What about Zhe Liu and Jian Cao, who died?

What about Yu Wei, who had suffered endless hardships?

What about Zuo Junjie, who escaped?

And what about the elder sister-in-law who let Zuo Junjie escape?

No, no, no!

Fu Tingyun screamed in her heart.

Some things might be forgotten with time, but some things only become clearer in memory as time goes by.

She grasped Fu’s sister-in-law’s hand: “Sister-in-law, Zhe Liu and the others entered the household when they were eight years old and were assigned to serve me when they were ten. Back then, I loved the peach blossom buns made by the cook, Madam Huang. They were snow-white, the size of eggs, shaped like peaches using molds, with a little red dot on top. When you bit into them, inside was a creamy yellow sugar filling, different from ordinary sugar fillings—it had sheep’s milk added, sweet but not cloying, rich but not thick. Mother was afraid I would ruin my teeth and wouldn’t let me eat too many. Whenever I thought about them, my mouth would water. One winter day, with snow covering everything, Grandmother was entertaining the wife of the Shaanxi Education Commissioner. Thinking of those peach blossom buns, I lay on the heated kang, tossing and turning, unable to sleep. Zhe Liu, with her bright, lively eyes, whispered to me that she needed to relieve herself, but instead ran to the kitchen and stole a plate of peach blossom buns. Because the weather was so cold, afraid the buns would cool and not taste good, she tucked them in her bosom, burning her chest red.”

“I was overjoyed when I saw them and pulled Zhe Liu under the covers to eat the buns together.”

“The next day, the house was in an uproar.”

“The set of precious blue and white porcelain tableware used to entertain the Education Commissioner’s wife was missing a plate.”

“Great-aunt had Chen Mama conduct a thorough search.”

“Zhe Liu and I, in the middle of the night, secretly wore my wet nurse’s white cotton jacket and placed the plate under Great-aunt’s windowsill.”

“And that was the end of that matter.”

“Zhe Liu and I secretly laughed about it for a long time.”

“In comparison, Jian Cao was a bit slow-witted. All the hard tasks—fetching ice from the ice cellar in summer, opening doors in the middle of the night, serving during festivals—everyone pushed them onto her. But one Mid-Autumn Festival, as my Seventh Sister and I watched the stewards hang lanterns, a ladder suddenly fell. Jian Cao pushed me away and was herself struck, unable to move, yet still managed to force a smile and ask if I was hurt.”

“Sister-in-law,” Fu Tingyun’s grip on Fu’s sister-in-law’s fingers turned her knuckles white, “to others, they were just insignificant maids, just names on a roster, but to me, they were daily companions, partners who shared my joys and sorrows. Without them, there would be no me. Others may forget, but I cannot. Others may not seek justice, but I must.”

Fu’s sister-in-law’s eyes grew moist, and Yu Wei was already covering her mouth, sobbing quietly.

“Sister-in-law,” Fu Tingyun pleaded, “please let me see my mother once! I just want to put her mind at ease, to let her know that I’m still alive, that I haven’t failed her teachings, that I’ve never done anything to dishonor the Fu family ancestors…”

“This…” Fu’s sister-in-law’s face showed hesitation.

Seeing her waver, Fu Tingyun’s heart leaped with joy. She quickly said, “Sister-in-law, don’t worry. When I see Mother, I’ll only say comforting words and won’t make her sad. If Mother wants to see me, I’ll try to come when Father isn’t home.”

Fu’s sister-in-law pursed her lips, her expression deeply conflicted.

Watching her, Fu Tingyun knelt: “Sister-in-law…”

Fu’s sister-in-law was greatly startled and also knelt: “You, you get up! Get up quickly!”

“If you don’t agree, I won’t get up.” As Fu Tingyun spoke, tears involuntarily streamed down her face. “Since our parting at Biyun Temple, I haven’t seen Mother again. Mother has fallen ill with longing for me, which already makes me unfilial. Now, knowing Mother is sick, yet unable to serve at her bedside, I am disrespectful. Being both unfilial and disrespectful, what face do I have to live in this world…”

Fu’s sister-in-law grew anxious hearing this: “Get up, get up quickly!”

But Fu Tingyun’s face showed determination: “I won’t get up unless Sister-in-law agrees.”

“You…” Fu’s sister-in-law sighed helplessly. “I, I will take you to see Mother!”

Fu Tingyun was overjoyed. She stood up and thanked Fu’s sister-in-law: “Sister-in-law’s great kindness, I will never forget.”

But Fu’s sister-in-law shook her head with a bitter smile and repeatedly cautioned: “You must keep your word.”

Fu Tingyun nodded repeatedly: “I won’t put Sister-in-law in a difficult position…”

Before she could finish, there was suddenly a loud “bang” as the door was forcefully pushed open.

Everyone in the room looked toward the entrance.

The bright daylight from outside shone in from behind a tall figure, making it impossible to see the person’s face clearly, but the official green robe embroidered with wave patterns and black court boots revealed the visitor’s identity.

“Father…” Fu Tingyun murmured, staring blankly as the person walked toward her step by step.

Dong’s face peered around the edge of the door, looking apologetically at Fu’s sister-in-law.

Fu’s sister-in-law shook her head, indicating that it wasn’t her fault, then silently sighed in her heart as she stepped back quietly, as if this might keep her farther from danger.

As if to confirm the saying “what you fear most will happen,” the visitor’s gaze landed directly on her.

“Didn’t I tell you? I am merely a minor fifth-rank official in the capital. If someone comes seeking favors, serve them tea, give them a couple of taels as a token, and that fulfills propriety. You’ve treated my words as a passing breeze, entertaining guests at home. Do you wish to defy your father-in-law?” The reprimand thundered throughout the hall.

Fu’s sister-in-law turned pale with fright. She fell to her knees before the visitor with a thud: “Father-in-law, please forgive me! Father-in-law, please forgive me!” Beyond this, she dared not say another word.

Fu Tingyun swayed, steadying herself by gripping a nearby tea table.

She stared wide-eyed in disbelief at the person before her.

Though already past forty, her father’s figure was still as tall and straight as she remembered—fair skin, broad forehead, straight nose… The two looked as if cast from the same mold. Anyone who saw them would say they were blood relatives.

“Father!” Fu Tingyun murmured tearfully.

Though she had grown up with her mother in their hometown of Huayin, and the times she had seen her father could be counted on fingers, through her mother’s descriptions, her father had been as majestic as a mountain and as vast as the sea in her heart. She could not possibly mistake him.

Master Fu, however, didn’t even glance at her, instead directly ordering Fu’s sister-in-law: “Hurry and send this person away!” As if she were an annoying fly or mosquito, whose every moment spent here would bring more filth and chaos.

Fu Tingyun was stunned.

Fu’s sister-in-law had already taken her arm: “Miss, please come with me!”

Only then did Fu Tingyun regain her senses, struggling forcefully to break free from Fu’s sister-in-law’s grasp. Yu Wei, who had been silently crying nearby, suddenly knelt before Master Fu with a thud: “Master Fu, she is the Ninth Miss, your daughter! We had such difficulty finding you. We have been wronged. Please, Master, give us justice…”

“Impudence!” Master Fu exploded in anger, a flash of severity crossing his handsome face. “My daughter Quanhui died of illness at Biyun Temple in Huayin, Shaanxi, two years ago in the seventh month. I request that the young lady not speak nonsense. Otherwise, don’t blame me for calling the officials—then you won’t escape the charge of ‘impersonating an official’s relative’…”

“Impersonating an official’s relative?” Fu Tingyun stared at her father, that figure who had once seemed as grand as mountains and seas to her. His words pierced her heart like countless arrows, causing her unbearable pain. “Since when has coming to see you become ‘impersonating an official’s relative’?” she murmured, looking at her father.

He didn’t want to know why she was seeking him, nor did he care how she had found him. He only wanted to dismiss her hastily, even threatening her, as if she were an ignorant woman or an irrelevant passerby.

How could he do this?

Wasn’t he her father?

Wasn’t he the one who gave her life, raised her, protected her, and loved her?

The greater the hope, the greater the disappointment.

“If that’s the case, then please, Official Fu, summon the authorities!” Fu Tingyun’s voice suddenly became sharp and cutting, like an arrow splitting the sky, shooting toward Master Fu. “I want to see how the authorities will judge this matter!”

Master Fu’s figure paused, his gaze at her seeming to contain dancing flames. His face turned cold as he questioned her sternly: “Are you threatening me?”

“Threatening?” Fu Tingyun laughed coldly. “Official Fu is a dignified fifth-rank capital official, while I am merely a weak woman without the strength to tie a chicken. Just now, Official Fu was saying he would take me to see the authorities. I wonder what leverage Official Fu thinks I have over him, that suddenly I can ‘threaten’ Official Fu? How curious indeed!”

With a loud “slap,” Master Fu struck the tea table with his palm: “This is outrageous! Is this how your mother raised you? How dare you speak to…” At this point, as if remembering something, he swallowed the words on the tip of his tongue and said instead, “How dare you speak to me like this?”

“Oh!” Fu Tingyun stood even straighter, her gaze at Master Fu even more piercing. “My mother did teach me to be filial to parents and respect my elder brother. But who are you to me? Why can’t I speak to you this way?”

Master Fu was at a loss for words. Embarrassed and angry, he slapped Fu Tingyun hard across the face.

Caught off guard, everyone in the room froze.

Fu Tingyun’s cheek immediately turned red and swollen.

Fu’s sister-in-law let out a soft “Ah,” covering her mouth and looking at Master Fu in terror.

Yu Wei, crying, hugged Master Fu’s leg: “Master Fu, please, don’t hit the young miss. We truly haven’t done anything to dishonor the Fu family. It was Zuo Junjie, it was all his false accusations against the young miss… You must believe us…”

Master Fu trembled with rage, berating Yu Wei: “Lowly maid, do you have any right to speak here? Such an ignorant creature!”

Fu Tingyun seemed to come to her senses only now.

In all her life, this was the first time she had been slapped.

Touching her red and swollen face, she stared directly at Master Fu with gleaming eyes: “Rules? You dare speak to me of rules?” A cold light flashed in her eyes. “At home, obey the father; when married, obey the husband. Since Elder Sister-in-law entered the Fu family, she became a member of the Fu family, supported by the Fu family, participating in the Fu family’s ancestral ceremonies. As a widow in the household, her maid became pregnant by more than five months, and she, a daughter-in-law of the Fu family, for the sake of the Left family’s lineage, let Zuo Junjie escape, completely disregarding my life and death, abandoning the hundred-year reputation of the Fu family. Yet you all merely gave a cursory reprimand. While I have traveled thousands of miles to find you, hoping you would help clear my name of injustice, you accuse me of impersonating a relative of an official… If this is what you call rules, what the Fu family calls rules, I say, such rules are better discarded!”