The carriage rolled slowly out of the lane. They turned a corner, and only then did Hua Zhi look over at Hua Ling, who was sitting bolt upright with every muscle tensed. She said gently, “It’s over.”
Hua Ling turned stiffly to look at her, and said in a hoarse, hushed voice, “Elder Sister…”
Hua Zhi didn’t know what she had been through, and had no desire to ask just now. She simply reached over and drew her close, tucking her against her shoulder, and gently stroked her hair. “It’s all past now. Nothing will come of it — rest easy.”
Hua Ling’s tears came pouring out. She buried her face in her elder sister’s shoulder and wept in silence, only the occasional sound escaping when she could no longer hold it back. Every bit of the terror and the trembling she had carried through it all poured out in that weeping.
Her elder sister would never know how desperate she had felt in those moments. A woman taken away by a man — no matter how blameless she was, she would no longer be blameless in the world’s eyes. She had already seen no way out.
But then her cousin from the Zhu family had come, and told her what her elder sister was doing — how she was working to protect her reputation. And when she saw the row upon row of coffins, when she heard the words her elder sister had thrown everything into to defend her — she knew she had to live. Whatever she might have to face in the days ahead, she had to live.
Otherwise she would be unworthy of the lengths her elder sister had gone to, willing to sacrifice even her own name. Unworthy of the love her brothers had shown her.
There in the arms of this person — not particularly strong, and yet so warm — she felt as safe as she had in the Hua family’s days of greatest glory. Having been so fiercely protected, she finally understood how tender this elder sister truly was — this elder sister who carried the Hua family on her back with nothing but a hard exterior, who never spoke words of closeness, who was rarely ever near. Her tenderness was not on the surface. It lived inside.
She was no longer afraid. Not at all afraid.
Tears soaked into the fabric, warm as if they had seeped straight into the heart. Hua Zhi patted her gently — this girl who had once been so proud she wanted to compete with her at every turn — and all the while, wave after wave of dizziness swept through her own mind from being wound too tight for too long, leaving her faintly unwell. Thoughts came in a thousand threads but wouldn’t pull together. She closed her eyes softly and didn’t let the maids see anything was wrong.
It seemed to last a long while. It seemed also to last no more than a moment. The carriage came to a stop.
Hua Ling had recovered somewhat, and was a little embarrassed. She simply stayed leaning against her elder sister without moving — this kind of closeness had come so rarely. Perhaps it would not come again in this lifetime. She wanted to hold onto it a little longer.
Even so, she could not pretend any longer. She sat up, pressed her handkerchief to her face to dry her tears. A maid stepped forward at once to help straighten her appearance — yet no amount of tidying could make the swollen red eyes go down quickly. Fortunately, the carriage had driven straight into the front courtyard, and no outside eyes would see.
Hua Zhi stepped out first. Her legs were a little unsteady, and it was only with Ying Chun’s support that she managed to step down without betraying anything. She saw that the mistresses of the rear courtyard had all come to wait in the front, and smiled faintly. “Everything is fine — no need to worry.”
Xia Shi’s tears came at once. In that moment she wanted nothing more than to kneel down and press her forehead to the ground before Hua Zhi. Her husband and son were separated from her — who knew when they would all be together again — and if the only daughter staying by her side had come to harm, she truly did not know how she would go on.
When she saw her daughter step out of the carriage whole and unharmed, she couldn’t hold on any longer. She ran forward and gathered her into her arms, crying aloud without restraint.
Hua Ling had cried through her fear and was steadier now — steady enough to turn around and comfort her mother. She didn’t know if it was the brave words she had forced herself to say while standing before the Wei family’s gate, mustering all the color she didn’t feel inside — but she truly felt, right now, that it was behind her. It was over. It didn’t matter anymore.
Thinking of the words she had spoken back then, Hua Ling fell into a kind of quiet daze. Most likely she had used up every last bit of bravery she had for her whole life in that one moment.
Hua Zhi caught Wu Shi’s eye and made a small gesture toward it, then walked toward her cousin, who was exchanging greetings with his mother.
“Today I owe everything to Cousin’s swift action.” Hua Zhi gave a sincere, full bow. Today’s whole affair — having her cousin be the one who brought Hua Ling back was precisely why she had been able to protect Hua Ling’s reputation to the fullest extent possible.
Zhu Zian reached out to support her out of the bow. “We’re family — no need for such ceremony. If anything, you were the one who had everything arranged.”
Hua Zhi glanced over at the others and lowered her voice. “What was the situation at the time? Third Sister — did she…”
“I don’t know the full details. By the time I got there, the person you had sent had already pulled her free. As best I could see, she appeared unharmed. Oh — there was also someone I didn’t recognize at the scene, who seemed to have been injured.”
Hua Zhi nodded and filed that away in her mind. “As for your grandmother, I’ll visit her another day to—”
Zhu Ziwen, who was facing the gate, didn’t wait for her to finish — he smiled. “No need to wait for another day. Today will do.”
Hua Zhi turned around. The moment she saw who had come, something warmed in her chest.
Madam Zhu had been married out for years, but at the sight of her mother she was exactly the same as she had been in her parents’ home — she pressed close with easy, unguarded affection. “Mother — how did you come?”
The Zhu family’s Dowager Madam gave a helpless sigh. She hadn’t wanted to come so often either, but the Hua family had seen so much trouble — how could she stay home and be at ease?
She drew her daughter forward, waved off the formal greetings from her granddaughter, and glanced at the small cluster of people still comforting one another, then said in a low voice, “Everything is fine now?”
“Yes — everything is fine.”
“Thank heaven.” The Zhu Dowager Madam pressed her palms together and murmured a prayer. “People outside were saying the most alarming things — did you truly face off against Master Wei?”
“If I didn’t seal the Wei family’s mouth shut, white would have been made into black.”
The Zhu Dowager Madam thought it through and understood at once, nodding several times in agreement. “That’s exactly right — making the Wei family say it plainly in front of everyone took away any room for them to stir up mischief after the fact. Besides, the Hua family was never on good terms with them — offending them costs nothing. Don’t worry, you have your grandfather behind you! I’ll send him to go wrangle with the Wei family afterward.”
Zhu Ziwen, hearing this, felt helpless enough to laugh and cry at once. Backing someone up wasn’t quite done this way — if his grandfather went to wrangle with the Wei family, they would have lowered themselves to the other side’s level. But looking at his grandmother talking away contentedly, his aunt nodding along beside her, and his cousin answering in agreement — he held back after all and said nothing more.
Watching his cousin, so unusually quiet and well-behaved right now, Zhu Ziwen felt a full tide of admiration. That she had reacted so fast and come up with a response in such a short span of time — he could honestly say he would not have been able to manage anything close to that. And that she had not only turned the situation around but protected Hua Ling’s reputation intact, on top of giving the Wei family a thorough public humiliation — only this cousin of his could have pulled it off.
Even so, thinking of it made him feel the weight of it on her behalf. One thing after another — for this entire year, it had never let up. The Hua family was nothing but women and children; she was the only pillar they had. Exhausted as she must be, she had to keep holding herself together. He had clearly seen her body sway when she stepped out of the carriage earlier — and yet even now she was not free to go and rest.
It was no small thing to hold a household together. And the Hua family’s household, particularly, took something else entirely.
Hearing his aunt invite their grandmother toward the rear courtyard, Zhu Ziwen found his opening. “Cousin — I’ll take my leave. If you ever need anything, just send someone to find me.”
Hua Zhi knew he was keeping a proper distance, and made no effort to keep him. “I won’t stand on courtesy with Cousin. Oh — I heard that Cousin also plans to sit for the autumn examinations this time?”
“My teacher says the time has come.” Zhu Ziwen was one of the rare sons of an illustrious family who pursued the examination path in earnest. His gifts were exceptional — he had already earned his first degree three years ago, but his teacher had felt there was still room to grow, and held him back from rushing into the autumn examinations. Now that his teacher had finally given his blessing, Zhu Ziwen was throwing every ounce of himself into coming out with a fine result.
“Cousin, wait a moment.” Hua Zhi turned back and gave a few quiet instructions. In a short while, Lan Qiao came carrying a basket, a layer of oiled paper laid over the top concealing whatever was inside.