Qi Zhaoye slipped away quietly in the dead of night.
Though dignity couldn’t fill his stomach, he still couldn’t bear the thought of being unceremoniously kicked out by Qing Luan once his injuries healed. So he chose to leave silently, leaving only Qi Yuchen by her side.
His little brother knew how to make himself endearing. If he could win her affection, perhaps she might even take him in as her own.
Without him, there would be one less mouth to feed. She wouldn’t have to spend money on medicine anymore, nor would she need to brew his medicine, change his dressings, or help him change clothes every day… He was nothing but a burden…
The night wind brushed against his face as the boy, dressed in clothes far too thin for the late autumn chill, walked alone into the darkness.
With one less person in the bed, Qi Yuchen didn’t feel cold, but out of habit, he reached out to find someone to hug. After groping around for a while without finding his brother, he drowsily opened his eyes.
Had his brother gone to the outhouse?
He, too, had the habit of waking up at night. Yawning, he stumbled toward the outhouse in the dark.
The moonless night was pitch black. Standing alone outside, the cold wind sent shivers down his spine, and the boy gradually grew frightened.
“Brother?” he called softly, but there was no response.
Feeling uneasy, he turned to go back into the main house to find Qing Luan, but the door was bolted from the inside. Unable to push it open, Qi Yuchen didn’t know what to do.
Only then did he notice that the latch on the courtyard gate, which should have been securely fastened, had been removed—had his brother gone out?
“Yuchen, stay with Auntie and be at ease. She’s a good person. As long as you’re sensible and obedient, Auntie will surely like you, and maybe she’ll even adopt you as her child.”
“What about you, brother?”
“Brother… has his own place to go.”
Qi Yuchen’s still-developing little mind recalled the words his brother had spoken to him yesterday morning. Only now did he realize: his brother wanted him to become Auntie’s son—his brother didn’t want him anymore!
A whimper of grievance rose in his throat, his little face scrunching up. Standing there, he looked toward the main house, then toward the courtyard gate, so anxious that tears welled in his eyes.
After a moment of hesitation, he ran toward the courtyard gate, clumsily and with great effort pulled it open, and dashed outside.
The two little ones had no relatives or connections in Yunxi, and no one to rely on. At their age, no one would even hire them for work. Where could they possibly go without her? Qing Luan felt a headache coming on.
She had only said those things to prepare them mentally, not to kick them out. Why did they have to leave without even saying goodbye, as if she were some kind of wicked villain? It was truly frustrating.
First, there was Qi Zheng, who couldn’t even rest in peace and kept haunting her dreams. And now these two little ones, just like him, were causing her endless worry.
Once they were gone, she shouldn’t have bothered with their affairs. But the thought of the two children sleeping on the streets again, pitifully begging for food, made her heart ache faintly.
If they were annoying, troublesome children, she might have let it go.
But these two—one precocious and resilient, the other sweet and adorable—had already shed the spoiled habits from their pampered upbringing after months of hardship. How could she bear to let them continue wandering and suffering?
Before the sun had even risen, she went to the dilapidated temple in the southern part of the city where beggars gathered, asking about the whereabouts of the two brothers.
“Are you the proprietress of Su Zhen’s Food Shop?” one of the beggars recognized her.
Qing Luan nodded. “I’m looking for two children—brothers. The older one is nine, about this tall,” she gestured to her waist, “and the younger one is five, a little taller than my knees. Has anyone seen them?”
The beggars gradually awoke from their slumber and, recognizing her as the kind-hearted proprietress who had sent her staff to distribute food, grew eager in their demeanor.
One man stood up on his own initiative. “I saw the older one last night. He was at the entrance of Chenghua Street, sleeping under the city gate tower. I don’t know if he was planning to leave the city.”
“Just him alone? Wasn’t there a younger one with him?” Qing Luan pressed anxiously.
The man shook his head. “Only him. There was no one else.”
How could that be? The two brothers had traveled all the way from Jingcheng to this place, covering thousands of li without ever parting. No matter where he intended to go, he would never abandon his younger brother.
The abnormality of the situation unsettled Qing Luan. She fished out a dozen copper coins from her pocket and distributed them among the beggars, asking them to continue searching for Qi Yuchen.
She hurried alone to Chenghua Street. At its end, she indeed spotted the young boy curled up alone beneath the city wall.
The newly risen sun had yet to reach the corner of the wall. The stone bricks on the street were covered in white frost, and the air carried a damp, biting chill. Unable to sleep from the cold, the boy squinted his eyes and saw her.
Guiltily, he lowered his gaze, with nowhere to hide.
Qing Luan strode over, grabbed him by the collar, suppressed the urge to slap him, and demanded in a low voice, “Who told you to leave? A perfectly good house to stay in, yet you come here to sleep by the wall. With all your injuries, do you even plan to heal? Your father is gone—is this how you treat yourself?”
The boy’s eyes were lifeless. Whether it was from her gripping his collar and choking him or from the sting of her scolding, his eyes grew moist.
After a long while, he finally spoke. “Your life is hard enough. It doesn’t matter if I don’t take the medicine—the pain is already gone… I told you that day, you don’t need to worry about me.”
Qing Luan frowned deeply, released him, and pressed her palm helplessly against her forehead.
“I’m not abandoning you. I can take care of you both for a while, until you recover…”
“One day, one month—what’s the difference?” The boy’s voice was hoarse, his expression lifeless. “Aunt, I know you mean well, but I’m tired of being treated like a burden—weighed and measured, only to be tossed aside in the end… If you can’t raise me, don’t give me hope, as if coaxing me to live on means someone would truly want me.”
Loss, endless loss.
Abandoned, deceived, forced to face pressures and fears unbearable for his age, alone and terrified.
Even his own clan couldn’t be trusted. Even the woman his father had loved didn’t want them. After all this, how could he still expect a stranger to treat him well, to raise him as a son?
Faced with his despair, Qing Luan was left speechless.
She didn’t have that much misplaced pride—born into the dust, every step she took was an upward climb.
He, on the other hand, was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, taught dignity and propriety. Now that he had fallen, every struggle felt like a descent.
Unsure how to refute him, she simply asked, “You just left, abandoning even your younger brother? He’s still so young. Have you ever thought about how he’ll survive alone?”
Qi Zhaoye snapped back to reality and scrambled up from the ground. “Yuchen? I left him at your house.”
Both of them panicked instantly, setting aside their argument to search for him.
Half an hour later, two beggars approached.
“Proprietress Qing, we just found out—that child was taken by Liu San and his gang. We don’t know where they took him.”
“Liu San and his gang are local ruffians, always up to shady dealings. They’d do anything for money. If the child fell into their hands, he was surely sold off.”
Ruffians? Qing Luan felt she had heard of this gang somewhere before. She took out some silver pieces to thank the two men who had brought the news, asking them to continue helping search, then turned to Qi Zhaoye.
“Do you know Liu San?”
Qi Zhaoye shook his head. Anxious and frustrated over not finding his younger brother, even his pain seemed to lessen. Suddenly, he remembered that shortly after arriving in Yunxi, Qi Yuchen had spoken with a lame man, after which the brothers were cornered by a group of ruffians.
Recalling the gang’s intentions, he blurted out, “There was a group earlier who wanted to take Yuchen away, to make him an adopted son of the Qiu family. I refused, and that’s why they beat me up.”
Hearing this, Qing Luan also recalled that Su Zhen had mentioned before that Elder Qiu liked to adopt children whose birth characters matched his.
Qi Yuchen had spoken with that lame man—he must have been tricked into revealing his birth details then, which was why he was targeted.
Sure enough, soon a beggar came forward, saying he had personally seen Liu San and his gang take the child to the back gate of the Qiu residence. Qi Yuchen entered the Qiu household and never came out again.
Inside the Qiu residence, preparations were underway for a family banquet.
The eldest grandson, Qiu Cong, was bustling about managing the arrangements, personally placing the incense burner on the ancestral hall altar. He was clearly the most favored descendant by his grandfather after his own father.
The gatekeeper came to report, “Eldest Young Master, there’s a lady outside who says she’s the proprietor of Su Zhen’s Food Shop, here to deliver pastries to you.”
“Qing Luan?!” Qiu Cong’s face lit up with delight.
Last month, he had frequented that food shop just to catch more glimpses of the pretty young lady behind the counter. This month, for some reason, she was sometimes there and sometimes not. He had gone to the shop for three nights in a row to drink, but hadn’t seen her, leaving him disheartened, so he visited less often.
He hadn’t expected that after just a few days of not going, the young lady would come looking for him herself. It seemed that after meeting more people, she finally realized how rare and precious a gentleman like him—with a solid family background and well-educated manners—truly was.
Qiu Cong felt a surge of joy, hurriedly straightening his attire before striding quickly to the front courtyard. Seeing the woman standing at the gate, his eyes brightened, and his steps slowed for a moment.
Today, she had changed into a delicate cherry-pink silk dress. The fabric was light, thin, and soft, outlining her slender, youthful figure under the gentle autumn sunlight. Her waist was cinched finely, and as she moved, the hem of her skirt swayed slightly, like a peach blossom stirred by the spring breeze.
At her temple, she wore a fluffy pink flower and a simple silver hairpin, making her face appear even more luminous, like polished jade.
She waited by the gate, quietly lowering her gaze slightly. Her soft lips were naturally rosy without any rouge. Compared to her usual plain, simple attire of wooden hairpins and cotton dresses, today she looked delicate, charming, and carried a hint of elusive youthful innocence that made one’s mouth go dry.
Qiu Cong was momentarily speechless, his eyes glued to her as if unable to move.
“Young Master Qiu?” Qing Luan bit back a smile and called to him softly.
“Ah, Miss Qing Luan.” Qiu Cong snapped back to reality, smiling as he stepped forward. His gaze swept over the food box in her hands, pausing briefly on her chest before lifting his eyes and resuming the guise of a proper noble gentleman.
“The pastry shop across from the food shop has released new treats. Thinking you might enjoy such delicate snacks, I bought some to bring over for you to try.” She handed him the food box.
“Good, good.” Qiu Cong couldn’t suppress his smile, instructing a servant to take the box.
Qing Luan glanced at the bustling activity in the estate and asked curiously, “Is your household preparing a banquet? I had originally hoped to ask for a cup of tea from the young master, but it seems I’ve come at an inconvenient time…”
“You coming makes me happy; it’s the perfect timing.” Qiu Cong reached around behind her but, mindful of the servants present, dared not touch her. Instead, he eagerly invited her inside.
“We’re just hosting a small family banquet, and the feast won’t start until evening. We can have tea and chat for a while; it won’t interfere with anything.”
Qiu Cong led her into the estate, his face beaming with joy.
The paths within the deep, sprawling mansion twisted and turned, but fortunately, Qing Luan had seen her share of the world. Feigning innocence, she asked a couple of questions and quickly grasped the layout and directions within the Qiu residence.
“Young Master, handling the banquet preparations alone must be both laborious and taxing—truly the pillar of your household,” Qing Luan praised softly, then added with curiosity, “Since you are so outstanding, why would the master of the house still adopt other children?”
The Qiu family’s charitable act of adopting children was no secret.
Qiu Cong was eager to be alone with her, but the young lady was petite and walked with graceful, measured steps, forcing him to slow his pace to accompany her. It gave off a sense of strolling side by side through a leisurely garden.
He answered casually, “My grandfather believes that more sons bring more blessings, so my father adopted them. Don’t worry—those children only go through the rituals in the ancestral hall, receive the name of Qiu descendants, and are then sent to the Zhongnan Mountain Taoist temple to pray for my grandfather’s longevity and accumulate blessings. They’ll never return in their lifetime.”
The Zhongnan Mountain Taoist temple—it was said that the Taoist priests there once refined golden elixirs to offer to the royal family.
Qing Luan didn’t press further, guessing that Qi Yuchen was either locked in the woodshed or somewhere near the ancestral hall.
As they spoke, they arrived outside Qiu Cong’s courtyard. His face slightly flushed, he pushed the door open and tentatively asked, “Miss, did you come only for tea?”
Hearing this, her eyes sparkled as she playfully tapped his shoulder with her fingertip.
With ambiguous teasing, she said, “I’d love to share a couple of drinks with you, but it’s still daylight. If I were to get drunk and collapse in your courtyard, what would people think? You have a family banquet tonight—don’t let me delay your important matters.”
Her fair, slender finger approached along with the delicate fragrance of a woman, and Qiu Cong was overjoyed, saying he would follow her lead in everything.
Entering the study, he dismissed the servants. After two cups of tea, the young man fell into a deep slumber.
Qing Luan rose and left the room, venturing deeper into the Qiu estate.
Qiu Cong had invited her in and led her through the entire garden. The busy servants in the estate had seen her clearly, knowing she was the young master’s guest. Now, seeing her “strolling” alone in the garden, no one grew suspicious. In fact, an eager maid even pointed the way for her.
With a pleasing appearance, fine clothing, and elegant, wealthy attire, one could earn the respect of servants.
—People respect the robe before the person.
This was something she had learned while serving as a maid. Now, pretending to be an “honored guest” in front of others came naturally to her.
Finding no one in the woodshed, Qing Luan detoured to the ancestral hall. After searching inside and out, she finally heard unusual noises coming from the side hall of the ancestral hall.
The door was locked from the outside. Unhurried, she removed a silver hairpin, bent and twisted it, inserted it into the keyhole, and unlocked it.
Pushing the door open, she entered the dimly lit side hall. There, Qi Yuchen was tightly bound to a pillar with coarse hemp rope, his eyes covered securely with a black cloth, a rag stuffed in his mouth, his face flushed purple. Only the faint rise and fall of his chest proved he was still alive.
Qing Luan hurried forward and removed the cloth from his eyes.
Seeing that it was his aunt, Qi Yuchen’s reddened eyes streamed with tears. At her signal to stay quiet, he stifled his sobs and slumped weakly into her embrace, his posture one of complete dependence.
The little thing’s tears were scalding, quickly soaking through her silk robe. Qing Luan wanted to tell him not to cry, but as her palm rested on his bony, jutting spine, pity welled up in her heart, and her reproachful words melted into silent, gentle pats.
When his sobs gradually subsided, she leaned close to his ear and whispered, “Cry enough now, but once we step outside, you mustn’t make a sound, remember?”
“Mm!” Qi Yuchen nodded vigorously, burying his small face even deeper into the crook of her neck.
Taking a deep breath, Qing Luan lifted him steadily. “Let’s go. Auntie will take you home.”