As it turned out, Wang Yuan’s “fortune-telling” was inaccurate.
Before Wang Xipu returned, the Zhan family father and son set off from Jinling to return home for ancestral worship.
Before leaving, Zhan’s father bid farewell to the Wang family and repeatedly thanked Wang Zhefu. He had traveled to Jinling with his son, received guidance from Wang Zhefu, and stayed at the Wang family’s home for over a month. He felt he had troubled them and repeatedly invited the Wang family to visit his home in Xuancheng in the future.
Furthermore, Zhan’s father asked Wang Xichen and his brother to apologize to Wang Xipu on his behalf. He explained that his younger brother was about to return home, and his departure at this time was impolite and a fault. However, with Qingming Festival approaching and letters arriving from home urging him to return, he could not delay any longer.
Meanwhile, Zhan’s father bid farewell to the Wang family father and son. Meanwhile, Zhan Mei, having received permission, went to Jifang Study.
Inside the study, Wang Yuan was reading, his chin resting on his hand, while Wang Jie practiced calligraphy. Zhan Mei knocked lightly on the open door. Wang Jie looked up, called out, and Zhan Mei entered.
Upon approaching, Zhan Mei discovered that Wang Yuan, seemingly engrossed in reading, was actually fast asleep, having drawn eyes on his eyelids with a brush.
This was something Wang Yuan had used to fool the overseer guarding outside the study. Zhan Mei, however, found it unnecessary. He had seen the servant dozing against a pillar just moments before entering; like master, like servant.
Hearing that Zhan Mei had come to say goodbye, Wang Jie woke his elder brother.
Zhan Mei was two years younger than Wang Jie, but Wang Yuan also liked this young friend. In Wang Yuan’s eyes, Zhan Mei was more composed and precocious than other children, diligent in his work, yet remarkably uninhibited. Perhaps due to his travels with his father, he never seemed constrained or tense. Wang Yuan often joked with his friends about Zhan Mei’s eighteen godfathers, and Zhan Mei never felt embarrassed or awkward when everyone laughed.
Wang Jie, needless to say, was the bookworm his elder brother called him, but a child his age, no matter how hard he studied, was still a child. Having someone of a similar age to accompany him in his studies after Zhan Mei’s arrival was a source of great joy. Moreover, despite his young age, Zhan Mei had already traveled to many places and always had something new to tell. Wang Jie and Zhan Mei got along very well.
Compared to his elder brother’s carefree and nonchalant attitude, Wang Jie felt reluctant to part, and tears welled up in his eyes.
Zhan Mei comforted him for a long time and promised to come again in the future; the two made a serious pinky promise.
At this moment, Zhan Mei asked, “Where is my second sister?”
At this time of day, Zhenyi would usually be in her study.
But today, Zhenyi had gone to the Qian family next door early in the morning.
Qian Yuling had sent invitations, inviting Shuyi and Zhenyi to his home for a chat. Of course, Ju Zi was also invited.
In Qian Yuling’s boudoir, the three girls sat around a moon-shaped table, drinking tea and chatting. Shuyi had brought her embroidery frame. Qian Yuling leaned in to look and asked with a smile, “Are you embroidering your dowry?”
Shuyi immediately blushed deeply and scolded, “…You! Didn’t you say you wanted me to come and teach you needlework? I sincerely came to be your teacher, and you ridicule me like this… Let’s see who dares to teach you next time!”
Qian Yuling exclaimed, “If I hadn’t said that, how could I have invited a young lady from a secluded family like you out?”
Shuyi then… She glared at her, then picked up the needle again: “Learn it or don’t, it’s up to you…”
“I called you here to give you some news,” Qian Yuling said casually. “That Wen Yiheng, I’ve asked my brothers about him, and I heard he’s quite…”
Shuyi unconsciously stopped what she was doing, but couldn’t hear what he said next. Turning her head, she saw Qian Yuling feeding Zhenyi a snack: “Zhenyi, try this.”
Then she bent down and scooped up an orange, praising how plump it had become.
Shuyi was annoyed that her friend was deliberately keeping her in suspense, but she was too embarrassed to press the matter. Only when she met Qian Yuling’s suppressed laughter did Shuyi finally raise her hand to pat her friend’s shoulder: “…I told you you’re a bad person!”
After a few laughs and playful exchanges, Shuyi tickled Qian Yuling’s waist, making the latter laugh until tears streamed down her face. She begged for mercy, “Alright, alright…I’ll tell you, I won’t tease you anymore!”
Shuyi then stopped tickling her and picked up her embroidery frame, needle, and thread again.
The marriage proposal between the Wang and Wen families was no secret among acquaintances. The Wen family matriarch spoke highly of Shuyi, and most people had already tacitly agreed that the marriage would be finalized once Wang Xipu returned.
“You must know his family situation well, except his mother’s health is poor, and his stepmother still takes care of everything…” Qian Yuling continued, “Everyone says he’s a sincere person, diligent in his studies, and extremely skilled in painting. My second brother showed me his work, and it’s certainly not vulgar.”
The Qian family was a true family of painters; for Qian Yuling to praise them like this, they were indeed quite accomplished.
Shuyi’s lips curled slightly as she threaded her needle, saying only, “Sincere indeed…”
Qian Yuling blinked, leaning closer to ask, “How so?”
Shuyi ignored her, and she went to ask Zhenyi.
Just as Zhenyi was about to speak, her eldest sister stuffed a snack into her mouth: “Second sister, don’t talk nonsense with her!”
“Then tell me, Orange!” Qian Yuling placed an orange on her lap and pulled up its two front paws: “Quick, Orange, tell me…”
The three of them and the cat laughed and played until nearly noon, when the Third Madam sent someone to urge them to return home. Only then did Shuyi take her younger sister back.
Back home, as they approached a moon gate, they encountered the Wang brothers, Xichen and Zhan Mei, seeing off the Zhan family father and son.
Seeing Zhenyi, Zhan Mei’s eyes lit up slightly: “Second sister.”
Shuyi curtsied to Zhan Mei’s father and left first. Zhan Mei and Zhenyi formally bid farewell.
He told Zhenyi that if she ever went to Xuancheng, he would take her to certain places and to eat certain foods… He also praised Zhenyi’s mathematics, saying that he would also study mathematics diligently.
These words inexplicably stirred Zhenyi’s competitive spirit. She said, “Then let Grandfather give us the questions, and we’ll see who can calculate faster and better!”
Zhan Mei nodded with a smile.
Finally, Zhan Mei earnestly asked Zhenyi, “Second sister, will you remember me next time we meet?”
A breeze stirred, and beside the moon gate, two apricot trees shed a shower of white blossoms. The young boy’s eyes were clear and open, his still-childish face refined and clean, already displaying the poise of a young gentleman.
“Of course,” Zhenyi nodded, answering decisively, “Grandfather says my memory is first-rate.”
Zhan Mei smiled with relief.
He then squatted down, bidding farewell to Ju Zi, and earnestly asked her, “Ju Zi, will you remember me next time we meet?”
Amidst the apricot blossom snow, Ju Zi leaned closer and sniffed the young boy.
Zhan Mei quickly raised his sleeve, bringing it closer so that Ju Zi could smell him carefully and remember him clearly.
Three days after the Zhan family father and son left Jinling, Wang Xipu returned home.
Wang Xipu was a very composed man, speaking very little, his brow always showing signs of fatigue, as if burdened with worries. Ju Zi thought this was normal, fitting her stereotypical image of a seasoned office worker.
Until the topic of Shuyi’s marriage came up, Wang Xipu remained silent, making Ju Zi feel that this county magistrate seemed a bit pretentious.
But soon Ju Zi discovered that Wang Xipu truly had something on his mind, and it was something important.
That day, the old man and his three sons discussed matters in the study, and none of them came out until lunchtime. Ju Zi, observing this, was deeply shocked. If they couldn’t even attend to something as important as eating, what terrible thing must have happened? Furthermore, Orange noticed that Wang Xichen, this seasonal health blogger, had even neglected his daily health-preserving soup.
To Orange, this was tantamount to the sky falling—after all, even on the day he failed the autumn imperial examinations, the sighing Wang Xichen would diligently go to the tea room, brew a pot of soup, add two herbs to soothe the liver and relieve depression, and sit in the courtyard drinking three bowls.
One day, while the Wang family father and son were again discussing matters behind closed doors, the concerned Orange quietly jumped onto the windowsill to eavesdrop on their conversation.
But Orange underestimated her own weight. With a creak, the window, unable to withstand the strain, was pushed open. All four members of the Wang family looked up. Orange tried to sit upright and dignifiedly, accepting the gaze of eight eyes without moving, before silently jumping down from the windowsill.
Three days later, the King summoned his children and grandchildren for a talk, and Ju Zi finally had the chance to follow Zhen Yi openly and legitimately to listen in.