The Hua Family’s procession had not yet reached home before the story was already spreading like wildfire through the city.
Shen Qi and the Shen Family patriarch were in the middle of a game of chess when a servant came to report. The game fell apart entirely after that.
Shen Zhui set down his piece and wiped his hands, reaching for his tea. “If from the very beginning you had made your intentions clear — that you would marry no one else — your grandmother would not have dissolved the engagement so readily.”
“Not so readily, perhaps, but she still would have.” Shen Qi smiled bitterly. “If I had known that six months of traveling would cost me so much, I never would have gone.”
Shen Zhui found it a pity as well. From the moment Hua Yizheng had fallen from power, the Hua Family had not collapsed and had not fallen into chaos. Even compounded by the sudden loss of the late Madam, the Hua Family still dared to send someone directly to the Yang Family and take back their daughter who had been mistreated. This could not be explained away with a single word like “courage.” The Hua Family young mistress who had made all of this possible was no ordinary person.
If she truly could marry into the Shen Family and become the eldest young mistress, there would be no need to fear discord in the inner household going forward. But as Shen Qi had said, even if the Hua Family had not taken the initiative to withdraw, the Shen Family would have had to do so eventually — the families were too far apart in standing now. How could they still consider a match?
Shen Qi covered his face with his hands, his heart full of defeat. It had only been half a year. He had been gone only half a year, and in that time his mentor had been sent into exile and his betrothed was gone. By the time he received word and hurried back, it was all too late. He dared not imagine what his teacher would think of him — heartless? Worse than an animal? Either way, no better than a beast.
And Hua Zhi… how would she look at him? If withdrawing from the engagement had been only a test on her part, she would probably have concluded by now that he was without feeling or loyalty.
But was he not, in fact? His grandfather’s attitude had been unmistakable. If they did not withdraw now, they would be forced to withdraw later under worse circumstances. Thinking of the beautiful young woman he had glimpsed laughing and talking easily with her maids, Shen Qi felt an even more crushing heaviness settle in his chest.
He had seen Hua Zhi a few times. After the engagement was announced, he had even coaxed Bailin into talking, learning a few things about his sister through him. He had come to know that this young woman was widely read and knowledgeable, that she excelled in chess, music, calligraphy, and painting, that she made delicious food when she felt like it, that much of what Bailin knew had been taught to him by her, that Bailin admired and loved his eldest sister more than anyone else in the world.
At the time, he had thought: this remarkable woman would one day be his wife, and what a wonderful life they would have together. He had decided then that this journey would be his last long trip away from home — once married, he would not leave his wife behind alone. Yet who could have predicted that coming home would mean facing all of this?
He should never have gone to such a remote place. Even if he had wanted to travel, he should have chosen somewhere closer.
“Grandfather, I…” Shen Qi looked up, caught his grandfather’s expression, and fell silent. He knew there was no need to say more. His grandfather would never agree.
Shen Zhui set down his teacup, his tone mild. “Consider it a matter of fate, and do not force it. Even if you wanted to pursue her now, she would not be willing. Qi’er — she is no longer merely a daughter of the Hua Family. She is the Hua Family’s head. The Hua Family cannot do without her. What we need in a wife is a daughter-in-law, not her entire household behind her.”
“Yes.” Shen Qi forced the corners of his mouth into something resembling a smile, steadied himself against the armrest, and rose. “I’m rather tired. I’ll go back to my room.”
“Go on.”
The door opened, then closed. Shen Zhui sat in the quiet for a moment, then let out a long sigh. To sit in this seat was to think always of the family first. If he were going only by personal feeling, how could he have willingly done something so ruthless? He and Hua Yizheng had known each other for decades, had been colleagues for just as long — the regard between them was no less than what he felt for Zhu Bowen. And yet now…
Shen Zhui let out another long sigh. The best he could do from here on was to help where help was possible.
Gu Yanxi had none of those reservations. The moment he heard the news, he climbed up onto the Hua Family’s roof. Chen Qing, who had climbed up alongside him, was nursing a considerable headache, and every so often had to pull his young master back under cover. It was not yet evening — anyone who looked up would see them. If the Hua Family discovered what was going on, how was the Shizi’s land steward Lu going to keep his post?
The procession made its grand return into the alley, and the Hua Family’s main gate was thrown open wide. Only after the sedan chair had been carried inside did it swing shut again.
Hua Zhi understood how much this homecoming meant to her second aunt. She had dismissed the third maternal great-aunt’s suggestion to come in through the side gate, insisting instead on entering through the main gate. She had said: “The year Second Aunt was married out, she left through the main gate, proper and dignified. Today, let her return the same way, proper and dignified. It may not be the same gate, but it is still the gate of her home.”
The third maternal great-aunt had shut herself away and cried her eyes out all over again. This was her only daughter. Knowing she had suffered, it felt as though a piece of flesh had been carved from her heart — the pain was such that she had to breathe shallowly, or it pulled and ached. But now, at last, it would be all right. Coming home made everything all right. As long as she could come home.
When Hua Xian was helped out of the sedan chair, the sight of her battered and wretched state nearly caused the third maternal great-aunt to collapse. She clutched her daughter and wept with gut-wrenching anguish. “Those wicked Yang Family people — how could they, how could they!”
Only when Hua Xian was truly held in her mother’s arms, surrounded on all sides by family, did the homecoming feel real to her. Not a visit, not a guest — home. Home, from which she need never leave again.
Looking at the white hairs at her mother’s temples, Hua Xian felt a crushing weight of guilt for being an unfilial daughter — and yet a profound sense of peace washed over her as well. She was home. She had truly come back.
“Mother — Mother!” Mother and daughter wept in each other’s arms. The other members of the Hua Family all quietly wiped at their eyes. Zhu Shi, who had always been the most soft-hearted, was crying so hard she could barely catch her breath, looking hardly any better than Hua Xian herself.
Yang Sui’an quietly turned his head and rubbed his eyes, then walked over to Hua Zhi. “Cousin.”
Hua Zhi gave a small nod and, not wanting to disturb the weeping going on nearby, asked softly, “Do you still plan to go back?”
Yang Sui’an shook his head. “I am worried about my mother. Something she said earlier has left me uneasy.”
“It was the desperation of being trapped that led her to such extreme thoughts. Now that she is back here, those feelings won’t take hold — she cannot bear to leave you, and she cannot bear to leave her own mother.”
Yang Sui’an let his gaze sweep over the members of the Hua Family one by one. He had not expected all of them to come out to the front courtyard to receive her. Whatever degree of genuine feeling lay behind it, the gesture was at least enough to set his mother’s heart at ease.
“I should get back to the academy. I will have to trouble you to look after my mother.”
“We are family — there is no need for that kind of talk. This is her homecoming, not a visit. Let her spend some time at her own mother’s side, and her heart will settle. You need not worry yourself. Study hard, and come back here when the academy is on a rest day. I’ve had a room set up for you in Bailin’s courtyard — you two will share quarters going forward.”
“…Yes.” Yang Sui’an’s voice caught in his throat. He opened his eyes wide and willed the tears not to fall. He could not cry. There were enough tears from his mother — that was sufficient.
When the sound of weeping at last began to subside, Hua Zhi walked over. “Second Aunt, would it suit you to stay in the third maternal great-aunt’s courtyard from now on?”
Hua Xian had no objection whatsoever — she would have been content to share the same bed with her mother. “Zhi’er, thank you, aunt.”
Without Zhi’er’s say-so, even her own mother’s heartache would have been powerless to change anything, to say nothing of sending people to retrieve her from the Yang Family with such firm resolve. Hua Xian was grateful from the very depths of her heart.
“Daughters of the Hua Family are not water poured out and lost upon marriage. The family will do everything in its power to be a refuge and a stronghold for you.” These words were not for Hua Xian alone — they were also for the other young women of the Hua Family. Hua Xin and Hua Ling had both reached the age for betrothal discussions. Matches would be harder to arrange for them now, given the family’s circumstances, but they would have to marry eventually. Hua Zhi hoped they would all carry these words with them.
She forgot, however, that she herself was also an unmarried daughter of the Hua Family.
Wu Shi, who had always been one to push back, suddenly found her eyes going red. She hurriedly turned her head away.
Gu Yanxi lay stretched out on the Hua Family’s rooftop, looking up at the sky. He understood better than anyone what lay behind her words. Hua Zhi had not counted herself among the Hua Family’s daughters waiting to be wed — because she had no intention of marrying at all.