Shen Jinghong only snapped back to reality when Zhao Zheng tugged on his sleeve.
Following Zhao Zheng’s gaze, he glanced at Qiu Lingxi.
She was sitting properly beside Qiu Hongyuan, listening to the two elders chat and occasionally contributing a comment or two.
“She’s alright, I guess,” Shen Jinghong said, looking away again. “Can fight, healthy, won’t be a burden.”
Zhao Zheng waited three seconds.
When no further explanation came, his eyes widened.
“That’s it? Just ‘alright’? Back at Peach Blossom Cove, when Fang Ziheng brought her up, didn’t you say, ‘She’s not bad, at least she’s not a sickly weakling’? It’s only been a month. How did your evaluation get downgraded already?”
“It didn’t.”
Shen Jinghong took a sip of tea and replied casually,
“That’s always been my evaluation.”
Zhao Zheng eyed him suspiciously.
“You aren’t still thinking about that flower spirit from the ghost stories, are you?”
Shen Jinghong’s fingers paused briefly on the teacup.
The tips of his ears reddened slightly.
“What flower spirit? I’ve already forgotten about that.”
Zhao Zheng snorted when he saw how red his ears were.
“Who are you trying to fool?”
Shen Jinghong didn’t answer.
Lowering his head, he drank his tea, his gaze unconsciously drifting toward the garden entrance once more.
Zhao Zheng followed his line of sight.
There was nothing there.
Shaking his head, he changed the subject.
“Hey, have you noticed Fang Ziheng acting weird today?”
Shen Jinghong glanced in Fang Ziheng’s direction.
The man was sitting there with a wine cup in hand, but his eyes were glued to Qiu Lingxi.
A foolish smile hung on his face, making him look as though his soul had been stolen away.
“Yeah,” Shen Jinghong said, frowning slightly.
“He is acting strange.”
“You think he likes Miss Qiu?”
Zhao Zheng lowered his voice, eager for gossip.
Shen Jinghong looked at Fang Ziheng, then at Qiu Lingxi.
Suddenly he remembered Fang Ziheng earlier raising an empty cup to make a toast.
The corner of his mouth twitched.
“Looks like it.”
Zhao Zheng clicked his tongue.
“Normally that guy is smooth as can be. Why does he turn into a block of wood whenever he’s around Miss Qiu? Just now he went to toast people with an empty cup and only realized afterward that he hadn’t poured any wine. Nearly killed me from laughing.”
For once, a faint smile appeared on Shen Jinghong’s face.
But it quickly disappeared.
After a moment of silence, he suddenly blurted out:
“A friend’s wife should not be coveted.”
Zhao Zheng blinked.
“Whose wife? Who’s coveting whom? What are you talking about?”
“I mean…” Shen Jinghong paused, organizing his thoughts.
“If Fang Ziheng really likes Qiu Lingxi, then he should pursue her openly. It’s not like I like her. We’re brothers. If he’s got something to say, he should say it directly instead of sneaking around.”
Zhao Zheng stared at him strangely.
“When did you become this enlightened?”
Shen Jinghong rolled his eyes.
“I’ve always been enlightened.”
Zhao Zheng snorted, not bothering to expose the obvious lie.
The two sat quietly for a while before Zhao Zheng remembered something.
“Oh right.”
Lowering his voice, he said,
“I heard from my mother that your mother sent an invitation to the Fu family. Miss Fu was invited today too.”
The hand holding Shen Jinghong’s teacup stiffened slightly.
The movement was so brief that Zhao Zheng almost thought he’d imagined it.
“If she comes, she comes.”
Shen Jinghong lifted his chin.
“Good. When she gets here, I’ll make things clear.”
Zhao Zheng blinked.
“Clear about what?”
“That I won’t marry her.”
Holding the teacup, Shen Jinghong once again looked every bit the fearless young wastrel.
“She should give up on the idea sooner rather than later. No point wasting both families’ time.”
Zhao Zheng stared at him.
After three seconds, he asked,
“You sure?”
“Absolutely.”
“You haven’t even met her, and you’re already planning to reject her?”
Shen Jinghong’s lips moved, but whatever he was about to say died on his tongue.
Turning away, he looked at the flowering crabapple trees outside the pavilion.
His tone became unusually stiff.
“I don’t need to meet her to know.
I’m a martial artist. Someday I’ll go to war.
If I marry…” His voice lowered slightly.
“If I marry someone with poor health, wouldn’t I just be harming her?”
Zhao Zheng noticed something strange.
This wasn’t the same disdain Shen Jinghong had shown before.
There was something else mixed into it.
Something suspiciously close to guilt.
“You didn’t used to talk like that,” Zhao Zheng said cautiously.
“You used to say, ‘I don’t want some sickly weakling.’ You sounded disgusted.”
A crease appeared between Shen Jinghong’s brows.
“I was… immature back then.”
Zhao Zheng raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to continue.
For a long time, Shen Jinghong said nothing.
His finger slowly traced circles along the rim of his cup.
“My mother told me that Miss Fu is the treasured jewel of the Grand Tutor and his wife.
They raised her like precious gold and jade.
She’s been frail since childhood.
They’ve consulted countless physicians and given her endless medicine, all for the sake of keeping her safe and healthy.
Later I thought about it…
If the things I said in that teahouse ever reached the Grand Tutor and his wife…” His voice grew quieter and quieter.
“How heartbroken would they be?”
The final words were barely audible.
Zhao Zheng froze.
He stared at Shen Jinghong as though looking at a stranger.
Was this really the same Shen Jinghong who had loudly insulted his arranged marriage in a teahouse and then been dragged to the Grand Tutor’s residence by General Shen to apologize?
“You… when did you start thinking about things like that?”
Zhao Zheng asked carefully.
Shen Jinghong didn’t answer immediately.
Instead, he looked down at the tea in his cup.
The clear surface reflected half of his face.
“A month ago,” he finally said.
“My mother told me:
‘Your father spent twenty years fighting on the frontier and never once begged anyone for anything.
But for your marriage, he practically threw away his pride and pleaded before the Grand Tutor.
If you have even a shred of conscience left, stop humiliating someone else’s daughter.’”
Zhao Zheng fell silent.
“I thought about it,” Shen Jinghong continued, his voice even softer.
“My mother was right.
Whether I like her or not is one thing.
But I shouldn’t mistreat her.
Miss Fu hasn’t done anything wrong.
Why should she be spoken of like that by me?”
“So I figured… if I meet her today, I’ll explain everything politely.
I’ll tell her the problem isn’t her it’s me.
I’m not worthy of her.
She deserves someone better.
That way both families can save face.
And my father won’t have to keep hanging his head in court every day.”
After hearing all that, Zhao Zheng was quiet for a long time.
Then he suddenly reached out and smacked Shen Jinghong hard on the shoulder.
The blow nearly knocked him over.
“Jinghong.”
For once, Zhao Zheng sounded completely serious.
“You’ve grown up.”
Shen Jinghong winced from the impact and nearly bared his teeth in pain.
“Could you hit a little lighter? My back hasn’t healed yet!”
“Oh! Right, right, sorry!”
Zhao Zheng quickly withdrew his hand and laughed awkwardly.
The two sat in silence for a moment.
Then Zhao Zheng tilted his head.
“Still… all that stuff you said about not being worthy of her and her deserving someone better…”
He squinted suspiciously.
“Doesn’t that sound exactly like those melodramatic stories where the hero says, ‘Letting go is also a form of love’?”
Shen Jinghong’s face instantly turned red.
“Shut up!”
Zhao Zheng grinned.
Wisely, he let the matter drop.
At that moment, footsteps sounded from the garden entrance.
Shen Jinghong’s head turned toward the sound almost by reflex.
The movement was so quick that even he didn’t realize he’d done it.
A steward hurried into the pavilion and leaned close to whisper something in Shen Dingjiang’s ear.
Shen Dingjiang’s expression changed immediately.
First came tension.
Then anticipation.
And finally a joy he clearly tried and failed to suppress.
He shot to his feet.
The chair scraped loudly against the floor, drawing everyone’s attention.
“Please continue enjoying yourselves. I’ll be right back!”
His booming voice echoed through the pavilion.
Liu Yunshuang stood up as well.
The husband and wife exchanged a glance before hurrying together toward the garden entrance.
The way they moved made it seem as though they were about to greet someone extremely important.
Everyone in the pavilion exchanged puzzled looks.
Zhao Zheng leaned toward Shen Jinghong and whispered:
“Could it be… someone from the Fu family has arrived?”