When they returned to the Cheng residence, the sky was already completely dark. Eldest Brother Cheng Yong led the entire household of servants and younger siblings, holding lanterns as they waited at the gate.

The deep blue sky of early spring at nightfall, interspersed with warm points of lamplight, resembled a children’s painting cut from dark blue wax paper—hazy yet warm. Shaoshang sat in the rear carriage, holding up the curtain to look out. What met her eyes were the smiling faces of several elder brothers, and she curved the corners of her mouth upward.

Not having seen each other for several months, everyone in the Cheng household had indeed undergone considerable changes.

Lady Qing Cong had grown paler. The three elder brothers and Cheng Yang had all grown taller. The two younger brothers had advanced from “fat without touching bone” to “lotus leaf glutinous rice spare ribs.” The greatest change was in Mother Cheng—not only had her complexion improved considerably, but her face, which had originally been full of fleshy layers with eyes narrowed to slits, used to give off an aura of pent-up hostility when looking at people, as if constantly seeking to find fault. Now, however, after several months of labor, her body had become firm and compact, and even her face had slimmed down a full circle. When she smiled, she actually appeared quite kind—fully demonstrating that exercise brings happiness.

Cheng Shi knelt before Mother Cheng’s knees, his mouth full of comforting words. Mother Cheng also followed custom and felt her son over from head to toe, confirming he was truly uninjured and pain-free before announcing dinner. After the meal ended, everyone gathered together in one place to chat. Mother Cheng was concerned about her youngest son Cheng Zhi’s recent circumstances and wanted to ask Shaoshang, but constrained by face, she kept holding back. Cheng Shaoshang repeatedly made eye signals to her twin sister, but Shaoshang pretended not to see.

Cheng Yong couldn’t help but say: “I wonder how Third Uncle Father and Aunt are doing these days. Niaoniao, why don’t you tell us?”

Shaoshang replied respectfully: “In response to Elder Brother, knowing early on that Grand Mother was concerned about Uncle Father and Aunt, I brought along a servant woman with a nimble tongue. These past several months she has been constantly attending Uncle Father and Aunt, and what she’s heard and seen is no less than I have. Starting tomorrow, let her relate everything in minute detail to Grand Mother—wouldn’t that be better?”

Though Mother Cheng was dissatisfied with Shaoshang’s attitude, thinking that if she let this wretched girl speak, she would inevitably speak reluctantly and say no more than a few sentences, she pulled at the corners of her mouth and reluctantly nodded.

Cheng Shi turned his head and glared forcefully at his daughter, using his eyes to scold this stubborn little ancestor who never gave him peace of mind!

Shaoshang, however, smiled cheerfully: “Father, let me play a tune for everyone… Cousin Sister, Elder Brothers, you don’t know—I’ve learned to play the transverse flute, and even Mother says it’s not bad!”

—Call her stubborn if you will, call her bull-headed and perverse if you must, but there still needed to be someone in this world who remembered that innocent little girl who died of illness in the countryside. That girl’s death had both indirect and direct causes, but Mother Cheng absolutely could not escape blame. Over those ten years, the Cheng Shi couple had sent people multiple times to fetch their daughter, but they were all turned back by Ge Shi and this old woman.

This old woman was even worse than Madam Xiao. At least Madam Xiao could claim the justification of righteousness—fighting for the family’s sake and so forth—but Mother Cheng acted purely out of selfishness and self-interest. Even after her granddaughter returned from the countryside after long illness, she showed not half a trace of remorse. Why should Shaoshang rush eagerly to reconcile just because the old woman lowered her posture a bit and showed some goodwill?!

Was being old so remarkable? As long as one didn’t die, everyone would grow old! So she wouldn’t forgive, absolutely wouldn’t forgive!

…The deep, clear, melodious sound of the flute arose, like a butterfly trembling on spring branches, causing several flower petals to fall, then fluttering its fragile, enchanting wings into a sea of flowers, leaving behind only a brilliant, beautiful shadow and fragrance covering the ground.

Cheng Shi closed his eyes to listen, his face finally showing a smile. Pitifully speaking, as the eldest son, he had not inherited even the slightest bit of his father’s good looks, nor had he absorbed even a few milligrams of artistic bacteria.

Halfway through the tune, Cheng Yong had already had servants bring out his beloved long qin, while Cheng Shaoshang took from his waist an exquisite black pottery round xun. The former plucked the strings, the latter pressed the xun holes and began to blow, both joining into Shaoshang’s flute melody.

Cheng Song didn’t play instruments, but had a good voice that vocal music department professors would fight over. He tested his voice slightly, and Shaoshang was amazed. Good heavens, his low notes could reach at least C-sharp 2, and his high notes were at minimum G4, plus his vocal range was clear, magnificent, and the lingering resonance was long-lasting.

The four siblings initially weren’t quite in sync, but in just moments they could harmonize their tune. The elegant qin sounds, the ancient pottery xun, the clear transverse flute, plus the broad singing voice that filled the room, quickly merged into a spirited, passionate rendition of “Galloping Away”—Galloping away, driving forth, returning to mourn the Marquis of Wei. Driving the horses onward, speaking of reaching Cao. The great officers trek through hardship, my heart is filled with worry…

Cheng Shi shook his head and smiled, no longer able to sustain his anger.

Cheng Yang sat to one side, gently beating time, her face showing an envious expression. Actually, she too had learned the qin and se, but she didn’t play very well and sometimes showed a stiff manner, so how would she dare to perform openly before others like her cousins?

Madam Xiao gazed intently at the four children in the center of the hall. The boys were tall and robust, the girl had snow-white skin and flower-like beauty—all so clever and healthy, overflowing with spiritual energy. She suddenly had a thought: if back then she had insisted on taking her daughter along even at the cost of tearing apart all pretense of cordiality, would she have been able to see such a scene many years ago?

When the tune ended, Mother Cheng shed tears, overcome with grief, murmuring: “…If only your Grand Father were still here. He wasn’t born in good times and never had a kindred spirit his whole life—he went so lonely and alone. If he could have seen you all like this today, he probably could have lived several more years…”

Everyone in the hall fell silent. Cheng Shi stepped forward to gently comfort his old mother.

Shaoshang pursed her lips, unconvinced. She’d heard that the late Old Master Cheng had given Mother Cheng the cold treatment for decades, never giving his old wife a kind face even until his death, yet unexpectedly Mother Cheng still felt deep affection for him. “I love you, and it has nothing to do with you”—it sounded very noble and moving, but Shaoshang felt she could absolutely never do such a thing.

The reunion party ended. The servant maids attended their respective masters back to their sleeping quarters. Shaoshang yawned as she followed behind the Cheng Shi couple—who told her that her small courtyard chamber was so close to her parents’ rooms!

Just as they were about to part ways, Cheng Shi suddenly turned back and said heavily to his daughter: “Niaoniao, don’t go back yet. Come to our room.”

Shaoshang’s heart jumped. What trouble had she caused now? Even after such moving artistic edification just now, he still remembered such mood-killing matters as scolding children—Father really had no talent for this!

“Father, today the city gates were under strict control. Don’t you and Mother need to discuss this thoroughly?”

After entering the city, the atmosphere had also clearly been wrong. Even taking the side roads, it had been excessively quiet. The weather had already been gradually warming, yet the vendor calls and pastry shop aromas that ordinarily filled Yuyang Ward were entirely absent—only bare stone-paved streets remained.

Who knew Old Comrade Cheng would say in a strange tone: “What’s your hurry? Commander Ling didn’t mention half a word about it, which clearly shows it has nothing to do with our family.” After saying this, he pulled Madam Xiao ahead and went forward first.

Shaoshang followed helplessly. Damn it, being a child meant having no human rights!

In the inner hall of the Cheng Shi couple’s quarters, Qing Cong had already prepared tall candles and a clear soup for sobering up and soothing the intestines. She then dismissed the servant maids and herself stood guard beside the tightly closed door, a small bamboo woven basket on her lap as she absentmindedly did needlework. The Cheng Shi couple sat kneeling on the left and right at the head position, while the girl sat alone in the center below.

“First tell me what you did these past few months and what people you met. Don’t leave out even the tiniest bit!” Old Man Cheng drained the clear soup in one gulp and forcefully set the bowl down on the low table—establish the authoritative atmosphere first!

“Must I say everything? That’s several months worth!” Shaoshang was surprised.

Cheng Shi was momentarily speechless, then loudly said: “The rest can be discussed later! First talk about Ling Buyi—exactly how did you come to know him, how many times have you met! What did you say, what did you do!”

“Oh, so it’s this. I wasn’t scared at all,” Shaoshang said leisurely. “Uncle Father and Aunt know all about these things. Huh, they didn’t tell you? Father, it’s not your daughter speaking out of turn, but you must have started scolding Uncle Father the moment you met. Fine, now he won’t say anything. This is called using both kindness and authority—kindness before authority. Uncle Father is a grown man—you need to influence him with brotherly affection like spring wind and rain…”

“Enough!” Madam Xiao couldn’t listen anymore and forcefully struck the low table. “Speak properly!”

Shaoshang laughed: “Father, Mother, I promise to tell you everything. However, some things don’t sound very pleasant to hear. If you get angry and want to beat me, what then?”

Cheng Shi sighed: “Fine, speak freely. I absolutely won’t beat you!”

“You can’t punish me either! A’Yao and I have agreed to do many things. I can’t be confined at home every day copying texts as punishment!”

Old Comrade Cheng suddenly felt wolves ahead and tigers behind, dangerous situations everywhere that he couldn’t rescue in time. He hatefully inhaled and exhaled for two rounds, deeply feeling this was more detestable than when someone had stolen his military merit years ago, yet could only nod with difficulty.

Seeing the conditions negotiated, Shaoshang no longer put on airs. She succinctly and concisely narrated the danger at the hunting lodge, the night conversation at the imperial temporary residence, and the gift of the horse—as for why she didn’t mention the first meeting at the Wan family home? Because shrewd Old Man Cheng and Director Xiao would instantly connect that Ling Buyi should also know about her destroying the bridge and harming people. She’d already taken a severe beating over that matter last time and didn’t want to bring up old issues again.

“Just that simple?” After listening, Cheng Shi looked full of doubt.

Shaoshang said helplessly: “It was originally that simple. Every time we met, it was in full view of everyone. Even A’Yao was there. What could there be?” Thinking carefully, except for that first meeting at the Wan family, she really hadn’t been alone with Ling Buyi even once—cleaner than disinfectant.

Cheng Shi stood up and paced in circles around the hall, his heart full of difficulty, not knowing how to phrase things.

Madam Xiao suddenly said: “Do you know…” She too found it very difficult to phrase. “Do you know who that Ling Buyi is?”

Shaoshang thought for a moment and said hesitantly: “Sister Qiqi told me that Commander Ling holds very many official positions, but I can’t recite them all. A’Yao also told me he’s the Emperor’s adopted son… That seems to be about it…”

“Though Ling Buyi is dignified and amiable, he’s always been taciturn. Niaoniao, to be honest with you, your father has encountered Ling Buyi no fewer than seven or eight times, yet not only have I never exchanged a single word with him, I’ve also never seen him be as… as…” Old Comrade Cheng fell into the problem of lacking vocabulary again, finally saying loudly with a thick face: “As attentive!”

Shaoshang didn’t like this word and frowned: “What ‘attentive’—Father, your words are truly unpleasant! He and A’Yao are like brothers. He’s probably just taking care of us out of consideration for the Lou family.”

“Nonsense! I’ve never heard of any remarkable friendship between Ling Buyi and the Lou family! At most, they’ve extended invitations five or six times, and Ling Buyi attended a banquet once!”

Old Man Cheng was also a person of sharp ears and keen eyes—otherwise he couldn’t have mixed his way to his current position!

“That’s Father being ill-informed. Just because people have a friendship, must they shout it to the whole world?”

“Enough!” Madam Xiao saw this father-daughter pair about to go off track again and closed her eyes, suppressing her anger: “Stop going in circles. Niaoniao, don’t you feel that this person Ling Buyi has… has… intentions toward you?”

“Mother, these words sound even more unpleasant. What do you mean by ‘intentions’?” Shaoshang turned her head, displeased.

“Interest! Interest then!” Old Man Cheng puffed out his beard like a big octopus with waving tentacles. “Don’t you feel that Ling Buyi has interest in you?!”

The couple had thought that asking so directly, the girl would show some bashfulness and coyness. Who knew they only saw their daughter’s eyes clear and bright, showing merely a slightly troubled expression as she said: “Aunt also said these words, but… You see, A’Yao likes me, so without a second word, he immediately asked his parents to come propose marriage. That’s how I know he likes me. But Ling Buyi hasn’t come to propose marriage. What’s in his heart—who knows?”

Cheng Shi choked, thinking these words also made sense.

Madam Xiao closed her eyes and said: “According to what you’re saying, after you parted at the hunting lodge, Ling Buyi has either been suppressing bandits and clearing out criminals or recuperating from severe injuries while unconscious. Even if he wanted to do something, he wouldn’t have had time.”

“Yes, I’ve thought of that too. But things being as they are, we’ll probably never know whether, if Ling Buyi had gotten free time, he would have come to propose marriage to me.” Shaoshang nodded, and at the end even made quite a humorous remark: “Speaking of which, isn’t this Heaven’s will?”

Simply put, Ling Buyi’s interest in her belonged to a conditional clause, and the condition-setting portion needed to use simple present tense. It couldn’t use past tense because he hasn’t proposed marriage yet, nor could it use future tense because he might not necessarily come propose marriage.

Or, it could also be viewed as Schrödinger’s cat—before opening the lid, no one knows if the cat is alive. Unfortunately, now there’s no longer an opportunity to lift the lid.

Cheng Shi was speechless and looked helplessly at his wife.

Madam Xiao stared steadily at her daughter who wasn’t anxious in the slightest. After a moment, she suddenly understood: “Actually, you simply don’t want to let go of this marriage with the Lou family.”

Shaoshang said flatly: “That’s correct. After passing this village, there won’t be this shop. I don’t want to let go of this marriage.”

Cheng Shi sat back down beside his wife in a daze.

Madam Xiao asked: “Niaoniao, let me ask you—do you have feelings for A’Yao?”

This question was like a fine needle, making Shaoshang uncomfortable all over. She immediately countered with a sharp rebuttal, saying mockingly: “Though Mother hasn’t really raised her daughter, her expectations for her daughter are quite high! Let me also ask Mother—these days as you’ve been arranging Cousin Sister’s marriage prospects, are you planning to let Cousin Sister talk about love with some young man before marriage, then ask her whether she has feelings before deciding on the marriage? Isn’t it still parental orders and matchmaker’s words? What difference is there from my current situation? Most couples in the capital nowadays are like this—don’t they all get along fine?”

Cheng Shi frowned, feeling his daughter’s words were quite rude.

Who knew Madam Xiao didn’t get angry at all, but instead said calmly: “You don’t need to provoke me. You and Yangyang are different. Whether she and her future husband have feelings or not, as long as the two treat each other with propriety and mutual respect, they can likewise remain together until white-haired old age—there’s no question of who owes whom. Many harmonious couples in this capital are like this! Don’t avoid my question. Do you love A’Yao the way he loves you?”

Shaoshang was silent for a long while, then said resentfully: “That’s right. I love A’Yao, but it’s not the same as how he loves me. So what?”

“Then you owe him!” Madam Xiao said quietly.

“I don’t agree with Mother’s statement!” Shaoshang struck the floor heavily with one palm and said loudly: “There are many kinds of feelings in this world—they don’t necessarily have to be mutual tenderness. Did Mother have deep feelings for Father before marriage? Your daughter believes that the best marriages in this world are all based on each taking what they need. As long as Second Uncle Father can give Second Aunt glory, wealth, prestige, and pomp, even if he beats his bride three times a day, Second Aunt can endure it and carry on.”

“I will be a good wife to A’Yao. I don’t need to love him that much to be a good wife to him! I’ll take good care of him, inquire after his well-being in cold and warm weather, be considerate and attentive. I’ll strategize for his official career, manage estates, and reform regulations. When he’s downcast, I’ll praise him; when he’s proud, I’ll admonish him. I’ll help him become a more capable, more accomplished upstanding man! I’ll make everyone say that the Lou family really chose right in taking me as their bride!” Shaoshang breathed heavily, almost shouting.

After a long while, Cheng Shi said softly: “Niaoniao, it’s not like that. Your father knows that if the world hadn’t fallen into great chaos causing the Xiao family to suffer calamity, I could never have married your mother in my entire life. But today I still must say this: if I could do it over again, even if I had no fate or connection with your mother in this life, I would still rather she have her whole family intact, her father and brothers alive, still be that proud Miss Xiao of the Xiao family, as proud as the blazing sun! At that time I already knew your mother had no particular feelings for me. I was willing to slowly wait for her, but… but does A’Yao know?”

Shaoshang stared blankly as tears fell, each teardrop heavily striking the floor, making deep, heavy sounds.

The girl’s voice seemed to float from somewhere far away: “But… what if I don’t have such good luck?”

“Father could help Mother revive her family business, so Mother married him. Aunt wanted to escape the pitying gazes and constant remarks of relatives and friends, so from among reliable candidates she picked the most pleasing to the eye. How does Mother know I can’t be like you and Aunt, gradually developing deep affection for A’Yao after marriage!”

“Father, Mother, and also Third Uncle Father and Third Aunt—you’re all ideal celestial couples. There will always be celestial couples in this world, but I… I don’t have such good luck to encounter one, so what then?”

The dripping tears had already soaked her collar. The girl sat ramrod straight in the center, her whole body trembling with anger, her spirit mixed with stubbornness and confusion.

Her luck had never been good from childhood. She’d never had good fortune fall from the sky. To obtain anything, she always had to pay double the effort.

As long as she studied hard, her grades would always be good. As long as she worked hard at cultivating relationships, she would have close friends and confidantes. Even regarding emotions—as long as she worked hard, she could definitely come to love that person she ‘wanted’ to love.

Though it was deliberate, her ‘effort’ was also sincere!

Why must Old Man Cheng and Director Xiao criticize her!

Since there was a smooth, easy road to walk, why must she climb thorny mountain ridges?!

Couldn’t she just follow Heaven’s will? Heaven sent A’Yao before her, she grasped him—what was wrong with that?!

After listening to this entire speech, Cheng Shi was completely shocked.

He actually wasn’t asking his daughter to become a celestial couple—marital fate was fate, something that could be encountered but not sought. Nor was he telling his daughter to cling to Ling Buyi and perform that act of social climbing. Actually, having reached this point in the conversation, it no longer had anything to do with Lou Yao or Ling Buyi. Rather, it was his daughter’s calm-to-the-point-of-negative thoughts that were truly too shocking.

In his dizziness and mental fog, Cheng Shi habitually groped for his wife’s hand. After finding and grasping it, he discovered his wife’s hand was frighteningly cold, like that of a dead person.

“Fine, just live well with A’Yao. Your father and I won’t say anything more.” Madam Xiao’s face was deathly pale, her breathing trembled, yet her tone was very gentle. “We hope you can love each other for life, without tribulations.”

That last sentence sounded almost like a prayer.