Meng Zhengde said, "Over these years, Marquis Zhenbei couldn’t find you, so the Marquis’s Mansion erected a cenotaph in your name. Many young ladies in the capital have been vying desperately to become the Houye’s second wife, but he hasn’t married any of them. If it weren’t for the Empress Dowager last year, who couldn’t bear to see Xiu’er and the others without a mother to rely on, and specifically arranged for the Houye to…"
Meng Nanzhi remained noncommittal. This man truly wanted to have his cake and eat it too—enjoying all the benefits while maintaining a spotless reputation.
Marquis Zhenbei wasn’t guarding his heart for her sake at all; it was merely an excuse to marry that friend of his—Lin Wanrou.
At this point, Meng Zhengde instinctively glanced at his daughter.
Seeing nothing amiss with her, Meng Zhengde continued, "When I first saw you looking exactly the same as you did ten years ago, without the slightest change, my first suspicion was that other factions, aiming to get close to the Houye, had deliberately sent you to approach me first."
Meng Zhengde sighed, "After all, these years, everyone in the capital knows I come here to fish every day."
Seeing his daughter still silent, Meng Zhengde hurriedly comforted her, "Zhi Zhi, don’t worry. Now that you’re back, the position of the Marquis’s wife is undoubtedly yours. I’ll take you to the Marquis’s Mansion to see him right away."
Meng Nanzhi quickly stopped her father, "Father, I don’t wish to return to the Marquis’s Mansion for now."
Meng Nanzhi knew her father’s heart ached for her, but after witnessing Marquis Zhenbei rescue Lin Wanrou from the lake first and leaving her to drown, she no longer wanted to be that wretched Marquis’s wife.
But if she wasn’t the Marquis’s wife, how could she reclaim custody of her children?
Thinking of this, Meng Nanzhi asked, "Father, how does the ping wife treat my child?"
Meng Zhengde replied, "With kindness and affection, always protective."
Meng Nanzhi asked, "And how is my child?"
Meng Zhengde frowned, "Xiu’er, he…"
Before Meng Zhengde could finish, clamoring sounds came from outside the carriage.
"Hurry, hurry!"
"Clear the street! The young shizi of Marquis Zhenbei’s household is coming!"
"Run quickly! Don’t block his way, or you’ll surely get a whip."
In an instant, the bustling market turned into an empty street.
Meng Nanzhi frowned, "Fu Bo, stop."
Dusk pressed down upon the long street, dampness seeping from the cracks in the bluestone pavement. A clear, sharp shout pierced the silence.
"Hyah!"
A youth in white rode atop a pure black steed. As the horse’s mane flew, the youth’s sleeves fluttered like the wings of a white bird, forming a stark contrast against the deepening dusk behind him.
Behind the youth followed two riders clad in black, servants with curved blades at their waists, their eyes scanning both sides like hawks.
Vendors had long since packed up their stalls, peddlers huddled against walls, and even cats and dogs tucked their tails and hid in alleyways.
Hooves splashed through puddles, muddy water splattering onto doors, which creaked and tightened by half an inch.
Suddenly, the youth raised his eyes, his gaze colder than icicles. A peeking child burst into tears with a "wah!" and was hastily dragged away by an adult.
Meng Nanzhi raised an eyebrow and looked at her father: ?
With kindness and affection, always protective?
My sunny, gentle boy has been raised into this monstrous state?
Meng Zhengde helplessly waved his hand: What could I do? As an outsider and a minister, how could I control the Houye’s child?
Meng Nanzhi kicked her father. Meng Zhengde had no choice but to step out of the carriage to stop the youth. "Xiu’er."
"Whoa…"
Shen Yanxiu tightened the reins, dismounted, and bowed. "Grandfather, what are you doing here? Have you been fishing again?"
At least he knew his manners, not making him lose face in front of his daughter.
Meng Zhengde nodded, yet voiced his dissatisfaction, "Look at you, riding on horseback through the streets, forcing commoners to avoid you, causing infants to cry. Where are you off to now to cause trouble?"
"Grandfather." Shen Yanxiu lowered his gaze, yet his eyes carried an air of arrogance. "Your grandson is on his way to the Ming Family to break off the engagement with that Miss Ming."
"This is utter nonsense!"
Meng Zhengde angrily flicked his sleeve, raising his eyes to glance at the carriage with its curtains tightly drawn. He asked, "Tell me, has your father agreed to this annulment?"
Shen Yanxiu snorted coldly, "Hah, what does that man have to do with my marriage?"
Meng Zhengde said, "Your engagement with the Ming Family was arranged by your late grandfather. To break it off without your parents' consent—if your mother were to find out…"
"My mother is dead. Please, Grandfather, say no more."
Shen Yanxiu's eyes reddened, his tone resolute: "I have heard that Miss Ming lacked proper upbringing from a young age, possessing neither talent nor virtue, and would be unfit to manage the household affairs if she entered our mansion. Moreover, her father is a traitor who colluded with the enemy. Such a stain is something our Marquis's Mansion must never be tainted with. Marrying such a woman would not only disgrace our family's reputation but also risk bringing disaster upon us. Grandfather, you have always been clear-sighted and, aside from my younger siblings, are the closest person to me. You must understand the stakes involved. This marriage is something I absolutely cannot accept."
With that, he bowed deeply. When he straightened up again, there was not the slightest hint of compromise in his eyes.
It's over. After all, things are proceeding according to the plot from that scene.
The eldest son would next be misled into breaking the engagement arranged by the late Houye, after which he would give others grounds for criticism, gradually becoming a hypocrite who forgets righteousness for profit.
Meng Nanzhi sighed softly, rose, and stepped down from the carriage. Gazing at the young man she had not seen for ten years, her eyes ached.
"Xiu'er."
Before her drowning, he was still a child who loved clinging to her side, often with smiling eyes that could light up half a room.
But the young man before her had shed the round softness of childhood. His jaw was tense, his brow bones prominent, and those eyes once filled with starlight now resembled a lake thinly frozen over, carrying countless layers of coldness.
"Mo… Mother?"
Though standing in an open space, Shen Yanxiu suddenly felt as if he couldn't breathe. He stared incredulously at the woman before him, his eyes turning crimson.
The woman's appearance was plain yet exquisitely beautiful. A faint smile graced the corner of her mouth, and her eyes, like obsidian in a clear spring, gazed at him softly and tenderly.
The concern and affection hidden deep within those eyes resembled the blurred yet warm outline from his memories.
It was the warmth of maternal love he had yearned for repeatedly over the years, in the depths of midnight dreams.
He wanted to step forward but halted timidly, looking up at his grandfather.
Only after receiving Meng Zhengde's confirming nod did he stride forward and press himself into Meng Nanzhi's embrace. "Is it really you? Mother."
The young man's voice carried the coarseness of his changing period, yet its tail end hid a barely perceptible tremor, much like when he was five years old and, after being punished by his father for mischief, secretly wiped away tears.
"It's me, Xiu'er. Mother has finally found her way home."
Meng Nanzhi held Shen Yanxiu, who now stood a head taller than her, her heart tightening.
In her absence, just how much hardship had Marquis Zhenbei made her child endure?