Their gazes met, both experiencing a moment of stunned silence.

Seventh Miss bit her lip and swallowed the choking sensation in her throat before gracefully curtsying. “Uncle Lian.”

Eunuch Lian waved his hand dismissively, paced to Seventh Miss’s side, and together they admired these magnificent embroidered works.

“This embroidered screen was your father’s gift to celebrate the Late Emperor’s fortieth birthday.” His voice ultimately carried a trace of the eunuch’s characteristic sharp thinness. “During the Late Emperor’s lifetime, on every birthday, he would certainly take it out to personally admire. After the dragon chariot ascended to heaven, I expended considerable effort to procure it from the inner treasury—it’s been in my possession barely three years.”

Eunuchs were impoverished, and those with clean hands weren’t many. But even when stealing, they chose small items easy to dispose of. Such ostentatious large pieces—probably only a capable grand eunuch like Eunuch Lian could manage to procure them for private collection.

Seventh Miss then paced to the partition wall, examining the embroidered works one by one. Sure enough, all were Ninth Concubine’s handiwork. Though the relief embroidery technique was later acquired by Qianxiu Workshop, there remained obvious differences from pieces Ninth Concubine had personally embroidered. For someone like Seventh Miss who had attended Ninth Concubine closely and received some of her true teachings, naturally she could distinguish them at a glance.

Just in this one room, the embroidered works large and small numbered no less than a hundred pieces.

Seventh Miss only felt the choking in her throat and the weight in her chest intensify with each glance. Looking at this room was like looking at Ninth Concubine’s entire life. Though she’d been buried many years, in this room, among all her life’s works, that girl rarely seen by others—who had absolute confidence in her skills, who harbored infinite hope and plans—seemed to live again, smiling gracefully at every visitor from behind these exquisite works.

She quickly paced back before the golden dragon breaking through the sea great screen, her breathing already somewhat disordered.

“This was the last large piece she embroidered in Suzhou.” Seventh Miss stared at the goose-yellow brocade before her, speaking hoarsely. “Not long after, she became pregnant… then went to the Northwest.”

All the embroidered works in this room were created by Ninth Concubine before childbirth. That was the most beautiful time of her life. Precisely because of this, emerging from behind every needle and thread was a happy girl, even a happy young wife…

Yet what Seventh Miss was familiar with was a failure already crushed by life.

She never knew that reminiscing about Ninth Concubine’s former sweetness would make her heart so bitter.

Eunuch Lian sighed softly.

“Your mother’s works from the Northwest were merely sold at ordinary handkerchief prices. Those who acquired them didn’t particularly treasure them. These years I’ve deliberately searched—obtained very few… For some reason, I’m also very unwilling to display them here.”

This middle-aged man’s tone gained several parts bitterness. “After all, I’m getting old. Though great wrongs have already been committed, when looking back, I still prefer remembering her at her best.”

For the first time, Seventh Miss turned her head, looking directly into Eunuch Lian’s eyes.

Eunuch Lian was also looking at her, but his gaze was vacant. He seemed to want to look through Seventh Miss’s face to pursue another person no longer in this world. The grief in these eyes was so concentrated it could no longer dissolve.

Seventh Miss suddenly felt somewhat suffocated.

“Uncle summoned me.” She abruptly turned around, not daring to look at those exquisite handicrafts anymore. “Surely not just to show me these…”

She gestured wildly toward this roomful of vivid memories. “These scars from the past.”

Eunuch Lian’s gaze still didn’t relax. However, Seventh Miss herself knew she resembled neither Ninth Concubine nor First Master. In the Northwest, Ninth Concubine often said—

“Only your eyes resemble mine!” Ninth Concubine’s manner was happy, her handwork unceasing, yet her face rarely showed a smile. “From childhood my eyes were bright. If not for doing too much embroidery these years—the eye moisture dried up and the brightness turned cloudy. Otherwise, they’d also be watery. People said they were like two pools of Luyu Well water!”

“Only your eyes resemble hers.” Eunuch Lian extended his hand, but his fingers didn’t touch Seventh Miss’s cheek before lowering again. He stepped back several paces, as if this uncompleted touch had already scalded his fingertips. “Like well water… clear and rippling…”

His voice already carried a trace of trembling. “Only after so many years do I realize how ignorant youth was.”

This refined middle-aged man took a deep breath, seeming to calm down again. He turned around, standing before the partition, gently touching the smooth glass before asking Seventh Miss in a low voice, “Where is your mother buried?”

“In the ancestral cemetery of Yang Family Village in the Northwest, there’s a place for her.” Seventh Miss lowered her eyes, also quietly steadying her breathing.

Just observing Eunuch Lian’s behavior showed that regarding Ninth Concubine, he probably still couldn’t forget his feelings.

Such deep affection—yet why did it end this way?

She desperately wanted to know. She very much wanted to know the details of Ninth Concubine’s affair back then. Since obtaining the so-called ‘truth’ from Nanny Liang, Seventh Miss wished she could travel through time back then to personally experience Ninth Concubine’s life once over, to judge right from wrong.

She once thought Grand Madam was the chief culprit who destroyed Ninth Concubine’s life, so revenge was merely a simple matter. All her grief could find an outlet for venting on Grand Madam. She’d considered so many methods of revenge against her—some requiring decades, while others would even appear in the guise of repaying kindness.

However, the moment she heard the ‘truth,’ Seventh Miss was shocked to realize how skilled she was at self-deception.

First Master, Eunuch Lian, Embroiderer Huang, Master Feng—did these people also bear responsibility for Ninth Concubine’s life tragedy? And who was she to decide on Ninth Concubine’s behalf who was right and wrong, who should bear revenge, who could escape beyond her vengeance? Her certainty that Grand Madam was the chief culprit—was it merely because among all these people, Grand Madam was the weakest one, the one within range of her abilities?

But how should she pursue the truth?

Seventh Miss took a deep breath. She raised her eyes, directly meeting Eunuch Lian’s gaze, adjusting her state, trying to elevate her bearing as much as possible.

This elder worked beside the empire’s most powerful man. Though his attitude was mild, he always had an indescribable aura that made people cautious in his presence.

Yet Seventh Miss merely looked directly into his eyes. She slowly asked, “Uncle Lian, what exactly happened back then? I… very much want to know.”

Eunuch Lian’s pupils constricted. He suddenly awakened from his immersion in thoughts of Ninth Concubine, looking toward Seventh Miss sharply and coldly.

This question from Seventh Miss had actually violated the unwritten rules of social settings. Eunuchs’ castration was also called “leaving the household”—matters before leaving the household were theoretically never discussed in the person’s presence. After all, if there were another path to take, who would willingly wield the knife for self-castration? Eunuch Lian himself could reminisce, but Seventh Miss asking about the past could be said to have touched the most painful scar in his heart.

In this moment, Eunuch Lian was no longer that mild middle-aged man. As his expression turned cold, he invisibly possessed an oppressive aura. Even when First Master was angry, he probably was only this frightening.

Yet Seventh Miss remained unmoved, merely steadily meeting Eunuch Lian’s gaze. No matter that those water-clear pupils reflected Eunuch Lian’s angry expression, she remained still as calm water.

Eunuch Lian suddenly deflated like a punctured ball, softening.

He first averted his gaze, as if admitting his defeat, turned his back, paced to the corner again, meticulously appreciating the silver thread random stitch flower, bird, and figure embroidery there.

“The story from back then is actually quite simple to tell.” The sharp tone in his words seemed to stem from a eunuch’s physiological structure, and also seemed to stem from his own agitated emotions. “Nothing more than an ignorant youth named Zheng Lianji who, after committing every heartless and faithless deed, died cleanly. The one who lived on was the nameless Eunuch Lian.”

Seventh Miss maintained silence. She didn’t move, merely quietly facing Eunuch Lian’s back amid this roomful of splendid embroidery.

“Your mother and I grew up together from childhood. The Zheng and Feng families were also distantly related, living nearby. From youth to adulthood, I frequently visited the Feng household. Initially just because I got along well with your eldest uncle. Later, your mother was also eleven or twelve years old, growing quite beautiful… The two families’ circumstances didn’t differ much. When your mother turned thirteen, I asked someone to propose marriage on my behalf.”

The story’s beginning was naturally ordinary. Eunuch Lian took a deep breath, his tone slightly fragmented, then continued.

“But your mother had learned relief embroidery—that was the Feng family’s unique skill. Your maternal grandfather had already died, your maternal grandmother was also sickly, the family fortune had declined. They relied entirely on your aunt being good at household management and your mother finding ways to supplement the family income to continue year by year. Your eldest uncle intended to keep your mother a few more years before finding her a good family to marry into. With her skills, ordinary families would compete to propose marriage.”

“When I came to propose, your mother herself agreed, but your eldest uncle thought the Zheng family too poor. In the future after your mother married in, she’d probably take the relief embroidery technique away… So he demanded one thousand taels in betrothal gifts, wanting me to retreat in the face of difficulty.”

“If she were an ordinary woman, she’d probably have resigned herself to fate. But Feng Hong’s character was strong-willed from childhood. This time was no exception. That night she brought her sister-in-law as chaperone and secretly entered my home through the back door, asking how much silver the betrothal gifts still lacked—she’d find a way to make up the difference.”

Eunuch Lian’s tone became distant, infinite bitterness tinged with scattered bits of sweetness.

“Though I was both shocked and delighted, even emptying the family’s everything, we could only produce three hundred taels. It happened that a fellow townsman invited me to trade silk fabrics in the capital. Seventh Miss may not know—even now, the silk fabric business has great profit. Sometimes if you choose patterns cleverly, making double the profit on one trip isn’t anything rare. Your mother herself took out two hundred taels as capital, having me take these five hundred taels to purchase fabric in Suzhou to sell in the capital. Going back and forth two or three trips, the thousand-tael betrothal gift would materialize.”

“At the time I was too young, never asked where this silver came from. I happily accepted it, promised her I’d definitely return soon… then accompanied several fellow townsmen, setting out together toward the capital…” Eunuch Lian’s voice gradually turned bitter. “Along the way there wasn’t really any major incident, just that among our companions was an attendant to Suzhou’s local magistrate, who relied on his master’s status to act tyrannically. A rice merchant couldn’t stand it—the two frequently quarreled.”

“Upon reaching Tongzhou, that night the two quarreled again. The attendant in rage, right before us several people, drew his knife and stabbed the rice merchant to death—this was a murder case requiring going to court, wasn’t it? It happened that the Tongzhou magistrate and that Suzhou official were examination classmates… The several merchants traveling together were all worldly-wise types. They colluded to grease palms up and down, bought testimony, and several people actually framed me, saying I sowed discord, instigating that attendant to kill, while the attendant himself was merely young and impulsive.”

Eunuch Lian paused, then laughed self-deprecatingly.

“Fortunately I still had some silver on me, and two honest elders refused to collude. Muddled through and was released. But already registered as a criminal—whenever the authorities felt like re-trying the case would be when I’d go back to prison.”

He turned around, pulling up his sleeve to show Seventh Miss. “These three fingernails on my left hand were pulled out in prison—they’ll never grow back in this lifetime.”

“After this undeserved disaster, the five hundred taels on me scattered completely. Not daring to linger in Tongzhou, even less having the face—or the money to return to Suzhou. In desperate confusion, I could only enter the capital to find work. Usually living frugally, hawking goods everywhere to sell. Two or three years later, I’d actually accumulated some silver, had the travel expenses to return to Suzhou.”

“By then I was growing older, understanding much about worldly affairs. Already knowing the two hundred taels your mother produced must have been the Feng family’s own private savings. With Master Feng’s miserly nature, how could he let it go? Therefore my heart was anxious to return and accept punishment. So I resigned my position, hiding and dodging back to Suzhou.” Eunuch Lian sighed. “Sure enough, I heard that when the Feng family urgently needed money, they actually couldn’t produce it. Both sister-in-law and your mother suffered some harsh criticism. Your mother couldn’t swallow this grievance and entered the embroidery workshop to work. Through intermediaries, I met her once more. At that time she was sixteen or seventeen… precisely your current age.”

His voice grew distant.

“When I explained the circumstances, unexpectedly she not only didn’t blame me, but comforted me saying the silver had already been repaid, telling me not to worry. Instead she asked if my livelihood was settled. In this lifetime I’ve lived a difficult path with family affairs scattered—only your mother treated me so wholeheartedly. At that time I secretly resolved in my heart that as long as I had breath, I definitely wouldn’t betray your mother’s deep affection. I said I had some silver, planned to hire someone to clear my criminal record, open a small shop outside the city—my life would have security. Just that thousand-tael betrothal gift, I couldn’t afford.”

“Your mother didn’t care at all. She said she’d been too foolish before—the thousand-tael betrothal gift didn’t matter, she’d even elope and follow me willingly. Asked if I was willing to wait for her a few years, until she completed her contract with the embroidery workshop, then come out to marry… I was so delighted—how could I possibly be unwilling?” Eunuch Lian suddenly turned around again, breathing rapid and broken. “That half year was the happiest time of my entire life. I could see her once a month. Her close companions said she was accumulating a dowry. I also lived frugally in private, thinking if I saved now, future days would be better.”

“But I never imagined, I still don’t understand to this day, how fate could be so cruel. After barely half a year, one day the rice merchant’s family suddenly came to find me, insisting I’d used silver to escape punishment, demanding I pay with my life for the dead. At that time the magistrate was still in office—if I accused his household, I’d probably die. Thinking back and forth, I could only avoid the storm first. Before leaving I went to see your mother. She forcibly pressed five hundred taels into my hands, telling me to carry it for protection…”

Eunuch Lian laughed dryly. “Seventh Miss, look how good her heart was. With this departure, who knew when I’d return, yet she didn’t care—only wanted me to carry it on my person.”

His voice dropped. “That was my second mistake. Again I didn’t ask where this silver came from. I accepted it. I asked her to leave with me, but she said the Yang family’s power was great—if she fled, they’d surely send people to pursue.”

“It was just that coincidental—this matter actually reached that attendant’s ears. His fear of the matter being exposed probably exceeded even mine. In a few words, the authorities also issued documents to pursue me. I was forced into desperate straits, displaced and wandering for over a year. Again finding ways to return to Suzhou, thinking your mother had probably already completed her contract and left Qianxiu Workshop…”

Eunuch Lian suddenly cut off his narrative, no longer continuing.

The subsequent story, Seventh Miss could probably also imagine: At that time was precisely Ninth Concubine’s most popular period. The red concubine of Jiangsu Provincial Administration Commissioner’s household versus a fugitive’s wife—seemingly any clear-eyed person would know how to choose.

“That attendant…” she softly changed the subject.

Eunuch Lian turned around, smiling slightly.

“You also lived in Suzhou, Seventh Miss.”

Seventh Miss suddenly fell silent as a cicada in winter.

How had she forgotten this matter?

In the late Zhaoming years, Suzhou Magistrate Cheng’s family was first exposed for embezzlement. Imperial will hadn’t yet ruled when First Master had even chatted idly with Seventh Miss about “not knowing who above wants to target Cheng Yu.” Immediately after, the entire Cheng household—over a hundred people old and young including servants and maids—died overnight in Suzhou, a famous major unsolved case in Suzhou. She’d even met the Cheng family’s two young misses, sighing with Fifth Miss and Sixth Miss for several days.

“A gentleman’s revenge—ten years not too late.” Eunuch Lian seemed to again become that naturally authoritative person in power. He clasped his hands behind his back, taking a deep breath. “Repaying kindness is no different. I always thought your mother’s days in the Yang household were quite good… Never imagined hearing Zixiu mention that these years, the only one attending her left and right was you, her biological daughter. I suppose the deep kindness she showed me, I can only repay upon you. Whatever concerns Seventh Miss has, just tell me. Wherever Lian can be useful, whether as vanguard or rear guard, I absolutely won’t decline!”

Seventh Miss looked deeply at Eunuch Lian.

This middle-aged man’s facial expression was indeed sincere. His gaze toward Seventh Miss again held some distant confusion, seemingly wanting to look through her face to seek that person beyond.

She took a breath, exhaling all her disordered emotions.

“Uncle Lian’s goodwill, Xiao Qi acknowledges with gratitude.” She stepped forward several paces, looking sincerely toward Eunuch Lian. “But your desire to repay kindness is your regret. Xiao Qi has no status whatsoever to accept your goodwill. The rights and wrongs of those years have already been deeply buried underground with Mother’s death. No matter how good you are to me, I cannot repay it.”

She paused, then continued before Eunuch Lian could speak. “Or perhaps you hope I can represent Mother in forgiving, in pardoning something. But some regrets—no matter how much you want to remedy them, cannot be remedied… Mother never spoke to me of your matters. I also don’t know whether her heart still held resentment, or merely hoped more that you could live in this world, or had long forgotten past events. After all, matters between men and women are not for outsiders to arbitrarily judge.”

“This embroidered handkerchief was dowry Mother embroidered for herself before death. After passing through several hands, it returned to my side. Now transferring it to you can be considered sending a part of her spirit and essence to marry to your side.”

She reached into her garment, drawing out this yellowed embroidered piece prepared long ago. Stepping forward several paces, she gently pressed it into Eunuch Lian’s hands.

Eunuch Lian’s expression was wooden, seemingly having no reaction to Seventh Miss’s every movement, only immersed in his own world. This handkerchief barely lingered in his palm momentarily before, because the owner hadn’t grasped it tightly, it slipped down from between his fingers.

As silk satin fluttered and flew, that pair of vivid mandarin ducks seemed to also come alive, gracefully dancing in the air for a short stretch, ultimately falling again to the dust.

Seventh Miss sighed, shook her head again, swept one more glance at that bright yellow great screen, then quickly averted her gaze. Turning around, she quickly strode out of this suffocating room, shutting a segment of the past behind her.

Just emerging from the door, she swept a surprised glance at the base of the steps.

“Cousin Zixiu?”

The brocade-robed young man had been bending to closely examine a blooming clivia. Hearing Seventh Miss’s voice, he raised his head and smiled at her.

“I came to receive you.”