Hua Zhi looked away from his expression — caught somewhere between tears and laughter. He was not a child of the Hua Family; it was not her place to feel tenderness for him.

Regardless of where he would one day sit, all of this was pain he had to endure on his path to growing up — because he bore the Gu surname.

Gu Yanxi, who shared that same surname, acted as though he had seen nothing, and continued speaking: “If you wish to return, I—”

“I am not going back.” The Sixth Imperial Prince cut him off and emphasized once more, “I am not going back.”

Gu Yanxi gave a slight nod. “Is there anything you would like me to bring for you?”

“Please ask Elder Brother Yanxi to retrieve the item at the head of my bed. It was made for me by my mother.” The Sixth Prince bit his lip. “I also ask Elder Brother Yanxi to convey my apologies to Her Majesty the Grand Empress Dowager. I am afraid I will be unable to visit her for some time — please urge her to take good care of her health.”

Gu Yanxi looked at this prince, whose nature differed somewhat from the others. “I will pass the message along.”

The Sixth Prince’s hands kept clutching at his lapels, releasing, then clutching again, his expression low. “May I stay here a few more days before going to Elder Brother Yanxi’s estate?”

Gu Yanxi and Hua Zhi exchanged a glance, a quiet amusement shared between their eyes. “Could it be that you do not want to stay here and would rather come back with me?”

The Sixth Prince was a sharp child — he understood the meaning within those words at once. His previously drooping head lifted immediately, joy written openly across his face. It had truly been a long while since Gu Yanxi had seen such a vivid and lively expression within the palace walls.

“The Hua Family’s home is not suited to drawing attention. Given your identity, frequent comings and goings would eventually attract notice. Therefore, unless you are with me or someone in my company, you may not leave the estate. Can you abide by that?”

“I can!” The Sixth Prince answered loud and clear.

“From now on, you shall be called Sun Jian. While at the Hua Family, follow A’Zhi’s arrangements in all things.”

The Sixth Prince suddenly felt his eyes sting terribly. He blinked hard several times before suppressing the sensation, and nodded repeatedly.

Only then did Hua Zhi speak. “You need not confine yourself to the front courtyard any longer. In the Hua Family, brothers share a courtyard. If you don’t mind, you may go and lodge with Bailin.”

The Sixth Prince shook his head vigorously — he didn’t mind at all, not in the slightest. He was so overjoyed it felt as though the top of his head might lift right off.

“Would you like to attend the Hua Family’s clan school?”

“Yes!” The Sixth Prince nodded eagerly. He had been wanting this for a long while.

“All right, shaking and nodding — your head is going to rattle loose.” Hua Zhi laughed. When she was not smiling, she could seem difficult to approach, but when she did smile, her eyes curved into crescents, and she looked the most agreeable of anyone.

“There are no great rules in this household. Ask Bailin about the smaller ones.”

“Yes.”

“Go find Bailin. When he hears you can go outside now, he’ll be very pleased.”

“Yes.”

Each of the Sixth Prince’s replies came crisper than the last, and he ran off quickly. Whether in expression or in spirit, he was every bit what a boy his age ought to be. Gu Yanxi could see it plainly — Xiao Liu’s well-behaved manner before A’Zhi was genuine, as was his happiness and his eagerness. He was trying his best to become the kind of person A’Zhi would like, and he was finding joy in the effort.

Watching A’Zhi, whose smile had yet to fade from the corners of her lips, Gu Yanxi asked quietly, “Will it cause any impropriety for the Hua Family’s inner household?”

“He is just a child. What impropriety could he possibly cause?” She might not trust A’Jian fully in this, but she trusted Bailin. If he couldn’t handle even something this small, then all these years she had spent guiding him had been wasted.

Glancing up at Gu Yanxi, who no longer wore the cold and distant look he’d had when he first arrived, Hua Zhi lowered her head to add water and steep the tea. “Mr. Lu comes and goes freely through the Hua Family’s front courtyard. It never seemed to concern you that you might cause impropriety for the Hua Family’s women.”

“Because you are here.”

Because you are here, I come. Because you are here, even when I arrive at an inconvenient time, I cause no impropriety to anyone. And because it is you — the rules that never bound you cannot bind me either.

Hua Zhi’s hands stilled. There was no use pretending to have missed it. She had never been the kind of person to string someone along with hope while withholding any resolution.

“If the Emperor were to learn that you are entangled with the daughter of a convicted criminal, I wonder what consequences the Hua Family would face.” She refilled both their teacups and gazed at the pale green tea within, smiling with cold mockery. “He would not care whether I was willing or not. In his eyes, being connected to you would be my transgression. Even if it was you who set your eyes on me, he would consider it only proper that I hang myself with a white silken cord at once.”

Gu Yanxi smiled helplessly. A’Zhi had always seen things with this sort of clarity. “He trusts me — he will not send people to investigate my movements. Besides, my grandmother is aware, and she has not tried to stop it.”

Hua Zhi’s expression shifted with surprise. “Her Majesty the Grand Empress Dowager knows?”

“She has known for some time.”

Hua Zhi rubbed the rim of her teacup and furrowed her brow. If the Grand Empress Dowager was not intervening — was it out of consideration for the Hua Family? Or out of affection for her grandson?

The Grand Empress Dowager had shown tremendous kindness to the Hua Family. Once she was drawn into this, Hua Zhi could not help but think carefully. Even so, it was unlikely things would go so far as the Grand Empress Dowager arranging a marriage for her grandson’s sake — after all, the Emperor still stood between them, and for the Grand Empress Dowager to act in such a way would be to openly strike the Emperor across the face.

Having reasoned through that, Hua Zhi felt a measure of relief, and her composure returned with it. “Mr. Lu,” she said evenly, “you are fond of me.”

“Yes. I am fond of you.” The tender feelings wound through Gu Yanxi’s gaze, strand by strand, trying to wrap themselves around Hua Zhi and draw her in. If all the misfortune he had endured had been the price to wait for this one person — he accepted it. He no longer resented it.

In this life, he asked for only one thing: to live and die at this person’s side.

Hua Zhi was not someone who lacked perception. She was, in fact, more acutely aware than most. She believed the owner of those eyes truly was fond of her. She was not made of stone — her heart was racing even now. And yet—

She was Hua Zhi. Hua Zhi, the head of the Hua Family.

She used the motion of pouring out the tea leaves to steady herself, then said softly, “In this world, there are people who love each other and cannot be together. There are people who do not love each other and have no choice but to stay together. Naturally, there is no shortage of cases like ours either. Mr. Lu — I am not fond of you.”

The rejection was exactly as he had expected, and yet Gu Yanxi’s heart still plummeted sharply, as though it could find no bottom, the weight of it making even breathing difficult. “The Hua Family—”

“It has nothing to do with the Hua Family. It is simply that I have no desire to marry.”

“You were once betrothed.”

“Why wouldn’t I have been? A well-matched union — how fitting. The Hua Family could not afford to have an unmarried daughter growing old at home; one had to marry eventually.” Hua Zhi smiled. “But the Hua Family as it stands now — and as it will be in the future — who could still demand that of me?”

Not only could no one demand it — anyone with a shred of conscience ought to be grateful for her and take good care of her. But conscience was a peculiar thing: when it was there, it was genuinely there — and when it was gone, it was genuinely gone.

“Even if such a day were to come, I would move to my own residence and close my gates and live as I pleased. Who would dare come and tear down my door to force me?”

Gu Yanxi had heard from Shao Yao before that A’Zhi had no intention of marrying. He had always assumed it was because of the burden the Hua Family placed on her — but in this moment, he understood it was nothing of the sort. A’Zhi herself, at her very core, simply did not want to marry.

Author’s Note: Many thanks to the readers who pointed things out — upon reflection, there were indeed some issues with the male lead’s characterization. I spent today revising. The updates may or may not have synced yet, so if you have time, please go back and take a look, especially Chapter 155. I have added in the Shizi identity, meaning the Shizi and the leader of the Seven-Lodge Division are now treated as two separate persons in the eyes of others. The Shizi is no longer an invisible figure. Only a handful of people know that Gu Yanxi is the leader of the Seven-Lodge Division: the Emperor, Laifu, the Grand Empress Dowager, Yuxiang, and Hua Zhi — that should be the full list. Others, such as the Duke of Anguo and various imperial princes and consorts, do not know. I have made the revisions accordingly, because if those people knew, the entire court would know — it was a lapse in my thinking, and I apologize. I will do another careful pass tomorrow. I’m sorry for not writing this well.

This chapter was written yesterday. Going to write the next one now.