Mei Zhu Yu looked at Wu Zhen and said, “They invited me here with good intentions, but I made everyone unhappy.”
Wu Zhen chuckled, folding her arms and asking with interest, “You probably don’t like this kind of occasion. Why did you agree to come? Don’t tell me Mei Si forced you to come?” It must have been that, after all, they were cousins, and it would be awkward to refuse.
Unexpectedly, Mei Zhu Yu turned his head away and said, “I wanted to see what kind of place you like. Besides, we… will be husband and wife in the future. Since you like it, I’ll get used to it.”
“And drinking too. I heard you like to drink, but I’ve never drunk before. I’ll get used to that as well in the future.”
Wu Zhen stopped smiling, unable to smile anymore. She even unconsciously frowned a little. She hadn’t thought much about agreeing to this marriage. By not thinking much, it meant she didn’t care much either. If the marriage happened, so be it; if it didn’t work out, they would separate. It wasn’t a big deal. As for how they should get along in the future, she hadn’t thought about it and didn’t pay much attention to it. People often said they definitely wouldn’t last long, that they weren’t suitable for each other. Wu Zhen never responded, but she might have had similar thoughts.
She wasn’t familiar with Mei Zhu Yu, having only met him a few times. Her understanding of him was superficial, only knowing that he might have harbored some affection for her for a while and that it was comfortable to be around him. But she didn’t know much else.
She thought Mei Zhu Yu would be the kind of stubborn, self-centered man, somewhat like Imperial Censor Liu, with a bit of pride in his bones. Such men were unlikely to change their thoughts and actions for others. Moreover, based on her first impression of Mei Zhu Yu, he couldn’t possibly like the fine wines, beautiful women, dances, and banquets that she enjoyed. But now, this young master was seriously saying he would get used to it, would accept it.
If a person is willing to try to accept things they don’t like for another person, it means, at the very least, that they care. Wu Zhen had always been helpless against earnest people, let alone an earnest person who cared for her. She suddenly felt that perhaps this young master liked her even more than she had thought.
This kind of careful consideration made her feel a bit uncomfortable, feeling that she might have been too disrespectful of his sincerity. She was a bit older than the young master, and after the marriage was arranged, she thought she would just treat him like a younger brother. But at this moment, she realized that he couldn’t be treated as a younger brother. This young master wanted to stay with her for a longer time, possibly aiming for a lifetime.
Wu Zhen didn’t dare to think about it. It seemed too ethereal, making her feel uncertain.
Wu Zhen’s silence made Mei Zhu Yu misunderstand something, and his eyes dimmed, no longer speaking. Wu Zhen keenly noticed this, cleared her throat, and said, “The wine you drank earlier is called Amber Light. It’s easy to get drunk on. Next time, I’ll send you some sweet rice wine and some sweeter frozen spring wine. You should still drink, after all…”
Wu Zhen looked at him openly and smiled, “At our wedding banquet two months from now, you’ll have to drink quite a bit. It’s good to get used to it in advance.”
Mei Zhu Yu was stunned, his eyes slowly brightening again.
Seeing this, Wu Zhen inwardly sighed in relief and continued casually, swinging her horsewhip, “Actually, you don’t need to play with Mei Si and the others. They’re all my younger brothers, but you’re not. Aren’t you my husband? In the future, just accompany me when I go out to have fun. I know quite a few fun places. If you want to go, I’ll take you there personally in the future.”
“It doesn’t make sense for a married couple to go out with a bunch of troublemakers following behind, don’t you think?”
Wu Zhen didn’t know how these comforting words came out of her mouth, but after saying them, she didn’t regret it and was even looking forward to it. Perhaps it was because the young master’s earlier sad emotions were too obvious. She was a bit afraid of this man who was cold and determined in front of others becoming so unsettled just because of a few words from her.
After she finished speaking, she waited for Mei Zhu Yu to say ‘yes’, but after waiting for a long time, all she got was a slightly confused “Ah?” with a questioning tone.
Mei Zhu Yu suddenly asked her softly, “Have you agreed to this marriage?”
Wu Zhen: “If I hadn’t agreed, how would our marriage have been arranged?”
Wu Zhen: “Young Master Mei, you should know that in this world, the person who can force me probably hasn’t been born yet. Our marriage is something I agreed to. I thought sending you those wild geese had already shown my attitude.”
Mei Zhu Yu took a deep breath, looking as if he was trying hard to control himself, but Wu Zhen, who had been watching him closely, still saw the smile that appeared on his face.
Wu Zhen hadn’t expected that the ordinary-looking young master could be so eye-catching when he smiled. That kind of joy from the bottom of his heart dispersed the original coldness on his face as if this big person had suddenly bloomed.
Unfortunately, the smile was too brief. As soon as the young master realized she was staring at him, he immediately restrained himself, putting on a mature and calm appearance again.
The two had already walked to the front of Mei Zhu Yu’s residence. Wu Zhen, seeing that the young master had calmed down, suddenly said, “There’s one thing I’ve always forgotten to say.”
Mei Zhu Yu: “What?”
Wu Zhen smiled, leaned close to his chest, and looked up to say softly, “Young Master, I like your name. It sounds nice.”
…
The old servant in Mei Zhu Yu’s residence noticed that his young master was copying that scripture again, this time even burning incense for concentration.
“Young Master, it’s so late. Aren’t you going to rest?”
Mei Zhu Yu responded with a sound, put down his brush, and stared at the character ‘Zhen’ he had inexplicably written next to the Qing Jing Jing. He thought he understood why his fellow Taoists at the temple all said one shouldn’t get close to women. Because when you get close, your heart can’t be still, and if so, what’s the point of cultivating the Tao?
At this moment, he recalled how she had leaned close today, her voice filled with laughter, looking straight at him, and his heart was still racing. He had completely forgotten the Qing Jing Jing he had read since childhood. He kept repeating the words ‘Qing Jing’ (clear and still) in his mind, but couldn’t achieve clarity or stillness at all. He couldn’t even remember what the first sentence of the Qing Jing Jing was, only seeing the joyful light in those eyes.
When she smiled like that, she was really beautiful, making it impossible to look away, just like when he first saw her.
…
Zhao Song Yan, Young Master Zhao, returned home with a deeply troubled expression. Seeing him so gloomy, his parents worriedly asked what had happened. Zhao Song Yan brushed them off with a few words, didn’t eat much dinner, and went to lie down in his room.
Today, they had invited the Mei family’s eldest son to the pleasure house, and he had lost his temper and said some unpleasant things, making the situation awkward. It was bad enough that the others blamed him, but later when Sister Zhen returned, she called him aside and told him to go apologize to the Mei family’s eldest son tomorrow.
Zhao Song Yan greatly respected Sister Zhen, but he was very reluctant to apologize. He already disliked the Mei family’s eldest son, and now seeing Sister Zhen protecting him so much, he disliked him even more. Sister Zhen, who had always been with them, might be taken away by a man this time, and it felt terrible.
Unlike Mei Si and Cui Jiu, who had grown up following Wu Zhen since childhood, Zhao Song Yan had lived with his parents in Xunzhou in his early years and only came to know Wu Zhen when he returned to Chang’an at the age of thirteen. Because he had been sickly since childhood, his temper was particularly bad. When he first came to Chang’an, he had a tough time and was bullied many times.
Later, when he met Wu Zhen, although she was a woman, she wasn’t shy and docile like most women Zhao Song Yan had seen before. Wu Zhen would do whatever she wanted to do, never caring about others’ opinions. Zhao Song Yan envied that kind of freedom and casual attitude.
After that, Wu Zhen took him along to play, taught him horse riding and hunting, taught him to play ball, and took their group of boys up mountains and down rivers, and somehow his illness gradually improved.
Zhao Song Yan had long regarded Wu Zhen as his sister. He couldn’t understand why the others could easily accept that their Sister Zhen was going to get married. He couldn’t accept it; he just wanted things to stay the same as they were now.
However, no matter how much rejection and unwillingness he had in his heart, with one word from Sister Zhen, he had to lower his head.
Sister Zhen said, “Go apologies to him, otherwise I’ll have a headache.”
Zhao Song Yan saw Sister Zhen’s expression and suddenly realized that Sister Zhen seemed to be quite like the Mei family’s eldest son. Because she had had several fiancés before, but had never cared this much. This one was different.
Realizing this, Zhao Song Yan’s mood became low and melancholic. This mood persisted all night, and he couldn’t shake it off. From noon when he left home leading his horse, Zhao Song Yan had been hesitating and wandering near the imperial city. The Mei family’s eldest son worked in the Ministry of Justice, and today he had to go to the office to work, only returning in the afternoon. Zhao Song Yan was waiting here to apologize to him.
After waiting so long for the person to come out, Zhao Song Yan didn’t want to approach anymore. He unhappily followed behind Mei Zhu Yu, thinking he could delay as long as possible. Who knew that this delay would lead to a problem?
Just as Mei Zhu Yu was passing through the East Market, Zhao Song Yan saw Lü Zhi. This Lü Zhi had once been engaged to their Sister Zhen, and later because of Miss Hu Zhu, they had even fought. All of them who played with Sister Zhen greatly disliked this Young Master Lü who always caused trouble for Sister Zhen.
Zhao Song Yan saw with his own eyes that Lü Zhi had brought two big and strong servants, following Mei Zhu Yu with ill intentions. Then, when they passed a less crowded alley, Lü Zhi hid to one side and had the two servants block Mei Zhu Yu into the alley.
Watching this scene from afar, Zhao Song Yan immediately understood. Lü Zhi must have come for revenge. This dog had been repeatedly defeated by Sister Zhen over the years, never gaining any advantage. Now that he found he couldn’t beat Sister Zhen, he wanted to bully Sister Zhen’s person to vent his anger.
“Damn it!” Zhao Song Yan didn’t like the Mei family’s eldest son, but no matter what, he was Sister Zhen’s person. How could he be bullied by that dog Lü Zhi? Without thinking, Zhao Song Yan ran towards the alley.
He had thought that given the Mei family’s eldest son’s inexperienced appearance, he would be pinned down and beaten in no time. Who knew that when he rushed to the entrance of the alley, he was shocked to find that the Mei family’s eldest son, who he had imagined should be lying on the ground wailing, was standing perfectly fine. Instead, one of the strong servants was already down, and the other was being pressed against the wall by the back of his head by the Mei family’s eldest son.
Zhao Song Yan saw that when the cold and displeased young master looked up at him, his face was splattered with bright red blood.
Zhao Song Yan steadied himself against the wall, a stupid thought popping into his head – “Did the Mei family’s eldest son kill someone here? If it’s discovered, he’ll be arrested. If he’s arrested, how will he explain to Sister Zhen? No, we need to quickly help dispose of the body and destroy the evidence.”