When she got home, Xuezhi handed over the mended clothes to Fu Shiyue and said, “Fu scholar, my sewing skills might not be very good. Don’t mind it.”
As she spoke, Xuezhi gave him an embarrassed smile.
Perhaps infected by her smile, Fu Shiyue also unconsciously curved his lips. He carefully looked at the stitching, gently touching it with his hand, and said softly, “Your skills are very good—better than those in the tailoring shop.”
“Then… do you like it?”
“I like it.” Fu Shiyue answered instinctively.
As soon as the words left his mouth, he froze. Like it? Did he mean the clothes—or the person?
This question only lingered in his mind for a second.
Because the moment he saw Xuezhi’s face, everything became clear.
He liked Xuezhi.
Perhaps he had liked her for a very, very long time.
When he was six years old, Xuezhi came to Fu Family Village with Xue Wan.
Both of them were covered in dust and wore dirty, worn-out clothes.
Even though the village was poor, children rarely looked that ragged. No matter how poor a family was, they would at least try to keep their children clean and warm.
But after she was washed and cleaned up, she stunned him.
Young Xuezhi was cute and beautiful—there was no girl in the village prettier than her.
She had nothing but the clothes on her back, and even those were later replaced by his mother’s old clothes out of pity.
Yet somehow, the same clothes looked ordinary on him but beautiful on her.
Because the Xue family lived next door, when Xue Wan was busy, she would send Xuezhi to their house. His mother always asked him to take care of her.
To this day, he still remembered his mother’s words:
“Shiyue, take good care of your little sister.”
“Shiyue, do you think your sister is pretty? Do you want to marry her in the future?”
At that time, he already knew how to feel shy. He didn’t answer—but in his heart, he already had.
Yes. He wanted to marry Xuezhi.
Unfortunately, those days only lasted two short years.
When he was eight and Xuezhi was five, his father saved enough money and sent him to study at a town academy. He could only return home on the first and fifteenth of each month.
After that, their contact gradually became less and less.
Until he heard that she was getting married.
That day, he had just returned home on break. During dinner, his mother suddenly mentioned it:
“Xuezhi is about to get married. Shiyue, you’re older than her—when are you getting married? Do you have any girl you like? I can help you ask.”
His father interrupted, “Enough. Marriage can wait. Studying is more important now.”
“Yes, yes,” his mother agreed.
When he heard this, Fu Shiyue’s hand holding the chopsticks suddenly paused, then quickly returned to normal as he suppressed the shock and loss in his eyes.
He casually asked, “Which family is she marrying into?”
“From our village—Fu Lin,” his mother replied.
Only his father looked slightly surprised and glanced at him quietly, saying nothing.
Fu Shiyue finished his meal quickly and returned to his room. That night, he didn’t write a single word of his schoolwork—and didn’t sleep at all.
The next morning, he went out early and saw Xuezhi heading up the mountain. He followed her, wanting to ask if she was really getting married—could she not marry?
But instead, he saw her and Fu Lin embracing and kissing intimately.
Watching her blush and look shy in another man’s arms, his heart felt like it was plunged into freezing ice.
He turned and left without looking back.
After that, he no longer deliberately paid attention to her.
On her wedding night, Fu Lin was forcibly conscripted into the army.
Xuezhi’s mother once asked him to help investigate. That was the only time he ever did something wrong.
“Shiyue, you’re a scholar. You know people in the county office. Please help Xuezhi check on Fu Lin,” Xue Wan begged.
At that time, he had just become a scholar. He agreed on the surface, but after learning Fu Lin was being sent to the northern border, a strange sense of secret relief arose in him.
The northern border of the Great An Kingdom was extremely cold and constantly at war. Soldiers sent there rarely returned alive.
In other words, Fu Lin would most likely die.
He had thought Xuezhi would divorce him after hearing the news. After all, they hadn’t even consummated the marriage.
But she didn’t. She chose to wait.
At that moment, he only thought Fu Lin was lucky.
Soon after, Xue Wan passed away.
Before he could take the provincial exam, his father also died, delaying his studies for three years.
After that, he rarely returned to the village and deliberately avoided news about Xuezhi.
Until one day, he passed by the river and saw a struggling figure in the water. Just one glance, and he knew it was her.
His mind exploded. His body moved before his thoughts. He jumped in and saved her.
When he saw her face, his tense heart finally relaxed.
Fortunately. Fortunately.
But not long after, her mother-in-law rushed out and accused her. Only then did he learn what had happened.
She had been willing to wait for someone whose life or death was unknown—so how could she possibly have an affair?
After hearing how she was treated in the Fu family, he felt pity for her. When she mentioned divorce, something in his heart quietly cracked open.
He was not a naturally compassionate person. Paying for a doctor, helping her stay—he only realized later that he may have had selfish motives.
Only then did he understand.
His feelings for her were not pure.
Xuezhi secretly watched him for a while, then took out the twenty taels of silver and said, “Fu scholar, I have money now. I can return what I owed you.”
Fu Shiyue felt a faint loss.
He didn’t want her to return the money so quickly—if she did, there would be nothing between them anymore.
With the money, she could repair her house and move out.
He waved his hand. “No rush. You can use it to repair the house or buy land. You said you wanted to do business anyway.”
“…But—”
“No buts.”
“Alright then. Thank you, Fu scholar.”
“I told you,” he suddenly said, “don’t call me that anymore.”
“Ah? Then what should I call you?”
“Call me the same as before.”
“…Before?”
She frowned, trying to remember, then hesitantly said, “Fu… brother?”
Fu Shiyue’s expression stiffened.
Because she used the same “Fu brother” for Fu Lin.
“Call me Shiyue ge.”
“Shiyue ge?”
“…Brother Shiyue.”
“Brother Shiyue,” she suddenly called, “was I always calling you that before?”
Fu Shiyue nodded slightly.
Then she noticed—every time she said “Brother Shiyue,” his ears turned a little redder.
After she mentioned returning to the academy, Fu Shiyue quickly went back to retrieve his belongings, almost fleeing in haste.
Xuezhi watched his retreating back and couldn’t help laughing.
So the young Fu Shiyue was this pure.
Just a name could make him blush.
Then suddenly, a thought formed in her mind.
Fu Shiyue was going to become the future Chief Minister—second only to the emperor.
Far more powerful than Fu Lin.
At first, she only wanted to cling to his influence for protection.
But now…
He liked her.
Then why couldn’t she make this “thigh” even more secure?
A wife was far closer than a friend.
If she became Fu Shiyue’s wife, she would be the Chief Minister’s wife.
Revenge would be much easier.
The more she thought, the more feasible it seemed.
She didn’t like him now—but that didn’t matter.
Feelings could be cultivated.
Compared to revenge, nothing else mattered.