Zhang Yang was a poor region with harsh conditions. Even the official residence where Lu Chang lived was quite simple.
Ming Shu’s group arrived unexpectedly, leaving Lu Chang no time to arrange more suitable accommodations for her. He could only clear out a few clerks’ quarters for Zhao Ting Yun and others to stay, and give his own courtyard house to Ming Shu, while he temporarily moved to the administrative hall where he handled official business.
After supervising the storage of grain and silver Ming Shu had brought, and dealing with several official matters, Lu Chang finally hurried back to the courtyard house at nightfall.
Ming Shu was sitting in his room, examining his quarters.
“This place is humble, just bear with it for now.” Lu Chang entered carrying the evening meal, feeling guilty seeing her sitting there alone.
“Bear with what? It’s not like we haven’t lived like this before,” Ming Shu said matter-of-factly, coming forward to take the tray from Lu Chang’s hands. She nodded toward the wooden basin, “Quick, go wash your face.”
Lu Chang recalled their tight finances when traveling from Jiangning to the capital and their early days in the capital when they had to stretch every coin to make ends meet.
In the blink of an eye, more than two years had passed.
“Where’s Come An? Why isn’t he attending to you?” Ming Shu asked while setting out the meal.
He had brought Come An and four attendants with him, but now he seemed to be doing everything himself.
“He’s handling matters for me,” Lu Chang’s voice came from behind the towel as he washed his face. “Zhang Yang is short-staffed, and the yamen has many affairs. I had him fill a vacant position. With the recent famine, things are unstable, so I’ve sent everyone else out as well.”
Ming Shu made a sound of acknowledgment – this was typical of him.
“Is this what you usually eat?” she asked, looking down at the meal.
Lu Chang glanced at the dinner – two plain flatbreads, a large pot of tofu soup, a dish of steamed eggs, and some sauce.
“There’s a famine outside, people are struggling, and the yamen is no exception. You’ve come at a difficult time. We can’t have grand meals anymore, I’m sorry for the poor fare,” Lu Chang explained, his gentle expression showing deepening guilt.
Even these few dishes – the eggs were only added because she had come. When alone, he often made do with just flatbread and sauce.
“I’m not suffering, I just feel for you,” Ming Shu sat with him at the table, tearing the flatbread into pieces and soaking them in the soup. “And you say I came at a bad time – if I had come any later, who knows how bad things might have gotten.”
“That’s true. If not for your arrival, I might not have even kept my official cap,” Lu Chang agreed.
This batch of grain and silver had indeed come at the perfect time, just enough to tide them over until the court’s disaster relief supplies arrived.
“Your words are honeyed now?” Ming Shu smiled sweetly.
The former Lu Chang never spoke like this.
“Would you like a taste?” Lu Chang asked, lowering his eyelids.
Ming Shu blushed and pushed the remaining half of her flatbread to his lips.
“Just eat your meal!”
Lu Chang took the opportunity to bite the bread from her hand and stopped teasing her.
As they ate, they chatted about family matters.
“I went back to Bianjing twice to visit Aunt Zeng. She’s doing well,” she told him, knowing he worried about Madam Zeng, and spoke of affairs in the capital.
“Marrying the Commander of the Imperial Guard must put some pressure on Mother. Is she suffering any grievances?” Lu Chang asked.
If Zhang Yang’s conditions weren’t so harsh, making him unwilling to bring his mother here to suffer, their marriage probably wouldn’t have been arranged so quickly.
Ming Shu shook her head, smiling somewhat mischievously: “With Aunt Zeng’s personality, gentle outside but strong within, Uncle Wei wouldn’t dare upset her. When I visited last time, I happened to catch them quarreling over some small matter. She nearly moved back to the Top Scholar’s Mansion, and it took Uncle Wei endless coaxing to appease her. Don’t worry, the Top Scholar’s Mansion is her backup – she’s not worried about money or power, she can leave whenever she wants. Uncle Wei can’t stop her, especially…” her smile grew more impish, “with your birth father watching like a tiger ready to pounce, hoping they’ll split up so he can take advantage. Uncle Wei is very careful.”
“Oh, right. Uncle Wei adopted two children, orphans of his subordinates, a boy and a girl, both seven or eight years old, very sensible and well-behaved. The boy is called Su Chen, he learns martial arts from Uncle Wei, and the girl is called Lin Zan, being taught by Aunt Zeng. They’re so good,” Ming Shu continued chattering about matters Lu Chang cared about.
Lu Chang nodded: “Mother mentioned these two children in her letters, and praised them greatly.”
“Ah, so we’ve both been forgotten by Mother,” Ming Shu propped her chin in her hand, feigning distress.
“How are you still jealous of Mother?” Lu Chang laughed at her, then suddenly looked at her strangely. “Just now… what did you call my mother?”
What did she call her?
She had called her “Mother.”
Ming Shu clapped her hand over her mouth – she had misspoken.
She had gotten too used to calling her “Mother” that first year, and switching back to “Aunt Zeng” felt awkward.
“I just said it wrong,” Ming Shu chided.
“If it’s wrong, let it be wrong. No need to change it. There’s only a year and a half left anyway,” Lu Chang’s lips curved upward.
His three years of service would end with his return to the capital, coinciding with the end of her mourning period – perfect timing for their wedding.
“A lot can change in a year and a half,” Ming Shu stood and walked behind him. “Perhaps… I’ll still consider you my brother.”
Lu Chang frowned slightly, then suddenly felt a tickle at his ear as her breath brushed past and her lips drew very, very close.
“Brother…” she called softly.
Lu Chang felt half his body go weak at her fairy-like breath, and without thinking pulled her to sit on his lap.
“Call me that again,” he said, uncharacteristically.
“?” Ming Shu had expected him to be angry, not react like this.
Seeing her confused look, he lowered his head: “Calling me brother isn’t so bad. When we’re alone, you can call me whatever you like…”
Her “brother” sounded quite lovely.
But only when she called it for his ears alone.