, the old lady gained nothing except venting her anger and being thoroughly frustrated.
The night wind was cool.
As Qi Ying emerged from his grandmother’s courtyard, he encountered his elder brother and sister-in-law in the garden. For once, the couple was without Hui’er, walking hand in hand through the garden.
After mutual greetings, Qi Yun glanced in the direction his second brother had come from and asked with a smile: “Just saw grandmother?”
Qi Ying responded affirmatively, then heard his elder brother ask: “You look to be in a hurry—are you returning to Fenghe Garden?”
He nodded and very naturally added: “Mm, going back to check on Wenwen.”
As soon as the words left his mouth, he suddenly recalled what his grandmother had said about her sleeping wrapped in his clothes. That strange feeling in his heart surfaced again, making his expression somewhat unnatural. Fortunately, it was already dark, and neither Qi Yun nor Han Ruohui noticed his change in demeanor. Qi Yun only smiled and said: “Alright then, go ahead. Be careful on the road.”
Qi Ying nodded, took leave of his brother and sister-in-law, turned, and left the mansion.
Qi Yun watched his brother’s departing figure and sighed, turning to his wife with feeling: “Sigh, when you first mentioned it, I didn’t believe it, but seeing how he runs to the villa every day now, there really is something to it. Those who don’t know might think he’s already married.”
Hearing this, Han Ruohui smiled at her husband with both pride and coquetry: “That’s right. From now on, you’d better listen to everything I say—I’m never wrong.”
Qi Yun was very supportive and immediately flattered his wife, laughing: “My wife is a female Zhuge Liang. I’ll listen, I’ll listen to everything.”
The couple was tender and affectionate, laughing and talking continuously in the garden.
In the carriage returning to Fenghe Garden, Qi Ying thought thoroughly about Shen Xiling’s situation from every angle.
He thought that the young girl’s mind wasn’t fully mature, and developing such feelings for him wasn’t her fault but rather his own improper behavior. For instance, he had always treated her as a child and occasionally engaged in intimate gestures—smoothing her hair from time to time or pinching her little face—which was inappropriate conduct that had likely led to the young girl’s misunderstanding.
Fortunately, she was still young. As long as he guided her properly with good instruction, she would be able to distinguish between romantic love and familial affection between elder and younger generations. This way, he wouldn’t compound his mistakes and delay the young girl’s future.
Qi Ying felt that the first step should be to create some distance with Shen Xiling. In the future, physical contact should be avoided entirely, and their meetings could also be less frequent. Over time, that hazy sentiment in her heart would naturally fade away.
Thinking this way, his mind was somewhat settled. His only worry was that the young girl had a sensitive temperament—if she sensed his distance, would she secretly feel sad and hurt? And if so, what should he do then?
All the way back, Qi Ying thought about this, feeling that raising a child was indeed extremely difficult—much harder than when he first began writing essays and policy discussions in his youth. Thinking about seeing Shen Xiling shortly, he was uncertain about how to gauge the proper boundaries in speaking with her, giving him quite a headache.
Lost in these thoughts all the way back to Fenghe Garden, he arrived to learn that Shen Xiling had gone out and hadn’t yet returned.
When Shen Xiling returned to Fenghe Garden, it was already nearly the eleventh double-hour.
Actually, when she left Shunnan Street, it hadn’t been late, but she didn’t return to Fenghe Garden immediately. Thinking that going out wasn’t easy, she took a detour to the nearby large market and several smaller markets, carefully examining several cloth shops before wandering around for a long time and finally returning.
Just as she climbed up from the stone steps at the bottom of the mountain, she saw Bai Song leaning against the lantern-lit entrance, holding his sword and chewing on a bamboo leaf. Shen Xiling was surprised to see him there and went forward to greet him, asking: “Brother Bai, why are you here? Why didn’t you go inside?”
Bai Song spat out the bamboo leaf he’d been chewing, casually folded his arms, and said to her: “The young master asked me to wait for you here. He said if you weren’t back by the eleventh double-hour, I should go look for you.”
Hearing this, Shen Xiling was startled and felt she had troubled Bai Song. Feeling quite apologetic, she lowered her head: “This… I…”
Bai Song shrugged, glanced at her, and said: “Fortunately it’s not yet the eleventh double-hour, saving me another trip out—go in. The young master is waiting for you in the study.”
Shen Xiling pursed her lips, responded with agreement, then entered the main gate, crossed through courtyards to the entrance of Wangshi, where she saw Qing Zhu standing outside the door.
This young attendant had been much kinder to her recently, probably because she had frequently given him directions. Unfortunately, her late return today had completely dissipated all the goodwill from those previous occasions of giving directions. Qing Zhu wore a stern expression and even glared at her before walking down from the steps and reproaching her in a lowered voice: “Where did you run off to? Didn’t you know to give advance notice? The young master has been waiting for you for over an hour, you know!”
Shen Xiling kept her head lowered without speaking. Qing Zhu continued glaring at her while secretly looking her up and down. Seeing she was uninjured and unharmed, his expression improved somewhat, though he fiercely added: “What are you standing there for? Hurry up and go in!”
Shen Xiling looked up at him once, climbed the steps, and entered Wangshi’s door.
As soon as she pushed open the door, she saw Qi Ying look up toward her.
Shen Xiling pursed her lips, trying to make herself appear natural. She turned to close Wangshi’s door, walked to Qi Ying’s desk, and performed a proper bow: “Young master.”
Qi Ying waved his hand for her to sit. She went to sit behind her small desk, then heard Qi Ying ask: “Did you go out with Manager Ding today?”
When Shen Xiling left, she hadn’t informed anyone. Since Qi Ying now knew the details, it seemed Shuipei and the others had left word.
Shen Xiling nodded and answered: “Yes.”
Qi Ying frowned, looked at the time, and said: “Next time you cannot return so late. If you must return late, at least leave me a note.”
Shen Xiling nodded again and answered: “Yes.”
The young girl was gentle and obedient, quiet as always, but Qi Ying vaguely felt something was different, though he couldn’t pinpoint what. He didn’t pay much attention at the time, thinking perhaps Shen Xiling had encountered something during her outing, or perhaps met with some difficulties at the cloth shop, leading to her somewhat low spirits.
He asked a few questions about this matter: “Did you see that shop? How did you find it?”
Shen Xiling kept her head half-lowered and answered matter-of-factly: “I saw it and met the manager with Manager Ding. But I’m inexperienced in business and don’t understand much. Today I only brought back some account books, planning to look them over in a few days before discussing other matters.”
Qi Ying nodded.
When he found this shop for her, he had put considerable thought into it. She was young and inexperienced, so the shop couldn’t be too large or too small, the situation couldn’t be too difficult or too easy. There needed to be some small troubles, but not too many—this way she could get training and learn something.
Since she had seen it today, she had taken the first step of the beginning, which was good.
Qi Ying thought for a moment and offered guidance: “All endeavors have some hardships at the beginning, but as long as you keep going, you’ll gradually improve. Manager Ding is skilled at management and enjoys teaching others. If you have anything you don’t understand, you can consult with him more.”
Shen Xiling still just nodded and answered: “Yes.”
Since entering, unless he asked questions, she consistently answered only “yes.” Qi Ying naturally couldn’t fail to notice this. He thought her lack of conversational enthusiasm might be due to fatigue, or perhaps sensing the difficulties of commerce had left her somewhat bewildered.
Her being less talkative tonight was actually convenient, since he hadn’t yet figured out how to manage proper boundaries in their interactions.
Qi Ying secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He glanced at Shen Xiling and saw her sitting under the lamplight with lowered brows and downcast eyes, appearing somewhat distant—very different from her previous cat-like charming and naive expression when looking at him a few days ago. This suddenly made him feel a faint discomfort, though he didn’t pay much attention to it at the time and only said to her: “Go back and rest.”
Hearing this, the young girl stood up, still leaving only a “yes,” then turned and left.
She didn’t even look back.
Author’s Note: Little buddy still wants to be aloof? Wife launches cold war and immediately deflates your arrogance. Aloof my foot. This chapter is finished, tomorrow is the last chapter of Volume Two. Click to see the humble male lead online begging for reconciliation (not serving)