In the end, Mu Qing had nothing more to say. He offered an apology and withdrew.

Zheng Zhi, however, remained. He had always disregarded Gu Yanxi’s presence, and this time was no exception.

“I heard you’re heading north?”

Hua Zhi nodded in confirmation.

“When do you leave?”

“The day after tomorrow, most likely.”

Zheng Zhi gave a small nod. “Help me bring something to an old acquaintance.”

Hua Zhi raised an eyebrow. Though that place was a desolate land of exile, not many people actually qualified to be exiled there. She recalled that Master Zheng did not come from a particularly prominent background.

Zheng Zhi offered no further explanation. He turned and went back to make his preparations.

Hua Zhi glanced toward Gu Yanxi, who also shook his head. “It’s not strange. In this capital city, who doesn’t have a few roundabout connections? That person is likely not even close to him — he simply heard you were heading that way and wanted to send something along.”

It sounded a bit like keeping a thread of goodwill alive. Yet Hua Zhi’s instincts told her it wasn’t quite that. Still, since Master Zheng chose not to say more, there was no need for her to pry. Everyone had their secrets.

“Departure the day after tomorrow?”

“Yes. Any issues?”

Gu Yanxi considered the matters on hand and nodded. “That works. How many people are you bringing?”

“I only plan to take two guards. Since we’re carrying a lot of goods this time, I’ve had Xu Jie contact a merchant company to join their convoy. According to Xu Shu, the merchant group is heading to Bingzhou. Once we reach there, they’ll continue on while we proceed on our own.”

“Any problems?”

“It’s not far from Yinshan Pass from there. The guards at home haven’t slackened this past year, and even if we run into a few petty thieves they should be able to handle it. I’ve checked — there are no major bandits along that stretch of road. They can manage.”

Seeing that she had already thought everything through, Gu Yanxi said no more. He reached into his chest and produced a letter, handing it to her. “I’ve finished writing it. Take a look.”

Hua Zhi gently smoothed her fingers over the three familiar characters on the envelope — “For Hengzhi.” A faint soreness stirred in her chest. Hengzhi was her grandfather’s courtesy name, and by now there were very few people left who still addressed him that way — and one more had quietly departed without his knowing.

Her shoulders grew slightly heavy. Then her head was softly pressed into a warm embrace. No words of comfort were needed. That single embrace said more than a thousand words ever could.

Hua Zhi let her shoulders fall. In this moment, she allowed herself a brief moment of weakness.

Outside the door, Ying Chun’s face turned red. She stole a shy glance at the two people holding each other, then turned away with an even redder face and stood alert, terrified that someone might walk over and witness the scene.

Only when voices drifted out from inside again did she let herself breathe easy.

“It’s very alike. If I didn’t know Grandmother was already gone, I would truly think she had written this herself.” Hua Zhi folded the letter and tucked it back into the envelope, then looked up with a smile that carried no joy. “I can’t imagine what Grandfather will look like when he returns and finds out Grandmother is no longer here.”

Gu Yanxi gently stroked her cheek, as if trying to wipe away every trace of her unhappiness. “He will grieve, without a doubt. But even for your sake alone, he will hold on.”

You, who did not let the Hua Family fall apart — you, who built up such a vast enterprise and fought with everything you had to bring the Hua men home — even for you, he will hold on. No one could have done better than you.

Hua Zhi lowered her head and tugged at the corners of her mouth. “As long as he doesn’t blame me.”

“If he were the kind of Hua Yizheng who would blame you for such things, would you have gone through all this toil and hardship for him?”

“……” That was impeccably reasoned. Genuinely comforted, Hua Zhi let out a real laugh. The slight shadow over her heart slowly began to lift.

With all the major household affairs settled, Hua Zhi spent the last day going over the household’s odds and ends with her Fourth Aunt, with particular emphasis on summoning people from the branch family to the manor to prepare for expanding the business, as well as rotating the staff at the canning workshop. These matters would be finalized by Wu Shi and Ying Chun together.

And at that very moment, a horse carriage came rumbling into the city, dusty from the road.

The curtain was pulled open, and Jiang Huanran’s face emerged, wearing an expression that suggested he’d rather be dead. He was finally back! He had never known that riding in a carriage could be such torture. He felt as though every bone in his body had been rattled loose.

He swore — even if his legs were broken in the future, he would never ride in a carriage again.

The carriage drove directly into the front courtyard of the Jiang Family’s residence. The servants who came out to attend to him were frightened by the haggard state of their young master and hurriedly sent someone to deliver the news to the inner courtyard.

As it happened, Jiang Huanran’s father — the Jiang family patriarch, Jiang Xinde — was returning home from visiting friends on his day off. Catching sight of his son’s wretched appearance, he nearly yanked his own beard off. “What happened to you — did you get caught stealing and get beaten for it?!”

Jiang Huanran rolled his eyes. “Father, your son here went to save a maiden in distress. A hero’s errand. What thieving?”

Jiang Xinde knew perfectly well what sort of person his own son was. That blatant, open-hearted manner of his truly wasn’t the type to go stealing. After his initial shock, the surge of paternal concern kicked in. He waved the servants away and went to personally support his son as they walked inside. “Going out once and coming back in this state — let’s see how you explain yourself to your grandmother later.”

“I’ll just say I went to save a beauty.” Jiang Huanran’s injuries had mostly healed by now — it was only the carriage ride that had rattled him. But in front of his father he had always been unruly, and so he cheerfully took advantage of the situation, leaning half his weight onto his father. He was perfectly happy to be hauled along. When his father noticed and smacked him on the head, he finally behaved himself.

“Father, let’s not go see Grandmother first. Come to the study. I have something serious to tell you.”

“Too late. Just watch — your grandmother is already waiting at the inner gate.”

At the mere thought of his grandmother’s tears, Jiang Huanran’s feet seemed to grow heavy. This time Jiang Xinde had the energy to keep dragging him along. They hadn’t even reached the inner gate when the Jiang family matriarch came striding out at a brisk pace, walking stick in hand, calling out “my darling” in her dialect-tinged voice, which was enough to make anyone bite back a smile.

Instantly, Jiang Huanran’s aching back and weak legs were cured. In front of his grandmother he hopped and jumped about until he’d worked up a sweat, proving himself in perfectly fine health. He finally managed to coax the old matriarch into a good mood, personally escorted her back to her room, and then went to the study to find his father — who had just treated himself to the spectacle of a grown son putting on a performance of filial devotion.

He sprawled himself into a chair, and only after draining an entire cup of tea in one go did Jiang Huanran feel some semblance of life return to him.

“Father, guess who I happened to run into on my trip south.”

Jiang Xinde couldn’t be bothered to play along.

Jiang Huanran didn’t mind. He chuckled and revealed the answer himself. “I happened — of all the coincidences — to be on the same boat as the eldest daughter of the Hua Family!”

The eldest daughter of the Hua Family? Jiang Xinde glanced at him. “The Hua Family of Hua Yizheng?”

“That very same family. The eldest daughter went south to negotiate a business deal.”

“The beauty you rescued was her?” Jiang Xinde rose and moved to sit across from his son. “Tell me everything.”

Jiang Huanran dropped his usual frivolity and recounted what had happened at the Zhenyang docks. Just as Jiang Xinde was still marveling at the fact that a Hua Family daughter knew martial arts for self-defense, he heard his son go on to describe the events in Xiangyang.

“I wouldn’t count myself as the most outstanding among our generation, but after traveling this stretch of road with the eldest daughter, I realized that not only am I not — even the most brilliant among our peers couldn’t hold a candle to her. Father, I have a request.”

“Speak.”

Jiang Huanran straightened up in his seat. “I want to marry Hua Zhi!”

Author’s note: Every author has their own style. I personally love grand, sweeping narratives of family and nation — I’m not drawn to dwelling on the petty squabbles of the inner household. In this novel I’ve taken that to the extreme, writing very little about inner household matters, with many side characters left as types rather than fully developed figures. Some readers, however, enjoy inner household drama, so those readers may find this less to their taste — and that’s completely understandable. Everyone has their preferences. Those who enjoy it, come along with me. Those who don’t, feel free to step away from the Cherishing Hua Zhi page. No hard feelings — maybe my next book will win you back. This summer has been unusually hot; everyone please take care of yourselves in the heat. Hugs.