“Madam Shen.” Fu Yunyang’s voice remained calm and gentle. “Young Master Shen was right just now. He is not at fault, and neither is the Fu family. This marriage was always me reaching above my station. Young Master Shen is the son of a great general; in the future, he will go to war and earn military glory. With a body like mine, marrying into his family would only be a burden.”
She paused slightly.
“The sooner the engagement is ended, the better it will be for both families.”
Liu Yunshuang’s eyes reddened.
It wasn’t that she didn’t know the engagement should be broken off. From the day Shen Jinghong had uttered those hurtful words in the teahouse, she had known there was little hope of saving it.
But hearing Fu Yunyang say those words herself felt like something had twisted painfully in her heart.
This girl clearly the one who had been wronged was taking all the blame onto herself.
The words “reaching above my station” and “burden” coming from her lips were even more heartbreaking than the cruel remarks Shen Jinghong had made at the teahouse.
Liu Yunshuang took a deep breath, suppressing the ache in her throat. She stepped forward and looked earnestly at the veiled bamboo hat.
“Miss Fu,” she said, her voice trembling slightly but every word crystal clear, “since your birth chart has not yet been returned and the engagement has not been formally dissolved, you are still a guest of the Shen family today.”
“Please stay for a while and have a cup of tea. Not for anything else just for the Shen family’s sincerity. You came all this way. If you leave without even having a sip of water, outsiders will only say that the Shen family lacks manners.”
She glanced at Shen Dingjiang.
Coming back to himself, Shen Dingjiang hurriedly nodded. His voice was still somewhat hoarse.
“Yes, yes, Miss Fu. Sit for a while, have some tea, rest before you go. I’ll have someone prepare”
“There’s no need.”
Fu Yunyang’s voice carried a trace of weariness as she thanked them again.
“General Shen, Madam Shen, I appreciate your kindness. It’s just that…”
“Miss Fu.”
Shen Jinghong suddenly spoke.
Standing where he was, he looked at the veiled hat and finally said in a low voice:
“…I’m sorry. I, Shen Jinghong, have wronged you.”
Fu Yunyang did not reply.
She tilted her head slightly, as if looking at him. Through the thin veil, her expression was impossible to see, but Shen Jinghong could feel her gaze resting on him.
Then she withdrew her gaze and slowly rose to her feet with Xiaodie’s support.
“Let’s go.”
Her voice was soft.
Supporting her arm, Xiaodie felt the faint tremble in her mistress’s hand.
A sharp ache rose in her chest. Her eyes instantly reddened. Biting her lip, she helped Fu Yunyang toward the door.
But when they reached it, Xiaodie stopped.
She turned around.
Her round face was flushed red, tears brimming in her eyes. Her lips trembled, and finally she could not hold back any longer.
“You’re all bullies!”
“My young lady has been quietly recovering at home. Who did she offend? Who did she provoke?
“Your Shen family came asking for marriage first. Then afterward, someone from your family went to a teahouse and called her a sickly invalid, a jinx, ugly, narrow-minded! Who said those things? It was someone from your Shen family!”
Her voice rose higher and higher as tears streamed down her face.
“My young lady did nothing wrong. Why should she be humiliated like this?
“She came today to honor your invitation and give the Shen family face. And what happened?
“The invitation was sent only one day in advance. She came all this way, didn’t even get a sip of water, and had to listen to talk of ‘breaking the engagement,’ ‘reaching above one’s station,’ and being a ‘burden.’
“We don’t care about entering the Shen family’s gates!
“My young lady will never set foot in the Shen residence again. Even if you kneel and beg, she won’t soften her heart!”
The angrier she became, the harder her chest heaved.
“Let’s go, Miss! Let’s leave! This awful place isn’t worth staying in for another moment!”
After saying all that, she paid no attention to the expressions on Shen Dingjiang’s or Liu Yunshuang’s faces. Supporting Fu Yunyang, she walked out.
Fu Yunyang did not stop her.
She simply walked quietly, her pace unhurried, as though those accusations had nothing to do with her.
Her moon-white robe fluttered softly in the wind. The pale-green cloak wrapped around her slender shoulders.
As she passed Shen Jinghong
A gust of wind blew in through the doorway.
The gauze hanging from her hat lifted slightly, swaying gently.
And Shen Jinghong saw her.
It lasted only an instant.
When the wind raised the veil, he saw her face
Brows like distant mountains, graceful and refined.
Eyes slightly upturned at the corners.
A delicate, elegant nose.
Soft pink lips.
Skin as fair and smooth as jade.
Then the wind died.
The veil fell back into place, hiding her face once more.
She kept walking.
She neither stopped nor turned around.
The moon-white figure flashed past the doorway and disappeared into the afternoon sunlight.
Shen Jinghong stood frozen.
His eyes remained fixed on the doorway.
His pupils widened slightly.
His lips parted.
It was as if someone had struck an acupoint and turned him into stone.
His mind went blank.
No.
Not blank.
It was full.
Overflowing with the image he had just seen.
That face…
The peach grove at Peach Blossom Retreat.
Beneath the old peach tree.
Petals drifting down all around her.
She had turned and looked at him once.
The flower spirit.
A thunderous boom exploded in his mind.
She wasn’t a flower spirit.
She was Fu Yunyang.
He stood there, the same thought turning over and over in his head.
The girl admiring blossoms in the peach grove had been Fu Yunyang.
The face that had haunted his dreams for the past month belonged to Fu Yunyang.
Fu Yunyang…
The very engagement he had personally called off.
The woman he had just told, to her face, that he was unworthy of her, that she would be a burden, that ending the engagement was for the best.
“I’m finished.”
The words slipped out of his mouth.
Then his legs gave out.
He collapsed into the chair behind him with a heavy thud.
Both Shen Dingjiang and Liu Yunshuang turned to look at him.
Shen Jinghong sat there pale-faced, lips trembling slightly, eyes fixed blankly on the doorway.
“What’s wrong with you?” Liu Yunshuang frowned.
Shen Jinghong did not answer.
He raised a hand and covered his face.
Beneath his palm, his cheeks burned hot, and his heart pounded wildly out of control.
“I’m finished.”
He said it again.
Louder this time.
Loud enough for both of his parents to hear.
The couple exchanged confused glances.
“What do you mean, finished?” Shen Dingjiang demanded gruffly.
Shen Jinghong lowered his hand and looked at them.
His eyes were red.
His expression looked halfway between laughter and tears.
“Father… I think… I think I’ve made a huge mistake.”
Shen Dingjiang’s brows knitted tightly together.
“What now?”
Shen Jinghong opened his mouth, then closed it again.
What could he possibly say?
That he had just seen Fu Yunyang’s face?
That he had realized the flower spirit he had been obsessed with for the past month was Fu Yunyang?
That moments ago he had broken off the engagement right in front of her?
That he now regretted it so much he wanted to smash his head against a wall?
In the end, he said none of it.
He stood up.
Staggered slightly.
Caught himself on the edge of the table.
Then strode toward the door.
“Where are you going?” Shen Dingjiang shouted after him.
Without turning back, Shen Jinghong’s voice came from outside the doorway, urgent and panicked:
“I’m going to bring her back!”
“Stop right there!”
Shen Dingjiang roared.
“Have you lost your mind? You were the one who wanted to break off the engagement just now, and now you’re chasing after her? What do you think the Fu family is? What do you think that young lady is? Someone you can toy with however you please?”
Shen Jinghong stopped.
Standing in the doorway with his back to everyone, his shoulders trembled slightly.
“Damn it,” he muttered.
“My life is over. I have to go after her… otherwise… otherwise…”