Wen Hui gently patted Lu Jiaojiao’s back as it trembled faintly with her sobs. Her voice was like the warmest breeze of spring, slowly brushing over the anxiety in her heart.
“Your sister-in-law knows. Our Jiaojiao has been wronged.”
She spoke softly, her fingers gently smoothing Lu Jiaojiao’s slightly disheveled hair.
“You’ve been bottling everything up inside. It’s all right to cry. Here with your sister-in-law, you can make as much of a fuss as you want.”
When Lu Jiaojiao’s crying gradually subsided into soft whimpers, Wen Hui finally picked up the cup of warm honey water beside her and brought it to her lips. She watched as Lu Jiaojiao took small sips, her complexion no longer quite as pale as before.
“Your sister-in-law knows there’s someone in your heart.”
Wen Hui lowered her voice further, her tone carrying understanding and a faint trace of regret.
“Young Master Gu… he is indeed an outstanding young man, handsome and refined, gentle and courteous.”
Those words struck directly at Lu Jiaojiao’s heart. Tears immediately welled up in her eyes again.
“But, Jiaojiao…”
Wen Hui took her slightly cold hand. Her tone remained gentle, but there was now a heavier note of practicality.
“You understand this in your heart as well. Leaving aside the fact that the Gu family belongs to the scholarly civil officials and has little association with military households like ours, there is also this sudden imperial decree granting the marriage. The Emperor’s will has been decided. His word is law—how could it possibly be treated as a joke?”
“This is no longer simply a matter of whether the two of you like each other or not. It concerns the Lu family, the Huo family, the honor and reputation of both households, and the Emperor’s dignity.”
Lu Jiaojiao lowered her eyes.
Yes.
Both families were military households distinguished by their service and achievements. Whether by custom or circumstance, they could not simply form a marriage alliance with a family of civil officials.
Seeing Lu Jiaojiao’s eyes flicker and her lips part as though she wanted to argue, Wen Hui gently squeezed her palm and continued:
“Your sister-in-law isn’t asking you to resign yourself to your fate immediately. I simply can’t bear to watch you ruin your health like this.”
“Think about it. If you really starve yourself into illness, who will suffer the most?”
“Your father and mother. Your elder brother. And me, your sister-in-law.”
“As for that Young General Huo…” Wen Hui paused deliberately. “I’m afraid he wouldn’t even raise an eyebrow. He might even be outside drinking in celebration, happy that he’s rid himself of an old rival.”
Lu Jiaojiao abruptly raised her head, her eyes widening.
The word celebration had clearly struck a nerve.
Immediately, Huo Shiran’s smug, triumphant face appeared in her mind. The anger that had only just begun to fade suddenly flared up again.
Wen Hui carefully observed her expression. Knowing that her words had worked, she pressed on while softening her voice further.
“Good Jiaojiao, be good and eat something first. Your body belongs to you. It is your greatest asset.”
“Only if you stay healthy and gather your strength will you have the energy in the future—whether to face him or to think of some other solution. Isn’t that right?”
She picked up a small, exquisitely made crab roe pastry and held it to Lu Jiaojiao’s lips. Its tempting fragrance drifted gently through the air.
“Besides, when has a daughter of the Lu family ever truly suffered a loss?”
A faint, almost imperceptible glint of shrewdness flashed through Wen Hui’s eyes. Her voice softened as though she were sharing a secret.
“Marrying into that family doesn’t mean you’ve lost the battle. There’s plenty of time ahead. Who ends up ‘dealing with’ whom is still uncertain.”
“But for now, you need to eat your fill. Only then will you have the strength to make plans at leisure. Don’t you agree?”
Lu Jiaojiao looked into her sister-in-law’s gentle, encouraging eyes. The aroma of the food lingered right before her.
At last, the stubborn defenses she had built around her heart cracked open slightly.
After hesitating for a moment, she leaned forward and, with Wen Hui holding the pastry, took a small bite of the crab roe pastry.
The crisp outer layer melted in her mouth, followed by the rich, savory flavor.
The grievance was still there.
The unwillingness was still there.
And her hatred for Huo Shiran had not diminished in the slightest.
But Wen Hui’s words were like a thin rope, pulling her—if only temporarily—back from the edge of the swamp of despair.
That was right.
She couldn’t starve herself to death first and let that Huo Blockhead laugh at her!
She had to live.
She had to live well.
Only then could she fight him to the bitter end!
Seeing that Lu Jiaojiao was finally willing to eat, Wen Hui secretly breathed a sigh of relief. A genuine smile appeared on her face as she scooped up a spoonful of warm almond cream and held it out to her.
“Eat slowly. It’s all yours.”
Wen Hui’s words—both comforting and quietly encouraging—were like a few drops of cool dew falling into the boiling fury inside Lu Jiaojiao.
They could not completely extinguish the flames, but they did, at least for the moment, lessen their scorching heat.
Over the following days, Lu Jiaojiao’s courtyard indeed became much quieter.
There were no longer sounds of things being smashed, nor were there cries, arguments, or curses.
She actually became quiet.
Every day, she either remained in her study practicing calligraphy, or sat beneath the window playing the qin. Occasionally, she even picked up a needle and thread and did a little embroidery.
Yet the strokes of the characters she copied would occasionally lose control, carrying a sharpness in their forceful sweeps and slashes.
And if one listened carefully to the clear, chiming notes of her qin, there was always a trace of lingering resentment and bitterness woven into the melody.
It was like the dampness of the rainy season in Jiangnan—heavy and impossible to dispel, leaving one’s heart inexplicably restless.
Her sudden “obedience,” this quiet and well-behaved acceptance of her fate, made Madam Chen, the Marchioness of Yongning, feel even worse than when Lu Jiaojiao had been crying and making a scene.
That evening, Madam Chen watched as the Marquis of Yongning, Lu Sheng, removed his official robes and rubbed his aching temples.
Unable to hold back any longer, she began wiping away tears again.
“My lord, just look at Jiaojiao now…”
“She’s quiet, yes, but seeing her like this pains my heart even more than when she was crying and making a fuss!”
“You and I both know what kind of temperament she has. She has always been fiery, the sort who cannot tolerate the slightest grievance.”
“Now she’s forcing herself to suppress everything. My heart… I can’t stop worrying.”
Twisting her handkerchief anxiously, Madam Chen continued:
“And that boy from the Huo family has the temperament of a stubborn mule too. He and Jiaojiao have been at odds since they were children.”
“If these two sworn enemies are forcibly thrown together, what will happen after they’re married? Won’t their courtyard be in complete chaos every single day?”
“And Jiaojiao… with her little schemes and tricks, how could she truly compete with all the complexities of a great household?”
“And that boy from the Huo family—what if… what if she’s wronged there? What if she has no one beside her to stand up for her or listen to her grievances? What then?”
Listening to his wife’s sobs, Lu Sheng felt equally troubled.
How could he not cherish his precious daughter, whom he had been blessed with late in life?
But precisely because he and Huo Tingyuan, the Marquis of Wuan, were brothers-in-arms who had fought side by side through mountains of corpses and seas of blood, Lu Sheng knew the Huo family well.
He knew Huo Tingyuan’s character.
He knew the Huo family’s principles.
He knew their children’s temperaments.
And for that very reason, he understood even more clearly that this marriage was already a foregone conclusion.
Whether for the sake of the state or their families, there was no longer any room to turn back.
He sighed and reached out to pat his wife gently on the shoulder.
His voice carried the steadiness of a seasoned military man, though his helplessness was impossible to conceal.
“All right. Stop crying.”
“Do you think I don’t understand your worries?”
“Jiaojiao’s temperament is indeed a little fierce, and that boy from the Huo family is certainly a rascal.”
“But things have already come to this. The Emperor has spoken. Are we supposed to defy an imperial decree?”
“If we did that, we would truly be pushing both families into the fire.”
He paused and looked toward the deep darkness beyond the window, as though his gaze could penetrate the high walls and reach his old friend, who might very well be suffering from the same worries at that very moment.
“Old Huo… you know what Huo Tingyuan is like. He is the most upright and honorable of men. With him keeping watch, nothing too serious will happen within the Huo household.”
“As for the children in the future…”
He sighed.
“Children and grandchildren have their own fortunes.”
“Perhaps… perhaps all that bickering and fighting will simply become their way of getting along.”
“For now, all we can do is take one step at a time.”
“Cough… cough…”
Madam Chen frowned. She was still worried about the two young people, but when she heard him coughing again, she immediately rose and went to the table to pour him some hot water.
“Why are you coughing again? We should have a physician come and take a look.”
Lu Sheng took the cup and swallowed a large mouthful of water before shaking his head.
“It’s nothing.”