Wei Zhuo sent someone to drive the three Lu family members home. The carriage atmosphere was heavy.
Madam Zeng was still angry, wearing a rare stern expression. Lu Chang stared out the window, lost in thought. Ming Shu cuddled next to Madam Zeng, apologizing and trying to cheer her up until finally, Madam Zeng’s smile returned, and Ming Shu could relax.
The carriage swayed as it headed toward Shengmin Ward. The April night breeze through the window cleared away the stuffiness. Ming Shu hadn’t slept well during her days at the Wei residence, and the carriage’s rocking soon lulled her to sleep against the wall. She was still asleep when they stopped at the alley entrance, only waking hazily when someone carried her on their back for a few steps.
“Brother?!” Her eyelids were still heavy as she blinked twice, taking in her surroundings and realizing Lu Chang was carrying her on his back toward home, with Madam Zeng walking ahead with a lantern.
Madam Zeng’s lantern stretched their shadows long in the quiet alley where only the three of them walked. Though the night held an eerie quality, Ming Shu felt perfectly safe.
“You can put me down,” she lifted her head from his shoulder.
“It’s just a few more steps home. If you’re tired, keep sleeping,” Lu Chang didn’t turn his head, letting her breath brush past his ear.
Ming Shu obediently lowered her head again, her stuffed nose making her voice sound muffled.
“You’re the Top Scholar now, and you’re still carrying me?”
“What does being Top Scholar have to do with carrying you?” Lu Chang asked.
“The Top Scholar isn’t just anyone – you’ll become a high official, surrounded by attendants. How can you be carrying others?” Ming Shu laughed.
“No matter how high an official I become, I’ll always be your Lu Chang. Is that satisfactory, Lady Ming Shu?” Lu Chang said gently.
He had carried her before when she was very young and still the young lady of the Jian family. She had perched on his back just like this, speaking in that stuffed-up voice while ordering him around: “Lu Chang, carry me home.”
What had he said then?
He seemed to have said – “Yes, Young Lady.”
That title had stayed in his heart ever since that day.
Ming Shu laughed out loud: “Very satisfactory!”
His words were somewhat puzzling to her – why did he say he was her Lu Chang, rather than her brother, her sibling, her family member… But this didn’t diminish her inexplicable joy in that moment, a happiness that seemed to spring from her very heart without reason.
“Brother is so good to me,” she remarked sincerely.
Lu Chang let out an almost inaudible sigh – when would he no longer have to hear the title “Brother”?
He remembered the first time she had fully accepted him and called him “Brother” while embracing him. Back then, he had thought it was the most beautiful sound in the world when she said it. But now, every time she called him that, it was like an arrow – both piercing his heart and mocking him.
And he was powerless to change it.
“Brother, why did you stop talking?” Ming Shu shook him slightly and asked, “What riddles were you and Song Qingzhao speaking in earlier? Why did he tell you he was serious? Serious about what?”
Hearing that name, the warmth in Lu Chang’s heart vanished.
“Can we not talk about him?” He didn’t want to hear anything more about Song Qingzhao today.
“Oh.” Ming Shu tactfully fell silent, but couldn’t help asking after a moment, “But I’m really curious! Brother, what could he possibly be serious about with you? Just tell me!”
“…” Lu Chang remained silent.
Their home was in sight. He set Ming Shu down and pushed her toward the door, saying: “First, he wasn’t being serious with me! Second, this is between him and me, you don’t need to worry about it! Now, go inside!”
Ming Shu was pushed inside, ending the brief conversation about Song Qingzhao.
————
After a simple washing up, Ming Shu couldn’t fight off the waves of drowsiness and fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.
Madam Zeng stood by the door watching for a moment before leaving the room and closing the door behind her. Lu Chang was still standing outside. Seeing this, he asked, “Has she gone to sleep?”
“Yes,” Madam Zeng nodded and spoke softly to her son, “Today, the Prince Consort’s wife asked me about Ming Shu.”
Lu Chang froze.
“Don’t you understand?” Madam Zeng looked at Lu Chang.
As mothers with children of their own, Lady Xu’s inquiries about Ming Shu couldn’t be clearer. If she didn’t have marriage on her mind, why would such a noble lady as the Duke’s daughter-in-law lower herself to ask a commoner about her daughter’s marriage prospects?
Lu Chang couldn’t answer for a moment. Madam Zeng patted his shoulder: “Actually, many people have been asking about Ming Shu lately. I’ve already turned away several inquiries. After tomorrow’s imperial announcement, there will be even more people asking about Ming Shu, but neither you nor I have the right to decide her marriage. I won’t agree to any family’s proposal unless… she agrees to marry.”
Lu Chang was her son; she knew what was in his heart. Though Ming Shu had only lived with them for half a year, she was a child Madam Zeng had watched grow up and treated as her daughter. Both were dear to her, and she didn’t want to see either hurt, but the current situation had become like riding a tiger – not something they could untangle just because they wanted to.
“I know. No one will force Ming Shu, nor… interfere with her choices,” Lu Chang said, clenching his fist.
When he had made that decision back then, there had been no turning back.
Family background, status, scholarship… all were meaningless. The biggest difference between him and Song Qingzhao was that Song Qingzhao could openly acknowledge his feelings, while he could not. The right to choose lay in Ming Shu’s hands – whoever she gave her heart to was what mattered most.
From these two perspectives, his chances as her brother were pitifully low.
Because Ming Shu could never fall in love with her brother.
Never.
————
Ming Shu dreamed again.
In her dream, there were still brilliant lights, and a youth in blue standing in their midst, reaching out to her with an indistinct face.
She tried hard to get closer, tried hard to reach his hand, but always fell just short, their fingertips touching but unable to move half an inch closer.
Ming Shu was frustrated. She wanted to scold him.
Making things so mysterious! Playing tricks!
But she couldn’t make a sound. She could only watch as the youth slowly retreated into the brilliant lights, his figure gradually blurring. She found strength from somewhere unknown and suddenly broke free from the dream’s constraints, leaping forward until their touching fingertips became intertwined fingers.
But a murky fog rolled in, suddenly engulfing them both. She fell into darkness, unable to find her direction.
In the pitch blackness, the clash of metal rang out, accompanied by countless footsteps, hurried and urgent, following close behind her. She suddenly felt afraid and lost, instinctively wanting to flee, but could only fumble anxiously toward the unknown darkness that seemed like an abyss.
The darkness seemed endless, but the sound of pursuers seemed to draw ever closer as if they would catch her at any moment. She ran for her life but still couldn’t outrun those sounds. Soon, the chaotic noise was right at her heels, gradually surrounding her. She couldn’t escape and felt she would probably die in this darkness the next moment.
Unexpectedly, a hand reached out from the darkness firmly grasped her hand, and pulled her out with one strong motion.
Daylight burst forth, the dazzling sunlight blinding her eyes.
“Don’t be afraid, I’m here.”
She heard the voice of the hand’s owner, deep and powerful.
She looked up. The person’s face… was still indistinct, but the blue clothes had changed to crimson.
The dream suddenly ended.
She sat up in bed, holding her pounding heart, pondering the meaning of this dream.
Who was the youth in her dream?
It must be someone she knew.
And among the men she knew, the only one who had changed from blue clothes to crimson seemed to be…
Song Qingzhao.
————
After such a long and inconclusive dream, Ming Shu felt dizzy and uncomfortable. A vein throbbed painfully in her forehead, her nose was congested, her throat stung, and her joints were stiff.
It was already late in the morning, and the room was empty – Madam Zeng must have risen early. Ming Shu slowly got up, feeling that nothing about her body felt right. After washing and changing, she made her way downstairs while holding onto the wall, lacking energy. The main hall of the Lu family’s rented house had been freshly arranged, with dried fruits, snacks, and tea laid out on the table. Madam Zeng sat in the center wearing new clothes, with Lu Chang seated below her.
Just as Ming Shu was about to speak, the sound of suona horns filled the street. Nearby residents ran out of their homes, following the sound and gathering outside their doors. Madam Zeng and Lu Chang had already stood up, and soon officials from the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Personnel appeared at the door.
Ming Shu remembered – her brother had become the Top Scholar, achieving all three levels of success. The court was officially sending people to announce the news.
Along with the officials came an imperial edict, a golden-flowered black gauze cap, and the Top Scholar’s crimson robe. Everyone knelt to receive the edict. Ming Shu came downstairs and knelt behind her mother and brother, watching Lu Chang receive the imperial edict.
From that moment on, her brother was truly and officially the Top Scholar.
For some reason, Ming Shu’s eyes stung with tears, as if she had shared his decade of hard study waiting for this moment of glory.
After receiving the edict, Ming Shu and Lu Chang helped Madam Zeng up to accept the flood of congratulations. After countless expressions of gratitude, countless cups of tea, and several large pots of water boiled, Ming Shu helped Madam Zeng receive the guests. She was so busy her body felt disconnected from herself. Only after finally seeing off the morning’s wave of well-wishers could she escape to rest in the kitchen.
Lu Chang had been busy entertaining visiting officials and congratulating classmates, and only now had time to find Ming Shu in the kitchen. He found her sitting on a small stool by the stove, breathing heavily as she leaned against the wall.
“Ming Shu?” Lu Chang immediately sensed something wrong, rushed to her side, and crouched down, raising his hand to feel her forehead.
Ming Shu’s forehead was burning hot, her face flushed red with fever. Hearing Lu Chang’s call, she could only make two unclear sounds: “Brother, let me rest a while.”
“Ming Shu…” Lu Chang grew anxious and, forgetting everything else picked her up around the waist.
Outside, Madam Zeng was receiving runners who had just arrived from the magistrate’s office.
“Please wait a moment while I call them,” Madam Zeng said gently, walking to the kitchen. “Lu Chang, Ming Shu, Constable Ying, and the others have some questions about the Wei family matter…” Before she could finish, Lu Chang rushed out of the kitchen carrying Ming Shu. She immediately changed her words, “What happened? What’s wrong with Ming Shu?”
Ying Xun stood at the door and furrowed his brow as he saw Ming Shu in Lu Chang’s arms.