After Ming Huazhang left, Ming Huashang fell asleep quickly. Her body was utterly exhausted, and she slept deeply — in the end, she was woken by hunger.
Ming Huashang lay curled in her blankets, torn between going back to sleep and getting up to find something to eat. Ming Huazhang’s medicinal oil seemed to have taken effect; her legs ached and tingled, and being asked to go out in such a state was nothing short of torture.
While she was battling with herself, there came a knock at her door. The visitor banged loudly, their voice carrying not the slightest concern for waking her: “Ming Huashang, are you in there?”
Before the words were fully out, there came a pained yelp, followed by a young woman’s voice: “Keep it down — she might be sleeping.”
“It’s already the Hour of the Rooster and she’s still in bed. Is she a pig?”
It seemed they were about to start quarreling again outside. Ming Huashang sighed. Well, she was fully awake now. She got up, dressed, and called out: “Just a moment, coming right away.”
The bickering outside fell abruptly silent. Ming Huashang opened the door and saw two familiar faces. “You’re awake. Are you alright?”
Ming Huashang shook her head. She noticed they were carrying food boxes and said with a surprised smile: “How did you two end up here?”
“Oh, we were afraid you were dead.” Jiang Ling held up the food box in his hand and said, “The tomboy insisted on bringing you food, but after she brought it she didn’t want to carry it herself, so she made me hold it.”
Ren Yao was mortified. She twisted the skin on Jiang Ling’s back hard: “Shut your mouth!”
Ming Huashang laughed. She knew this was Ren Yao and Jiang Ling’s awkward way of showing they cared. Young people were always too proud to speak their true feelings plainly — they had to dress kindness up as disdain and mockery. Ming Huashang stepped back and said with a smile: “It’s my own fault — I pushed myself so hard I nearly fainted during the run. I didn’t expect you two to still be thinking of me. Thank you. Come in, sit down.”
Ren Yao and Jiang Ling came inside. Ren Yao asked: “How are you feeling?”
“I’m fine. One good sleep and I’m right as rain.” Ming Huashang poured them water and said, “I just woke up, so there’s no hot tea — forgive me for the poor hospitality.”
“We just ate. Don’t fuss.” Jiang Ling set the food box on the table and said casually, “The dishes are still hot — eat while you can.”
When Ming Huashang had been investigating the Kui Family puppet case, she had often shared meals with Jiang Ling and Ren Yao. She felt no awkwardness now, sitting down and taking out her bowl and chopsticks while asking: “Why did you come? What did they teach in class this afternoon?”
At that, Jiang Ling had plenty to say. He launched into a lengthy complaint: “The tutor said he was teaching coded language, and I thought it would be something mysterious, but it turned out to be nothing but rote memorization.”
Ming Huashang took a bite of flatbread and, with her chopsticks still between her lips, asked: “Like what?”
Ren Yao explained: “Don’t listen to him — he just didn’t understand it himself. The tutor taught how to pass messages. The Xuan Xiaowei have special jargon and signals, and when speaking isn’t possible, messages must be conveyed through sound. Different lengths and frequencies of sound represent different meanings, and combined together they form a sentence. The tutor wants us to memorize all the codes by heart — there’s a test tomorrow.”
“Oh,” Ming Huashang said. “Then I’m done for.”
“It’s simpler than it sounds, actually.” Ren Yao curled her knuckles and tapped a sequence on the table’s surface. “Like this one is for time, and this one is for direction.”
“You tapped that wrong,” Jiang Ling said, looking at her with contempt. “You can’t even get the simplest time signal right. Is your head full of water?”
Ren Yao slammed her fist on the table, eyes wide: “What did you just say?”
Ming Huashang immediately grabbed her rice bowl and said gleefully: “That one I understood — Elder Sister Ren is about to hit you.”
“She wouldn’t dare! Hey, tomboy, are you a firecracker?! The moment anyone sets you off you start swinging—”
Ming Huashang said: “You two, stop fighting. I didn’t mean to stir things up. Maybe Jiang Ling was just saying it offhand, without any ill intent.”
The more Ren Yao listened, the more she found Jiang Ling insufferable. The room was in chaos when two clear knocks came at the door. Ming Huashang held her bowl, Ren Yao was twisting Jiang Ling’s ear, and all three turned their heads at once.
Xie Jichuan stood at the doorway, his composed and gentle smile intact: “Am I coming at a bad time?”
“Elder Brother Xie.” Ming Huashang hurried to her feet. “What brings you here?”
Xie Jichuan raised his hand to show what he was holding: some cakes. “Jingzhan was called away on something. I was afraid you’d go hungry and brought a few cakes. But now, looking at this…” He glanced at the other two and the bowls on the table, smiling: “I worried for nothing. You have excellent company — how could you possibly go hungry?”
Ren Yao shot Jiang Ling a ferocious glare and let go of him now that there was a guest. Jiang Ling rubbed his ear and muttered under his breath: “Only fierce around the people who indulge you.”
Ren Yao was about to roll up her sleeves again. Ming Huashang quickly said: “I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve three visitors who all think of me. Thank you for your concern, Elder Brother Xie — please, sit down.”
Ren Yao and Jiang Ling grudgingly composed themselves. Xie Jichuan took a seat and glanced over the nearly empty food box: “It seems I’ve come too late. Second Younger Sister surely has no need for cakes now.”
“Not at all.” Ming Huashang cheerfully unwrapped the parcel. “Cakes aren’t a meal — they don’t conflict with eating.”
Xie Jichuan watched with his own eyes as Ming Huashang finished a whole cake in two bites, and his smile stiffened slightly. In his memory, young women of noble families ate in silence, had strict portions at every meal, and when unwell, had poor appetites — two cakes would leave them full.
He had genuinely never encountered anyone who believed cakes didn’t count as food.
“If you have no appetite,” Xie Jichuan said, “you needn’t force yourself on my account.”
Jiang Ling watched Ming Huashang bite a peach blossom cake cleanly in half and turned to look at Xie Jichuan.
When exactly did you think she was forcing herself?
Xie Jichuan paused and swallowed the words he had been about to say. With Ming Huashang eating with such evident relish, he felt he had made rather a fool of himself.
Xie Jichuan, in a rare departure from the social distance a noble family kept with others, asked with genuine curiosity: “Second Younger Sister, I always assumed women had very small appetites. Won’t eating like this hurt you?”
“Of course not,” Ming Huashang said. “Those women don’t have small appetites by nature. It’s simply that circumstances demanded they have small appetites — to be dainty and lovely as birds and cats, pitiable and endearing. I’m different. Father always said that being able to eat is a blessing, and eating well is wisdom.”
Ren Yao added: “Exactly. If you spend every day training and going out like a man, how would two cakes be enough? The women with naturally small appetites that Young Master Xie has met are probably all noblewomen who never leave their homes.”
Xie Jichuan was taken aback for a moment, then smiled: “I see that I was looking at only one side of things. Second Younger Sister, you see the world clearly and understand people well — I am not your equal in that regard.”
They were still talking when another knock came at the door. This time it was three quiet but firm raps. Ming Huashang looked up, and when she saw who it was, her face lit up: “Second Elder Brother!”
Ming Huazhang surveyed the unexpectedly lively crowd in the room, his feelings complicated. He had been pulled away by Han Jie that afternoon, and once he had dealt with it he had rushed back, afraid she had gotten too hungry — yet it turned out he had worried for nothing.
How would Ming Huashang ever let herself go hungry? She would manage perfectly well regardless of who was or wasn’t around.
Ming Huashang spotted something in Ming Huazhang’s hands and said eagerly: “Second Elder Brother, did you bring food too?”
Ming Huazhang stepped inside with a helpless expression: “I was afraid you’d be too hungry to have any energy, so I brought you a bowl of sweet congee to tide you over until we could go out to eat. But…”
He glanced at the empty food box beside her and the half-finished cakes. Clearly she had no need for it.
He wasn’t surprised to see Ren Yao and Jiang Ling, but Xie Jichuan was here too?
Ming Huashang’s eyes lit up. She happily took the parcel from Ming Huazhang’s hands: “Sweet congee! Second Elder Brother, how did you know I wanted congee?”
When Ming Huashang unwrapped and began eating her third serving of food, Jiang Ling, Ren Yao, and Xie Jichuan were thoroughly convinced she was absolutely fine.
They had come to check on her, and Ming Huashang had more than demonstrated her robust appetite. Now that Ming Huazhang had returned as well, they took their leave one after another before long. Ming Huashang ate her after-dinner sweet at a leisurely pace and asked: “Second Elder Brother, Elder Brother Xie mentioned you went out this afternoon. Was everything resolved?”
Ming Huazhang gave a low hum. At first, when he had hurried back only to find she had already eaten, there had been a flicker of disappointment — but watching her work through the sweet congee spoonful by spoonful made him feel something else. He said quietly: “Don’t force yourself.”
“I’m not forcing myself.” Ming Huashang swallowed a mouthful of congee. “Normally I certainly couldn’t eat this much, but today I ran ten laps, and tomorrow there will be at least ten more — how would I have the strength without a full stomach? Second Elder Brother, don’t worry. I know my own limits. With other people I might hold back, but in front of you I won’t be polite.”
That was reassuring. Ming Huazhang relaxed slightly, and without quite meaning to said: “You really do have a way with people. I was gone only an afternoon and you already had all these visitors bringing food.”
The moment he said it he felt it was off — it sounded as though he were sulking with jealousy. But Ming Huashang simply curved her eyes and said with a smile: “I know, right? Second Elder Brother, you’ll have to treat me even better from now on — otherwise I might forget all about you.”
Whatever subtle feeling had stirred in Ming Huazhang was disrupted before he could sort it out. He shot her a look and raised a hand to flick her on the forehead: “Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Well then, you’ll just have to indulge me.” Ming Huashang made no move to dodge. As she had expected, Ming Huazhang’s knuckle barely grazed her forehead with any real force.
Ming Huazhang sighed looking at the young woman before him, and finally said: “Hurry up and eat. You have plenty to learn tonight.”
Ming Huashang acknowledged him and finished eating. Ming Huazhang told her to sit quietly while he cleared the dishes himself. Ming Huashang rested her chin in her hand and watched him tidy the table, and thought that even doing something as mundane, trivial, and thoroughly inelegant as this, he was still as graceful as fine jade — beautiful to behold.
Ming Huashang said suddenly: “Second Elder Brother, when you marry someday, your future sister-in-law will be very fortunate.”
Ming Huazhang looked up and gave her a cool sidelong glance: “What are you talking about?”
“I mean it,” Ming Huashang said, propping her chin in her hands and speaking sincerely. “I have always thought that the most impressive sight of a man is not charging across a battlefield, not presiding over a hall full of distinguished guests, not rising through the ranks — it’s when he cooks, and when he holds a child. And aside from Father and you, I have yet to meet a third man like that.”
Ming Huashang had been born without a mother. Her grandmother was remote and untouchable, the Second and Third households each had their own schemes, and her female cousins were calculating — yet she had grown into such an open and cheerful person, and it was because she had a wonderful father.
Duke Zhenguo had given her enough love and security that she had never hesitated to extend goodwill to others first. Even when met with coldness, she would reach out again the next time.
And so today, when she had not come to class, three separate groups of people had all thought to bring her something to eat.
What Jiang Ling and Ren Yao had brought was a meal packed from the dining hall — the warm, living pulse of ordinary life. What Xie Jichuan had brought was cakes — the refined, cool gesture of a noble family. What Ming Huazhang had brought was sweet congee — the understanding and support that only family offers.
Ming Huashang thought she was fortunate. Every bit of goodwill she had extended had been returned to her. But in another way she was not so fortunate — having met such a wonderful father and brother so early in life, she could no longer settle for an ordinary man.
To be candid, Ming Huazhang was somewhat taken aback. He understood very well how much Ming Huashang resisted marriage. That she could think to compare him to a future husband said a great deal about her regard for him.
His heart was stirred again. He assumed this was merely the natural impulse of an elder brother pleased to be praised by his younger sister, and said: “You’re still young. There’s no rush — take your time, and you’ll find someone you like.”
Ming Huashang smiled and said nothing in response.
Ming Huashang had known Ming Huazhang was accomplished in both letters and martial arts, but she hadn’t expected him to manage household tasks with such methodical ease. In no time he had everything sorted and put in order. He washed his hands, sat down, and asked: “Had enough to eat?”
“Yes.”
“Then let’s start on today’s lesson.” Ming Huazhang said, “The tutor is taking it easy on new recruits — today’s coded language assignment is only an introductory level. But coded language is critically important in missions. It’s not only used to transmit intelligence — even in combat, the signals are used to communicate attack and retreat plans through whistling. You must know the codes by heart without the slightest uncertainty. Otherwise, failing a mission is the lesser concern — getting yourself and your comrades killed is the greater one.”
Ming Huashang nodded, then drew on her memory and tapped out a sequence of syllables on the table: “Second Elder Brother, what does this passage of code mean?”
“Time and direction,” Ming Huazhang said. “But one of the time signals is repeated.”
“So Jiang Ling wasn’t wrong,” Ming Huashang said, pulling her hand back in surprise. “I thought he truly knew nothing — as it turns out, he simply didn’t want to learn.”
“Never mind someone else — worry about yourself,” Ming Huazhang said. “He doesn’t want to learn. What about you?”
Ming Huashang sighed and made a face: “Fine, I know. I’ll pay attention.”
Ming Huazhang looked cold and unapproachable, but he turned out to be remarkably patient and thorough. He broke down the most basic codes and walked Ming Huashang through the underlying logic one by one. His thinking was sharp and his explanations precise — Ming Huashang grasped it quickly.
Understanding first and then memorizing was far more effective than sheer rote learning. Ming Huashang was genuinely impressed, and from the heart said: “Second Elder Brother, you’re remarkable — you know not just the what, but the why. Even if I learned something well enough, I couldn’t explain it to someone else this quickly and clearly.”
Ming Huazhang let a faint smile show: “Who are you planning to teach?”
Ming Huashang thought about it and nodded: “You have a point.”
If she didn’t intend to marry, she wouldn’t have children either. With things like this, the fewer people who knew, the better.
In the blink of an eye, they had studied well into the night. Stars filled the sky, and somewhere behind the building unseen insects called out into the darkness. Ming Huashang at last tapped out every phrase precisely and without error, as Ming Huazhang required. She exhaled a long breath and went completely limp: “Second Elder Brother, surely that’s good enough now?”
Ming Huazhang glanced at the sky and let her off the hook for the night: “We’ll stop here for today. Rest early. Tomorrow at a quarter past the third night-watch, come with me to the training ground.”
Ming Huashang was so startled her eyes went wide: “That early? Didn’t General Han say assembly is at the start of the fourth watch?”
“That’s for everyone else,” Ming Huazhang said. “Your foundation is too weak. You could ease your way through ten laps on the first day, but do you expect to do that every time? You’ve never studied martial arts, so you’re already a step behind Ren Yao in that regard — you can’t afford to fall behind in physical conditioning as well. From now on, you’ll rise half an hour earlier than the others and go to the training ground for additional practice.”
Ming Huashang finally understood why Ming Huazhang, at the same age, had become accomplished in both letters and martial arts, while others had not. She knew there was no escaping this, and could only answer with a pained expression: “Alright.”